Shield Hero: A New Hero

Chapter 8

Inside the castle

In victory of defeating the wave of catastrophe, the king threw a party. There was food, drinks, too many people, and... "Hey, Merc." I glanced back to see Motoyasu approaching me.

"Only my friends get to call me that, Motoyasu." I kept my back to him.

"Are we not friends?" he asked.

"No, we're not."

Feeling my sleeve get tugged, I looked back to see Makoto holding a plate full of food. "Go find somewhere to sit, 'kay?"

She nodded and turned around.

Looking back to Motoyasu, I saw he was moving towards my party member. Stepping in front of him, he stopped. "I didn't realize you had such a cutie with you, Merc."

"You don't get to call me that." I growled. "And stay away from Makoto. She wants nothing-"

"Makoto, huh?" he tried to move passed me. "Cute name for a cute girl."

Grabbing his shoulder, I pulled him back in front of me. "Don't touch sir Motoyasu!" Myne schreeched.

Ignoring her, I glared at this so called 'hero'. "Find something to quench that thirst, Motoyasu. Before I do something I might regret." I turned around and walked off towards the table Makoto was sitting at.

Sitting down across from her, I let out a sigh. "Why did you insist on coming here, Makoto?" I asked. "I don't know any of these people and I don't want to know them."

Makoto slid a piece of paper over to me. Picking it up, I read it. "Seriously? For the food?" I put the paper down only to see a fork in my face with some meat on the end of it. "Makoto, I don't-" she put the fork in my mouth while I was talking.

The meat was...indescribable. It was delicious.

Chewing slowly to savor it, I swallowed. "Alright. I stand corrected."

Makoto replied by smiling before sliding a plate over to me. Picking up the fork, I stabbed a piece of meat and raised it to my lips. "You listen up!" I looked over to see Motoyasu standing in front of Naofumi.

"What the hell is that guy's problem?" I dropped the fork, stood up and walked over.

"You can't be saying it's okay to enslave others!" Motoyasu said.

"Do you even hear yourself?" Naofumi asked. "Slavery's legal in this crazy place. And she's been a great help to me."

"But we're heroes in this world. We shouldn't behave that way here and you know it." Motoyasu told him.

"You have a right to your opinion. And I disagree." Naofumi replied.

"Let's do this." Motoyasu raised his spear. "If I win, you're gonna set Raphtalia free."

"Alright. What's the plan if I win this fight?"

"That won't happen. But if it does, things'll stay the same." Motoyasu told Naofumi.

"Don't be such an idiot." Naofumi walked off.

"Master Naofumi."

"He actually has a slave in his party?" I heard Itsuki say.

"Man, how much lower is this guy gonna go?" Ren asked.

Clenching my fists, I fought the urge to yell in frustration. "You fuckers forced him to do this! He had nothing and you pricks keep trying to take away what little he has. Bunch of assholes!"

Shaking my head, I began following Naofumi.

Following him down the stairs, I saw a guard block his path. "It has been brought to my attention that you, a hero, have been using a demihuman as your slave to fight for you." the king said, approaching the railing above us. "You violated our customs and that is reprehensible." the king said. "I order you: accept the challenge!"

"Hey, they don't need to fight! I'm with master Naofumi of my own free will and-" a guard covered her mouth as he pulled her away.

"You leave her alone!"

I put my hands on my daggers in case a fight broke out. "Ah, you poor creature. You've been placed under a curse that forces you to defend him, have you not? Don't worry. Once master Motoyasu wins, you shall be released from that curse."

"Are you fucking serious?!" I growled.

"Stop it! Don't hurt her!" Naofumi shouted.

"Draw swords!"

Each guard around us drew their weapons and pointed them at us. "Heed my order, or I shall take her from you by force!"

"There is no way that you're getting out of this, you coward." Motoyasu said.

"You're a scumbag!" Naofumi shouted back. "I will win. And Raphtalia will be returned to me!"

Hearing a chuckle, I looked to the source to see Myne. "And how exactly will you win without her, shield hero?" everyone around us began to chuckle.

"You know what? She makes a good point." I said. "Let me fight on behalf of Naofumi! Or is Motoyasu too much of a pussy to fight someone that can use more than defense?"

"Naofumi was the one that was challenged." the king said. "So he will be the one to fight."

"How is that fair?!" I shouted. "All of you know he can only use defense! Why doesn't Motoyasu grow a pair, and accept my damn offer?!" I paused. "Or is he truly too scared to fight me? Knowing, the only way he stands a chance against anyone, is to challenge those who can't fight back." I glared up at him.

He grit his teeth. "My fight is with Naofumi."

"Why? Because you know I'm ri-"

I felt Naofumi place his hand on my shoulder. "Let's get this over with, Motoyasu. Me and you, one on one, right?" he asked.

"That's right."

Minutes later

Sitting in the coliseum, I waited for the duel to begin. I could feel the blood burning in my veins from my anger. Me and the other heroes stood in the stands, but Myne was in the arena, standing on the sidelines. "The duel between the sheild hero and the spear hero will now begin. This duel will end only when one of the combatants is pinned or admits defeat." the announcer said. "This duel will take place in the presence of king Melromarc and the pope, and it is thus legitimate and official." Naofumi and Motoyasu met in the middle of the arena. "Ready? Begin!"

Motoyasu rushed forward with 3 attacks, each one being blocked by Naofumi. I could see they were talking, but I was too far to hear what they were saying.

Naofumi pushed Motoyasu back only for him to rush forward with a flurry of attacks. Naofumi managed to block a few, but he got hit by most of them. "C'mon, man! Whoop his ass!"

Naofumi grit his teeth and rushed forward. Motoyasu tried to attack, but Naofumi dodged and threw a punch directly into his gut. As Motoyasu moved back, I saw one of those balloon monsters biting into his side.

"Ha! Good thinkin', man!"

Moving his cloak, Naofumi had 3 more biting him. Naofumi threw one at him but Motoyasu sliced right through it. Motoyasu tried to attack again as Naofumi's shield changed to a two headed dog. The dogs bit into Motoyasu as he jumped back.

He followed his attack up by launching a green shield into Motoyasu's stomach. He then threw 4 balloons at him just as he encased Motoyasu in a metal ball wrapped with chains.

"Hell yeah, man!" I pumped my fist as I cheered my best friend on.

Once the metal ball vanished, Motoyasu was on his knees. Approaching him, Naofumi was about to attack with a balloon in each of his hands.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind knocked Naofumi down. Looking over, I saw Myne with her arm extended, a grin on her face. I felt my anger rise as Motoyasu got to his feet and began attacking Naofumi.

His weapon glowed blue as he struck Naofumi one last time.

Seeing the duel was over, I rushed onto the arena to check on him. As I got to him, Naofumi pushed himself to his feet. "You didn't win."

"Huh?" Motoyasu turned around.

"What happened to this being a one on one duel?" Naofumi asked. "It's obvious you didn't win."

"What?"

"He's right." I told him. "That bitch over there used wind to knock him down."

"Everyone who was watching could see it!" Naofumi said. "You all saw Myne use her magic, didn't you? I know you saw it! She used her magic to help him win!"

"I shall listen to no more arguments about this battle." the king said. "Brave spear hero, you have won the duel!"

"I knew you would win." Myne rushed over to Motoyasu.

Naofumi turned away, his teeth gritted. "Lying fuckers!" I clenched my teeth. Hearing footsteps, I saw Myne was whispering to Naofumi.

She began laughing after a bit. "Get the hell away from him, you cheating bitch!" I moved between her and Naofumi.

"Your fighting was brilliant, master Motoyasu." the king said.

"Sir."

"Now I know why my daughter Malty chooses to believe so much in you." the king said, placing his hand on Motoyasu's shoulder.

"You see, papa?" Myne said.

Me and Naofumi both turned around after hearing that. "I gotta say, it was a total shock to learn that Myne was the king's daughter."

"I am. But I fight to contribute to the world's peace."

"This bitch. This goddamn bitch set Naofumi up from the beginning! That bullshit about him forcing himself on her. And this piece of shit king. Saying whatever he wanted to please her. All so she could get close to this spear-wielding asshole!" I said to myself. "It makes me sick! Putting my best friend, no, my brother through all this bullshit!" I clenched my fists as my anger spiked to a whole new level. "He doesn't deserve this! He never did anything to them! Why?"

Seeing Naofumi fall to his knees, I could feel my fingernails begin to break through my skin because of how hard I was clenching my skin. I felt blood trickle down my fingers.

Feeling a pair of hands grab my right hand, I looked over to see Makoto with her hands wrapped around mine. She stared up at me before slowly pulling me away and towards the exit. "What're you doing?"

She replied by gesturing for me to follow her.

Keeping quiet, I followed her out of the arena. She led me to the entrance of the castle before finally stopping. "Makoto, what are you-" she grabbed my hand and held it up to show the cuts on my hand from my nails. She reached back and pulled out a bandage roll, wrapping it around my hand. Once she was done, I closed and opened my hand a few times. "Thanks." I turned to head back to Naofumi, but Makoto grabbed my arm. "Makoto, I need-"

She grabbed my face and made me look her in the eye. Her hair was white and she looked worried. Extremely worried.

"Makoto, I'm fine." I told her. "You shouldn't-"

She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the castle. "Makoto?" she took me to the Inn we stayed at and took me to our room. She pointed at the bed. Sitting down, Makoto sat next to me.

Grabbing my head, she pulled me onto her lap, stroking my hair. And, just like before, everything seemed to fade away. All of my worries, anger, everything, just gone in the blink of an eye.

And before I knew it, I was dreaming.

End of chapter 8