Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Eichiro Oda. Rising of the Shield Hero belongs to Aneko Yusagi. I own nothing but the plot.

A(nother) Brand New World!

"DAMMIT!" Naofumi yelled to the heavens as he saw L'Arc, Therese, and Glass fly up in the air and disappear beyond the inter-dimensional rift up in the sky.

To think he thought of L'Arc and Therese as respectable people, to think he actually wanted to befriend them, only for them to reveal themselves as their enemies. The time they spent leveling up in Cal Mira almost felt like a joke now. Even if he dared to question what they themselves said, the appearance of Glass and her partnership with his once party members erased any possible doubt he might have had. The hard ensuing battle only proved it further. And yet, after all that, he couldn't bring himself to hate them.

Just minutes ago he was elated at seeing them practically one-shot the wave boss, the Inter-dimensional Whale. He excitedly went to the massive corpse and salvaged materials for his shield, as was now customary by now. Unlocking new shields was basically a hobby by now, and the Whale Magic Core Shield unlocked by harvesting part of the boss certainly didn't disappoint. As a shielder with barely any attack power, any form of inflicting damage was highly appreciated, and the heat ray counter equip effect this new shield had certainly looked interesting, as well as the new equip skill of bubble shield. He'd try them out once the clean-up after the wave was finished.

All in all, he was in very high spirits. His spirits didn't even falter when the stooges, also known as the other three holy heroes, appeared to claim the rest of the spoils. He called them out, as usual, stating that L'Arc, who had delivered the final blow, had more right to the spoils than heroes than barely did anything. It was then that L'Arc, for the first time since meeting him, changed his usual easygoing face for one of disappointment. In his eyes, the holy heroes simply could not have been this weak.

Naofumi, Shield Hero summoned by the kingdom of Melromarc, was devastated, heart-crushingly so, when the same likable scythe-wielding adventurer he had hoped to recruit in his party attacked all four of them. Once again, he felt betrayed by someone he had dared to trust.

L'Arc Berg and his partner Therese were the enemy.

What followed was an intense battle of strength and wits. The scales never tipped in one direction for long, always moving like the participants of the battle. One side would outsmart or outmaneuver the other, only to be outsmarted or outmaneuvered back. L'Arc and Therese were powerful, incredibly so. Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Filo battled valiantly, but so did L'Arc and Therese. That massive scythe moved too fast for something that size, and the magic provided by the gem-loving woman never gave him room to breathe.

Naofumi was excited. Here he was, battling against the most powerful foes yet. L'Arc's defense-rating attack would be deadly if it connected. Therese and her gem-powered magic only complicated things further. Those two had betrayed him. Those two were dead set in killing him and the other heroes. But despite all that, Naofumi found himself enjoying the battle. There was something invigorating about commanding his party to attack while keeping them safe, something thrilling about trying to read what your opponent would do next.

As much as he hated to admit it, Naofumi was having fun.

Even that was taken away from him when Glass, the mysterious woman that had given him so much trouble the previous wave, showed up and revealed herself as part of L'Arc's group. The rest of the battle was nothing short of brutal. Things were going not-terribly until Glass drank a potion. Her power grew exponentially and her attacks were strong enough to quite literally split the sea in two. Frankly speaking, the fact that Naofumi, Raphtalia and Filo were all alive was nothing short of a miracle.

At last, with help from the queen and some anxious-looking girl from Itsuki's group, the battle was evened out again. Not that it did much, given that Glass and her two companions were pressured to return to the fissure in the sky. That mysterious timer showed a countdown of one minute, which he thought indicated that the wave was about to end.

Naofumi shot one last look at the fleeing trio before looking around him. He sighed in exhaustion. Well, the wave was seconds away from officially ending and all that would be left would be clean-up duty and dispatching the remaining monsters. Those fishmen-looking creatures might give soldiers a little trouble, but they weren't too strong. At least there weren't any elite mooks in this horde. That would have made-wait…

He looked back at the ocean. From his standpoint, the only monsters he could see were the weird fishmen. He was certain that more types of enemies were raining down from the rifts in the sky when the wave started. So where were they?

As if on cue, a massive fish burst out of the water and clamped its huge jaws on his waist before he could even react, carrying him high above the air. A look at the creature revealed its name to be an interdimensional flying fish. These must be the elite enemies of the wave, much like the giant armored zombies were back in his first wave. The fish bit down hard, and its attack stat was certainly no joke, but it still failed to overcome his massive defense. On the other hand, he hadn't prepared a counter so he was equally unable to deal any damage.

"Filo!" Raphtalia reacted only a second later.

"Gotcha, big sis!" Filo scooped Raphtalia up and jumped at the offending fish with all her might. They two female companions were upon the flying fish in the blink of an eye, and in another blink the fish had been cut into many pieces, freeing the shielder from its jaws.

"Thanks a lot, you two. You really saved me," Naofumi thanked, happy and proud to see his daughter figures react so quickly and attack so strongly. They really lightened up his life.

"Um, master?" The filolial queen said, "Aren't we supposed to fall down instead of up?"

"What do you…" Naofumi was about to question when he realized they were not falling back to the ocean below. Instead, they seemed to be floating up higher into the air, right into one of the giant cracks in the sky. "Filo! Raphtalia!"

"Mr. Naofumi!"

"Master!"

The pull was too strong to let gravity do its job. Naofumi watched in horror as his precious party members were being pulled away by different cracks.

"Like hell you will!" Defying whatever forces were trying to take away his two beacons of light in this dark world, his Soul Eater Shield transformed into a wheel of rope, the Rope Shield. With its equip effect, Hook, the shielder shot two strands of rope at his receding companions and pulled them over to him. He held them close to himself, the tanuki demihuman and the filolial returned his embrace, fear in their hearts but knowing that whatever happened they would face the dangers together.

The three bodies continued to rise. Naofumi's team couldn't avoid crossing the dimensional rift. Just as the mysterious timer reached zero, the wave ended and the cracks in the sky disappeared, taking the Shield Her and his companions with them.

Naofumi, Raphtali, and Filo felt like they were thrown in the water when they crossed the flux between dimensions. He briefly wondered if that's how dimension-hopping feels like when he realized they were actually in water and they couldn't breathe. He could feel his body being crushed by the pressure and he was unable to see much.

His mind quickly analyzed the situation as best as he could. They were in deep water. Light was barely reaching out to them, but it was visible. However, the water pressure and lack of air would mean they would probably die before they even reached the surface. Quickly racking his brain for a solution, he recalled his latest shield, the Whale Magic Core Shield. He hoped against hope that the new ability would be useful. Screaming the words 'bubble shield' in his mind, he was relieved beyond words when an air bubble materialized around them. He heard Raphtalia and Filo both gasp for air.

"I don't know how long this bubble will last, so let's swim up to the surface," he ordered. Filo and Raphtalia nodded their understanding and the trio swam up towards the surface.

The air bubble burst after five minutes, but by that time the party was floating on the water surface. They looked around and found themselves in the middle of the ocean.

"Mr. Naofumi… Where are we? I can't see Cal Mira anywhere!" Raphtalia spoke with a little tremble in her voice. Despite growing in a fishing village, one was sure to panic when you found yourself floating in the middle of the ocean.

"Master, look!" Filo, on the other hand, was cheerful as ever. With an oversized wing, she pointed to the distance. "I see an island!"

Naofumi squinted his eyes. It was true; just barely visible through the salty mist of the ocean, a big landmass stood out.

"It's pretty far, but we really don't have much choice. Let's get moving."

"Yes, sir!" Filo let Naofumi and Raphtalia climb on her back before making her way to the island. Naofumi noted, with no short amount of worry, and despites Filo's cheery attitude she was as exhausted as he was. He decided to treat her once they were safe on land.

"If you get too tired, I can take over. Just transform back into human form," Raphtalia offered. She was quite good at swimming, after all.

"Thanks, big sis, but I think I got it."

Once again the trip through water was silent. They didn't know how much time had passed, but they eventually reached the sandy beaches of the island. They all dragged their exhausted feet through the sand until they collapsed.

"Good job, Filo," Naofumi congratulated. "You deserve a reward for swimming all the way here. Tonight I'll let you eat double your usual fill.

"Yaaay! Thank you, master!"

They rested for a few minutes before Raphtalia stood up and looked around. "Mr. Naofumi, where are we? I don't recognize this landscape from anywhere in the Cal Mira islands, not even from the kingdom."

Naofumi stood as well and looked around. The land they found themselves on was sandy, no wonder given they were on a beach, but the sand expanded well beyond a normal beach. He was no expert, but the climate indicated they were in an arid island. Rare, but not entirely unheard of back in his original world.

"We'll rest a little longer, then we'll explore. Maybe we can find some clue as to where we are," the shielder said. His two companions nodded their acknowledgement.

Around half an hour later, stomachs empty but muscles no longer crying in pain, the group went further inland. Their gazes absorbed any sight and information they could from their surroundings. There was no doubt this place had a desert climate. Despite being close to the ocean, the ground was dry. That's not to say it was completely devoid of life though, as there were several plants growing here and there. Cactuses, if his plant analysis skill was anything to go by. They were mostly made up of water, so he didn't fear running out of the precious liquid if things took too long. They also seemed edible, so food wouldn't be a problem either.

They kept walking for a few more minutes before the landscape slightly changed. The ground looked a little less dry and more plants filled the hills far in the distance. If they squinted, they would notice all those plants looked like crops, too neatly planted to be a work of nature.

"Mr. Naofumi, those plants seem to have been planted by people, "Raphtalia noted. Looks like she reached the same conclusion as him. "Maybe we can go there and meet some natives."

"Good idea, Raphtalia. Let's do that." He was about to suggest the same, but figured he'd let her have her moment. "Let's go."

As they made their way to the hills, they could see how much not-dead this desert place actually was. The whole hill, as well as the hills further beyond, were completely covered in plants. They looked like giant green sea urchins, and were as big as he was tall. There were also different kinds of buildings dotted throughout the land. Some looked like houses and others looked like silos. If there was any doubt about it, it was now completely gone: This was a plantation.

"Who the hell are you? What are you doing here?" A hostile voice asked.

Turning around, Naofumi saw two men glaring warily at him. They both had darker skin than he was used to seeing, somewhere between brown and cream color .They wore beige baggy pants that looked old, buttoned shirts, one red and one blue, and the most ridiculous hat he'd ever seen. The hats looked like a cactus, complete with tiny needles, and a large rim that protected the wearer from the harsh sunlight. What really caught his attention were the weapons they used to threaten him and his party. They were long poles that ended in a very sharp circular disk. The two men didn't look like fighters, but they certainly seemed to know how to wield those things.

He raised his hand in a placating manner. "I'm sorry, we didn't intend to intrude." He could easily have Filo and Raphtalia take them on, but he saw no point in that for the moment. Besides, they may be able to help him with some info. "We are lost and don't know where we are."

The men lowered their weapons only slightly, but their hostile stare was replaced by one of wariness. "Sorry. The whole kingdom has been on edge lately. Bandit activity has shot up these last few weeks. And quite frankly, you look like one."

Naofumi couldn't deny the claim. He had said the same thing about his Barbarian Armor when the armor shop guy gave it to him. But a particular word the man mentioned caught his interest.

"Kingdom? Could you perhaps point us in the right direction? We'll keep out of your hair."

The two men further relaxed their stance. One of them pointed beyond a hill on their right. "Beyond that hill you'll find a road. Head left and follow it. You'll reach the city. And hey, be careful out there. Bandits have a nasty habit of attacking anyone travelling on it. For some reason the king hasn't done much about it."

"Thank you. We'll be on our way."

"Hey, kid." Naofumi stopped as they were about to turn around and continue on their way. He barely reacted to a small bag that was thrown his way and maged to catch it. "A little something for the journey. Bienvenido to the kingdom."

"Thank you," the hero replied with a polite smile. He turned and walked away, closely followed by the demihuman and angel girl.

On their way to the hill, he opened the bag and saw some sort of balls. They looked to be made from dried up plants. He took a sniff and was surprised with the sweet aroma. They also looked quite tasty. He flicked one into his mouth and chewed. His high poison resistance would make sure nothing bad happened if those guys were trying to poison him. His eyes widened at the flavor. They were sweet and dry, an interesting combination.

"Hey, these are really good!" He gave the bag to Filo and Raphtalia, who each took one and ate it.

"You're right!" The tanuki girl exclaimed with shining eyes.

"Yum!" Filo also made her approval known.

Naofumi would need to come back and get more. The party emptied the bag in no time, clearly hungry from the events of the day. The rest at the beach had helped in their tiring muscles, but it would still be some time before he could replenish his MP and SP.

They reached the road pretty quickly, and followed it towards their left. They kept walking for what felt like half an hour until they saw many colorful buildings in the distance. All the colors contrasted with the fairly monotonous brown landscape around them. He didn't know if it was nice or jarring. The road looked mostly straight with only some massive rocks at the side of the road. Rocks that were perfect for ambushing people.

"Raphtalia, Filo. Keep your eyes open. There may be bandits around here."

"Yes, sir."

"Okaaay!"

As they reached the massive rocks, three figures approached them. "Hello, fellow traveller," one of them spoke. "Would you be interested in trading some goods?" Something about the way they said it pissed Naofumi off. He got the same feeling as the one back when they framed him for kidnapping Melty. His suspicions were confirmed when all three men took out large knives. "How about your life in exchange for all your valuables?"

"And look at those cuties! I'm sure we can have a great time tonight!" They laughed shamelessly, making their intentions quite clear.

Naofumi, on the other hand, wore an annoyed scowl on his face. "Raphtalia! Filo!" The little blonde angel transformed into her queen filolial form while the raccoon demihuman drew her sword.

"What the f-" one of the bandits yelled before his face caved in from the filolial's kick. The other bandit couldn't even get a word out before he was cut down by Raphtalia.

"Now…" Naofumi calmly walked over to the one remaining bandit. "You mentioned trading. What would you like to trade for your life?"

"Hiiiiiii!" The bandit fell on his butt from the intimidating gaze the shielder threw his gaze. In a panic, he started yelling. "Parka-san! Parka-san, please help me! Aaaaaaahhhh!"

"Oi, oi. What do you think you're doing to my men?" A fourth figure emerged from the top of the rock. "We were just trying to rob you of all your belongings and have some fun with your girls. What was all that violence for?"

He jumped down to face the trio of adventurers. He had a smug grin on his very pale face, as if proud of his strength. His outfit consisted of a long black robe with a hood on the back. His pale face was decorated with painted flower petals that gave a look of life on the otherwise skeletal look of his face. But what really deserved attention was the massive scythe that rested on his shoulder. The sight of it was enough to remind Naofumi of L'Arc and did wonders in worsening his already foul mood. The man regarded him as if looking at an inferior being.

"And who are you supposed to be? The leader of these idiots?"

"Something like that. You can call me Parka. 'Dark Sickle' Parka. Vice-chief of the Cactus Bandits. There's a bounty of 66,600,000 berries on my head. Now…" The man known as Parka pointed the bladed end of his weapon to the shield bearer. "Normally I'd cut your head off for injuring my men, but I feel generous today. If you leave all your belongings, that girl included, I will spare your lives. What do you say?"

Berries? Was this the currency of this place or did they just trade with food? Either way, that number sounded high. And if this guy really had a bounty then it would be in his best interest to beat and capture him. Taking out some dangerous people was sure to help him in some way.

"I say that your bounty sounds juicy. I think I'll be taking your head instead." Naofumi answered with a sadistic grin.

"Tch. Have it your way, then. Try to make this fun for me. Hehehe…"

In the blink of an eye, he disappeared. Naofumi widened his eyes in shock and barely had time to react and raise his shield to defend himself from the heavy blade that threatened to cut into his midsection. This guy was fast! And very skilled, the Shield Hero realized, when the scythe changed trajectory. His shield now defending the wrong area, Naofumi just grit his teeth as the scythe embedded itself in his shoulder. The pain he felt was intense, almost making his vision black out, but he endured.

Parka, however, looked extremely shocked. "What the hell?!"

Naofumi took advantage of his opponent's shock to ram his shield on Parka's face with all his strength. Even if his attack stat was barely existing, he managed to get his foe away and get him away from the weapon lodged in his shoulder. He expected his foe to jump back and land on his feet some distance away.

What he did not expect was for his foe to scream in pain and land ungracefully on his back some distance away.

"Damn you! That scythe is able to cut through iron armor as if it was paper tissue! And you're not even using haki! Just how damn sturdy are you, you bastard!" Parka's face was bloodied and bruised, and two of his teeth were missing. "Is that shield only for show? Who the hell are you, you freak?!"

"I don't take kindly to people insulting Mr. Naofumi." Raphtalia, who was nowhere to be found, materialized behind the very-afraid form of Parka. Two graceful swings of her sword and two splashes of blood later, the bandit lay on the ground defeated.

"Good job, Raphtalia," Naofumi praised.

"Yaay! Big sis got the bad guy!"

He smiled at Filo's upbeat energy, but his attention was quickly drawn to the scythe stuck in his shoulder. The wound was bleeding quite a bit, not to mention it hurt like hell. He grabbed the offending object to remove it from his body, but screamed when he felt both the pain of his wound and the electric pain that came any time he grabbed a weapon that was not a shield.

"Mr. Naofumi!" Raphtalia was on his side and yanked the scythe before he could say anything. He screamed for a moment, but then sighed. "That wound looks serious."

"It's not as deep as it looks…" he winced, "but it's still deep."

"Can you heal it?"

"My don't have enough MP to properly heal it, but I can at least manage some first aid. First Heal!" His body glowed green for a moment. The wound stopped bleeding and the pain dulled a bit, but moving his arm proved the healing was only superficial.

With his wound sort of treated, he now put his attention on the blood stain on his shield. Blood that wasn't his. He had been so used to always defending that he just kind of gave up on the idea of attacking. But that shield bash had done a lot of damage. Could it be that this new world was governed by different rules? It made sense. It took him a while to get used to the idea of Status Magic on his first days in Melromarc.

He thought about the brief encounter with the bandits. He was able to deal damage now, at least during his stay in this world. This meant that stats may not be part of this world's rules. On the other hand, he still had massive defense, but that could be attributed to the shield given that he was still unable to hold other weapons. He also still had access to the shield's many effects and abilities. So it would seem that anything related to the shield was still in effect. When he focused on his UI, he confirmed that he could still access his status magic. A look at a passing coyote gave no name or level, however, which led him to assume that creatures and people in this world did not have things like levels and stats.

His attention was then drawn to the defeated bandit. He had punched the guy pretty hard, which honestly surprised himself. Had he always been that physically strong? Maybe all that time he spent tanking hits finally developed into physical strength. Either way, he was not going to complain about being stronger or able to finally throw a punch that actually hurt.

They tied up the three bandits. One of them had managed to escape, but Naofumi was not worried. Filo dragged the bandits with no care at all as they walked to the city they had seen before being jumped by these assholes.

As they got close, a banner that read 'Welcome to Shishano Kigndom, the kingdom of the dead.'

"Shishano Kingdom? Kingdom of the Dead? This place sure has a gloomy name for such a colorful town," Naofumi commented.

"You can read that, Mr. Naofumi?" Raphtalia asked when her master read the banner.

"Yes. Can't you? It's written...in…"

In English. The banner very clearly had English words. Now Naofumi had no trouble understanding English. It was the universally spoken language back in his world. His university admission even required he was fluent in it, which he had no trouble with given he was an avid gamer and leader of game guilds, and English was the agreed-upon language of his many guilds.

The fact it was used in this world was surprising, but he didn't dare get his hopes up.

"In...?" Raphtalia asked. He let his mind wander and forgot to answer.

"In English. It's a language from my original world, but I don't think we're there. For the moment, let's enter the city and see what we can find."

"Yes, sir."

"Okaaay!"

They entered the city proper. The buildings and houses consisted mainly of simple walls with not many decorations, but they made up for being brightly colored. Despite clearly being a desert city, the colors added much life to the atmosphere, which in turn greatly contrasted the name of the kingdom.

As they walked, they passed by a public bulletin board. It showed some news as well as several wanted posters. Sure enough, Parka was in one of them. 'Dark Sickle' Parka, he was called. And sure enough, the impressive-looking number of 66,600,000 was printed on the reward. Judging by the stylized 'B' preceding the number, berries were indeed the currency used in this place.

They eventually reached a lively plaza where tons of people went about their business. Those weird cactus hats seemed to be the common dressing choice by the men, while women usually sported long dresses with many folds. Fashion seemed to lean on bright colors, but Naofumi had never been good at following fashions trends; games were a lot more fun.

As they passed by, some people greeted them in a friendly manner while others gave them wary looks when they saw their captives. Eventually, Naofumi stopped someone.

"Excuse me. We are new to this place. Do you know where we can find the authorities of this place. We want to claim the reward on this guy." He punctuated who he was talking about by kicking Parka's prone form.

"I can't believe it!" The man exclaimed in a very happy tone. "You managed to defeat Parka! This guy and his goons have been causing a lot of trouble. I'm sure the soldiers will be happy to take him out of your hands. Just follow this street and you'll reach the palace. That's the closest place with soldiers. The palace is that big building over there, the one that looks like a cross between a castle and a house. Good luck!"

"Thank you very much."

True to the man's words, the palace was visible not far from there. But as they made their way there, they must've reached the commercial part of the plaza. Stands selling pretty much anything imaginable where everywhere in the plaza. The first sense that got assaulted was their smell. The air was heavy with many aromas coming from many different kinds of food. To say they didn't salivate a little would be a lie.

"Master, I'm hungryyyy!" Filo whined.

"Umm… I'm also rather hungry, Mr. Naofumi," Raphtalia added with a sheepish smile.

Just to make rebuttal impossible, his stomach decided to growl. "Fine. Let's claim the reward from this guy and then I'll buy you something to eat. It would seem our money is not currently usable in this place."

And so they walked through the plaza, fighting against hunger and those devilish, heavenly aromas. As he would have expected, a pair of soldiers stopped them at the entrance of the palace. Their armor was interesting. They wore green scaled mail on their bodies for defense, and their heads were protected by a helmet that resembled the head of an eagle, complete with a golden beak for a visor. A round shield with a sun emblem was on their left arm, while their right arm held a polearm similar to the one used by those farmers that gave him the bag with snacks.

"Halt! State your business here."

"We come to collect the reward for this guy," Naofumi answered. Filo pulled on the rope to throw their prisoners at the soldiers' feet.

"Is this…" The two soldiers looked at each other and nodded. They returned their attention to the hero and spoke again. "Well, I'll be. Someone finally managed to catch one of those assholes! This is great news!"

"Sure is!" The other soldier added. "Thanks a lot, amigo!"

"Now, we'll be happy to give you your reward, but we would like you to meet with the king."

Naofumi's happy mood instantly turned to suspicion. "The king? I'd rather not. I just want my money."

"I'm afraid I must insist," the soldier said. His tone was not malicious, but he also made it clear he had a big interest in having the party meet with the king. "At least accept an audience with him. We'll give you your reward after. Who knows? Maybe he'll offer an even bigger reward…"

Naofumi recognized bait when he saw it. He lived as a merchant for some time so he knew the tricks of the business. Meeting with a king first thing after entering a new world was not a good experience, but things were also different, he figured. He had brought a dangerous wanted criminal to justice, for once. And maybe this king was actually a nice guy. It would be good to earn some favors from the rulers; it might make his life easier in the long run.

"Fine. I guess we can meet with the king. As long as he's not one of those tyrants…" He said so with the intent of getting a reaction from the soldier. His reaction would give a hint on the personality of the king, or at least on what the soldier thought of him. It was to his relief that the soldier laughed good-heartedly.

"Don't you worry! The king is pretty likable. He's an understanding fellow. Worst case scenario you lose some minutes of your time and go on your way with your juicy reward."

"Alright. Raphtalia, Filo. Let's go."

"Yes." Raphtalia nodded.

"Okay!" Filo transformed back into her human form, which earned a curious look from the soldiers, but nothing more. Naofumi figured that these guys were used to things transforming.

"Follow me, please," one of the soldiers said as he made his way to the palace. As they followed the green armored guy, he saw that the other soldier had put handcuffs on the bandits and taken them to another part of the palace.

The soldier led them through some halls until they eventually reached a big dining room. The walls were beige with many portraits decorating them. Some showed men with prominent mustaches, others a group of people in clothes similar to what the townspeople were wearing. One particular portrait showed a woman whose beauty was diminished by a very thinc unibrow, but somehow demanded respect. Pillars were embedded on the walls at regular intervals. The big rectangular table in front of them was made of sturdy looking wood, and had some engravings on the edges. The chairs that surrounded it were of similar design. A look to each corner of the room would show guards at the ready.

"This is the dining room. Please help yourself to any snacks and drinks offered. The king shouldn't take long. If you would like anything else, feel free to ask one of the maids. They'll happily help," the soldier that brought them here said. "I need to return to my post, so you'll have to excuse me."

And with that, the soldier left. Naofumi took a seat, quickly followed by Raphtalia and Filo. A minute later, a maid carrying a tray entered the room. She wore a red dress, and the shielder had to admit she looked rather cute. She served them all a shot glass with a potent liquid and a bowl with fried chips, accompanied by smaller bowls with different sauces. He figured the chips would be dipped in the sauces.

"Please enjoy our famous tequila. Served here are some hot sauce, guacamole, and mole for your chips," the maid said with a polite smile. "If you need anything else, please let me know."

"Actually, yes. This drink smells like alcohol," Naofumi said. "Can you bring something sweet with no alcohol for her?"

"Yes, please! Filo doesn't like the angry water." Filo always had a way with words.

"Yes, of course. Right away." The maid took left and came back a few seconds later with a bigger glass filled with what looked like milk. "This is horchata water, very popular with the kids."

"Thank you, lady!" Filo said. She gave a big gulp and sighed her approval. Then she proceeded to start snacking on the chips.

"Thank you," Naofumi also said. He took his glass and gave it a sniff as he looked at the decor again. Ah! He remembered now. He and his family had visited a Mexican restaurant when he was younger. Tequila was apparently of Mexican origins, now that he thought about it. His glass slowly spun on his hand, making the liquid swirl within it. Figuring he might as well try it, he downed the entire thing in one go.

His throat burned as the liquid passed, but it wasn't a terrible experience. It wasn't bad tasting, either. Weird as it sounded, drinking with shots was a little more fun than sipping on a cup. It's not like he could get drunk, even if he wished he could at times. Namely any time he had to deal with the other heroes.

Tch. Naofumi scowled at their memory. Bunch of selfish pricks.

A little lost on thought, he barely noticed the maid filling his glass again. His eyes then went to Raphtalia, the reason he hadn't decided to let the world burn. She was, in more ways than one, as much his savior as he was hers. His mouth turned to a small smile. She had grown so fast… Just looking at her drinking adult drinks felt so surreal. Despite knowing full well she was capable and basically an adult, sometimes he couldn't help but ride that paternal instinct that popped up from time to time.

"Raphtalia, easy on the alcohol. We don't want to be rude but I also don't want you getting drunk here."

"Yes, Mr. Naofumi," the raccoon girl said after she downed her drink. Her face grimaced at the sensation of her throat burning, but she found herself liking the drink.

"And you, Filo," he turned to the little blonde girl on his left, "have some restraint. Just because we got invited here doesn't mean we can just eat all their food."

"Yes, master!" Filo, despite answering, showed no signs of stopping. He couldn't blame her, though. She had been exerting herself today. It seemed like so long ago, but the battle with L'Arc had only been a few hours ago. Of course the girl was tired and hungry.

Then again, those chips looked yummy…

A few more minutes passed in relative silence as he and his party enjoyed the generous hospitality of the palace, but he wished the king would hurry up.

As if on cue, the large doors at the end of the room burst open, and from them emerged the person they were waiting for. He was a large man with old features in his face. His nose was big and his mustache was thick and long. His hair was tied in a low ponytail. He wore a multicolored serape that covered most of his body, except his boot-wearing legs. His hat, which resembled the ones he'd seen before, was still unique in that the cactus was larger and had tiny arms instead of the usual bulb, and the rim was adorned with what looked like black pawns from a chess set. He walked with purpose to the table, where he sat in the opposite end of Naofumi. He held his arms high and open as he welcomed his guests.

"Welcome to the Kingdom of the Dead!" he said in a gruff voice. "I am King Tacos, ruler of this colorful country. I would very much like to know your names."

"Of course, your majesty. My name is Iwatani Naofumi," the hero said with a curt bow of his head, given his sitting position.

"I am Raphtalia, a pleasure to meet you." The demihuman, like her master, bowed her head.

"And I'm Filo! These snacks are very yummy!" the little angel said with her usual chipperness.

"Ñahahahahaha!" The king gave a lighthearted laugh at the girl's energy. Despite his intimidating gray eyes, the king seemed like a pretty likable guy. Naofumi briefly mused how vastly different this interaction has been compared to the less savory one back when he first met the king of Melromarc. Sorry, former king of Melromarc.

"Eat as much as you want, but you better save some space for later. I'm throwing a party to celebrate your victory," the king said.

"Excuse me, but why go so far when we only captured a wanted man? He had a bounty, so treat us as heroes?" Naofumi had learned not to trust things that seemed too good or too friendly. He hated being the one to crush Filo's excitement for a party that would most likely be filled with food, but things looked too suspiciously good for his taste.

"Ñahahahaha! I like you, muchacho," King Tacos laughed again. "I'll be honest with you. Those bandits have been causing trouble for some time now. Normally I would send the soldiers to deal with them, but the scoundrels managed to kidnap my daughter, Princess Adelita. They have made very clear that they will hurt her if they see a soldier approach their hideout. To make matters worse, the bounty hunter we usually hire has left the island to participate in a tournament in another country."

"I understand that, but what does that have to do with us?" Naofumi questioned, though he had an idea of where things were going.

"The chief of the bandits used to be a captain of the army. He knows the soldiers of the country and can identify them. You, however, are not soldiers of this country. Therefore, he would not recognize you."

"So what you're saying is…"

"Yes, I would like to ask for your help in rescuing my daughter Adelita."

A/N: And there we have it! The first actual chapter of the story. If you notice any mistakes, please let me know.

When Oda first introduced King Taco, I burst out laughing. I love how he designed him; and this is coming from a mexican. I like how well the stereotype looks in a setting like One Piece.

I have the overall storyline planned, but I would love to know your ideas and opinions. If I feel I can incorporate your suggestions, I'll make sure to credit you if I do. I love seeing all the ideas and thoughts people have.

I hope you enjoy.