Chapter 11: Confrontation and rewards

Shirou walked out of the arena quickly, taking a look at the area around him. He noticed the room was empty, barring Motoyasu, who was nervously pacing the area. Shirou walked over, speaking quickly.

"Do you have a room, or anything for that matter, which will keep us away from prying eyes?"

Motoyasu nodded. "I… have my room at the Inn." Shirou hummed.

"That will have to do. We will talk properly, once we get there. Lead the way."

Motoyasu gulped, and began to walk. Throughout the short trip, Motoyasu tried to talk with Shirou, but was ignored by the Sword hero, who was trying to figure out how he would get through to Motoyasu.

Internally, he was thinking.

"How do I get through to him? How can I make sure that Motoyasu understands?"

Quickly arriving at the Inn, the duo made their way to Motoyasus room, the duo ignoring the weird stairs they got.

Once they entered the room, Motoyasu quickly locked the door behind them, before sitting down in a chair. Shirou remained standing, staring impassively at Motoyasu.

With a gulp, Motoyasu spoke.

"So… What did you want to talk about?"

"I think you already know that, Motoyasu."

"If it's about the spear, it's the only way I could think of to defeat Naofumi!"

Shirou shook his head disappointedly.

"You're telling me that using a spear that could instantly kill your opponent was the only idea you had?"

Motoyasu looked away, scratching the back of his head. "I mean… when you put it like that…"

"Could you have tried anything else? Do you not have a way to lock him down? Did you not have any skills or anything that could have helped? I'm not even going to start on attempting to kill a fellow hero at the moment." Shirou began to say, beginning to pace the room slowly.

"Y-yeah, but…"

"But what Motoyasu!" Shirou burst out, staring at Motoyasu. "Are you going to say it's fine for one of the heroes to die? Are you going to try and justify what you did as the right thing?"

Motoyasu stood up, staring at Shirou.

"Stop taking everything so seriously! This is a game! Me and Itsuki told you this already! What, are you one of those people who roleplay in these types of games? Or are you a paid actor?" Motoyasu began to rant.

Shirou only stared at Motoyasu in growing horror as he continued his rant.

"You're delusional…" Shirou spoke quietly.

"What? How am I delusional?" Motoyasu spoke, pausing his rant to ask in confusion.

"You believe this is all a game. Am I right?" Shirou asked, disbelief evident on his face.

"Well, yeah. It's almost exactly like Emerald online. Give or take a few things, it's pretty similar. All the quests are the same, same methods to grow stronger…" Motoyasu spoke, listing off familiarities to the game he had played before being summoned.

Shirou sat down on the bed in shock, his head in his hands as he muttered.

"He's delusional. I gave a Noble phantasm… to a delusional person. What have I done?" He spoke weakly.

"... And I mean, it's not like we can't respawn, right?" Motoyasu said the last part without any concern, which only fed more into Shirou's disbelief and growing horror.

"You think that because we can 'respawn' as you put it, that justifies murder?" Shirou shouted in horror.

"I mean, it's not like dying carries any weight in this world if we can just respawn." He waved it off easily. "Naofumi is the Player who chose the evil path. It's always a necessary sacrifice, you know?"

Shirou stood up, glaring at Motoyasu.

"Motoyasu. I'm begging you. If this is some sort of horrible joke, I want you to stop it. Just tell me you're joking." He spoke pleadingly, almost wishing it was some sort of prank.

Motoyasu only stood silently, staring back at Shirou.

Shirou let out a small sigh, disappointment visible on his face as he stared at Motoyasu.

"Motoyasu. As much as I wish I could, I cannot take the spear back from you. I will warn you now. If I hear any sort of rumors about you using that spear to injure anyone, whether they deserved it or not, then I will abandon what I'm doing and come find you."

Motoyasu could only nod, gulping at the pressure coming from Shirou.

"I-i understand."

Shirou continued to speak.

"Right now, you need a reality check. You can't keep living like this. You can't treat the world as a game. Sooner or later, that's going to come back to bite you. Who will you be able to rely on then? Because I can tell you now, you certainly can't trust me to have your back right now.. Try talking to other people. Understand their points of view and why they want to live here. Maybe then, you'll start taking everything seriously."

Shirou turned around to leave. Unlocking the door, he spoke his last words.

"I don't want to see you until the next wave. By that point, you better have a grip on yourself. For your own sake."

With that, he walked out, the door shutting behind him as he quickly exited the building, ignoring the odd stares he was getting.

Motoyasu sat in the chair again, his head in his hands.

He understood where Shirou was coming from, truly, he did! But when this world was so familiar to Emerald online, well who wouldn't believe it?

Letting out a tired sigh, he thought about what Shirou said.

He'd seen how close he had come to impaling Naofumi on the spear. And honestly? It terrified him. Even if they could respawn, he didn't want the first respawn to be due to conflict between everyone.

Shaking his head, his thoughts shifted.

Why did Shirou think he was delusional? Surely just listing the similarities to his game wasn't enough to justify that, right? Or was he simply far too immersed in roleplaying? Motoyasu didn't know, but it didn't stop him from slamming his fist on the desk in frustration.

"Come on Motoyasu, sort yourself out!" He thought.

"It's fine… Everything's fine. Just what's making him act differently from last time?" Motoyasu thought out loud.

Things began to line up in Motoyasus head. Motoyasu didn't like the image that was being pieced together.

"It's Naofumi… isn't it? He must have a shield to brainwash people. That's got to be it, right? There's no other explanation. A guy like Shirou would never defend a rapist. That's got to be the reason!" He spoke out loud.

Motoyasu decided. He would convince Itsuki before he was contacted by Naofumi, and make him see the truth! He already believed that Naofumi had committed the crimes, and that the evidence shown had been sufficient. Together, they could free Shirou!

Shirou moved into the alleyway beside the Inn, his back to the wall.

He let out a noise of frustration.

What had happened to the kind, almost brotherly figure from the first night they had been summoned? What had happened to him to cause such a drastic shift? Or was he always that deluded?

Shirou didn't know and he was scared to figure out the truth. To know that the Motoyasu he had spoken to was simply a facade, a mask to hide his twisted nature behind.

His thoughts drifted to the Noble Phantasm in the Motoyasus possession. He was a fool. Handing out such a dangerous weapon to someone he had only the briefest of insights on. All just for a small meeting? He still couldn't believe he had done it. Just what had compelled him to do it?

"I can already imagine the shouting from Rin…"

He shook the thought from his head. He'd think more about it tomorrow, in the morning preferably. He needed to go check on Naofumi. He had to see how he was doing. It was his duty, for supplying the weapon that almost ended his life. He began to make his way to Erhards shop.

Naofumi groaned as Raphtalia checked over him, far too aware of his injuries.

"Mr Naofumi, please hold still!" She shouted, a small amount of frustration in her voice.

Naofumi nodded, still twitching whenever Raphtalia prodded his arm.

"Do you have to do that?" Naofumi asked, slightly frustrated at the poking and prodding.

"S-sorry. I just wanted to make sure that your arm wasn't injured more than you think. At Least you can still use and feel your arm."

Naofumi nodded slightly. "I guess you're right… Where is Shirou?" He asked, quickly changing the topic.

He knew Shirous party was here, he had seen Raphtalia send them off with thanks.

"Well, from what he said, he said he was going to speak with Motoyasu. He seemed angry. Why are you asking?"

The mention of Motoyasu put a frown on Naofumis face, but he spoke regardless.

"I was wondering where he was. I wanted to ask him what Motoyasu meant when he said he was holding a spear back for Shirou. Just… What was that spear?"

Raphtalia Shrugged, sitting beside Naofumi.

"I don't know. You cardinal heroes seem to be full of surprises. Just what was that shield you used? I've never seen you use it before." Raphtalia asked curiously.

"I only got it recently. Whilst you were off defending the villagers, me and Shirou were attacked by the wave boss whilst having arrows rained down on us. He…" Naofumi had to pause for a moment to think of the word Shirou had used.

"I think he called it Tracing? Well, he traced that shield, and when it cracked, I absorbed part of it."

Raphtalia seemed confused for a moment.

"But isn't he the Sword hero? How did he use a shield?"

Naofumi looked at her. "You're right. Just how did he use a shield?"

Shirou would open the door, speaking as he did so.

"I could use it because I wasn't technically in violation of the contract with my sword. That shield is part of the arm." To emphasize his point, he raised his arm.

Naofumi just looked at him in shock, with Shirou smiling sadly at him.

"Are you feeling better Naofumi?"

"Depends. I still feel like I got hit by a truck."

Shirou nodded. "Being hit by a Noble Phantasm will do that to you."

Naofumi would nod, asking a question. "Just what is a noble Phantasm? It's independent of the main branch of shields. I had to search for ages to just find it."

"Well, you remember when I spoke about the holy grail war?" Naofumi nodded, as Raphtalia looked between them in confusion.

"Well, each servant has a noble phantasm. For example, Berserker, who in my war was Heracles, had a Noble Phantasm called 'god hand'"

"What did it do?" Naofumi asked, leaning forward slightly.

"It gave him eleven extra lives, based on his trials in life. Every time he died, he came back to life, fully regenerated. I only saw it from a distance, but even then, the fight truly didn't do it justice. If he was against a regular servant, he would have most likely won, but who he was up against…"

Shirou shook his head, continuing his explanation.

"So, Berserker had his Noble Phantasm, God hand. It was his legend itself empowering him. For other servants, it may be their weapons or even a skill they used in battle. Using a Noble phantasm would reveal their identities most of the time, which is why they don't use them all the time."

Naofumi nodded, taking in the information. "So… this shield is a Noble Phantasm. Do you know who it belonged to?"

Shirou shook his head.

"I wasn't someone who studied history religiously and we aren't going to get a chance here, are we?"

Naofumi shook his head. "Guess not. Can you at least tell me why it says degraded?"

Shirou shrugged.

"Maybe it's because they aren't truly the original weapons? But then again, it could be because we need to use the energy from resetting mastered weapons…" Shirou would trail off, muttering to himself about his power up methods and how they could affect the weapons.

Naofumi would look at Shirou in confusion.

"Uh, Shirou? What are you on about with energy and resetting mastered weapons?"

Shirou would pause, staring at Naofumi in shock.

"What? You don't know about power up methods?"

"No? Am I supposed to?" Naofumi asked, more confusion seeping into his voice.

"Yes. They help you grow stronger. Didn't you look in your help menu?"

Naofumi shook his head. "Not really. I've been a bit busy, well, trying to survive?"

Shirou would nod. "Yeah, that would take up your time I suppose. Well, if you go to your help menu, you should be able to find the power up methods I spoke about."

With a nod, Naofumi would immediately check on his help menu, skimming through everything.

"Uh… there's nothing here? It doesn't say anything about power up methods."

"What? What do you mean they aren't there?"

"It's exactly what I said." Naofumi spoke, frustration leaking through. "They are not there! Is this some sort of joke?"

"Naofumi." Shirou spoke seriously. "I have not and will not lie to you. I'm going to detail my power up methods to you and I want you to check through your menu again to see if you can find them. Ok?"

Naofumi nodded, staring at Shirou. "Go on then. Start speaking.

"The first power up method is Level link. This method allows your weapons to grow stronger as you level up. Did you understand that?"

Naofumi nodded, looking through his help menu. He quickly found the method soon after.

"What the hell? It's here now!" He shouted in shock.

"What about the others? Can you find them?"

Naofumi took another look through, reading through each pop up. After a short time, he spoke up.

"No, I can't find them. What the hells up with this shield? Is it broken or something?" Naofumi spoke, smacking the shield into the bed.

Shirou stood there, thinking for a moment.

"Naofumi, I'm going to need to inspect your shield, if that's fine with you?"

"Sure, go ahead. Maybe you'll find if there's anything wrong with it."

Naofumi raised his shield and Shirou put his hand on it again.

"Trace on."

Shirou let himself view the shield fully. He could feel the restrictions placed on the weapon, much like his own sword. But there was something… different. Almost as if something had blocked off something important to the shield, but he couldn't tell what it was. Shirou tried to probe further, to try and get more information, but nothing came to him. It was almost as if it was being blocked by something else on purpose.

Shirou took his hand off the shield, his magic circuits switching off as he spoke. "There's something being blocked in the shield."

"Any idea on what it is?"

Shirou shook his head.

"I'm getting no information back from it. It's like it is being actively blocked off. It's frustrating. For now, I'll settle with telling you my power up methods."

Naofumi nod, and Shirou began to tell him of his power up methods.

—

Naofumi looked at Shirou.

"So, what were you saying about using energy from mastered weapons?" Naofumi asked.

"Right. I was saying that using the pool of energy and getting it to Artifact rank might get rid of the degradation? Again, this is all theory, so I could be completely wrong. Then again, it could be that I'm tracing them incorrectly…" Shirou shook his head.

"We won't know until we get to that point, but they should be enough for now."

Naofumi would nod his head in agreement, sighing. "Guess this is another sign that this world has it out for me, huh?"

"Don't act like that Naofumi. I know it's not been the best, but you'll get there eventually."

"Easy for you to say. You don't have people who hate you for merely existing."

"I'm… not so sure about that anymore. I may have angered the king when I stepped into the argument you were having." Naofumi only grunted in response to that, silence filling the room.

Shirou looked out the window before sighing.

"It's getting late. I'm fairly certain the king wants us back at the castle at dawn, so I'll leave so you can get some rest. I'm assuming there are still some questions you have, so I'll answer them tomorrow."

Naofumi would nod, with Shirou quickly leaving.

The next day would come, with the four heroes making it to the castle in time, all standing before the throne.

"Heroes!" The King would speak.

"As thanks for your assistance in the wave, you will be rewarded accordingly."

The king gestured towards his aide, who bought forwards three bags of coins.

"To the spear hero, for his dedication towards protecting those in need during the wave, as well as killing the boss. He will be granted 800 silver coins!"

Motoyasu happily accepted the bag, bowing before the king as he did so.

"To the bow hero, for his supporting fire which helped to distract the boss of the wave, aswell as taking care of the monsters that would dare to attack a fellow hero. He will be granted 600 silver coins."

Itsuki would smile politely, easily taking the coins offered to him.

"And finally, the sword hero… He will be granted 300 silver coins." The king spoke plainly.

Shirou had a frown visible, but said nothing, quickly taking the bag and returning to his position.

"Hey, what about me?" Naofumi shouted.

"Hm? Well, the removal of a slave crest is expensive. Is it not right that the crests price be taken from the loser's supply?"

Naofumi simply sighed, shaking his head. He wasn't willing to argue, not this early in the morning.

"Then if that's all, I'll be leaving. Come on Raphtalia." With that, he turned, Raphtalia following him quickly.

The king only looked at the shield, shaking his head.

"Heroes! Continue your good work. Eventually, we will overcome this calamity! You are dismissed!"

Shirou began to walk away, his party following behind him as he tried to catch up to Naofumi. He heard motoyasu shout.

"Shirou! I will free you soon! I'll prove to you that I am right!"

Shirou turned to glare at him, but Motoyasu was already walking away.

"Just what was Motoyasu on about?" He thought internally.

Whatever it was, he didn't think it would end in anything good.

But for now, he had to focus on his meeting with Naofumi. To answer his final questions.

Max Prime: Thanks for the review! I'm going with the fact that Shirou didn't actually hold Rho Aias, he simply traced it as the reason why the Sword didn't shock him or anything else.

As for why Naofumi didn't tell Shirou his power up methods, I'm fairly certain that in LN 14 (spoilers ahead if you haven't read it, just skip over it) I'm fairly certain he doesn't actually discover his own power up methods due to interference with his shield. As it is, he still hasn't discovered his final power up method yet.

Other than that, hope this chapter is good enough. Motoyasu gets his own ideas on what is going on, as well as Shirou sharing his power up method.

Might take a bit longer for updates because I'm going to be creating a backlog of chapters for now as I'll be going on holiday.

Have a good day/night whenever you are reading this.