The chapter where Mu and Naofumi will meet.

Hope that you'll enjoy it.

Chapter 2: The Shield Hero

Mu stood as he watched the one known as the Shield Hero walk in the street. By examining his Cosmos, he was certain that the boy was lost and betrayed, but not broken yet.

"A shield and no weapon…" mumbled the Aries Saint, remembering the Bronze Dragon Saint.

"What's your verdict, Mu?" asked Aldebaran.

"He's innocent" answered Mu "I'm not sure of what could have happened to him, but I'm sure that these accusations are false"

Both him and the Taurus Saint were hidden with a technique he learned from his Master; Aries Shion.

"Aren't we going to talk with him?" asked Aldebaran.

"Not yet" replied Mu "Let's wait a bit longer"

"What are you planning?" asked the Taurus Saint.

"I need to see what kind of person he is" stated Mu "If we approach him now, we might get a hostile reaction from him"

"I take that you don't want to hurt him"

"Even if he has a strong Cosmos, he's still weaker than a Bronze Saint" said Mu "And our goal now is to see what's happening in this world"

"I wonder why he doesn't have any weapon?" said Aldebaran as he eyed the boy "He reminds me of the old master's student"

Mu smiled before replying with "I had the same thought"

"If my memory serves me well, his shield got cut by Shura" said Aldebaran with a laugh.

"That day, each one of the Bronze Saints fought without holding back" replied Mu "And Shura was in possession of Excalibur"

"Well, let's hope that you're not wrong about this kid" said Aldebaran.

'I do hope it too' thought Mu as they continued to follow the Shield Hero.

After two weeks or so, Mu got to Erhard as he was busy with the Shield Hero and a little girl.

"Long time no see, Mu" said Erhard as he walked to the Saint "What can I help you with?"

"Just passing by" replied Mu before eying the Shield Hero "The same boy of last time"

"What do you want?" asked the Shield Hero.

"Nothing" replied Mu before turning to Erhard "So, did you sell those armors?"

Erhard grinned as he said "I sold those armors for a hundred thousand gold"

"Well now" said Mu as he turned to the Shield Hero "From what I see, you're different from last time we met"

"The hell does that mean?" asked the Shield Hero with annoyance.

"Just know that not everyone is your enemy" replied Mu before turning to Erhard "Have a nice day"

"Who was that?" asked the Shield Hero after seeing Mu exiting the shop.

"Dunno" answered the blacksmith "Appeared one day, took some of the armors that I was about to melt, and return with four masterpieces"

"Did he ever explained how he did it?"

"He never said anything about it" sighed Erhard before adding "I don't know why, but I feel like I can trust him"

The Shield Hero simply narrowed his eyes as he thought 'Trusting him, huh?' there was no way that he would trust anyone again without any proof.

Mu walked until he saw Aldebaran holding what seems to be a noble by the head.

"What's happening here?" asked Mu to his companion as he noticed how angry he was.

The Taurus said nothing as the man was yelling to him to let go of him. Mu sighed before seeing children with animal traits.

'That's why' thought Mu, finally understanding why Aldebaran was angry.

"Hey, you!" called the man to the Aries Saint "Get this mad man off me!"

Mu said nothing and walked to the children who curled up when he approached them. Mu then noticed many signs of mistreatment, such as bruises, scares, and a whip laying nearby. Mu closed his eyes before kneeling to them.

"You don't need to worry" he said with a smile "I'm here to help you"

Mu couldn't help but notice some sort of crest on their chest.

"Say, what's that mark that you have on your chest?" asked Mu with a warm smile.

"A… a Slave Crest" answered one of the children, trying to hide it.

"Come over here" said Mu as he extended his right arm.

The little boy approached Mu, and the Saint put a hand on the crest. After concentrating his Cosmos on the Slave Crest, the boy yelped as the crest disappeared.

"Now, let's get it off you" said Mu as he looked at the others.

After finishing with the Blacksmith, the Shield Hero walked until he saw a large well-built man holding a noble as nearby, the one he met at the shop was somehow removing the Slave Crests from Demi-humans.

"Naofumi-sama" called the girl as she noticed the Shield Hero's gaze before that her stomach rumbled.

"Are you hungry?" asked Naofumi, the Shield Hero.

The girl shook her head and said "No, I'm not"

"Let's get some lunch" stated Naofumi as he continued to walk.

Nathalia sighed as she got to her home. She couldn't bring herself to talk to Aldebaran as she wanted.

"No wonder why I'm still single" sighed the woman before that someone knocked on her door "Sir Aldebaran? Is that you?"

She opened the door before taking a step back.

"Well, that's a good sight" said a man in armor "I heard that there's a man who can repair any kind of armor. Where is he?"

'A man that… he must be talking about Sir Mu' thought Nathalia before saying "I don't know who you're talking about"

"Don't play dumb with me" warned the man as he entered "I was ordered by the king to bring him over to become the royal blacksmith in the castle. So you'd better tell me where I can find him, or else"

At that moment, Mu teleported with Aldebaran and small Demi-humans.

"Is there a problem?" asked Aldebaran as he walked to the armored man.

"I'm here to get the one who can repair any armor" replied the armored soldier "He's to become the royal Blacksmith"

"I take that you want to talk with me" said Mu as he stood next to Aldebaran.

"Not that imposing" said the soldier with a small laugh before looking at Aldebaran "That's why you paid someone to protect you?"

"Aldebaran isn't someone I paid, he a good friend" said Mu with a serious face "And to answer this… request of the king, tell him that I'm not someone who will bow to anyone. If I decide to help, then it would be because the person needs help, not because someone demands it. And make sure to say this to your king; he's not above the others" Mu then brought his arms behind his back "Starlight Extinction"

Mu accumulated his Cosmos that is released in the form of multiple photon shocks, which hit the soldier across the body to the speed of light countless times, sent a light completely surrounding the target and watched it disappear while off the armored man in the halo or swirl of light.

"W-What happened to him?" asked Nathalia after witnessing Mu's technique.

"I simply got rid of him, sending him back to the capital" answered Mu.

"Do you believe that's the last of our problems?" asked Aldebaran.

"I don't think so" sighed Mu before adding "Now, people will come here to get me to work for them. And an army from the king might come next time"

"Are we going to wear them?" asked Aldebaran.

"I'm afraid so" said Mu "Otherwise, people will begin to underestimate us, and we will be forced to fight them"

"What's the plan for now?" asked the Taurus Saint.

"Now, we will need to lay low for a while" answered Mu "And I'm going to need something…"

"Need what?"

"A sword" replied Mu "I have a feeling like it can be useful"

"Don't tell me that-"

"Not in that way" interrupted Mu as he looked at Aldebaran "I will never use a weapon. You know that it's forbidden for us to do it"

"Then why a sword?" asked Aldebaran after a sigh of relief.

"It's just a feeling that I have" answered Mu, concentrating his Cosmos to call the Aries Gold Cloth. The Cloth covered most of his body with the ram horns making the owner look so majestic and at the same time simple.

Aldebaran followed suit as he called upon the Taurus Gold Cloth. Like with Mu, the Cloth covered nearly all of his body, leaving only small gaps that are hard to notice. One of the most significant thing on the armor, besides the bull horns on the helm, was spikes in both knees, elbows, and shoulders.

"Never thought that we would call upon them so soon…" mumbled Mu with concern in his voice.

"You want to be cautious, that's not something bad, Mu" stated Aldebaran as he crossed his arms.

"We need to make sure that the village doesn't get hurt because of us" said Mu before turning to Nathalia, who was just standing and looking at them with awe "Miss Nathalia?"

"I-I'm sorry, it's just that… well, the way those armors came to you…" said the woman, still recovering from what just happened in front of her.

"We were thinking that maybe we should leave the village" stated Mu before explaining "The more we stay, the more danger this place is in"

"What?"

"If we didn't arrived in time, who know what could have happened to you" said Mu, trying to reason with the woman "If staying here means putting you and this village in danger, then-"

"That's not true!" countered the woman "It's because you're here that the village is prospering this way! Normally, we would pay an unimaginable amount of gold to the capital to help us, but not when you came in this village. Ever since you arrived, Sir Aldebaran protect this village without demanding anything in return"

"But if we stay-"

"Even the chief is saying that having you in the village is a miracle of the gods" added Nathalia "And I…"

"I see" said Mu as he smiled "I guess that it would be bad if your miracle went elsewhere" he then whispered in her ear "And you still need to tame the bull"

"Wha- No! I… I… it's just that… well I-" babbled Nathalia as her face was becoming red.

Mu chuckled before saying "That aside, we may need some help" he then showed her the small Demi-humans.

"Demi-humans?"

"They need shelter and I thought that this village may need help" said Mu "They will help the villagers, and in exchange, they will stay here. Is it acceptable?"

"Maybe if I talk with the chief… but I don't know if he would accept" said Nathalia with a sigh.

"They don't look like they can do much" mumbled Aldebaran "Maybe that we should train them to harness the power of their Cosmos"

Mu looked at them before saying "That's actually a good idea"

Aldebaran smirked as Mu walked to the children.

Some days later, Mu was readying himself to work on a couple of swords he found in the forest, the owners were probably killed by some creatures in the forest.

"What are you going to do if it works?" asked Aldebaran.

"I'll give them to Erhard" answered Mu before adding "He will need them more than us"

"Don't you think that you should ask him for some money in return this time?" asked Aldebaran before adding "We're going to need some"

Mu took some Stardust before replying with "Maybe that you're right"

"You don't need to think that much about it" stated Aldebaran as he opened a wound in his wrist, spilling some of his blood on the weapons "And this time, you didn't borrowed any of these weapons"

"I see your point" sighed Mu. He had to admit, having no money could prove to be challenging, and not to mention that they are living for free in Ryute Village.

"So, what are you going to do?" asked the Bull Saint.

Mu scattered the Stardust on the weapons that were covered in Aldebaran's blood before taking the repairing tools "I will ask for an honest amount" after concentrating his cosmos, he began to work on the swords "I shouldn't take advantage of the situation"

"Think that you can get more by repairing and selling?"

"We only have a limited amount of Stardust" replied Mu "Doing so wouldn't be beneficial to us in the case where we would need the Stardust to repair our Cloths"

"Those are Gold Cloths we are talking about" stated Aldebaran before adding "But then again, who knows what can happen to us in this world"

"I wonder about something…"

"What"

"Do you think that we can get them to the level of the God Gold Cloths?" asked Mu.

Aldebaran widen his eyes before taking a deep breath "I don't know, but such a thing can prove to be useful if we have to fight opponents like those we fought against in Asgard"

"We should be careful" stated Mu "If we are here, who knows who else is here"

"Do you think of other Saints?"

"More like Specters, God Warriors, Marinas…" said Mu.

"It could be a problem" mumbled Aldebaran.

"We need to proceed carefully" stated the Aries Saint "We still don't know all the dangers of this world"

Aldebaran just nodded as Mu continued to work on the weapons.

After a while, Mu teleported to Erhard's shop, startling the man.

"Whoa! Nearly got me a heart attack…"

"I'm sorry about that" said Mu before walking to him "But with the recent events, I have to be more discreet when I'm moving"

"I guess that I'm a little responsible for it…" mumbled Erhard "When a royal come to ask you questions, it's hard to lie"

"It's fine"

"Now that I have a good look at you, that a pretty good armor" commented Erhard as he began to look at Mu's Cloth.

"This is the Aries Gold Cloth" replied Mu.

"So this is the famous armor that you were talking about" mused Erhard.

"Indeed" nodded Mu.

"But that's not the real reason why you're here, right?"

Mu smiled before showing him two swords "How about those two weapons? Do you think that you can buy them from me?"

Erhard smirked before answering "Depends on how much you ask"

"I won't go for an unreasonable price" replied Mu "I do need to take into account your status"

"Well I'd be damned" laughed Erhard "Normally I would have to pay a fortune just for one"

"That kind of thing wouldn't help us"

"Now then, how much?"

"Three thousand Silver for each"

"That's… pretty cheap" remarked Erhard, a bit surprised "If they are as good as the armors, you could have asked for more"

"I believe that's enough for now" stated Mu "If I had to ask for more, I would have to be an opportunist"

"But I still owe you for the armors and the troubles" said Erhard with a chuckle "And now, two weapons"

"I wouldn't think about it that much" replied Mu with a smile.

At that moment, Naofumi entered.

"It seems like we meet again" mused Mu as the sight of the Shield Hero.

Naofumi simply narrowed his eyes as he said "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to chat with a friend" answered Mu "And to see if he's interested in buying some swords"

Erhard got the swords away and walked with a small bag in his hands "Six thousand Silvers, as we agreed"

"I would say that it was a pleasure doing business" replied Mu.

Naofumi walked to the counter and put a small bag "Sell us a new weapon for this amount"

"Time to get the little miss a sword, then" mused Erhard as he began to walk to a barrel full of swords "One of the short side would be good to start off" he then picked one of the weapons "How about this? It's a short sword made of iron" he then began to walk back with the weapon before putting it on the counter.

"Old man" called the Shield Hero before asking "Is there a town or village nearby that we can travel to with our equipment?"

"Well, with your stuff, it'd have to be here" answered Erhard as he showed him a map "Ryute Village"

"What luck" stated Mu with a smile "I was heading there"

"How can I be sure that you won't do a low blow?" asked Naofumi with suspicions.

"And why would I want to do that?" asked Mu "What in Athena's name would I win by doing so?"

"Don't worry, kid" said Erhard with a smile "You can trust him"

"Fine… we'll be going in an hour" stated Naofumi as he began to walk away.

"Do you still have business here?" asked Mu.

"No" answered the Shield Hero, stopping and looking at the Aries Saint.

"Then let's go now" stated Mu as he walked to Naofumi.

"Do you have a way to get there faster?" asked Naofumi, ready to defend himself in the case where the man in gold armor tries to do something.

Mu smiled before turning to Erhard "I guess that we will meet again in the future" he then widen his arms, concentrating his Cosmos.

Both the Shield Hero and his companion closed their eyes and opened them after some seconds.

"Where are we?" asked Naofumi, noticing that they're no longer in the shop.

"Ryute Village" answered Mu "Well, it was a pleasure talking to you, Shield Hero" he then began to walk away.

Mu began to walk until he saw Aldebaran standing in front of children, training them.

"How are they doing?" asked the Aries Saint.

"Better than I thought" replied Aldebaran "They learn quickly"

Mu looked as one of the children destroyed a rock with one punch "Interesting… they learned to control their Cosmos that quickly?"

From what he remembers, it takes at least one year to teach those who come to the Sanctuary how to control their Cosmos. But these children learned that quickly?

"What about you?" asked Aldebaran "Did you get something out of those weapons?"

"Six thousand Silvers for both" answered Mu before examining the Cosmos of the Demi-Human children "Were their Cosmos always this high?"

"I think that it increased with time" replied the Taurus Saint "A little more and they will be as strong as a Bronze Saint"

'Why?' wondered Mu 'Could it be that Demi-Humans have more Cosmos? Or rather, they have a hidden potential with Cosmos than normal humans?'

"Alright" said Aldebaran before walking away "Let's give them some rest"

Mu nodded as he noticed that some of them were sweating.

After some minutes, Mu walked until he saw the Shield Hero walking toward the mountains.

'Why is he heading there?' wondered Mu before enveloping himself with Cosmos to hide himself and followed him.

After a while in following the Shield Hero, he saw him entering what looks like a mine. According to the villagers, this place is crawling with monsters. He needs to be ready to help them if they run in any kind of creature that may be too much for them to handle. Mu watched as Naofumi began to mine the ore.

'Nothing so far' thought Mu before feeling a presence nearby 'What could it be…'

Turning his head, the Gold Saint saw a two headed monstrous dog advancing toward the Hero and the Demi-Human child. But there was a problem, another one was following it.

"It seems like you're in need of help" mused Mu as he appeared next to Naofumi.

"Did you brought them here?!"

"By Athena, no" replied Mu "You really need to know who you can trust"

"What are you going to do now?" asked Naofumi "You don't have any weapon"

"It's forbidden for a Saint to use a weapon" stated Mu "Only the Libra Saint has the right to use weapons"

"What are you going to do?" asked Naofumi before looking at the man "You-"

He stopped after noticing something; his level was way higher than what he thought. It was high to the point where he couldn't see it.

'Who the hell is this guy?!' thought Naofumi.

"You can ask your questions later" stated Mu before lifting his right arm "Stardust Revolution"

Naofumi watched as a strange balls of energy formed above his hand in circle before launching them at the two canine monsters, obliterating them.

'With one technique…' thought Naofumi with wide eyes.

"Now, let's talk about the questions that you want to ask me" said Mu with a smile as he turned to the Shield Hero.

Now, before that anyone says that Mu is too OP, keep in mind that he's a Gold Saint.

The gold Saints are supposed to be the strongest of all the Saints.

And in Saint Seiya Episode G, Mu was able to destroy all the hundred arms of the Hechatonchire.

With Mu gone, let's talk about Aldebaran.

If you remember the scene where Naofumi saw a guy whipping a small child for falling, there's no way that Aldebaran won't react.

If you can prove that he can't do it, say it.

Anyways, see ya next time.