Disclaimer: The Rising of the Shield hero belongs to Aneko Yusagi, this fic was made non-profit, I just wanted to write something about this series.
English is not my first language. If you see something with a poor grammatical structure, mistaken verbal tenses, wrong conjugations, etcetera, please tell me to correct it. For me, it is a language-development experience.
B/N: Which is why I'm here! Given my mastery of the English language, I can fix the mistakes and add a few details that make reading a better experience! Heaven knows how much I twitch when I see a poorly written story in terms of grammar...
The Shield Hero Who Came From Another World
Chapter 3
"Find him! Find that criminal! Don't let him escape!" yelled one of the Royal guards patrolling Castle Town. All the citizens were scared to watch the Royal guards doing a public manhunt. The fugitive was one of the four Heroes: The Shield Hero.
According to rumors, after sharing a dinner in a friendly and intimate way with one of the Spear Hero's companions, the Shield Hero had become quite drunk and then, after breaking the door of the woman's room in the inn in the middle of the night, had attempted to rape her, but either luck or God's grace had allowed the unnamed poor girl to escape, finding refuge with the Spear Hero.
Much like his victim, the Shield Hero had done the same, and nobody had seen him ever since. Given how the alarms had been risen early after the attack, and that every way out of the city was being watched, the guards thought he still had to be in the city. However, in spite of a manhunt that had started right then, no one had found the Shield Hero yet, even as the sun reached its highest point.
"We cannot find the Shield Demon anywhere, Vice Commander," a guard reported.
"Keep looking! He cannot leave this town; it will be disgraceful if we let him escape!"
"Then we're going to have to expand our searching area, Vice Commander, or-"
"We found him! We found him, Vice Commander!"
"WHAT! WHERE?!"
"At the inn where he attacked that woman!"
The guards halted their movement, and five seconds later one of them asked what everyone was thinking.
"Why the hell would he be there?"
"It's said the criminal return to see their crime. Maybe it's the same here?"
"Who cares about the reason, he's ours! Who found him?"
"The innkeeper found him sleeping in his room, and he didn't dare to wake him up. He's still there as far as we know."
"Guards! To the Wall Inn, right now!"
Without further ado, the guards rushed to the Wall Inn, only to be surprised to see the Shield Hero sleeping like he had no care for the world – even though he was wearing his armor, blood stained his clothes and shield, and he had some serious scraps on his legs, arms and torso. It was painfully obvious he had attacked someone besides the Spear Hero's companion.
"What the hell did this to him?"
"I have no idea, but that scratch seems like it came from a claw."
"Did he fight a Filorial? Are there Filolials strong enough to damage a defense specialist like this rapist?"
"That doesn't matter, we need to wake him up and take him to the King for his audience. Hey! Dipshit, wake up! The King is calling you right now!"
Naofumi woke, not because of the shouting, but because the Vice Commander had kicked him in the stomach. His natural reaction to being woken in such a rude way was to yell back at the intruder, stand up and toss a right hook on the idiot.
Unfortunately, while the attack landed on the Vice Commander's jaw, it failed to do anything to him, much to the guards' surprise, while Naofumi glared at the Legendary Shield.
"Fucking stupid shield and your fucking stupid 1 attack point!" he yelled, frustrated.
"Shield Hero!" the Vice Commander of the Royal Guards shouted, interrupting Naofumi, who only now seemed to realize there were way more people than he thought – most of whom gave a step back. "You have been accused of a crime most horrible, the attempted rape of one of the Spear Hero's companions! Cooperate with us and don't complicate your circumstances beyond what they are, we've been looking for you since last night!"
One of the guards got a pair of handcuffs and moved to put them on the Hero's wrists, only for Naofumi to take them away and put them on his shield, which promptly absorbed them. The guards were astonished, and one of them attempted to pull out another pair, only for Naofumi to glare at him, causing the man – and everyone else – to step back again.
"Listen to me, and listen well, guard... I will go with you but be assured I am innocent of what they are accusing me of, and I will clear my name."
The Vice Commander noted that something had changed in the young man after learning of his charges, but nonetheless he had his orders.
"Then, come with us to the Royal Castle, and do not attempt to escape!" he said, more bravado than anything in his voice, as the guards moved to escort the hero.
The walk to the castle was incredibly awkward for the guards: the inexperienced displayed it, the others just managed to hide it. All the way up, Naofumi was in silence, which put the guards in high alert. Not because they wanted to talk with him or anything like that: no, it was because the tension could be cut with a knife.
And, somehow, it became even worse when one of the guards, a young man called Ake, realized that every Filorial they passed by was scared of the Hero, as they attempted to make themselves look bigger than they were: being from a farm village, he knew that the docile birds would only do that if they were facing a dangerous creature like a dragon or a griffin. That detail only made him more nervous, which probably was why he decided to speak up.
"I'm sorry, Shield Hero... but, where did you get those cuts?"
The guards tensed up when they heard their partner speak up, either because of the question itself or because of the stupidity or asking that at the moment, as they tightened their grip on their spears. Naofumi chose to ignore the question, remaining silent the entire way.
As they approached the castle, the city's inhabitants began to trickle to the sides of the street, watching the Shield Hero being taken to the castle. By then, everyone had heard of the rumors, and while none of them attempted to move against Naofumi, they certainly did not bother to hide their discontent. While most of them were yelling at him to get out of the country, others shouted that they did not need a criminal like him – and a few were even claiming for his head.
None of it helped Naofumi's already rotten mood.
Oh, great, someone accuses me of something I didn't do and everyone shows their true colors. Go fuck yourselves, he thought. Clearly, this was the influence and teachings of the Church of the Three Heroes at hand: these people were clearly predisposed against him, even though he had only been in this world for less than two days.
Arriving to the throne room, the guards stepped away and turned their spears against him, marking distance between them. Naofumi did not pay much mind to it, as he instead looked at the head of the room, from where the King and his advisors were looking at him with barely disguised hostility and contempt. In front of them were the heroes and their companions, who bore the same looks, somehow more pronounced among the women – save for the green haired girl standing with Ren, who was looking at him with something akin to disappointment and something else he could not identify. The only other person not glaring at him was Myne, who was hiding behind Motoyasu.
What the hell? OK, yeah, they did mention one of the girl's in Motoyasu's party was the one that accused me. I'm going to have to tread with care here.
"Not a day has passed since my warning after you were warned for attacking my High Priest, and you commit one of the worst crimes this land has seen. Attempting to rape a woman! Adventurer Myne, I'm sorry, but I need you to recount last night's events."
"I didn't do anyth-"
"Silence, trash! You will talk only when I allow it! Please, my child, say what happened."
"Y-Yes, Your Majesty... ye-yesterday we checked at the Wall Inn, at supper time. I saw the Shield Hero sitting alone, so I offered to eat together with him, and he accepted. He drank quite a lot during the meal and left for his room to sleep. I thought that would be it for the day, but then he brought down the door to my room while I was sleeping and he started to rip my clothes, saying that 'the night is young'. I cou-could get away from him and ran away to Motoyasu-sama's room."
"When Myne knocked on my door, I was sleeping," Motoyasu continued. "After I found her with her torn clothes, I gave her a sheet to cover herself with and I requested my comrade Lesty to help me calm Myne down. After she told us the same thing she just said, I went to Naofumi's room, but it was completely empty. That was when we raised the alarm. I never thought you would attempt to do something so low, Naofumi."
"Bullshit! I didn't do anything of what she's telling you!"
"Naofumi, I saw the two of you dining together," Ren replied with an icy tone, and Naofumi rolled his eyes.
"Yes, alright, the part about having supper on the same table is true. But I didn't even drink any wine, it's never had an effect on me."
"Silence!" the King yelled. "What you did is our land's worst taboo, and worth a death sentence on its own."
"Oh, wonderful, you won't even let me defend myself against an accusation that could get me killed? Just on one person's word? How stupid are you?"
"WHAT ARE YOU...!"
Naofumi did not know someone's face could acquire such a shade of puce, to the point that he was wondering if he could actually induce an apoplexy on the man. Meanwhile, the King's advisors attempted to calm him down before anything that he could not handle happened.
"Look, I'm not saying that what happened to her is something to be ignored, Raphaella and the rest of my girls would probably return from death and kill me if I actually believed that. What I'm saying is that there's some serious problems with justice here if a woman can get a man sent to his death just by claiming she was abused even if there was consent or nothing actually happened between them. How many innocent men have died in this way, just by this... inept trial you are presiding over?"
Aultcray Melromarc XXXII was clearly on the edge of exploding like a volcano, merely for the Shield Hero's sheer insolence. His advisors were worried, for not even in his most ravenous times during the war against Silvelt had he reached this level of wrath.
"I'm sorry to say this, but he is right," Itsuki commented, causing everyone to fall silent. Even the King himself.
"Are you kidding, Itsuki?" Motoyasu asked, displeased.
"I have heard of similar things happening in my world, but I was never certain of how truthful they were," Ren stated.
"Silence!" the King shouted again, attempting to regain control of the situation.
"C'mon, guys, why do you think they don't want me to explain my side? He's got in his head that I am guilty, and what can you expect when he is the King of a nation whose main religion is what it is?"
"What does religion have to do with this, Naofumi?" Motoyasu asked, and Naofumi quickly took note of how all the nobles, the King and – most importantly – Myne winced and became way too pale.
"Mo-Motoyasu-sama, you don't need to hear this criminal," Myne said, trying to catch the Spear Hero's attention.
"Melromarc's religion has nothing to do with this trial!" Aultcray exclaimed.
"On the contrary, it's got everything to do with this trial. Your religion, the Three Heroes' Church, claims that the Shield Hero is the devil himself and his only purpose is to destroy 'God's perfect creation', humanity."
"Say what?" Motoyasu said, astonished, much like Itsuki and Ren. Those of their companions that shared the Church's beliefs attempted to make themselves heard, but one of the others beat them to the punch.
"He is right, Sir Ren," the green haired girl told the Heroes, who turned to look at her.
"You know about this, Ferrie?"
"Well, yes. Most people in Melromarc are taught to hate the Shield Hero by the Three Heroes Church, although mostly it's only the zealots that actually follow through. I myself was raised under the teachings of the Four Saints Faith, so I consider this hatred irrational."
Most of Ren's other companions nodded, and Ferrie continued.
"We don't know if the Shield Hero is guilty of what he is being accused. Perchance, a zealot disguised himself as the Hero and attacked Myne, thinking he would have already won Heaven by doing so. We need to hear his version, too."
"That's... that's... how can there be justice like this?" Itsuki asked, but the way he mentioned justice made everyone turn to him. Ren decided it was time to get to the depth of the matter and walked up to Naofumi.
"Naofumi," he said, "what did you do after having dinner with Myne?"
"I went to my room after I was done. I couldn't sleep because I had a lot in my head, so I went out on a walk to clear my mind. I ended up in the forest outside the city, and since I couldn't find a way to fall asleep, I decided to do some leveling. Now I am level 15."
"Nobody saw you?"
"I don't think so. The guards at the wall were busy playing cards when I went to the forest, and when I returned nine hours later, they were getting distracted with a group of girls that was wearing quite skimpy clothing."
The guard's Vice Commander turned to glare at the guards that he knew had been overseeing that last night's shift, but the guards wisely kept looking in front of them.
"So, no one can say they saw you at that hour of the night?"
"Afraid not, but I wish someone had, if only to save us all of this."
"So... what happened to your armor?" Itsuki asked.
"I found a Griffin," he said, and the gasp of surprise among the spectators to the farse of a trial was impossible to stop.
"Shield Hero... what you are saying makes no sense, Griffins only live in mountain zones, and only rarely do they come anywhere close to Castle Town," an advisor said.
No shit, Sherlock, Naofumi thought.
The previous night, he had used Astral Transport to get into the Church of the Three Heroes in order to register himself with the Hourglass, having chosen the dark of the night precisely to avoid making trouble.
He had been quite surprised when, after walking within a few meters of the Hourglass, his shield's jewel and the artifact spontaneously reacted at the same time, connecting both with a thin beam of light that suddenly updated what Naofumi could see: now, Naofumi could tell how long it was until the next Wave struck Melromarc, and he had done so without anybody taking notice.
Or, at least, that was he believed. For the moment he began to move away, someone entered the Hourglass' chamber: Sister Galilea. Only she was not wearing her nun attire, but a simple nightgown.
Along with a sword as long as he was in her hand and a nasty face that promised the beating of a lifetime if he did not escape in time.
Surprisingly for a blind woman of her size (seeing that she was of a height with professional basketball players), Sister Galilea had quickly crossed the chamber, so fast he almost had a heart attack, and her sword, which in spite of its size was almost like an extension of her body, slashed into the air, nearly decapitating him. It had only been a very quick reaction that had saved him from literally losing his head, and after that it was a matter of running as fast as possible until he got far away from the Church – which was the forest.
Seeing that he no longer had a greatsword-wielding nun after his ass, Naofumi decided he could finally take the time he needed to review all of his skills, how they had been affected by being transported to this new world, as well as a test run to recalibrate their use.
The first thing he noted was the loss of Animal Whisperer, which he was really going to miss: animals had always been really useful as spies for him, and many battles during the war had been much easier to deal with thanks to the information he could gather from birds.
Astral Teleport had been hard hit by the change: before the summoning, he could teleport from one side of the planet to the other as many times as he wanted. Now, he was restricted to teleporting to within a mile per class level, and after using it he had to wait 500 seconds until he could use it again.
At least, he still had the skill.
Storage did not seem to have changed at all, as it still allowed him to pull out and save objects and materials at the same speed it did before the summoning. No strange changes, either.
Null Sickness was the same. He drunk some liquor laced with poison he had in his storage, and neither substance affected him. He actually found that the poison made the liquor taste better, although he was not going to experiment much with it, even if there were some tasty poisons around.
That left the crown jewel of the skills he still had from his time in Aztlan, the one that would determine if he actually needed to find himself companions. It was the reason he was nicknamed "Shield Hero" back then.
Hedron Shield.
A 'broken' skill that allowed him to attack and defend at the same time, all while moving or even flying.
Basically, it allowed him to create shields with any geometric form, even three-dimensional figures if he pushed it. He normally used hexagonal shields, as they covered a lot of surfaces for the energy spent and they also interlocked very well, but he sometimes used them in their square or triangular version when he needed something particular the hexagons could not do as well.
It was not the only thing they did: each shield could shoot laser beams at any enemy that attacked him, as a means to counter them. They were actually what he had used to cut through Chiltik's capital's thick walls, opening a hole that had allowed him and his allies to bring down the Empire.
It had taken a lot of training (full of more blood, vomit and sweat than he'd like to remember), but he had made Hedron Shield his ace move.
And the fucking summoning had completely ruined it, because from his most powerful skill, it had suddenly become one of the weakest.
Before the summoning, he could produce five hexagonal shields with an apothem – the distance from the center to any face of a regular figure – of about 10 feet. Granted, that had its own problems, such as being easy to break apart and draining him so fast that he would last forty minutes before collapsing in exhaustion. His favorite configuration was using three shields with a 5 feet apothem, which allowed him to fight for three straight hours without rest and only required a hearty meal to recover from it.
Now, he was restricted to one shield per level, all of which had an apothem of 4 inches, barely the size of a buckler, and for every ten levels he had he could fuse 10 small shields to make a 3 feet tall shield. That was not the last of the bad news: the big shields could not fire lasers and could not be moved once formed, and the small shields' lasers not only took ten minutes to recharge, but it was also a joint cumulative cooldown – so for every shield he used that way, he would have to wait an extra ten minutes. Fire six lasers? Then none of those shields could fire for an hour.
From an almost divine-level skill, Hedron Shield had turned into a common-level one that had lost pretty much all that made it worth the use and attempting to create a decently sized shield turned it into a pretty target. The stupid summoning had turned his best weapon into something that could get him killed at the first mistake.
And, on top of that, every time he used a laser, the Legendary Shield gave him a very unpleasant shock. It made him wish he could just bash the useless thing with a rock.
After recovering from the total letdown that was checking his skills, he had decided to meditate, a useful practice Atalanta had taught him during their first year together, and which had helped him in sharpening his skills, enough to help win the war. Now, apart from hoping that it would help him do that again, he had wanted to know if he could use it to get in touch with some of the new things he had found in this new world.
It had only taken him two minutes to home in on his connection to the Red Hourglass of the Dragon's Era.
After half an hour letting the feeling of the magical sand dropping, he had suddenly felt something similar far in the distance, to the west of where he was right now. He had thought there was only one but remembering Sister Galilea's words had made him reconsider that thought, so he had decided to investigate that.
If Astral Transport had been up to standards, he would have been able to reach the mysterious point quite quickly. Instead, being at level 1, he had been forced to make multiple short jumps, followed by either walking or trotting, and doing his best to brush off any creature that decided he would make for good prey.
And one jump before reaching that signal that had to be another Hourglass, he had been attacked by a Griffin. A young one, judging by it being at level 25, but nonetheless dangerous – particularly being at level 1 as he was, and not only that, but it had ambushed him while he was stopping to take a breath and eating an apple. The only reason he had survived was that he had avoided the worst of its clawing first, and then he had managed to create a Hedron Shield and blasted the creature in the face.
After the dumbass shield got done shocking him – because his attempts to survive were apparently secondary to its stupid self-centered fixation in that he could not do any attack worth the effort – he began to pick the Griffin's corpse apart for materials, not only because he suspected it could be worth a pretty penny and give him materials that he could use later, but also because of a special feature the Legendary Shield had deigned to inform him about: by absorbing different materials with the shield, he could unlock other shields that could grant him more powerful skills and make him stronger.
So, now he was the (not-so-)proud owner of a Griffin Shield – which he would not be able to unlock until reaching level 30. He had also managed to synchronize with an Hourglass that was left in a small ghost town in the middle of the mountain range west of Melromarc, and on the way back he had found other things to put on his shield, giving him access to other shields as well.
"Nonetheless, I can prove I fought a Griffin," Naofumi stated to everyone in the throne room, thankful that there were ways to prove his word.
"With a shield? I don't think you've got the level to unlo-"
Naofumi cut off Motoyasu's condescending words by opening Storage and making the Griffin's body drop in the middle of the throne room.
"Holy shit." The blond's eyes had gone big and round in shock. "How the hell did you kill that, Naofumi?!"
"I, too, would like to know the answer," the King said, clearly not so much surprised as angry.
"Er, could I get something from it?" Itsuki sheepishly asked.
"Uh, same here," Ren said. Motoyasu looked at them both, surprised.
"What are you guys doing?"
"Motoyasu, it's a Griffin! We'd need to reach level 25 to kill one, and their parts could be useful," Itsuki said, approaching the body, which disappeared as he attempted to touch it. Stunned for a moment, it took him a while to realize what had happened, confirming it after seeing Naofumi's smirk.
"Hey, Itsuki, will you share one of your games if we ask you?" Naofumi asked, causing Itsuki to glare at him.
"Asshole," he said in a lower voice.
"Prick," the Shield Hero replied. They would have likely continued their banter, had the King not chosen to intervene.
"Again, how did you kill the Griffin?" he asked, and Naofumi knew he would have to answer now.
Ladies, gentlemen and other subspecies, take a seat, because this asshole is just begging for a story, and he's going to get exactly what he wants, Naofumi sarcastically thought.
"It was pure accident. You see, I was eating an apple in the middle of the forest, and it was quite the nice night, what with the moon shining over everything and not a blasted creature in sight, when out of nowhere came this big Griffin that seemed quite interested in getting me killed. It actually hit me a couple of times, as you can see by the fact, I bled all over my armor, which now I'll have to get cleaned up and repaired, for heaven's sake. I was trying to find a more advantageous position from which I could make better use of my skills as a defender, only to trip on a rock in the ground. I was still carrying a knife in my hand when I tripped, and it accidentally flew out of my hand and into the beast's beak. Apparently the knife thought it was being held by the Griffin, and it hurt it just fine. Poor thing just choked on its own blood while its throat was ravaged to death, and since I was the one that threw the knife, I got all the experience and drops."
The silence that followed the end of the tale would not have been out of place in a cemetery, and Naofumi could easily tell what everyone else's opinion on his story was: it likely ranked at 'bullshit' or below.
"What can I say? Erhard's camping knives are the best I've seen in my life."
"Still, you have yet to show proof that you didn't attack Myne," Ren said. "As far as we can tell, you attacked her, failed in doing it, ran to the forest and by mere coincidence survived being attacked by a Griffin who was not supposed to be there. There is not enough evidence to clear your name for assaulting another person, one that had also wanted to help you yesterday."
Oh, great. It's all circumstancial to these people, he groaned. He could have easily been fighting the Griffin half an hour after whatever had happened to Myne, and he had no way to prove otherwise. And what irritated him the most was that they were accusing him of one of the crimes he most hated. After all he had seen in the war with Chiltik, he only managed to hold onto his rage because of his experience doing so.
Oh, and of course, by this time of the day everyone and their mother in this blasted city has already heard of this and likely believe me guilty. And with that, I just can say goodbye to any chance of becoming a merchant.
Before he could reply, someone else stepped forward.
"My apologies for not speaking sooner. I believe there is a way to prove whether the Shield Hero is guilty or not of this crime."
"You again?" the King and Myne shouted at the same time. Naofumi noted the similarity in how they spoke, as well as how quickly they had reacted.
"According to you, what could prove the innocence or guilt of the Shield Hero? Need I remind you that the victim is in the same room as us? It's her word against his!" the King thundered, while Myne clinged onto Motoyasu, hiding her face.
"I know, Your Majesty, and I mean no disrespect, but the Shield Hero mentioned something of importance, yet no one said anything about it, so I believed it to be my duty to bring it to light."
"Which is?"
"Ferrie..." another of Ren's companions, one built like a bull and wearing heavy armor, asked. "Are you talking about how he said a woman could get a man killed just by accusing him of raping her?"
"That's the thing."
Bakta was left pensative, and then slowly nodded.
"Yeah... it fits. Should have realized, after all the times it happened at the guild?"
"Bakta? Ferrie? What are you talking about?" Ren asked, showing the curiosity that everyone was feeling already.
"Well, Sir Ren, Your Majesty," Bakta began, "in this past year, thirteen members of the Adventurer's Guild were accused of raping or trying to rape a young woman, and all were condemned to death within a few hours of the accusations being made. Your Majesty actually presided over three of them."
"I... remember. They were elite adventurers who believed nothing could touch them. What is the problem?"
"I knew several of them," Ferrie answered. "They were not perfect, but they were good people that were planning to settle down and make a family of their own. I'm not certain if it was the same with everyone, but they were all dating a girl at the time they were accused of the crime."
"And from what I can figure, those girls had all the same build, and most of them the same green eyes. The only one that I can't be sure about was one who apparently used illusion magic to hide her natural color. The man involved with that one was thrown from the guild's building by the royal guards the next day, and beheaded six hours later," Bakta said.
"I knew someone else," a spear girl in Itsuki's party spoke out loud. "He complained about a woman stalking him and demanding that he would date her, which only ended when he told her he was homosexual and in a serious relationship with another man. Three days later, he was accused of molesting several little girls and executed in spite of his protests of innocence."
"This is the first time I've heard of this. Care to explain?" the King asked of his advisors. Keeping an eye of them, Naofumi noticed one of them was acting shifty and trying his hardest not to react to the reveals and questions: that advisor was either involved in the plot or knew about it and was covering it up.
"I must apologize, Your Majesty, but it is the first time I've heard of this," another of the advisors replied. "I shall investigate the matter to the best of my ability and report on it by the end of the day."
"Good," Aultcray said, turning to the spearwoman. "Who was this adventurer you spoke of?"
"Paul the Brave, Your Majesty."
"I remember that name. That day, I was busy dealing with the affairs of the Kingdom and was unable to preside over his trial. I shall do what's in my hand to check your revelations, because if what you said is true, we have a dangerous criminal taking advantage of our laws. But, Miss Ferrie, I am wondering something... are you implying that Miss Myne is this woman you speak of? It is a serious accusation that you are implying."
"It-It's not true! I couldn't do any of that to anyone, Your Majesty!" Myne exclaimed.
"It's true, she's innocent, she couldn't do any of that," Motoyasu stated. It grated Naofumi some bad: Motoyasu had only known Myne for a day, and already he was willing to go so far for her?
"I apologize if what I said was taken that way, Your Majesty," Ferrie replied, slightly trembling yet holding firm under the unnerving glare the King was sending her way. "No, I only wish to point out that, whoever this individual is, you now have the ability to discern who she is, and perchance prevent her from causing further death in this way. As I said earlier, Myne could have been attacked by a misguided zealot from the Church disguised as Naofumi-sama, taking advantage of the darkness to cover any imperfections in his disguise. Nonetheless, there is a way to prove the truth. According to Myne, the Shield Hero attacked her while drunk, while Naofumi-sama stated that alcohol has never affected him. Why is that Shield Hero?"
"When did you become his lawyer, Ferrie?" Ren asked, confused that she actually doing her best to protect Naofumi.
"What's a lawyer?" Ferrie asked back, clearly unfamiliar with the word.
"It's a guy that–" Motoyasu began to explain, only to cut himself off as he realized something important. And for Naofumi, it was almost as if he could read his and the other Heroes' minds. Only an extreme application of his iron will prevent him from palming his face.
"Are you kidding me? It took you this long to realize they aren't even bothering to allow me to find someone that could speak for me?"
"B-But Myne–"
"Save it, Motoyasu," Itsuki stopped him.
"What is your idea, Ferrie?" Ren asked.
"Bakta, do you still have those rucolu berries?"
"How do you know about them?!"
"Everyone at the Guild knows about them," another of Ren's companions, this one an orange-haired swordsman, stated. Bakta seemed to be annoyed about it and handed Ferrie a bag that was clearly full of something. Ferrie pulled out a deep red berry the size of a strawberry out of it and handed it to Naofumi.
"Please, eat this, Sir Hero."
"It's not poisoned, is it?" Naofumi asked, looking at the red fruit. In his hands, it felt like an oversized grape, and its smell was sweet but not cloying. Most importantly, he could tell nearly everyone (save for the other Heroes) was watching close, and perhaps even gleefully, as he handled the berry.
Not that it would actually affect him if it was poisoned.
"No, it's not," Ferrie replied, and shrugging, he ate the berry. It did indeed taste as sweet as the smell promised, and there were other touches he could not identify. Not the best thing he had ever eaten, but certainly good enough.
As he swallowed, the nobles broke out in whispers, and loud enough that the heroes could tell what they were saying.
"I can't believe she convinced him to eat a rucolu berry!"
"That girl is a genius. For a moment, I actually believed she was from that heretic faith."
"I never thought I'd see a devil die in front of me."
"The Shield Devil is done for; the Three Heroes will save us from the waves now that he's out of the way!"
Sadly, for them, they did not realize that the heroes could easily hear everything that was being said in the Royal Throne, pretty much confirming that what Naofumi and Ren's monk companion had said was truthful: Melromarc's own religion taught its people to hate one of the people that had been summoned to protect them. Even Motoyasu was angry on Naofumi's behalf.
"What do you say this fruit's called? It's really tasty! Oh, can I have another one?"
Naofumi's voice ripped through the room like lightning in a thunderstorm. Contrary to their expectations, not only was the Shield Hero not reacting as expected to the rucolu berry's effect, he was actually asking for more!
"Sure..." Ferrie said, concerned, as she gave him another berry. "The last one, though. Bakta will get mad if you eat them all."
"Shame. Can you tell me where I can buy more?"
"H... Ho... HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" one noble, clearly speaking for the others, yelled. The chamber quickly bursted into more hushed whispering, and a few of the attending nobles even ran away from the castle with blatant fear making them shake from head to toes, while the other Heroes were left stunned at what was happening.
"What's so special about these berries?" Itsuki asked
"Rucolu berries have an enormously high concentration of alcohol. The only way they can be safely consumed is by diluting a berry's juice and mashed pulp in an entire barrel full of water."
The heroes reacted in different ways. Ren's eyebrows rose. Itsuki's mouth hanged open. Motoyasu looked with envy at Naofumi. Their various companions reacted in similar ways, save for Bakta, who was looking at Naofumi with shining eyes that he really did not want to know the reasons for.
"As you can imagine," Ferrie continued, "few beings would be able to withstand eating just one berry, let alone two. And yet, the Shield Hero is not affected by it. Are you sure you are fine, Naofumi-sama?"
"So... I just ate the equivalent to a full wine casket? I couldn't even tell," Naofumi replied after swallowing the second berry. "As I said, alcohol doesn't affect me. Hey, er, Bakta, how much for the rest of the bag?"
"Sixty silvers," the armored warrior replied, and Naofumi, who was not exactly in the mood for bargaining, pulled out the coins from out of a pocket (where he had just stealthily summoned them in) and offered them.
"Done."
As Ferrie picked the coins and handed the bag to Naofumi, Ren turned to the monk girl.
"How did you know this would happen, Ferrie?"
"'Tis said that the Heroes often have marks that reveal them as who they are apart from their legendary weapons. The Shield Hero, for example, is mentioned as someone whom neither alcohol nor poison will ever affect. The Bow Hero has a keen ear for music and a deft hand with an instrument. The Spear Hero is said to be excessively prone to loyalty towards his allies. As for the Sword Hero, the legends indicate that they usually have trouble when traveling by ship, although the significance of this is unknown."
The heroes felt struck when hearing Ferrie speak up and reveal such truths about them, and Ren paled greatly, fearing what would happen if the others learned of his aquaphobia.
Meanwhile, Myne's reaction was of complete shock, and her skin had paled so much Naofumi could swear he could see through her, as if she were a ghost.
"But-but I saw the Shield Hero drinking wine with me!" she screeched, unable to accept reality. Accusing a Cardinal Hero of one of the vilest crimes only for him to prove innocent of said charges could get her in serious trouble, even if it was the Shield Hero.
"Ma... maybe she's right, Myne," another of Motoyasu's female companions said, shaking. "Maybe a zealot attacked you in your sleep to make you point at the Shield Hero and get him killed by the Crown."
"You... you are right, Lesty. Fa-Your Majesty! I-I-I wish to withdraw my accusation against the Shield Hero!"
"Are you certain about this, Miss Myne?" Aultcray answered. After seeing a man eating multiple berries of a kind that would kill a normal person after the first, he felt completely done with the day. And it was barely past midday.
"Yes, Your Majesty! I implore you, find the horrible man that did this to me and the Shield Hero!"
"I shall do my best. All revelations from this trial will be investigated. Shield Hero, you are dismissed."
The guards finally stepped away from him, leaving him giving at the King a deadpan look.
"It's that all you'll say?"
"What would you wish me to say? Your affairs here are done," Aultcray replied, clearly annoyed.
"Considering the way, I've been treated by your faith, your nobles, and yourself, I'd say you ought to be a bit more careful. I might actually accept the offer those demi-humans offered me of fighting the Waves that attack their countries instead of here."
"Demi-humans? What demi-humans are you talking about?" the King asked, surprised, while thundering on the inside. First this damned boy avoids punishment, and now it turns out a bunch of demis not only crossed the frontier, but reached the Shield Hero, and NO ONE NOTICED!
"A group I bumped into after the Griffin died. They were concerned to see I had been summoned so far from their lands and asked me to fight the Waves coming for Silvelt and Shieldfreeden, because they got struck several days ago and lost many people because there were no heroes there to help them. They said something about Melromarc wanting to monopolize us and weaken the other nations to turn you into the strongest realm."
Maaaaybe I ate too many of these berries. Is this what being tipsy feels like? Man, I hope they don't realize I'm bluffing with an empty hand.
"Naofumi, what are you talking about? The Waves only hit Melromarc," Motoyasu pointed out.
"Yeah, that's the way the game goes," Itsuki stated.
"Turns out it isn't a game," Naofumi replied. "When you travel to other countries, ask to register with their Hourglasses. I already registered with Castle Town's Hourglass, and we have twenty-five days before the next Wave hits."
"That won't be enough time to reach any of the other Hourglasses, Sir Itsuki, especially if you wish to train as much as possible before the Wave reaches us," Itsuki's spearwoman stated.
"Is it possible to go to these countries you just mentioned, Naofumi?" Ren asked, and Naofumi was surprised at how earnest he was.
"I... do not believe it would be in your interest you to go to either of those countries, Sir Ren," the King's main advisor stated. "Both Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden are places where humans are heavily mistrusted, to the point that only a few humans are ever allowed in. Even the Shield Hero would have problems if he attempted to enter either country without internal support."
"He is right. They really hate humans there, and you really don't want to know the stuff they do to any of them they find without permission," Naofumi said.
Ren clearly did not like the answer, but relented, knowing it was not going to be better.
"Heroes," the King said, "I recommend you to focus on what lays ahead of you. You must register at Melromarc's Hourglass and prepare for the next wave, and going to another country would be exhausting for you at your current level. Your best course of action is to remain in Melromarc. Now, I must attend to other matters. Have a good day."
The King and his advisors promptly left the Throne Room, and the heroes and their parties were escorted to the castle's gates, where Myne decided to approach Naofumi and talk with him.
"Shield Hero, I must apologize for what just happened today. I accused you of something that did not happen, and you almost suffered the consequences of my actions. Is there a way that I can compensate you?"
"Let it be, Myne. The King spoke the truth, we must get stronger if we want to stop not only this Wave, but the ones that strike other nations as well. I just don't want any further trouble."
"Thank you for your understanding, Sir Shield Hero," Myne said with a bow, and followed Motoyasu after crossing the bridge. Naofumi ignored them, choosing his own path – and going over everything that had just happened.
That bitch, he furiously thought. The previous night, she had acted oh-so-pleasant, and he had actually believed her to be sincere in her behavior and offers. Now, he realized she had been a good actress. Nothing had actually happened to her, it had all been an attempt to frame him for a crime. If it had not been for Ferrie, he would either be dead or the most wanted man in the Kingdom.
Now, he wished he could talk with the green-haired girl: not only had she defended him when she had no reason to, it felt as if she had known him from long ago.
But, first, he needed to do some damage control: if he could not clear up his name among the merchants he knew, he would have a hard time managing to achieve his objectives.
Elsewhere, several high-ranked members of the Royal Guard and Army had been sent into a tizzy by Naofumi's tale: while they had no way to confirm that the Shield Hero had indeed been approached by demi-human spies, they all knew it was a highly likely event. The people of Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden would do anything they could to get the person they considered their God away from Melromarc, and if it had happened, it had been without anyone else learning of it.
Unfortunately for Naofumi, arriving to the merchant district proved his fears true, because everyone looked at him with either anger or disgust.
Man, this is serious. All the work I did yesterday has been for naught, but I can't do anything right now. Let's see what I can salvage – and if I can actually show people the truth.
"Hey, Kiddo! I want to talk to you!"
All of a sudden, someone grabbed him by the cape and dragged him to a nearby alley – someone that turned out to be Erhard, who smashed him against a wall and rose his fist.
"I heard what you did to the Spear Hero's companion. I want to tell you many things, or rather my fists want to."
"Don't waste your time. That trial was a freaking farce, turns out some zealot wanted to incriminate me just because I'm the Shield Hero. I think I know who did it but I don't have any proof about it."
Erhard seemed ready to strike, but one look into his eyes was enough for him to lower his hand.
"Shit. I believe you, Kiddo. Let's go to my shop, we can talk there without being overheard. This stuff wouldn't have happened if the Queen was here, but even her can't resolve all of Melromarc's troubles."
"The Queen? Why not the King?"
"You see, Kiddo, Melromarc is actually ruled by its Queens instead of the Kings. Queen Mirellia is one of the continent's best rulers in both peace and war, but she's away on a diplomatic mission. As for King Aultcray, he's only her regent, and... well once he was called the Wise King. But time and peace can dull even the sharpest knife."
Both men entered Erhard's workshop, and Erhard quickly forced Naofumi to take off his armor so he could repair it. As he did so, both spoke about Naofumi's future: Erhard pointed out that he would still need some companions, not just to fight off the Waves, but to survive training against the many monsters he would find in his travels and gave him a few tips. Naofumi asked if he had any maps, and the elder man pointed to a cupboard at a side, stating he could take any of them for free: it turned out that some of the weapons Naofumi gave him the previous day had sold for a very good price, and it was the least he could do for him – particularly since Naofumi stated he intended to travel to other countries so he could aid them against their Waves.
Erhard actually took some time to explain what he knew of the other countries, some of which he already knew through Sister Galilea's 'lesson', but other things were information he welcomed. When Naofumi mentioned his interest in Zeltoble, Erhard stated that they were the continent's prime source of mercenaries and merchants but warned him against going there too soon: if he wanted to stay safe there, he would have to wait until he reached level 30, at least. The way Erhard explained it, if certain people in Zeltoble thought you were weak, you could become their target and either become enslaved or forced into servitude. In fact, him being one of the Four Heroes might actually make a bigger target.
Finally, as the work was finished and Naofumi paid for the repair (insisting on doing so even when Erhard tried to wave him off), he asked the man if he could try to spread rumors about the actual outcome of the 'trial' he had gone through. Both of them knew it was a losing battle, but the blacksmith nonetheless replied he would do what he could.
Leaving Erhard's shop, he bumped into someone that turned out to be Rino. Before he could even say anything to her, she muttered an apology and run out of the way, leaving him despondent and a bit sad.
"Fuck. If that's the reaction from someone as nice as Rino, I really doubt the ad I put up yesterday will work at all. Looks like I'm on my own for the time being."
It was quite fortunate when someone decided to quit her party and started to look for him. It would not be until that night that she found him, though.
A/N: I hope you are enjoyed reading this story so far. I'll see you in the next chapter.