A/N: Some people said the last chapter was like filler- that was kind of the point of the chapter. I wanted to show Suzuki doing something in detail in Melromarc and that seemed to be a good place to start. As it is people do complain that I tend to move too fast with my stories, so I guess a bit of filler isn't too much of a problem.

Also, again, I don't remember exactly how it works out in Shield Hero, but I do remember Naofumi getting a shield (I believe it was Shield of Wrath) which he couldn't use immediately (or maybe it was that he couldn't use one skill or something?) so even if someone like Motoyasu copied a weapon it doesn't mean that he'd be able to use it.

Suzuki felt quite guilty as he returned to the village. He did have the option of visiting the farm he had gotten his Filolial's egg from, but this place was not only closer- but inhabited by people who owed him one, meaning they were less likely to feed him false information.

However, there was something he had not anticipated- the demi-humans seemed to be extremely ecstatic to see he had returned.

And that was for one reason- they thought that he had come back to help them and their queen. That he had had a change of heart.

It pained him to tell them all that he was only there to find out what was wrong with his Filolial. The looks of disappointment on their faces weighed more heavily on his heart than he would've liked to admit.

"I gotta admit, I ain't never seen something like this before," Horst, the demi-human Suzuki had talked to earlier, said. "In all ma years I've never seen a bird like this."

"So, you don't know what it is?" Suzuki asked.

"Well," he said. "I do have a hunch- this could be a Filolial Queen."

"A queen?" Suzuki asked.

"Yup, in the wild, Filolials are led by a queen or king," the man said. "This could be something like that."

Suzuki considered the possibility- many monsters in Yggdrasil were considered to be 'Lords' or 'Princes' or other titles such as that- typically the bosses of an area. These monsters would have slightly different appearances and more powerful abilities and stats. This could very well be the case in this world as well.

But, it raised the question as to why his Filolial was a Filolial Queen. Had he simply been lucky enough to hatch one?

One of the things that Blue Planet had once told him popped in his mind. 'Did you know that in a bee colony, the queen is just like another drone at birth? Queens become queens by being fed something special called Royal Jelly.'

If such was the case instead, it was possible that Suzuki had simply picked up a normal egg and it was something about how he had raised the creature that caused it to become like this. It could've been something about its diet- or far more likely, it was because of the influence of his Shield. Either that, or perhaps his Yggdrasil levels changed it in some way? But as far as he knew, his classes shouldn't have anything that would alter the growth of a monster. Of course, he didn't know what the 'Guildmaster' job class did but he didn't feel like that was responsible for it.

As he was talking, his Hanzo returned and Suzuki paused the conversation to talk to it.

"The same people are still following us," it said.

Suzuki sighed. He was getting tired of this all. "In that case, can you reveal yourself to one of them and demand they talk with us? They're beginning to get on my nerves."

He calmed down a little though- much as with the Moriochi brothers he might be misunderstanding the situation. Regardless, he wanted to deal with this matter now rather than putting it off for later.

"Can I ask you to take care of her for a while? I want to check something out," Suzuki said. The bird was very easy to spot, and he had a feeling it might compromise his position if it began to act up.

"I don't have a problem with it," Horst said as he began to lead a struggling Filolial away. "C'mon, it's only for a while- and then you'll be back with him."

Suzuki turned around, but he hadn't even taken ten steps when a voice cried out behind him:

"Master! Don't leave me!"

The blacksmith was busy when someone walked into the shop.

"Greetings- uh-" he paused as he thought the person who walked in looked strangely familiar somehow, but he couldn't exactly place who it was.

"It's me," Suzuki said.

"Ah, of course," he replied. "Didn't recognize you at first with what you were wearing and your new beard- and who is this with you?"

Suzuki was trailed by a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes who looked to be between five and seven years of age. There were two things remarkable about her though- the first was a small pair of wings that sprouted from her back. The second was that she was wearing an emerald green set of plate armor.

"My name's Filo!" she said. "I help Master move around!"

"Master? Kid, did you go ahead and buy yourself a slave? I know it's legal for now, but really, enslaving such a young girl is-"

"She isn't a slave!" Suzuki retorted angrily.

"Ooh, what's that?" Filo asked, pointing to a sandwich the blacksmith had laid out on his table.

"My lunch, I was just about to start," he said. "Here, want a bite?"

"I really wouldn't if I were you-" Suzuki began but before he could say something Filo nodded, transformed into a giant bird, and swallowed the sandwich whole in a single bite.

"W-What?" the man cried out.

"Sorry, I'll reimburse you for your lunch," Suzuki said. "I bought her as an egg from a Filolial ranch, but she turned out like this when she grew up, and then she was able to turn into a little girl." He sighed. "I can't be seen dragging a naked girl around! Whenever she transforms, she'll rip through any clothes I'll buy for her!"

"Why the armor though?" the man asked.

"It's magical armor from Ygg- from some place," Suzuki said. The less he said about Yggdrasil, the less people thought he was crazy it seemed. "It changes according to a person's size, so even if she morphs into her bird form, when she goes back, she isn't totally naked."

Filo turned back into a young girl, and sure enough, she was wearing her armor when she did so.

"Wait, she didn't have the armor on when she transformed," the blacksmith said. "So... where did it go?"

"I don't know," Suzuki said and shrugged. Magical clothing worked in strange ways- the armor, since it was likely incompatible with Filo's Filolial form, probably entered some sort of pocket dimension and then reappeared when she turned back.

It worked the same way in Yggdrasil if you had a character that could transform- for example, if Lupusregina turned into werewolf, her maid outfit would be stored in her inventory for when she transformed back into a human so she wouldn't be naked when she turned back. The game was rated PG-13, after all, and the devs would not want something like that to happen.

The issue was of course, that Suzuki did not have any magical clothing fit for a young girl on hand. The suit of armor that Filo was wearing was a spare he had put into his inventory as an afterthought. The armor was rather excellent when compared to the standards of this world or that of the other one, though it was only of middling quality in Yggdrasil. Suzuki did possess several sets of dresses and the like which were magical, though they were all in his room back in the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

As it was, if he had Yggdrasil data crystals it would be possible to alter the design of the armor so it looked like a dress but still held the same defensive properties, much like the Pleiades's maid outfits. However, he had none on hand, and even if he did, he wouldn't go around wasting valuable limited resources on something like this.

"But anyway, I can't go around dragging a young girl in plate armor all around," Suzuki said. "It looks weird."

"Yeah, plus, I can't think that it's comfortable for her," the blacksmith said. Filo was not wearing anything beneath the armor, as such, her skin was fully in contact with it. This would normally lead one to believe that it was very uncomfortable, but it was not so- kudos to the armor being magical. As a matter of fact, if one were to think that the armor's heavy weight would stunt a child's growth, however, for this set it was not true, once again because it was far lighter than it looked thanks to magic.

"No, no!" Filo said. "Filo likes this armor!" She then closed her eyes and began to hover- this was one of the many properties of the armor, the ability to fly with it. "Look at this! Filo can fly!"

"Filo, you get right back down, now!" Suzuki said harshly. "Haven't I told you that you're not allowed to fly around without permission?"

Suzuki didn't notice it, but when he gave the command, the timber of his voice shifted, and it seemed as if an invisible wind blew to lift his hair slightly, making him look a bit more majestic than he would have otherwise. The blacksmith did notice it, but since this only lasted for a few seconds thought he had just imagined it.

Filo pouted but obeyed and landed back on her feet.

"So is there magical clothing you can get here?" Suzuki asked. "Something like a dress which doesn't look so weird?"

Filo said, "Filo is fine with the armor! Filo doesn't mind at all!"

"This isn't about you or what you want," Suzuki retorted.

"Well, I don't have anything like that," the blacksmith said. "But I have heard of people using magical clothing when they transform. I can give you the address of someone who would know something like that."

"Alright, thanks," Suzuki said, placing some silver coins on the table.

"Hmm? Kid, my lunch doesn't cost that much," the man said.

"No, it's for the info," Suzuki said.

The man sighed. "You do realize that I would give the information to any customer who walked in, right? You don't need to pay me for every single favor like that." He then smirked. "With that said, now that you're here anyway, why not see if you want something from here?"

Suzuki looked around, but he couldn't find anything that he'd like to spend money on for the moment. "Is there anything you want?"

The blacksmith was a bit taken aback- it looked as if Suzuki was talking to an empty corner of the store when he said that. It would not be so strange if he asked Filo if she wanted something, but the question was not directed at her, so it looked like Suzuki was talking to the air.

"Can Filo have something that let's her spit poison?" Filo asked.

"What?" Suzuki asked, now turning to her.

"Yeah- Filo wants to be able to spit acid or poison!" Filo said.

"Well, there's nothing like that here," the blacksmith said.

"Well, then there's nothing we need right now, but I'll drop by later to see if something catches my eye," Suzuki said.

"Alright- just one thing though- why'd you name her Filo? Filo the Filolial, seems kind of... well, simple if you ask me," the man said.

"I wanted to name her something else," Suzuki said. After she had rejected the name of Pandora's Actor Jr., he had thought of naming her Albedo II or Albedo Jr. instead, given her white feathers, but hadn't gotten around to deciding on it. "But she kept hearing people talking to her as a Filolial, so she's decided her name is going to be 'Filo' and won't answer to anything else."

Even her name on his display had changed to Filo, so he guessed that this was a permanent thing.

"Hmm... I think that this is the place-" Suzuki said but then paused as the Hanzo whispered into his ear. "There is someone running towards us."

Suzuki turned around and his face fell as he saw his second least favorite person in this world- the Spear Hero!

"Oi!" Motoyasu shouted as he approached Suzuki and levelled his spear at him. "Suzuki! How dare you! After what you did to Myne- you turned to theft?"

"What the hell are you going on about?" Suzuki asked.

"A relic was stolen recently," Motoyasu said. "Who else could've taken it but y-"

"Hey, don't throw out random accusations at people," Suzuki said when he noticed Motoyasu's expression change.

"Um... who are you?" Motoyasu asked, turning to Filo.

"My name's Filo!" she said.

"Ah, Filo," Motoyasu said, clutching his chest. "Truly a magnificent name!"

"...Do you have a screw loose somewhere?" Suzuki asked.

Motoyasu snorted. "I have never seen a beauty like her before- she looks just like Flonne from Disgae!"

"Who from what?" Suzuki asked.

"Doesn't matter," Motoyasu said. "I never thought I'd meet a girl like that- but that's the wonderful part about being reincarnated in another world, isn't it? To see sights like these."

That confirmed it for Suzuki- this guy definitely had a screw loose.

"But," Motoyasus said, pointing his spear at Suzuki. "I see you've given her a set of armor- what kind of coward of a man forces a little girl to fight for him? How dare you put her in danger, when you should be her shield?"

"Master doesn't make Filo fight!" Filo said. "Instead, he just rides Filo around!"

Suzuki felt like his heart might explode- if Filo said things like that in her human form, the rumors about him were just going to get even worse. He needed to tell her to shut up and what was okay to say in public.

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT! HOW DARE YOU DEFILE A GIRL AS PERFECT AS HER!" Motoyasu screamed. "Ah-"

He was stopped in his tracks as a dagger was pressed against his throat- though it was only with the flat of its blade, he was more shocked that someone had managed to sneak up behind him without him noticing.

"Shall I finish him?"

"Killing him out in the open like this will generate more problems than it will solve," Suzuki said, in spite of his wishes to see the man dead.

"Lower your weapon," the Hanzo said.

"He literally can't," Suzuki said. "But whatever I-"

"There you are!" someone shouted out from behind him.

It was that girl with purple hair- right, here name was Melty. "Spear Hero, Shield Hero, the two of you should not be fighting amongst yourselves like this."

"Don't tell me- he started it," Suzuki said.

"I can't let something like this slide though!" Motoyasu said. "He's been sleeping with a girl that young- doesn't this kingdom have laws against pedophiles?"

'You're the only pedo here,' Suzuki thought.

"Hello, nice to meet you again!" Filo said, rushing up to Melty.

Melty blinked, confused. "Have we met before?"

"Yeah," Filo. "Back in that village, right?"

Suzuki was surprised that Filo remembered that given how young she had been at the time, but this wasn't the time to discuss these sorts of things. "Filo, come on, we have work to do."

"Wait, Shield Hero," Melty said. "I have need of your assistance."

"And I have a need to get out of here as quick as I can," Suzuki said.

"Just where do you think you're going? If you think that you can just walk around despite what you've done-"

"Why are you so mean to Master?" Filo pouted at Motoyasu.

"Hey, I'm just looking out for y-" Motoyasu began to say before Filo turned into her Filolial form.

"Wait... you're some kind of weird piggy bird..." Motoyasu said, shocked.

"Filo no like Spear Guy!" Filo said in response to these words and gave Motoyasu a quick kick in the groin, sending him flying.

Suzuki began to laugh, but quickly realized he could get into trouble with this, especially given that he had done this right in front of the crown princess of this country.

Melty, however, did not look angry at all. "That's so amazing! I've always wanted to meet a talking Filolial! Can we be friends?"

"No," Suzuki said. "Like I said, I have work to do."

"Shield Hero, a great relic has been stolen as I told you earlier," Melty said. "We have had no success in finding it. We need the Heroes to go find it."

"I missed the part where that's my problem," Suzuki said.

"Aww, can't I hang out with Mel-chan a little?" Filo asked Suzuki.

"No, as a matter of fact, I forbid you from spending time with that girl. She's nothing but trouble," Suzuki said.

Melty pouted, but before she could protest Suzuki had already dashed off.

"Hmm... indeed, I understand what you're looking for," the old lady said.

She looked like a stereotypical witch- pointed hat and all, though she had a gentle expression on her face which did not radiate malice at all. "There is a way to make clothing that won't break when you transform, by imbibing the cloth with one's mana."

"Oh," Suzuki said. In Yggdrasil, there was no such requirement and something like Filo's armor could be worn by anyone who possessed the right build to wear it. "So Filo would have to spin the thread herself?"

"Indeed, but," the woman said, sighing. "The wheel I use needs a specific gemstone, and it's broken now."

Suzuki sighed- this was just like an RPG quest where you needed to find an item to get another item which you really needed. "Where can we find something like that?"

"Oh, there is a nearby cave here where we could mine the specific crystal needed but..." she started to say. "The area is dangerous."

"Not a problem for me, or at least, it shouldn't be," Suzuki said. What these people qualified as 'dangerous' would've been a midnight snack for him if he still had his powers as Momonga- but with the Hanzo and with his now increased abilities nothing this world could throw at them should've been an issue.

The woman tilted her head. "If you don't mind me asking, who are you? Erhard-san doesn't just recommend anybody, and there are few who would need magical clothing, and fewer still who could boast about going anywhere and at the same time be merchants."

Suzuki bit his lip- he couldn't let this woman know he was the Shield Hero. He had already had a taste of what telling people that would look like.

"I-I-" Suzuki began when someone knocked at the door.

"Oh? Another visitor?" the woman said. "Come in!"

Eclair walked in, with Melty's head poking out from behind her. Eclair bowed. "Sorry for interrupting, but there was something I needed."

"No problem, but I'm afraid I'm busy helping this gentleman here first," the woman answered.

"No, my issue is with him," Elcair said. "Shield Hero, once again, I ask of you, to help us!"

"Shield Hero?!" the witch exclaimed. Suzuki wanted to slam the girl's face into a desk.

"I'm busy here," Suzuki said.

"With what?" Eclair asked.

"Mel-chan!" Filo spoke up seeing the girl.

"I was going to get a crystal to make clothes for Filo, but, you told her I was the Shield Hero and now she of course, won't help me," Suzuki said.

"Well, I can fix that!" Eclair said. "Good lady, I'm a member of the Seatto family, and Melty is the crown princess of this nation! We ask you to help the Shield Hero in his quest!"

"I don't need your help," Suzuki said.

"Please," Eclair said. "While you might be suspicious of us, let us prove our worthiness to you."

"My my," the witch said. "But, it is true, I can hardly say 'no' to a call from the crown princess."

Suzuki growled. This was such a blatantly shameless attempt at gaining his favor- the two of them walked in, made it impossible for him to get help, and then offered a solution to the problem that they themselves created.

No- actually, given how he had seen this woman named Eclair thought, she probably honestly had no idea as to what she was doing and genuinely believed she was doing Suzuki a favor.

"Well, I can," Suzuki said. "I don't need your help."

"You- what is your problem?" Eclair asked. "Melty-sama has been nothing but nice to you, but you're over here disregarding everything she says!"

"Nice? She just caused this whole problem herself," Suzuki said. "And I know why she's being nice- it's either to deceive me or because she's so deep in something she desperately needs my help to solve it."

"Maybe if you'd take the time to listen to her, you'd get to know something!" Eclair said.

"Whatever," Suzuki said. "I'll find someone else to get me some magic clothes."

"You might be out of luck on that matter, I'm afraid," the witch said. "No one else in the capital will have something like this."

Suzuki sighed and tapped his foot. He turned to Melty. "I'll listen to what you have to say, alright? But that's all I'll agree to."

"Long ago, a relic was forged to defend this world if the Heroes were not there," Melty said. "It's a weapon which can transform into any of the four weapons and use their powers at one-fourth of their maximum strength. But, it has a drawback- a huge number of people are needed to power it."

"Not only that," Eclair said. "But even if one has it, one will not teleport with the Waves, making it only a second-line weapon and extremely impractical to use."

Eclair, Melty, Suzuki, and the witch were riding in the carriage the villagers had made for him, which was being pulled by Filo.

"Alright," Suzuki said. "So why not ask the others for help?"

"They... haven't had much success," Melty said. "Some of them even think you might've done it- but, I know that's not true. They are all looking the wrong direction, and as it stands given the offensive power of the weapon, we could use the help of the Shield Hero."

"Hmm..." Suzuki said. "So what's in it for me if I help? And by that, I mean, what's in it for me right now?"

"Right now is a little..." Melty began. She then sighed. "There isn't anything I can offer you right now."

Suzuki grunted, and they all sat in awkward silent after that until they finally came upon their location. It probably would've been a bit more lively if Filo was able to talk to Melty, but right now Filo was busy pulling the carriage and Suzuki had specifically told her to not turn around while running for obvious reasons.

"Is this the place?" Suzuki asked.

"Yes," the witch said.

"I'll be sending a scout up ahead before we go in," Suzuki said. "Before that though, I wanted to ask you Eclair, if you still wanted a duel."

"Eh? Are you taking me up on my offer?" Eclair asked.

"No," Suzuki said. "My objection to that still stands- I gain nothing of value if I win that little challenge of yours. No, I just want to test out my skill."

"Wait a minute," Melty said. "You two shouldn't be fighting against each other like this-"

"It isn't a fight, more of training," Suzuki said.

Eclair grinned. "Very well then. I've been considered one of this country's finest swordsmen, though I won't deny that a part of me has wondered how I would stack up against the Heroes. I have but one request though- that you not use skills during our fight."

"I will not use offensive skills during our fight," Suzuki said. "Nor will I be using my magic items."

Up till now, Suzuki had mainly fought using the magic items he had on him and rarely engaged enemies head-on unless he was sure they were weak. This was all because he was fighting alone and didn't want to risk dying- and now that he had his Hanzo with him, there was even less of a need for him to fight on the front line. Before this, he had let the denizens of Nazarick do most of the fighting for himself. However, there was a limit to this, and the time would probably come when he would have to fight on his own.

All of his combat experience had been as a caster in Yggdrasil, and it didn't seem like any of his magical skills, levels, or items were coming back to him anytime soon. As such, he needed to adapt to this new way of fighting, and had to learn how to fight like a warrior.

The two of them faced off about twenty feet away from each other. Suzuki was just using a shield, so he was just waiting for Eclair to make the first strike.

Eclair stepped forward- and Suzuki hadn't been expecting her speed as her sword managed to make it past his guard and strike him on his left arm.

He quickly stepped back- his armor had blocked most of the damage of the attack, and his passive ability as the Shield Hero seemed to have negated the rest of it, but he was still pretty mad at himself for having let his guard down like that.

Eclair seemed surprised that Suzuki was unhurt and then lunged at him again.

This time, Suzuki was more prepared for the blow and caught it on his shield. Eclair grabbed her sword with her other hand and pushed, but Suzuki refused to yield.

Next, Eclair stepped back and went for an overhead strike which Suzuki once again was able to block.

Now that he had seen the rhythm of her movements, Suzuki was more sure of blocking them. With that said, there was always the possibility that she was hiding some ace up her sleeve.

Eclair's next move was a feint- she made to stab at him but changed this into a sideswipe slash, but Suzuki was able to react in time and parried the blow.

With that, Eclair took two steps back and bowed her head. "Forgive me- it seems clear that between the two of us, you are the victor."

Suzuki was a bit surprised that she had given up so quickly given they had barely been fighting for a minute. "You're conceding so soon?"

"Indeed," Eclair said. "I am not fast enough to get past your guard, and I am not strong enough to pierce through your shield. In other words, there is nothing I can do to go through your defense, and being the Shield Hero, you can't strike at me with offensive skills given the rules of our engagement." She then put on a melancholic smile. "And here I prided myself as an excellent swordsman- but I was defeated by a Hero with just a bit of experience."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Suzuki said. "You did make it through my defenses once." Suzuki would estimate her level to be about level 20 if they were going by Yggdrasil standards, though, by that logic, Suzuki should not have been able to equal her, especially given what his level assignment looked like.

Suzuki Satoru (Shield Hero)

Level: 25 (+18 Yggdrasil Levels)

Yggdrasil Classes:

Guildmaster 6 lv

General 4 lv

Hero 5 lv

Cardinal Hero 3 lv

They were not combat specialized classes. And yet, he could go toe-to-toe with Eclair.

It was likely due to a multitude of factors. One was that he had levels from this world's levelling system and also that of Yggdrasil. Not only that, he had a feeling that as a Hero, his stats were higher than they otherwise should have been. Next, there were several stat boosts he got from mastering various kinds of shields. All of this combined with his gear was what probably granted him strength and dexterity equal to Eclair's.

In truth however, Suzuki wanted to learn the technical skills of how to handle his shield. With higher stats he could of course avoid the strikes of an enemy, but learning how to move his shield like a warrior would was a different matter altogether.

"Hmm... would you consider yourself to be the strongest warrior in this country?" Suzuki asked her.

"No, there are other swordsmen more skilled and stronger than I," Eclair said.

"So, who would you say is the strongest person in this country then?" Suzuki asked her.

"There was an adventurer who was very strong, but she is retired now," Eclair said, tapping her chin. "Of course, there are other people, but I'm not sure exactly how strong they are. His Majesty King Aultcray was once very strong, and there is a noble by the name of Idol Rabier who likewise I have heard is very powerful. Both of them contributed much during our war against Siltvelt long ago. Why do you want to know?"

"As a Hero, such knowledge is useful," Suzuki said. Eclair did not seem like she was lying- but there was always the possibility that she simply did not know what she was talking about. And was that old geezer of a king really strong? He didn't look it, but from the way Eclair talked about him, it seemed that he had been strong but wasn't anymore. "And, I would like to train a bit more with you. Strength is one thing, but I need to know how to wield my shield properly." He had considered asking to train with Coccytus or Albedo back in Nazarick, but had always been busy with something or the other at that time. However, he did have to eventually learn how to use his Shield properly.

Eclair and he sparred a few more times- she was able to get past his guard twice more, but by Suzuki's estimate nine out of ten times he was able to block her strikes flawlessly.

A/N: Thanks for reading guys! More to come soon of course.