Special thanks for Angel Wraith, who read the draft of this chapter and provided feedback. And of course, Ace-Triad for editting this chapter through his lingering health issues.

As always, stay behind at the end to watch me blabber some more.


After talking with the gathered nobles, the heroes and their followers make their way from the more crowded Melromarc Castle to somewhere more secluded to teleport back to Balafon to avoid causing possible problems. The Shield Hero suddenly stops in his tracks to look at Katarina. "You know. It just occurred to me that I never asked who your ancestor was. This 'Saint of Spear' was."

"Is it going to matter? It's not like you'll know him, man." Besides him, the current Spear Hero lets out a mirthful snort at Naofumi's attempt at learning more information about the past.

Naofumi gives an almost conspiratory, knowing look to the Sword Hero. The younger hero clearly didn't share his amusement and simply rolled his eyes. "Do you want to do the honor, or do you want me to do it?"

"Might as well get this over with." Ren also lets out a snort, but more derisive in nature than amused. He turns to the Spear Hero, and Bow Hero as well. "Sixty years ago. Makoto Itou the Spear Hero. Shirou Emiya the Bow Hero. And… Kazuto Kirigaya the Sword Hero."

It might have been Mein's imagination, but the name for the name for the last Sword Hero was spoken with a pained grunt by the current one.

Motoyasu and Itsuki stay silent for a few breaths. Long enough for their companions to start looking at them. The Bow Hero is the one to break the silence with a snigger this time. "Didn't figure you of all people got in on the joke. Figured we can't laugh at you without being all uncool if you are the one doing it to yourself?"

"I'm being serious, you idiot!" The face of the standoffish hero lights up in red. Despite his attempt to keep a dark and silent persona, the Sword Hero is still easily bothered when other people make fun of him. "He points his fingers at the people behind the other heroes. "Ask your companions if you don't believe me!"

Chapter 73: Conference of the Legendary Heroes

"Well, I can confirm the last Bow Hero's identity." The Shield Hero raises his hand. "Met the Pope of the Three Heroes' Church again recently. He said he was the disciple of Shirou Emiya, the last Bow Hero before he joined the church.

"Huh!" The current Bow Hero plants his feet right into the ground as he lets out a surprised sound. "Wait. Are we talking about young Shirou here, or Archer? Because if it's lateral, I'd be very worried."

The Shield Hero opens his mouth, looking like he's about to reply when he looks away. Seemingly taking more time to consider the answer to the question. "That's… a very good question."

"Is it true, Iris?" The Spear Hero on the other hand spins on his heel to face Iris, even grabbing the left hand of Iris as he asks his question. He has always been a bit dramatic, yet his reaction is more strange than Mein expected. Almost as if the names of the past heroes have some special meaning. "Was the Sword Hero before Ren really Kirito - I mean Kazuto Kirigaya?"

"Yes. The Sword Hero spoke the truth about the identity of the last four… I guess three heroes from sixty years ago." The House Amelia heiress blinks her eyes. She actually looks a bit confused at the Spear Hero's enthusiasm. "The name for the last Shield Hero was Mikage Mikami, in case you were curious."

"Huh. That's nice." Motoyasu's reaction at learning the true name of the King of Rape is underwhelming to say the least. Especially compared to the other three heroes.

Now that Mein thinks about it… didn't Naofumi have a very similar reaction when he first learnt their names as well? Almost as if they knew, or at least heard of the names and have certain expectations attached to them. At first, the first princess wonders if the three of them excluding the King of Rape were important figures in the heroes' own world even before their summoning. But then she remembered that they have claimed to come from different worlds themselves.

Does this mean that somehow, the past generation of the Three Heroes all existed in their respective worlds? Or perhaps certain heroes have a reputation that precedes themselves across multiple worlds? Does this mean, that maybe in another different world, someone has already heard the name of 'Iwatani Naofumi'? It raises so many questions, one she's not comfortable at asking.

"Maybe this means that those legendary weapons didn't summon the four of us at random. Maybe they look for certain traits in the candidates? There's certainly some similarity between the three of you with the last generation." Naofumi's breaks gaze from his shield, something he's been staring at shortly before the conversation started. His face becomes a bit paler after he seems to mull over his own words a little. "Damn it, I hope I don't turn into my predecessor."

"You aren't going to be the next King of Rape, Master Naofumi." The princess quickly holds onto Naofumi's right arm, while Raphtalia mimics her action and holds onto his left. Smart girl. "You are nothing like that slaving rapist. You are brave, kind, and generous."

"The last Shield Hero was a rapist?!" Motoyasu breaks his hand holding Iris and jumps on his feet. His eyes focused onto the head of the Shield Hero and stayed for a little, making the other two heroes look between him and Naofumi wondering what's going on. "Dude … now it makes so much sense why they thought you were a… you know. At first."

"Yeah, I'd rather not be reminded of that incident. Thank you very much." Naofumi rolls his eyes as he looks at Katarina. His intention to change the topic was very blatant. "Anyways, enough about us. Or even the last generation of the heroes. Your ancestor was another Spear Hero? Who was he?"

"Silly, he's the first Duke Claes, of course!" Katarina chuckles, and waves her hand at Naofumi dismissively. "He was considered THE greatest Spear Hero ever summoned, even surpassing the First Spear Hero! He's my great great great… probably missing a few great grandfathers. And he's also my personal hero, my inspiration! I want to be someone just like my great great great granddad!"

Ah, yes. The Saint of Spear, the Greatest Spear Hero to have ever been summoned, and even she doesn't speak or think of his name in sarcasm. Also sometimes known as the 'Quarterstaff Hero' in a less uptight tone by the common people, he was well known for using his weapon as a bladeless quarterstaff despite being the Spear Hero. Possessing an unbreakable will to overcome every challenge ever thrown at him, he was as merciful as he was powerful, always giving a person one chance to repent their mistakes and change for the better. That's why many of his closest allies was one point, his greatest enemies.

He was also more well known by the noble ladies as one of the most faithful summoned heroes. Who only took one wife instead of having a harem of noble ladies and commoner mistresses following him around. Let's just say that there was a reason why the Spear Hero was often the heroine's personal affection in more modern romance novels, and it traces back to the faithful marriage of the Saint of the Spear.

"No, no no, I mean what's his name? He had to have a name before he became 'first Duke Claes', right?" Naofumi waves his hands too, trying to explain himself better. "It seems like all the heroes I learnt so far are Japanese, unless he was someone from European descent?"

"Oh, right! His name when he's summoned!" Katarina jumps back and slaps her head, poking out her tongue. "It was Son Goku."

The four heroes stayed upright for a second before they all trip and fall down on their faces, back or sides at that revelation. That… wasn't a response Mein expected. Or anyone else for that matter, as the followers of the heroes quickly swarm over to help their fallen heroes stand back up.

"So, I'm guessing great great great missing a few great grandpa was pretty famous back with you heroes, huh?" Katarina practically preens on the spot as she chuckles at the heroes' reaction after hearing her ancestor's name.

"Of course he was, he's the-"

"One of the greatest heroes ever known!" The Shield Hero actually interrupts the Spear Hero in an outburst that seems to defy his usual polite demeanor. It seems like their current Shield Hero was, ironically, one of the biggest fans of the Saint of the Spear. Even the Sword and Bow Heroes are raising their eyebrows at his action.

The Spear Hero looks at Naofumi with a strange expression on his face. Maybe he didn't expect to be interrupted. But in the end, he didn't do anything other than shrug his shoulders. "Yeah, he was."

"Wait, didn't you come from the opposite world as mine?" The Shield Hero seems to suddenly remember something as he turns towards the Spear Hero. "Was Son Goku the prince of all Saiyans in your world or something? And his rival is the low class warrior turned elite Kakarot?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Vegeta can't be Son Goku." Motoyasu snorts at Naofumi's question, seemingly more amused by his suggestion than derisive. "That'll only happen in fan comics."

"HA! In your face, SUPERMAN!" Naofumi turns around, and starts pumping his fist up and down in some kind of incomprehensible triumph. "Goku is the greatest hero in all the universes!"

The Bow Hero leans closer to the Sword Hero and whispers to the hero closer to his age. "Should I be worried that I have no idea what he's so excited for?"

"It's probably something pointless, like a battle between fandoms." The Sword Hero, despite being the younger of the four heroes, simply shrugs his shoulders. Clearly too 'grown up' for whatever shenanigan that got the Shield Hero act less his age.

"Wait, if your ancestor was Son Goku-" The Shield Hero suddenly spins on his heels to stare at Katarina again. His face is adorned by an almost maniacal excitement that rarely shows on Naofumi's face. "Can you do his Kamehameha attack?"

"Oh, yes! Great Great Great Grandfather's strongest attack! The one he learnt from the Turtle Hermit of his own world! YES! Every Claes would learn it!" Katarina leans lower to the ground, her legs split apart in a very unladylike manner. She moves both arms to one side of her body, and cups them together as if holding onto an invisible ball. "I haven't mastered the technique yet, but let me show you what I can do!"

The Claes heiress takes a deep breath, and starts letting out a deep, guttery sound. "KA…"

The princess squints her eyes, wondering if the monkey girl is going anywhere with this nonsense. "...ME…"

It started out with a flicker of a blue ember. So tiny, that Mein assumed her eyes were tired and playing tricks on herself. But sure enough, the little sphere starts to grow in size. Filling the empty space between Katarina's hands. "...HA…"

By this point, the heroes, even their followers, start to stare at Katarina with baited breath. Some of their group, like the Sword Hero or Iris tries to hide their excitement from other people, but all of them are staring at the Claes heiress. If someone like Towair actually snuck up into Melromarc Castle away from guard's notice and threw their strongest attack, they could incapacitate, if not kill all four Cardinal Heroes and their party in one single move. "...ME…"

The blue sphere nearly engulfed Katarina's hand by this point. She pushes her cupped hands away from the side of her waist upwards, aiming her attack at the sky. "...HA!"

Did she, did Katarina just fired off a blast of pure energy out of her own body? Some kind of unarmed weapon art?!

To someone who isn't a seasoned adventurer, this might not look or sound like a great achievement. After all, magic already exists where people can start shooting fireballs, or blades of wind after a few months of study if they have the aptitude. And while it's less common than a mage, warriors have their own version of long range attack in the form of Weapon Arts: some kind of vacuum cuts for weapons with blades, or concussive blast for blunt weapons.

Yet, the oxymoronically named unarmed, or weaponless 'weapon' arts are an entirely different monster that takes much great effort, and great discipline of one's mind to learn, let alone master. There are many theories on why a proper weapon arts using one's body is much more difficult than a weapon, and the most widely accepted theory was actually proposed by a mage: a lack of autonomy, therefore lacking a focal point where one can gather the energy with an objective mindset.

A properly trained warrior is told to treat their weapon as an extension of their own body, not a simple tool as one would wield a fork and knife during a meal. That's one of the first lessons Coach Zellus drilled in her head. But a weapon is still that, an extension of the body, not one's own body itself. In this way, the weapon serves as a focus point similar to a wand or talisman for a mage when casting a spell. One can properly push, and store their own energy into a weapon with a clear mind, unlike focusing them into one part of their own body.

For Katarina to manage a true unarmed weapon art not in the way of an empowered punch or kick, but an energy projectile around twenty … There's no way around it but to admit her own failure to recognize it: Katarina Claes is a prodigy much like Iris Amelia. She just happens to have the aptitude for martial ability, and not even aware of it. No wonder Iris would keep her around even when she's a social embarrassment and liability to House Amelia's image.

Curse her own hubris for casting Katarina Claes aside, assuming her to be nothing more than a social liability! Now, the martial prodigy that was ripe for her own taking has fallen completely into Iris' hand and House Amelia sphere of influence!

"Well… that was…" After a while, the Shield Hero is once again the first one to break the silence. Somehow, his stunned looking face actually looks a bit… underwhelmed? The princess quickly casts a glance over to the other heroes, and finds their expression all in the similar vein. "More of a Hadouken than a Kamehameha, I guess?"

"Yeah. Definitely a Hadouken." The other heroes agree with his assessment. Even the Sword Hero is nodding along, although he's once again giving funny looks to the Shield Hero.

The way the Shield Hero speaks with such casual familiarity with the tone suggests a lot of people capable of the kind of feat Katarina just pulled. Possibly even beyond that. Just what kind of world the heroes came from?

"Owww… yeah. I'm not very good at it." Katarina is now sitting on the floor, letting out some pained grunts. Beads of sweat visibly trace down her long hair. "Father is better, as he can actually manage a steady beam stream. But I'm better than Keith! He still hasn't gotten it down yet! But my baby brother has beaten me in casting though! He's awesome!"

"Well, Katarina. I better get my acts together and work extra hard, if one of the previous Spear Hero, and your ancestor is Son Goku!" Motoyasu spins his free arm a few times, and then pumps it up. It seems like learning the identity of the Saint of the Spear has also inspired him. "I'm probably not going to live up to him, but I want to be good enough for you!"

"Aww… you don't have to do anything special, Master Motoyasu. You are nice to us, you let us do anything we want, and you protect us. You are already my hero…" The face of Claes heiress lights up redder than a ripe apple. She looks away and speaks in an uncharacteristic whisper, which the Spear Hero clearly didn't hear.

"As interesting as it is, we are wasting our time." The Sword Hero steps forward, taking charge despite his young age. "Let's get back to preparing for the next Wave."

"Wait, before we do that. Shouldn't we take advantage of us being all together at once?" Naofumi turns around and holds his hands up to get everyone's attention. "All of us have some knowledge from our games, right? Maybe we should pool our information together, and see what's applicable before we go our separate ways preparing again."

"I thought you didn't have a game and just read a book?" Bow Hero's face whips around to face Naofumi, looking both surprised and a little suspicious with how high his eyebrows are. "You haven't held out on us from before, have you?"

"He didn't, but his younger brother played a character collector gacha game from a phone app that has a similar setting." Ren waves his hand dismissively at Itsuki. "I had a talk with him before. Jogged his memory a little."

"Hmph!" The Bow Hero crosses his arms and frowns at the Sword Hero. It's hard to tell if he's more annoyed at his fellow hero's attitude, or how he didn't know about their conversation from before. And for that matter… When did the Sword Hero meet Naofumi? How come she doesn't know about it? Granted, she hasn't been following the Shield Hero every moment, but are the heroes intentionally meeting behind everyone, or more to the point, her back?

"If you want a more private place for a discussion, we can relocate to my family manor, Lord Heroes." Iris steps up beside Motoyasu, her face still hiding behind her folding fan. The Amelia heiress is clearly very self-conscious about her scarring, at least within the capital's walls. "My fellow ladies and myself will be waiting at my family manor while Lord Motoyasu ferries Lord Shield Hero back to Balafon, and we have enough room for a private discussion, and can provide you with some refreshment."

Everyone agrees it's a good idea.


The heroes didn't agree on the information they were sharing. Particular about their reinforcement method of their legendary weapons. Honestly, it's something to be expected, when everyone of them apparently have a different way to how they further enhance their weapons.

Between the Sword Hero's weapon proficiency, the Spear Hero's monster soul enchantment, the Bow Hero's magical item tempering and the Shield Hero's weapon or material duplication limit breaking, there's barely any similarity between their method aside from they all ultimately make their legendary weapon stronger one way, or another.

The ball room of House Amelia's capital manor easily has enough room to sit down all the heroes, and their current followers. Built entirely out of hardened, and very expensive dried and hardened Dragon Blood (or Granites, as the Faubley people start to call them) painstakingly transported to the capital. It gives the Amelia manor a kind of lavish, yet reserved splendor. It's also one of the better stone materials to have enchantments carved, or weaved into for defense.

Right now, half of the people are standing on their toes. Not exactly weapons drawn, but some of them definitely have their hands edged closer. Almost like they are preparing for the worst. It's not hard to understand the tension, since they are reflected off the heroes themselves.

Sword Hero has his face lowered, either brooding over the things shared around their tables, or hiding his annoyance at his words that weren't immediately believed. Spear Hero is clearly biting his lips as he looks around, apparently starting to notice the atmosphere in the room. The Bow Hero is blinking, yet staring at his fellow heroes like a predatory bird monster. His thug of a knight standing tall behind him, barking out empty threats. "How dare you accuse the Master Bow Hero for lying, and lying to him back! I thought you guys were heroes!"

"Don't you say Master Motoyasu was lying either!" Katarina barks right back at the knight easily twice, maybe three times her size. "I've been following him for over three weeks now, I have seen him enhancing his weapons! So he's not lying."

"Same can be said for my master." Mald blows at his own mustache as he squints his beady eyes at Katarina. "And with all due respect, Heiress Claes - your reputation doesn't exactly make you known for being the most reliable source of information."

"Let's not be hasty, Mald. No one has actually accused anyone of lying…yet." Before a sparring session can escalate into something more physical, Bow Hero raises his hand to stop the argument. His words are more cordial than his followers, yet there is also an underlying suspicion. It seems like the boy at least knows how to pull off the age old red face guard, white face guard trick.

"Actually, this has been on my mind since we talked together, Ren." Naofumi moves his hand away from his nose and calls out to the Sword Hero, getting the boy's attention. "Remember that time we met outside Lute? And you suggested there might have been a game from my world?"

"Yeah, you said it was that mobile phone game." The Sword Hero nods his head, probably not knowing where his fellow hero is going with the thought, but playing along all the same. At least it's a good way to distract others. "What was its name again? Kamihime Project?"

"Eiyuu Hime Project, actually. But that's not important." Shield Hero leans closer down towards the table, he rests his arms on it. "Browser, or phone app gacha games is still a thing on your earth right? Even with all the VR technology and stuff."

"Well, yeah. Not everyone has the time, or reflex required to play VR games." The Sword Hero scoffs at Naofumi's question. Even if she doesn't really understand what they are talking about, Mein can feel a sense of arrogant pride from the younger hero, not unlike a noble when he talks down to those of humbler birth. "Dumb people still throw their life savings accounts away playing those microtransaction-infested garbage. Because they don't rely on skill, and whoever has the fattest wallet wins."

"Then all of you should know how rarity works?" The Shield Hero leans back into his chair now, his eyes travel around all three of his fellow heroes. They give him a nod of affirmation, even if they all look confused or lost. "After my talk with Ren and started remembering Takeru taught me how weapon enhancements work in Eiyuu Hime Project, I started seeing rarity letters on all the shield forms I unlocked."

"My father taught you?" Among the whispering and grumbling of the heroes and their companions, Raphtalia looks up at Naofumi.

"Oh, no. Sorry." Naofumi turns around and scratches the girl's hair with a sad smile. "My younger brother was also named Takeru."

"Oh. I see." Raphtalia nods along. "Right. People sometimes have the same name."

"Well, I just checked my weapons, I don't see any rarity symbols on them." Motoyasu throws his hands in the air. The Bow Hero didn't say anything, but he shows his support for the Spear Hero by nodding along.

"I believe what Naofumi is trying to say is…" Ren removes his finger, which was running along the boy's own chin after Naofumi revealed his own weapon fortification method. He slowly narrows his eyes and stares at the Shield Hero. "...you somehow 'conditioned' your weapon to adopt the same system as the game your brother was playing. As in you created a fortification method out of nowhere, by believing it hard enough. That's why the whole rarity status didn't exist before our talk, but all of sudden they appeared on your shields because that's how the gacha collector games are always programmed. Am I right?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought of when I sat back and pondered it over. And now after hearing each of your respective reinforcement methods, I believe it's the same thing for all of you." Naofumi's finger moves along his three fellow heroes. "You created your own enhancement method because you each believed that's how things should work from the experience of your respective games. But you didn't realize it and thought they were always there, because unlike my method, which retroactively assigned rarity rank to all the shields I already unlocked and gave them a visual cue. There's no huge visual indication of a system 'reboot' for all of you, so to speak. Plus, I never took the system for granted out of overexposure, because it's from a game my brother played, and he just showed me how it works one time, shortly before I was summoned."

"We created our own enhancement methods?" The Bow Hero draws his eyes back to his own weapon. He turns the bow in different angles as he observes the weapon in his hand, clearly not convinced yet. "If that's true, wouldn't it mean we can do it again?"

"Let me try it! I want my spear to be Super powerful!" The Spear Hero holds onto the shaft of his weapon with both hands, and closes his eyes and leans it against his forehead. Almost as if the man believes his extra concentration would make his wish come true. He opens his eyes again after making some concentrated, almost painful sounding grunting noise for a few minutes. "My spear doesn't look any different from before."

"Maybe you need to be more specific? Being 'super powerful' doesn't really tell anyone what you want, your own weapon included." The Bow Hero leans his head on his left hand. From his bored expression, the young man looks more like he's simply making fun and leading the Spear Hero on, than giving genuine suggestions.

"Right! What about… I want +99 attack and defense stats added to my spear!" The Spear Hero doesn't seem to be aware of his fellow hero's amusement. He squints at his weapon, almost going cross eyed while making some more noises for a few minutes more before giving up, "Still nothing."

"Probably not the best time… but I just unlocked, or maybe re-created all three of your enhancement methods." The Shield Hero's hand slowly rises into the air, getting the other heroes' attention. "I just assumed all of you were telling the truth and tried to imagine my shield with them, and all of sudden I have these extra options opened up."

"You did?" The Sword Hero raises one of his eyebrows at the Shield Hero. He looks down and fixes his gaze at his own sword. Clearly trying to copy Naofumi's apparent success. "You are right, I see the extra options too and all the rarity symbols."

Spear and Bow Hero give a quick look at each other before concentrating on their respective weapons. After a short period of silence, they both let out some surprised sound, the Bow Hero being the more articulating one. "What's the difference between your attempt and Motoyasu's?"

"Maybe it needs to be more specific, and also requires some kind of 'equivalent exchange'?" The Shield Hero clicks his fingers on the table, his head nodding in a rhythm. "Obviously, what makes our Legendary Weapons special are their growth potentials, not how strong they start out. Or else they would have been one of those powerful like those special holy weapons we get near the end of a video game. And we all had to feed them materials to unlock new forms. Clearly, some kind of exchange system is needed for them to grow in power, and it's not like what Motoyasu just tried, commanding it to become stronger."

"It makes sense, if you think about it. Why would the weapons have summoned us from different versions of Earth?" The Sword Hero scratches the side of his chin, as he nods along Naofumi's line of thinking. "Wouldn't it make more sense to summon candidates from the same world, so they are more likely to trust each other and work together? There has to be a reason why they choose to summon each of us from a different version of Earth, and maybe that's the reason: growing up with different experiences, it's more likely we'll come up with different ways to enhance our weapons, making them stronger overall when we share our information together."

"Huh… that does make the most sense." The Bow and Spear Hero look down at their respective weapons too, even Motoyasu looks thoughtful for the moment. "So now we know we are all telling the truth, and suddenly each of us has three different ways to fortify our weapons. Guess we'll use the remaining time before the third Wave to enhance our weapons?"

"That's obviously important, but shouldn't we do something else first?" Naofumi raises his hand high again, once again getting the attention of his fellow heroes. "From what I heard, the three of you didn't work well together in the last Wave."

"Who are you to critique how Master Itsuki fared in the last Wave?" Mald blows at his mustache once again, his fat cheeks shaking with condescension. "You didn't even show up!"

"No, Naofumi was right. Actually, he's being pretty generous with the situation." The three heroes look away from each other. And to be fair, the Bow Hero does sound genuinely embarrassed even as he complains about the situation. "Ren and Motoyasu kept wandering into my line of fire and blocking my shots, and they also ended up tripping over each other."

"I didn't expect how fast Ren could pull off his special moves." Motoyasu looks over at the Sword Hero. "It's like he doesn't have to worry about active ability swapping, or skill cooldowns. He just goes swinging, and all of sudden he's chaining one special move after another like he's playing an action game."

"Oh yeah! Master Motoyasu is the best, but the way the Sword Hero fights is awesome too!" Katarina jumps right on her seat, and starts swinging her arm around, like she's holding an invisible weapon. Making the other people quickly duck out of her way. "He just goes 'woosh!', 'pow!', 'woop!', and he- AIEEE~!"

Predictably, the Claes heiress loses her balance, and falls down towards the floor with her chair. The Spear Hero quickly reaches over to catch her. Mein can feel Iris gritting her teeth behind her fan as the ancient holly wooden chair hits the floor. "Be careful, Katarina."

"Yeah, I should watch myself better." Katarina pokes her tongue out, and quickly jumps out of Motoyasu's arms. "My butt still hurts if I fall down."

"And I keep underestimating Motoyasu's range." Ren pulls his attention back from Katarina and looks directly at Naofumi. "I'm used to everyone's weapons having their exact reach, aside from a few specific long range weapon arts. But almost every weapon art Motoyasu uses gives him extra reach and range, and it messes up the timing of my combos."

"Right, it sounds like the three of you don't know what each of you can do. Imagine what would happen if all of you got roughly three times stronger than you already are." The three weapon wielding heroes look at each other, all of them grimacing at the picture Naofumi is painting. "With more companions to worry about too."

"The Shield Hero's concern is very valid for us." Sir Becter, the knight from Ren's party nods his head. As his unofficial second-in-command, and the one who was mostly responsible for the wellbeing of his party members, the knight is clearly more used to thinking for others. "Now we are more used to fighting alongside Sir Ren, it's becoming apparent the rate of his power grows, easily outclassing ourselves. It would be very dangerous for us to worry about friendly fire from the heroes, while we are already fighting for our lives against the Wavespawn."

"What do you suggest we do? In that case? Stop growing stronger?" The Bow Hero looks up from his seat. From his wording and the ever slight frown on his face, he doesn't really like the suggestion.

"Not how I'd put it, but essentially? Yes." The Shield Hero's voice is without malice, yet stern. Similar to how he was talking to the younger hero shortly after the incident with Inquisitor Emon. "I think it's more important we get to know each other's companions better, so they know what's to be expected when we fight in the Waves. Less for them to worry about, and maybe we can see if we can create some synergy with ourselves.

"I agree with Naofumi!" The Spear Hero is the first one to throw in his support. "Iris, Katarina, and Bertia, the people they brought along, and my birds all know how I fight, and they don't worry about getting hit by me. Katarina even fights alongside me, no problem!"

"YEAH! Master Motoyasu and I, we make a great team!" The Claes heiress jumps up and connects her hands with the Spear Hero, and a shining ethereal chain forms between their wrists. The two of them wave their arms and legs dancing around between tables. Despite their usual bouts of clumsiness, the two of them aren't bumping into any furniture or people with a sort of unorthodox looking grace. "I want everyone else to do the same with their heroes!"

"Not really what I was getting at, but yes." Naofumi turns to sweep his eyes across the people sitting or standing around their banquet table. "We can concentrate on stopping the Wave, and killing the Wave boss if we don't worry too much about hitting each other. And knowing how each one fights should be the first step."

"Makes sense." Rather surprisingly, the Sword Hero actually agrees with the notion. "I'm more used to fighting by myself because I don't have to worry about others interrupting my rhythm. But if the wave needs more people to stop the monsters from overrunning the NPC-, the civilians, it's better I know how they'll react and they know how I'll react."

"I'm not going to fight alongside the Shield De- Hero, if that's what he wants!" The thuggish knight of Bow Hero practically spits out of his distaste at the suggestion. "I work well with Master Itsuki. I protect him from harm, and he kills anything and anyone I hold back. What's the Shield Hero going to do for me?"

"Nobody asked someone like you to be near my Thane." Yatsuhashi narrows his eyes. He walks over the Shield Hero and glares at Mald right back. "I don't trust his safety with the likes of you around."

"Let's not fight among ourselves." The Shield Hero quickly stands up from his seat, and physically holds back his sworn shield. "I'm not forcing anyone to switch around the party. Especially not with me, since I'm mostly going to focus on using defensive and support abilities. Even if you get hit by my [Lightning Spear] miracle, you'll probably just feel a bit of a sting."

"That's not exactly true, Master Naofumi." Mein turns around to look at the Shield Hero. He is clearly underestimating the miracles he learnt from Jaune's group. "Your miracles may not damage them much due to your low ATK, but you'll cause status ailment to everyone for your high DEF. Getting hit by your [Lightning Spear] will paralyze us, leaving us open to attack by wavespawn. And a [Force] from you is going to send us sky high."

"Oh, I… thought they were only super effective against the undead." The Shield Hero spins his head around, clearly surprised at what should have been pretty common knowledge. "More the reason to know my limit, I guess."

"Well, I for one agree with the Shield Hero." Sir Crepe slams her hands on the table and pushes herself up. Once again, the princess isn't sure where the drunkard of a knight got her confidence to start assuming leadership. "I think it's a great idea, Master Itsuki! Will you let us go train with the other heroes a bit?"

"I, I also think it's a good idea." Besides Sir Crepe, Rishia's head sinks even lower towards the table, to the point she's practically barricading her lower face behind it. "I, I'm still not sure what I can do to help. Other than helping organize everyone's supplies. But I learnt a lot from everyone. M- maybe we'll learn more from each other?"

"Yeah, sure. Mald can stay with me if he doesn't want to switch. But it is good everyone switches around and gets a better idea at how to work with each other." The Bow Hero doesn't look very enthusiastic at the idea. Which begs the question why, as he wasn't shown to be as much a loner as the Sword Hero who readily embraced the suggestion. Although this might be the reason, as he is actually reliant on the party he already has? He continues. "How are we going to do this, are we going to go about this? Are we going to port back to Balafon, and immediately start the party switch today?"

"No, I'm thinking we'll do it tomorrow for two reasons. First, it's close to noon already after we went through that whole parade, and our meeting with those nobles. It's better if we have the whole day to work on it though." The Shield Hero shakes his head, he runs a finger along his chin, slowly drawing out a plan of action. "I'm thinking more along the lines of we fight together today near Balafon, against those big gutterbeaks. They are large enough targets, we shouldn't worry too much about friendly fire. And we'll all be fighting with our own party, but close enough to observe each other. This way, we get a general idea of what the other parties are capable of, but we don't worry too much about getting in each other's way till the next day."

"That's reasonable." Ren starts to mimic Naofumi's posture, but with his hand rubbing the underside of his chin. He probably didn't want to come off as he's copying the Shield Hero. "The EXP penalty only affects the four of us, giving our followers a chance to catch up to us while we stay around the same power level."

"I don't have a problem, I'm the only one in the backline." The Bow Hero shrugs his shoulders. "More people around me means I'm better protected. And I'll only have to worry about shooting the target. And I don't have to worry about my shots being blocked when I'm aiming up."

"Hey, if you want more people protecting you, maybe we can get some of the Whiterun guards, or Balafon militiamen with us." The Spear Hero breaks from Katarina and plops himself back on his seat. "We can help train them too, so they are better prepared for brigands, or the wave if the next one is around them."

"Is bringing extra people a good idea?" The Sword Hero frowns at this new idea, clearly still not used to working with more people. "Aren't we trying to get used to each other's party members? They'd be an extra distraction."

"No, Motoyasu's idea is actually perfect." Naofumi immediately holds his arm out, stopping the Sword Hero's line of thought. "We'll be fighting alongside the soldiers in the Wave. The extra guards, or militia, who want to join us would be a good practice."

The Sword Hero looks over at the Shield Hero, silent reign between them for a few moments longer than usual, making everyone hold their breath till the Sword Hero finally nods his head in concession. "Very well, I concur."

"It sounds like my Lord heroes have come up with a feasible plan to prepare for the coming Waves. Then allow me to do my part, and ensure all of you are well supplied for the task at hand." Iris closes her fan down and claps her hands. Servants, probably already waiting in the hall, begin to roll in trolleys filled with prepared food in some, rare ores and magical gems on others.. "I have already anticipated from both past experience, and how common weapons are tempered that strong magical materials can be used to fortify weapons. Although I admittedly did not expect the Shield Hero's method through weapon duplication. Still, it should be an easy arrangement to make once I pass the request to my lord father, and younger brother."

"Don't you have any suggestions to add, Iris?" Motoyasu turns his attention over to his fiance and apparent chaperone. "You are smart, like Naofumi. Maybe you can think of something we didn't?"

"I'm flattered you place me in such high regard, Master Motoyasu. But my mind, and talent mostly rest in statecraft and trade." The Amelia heiress opens her fan to hide her face again as she shakes her head. "I shall leave matters of warfare, or preparing for the Wave to those with better expertise, like my younger brother or heroes such as yourself. And I shall focus on aiding you all by supporting you logistically."

"You are helping us more than the king did." Naofumi squinted his eyes while looking at the aqua haired young lady. "What's the catch?"

"The catch is by ensuring your heroes grow stronger, and have the best chance at defending us against the Wave of Catastrophe… or other more mundane threats. I am ensuring the security, and future prosperity of my own family." The Amelia heiress relaxes her previous elegant, yet rigid posture a little and lets her body lean into her chair. "If the Wave of Catastrophe destroys this nation, House Amelia will fare no better than common people of humbler birth against an endless horde of mindless monsters. And whatever is left will be further burnt to the ground by the other nations. I don't fancy my chance for survival, or enjoy the prospect of living as some old, dingy lord's concubine, hidden and chained in a tower."

"I won't let it happen to you, Iris!" As the Spear Hero tries his best to swear his allegiance to his fiance, the first princess sits deeper into her chair too, sulking.

Of course, by giving away her good will to the heroes like petals spread on the street during the parade, she also ensures her own escape route in The Game. No matter which hero eventually comes on top, they will remember the debt they owed the Amelia heiress, and show her leniency even if he's her competitor.

The worst part about this situation is how there's no way for her to stop Iris' maneuver. One, because she'd inevitably expose her own identity because a peasant girl wouldn't understand all the political intrigue. And two, Amelia heiress is doing everything in her power to help the heroes. Even if she's willing to out herself, she has no good reason to tell the heroes not to trust Iris other than political grudge that'll only make herself look bad. Especially with how suspicious, if not flat out hostile the heroes feel towards the royal family.

The Amelia heiress truly is someone who likes to stay multiple steps away from her rivals.

Omake: Doubt Of the Royal Spymaster

Douglas Ibil Noches, head of House Noches, and the spymaster of Melromarc, can feel an acute aching slowly creeping its way up to the back of his head. And surprisingly, the source doesn't have anything to do with his daughter running away from home to run around with the Spear Hero, or his son helping hide the fact away from him.

No, his current source of migraine comes from his liege, who he swore to serve. Not really new, after his decision to go behind every ruler in the world's back, his own wife included, and illegally summoned all the heroes. But this more recent decision is definitely the most potentially disastrous. "Please, Your Grace - I implore, no, I beg you to reconsider your options. You personally taking the frontline would be the worst decision now. Especially in your weakened state."

"It's too late to change the plan. Not with the main force of the Crusader Block already called into the Crown Land." The king lets his fist fall on the map sprawled in front of his table, his hand resting on the kingdom of Augustria. "King Ares, of the Hodr bloodline, didn't answer my call. Citing the civil war of Shiltfreeden threatening to spill into Augustria as a reason. How many more would ignore us by the fourth Wave, if I don't lead by example and show them our ability to maintain control?"

Marquis Noches narrows his eyes, as he also traces his finger down the line that divides the 'Basket of the World'. On the east, the worshippers of the Whip Hero and Faubley loyalists. And in the west, a ragtag group of different guerilla fighter groups wanting to gain their independence from Faubley… and maybe more. The crazed Hammer Hero Maximilian Washington, and his Rebel Alliance.

King Ares' concern isn't entirely out of place, if most of the rebels truly support the Hammer Hero's goal: to kill all nobles in the world. They might decide opening a second front to the west against Augustria is a good idea while their main force is bogged down fighting the Faubley Loyalists. Yet, the spymaster knows the truth will not help his argument here. "His Eminence, Pope Balmus, is going to take the battlefield. There is no way to risk the two of you together."

His old friend, King Aultcray, slowly straightens his back from the table he's bent over, revealing perhaps, the bigger reason behind his hastily thought out, and dare Douglas say it, foolish decision. "Both of my daughters will be in the thick of it. One was recently assassinated by an unknown party, the other might be brainwashed by the Shield Demon. Do you expect me to sit back, and let them get in harm's way?"

"Do we have to come back to this point again?" Marquis Noches sighs at the king's continued distrust towards the Shield Hero. "Hasn't he done enough to prove himself the past few weeks? My spy has reported that he's done nothing but good for our people, averting many disasters. Well… leaving behind a rotting corpse of an ancient thunder lizard isn't the most sound plan, but it's not like he wanted to get involved in the first place, and he can't safely dispose of the dead body in his circumstance. He at least warned Count Ascart's men about the situation."

"And what about the death of my oldest friend?"

"It has nothing to do with the Shield Hero! The only son of House Arc testified under oath, that Lord Royal Battle Mage, and many of the free fighters he brought along fell in battle to open a way to the heart of the undead scourge!" Douglas has to sit down in the chair as he feels the headache deepens, he should probably go see a healer after this. He would want to know if something's bleeding inside.

"As much as I trust the son of Archduke Wales, I don't trust his memories. The men Aldrecht took were former convicts. And not the kind that stole some food out of desperation either. They are the ones that revel in causing senseless chaos, and bloodshed, slaughtering children for their own amusement." The king's face twisted into righteous fury at the mention of the casualties amongst free fighters. "Animals! No better than those Siltvelt whoresons! They aren't the ones to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. No, the boy clearly has his memories altered just like my daughter. And if the Shield Demon has the ability to corrupt a pious follower of Biscus, how can I trust him with my daughter?"

"Believe me, I understand how you feel. I was ready to maul the Spear Hero with my bare hands, when I realized he took Bertia to fight a newborn outer god." The spymaster closes his fingers around his forehead. He would likely leave a few trails of blood dripping down his eyes, if not for his gloves. "But think about it. Our queen is indisposed on the Cal Mira Island. All the noble houses who are somebody have sent some representatives, and even some of their elite guards to the capital. What would happen if you get seriously hurt during the Wave, or Chief God forbid, worse? Who is going to ensure the safety of your daughters, to make sure they don't end up wives of, or worse, concubines of an overambitious Player in The Game to secure their right to rule?"

His old friend stares into his eyes and stays silent for a few minutes. It's hard to tell if Aultcray took his words to heart, or if he's cooking up another of his own schemes. "Your promotion from the position of spymaster to prime minister is always on the table."

"NO! That would be as bad a decision as Her Majesty leaving Lord Seaetto in charge before her departure to Cal Mira Island." His old friend's suggestion is so bad, the Marquis ends up jumping to his feet faster than a snapped lute string. "I can act as you, or Her Majesty's frontman in governance if you are both present. Doing things the two of you can't be seen doing because you two have to maintain cordial relationships with the rest of nobility. But I don't have a political faction rallied behind me like Duke Amelia. If I'm in charge, and both you and her majesty are indisposed of, I will be disposed of very quickly."

"True, that's a valid concern. The question is who would do it? De Gallia, Velthomer… or Amelia? It could even be my Wavedamned brother from Faubley! If we can figure this question out, we might be one step closer to who ordered Melty's assassination." The king narrows his eyes and glares at the map sitting quietly on the table.

Of course, it could also easily have been the Pope of the Three Heroes' Church. But he knows better than to point this out to his old friend.

"Let me take your place on the battlefield, old friend." The Marquis of House Noches feel like going on his knees by this point. He doesn't mind throwing his dignity away, if groveling alone would help his old friend see reason. "I understand how you feel. My daughter is also going to be in the thick of the battle. I will do everything I can to ensure all of their safety."

Starting by NOT further antagonizing the Shield Hero.

"No, you can't take my place, Douglas. I trust your ability in telling me who is my enemy, and state affairs, but martial matters aren't your strong suits. Plus, you lack this." The star wand appears in the king's hand, dull and grayed out as if all life drained away from it, one of the most powerful artifacts of the world. "My staff may be cursed and all but useless, but it still allows me to bring all the fighting men I command with me into the Wave. I'll be able to take additional elite units with me like the summoned heroes, and reinforce whatever local troops we have. Plus, I won't be alone, Biscas, and my royal guards will ensure my safety."

While the inclusion of the royal guards, particularly its captain and vice captain gives the Marquis some hope, he's not sure if the same can be said of the strongest man of Three Heroes Church. "I truly hope you are right in this, My Liege. If not…"

"... all of us are lost."


End Note:

So, I more or less pulled the whole 1st Hero Conference mini-arc from canon's Cal Mira Island timeframe to before 3rd wave. That'll basically be the sort of an interlude between Act II and Act III of the whole Three Heroes Church Saga for my story, before Act III can officially kick off with 3rd Wave. Of course, since the Cardinal Heroes in this story trust each other more than their canon counterpart, and already have their eye opened on how this world is real and not a game, they actually taken time to think over what each other said than fight over each other, and start to cooperate better.

On a different note. I didn't have much thought put into who they really are when I first came up with the whole 'Saint of Spear', 'King of Rape' thing back at the beginning of this story. Since the fandom at the time mostly taken for granted Shield Hero is awesome, while Spear Hero is lame, I decided to do a bit of switchroo with Malty mentioning how in the past, a Spear Hero was considered the best while a Shield Hero was a heinous villain.

Of course, the evil Shield Hero was easy for me to flesh out: I basically wanted a version of Rising Naofumi where all of his morally reprehensible actions had real consequences where he was eventually taken to task with by other people or karma than being handwaved by the author. The OC main character from an adult Persona fanfiction (the story is about the main character being tasked by Igor to catch runaway demons for clients, and the little rat bastard keep trying to undercut Igor by raising the demons into his personal sex slaves, while using demonic ability to steal/con money out of people, and evetually making his mother and younger sister into his personal sex slaves too) 'Hyuukage Mikage' (as translated by one of my reader) provided the more specific detail for the character such as how he grown up emotionally abused by his mother and younger sister while his father was never there.

On the other hand, I didn't really have any thought or cared about what, or who 'Saint of Spear' was. Although since Motoyasu has element from an orthadox Shounen manga main character, and a galgame main character (where most people focuses on the lateral), I decided to go back to the Shounen manga root, and basically make one of the first (and arguably still one of the greatest) main character as the Saint of Spear: Son Goku he himself. It fits in a way, as Goku did use powerpole as his weapon as a child, which falls under polearm. And he's also blindly trusting to people around him, which fits Spear Hero's key trait.

Yes, this does mean Katarina is a very thin blooded Saiyan in this story, which fits her being the monkey girl. I think Bakarina's personality really fit a descendant of Goku.

XDDD

Guest review time.

To Night:

Malty will always be Malty, but don't worry. She is most definitely being slowly corrupted by the Light Side. The ability to love, and be loved by someone else is always the Kryptonite to a cured/rehabilitated sociopath.

XD

To Halo:

I don't want to give away too much on my future planning, but hopefully this chapter shows enough hint to you on how the Cardinal Heroes would act going onward.

And don't worry about wanting to rant on something. Because Uncle Sheogorath knows, I subjected all of you enough to my red princessing (haha), moaning, and trash talking about canon RotSH and its author in my temper tantrum disguised as author's note.

It's pretty clear to anyone who bothered to think over what's actually written in RotSH than blindly accepting the author's words of god, that making the other heroes look bad and incompetent is an attempt to make the main character look good by comparison. Because if one of them was able to resolve the issues without Naofumi stepping in, people would start to realize what a self-serving monster Rising Naofumi really is as all his amoral but 'practical' (even if most of them aren't so practical at all, and he only got by thanks to plot armor). It's a very common (reading cheap & lazy) tactics in webnovels, done to death by the Chinese online community around early 2000 (and I mean year 2000, not 2000s) long before Japanese WN community caught up.

What annoying me the most is how this kind of writing trope DOES! NOT! WORK! AT ALL! to anyone who bothered to rub two brain cells together, and doesn't think like a perpetual angsty thirteen years old fuckboy who think the world is always wrong and he's always right. Because when everyone else has to be incompetent to make the main character look competent by comparison, we are basically left with a main character who is constantly committing hate crime against mentally handicapped people.

I myself is a bigger believer in 'Great heroes make good stories, great villains make GREAT stories'. Because a great villain gives the story tension, and let the hero show their conviction and ability while emphasis their ideology.

One of my personal grip with RotSH's blatant double-standard when it comes to Naofumi and everyone else comes the Bio-Plant mini-arc. Where Motoyasu got a plot device (the miracle seed) from a dungeon expecting it'll solve the problem and it made everything worse. To the point Naofumi lectures on how not to rely on plot devices to solve a real problem.

Good lesson, except how Naofumi he himself 'solved' the action problem? He unlocked a new shield with ability to genetic modify plants after defeating the monster. Which IS a plot device just like Motoyasu's solution. So the 'lesson' of that arc isn't about 'don't expect magical plot device to solve all your problems', but literally Teh Lumpy Boi's 'My nuke button (plot device) is bigger than yours, and mine works.' tweet. And even his solution wouldn't work if the author subjected him to the same p̶r̶o̶s̶e̶c̶u̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ scrutiny as Motoyasu, because there's ways it could have gone wrong.

On top of my head, the gene modified plants could have quickly drain all nutrient from the soil and turn the surrounding area into an inhabitable desert (granted, this could have happened to the miracle seed too). The sudden over surplus crop could have completely crushed farmer's market of Melromarc, which would be a huge problem as it seems to still be a largely agrarian society. Both would be actual real life problems too, instead of a fantasy 'spawn monster' problem Motoyasu had. But of course those things doesn't happen because f̶u̶c̶k̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ Naofumi is smart and Motoyasu is stupid.

Granted, I didn't really fix the issue in my story since I still solved it with a magical plot device than real life solution (since I don't know enough about real life agriculture). But the point is in this case, I wanted both Naofumi and Motoyasu to learn the same lesson, not praising one while whipping the other when they used the same solution.