I do not own or maintain any rights to Rising of The Shield Hero they belong to One Piece Books and Aneko Yusagi. I am just playing in their sandbox for a minute.
Chapter 4: The Best Laid Plans
The dawn came quickly the next day, well at least for most of us. Naofumi, Itsuki, Ren, and I had all been awake doing our respective morning rituals. Naofumi had stumbled off to find a restroom, Ren was looking over his weapon and its menus, Itsuki had decided to do a morning workout, whilst I was reading over the book on the history of Melromarc. I had just read about how one of the previous shield hero's had founded the country of Siltvelt, and the two countries long history of wars between them. I was about to reach for the other book I had to cross-reference the impact this had on Melromarc culture when a loud knocking occurred at the door.
"Sir Heroes! Your morning meal is ready in the dining room!" The messenger stated before we could hear them walking away.
"Well, I guess that wraps up our morning free-time," I said bookmarking my page and standing up to stretch. "Y'all ready to go get some chow before our meeting with the king?" I continued looking to Ren and Itsuki.
"Yes, I think a nice breakfast would do us some good today," Itsuki responded to my question with his usual pretty-boy smile as he got to his feet.
"What are we going to do about the lump and Naofumi?" Ren asked us has he sheathed his sword and double-checked his belt.
"Naofumi should be back in a moment, has for Motoyasu we use his weakness," I said with a smirk. "Hey! Motoyasu look out she has a knife!" I hollered at him.
Motoyasu jumped bolt upright in his bed and looked around the room startled for a moment before turning to me. "You are a cruel, cruel man Williamson!" He yelled at me with his face in his pillow.
"Yeah, I know. But they have breakfast ready for us in the dining room, and besides, I thought that you would want to meet your squadmates today. I mean, who even knows? You might even be able to pair up with a cute girl." I said giving Motoyasu a wolfish grin.
"Well, why didn't you just say so!" He said quickly getting out of his bed and rushing out the door looking like a love-struck baboon.
Just then Naofumi stepped through the door that Motoyasu had slammed open on his way out.
"Why is Motoyasu running down the hall in his boxers?" He asked the room looking confused.
All the rest of us could do was cut a sly grin at Naofumi.
"You had to have been there," I told them as we went to get breakfast with the pants-less wonder.
After a quiet breakfast, we were summoned by the king to join him in the throne room at 10:00.
"The heroes enter." Loudly spoke the attended has he swung the massive doors open. There looked to be about a dozen strangers standing before the throne.
'These must be the people the king said he would recruit for us. It looks like the others should get three squad-mates each; it even looks like the king is willing to part with a handful of his royal knights. This is good with this much support the others might just be able to do this.' I thought hopefully while we walked to stand before the king.
"Has we discussed yesterday; I have called for others to assist you in your journey. Apparently, my call did not go unheeded." The king looked pleased with himself before continuing. "Now then, gathered adventurers, please choose the legendary hero with whom you will travel."
'Well how about that for a wrench in the cogs! Knowing what I do now about the wars with the nation of the shield hero; I don't know if anybody will partner with Naofumi.' I was worried about the kid; I knew that the king wasn't a fan of his. I moved to stan off to the side of the room while the others lined up in front of the throne.
I was as I had feared, the gathered adventurers broke into groups to support Ren the most with five, followed by Motoyasu with four, and then Isuki with a team of three. Naofumi was left with no one.
"Excuse me your majesty, but I seem to not have any companions," Naofumi stated looking flustered.
"I did not anticipate anything like this." The king said with a slight glint in his eyes as he turned to his minister.
"He's not very popular, is he?" The minister replied leaning towards the king trying to cover his mouth from view, but from my vantage point, I could see that he had a slight upturn to his lips when he spoke. A half-dozen men in robes approached the king and minister and started to whisper and laugh quietly amongst themselves `.
I could not make out much from what was said but I overheard one of the robed men say, "It seems to be going even better than we could have hoped."
'Big mistake pal' I thought angrily as I stepped from the sidelines and stood in front of the throne. "Excuse me, your highness! Seeing that Naofumi has no companions, I would like to volunteer to fight with him!" I said loudly so that the entire room could hear over there little side conversations.
The room exploded into a cacophony of noise at my proclamation. I saw Naofumi take his head out of his hands and look up at me hopefully, I tossed him a coy grin before I turned to look at the throne again.
"How?"
"Isn't he one of the heroes?"
"This is an outrage!"
"SILENCE!" Roared the king losing his composure for just a moment.
Just as quickly as it began the room went so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.
"Has I was going to say before Mr. Williamson offered his service to Mr. Naofumi. It seems that people are whispering around the castle. They are saying that among the four heroes, the Shield Hero does not know very much about our world."
"What?!" I heard Naofumi gasp.
"The legends say that the four summoned heroes will have an understanding of our land. People are wondering if you will truly be able to fulfill the conditions set out in the legends." The king said stroking his long white beard.
"Your legends are wrong!" I addressed the room again. I heard many shocked gasps and people choking on their drinks.
"BLASPHEMY!" Cried out one of the robed men while pointing angerly at me. I saw many others in the crowd clutch a rosary and shake their fist angerly at me.
"Legend says that four heroes will be summoned, yet you get five. Legend says the heroes will know and understand your world, but this is untrue as well!" I say to the crowd with a gesture of my right hand. "None of the heroes have the whole picture when they get here. Ren, Motoyasu, and Isuki all believed that they had been summoned into a video game after their deaths in their original worlds. Naofumi and I, however, got summoned after reading a book together in a bookstore. In short, your highness," I pause for effect, "none of us know what to expect from this world in whole." I proclaim gesturing to the others I had moved to stand beside.
"What he says is true," Isuki adds.
"We have a general idea, but not much more." Ren chimes in after considering the facts.
Motoyasu on the other hand just muttered something dumb about Emerald Online to his party.
"So, what do you say Naofumi? Will you allow me to travel with you?" I say to him extending my hand.
"Yes! Of course! I am glad to have your help Williamson-sama!" He said with a huge smile while he shook my hand excitedly.
I suddenly saw another pop-up hit my HUD saying, Alert! New Squad-mate added! I could suddenly see so of Naofumi's stats show up in the top-right corner of my vision indicating that we were now a two-man squad. I could see from his eyes that something similar had happened on his HUD as well.
I saw one of the girls in Motoyasu's party step out of his line and say, "Sir's, if it pleases you, May I serve with the Shield Hero as well? She seemed to be quite rushed as she spoke.
I saw Naofumi look up at me as if to ask permission. I leaned down to him to whisper quietly, "I don't believe she is being sincere with her offer. Also, the king knew no one was going to partner up with you before he even called us into the room. I will leave the final call up to you, but I smell a rat." I whispered as quietly as I could into his ear.
"Are you absolutely sure." He asked me looking distressed. I could only nod sadly at him in response. "Well then, I guess that answers that." He finished looking like some of the hope had left his eyes.
"Miss your offer is very generous, but I have to decline." He said bowing politely to the cute redhead.
She looked like someone had roughly slapped her across the face for a brief moment when Naofumi turned her down.
"Oh, no, sir Shield Hero. Please don't worry about it." She tried to say confidently while waving her hand nervously in front of her face before she stepped back behind Motoyasu. I could hear the king tighten his grip on his throne's armrest at how the exchange panned out.
"Are there any others among you that would like to throw your lot in with Mr. Naofumi and Mr. Williamson? The king said putting a heavy tone on our names.
No one moved a muscle.
"Now then, heroes I have set aside these funds for you. Please accept them." The king said sweeping his left hand at a group of four attendants.
They each brought a bag of money to the four groups. I could hear heavy and metallic rattling inside each of the bags. It seemed that the bag handed to Naofumi and I was slightly larger than the others.
"I have set aside six-hundred pieces of silver for each of you. Please take these funds and begin your journey!"
"Yes, Sir!" We all shouted in unison with only myself tossing the king a loose salute.
Naofumi and I smiled at each other as we made our way to exit the castle.
"Ah, it feels good to be outside again," I said as I stretched out my arm and back while looking at Naofumi. "Anyway, it is probably a good idea to find a blacksmith and get you outfitted for combat," I told him once I finished stretching.
"Hmm… That does seem to be the first thing we should do." He said after a moment of consideration. "But I don't know where or how to find a blacksmith." He added after looking around for a second.
"That should be pretty straight forward," I said looking at my partner, "See that open-air market over there; I bet you if we start walking down it, we will hear the tell-tale banging of a smithy." I finished pointing at a street filled with little stalls with brightly colored awnings.
As we made our way down the street I took a look at our surroundings. The street was made from finely interlocked cobblestone with a small trench in the middle of it to direct water and waste into the sewers. The stalls were all made of rough-looking wood with an awning to provide shade for the customers and hawkers; they were selling every kind of good I could think of I saw, gems, food, clothing, and just about a thousand other goods. Altogether it was a beautiful medieval bazaar.
It wasn't long before I heard the sound of metal hitting metal coming from a little way ahead.
"Hear that Naofumi, Just up there in that shop with the sword and anvil on the sign," I said as I pointed at the shop in question.
"You must have very good hearing Williamson-sama because I don't hear anything yet. Naofumi said with a gentle smile as he saw the shop I was talking about.
I smiled back at him as we arrived at the smithy, I opened the door for him to enter and he gave a polite nod as he did so. The inside of the shop was an epic experience for us, all of the weapons on display were gleaming metal and had whole sections of the shop dedicated to the type and function of each one. I saw Naofumi wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the size and scope of the shop. We poked around for a minute before we heard a man come out of the back carrying a box of armor.
"Welcome to my shop!" The large man said as he set the box down and leaned on the counter. He looked like the type of guy you would expect to own a weapons store; tall, well-toned skin and muscles, wearing a thick leather apron. "Let me know if you need help finding anything." The man offered has he continued to lean on his counter.
"Actually, we would like your help finding us some new gear," I said to the man after looking over the walls of weapons for another moment.
"Very well, what are you looking to pick up today?" He said kindly whilst stepping out from behind the counter and walking over to us.
"I would like to find some good lightweight armor and a weapon with a little more reach to it than my knife, additionally I would like to make some modifications to my knife," I said while pulling out my trust boot-knife and showing it to the large man.
"I am not as sure what I would like yet, but I think some armor and a sword would be a good start," Naofumi added in after thinking it over for a second.
"I have some leather chest pieces over there but has for leggings I will need to take your measurements and cut them for you." The man said pointing to a wall with the chest armor hanging on hooks while he looked over my knife. "Say, this is a really nice blade where did you get it from?" He said after looking the knife over with a magnifying glass.
"It is a K-Bar Doghead, Big Brother model. It came with me from our homeworld. I would like to get both sides of the blade sharpened to the hilt." I told him while I looked at the leather armor.
"Homeworld?" He said sounding confused before he had a realization, "You two are some of the legendary heroes!" He said looking happy. "Well, you have come to the best smithy in town." He announced while putting his hands on his hips. "Anyway, theatrics aside your knife should take me less then half an hour to sharpen up for you; do you have a sheath for it?" He asked examining the blade again.
"No, I only have the built-in holster in my boot," I tell him finally picking out a well-fitting piece of chest armor. I held the armor I had picked out up to him, "What's the price on this one?" I asked him politely.
"Hmm…it is normally 55 silver; but depending on what else you two decide to buy I will do a discount, so you can just set it up on the counter for now." The smith said with a friendly smile. "Anyhow, if you are ready to get the leggings, I can take your measurements now and cut them for you while I sharpen your knife." He continued.
"That sounds fine, I think my compatriot might need some guidance for his armor and weapon selection though," I respond to him while I gesture over to Naofumi who is still looking at a wide selection of armor looking completely lost.
"Sorry, I just haven't ever been inside a weapons shop before. I guess you could say that I am out of my element." Naofumi said sheepishly with his had on the back of his head. "Has for the armor I know I would like to maintain my mobility, but I think I would like something a little sturdier than leather." He stated to the smith looking for some guidance.
"You will most likely want some chainmail then. I just finished some right before you walked in; go ahead and take a look in that box and see if you like anything, if the fits not quite right I can make adjustments to it in the back." The smith told Naofumi whilst pointing to the box he had brought in. "Has for your leggings let me grab my tape." He told me while he reached over his counter to grab it.
He took the measurements for the armor I would like and then asked me about the cut I would like to get. "I think a pair of chaps would work best for me, I would like to maintain as much movement as I can, and they are easy to get on or off," I explained watching has he sketched out the pattern for them.
"Would you like any decoration to them?"
"No, I don't think anything overly extravagant is necessary."
"Excuse me, but I think I have picked out my armor." Naofumi chimed in politely. When I turned to look at him, I could see he was holding up a reasonable piece of chainmail that would cover his body down to mid-thigh. "I would also like to get this pair of boots." He added.
"Good choice kid, the armor you picked out will do great as a starter set for a novice adventurer." The smith said reassuringly. "Now that we have your protection squared away let's take a look at some offensive power." The smith said has he picked three swords off the wall and gathered some long weapons. Once he had them gathered up, he laid them out on the counter. "The swords are in order, iron, magic iron, and magic steel. They get more expensive as they go but the increase in quality is tremendous." He said as he pointed at each sword. "As for the others, I have a poleaxe, trident, and a simple spear. In the hands of someone qualified they are all equally deadly; they get lighter as they go." He finished letting us look at the weapons.
"Why don't you go first Williamson-sama," Naofumi said gesturing to me.
I stepped up to the counter and picked up the poleaxe, I gave it a few thrust and swings and found while it was expertly balanced the heft of the weapon was not to my liking. Next, I decided to test out the spear, I was much fonder of this; it had a good weight and was perfectly counterweighted by a fist-sized ball of iron on the end opposite the head. The head of the weapon itself was made of fine smelted steel and shaped like a traditional spearhead.
"I have my choice," I said placing the spear back on the counter. I saw the smith nodding his approval at me picking the spear.
"Now as for you young man what strikes your fancy?" He asked Naofumi.
"I think I will start with the most affordable," Naofumi said as he moved to pick up the iron sword. He lifted it from the counter to feel its weight and then turned to give it a practice swing. However, once he moved to bring the sword down, he let out a loud yelp and jumped backwards into counter has the sword jumped out of his hand.
"Are you alright kid?" The shop owner asked him has he moved to pick up the sword Naofumi had dropped.
"It looked like the sword just tazed you!" I said has I stepped over to Naofumi. I could see that he had gotten a pop-up in his HUD.
"It says that I can't use any weapons other than my shield," Naofumi explained at my inquisitive look. "It specified that I can't fight with any other weapon but that I can still use them as tools." He clarified for us.
"That is going to be tough to overcome. "The smith added pensively.
"Don't worry I'm sure you can acquire some way to fight. You can still use your fist, right?" I asked him.
"I don't know. I haven't tried it." He said looking at me.
"Well then, take a swing," I said as I stepped in front of him and held my arms out to the side.
Naofumi reared back a little looking unsure. I simply slapped my chest with my right hand to tell him it was okay. He pulled back and punched me as hard as he could in the chest. He made decent contact with me only for a loud "Clang" the be heard in the room.
"Well… out of all the things I expected to happen that wasn't it." I said to no one in particular.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Naofumi said putting his hands on his head looking like he was starting to freak out.
"Hey, look at me, calm down it is going to be okay." I said reassuringly, "We learned just now that you can go hand to hand. All you need is some training; beside that I am level 21, you might not be able to hurt me because of the level difference." I added grabbing him by the shoulders, forcing him to look at my face. "If the army got my ass past basic, you can win with just your shield and your wits. I have faith in you. Okay?" I said softly to him as he finally calmed down.
"Ah, thank you Williamson-sama. I just got really scared for a second. I'm sorry." He said looking down at his feet.
"Fear is natural Naofumi, we would not be human without it. What matters is having the courage to face it." I said with a smile. I heard a slow clapping coming from the smith has I turned to look at him.
"Very nice speech, that was really motivational." He said with a grin. We all shared a look and then busted out laughing.
"Well, I think we have everything we need then," I said to the smith. "What's our total?"
"Hmm… with the leather for you, chainmail for him, and your spear it comes out to be… 305 silver or three gold and five silver with a discount, I will even toss in a set of underclothes for the both of you. Consider it a perk of being heroes." The large man said with a smile.
"Seems fair," I said not to surprised.
"Well we did get quite a bit, I suppose." Naofumi shrugged as he pulled out the coin purse to pay the man. I took a minute for Naofumi to count out the coin to pay the man.
"So how long before we can pick up the armor and my knife?" I asked the smith while we leaned on opposite sides of the counter.
"About three-quarters of an hour for the lot; if you want you can head over to the inn for some lunch, I should have everything done when you get back." He said after a moment of thought.
"That sounds like a great idea, can we bring you back anything Mr?" I said realizing that we had never gotten his name.
He gave a hearty chuckle and said, "My name is Erhard, and thank you but I have lunch here." He said shaking my hand and gesturing at the upstairs apartment.
"All right I have your payment right here," Naofumi said holding out a stack of coins for Erhard.
"Thank you and have a nice lunch," Erhard said taking the money and looking happy.
Has Naofumi took back his hand he knocked over the pouch of our remaining money. He let out an "oops" has he moved to catch it, but he overshot, and the bag hit his shield instead. Suddenly there was a bright flash and the bag disappeared from sight.
"What was that?" I asked.
"It looks like my shield has an internal inventory." He explained while looking through his menus. "All but one of the coins is in it. "It also says that I unlocked the merchant's shield? It adds a defense bonus of five and apparently lets me barter better?" He continued looking bewildered.
"That is probably for the best. If we can keep the amount of money we carry openly low, we won't lose much if we get robbed or attacked." I said thoughtfully. "Anyway, let's get to lunch," I said as I headed for the door.
It didn't take us long to reach the inn Erhard had mentioned. It looked like a nice place with a handful of tables along one wall and a bar top on the other. I motioned for us to sit in an isolated corner so we could talk privately.
"So how much money do we have?" I asked Naofumi.
"494 silver." He responded. He looked puzzled for a moment and then said, "I thought the king was only going to give us 500 each?
"Yep, that's what he said but I don't think that is what he planned for." I said leaning forward to whisper to him, "I think the king planned for you to end up either alone, or with that redhead."
"Wh! Hrffig" He started to protest loudly in shock before I covered his mouth with my hand silencing him. I motioned for him to speak quietly before I let go of his face. "Why would he do that?" He whispered to me.
I saw the waitress coming out of the corner of my eye and sat upright before she reached the table.
"Hi, welcome to the Silver Stone inn! What can I get for you today?" She said cutely.
"I would like a simple meat and cheese sandwich please and a glass of weak ale," I said to her politely.
"I will have the same but with water instead of ale," Naofumi added.
"No problem. I should have that out in a few minutes sirs!" The waitress responded cheerily as she walked away.
"Why?" He asked again.
"I read in a book that a previous Shield Hero founded a country called Siltvelt and that Melromarc has been at war with them many times over the years. I also happened to notice a pattern of behavior whenever the king had to speak to or about you. He almost always said your name with an undertone of disgust. Not only that but when we broke into groups the men that were talking to the king were happy and one even said, "It seems to be going even better than we could have hoped." When it turned out you were alone. So, in short revenge."
"That seems crazy though! Why summon me here just to set me up like that?!" He whispered looking flustered.
"I don't think it is you personally. I think he would have tried this on whoever was the Shield Hero. Or best plan of action is to get our gear from Erhard and skip town for the time being. I don't think we have seen the end of this plot." I said trying not to sound insane to Naofumi.
"I don't know what if there are monsters we can't handle out there?" He said looking concerned.
"It should be safe enough to make it to the next town over at least. I tell you what, we will ask Erhard about it when we pick up our gear. Well just tell him we don't think we will get any good experience this close to the capital with all the other heroes here." I said drawing out a plan.
"I'm still not convinced, but if it will put your mind at ease and Erhard says that it should be safe then we will do it." He said after carefully picking apart my plan in his mind.
"Good after all if I'm wrong the only thing that will happen is we traveled a little farther then we needed too for farming experience points," I said looking satisfied with myself. "Now then it looks like our foods here let's eat and get back to the shop," I said nodding at the approaching waitress.
We ate quickly after our chat and paid for our food.
We made it back to Erhard's shop after taking a little look around the bazaar. I once again opened the door for Naofumi and went inside.
"Ah, welcome back!" Erhard said enthusiastically. "I just finished up your orders. I have them right here." He said patting two piles of armor. "Will you be putting them on here?" He asked us.
"Yes, I would like to get some hunting in today," Naofumi said accepting his stack.
"Good, you can get changed right through there," Erhard said pointing at a curtained off area along one of the walls.
"Thank you," Naofumi said walking over to get changed.
"Say, Erhard, you wouldn't happen to know of any nearby villages we could make it to by nightfall, would you? I am worried that with all the heroes here we won't be able to farm any good monsters for experience." I explained to him.
"Actually, I do. There is a village called Lute about six hours walk from here. If you leave now, then you should easily make it before dark. Also, around here the toughest beast you will find are balloons, but you should run into better kills on the way there. Nothing you will struggle with of course." He said after thinking about my question.
"Do you know how to get there?" I asked him.
"Yep, see here," He begins has he pulled a map out from behind the counter, "Lute is right here, and this is the capital Castle-Town if you follow this road here it will take you straight there." He said tracing out our route has he explained the map to me.
"Thank you," I said.
"Don't worry about it." He said with a wave of his hand. "If you get a chance go to the mines there and bring me some light metal ore. The shipments have been sparse lately and the courier said that they were having a monster problem in some of the tunnels. I will pay you good money if you can bring some metal back for me." He said offering us a job.
Naofumi rejoined us at the counter. "What do you think?" He asked looking over his armor.
"You look like a real hero now kid," Erhard added while tossing him a thumbs up.
"You look good, anyway Erhard you want to tell Naofumi what you told me?" I asked while I gathered up my gear.
"Sure deal, So, what we talked about was…." Erhard began.
I had a chuckle at Naofumi's expense has I went to get changed.
It took me only a few minutes to get into my gear. I thought I looked rather good in it. My leather top looked like a good waist-length leather jacket. My chaps fit well and were made from plain brown leather like my top. I put the sheath at the small of my back horizontal to the ground so I could draw it from my right side. I had a holster for my spear across my back. Seeing as I was ready I stepped back outside of the curtain and walked up to the counter.
"Well, gentlemen how do I look?" I asked as I straightened up my belt.
"Whoa! You look epic!" Naofumi said looking me up and down.
"You look fast and dangerous; I wouldn't want to be on the side having to fight you," Erhard said with a hearty laugh.
"Alrighty, Naofumi are you ready to go? I asked him.
"Yeah, let's get to it!" He said with a fist pump.
Here you go guys and gals! I know it took me longer than expected, but this chapter almost doubles the story length. Hopefully, the next chapter is finished quicker. Also, I am looking for a Beta Reader or two; my job keeps me extremely busy most days and I don't have the opportunity to do much editing. Big thanks to Zero, Dr. Gale, MaveriKat, chaqueta20, and fractalman your reviews mean a lot to me and I am glad so many people have taken an interest in this story.
-Sobe Out
Edited 23-12-19: Spelling and grammar