Shield Hero: A New Hero

Chapter 9

Inside the throne room, the five of us heroes stood in front of the king as he gave us our rewards. Keeping my arms crossed, I was tapping my foot constantly, still feeling extremely angry from yesterday.

"As a reward for his efforts during the wave, and for fulfilling my request, master Motoyasu will receive 4,000 silvers." the king said. "And young masters Itsuki, Ren and Mercury will receive 3,800 silvers. Finally, I've set aside 500 silvers for the shield hero. However, since he's been off set by the cost of setting his slave free from her curse, he will not receive any funds at this time."

I opened my mouth to say something. "Wait a second, that's not gonna fly." I was taken back when those words came from the right of me. Looking over, I saw it was Itsuki who had spoken up. "You were the one interfering with his duel. Dispelling that slave crest, or whatever you call it, and now you refuse to pay him what he deserves? That isn't exactly fair play."

"Yeah, that's right." Ren agreed. "If you'd followed the rules, Naofumi clearly would've won the duel."

"What? Are you crazy? I didn't lose!" Motoyasu replied.

"I'm afraid your both mistaken, sir Itsuki, sir Ren." Myne said. The sound of her voice alone made my blood boil now. "It was supposed to be a one on one duel. And the shield hero was the one with monsters hidden inside his cape. That is the real reason why father didn't declare him the winner."

I, again, opened my mouth to reply, only for Itsuki to beat me to it. "Even so, you cheated by firing a magic spell at him."

"Besides, when the wave hit, it was Naofumi and Mercury who defended that village, not the knights." Ren added. "So, if you ask me, it would be the right thing to fairly compensate him."

"Fine. I shall afford him the minimum agreed amount, but there will be nothing else." the king said. Naofumi was handed his bag of coins. "Well, you have it, so be gone already!"

Naofumi took a step forward, only for Raphtalia to stop him. "Master Naofumi, isn't it great? There's no reason for us to waste any more of our precious time here."

Naofumi was taken back a bit before he smiled and turned around, heading for the exit. "C'mon, Raphtalia, let's go." I quickly followed.

Once outside, I split my silver with Naofumi. "Here." I handed over half of my coin.

"Thanks." he took the coin and attached the bag on his hip.

"So, where you guys going?" I asked.

"To the slave trade." Raphtalia replied.

"Slave trade?" I repeated.

"Yeah." Naofumi rubbed the back of his head. "Raphtalia insists on replacing her slave crest."

"Right... because that's... something that... why exactly?" I asked.

Raphtalia's face turned a bright red as she pressed the tips of her index fingers together. "Anyways." Naofumi turned to me. "I'll take you to the place, in case you ever need something from there."

"Um... Sure... Why not?" I shrugged.

Minutes later

Inside the slave trade tent, Raphtalia had her crest replaced as I stared at all of the creatures and demihumans inside the cages. "Not a whole lot of, uhm, occupants inside the cells, huh?" I asked. Glancing around, I noticed a box of eggs with the slave crest. "What's this for?"

"This is a monster egg lottery. For 100 silvers, I guarantee at least a Filolial." the slaver replied.

"A Filolial?" Naofumi asked.

"You surely must've seen them around." Raphtalia said. "They're those gigantic birds that pull people's carriages around town."

"Those?" I asked, knowing what she was talking about.

"What's more? If you hit the jackpot, you'll win a dragon!" the slaver added. "And may I remind you, that beast is worth 20 gold pieces!"

"A dragon?" I rubbed my chin.

"Would you like to give it a shot?"

"Whatchya think, Naofumi?" I turned to him.

"Sure, why not?" he shrugged as he handed over 100 silvers.

"I'll take one, too." I said as I handed over 100 silvers as well.

"Great!"

Minutes later

Walking through the streets with my egg, I could feel Makoto staring at me. "What's wrong?" I asked. "You've been staring at me since the slave trade." I glanced at her to see her quickly look away.

"Come on. Let's head back to the Inn and talk, 'kay?"

Minutes later

Once back at our room in the Inn, I handed Makoto a piece of paper and something to write with. "What's on your mind?"

She began writing as I placed the egg on the desk between the beds. Heading back to the table, Makoto slid the paper over to me. "Oh, you're curious about what it could be?" I shrugged. "Dunno. But I'm obviously hoping for a dragon or something close to it."

Makoto just shrugged before yawning.

Heading over to the bed, she kicked off her boots and took off her cloak and armor before sliding under the covers. Yawning myself, I went over to my bed and took off my cloak and boots as well. Undoing my armor and puting it on the desk, I glanced at the egg.

After staring at it for a few seconds, I rolled over and closed my eyes.

The following morning

Feeling something poke my cheek, I brushed it away only for the poking to continue. Brushing it away again, I felt something sharp cut my cheek ever so slightly. Sitting up, I tapped the small cut and looked at my fingers, seeing some blood covering the tips of my fingers. "Jeez, Makoto." I said as I wiped my cheek. "Did you have to-" I looked over to see her still asleep in her bed. Glancing down beside me, I saw a tiny dragon staring up at me. Its wings were tucked back and its tail swayed. Looking to the egg, I saw it was broken apart. "So, it was a dragon." I said softly. Looking back to the dragon, I cupped my hands and the little guy immediately jumped into them. It was big enough to cover both of my hands, and I could feel its talons jabbing my skin, but I didn't really care, too interested in this creature to mind.

Its scales were a dark blue and its eyes were a blood red. "You're quite the cute little guy, huh?" as I said that, the dragon blew a small flame towards me. "Hey!" I glared at it as it glared back. "I was giving you a compliment."

The dragon kept staring at me. "What are you anyways?" I lifted its tail to try and see its gender, but it quickly tried to nip at my fingers. "Okay!" I pulled my hand away. "Jeez." I stared at it a while longer. "Are you a boy?" the dragon blew another flame towards me. "A girl, then?" once I said that, the small dragon brushed its head against my fingers. "Alright. Now, for your name..."

The dragon stared up at me, her head cocked slightly. "Hmm... How about... Draygone?" I shook my head at the name. "Nah, too obvious. Maybe... Justine? No. Not really a dragon-y type name." I put the dragon on the desk. "How about..." I closed my eyes in thought. After a few seconds, I got it. "Daenerys!" I snapped my fingers. I looked to the dragon to see her stretching her tiny wings. "How about it, huh?"

The dragon replied by flying up to my eye level. Watching the creature, she flew towards me and landed on my shoulder. "O...kay!"

A few days later

Battling creatures all week, I managed to level up quite a few more times. Taking Naofumi's advice, I began placing bits of the monsters we killed in the jewel on my dagger. I now had countless skills, countless abilities I could and couldn't use until I was a higher level.

And Daenerys, she grew pretty damn fast. She went from being the size of a football, to the size of a fully grown lion. It was scary how fast she grew.

All in the span of just a few days.

Now, we were taking a bit of a break, sitting in a small clearing, far from any villages. We huddled around the campfire as I checked out some more of my skills.

I could transform my dagger into all sorts of things. A sharp leaf, a spiked blade from some porkupine creature. I could shoot lightning from my blade as well as fire. But my favorite skill type? Stealth. I am able to turn invisible, and even attack up to 3 times without it wearing off. This is sure to come in handy.

Looking over to Makoto, I saw she was fast asleep in her sleeping bag. Closing out of my status menu, I felt a sudden hot breath graze my neck. Looking over to my dragon, I saw she was staring directly at me. "What?"

She blew another breath at me before laying down, placing her head in my lap. I stared down at her as I watched her eyes close.

Deciding it'd be best to get some rest, too, I let myself drift off.

The following day

Feeling something shake my shoulder, I opened my eyes to see Makoto. "Hey..." I said groggily. Rubbing my eyes, I noticed Daenerys was missing. Quickly getting to my feet, I looked around but she was nowhere to be seen. "Daenerys?" I called out. "Daenerys!"

"Quit shouting, will ya?" I turned around to see a woman, about as tall as me, standing near the trees. Her hair was dark blue and her eyes were blood red. She was also completely naked.

End of chapter 9