Author's Note: As promised, once I got twenty reviews, I would post the final chapter of Rising of the Shield Hero. I hope that you have enjoyed the journey even with my ramblings with the reviews that I had. I just couldn't get past them and wanted to hear other people's thoughts about this. Now for the last time in this part of the story, as you read this, I would like to ask you this: can you relate or feel for my version of Naofumi?
I ask as there have been a few reviews that stated that they could relate or feel for him, as he hasn't experienced anything in the story to make him a spiteful and hateful person, and that he became an immoral asshole who is cruel and would sleep with an underage Raphtalia.
I disagree, but I'll explain why at the end as it would take too long to explain, but as you read I would like you to think about this. Can you relate to Naofumi with everything he has been through so far, and believe like me he had a reason to be hateful and spiteful, or do you think he hasn't been through enough to be so like the guest review said?
Epilogue…
What He Wanted to Hear
"Now Lord Motoyasu, the girl which the Shield Hero has kept enslaved is waiting." Myne told her hero with a fake smile. She had no problem having her enslaved, but not with the Shielder. She couldn't risk him getting any stronger than he already was, if that happened, she feared her plan would get ruined and that he would try and take what was hers away. No, she couldn't allow that, not after all the work she put in to get where she is now. Once she freed this slave and either enslaved her to herself or someone else, she would do the same with the other slave the Shielder had. Although, she might punish the girl for having Motoyasu looking at her like he did, before any of that, how dare a demi-human look at her man.
"You're right Myne, we have to free the beauty from Naofumi's spell." Motoyasu agreed in a self-righteousness.
"With the defeat of the Shield Hero, the girl enslaved by the Shield Hero has been freed by the Spear Hero!" Minister announced to everyone as the people parted, to allow Myne and Motoyasu to watch the young girl be free from being enslaved.
Raphtalia was still gagged and tied up, but this was out of fear that until she was free, she would try and help her master or do to hurt them for hurting her master. That's what people were being told at least.
Motoyasu and Myne watched as the castle priests were holding a bowl filled with some kind of liquid, as they used the liquid to remove the slave spell on her crest, and to their shock and the hero's anger, her pelvic area. As they learned that it was to stop slaves from getting pregnant by their master or anyone else that their master orders them to have sex with. So they were more than happy to get young Raphtalia away from Naofumi.
As they did so, the slave icon in Naofumi's field of vision vanished, as a message came up saying that the contract was voided.
And that made it official: Raphtalia was no longer Naofumi's slave.
"Raphtalia!" Motoyasu called out happily as he rushed over to her, wanting to have her thanks for freeing her from the rapist Naofumi. He couldn't tell what the bastard put her and Kumiho through for his sexual desires. Maybe if he was lucky, she would join him and he would show her how a true hero treats women.
So as they removed the gag from her mouth, Motoyasu approached, he saw what he thought were tears of happiness in her eyes. So when she turned to face him, he thought it was to thank him for saving her, boy was he wrong.
"There, you're free now." Myne informed Raphtalia with a fake smile, "Be grateful for the charity Lord Motoyasu showed you."
That's when it happened, Raphtalia slapped the fool. As she did so, she called him out for his actions, "You're a liar and a cheat."
"What are you doing?" Myne asked darkly, how dare this demi-human hit Motoyasu. Motoyasu had a dumbfounded look on his face after being hit, he rubbed it as he tried to figure out what just happened and why. "Lord Motoyasu just set you free."
"Did I ask anyone to free me, nor do I look like I needed to be freed." Raphtalia informed the human female, with killing intent in her eyes, knowing who Myne was and what she did to her master.
"B-but Raphtalia, you were being exploited by him, right?" Motoyasu asked dumbly, "That's why you couldn't ask to be set free, he made sure that you couldn't. He… He was abusing you!"
"Do I look like I'm abused or need to be rescued?" the young girl asked in disbelief, "He might not be the nicest of people, but when it comes to me and Kumiho, Master Naofumi never forced me to do anything!" she defended her master. If it wasn't for him being a hero and she was outnumbered right now, she might have killed him and Myne for what they did to her master and her. "He only activated the Slave Crest on me when I was too scared to fight! He only did it to protect the three of us."
"But that's the problem," stated Motoyasu, as he tried to make her see sense, "nobody should be forced into a fight."
Raphtalia could only hold onto a scoff here when he said that, 'nobody should be forced into a fight,' then what did he and everyone else do to her master? They forced him to fight so that he could keep her. 'What double standards do these people have?' Raphtalia thought to herself. But to defend her master, she said loyally, "Master Naofumi can't use any weapons and has a limited amount of MP to cast magic, the Shield defends, so he needs me and Kumiho to fight for him."
"But that doesn't have to be you or this Kumiho person," Motoyasu told her, not getting why she would defend such a bastard so much, "don't you know that he'll only put the two of you in danger all the time. And what about him having sex with you, how can you be alright with that."
"You really don't know Master Naofumi at all, do you?" Raphtalia asked sadly, unable to believe that these people would think so badly of her master, it wasn't right. Sure he might not be the nicest of people, but after everything he has been through, she could see why he was like that, but once he warmed up to them, he protected both her and Kumiho. "You got him very wrong, Master Naofumi defends us, we work as a team and let us rest when we can't go any further. He also trains us to his best ability."
"No way, he isn't that type of guy." said Motoyasu, unable to see Naofumi as the type of guy that Raphtalia was telling him about. He was nothing more than a cheating rapist.
"As for sleeping with us, he has never touched us like that at all." Raphtalia lied, yes he has slept with her and Kumiho a few times now, but she wasn't going to let these people know that, it was between them and their master. Right now, she had to protect her master from such comments, to make sure that until he was ready, they would never learn what they do at nights.
"In fact, I tried to push myself on him wanting to have sex with him, but he wouldn't have it." Raphtalia defended her master, "With us as his slaves, he could have taken us to his bed at any time and we couldn't have stopped him, but yet he did nothing. So the rumours that he did something to your companion, I find it impossible to believe, as Master Naofumi isn't like that."
Everyone who was listening was shocked and angry at this, shock because they heard that the Shield Hero had slaves and didn't have sex with them. Angry that a damn demi-human was telling them off and defending the Shield Hero. Although there was a handful that seemed to believe this, Renka was someone who started to rethink things seeing how Myne acted during the duel, most of them believed that the demi-human was lying, defending the Shield Hero all because of what the last Shielder did for her people.
"So tell me, Sir Spear Hero, would you be able to offer your hand to a dirty slave wrecked with illness and on the verge of death?" Raphtalia asked the Spear Hero, wanting to learn the type of hero Motoyasu was. She already had a rough idea already, but she wanted to know if he had any redeeming qualities to him.
"Er?" this was all Motoyasu was able to say, as he had no idea what she was trying to get at.
"When I was at my worst, instead of selling me to another Slave Trader as all my former Masters did, he did not." Raphtalia told them, "Instead, Master Naofumi used his money to feed me every day, healthy and nutritious food. He clothed me. He gave me some precious valuable medicine to treat and cure my illness. Are you capable of doing such a thing!?" she yelled the last part.
"Of, of course, I am!" Motoyasu told her, but Raphtalia by the way he said it, that give the chance, he wouldn't. He was too self-centred to do so, only care about himself and making himself look good. Sure her master was self-centred and cared only about himself, and would drop her and Kumiho at a moments notice if they got in his way, but at least he was about it. It was one of the things she loved about her master.
"Then if that were true, you would have a loyal slave by your side, not that two-faced princess." Raphtalia told him.
"How dare you say such things about me!" Myne said angrily, unhappy that a demi-human was putting her down in front of Motoyasu. She raised her hand as she yelled, "Take that back you damn demi-human."
"Look over there!" one of the nobles called out.
"What's going on?" asked another, in fear this time.
As Motoyasu, Myne and Raphtalia looked round to see what was going on, they saw a shocking sight, at least for Motoyasu and Myne. a howling Naofumi who was transforming into a werewolf. For Raphtalia, she was shocked to see him bigger, more intimidating looking with red eyes instead of his green eyes.
This was what she and Kumiho feared might happen one day, their master lost himself in his rage and became a monster.
"Wh, what's that?" asked Myne, as she saw Naofumi transforming.
"That's Master Naofumi." Raphtalia told her.
"But it's impossible for him to do so." said Itsuki, who with Renka entered the area.
"Like it's impossible for you to be an angel?" Raphtalia sarcastically, "Just like you, he got a core that allowed him to transform into a werewolf and as he levels it up and finds shields, he can make it stronger."
They couldn't say much to this, as they all heard about these cores and at least one of them had such a core. "If he had such an ability, why didn't he use it during the fight?" asked Renka, wondering why Naofumi wouldn't use such ability.
"More than likely two reasons," Raphtalia told her, "the first is because if he uses this ability, he is unable to use any of his shield abilities. So whilst he would have some attack powers, he isn't able to defend us, so he doesn't use the ability unless he had no other option and we need the extra power. The other reason that he didn't use the skill, I think he wanted to show everyone that he can win a one on one battle without such abilities."
However, before anything could be said, Raphtalia saw Naofumi finished transforming into his werewolf form. She knew something was up seeing how instead of transforming into it almost instantly, it was taking much longer and he was now looking feral. Fearing that his rage, that he had problems with, had finally gotten out of control, Raphtalia realized that to protect her beloved master, she had to try and snap him out of it and so began to walk towards him. She wasn't doing it for those here, but for her master who would regret it, not because he cares for those here, but for the problems, it would create if he wasn't stopped.
As she did so, she heard Motoyasu call out seeing the state Naofumi was in, "Raphtalia! What are you doing? You could hurt yourself."
"Protecting my Master." was all she said as she continued to walk toward Naofumi.
o0OoO0o
A few moments earlier:
Naofumi found himself trapped within his subconscious, barely able to see or hear what was going on, all he had was the seething hate, anger and rage. It wanted to control him.
He felt as if the whole world was laughing at him. Mocking him. They were happy when he was in pain when he was humiliated and made out as a criminal.
All he wanted was to get the hell out of there. To return to his own world where he can try and rebuild himself, to forget what happened to him. It didn't help that he was hearing people saying that they shouldn't have summoned him in the first place, that he should be executed for his crimes. He was seeing images of what happened to him and images that weren't real, of people teasing him and mocking him.
For a few moments, he regained consciousness where he saw a message that informed him that the contract between him and Raphtalia was voided, that Raphtalia was now officially freed from his enslavement. At that moment, all he could see wasn't the girl that he slept with, but the young girl that he first brought and used to level up.
Naofumi's stomach churned as his heart was consumed by a dark feeling. It felt as if this world was ridiculing and scorning him, all the while laughing at his struggles. Naofumi had to wonder what he did in his past life to have all this crap piled on him now.
Just then, Status Windows with messages started to appear:
D0 Y0U 533K P0W3R!
P0W3R F0R V3N934NC3!
Here, Naofumi saw images of him gaining power and taking vengeance against those who wronged him. It felt great seeing this, seeing the people who betrayed him or made his life hell pay for doing so. But there was doubt though, he still had a small part of him that was innocent and good, thought that this was wrong, that he shouldn't accept dark power. As he felt it was darkness, something that could lead him to a path that he shouldn't go down. It would cost him to use such power.
But the newer darker half of him didn't care, since coming to this world, he knew that things weren't as pure and good as he once thought this world was or could be. He knew that he would need any power he could get hold of so he could have an equal footing in this world, even if it meant using dark powers and becoming evil. He lost any hope that he would come out of this as the same person as he used to be, he already changed and knew that he would change more before this was all over.
He knew that if he wanted to survive this, he would need to do whatever it took to do so. But the problem is that he agreed with his weaker side, this power could cost him to use it. As they say back in his world, there's a price for power, it might be money, your morals, part of you, even people you care about, there's always a price. Whilst he didn't mind paying the price, there was one price he wasn't willing to pay, control. He knew that with some power, you would lose control of who you are, having the power to control you instead of you controlling it. He didn't like not being in control.
He could sense that if he used this power, that would be one of its prices, control. But at the same time, he sensed that it would also be his greatest ability.
Whatever the power was, it seemed to feel his hesitation as another Status Window popped up in front of him:
7357 PPW3R 70 533 1F Y0U W4N7 17?
91V3 UP 1F Y0U D0N'7 L1K3!
Naofumi could feel that this was some sort of trap, but the images of him being made a fool of, betrayed and people lying about him were still flashing by him. His anger was getting more powerful. He wanted to make someone to pay for what was done to him, to pay for taking what was his from him. There was only one person he could think of that he wanted to take his anger out on, the Bitch Princess. She was behind it all, if it wasn't for the bitch, he wouldn't be in this state. Sure people might hate him for being the Shield Hero, but at least he wouldn't have been marked as a criminal for a crime he didn't do.
But if he wanted to make her pay, even a little bit, he would need this power, as he wouldn't be able to get near her otherwise. As the other heroes and the knights would get in the way, he would need this power to make her pay.
If it wasn't for this hate and anger he was feeling right now, he might have thought things more clearly and decided to take a different path. But that wasn't the case, he wanted someone to pay and for that he needed power, so he accepted this power, believing that if he didn't want it he could forget about it.
New Werewolf Power Acquired:
Feral Mind
All of a sudden, before he could realize what was going on, he felt himself slowly transform as this new power changed his werewolf form. He could feel himself losing any sense of self, all he cared about was getting payback for what was done to him. The last thing he recognised as he regained consciousness as he was back in the garden where everything went wrong for him that night. Upon seeing the bitch, his only thought was to get to her and make her pay, he didn't care what happened to him as long as he got to her and made her pay. With that in mind, his focus was on her and nothing else as he slowly walked towards her as he got used to this new form.
o0OoO0o
As Raphtalia walked towards her master, Motoyasu called out, "What do you mean to protect him? Does he look like he needs protecting? It's more like he is out to hurt us." As he said this, the Royal Guards surrounded them out of fear that the Princess would get hurt. None of them believed that Naofumi could really hurt them, but with how he was right now, they couldn't risk it, seeing how they had no idea what happened to him.
"Yes, he needs protection, protection from himself." Raphtalia told the fool, "Thanks to you and everyone else who treated him like a bad guy for something he didn't do, he has a problem with his anger. Up 'til now, he had some control of it, but me and Kumiho knew it was only a matter of time before his rage would take over. We feared what might happen should it happen. Right now, he seems to be in a daze, so I need to do something before he does something he might regret later on."
"You're telling me that he is like this because he blames us for something he did himself?" Motoyasu asked in disbelief, "How low can one get to blame somebody else for the crimes they committed."
Raphtalia just scoffed here, she didn't see the point of saying anything seeing how they only see her master as a bad guy. It was no wonder why her master hated these guys so much. But she didn't have time to deal with their foolishness, she had to save her master from himself. She could only think of one way to do so.
As Naofumi got his bearings of this new form, he was stopped by a young-looking Raphtalia, he could smell himself on her. With the Feral Mind skill activated at the moment, he had a strong urge to tear and mate with her there and then, he didn't care that people were there. It didn't help that he smelled that she wanted him too, that she wanted him to mate with her. However, the scent of the bitch that betrayed and framed him, made him forget about this, all he wanted was to tear her to pieces, to make her pay for what she did to him.
But Raphtalia wouldn't move, she raised her hand and began to stroke his snot. He found himself calming down a bit, some of his rage was subsiding for some reason. It was strange, he felt safe with her, that no one would hurt him whilst she was with him.
"S-Stay away!" Naofumi sneered in a rough voice. He didn't want to feel safe, he wanted to hurt the bitch that started all this. Not only that, but he couldn't trust this feeling.
This place was hell.
The whole world was made of duplicity and evil.
The women, no… the whole world was laughing at him, punishing him, trying to hurt him. In the broken state that Naofumi was in, he feared that Raphtalia, not for the first time, would betray him one day too and this was just a trick to lower his guard around her.
Seeing how her master was reacting, Raphtalia turned and glared at Motoyasu and the others. Hating how they treated her master for something he didn't do, to make him like this.
"Master, I've told you before that I don't believe the rumours about you, how you forced yourself on your companion and raped, that you're the worst of the Heroes." Raphtalia told him with sincere honesty, wanting her master to believe her.
"Right. Yes, he's a criminal! You should know since he made a sex slave out of you too!" said Motoyasu, trying his hardest to make Raphtalia see sense, that the Shield Hero was nothing more but a rapist and a criminal.
"How can you say that?" the demi-human yelled at the Spear Hero, "As I told you, Master Naofumi has never done anything like that to me, ever! He hasn't touched me like that even once!"
Then turning back to her master, Raphtalia grabbed Naofumi's hand.
"Let go of my hand!" Naofumi told her, unable to trust anyone right now. Everyone in this world had accused him of crimes that he didn't commit.
"I didn't do it!"
In his frenzied state, he was having a hard time. He was trying to pull away from here, wanting to get to the bitch that started all this so that he could end it.
"No matter what, I'll always believe in you Master." Raphtalia told her master softly and kindly, trying to make him see that she honestly believed in him.
"Shut up!" shouted Naofumi, closing his eyes, unwilling to believe it, how could he deal with everything that has happened to him, "You want to frame me for something else, just like everyone else in this damn world!"
"Master, you're wrong, please, please, calm down. Let me… please listen to me." begged Raphtalia, "I know that you wouldn't do what they accuse you of. I've told you this a few times, that I didn't believe it. That you're not the type of person who would force yourself on anyone. You aren't that kind of person. You had me and Kumiho for a while now, but you have never done anything to us. You only protected us, helped to cure me and make me stronger. In fact, it's thanks to you that I'm the person I am today."
Naofumi wasn't sure how to feel, sure he felt his heartwarming up with these words, but he still felt as if he was being tracked somehow.
"I know in the past you didn't believe me because of the Slave Crest that I had, you believed that I was telling you what you wanted to hear." Raphtalia told her master, "So now that I don't have the Slave Crest anymore, I'll tell you this, I believe in you, I believe that you didn't do anything to the Spear Hero's companion. Whilst you might be rough and have a different way to do things, I know you're not that type of person."
These were the words that he heard from her a few times before, words that he wanted to hear from others ever since arriving in this world. But this was the first time that he believed in Raphtalia's words. Maybe it was because she didn't have the Slave Crest or because she was so sincere and honest in her words that he believed her.
Whatever the case, hearing them, gently, the hatred and anger that was clouding his heart was slowly disappearing. It was strange, for the first time since this all happened, he felt genuine kindness towards him, that someone really cared about him and his feelings. It melted most of the resentment, anger and hate that he had, and because of that, he began to return into his original human form.
"The whole world might accuse you, might blame you, but I won't Master. I'll say it again and again: you didn't do it." Raphtalia reinsured her master.
When Naofumi lifted his head, what lay in front of him was not a little girl that he saw not a few moments before, but a young woman around the age of seventeen. While her features looked like those of Raphtalia, she was an unbelievably cute girl.
Her hair had been so dirty, but here it was, beautiful and long, her dry and cracked skin was somehow changed. She had a healthy glow. She had been so skinny, but now there was meat on her bones, and she was full and healthy and energetic.
She was looking at me. Her sad, dull eyes that always showed her surrender to life and its monstrosities were clear and bright and full of life.
"Master, I know that you have a hard time trusting people, so please, can we go back to the Slave Trader and have him replace my Slave Crest?" Raphtalia asked her master.
"W-Who are you?" Naofumi was having a hard time realizing that this young woman was his slave. Sure, she looks and sounds like her, but with his broken mind how it is at the moment, he was unable to recognise this in his mind. His mind was still recovering from his breakdown. To him at the moment, Raphtalia was a young girl that he brought to fight for him, this was a fully grown woman who he didn't know nor trust.
"Eh? Master it's me, Raphtalia."
"Ahaha, no. Raphtalia is just a little girl!"
This woman was claiming to be Raphtalia, the girl who'd just sworn to believe me. She looked confused, and cocked her head to the side, trying to think of a way to convince him as to who she really was without telling everyone too much about the kind of relationship they really have.
"Master, it really is me, your sword, Raphtalia." she reminded her master.
That voice… was definitely the voice of Raphtalia that Naofumi remembers alright, and she called herself his sword like her too.
'But she looks totally different.' Naofumi told himself, his mind still having problems recognising who she was, 'No way, no way. This didn't make any sense at all.'
"Master Naofumi, let me remind you of something." the young woman told him, realizing that her master seemed to forget that she grew differently than normal humans. This could explain why he couldn't recognise her.
"What?" asked Naofumi, not sure what he could have forgotten.
"Remember Master, as young Demi-Humans like me raise their level, our bodies also mature quickly in order to match their level growth."
"Huh?"
"Demi-humans aren't humans." the girl who called herself Raphtalia kept talking, "This is one of the reasons that some people treat us as monsters."
"Sure, I'm still a…" she stopped herself from calling herself a child, so she wanted her master to see her as an adult and not like a kid, "I mean I guess I'm not emotionally that mature, but my body has matured. I'm basically an adult."
She pulled Naofumi close and… and buried his face in her large, voluptuous breasts as she spoke.
"Please believe me. I believe, I KNOW, that you never committed the crimes that they said you did." Raphtalia knew that she was repeating herself, but she knew that she had to. Her master had trust issues and he wasn't one to believe one's word with ease, so she had to keep telling him this so that one day he would believe her fully. "You gave me medicine, saved my life, and taught me what I needed to survive. You are the great Shield Hero, and I am your sword. No matter what hardships we may face, or no matter what you may become, I will follow you."
Those words again, hearing them again from her helped even more. They were sincere and honest as before, he couldn't sense any deceit in her voice, it was something that he wanted to hear for so long. Not only that, but she swore to fight for him no matter what happens.
"If you can't believe me, then please, turn me back into a slave." Raphtalia informed her master, "Please, I beg of you, make me your slave again. I want to stay with you. To follow you! I feel empty without being your slave. All I want is to serve you." It was all true, she did want this. Not only because of the reason she mentioned, but she feared what might happen if she wasn't his slave. She might be captured and turned into a slave again, but this time her master might not be as kind as her beloved Master Naofumi.
"Ugh…"
Hearing such words from someone who was sincere and honest, for the first time, Naofumi found himself involuntarily sobbing. He never thought he would find himself in such a situation where he would find someone who honestly believed in him and wanted nothing from him other than to be with him and help him.
"Ah… Ahhhhhhh… Ugggg…" Naofumi bust out crying. He tried not to, but he couldn't. Having someone who truly believe in him and believed that he wasn't guilty was too much for him, he started to cry.
Raphtalia hugged her master and pulled him against her as he cried.
"Master, let's find somewhere for you to rest for a bit before we do anything." Raphtalia told her master as she led him away from the garden, to somewhere peaceful where he wouldn't be bothered for a bit.
The last thing that Naofumi heard before peaceful sleep took over was this, "It must have been so hard on you. I never knew. Please, share your pain with me."
He couldn't believe how lucky he was to find someone so loyal as her.
o0OoO0o
As Raphtalia led her master away, the people there, the king and the pope and his people left too. Leaving the Three Heroes and their companions.
Both Itsuki and Renka were deep in thought as to what just occurred, whilst Motoyasu was upset that Raphtalia would pick Naofumi over him. He was wondering how such a beauty would love a beast such as Naofumi. Thinking about it, Motoyasu, like the other heroes, wondered how powerful the Shield Hero really was.
Nothing seemed to make sense to them, everything that they knew about the Shielder led them to believe that such characters were weak, but here Naofumi was showing that it wasn't the case. Apart from Motoyasu, the other two heroes knew that Naofumi fought an honest duel, that he only used his shield skills and the skills that any of them could get. He never once used any of his attack shields. But thinking about such shields, made them wonder how he got them seeing how in the games they knew of, no such shields should be possible.
As the three thought about it, it was Itsuki who broke the silence between them, "You know Motoyasu if it wasn't for the king, you would have lost the duel, thanks to your companion interfering in the duel." Whilst he might not like the bastard, he had to say something seeing how it was a fair fight and Naofumi didn't cheat in this duel, instead, it was Myne and so he had to say something. He would have said something if Naofumi cheated in the duel, so it was only fair that he said something here too.
"As much as I would love to see that bastard be knocked down a peg or two, Itsuki is right." Renka hated to acknowledge this fact, but even she had to admit that there was cheating from the damn Spear Hero's team and that left a sour taste in her mouth. As it was forcing her to rethink everything she thought she knew.
Myne wasn't the person she thought she was. She thought that the princess was an honest and innocent person, but now, she wasn't too sure. If she could cheat and lie about this, what else could she be capable of? She didn't want to think about it, as it would mean that she made a huge mistake with Naofumi, something she didn't want to admit to. As she still hated men for the way she was treated, even if some men seem trustworthy, she fears that they would turn out like men in her world.
She honestly thought she could trust the women of this world, at least the women in this kingdom seeing how they seem to have most of the power here. But now, after what Myne did, she wasn't sure if she could trust her either and started to question her claims about what Naofumi did. It made her feel ill. In her world, should a female do such a thing, they would be either punished or killed depending on the man who caught her. But here, she thought that with things here different, women would be different, better than men were, but Myne was showing her now that it might not be the case. But she didn't want to think like that, she didn't want to be proved wrong, as it would mean that she had been treating one of the few people who was willing to help her.
Shaking her head so as not to think about this more, for now as she would deal with it later, she went on to say, "If Myne didn't interfere with your fight, you would have been defeated."
"What?!" Motoyasu asked in shock. Sure he had a rough time at the start, but after Naofumi slipped, he was able to get the upper hand on the Shielder and defeated him. It was just a fluke that Naofumi had the upper hand, that and Naofumi somehow found a way to cheat to get the powers that he got.
"We saw it clearly from above, the princess targeted Naofumi with wind magic." Itsuki informed the Spear Hero.
"No. That… that's not true!" said Motoyasu, not wanting to believe such a thing.
"That's right, you must have imagined it." Myne defended herself, "No one in the audience saw anything."
"That's because your father more than likely told them not to say anything," Itsuki told her, "even if they admit there was foul play, because of your father, they wouldn't say anything."
The look of shock that Renka saw for just a second or so on Myne's face was enough to inform her that Itsuki's guess was right, this made her feel disgusted at the thought. This really hit home that what Myne told her about Naofumi might not be true. But the thought of the beating was still with her though, thinking that Naofumi might be behind that if not the rape. What woman in their right mind would allow herself to be beaten up just to frame someone? That made no sense, which made her think that Naofumi was at least behind that if nothing else.
"So what if something happened? He used monsters in the duel, he was the one who cheated first." Motoyasu tried to turn things around, he didn't like the feeling that people were treating him like the bad guy when he didn't do a thing.
"How else would you suspect him to fight?" Renka asked, "He has no real attack power and the one skill that allows him to attack stops him using his defence skills. So he had to find another way to fight if he can't find companions. He did so by using the skills that any of us could pick up if we wanted to." She learned this bit of info from her companions when she asked them where he could have gotten such items to summon monsters.
"And whilst I might not like how he fought, he would have to use dirty tactics if he found himself in a one on one fight." Itsuki didn't like the idea of defending Naofumi after everything he did, but his sense of justice couldn't allow him to stand by and say nothing when Naofumi was forced into a duel that he didn't want to be in and then won honestly.
Motoyasu was indignant at Itsuki's words, but soon he relented.
"It looks like you have some fault, at least in this particular fight. Give it up." the Bow Hero told the older hero.
"Damn… this isn't fair… I mean… Raphtalia is obviously brainwashed!" Moyotasu told them, not liking that he lost this fight and there was nothing he could do about it. That even the other heroes who disliked Naofumi for their own reasons were even backing the Shield Hero about this. Seeing that he knew he lost this battle. But he wasn't going to back down, he still thought it wrong that Raphtalia was his slave. What's worse, Raphtalia was willing to make herself Naofumi's slave again. If that wasn't some sort of brainwashing, he didn't know what was. WHat person would be willing to be a slave if they didn't have to be.
"How can you say that after the scene we just witnessed?" Renka was forced to admit, after seeing the scene herself, she was forced that things won't as it seems between Raphtalia and Naofumi. In her world, there were many who didn't want to be a slave but had no option but to be one for the men of that world. If they had a chance, many of the women in her world would be more than happy to be free of the men that they were forced to serve. So to see something like what happened between Raphtalia and Naofumi, you would be a fool to think that Raphtalia didn't want this too, or at least there was more to this than they knew.
"She's right." Itsuki backed Renka up.
It was growing awkward, so the heroes made to leave. Little did they know that the actions that night and their actions yet to come would have a butterfly effect that none of them would expect, that over time things would change for the worse for them and the kingdom/world in ways they would never have imagined.
THE END OF PART ONE OF THE RISING OF THE SHIELD DEMON!
Author's Note: Here ends the final chapter of the Rising of the Shield Demon, I hope that you all enjoyed part one of this story and will return when part two comes out. I hope that you liked the outcome of the duel.
Now, I would like to ask, apart from what you would like to see in part two of the story, I have two questions. The answers will help me with how I write part two, as some plans might change depending on what you tell me.
The first question is what can you tell me about the demi-human Jaralis? What I know from the wiki, he is in Volume 13 and one of the villains in that Volume and that he tries to poison Naofumi's party. He also threatens Naofumi that if he doesn't stay in Siltvelt, Naofumi's village would be destroyed. He also demanded that Naofumi fight solely for Siltvelt's interest and that he should produce an heir with each of Siltvelt's tribes. He also tries to take control of Siltvelt.
So I would like to know what else can you tell me about him, and is he the type of person that would try and force to control Naofumi by trying to break him by torture whilst the Shield Hero was still weak? Willing to kill him if he didn't work solo for Siltvelt?
The next question is for those who are up to date with the main story of Shield Hero. What can you tell me about the being Naofumi calls the World Eater and the organization connected to it? I can't find much about them. On the wiki, so I would like any help that you can give me.
All I know is that the 'World Eater' is a being who collects the energy from the worlds that are destroyed by the Waves, I have no idea if it is a person or monster or something else altogether. As for this organization, all I know is that they are behind the Waves and consider themselves as gods. Not only that, but they are the ones that sent most of the Reincarnated Individuals as Vanguards of the Waves, so that whenever the Waves hit a world, these Reincarnated Individuals would try and destroy the world. The Vanguards have skills that allow them to fight against the Legendary and Vassal Heroes.
So apart from what you can tell me about them, what I would like to know is what is the 'World Eater' and what is the organization called, if they don't have a name, what would you recommend in calling them.
Whatever you can tell me will help me greatly in part two of Shield Demon, I have ideas but it all depends on the answers that you can give me. The answer to the second question will help me decide how to start Part 2 of this story, as more detail will greatly make it better or stop me from writing the start and go with something else altogether.
I have one last question, this one isn't important, but it'll help me nevertheless. What should I call Naofumi's trading post? It won't be a full village yet, but a place to drink, gain information, relax, buy/sell items and buy slaves, so a simple name will do.
Now to finish as I said at the start of the story, I disagree with the review that he hasn't experienced anything in the story to make him a spiteful and hateful person. And here's why I disagree with it: (If you don't care nor want to hear my reasoning, you can skip the rest of this, this is why I place this comment at the end of the chapter. So that if you don't care one way or another you can skip it and don't have to read it and complain about it.)
He is only spiteful and hateful towards those who wronged him, first off the townspeople of Castle Town. They earned Naofumi's hatred, the king and his bitch of a daughter fucked him over by spreading lies about him. And thanks to these lies, people treated him like scum and wouldn't sell him anything nor buy anything from him until he threatened them. The one hero who he thought would believe him turned her back to him because she believed the lies. Erhard even hurt Naofumi because of this, so yeah, they earned Naofumi's hate and spite. More so later on when he is framed again for something he didn't do. It's thanks to this town that, like in the anime and the light novel, Naofumi dislikes the world. But yet whilst he feels hate and spite for them, he did nothing to them.
The only ones that Naofumi is nice to is Atla, Ulthane and Crusch (Ulthane's slave) earned Naofumi's respect, as they helped him. But because of what he has been through, the Shield Hero doesn't fully trust them, after everything he has been through, he is worried that they are only setting him up and will betray him when they are ready to do so. But over time some trust is earned, but not fully trust, as that is long gone in Naofumi. But trust is there for the three as long as they prove otherwise.
As for training Raphtalia, Naofumi treated her more or less the same as we know it, although I can admit that he might have been rougher at the start, but that's to be expected. He only saw her and Kumiho as tools to be used as he saw fit. Sure he might be harsher towards Raphtalia, but a little more happened to him and the only ones he could take it out on were his slaves. He was also harsh on Raphtalia to make her into a decent fighter as fast as possible. So like in the main story, he was harsh towards her to make her a better fighter, but as time passed and certain events happened, Naofumi warmed up to her (and in this story Kumiho) and was nicer to them.
Next is Lute Village, they too earned Naofumi's hate and spite. They were hostile towards him and were going to charge him ten times the amount to stay in the Inn. The mayor even tried to back out on buying the slaves that he was delivering but wanting the slaves without paying. But Naofumi was able to get the payment as he gave the mayor a message that Slave Trader had Naofumi to give the mayor if he tried such a thing.
So because of what happened in Castle Town being fresh and what this village was pulling on Naofumi, it is no surprise he felt hate and spite for them too. So when they wanted his help, he wasn't willing to do so unless they were willing to pay him to do so.
And in the last chapter, he was attacked by knights for no reason and so in return when monsters attacked them, he let them be attacked and killed until someone begged for help. A little spiteful, but seeing how they just tried to kill or gravely injury him, it would be something I might have done depending on how I was feeling at the time.
Sure Naofumi had his own problems to sort out at the start, and still has a few, but he was never cruel as a few of you think he was. Now if you think otherwise, please explain to me how he is other than saying he is cruel and evil when as of yet he hasn't been.
Sure his actions were a bit more OTT than some others might have reacted, but it depends on the person, it could have done even a lot better or a lot worse. As people can deal with such actions better than others, others on the other hand can be OTT. In my Naofumi's case, I think he was well balanced considering that others could have done worse.
So if you still think that Naofumi hasn't got a good reason to be spiteful and hateful, then it is you who needs to reread the story, as he did have a good reason to be like that. Before his treatment by these people, Naofumi was a happy go lucky naïve and innocent person, but this nurture was repressed by a darker nurture created by those who are against the Shield Hero, and so his actions react to this.
If you still think that Naofumi spite and hatred is uncalled for, please explain your reasoning, as I would love to hear why you think this. As I feel he has every right to feel spite and hate. Not only that but other than those who earned what Naofumi did, he did nothing spiteful or hateful to anyone.
Now for Naofumi being immoral and cruel, I'll begin with that Naofumi has not once been cruel or evil to anyone, harsh yes, but not cruel or evil. And you can't blame him for being harsh towards people after what they put him through. Now if you talking about the rape, well let's get into that, as there are two parts in play there.
The first is the one with Kumiho, as I explained before, that wasn't Naofumi's fault, when that happened he thought he was in a dream and he was raping Bitch and not Kumiho. If he knew what was going on, he wouldn't have done it. So the blame was laid on Kumiho for making Naofumi think he was dreaming and so didn't realize what he was doing, so you can't really blame him for that.
The next part also leads to immoral, which is slightly right. The second rape is with people considering that as a child, they can't decide to have sex or not, so having sex with them, even if they consent, is considered rape. But this is a bit tricky, seeing how in this universe, demi-humans grow up differently to normal children, as apart from growing up like a normal child, they also grow up as they level up too. So they would have a different mindset than normal children, in which case their parents would more than likely to teach them about sex. And in this story, one of her former masters were teaching her about sex as he planned to make her into a sex slave, so Raphtalia knew and understood what sex basically was. Enough to decide on at least. I'll leave it up to you if you consider this rape or not, as it's a different world with different sets of rules.
Now the immoral part of it, I'll have to agree that to a point yes he is immoral for doing so. But at this point of the story, he was broken and up to this point had nothing to comfort or make him happy. So when he suddenly had two willing people who are willing to make him feel happy and comfortable, no matter what their age was, he was willing to go with it to keep this feeling no matter how wrong it might be. To be honest, if I was in his shoes, I wouldn't know what I would have done.