Raphtalia hadn't noticed how much her friends had grown, until it was plainly obvious that their old clothes didn't fit as well as they used to. Even though they deliberately went for slightly oversized clothing to give them more time to grow in, the clothes they bought when Master Naofumi took them in were no longer enough.

"I feel… awkward," Rifana said as she padded her body. She'd grown quite a bit over the past week, about the same as Raphtalia's own growth come to think of it. She was about as tall as Master Naofumi's chest. "It feels like my chest went out a little."

Raphtalia giggled, remembering her own annoyance back when this happened. "It was like that for me, too, being that size. Well, this size."

Rifana whimpered. "And it'll get worse, won't it?"

Keel snorted. "At least you get to be big…" she said. She hadn't grown as much as Raphtalia or Rifana, being a few inches shorter and her body not changing as much. She still could pass for a boy if she kept her hair short and wore dense clothing. Her shirt and shorts still fit her, but only just barely. She hadn't gotten the new seal.

Raphtalia laughed. "And here I thought you'd be more resistant to being a woman."

Keel groaned. "I'd like to be taller. I could handle a few extra… curves and maybe the chest."

"I wish I was you right now," Rifana admitted. "I'd like a few extra years to get used to it."

Raphtalia found it quite ironic that both of them would rather have their situations reversed, especially since Rifana wanted to attract a Hero at one point in time and Keel was very keen on growing to be a man. "Don't worry. We're almost done!"

Both of her friends rolled their eyes.

"Master already bought us some temporary clothes, if you recall. Once we're done, we'll get permanent clothes." They were old rags from a used clothing store, but Master did not want to waste too much money on clothing that would be worn for a week at most.

Rifana seemed to cheer up. "Maybe we can find out if Keel looks cute in a dress?"

"I'd like to wear a loincloth," Keel snapped back.

"What? Are you afraid of wearing pretty clothes?"

"Well, yeah!" Keel responded. "And I want to look cool!"

"Sadeena can wear pretty clothes and still look cool."

Raphtalia stepped between the two. Despite so much changing about them, this was one thing that wouldn't; the playful teasing that sometimes got out of hand. "We should probably get breakfast. Master Naofumi already woke up before us."

"I swear, he doesn't sleep!" Keel stated as she darted out.

In the main room of their small house, the table was filled with a variety of simple breakfast dishes. Fried eggs and bacon made up the meaty section of the course, while fried butter bread functioned as the bulk of the meal. Tea was offered as drinks.

There weren't any crepes, but Keel, being Keel, leapt to eat breakfast. She was addicted to Master's cooking no matter what he made.

Master Naofumi sat on a different table, his attention diverted towards drawing something whilst also looking at his "lap-top". He was so focused on his activity, that he did not hear Raphtalia or her friends approach.

Raphtalia silently leaned in, looking at her master work. She had been afraid to touch the wonder, out of fear she might break. It looked very fragile with how thin it was and likely had something akin to projection crystals inside, but observing from a distance shouldn't be a hassle, wouldn't it?

Rifana, always eager to learn more of the world of Master Naofumi came from, also watched.

The two girls found Master Naofumi browsing through images of various… girls? Master was staring very intently at them, whilst writing something on a sheet of paper.

There was a cat demihuman wrapped in bandages, a princess of some sort dancing with a suited beastman with horns, and quite a few women who wore outfits like that invader Glass. And many, many more. Some of them were clearly sketches and artworks like in the coloring books Master Naofumi gave her, but others were clearly people.

Raphtalia felt her jaw drop. Was this what Master Naofumi was looking for in women? Is that why she could never get his attention? She didn't even know the names for some of these outfits. And they all looked very rich and well done… Did Master Naofumi have a girlfriend after all?

Raphtalia turned a glance towards Rifana, wordlessly asking for advice.

Rifana winced.

"I can hear you stirring, you know," Master Naofumi commented at last, still drawing onto the sheet of paper.

Raphtalia shuddered, her face red. "I'm sorry, we just got curious." She was very concerned. "Wh-Who are these people? Why do you have so many pictures in there?"

"There's a small library in my laptop," Master Naofumi replied back. He turned his gaze over to her. "It's mostly fictional characters or art concepts that I liked at the time… I didn't delete them, but I figure since I have them, I might as well use them as reference materials."

"Reference materials?"

Master Naofumi brought up several sketches of what were clearly meant to be jewelry. "I figure that some of these designs don't exist in Melromarc, especially from cultures that have no representation here. They might fetch a pretty penny for uniqueness… Are you interested in one?"

Raphtalia stared. They all look nice, though would some of them be comfortable to wear?

Rifana spoke then, "That's very incredible. A whole library in such a small book?"

"In my world, there are ways to have these books connected to a much larger library," Naofumi explained. "But we'd need more laptops to do that."

Thinking it through and not knowing much about jewelry save the few Master Naofumi gave her before.. Raphtalia breathed out. "I'd… like what you think would be best for me."

Master Naofumi promptly turned around back into his laptop.

Raphtalia wondered if she made his work harder.

Master Naofumi eventually turned his attention back. "You've both grown quite a bit. Back then, I didn't see the transition all that well."

Raphtalia smiled. Changing the topic was good. "You were very stressed out at the time, but yes, we're not so small anymore."

Master Naofumi shrugged. "If you're not a little kid, I don't need to watch you as much anymore."

Raphtalia did not know whether or not she should have been relieved to hear that, but resolved that she wanted to be treated like an adult. "Uh, yes. You don't have to watch me as much!"

"Okay, good. Go out there and do some work away from me."

Raphtalia shuddered. "What do you mean, Master?"

"You three can handle yourselves now, so I don't need to watch everything you do. You've nearly fully grown, so as long as you stay together you should be fine."

Yet being sent away felt like a punishment rather than a reward for good work. No, no, she had to be grown up about this. "We can do some training, maybe see if we can fix our armor at the seamstress?"

"Good idea," Master Naofumi commented. He placed a bag of silvers onto the table.

Raphtalia took the silvers and resolved to do her diligence. Rifana seemed very approving.

After breakfast, the girls found the extra clothes that Master Naofumi had prepared for them in the event the clothes they originally had were insufficient. They were taken from a used clothing store from Melromarc and were meant to be another stopgap. They'd be returned back either way.

In terms of clothes, Raphtalia got close to what she had when she was an adult. It might have been lazy on her part, but she liked the style of red and black.

Because Rifana wanted something pink, she got a white shirt with a solid pink skirt.

For Keel, she picked a blue tunic and black pants, chosen before she… had been stripped. Not that it would have changed her preferences at all, she still liked pants.

After that, they went to a seamstress to adjust their breastplates one last time. The armor pieces were not going to cover their expanded bodies that well, but it was better to have some awkward protection than no protection at all; it barely took any time as well.

As the three of them stepped out of the seamstress's store, Raphtalia overheard a conversation between some villagers.

"I heard the Shield Hero turned to banditry, hunting down traveler's near the border."

"Excuse me, but are you sure he's there? I heard he's in Misro: transforming shield and everything. Building an army of monsters and demihumans, I swear."

"... But what about that guy here? You know the guy who sells alot of medicine to the general store; he's got demihuman slaves and everything."

"I don't believe it. The real Shield Hero wouldn't do something useful."

Raphtalia felt the urge to retaliate, but decided against it. She spent most of last time dealing with savage rumors about her master, after all. Though rumors of his involvement in other towns when he had hardly left Lute was concerning. Did that mean there really were pretenders actively sabotaging his name? That did not happen last time.

Rifana grabbed her attention. "... I don't believe it. There's so many rumors about him. Was it this bad before?"

Raphtalia shook her head. "No, though back then, Master Naofumi made his own problems worse."

Rifana squinted. She had never been exposed to Master Naofumi's bad side after all. "Still, building an army of demihumans and monsters? That's a bit much."

Raphtalia giggled. "Oh, I can believe Master Naofumi would do that if he had the money."

Rifana just stared. "What?"

Keel agreed. "Yeah, he can be quite scary in the marketplace."

Raphtalia nodded. "If he thinks it'd get the job done and it isn't that horrible a thing to do, he'll do it."

Rifana turned her head down. "But still, an army of demihumans? Would that mean he'd recruit more … of us if he could?" She obviously meant slave demihuman children.

Raphtalia gave that a thought. Master Naofumi did not think as normal people did; now that Raphtalia knew more about his world, it likely came from his experience playing "games" and needing to overcome challenges. So, she went over the benefits and the drawbacks, in the way she thought he would do it. "Other than the need of having to level slave children and pay for our food consumption, young demihumans would have certain talents that humans wouldn't have, especially unique skills and modes of movement. Also, it means that you could adjust their growth more directly by applying the right nutrition and training to suit a combat role. Also, any equipment that is outgrown can be used on the next batch of recruits."

Rifana winced. "Wow, that's very… practical."

"I know!" Raphtalia giggled. She felt proud of herself.

The half-tanuki girl led her friends away. There were no fake Shield Heroes in Lute… and they needed to make use of their time. They were meant to train after all, right.

Sometime before finding a good training ground, Raphtalia started talking about the fight with the zombies and skeletons that'd happen in Lute, how they had to frantically save the lives of the people here. She kept it quiet.

"Hey, Raphtalia," Keel eventually asked. "Think you can beat up Sword Jerk?"

"Hm?"

"Yeah, Sir Naofumi said it before, the heroes aren't skilled because they haven't learned to fight properly," Rifana declared. "Whereas you had."

"I had some training from Eclair, but I am nowhere near her level." Raphtalia lamented she'd have to find a new trainer at this rate, but accepted it. Something she did caused Eclair to die, somewhere, somehow. "She only won because the Sword Hero wasn't allowed to use Skills; those are what really make the Holy Weapons so powerful."

"We're going to meet the other Heroes soon enough, if you remember what Sir Naofumi said," Keel pointed out. "You can use that time to get back at him for what he did to us."

"I'm not useless anymore, but I know I'm not as good as you with melee weapons." Rifana tightly clutched her sickle's handle beside her hip.

Raphtalia frowned. Her friends did not make this easier on her, but she did want to give Ren some comeuppance for insulting her friends back when they were weak. At the same time, Master Naofumi had a goal of not causing unnecessary fighting between the Heroes this time. "I don't know if I can do that. Or if Master Naofumi would approve."

Keel frowned. "Well, what can we do?"

"Maybe sparring against him? Or at least his companions, we can prove we're better than the adventurers. Master Naofumi might be able to use that to his advantage if we frame it correctly."

"Then we'll help you!" Keel shouted, bringing out his curved blade. "Anything to get back at that guy… even if indirectly."

Rifana grunted. "Yes. We'll do what you need to train yourself up."

Raphtalia pointed to a direction near the edge of Lute. "That looks like a good spot."

Her friends bounced after her. Overall, Raphtalia suddenly started to feel like she could prove a point. She doubted that would beat the Sword Hero out of his delusions, but it would make her feel better.

The space she had selected was basically an empty plot of land near an intersection of dirt roads. Raphtalia guessed it might have been used by caravans in need of extra space, but right now, no one needed it and there was no sign that anyone owned it in particular.

Some onlookers were present, but were too wrapped up in their work to notice for the time being.

Raphtalia turned and faced her friends. "Okay, so, I think the first thing we should do is spar against each other."

Rifana and Keel both blinked.

"Wait, you mean fight against you?" Rifana asked with a concerned tone.

Raphtalia nodded sternly. She had taught her friends the very basics of how to swing their weapons. "Sooner or later, you'll have to fight against other people; better learn against a friend."

"But… with real weapons?" Keel stammered.

Raphtalia nodded again. "We're too high level for most training weapons now; they'll break easily. Besides, Rifana, you've been carrying all of our extra medical supplies."

Rifana frowned and set the small pack carrying extra medicine and bandages down somewhere safe. "I do, but are you sure, this is a good idea?"

"If we want to prove we're better than the kids they saw us as…"

Rifana's eyes practically burned. She drew her sickle with a swift motion. "If you put it like that."

Keel raised a fist in the air. "Yeah!"

Raphtalia, sensing her friends invigorated, motioned for Keel to stand back.

"Remember, no magic."

Rifana frowned but the fire in her eyes did not die down.

Raphtalia then drew her sword out, getting ready into a fighting stance with one leg forward and her blade gripped in two hands. "Three…"

Rifana did the same, her small sickle in front. "Two…"

"One!" they shouted and leapt at each other.

Raphtalia swung her blade, taking advantage of her slightly longer reach.

In turn, Rifana ducked away from the blade before making a quick slash.

In terms of fighting prowess, Raphtalia knew she had the advantage not just in skill and experience. Granted, Rifana wasn't allowed to use her biggest asset; she was the most studious of the three of them when they studied at school, this translated to having spent more time reading and having better magical ability. That wasn't to say it was easy however.

Raphtalia avoided Rifana's quick strikes. Her smaller weapon had the advantage of being lighter than thus easier to swing at certain distances. Spotting a weakness in the attack, Raphtalia aimed at the weapon's blade and deflected the swing, throwing off the continuous attack. Rifana's sickle fell out of her hands as her grip faltered.

"Wow…" Rifana stared as her weapon clattered to the floor.

"You can't do that to Holy Weapons. Those are stuck to the body at all times." Raphtalia said. "But not bad. You could have nicked me if I wasn't careful."

Rifana giggled and took her weapon back.

Keel bounced from where she was. "Good work!" she barked before placing herself in preparation for her turn.

Raphtalia readied.

"Three… Two… One…"

In comparison to herself and Rifana, Keel wasn't as proficient at magic; the dog demihuman largely limited to a single spell at the moment. Where she made up for it was her natural speed. Keel was always the fastest runner of the three of them, but now also the fastest at swinging her curved blade.

Keel made very quick attacks, one after another, much faster than Rifana.

Raphtalia was forced to defend herself, taking evasive actions and blocking. Keel was even able to resist being disarmed. Back in the future, Raphtalia had a significant level advantage over her friend, and so she never really faced Keel as a peer opponent, up until now when all that separated the two of them were just a few stat points.

Even still, Keel had a major weakness in his footing.

Raphtalia made a horizontal slash. Keel, out of reflex, tried to dodge, but Raphtalia pressed and turned her sweep into a thrust. Keel wasn't hit by the blade, but she fell from the sudden change in tactics.

"And that's why you need to defend yourself, too. Even if Master Naofumi will protect us, we need to be on our guard, too."

Keel frowned, but got up. "You sure you're training yourself to beat Sword Jerk or his friends? It's more like you're training us."

Raphtalia laughed. "I'm learning quite a lot of this, too." Being a teacher did feel just as educational.

Naofumi Iwatani felt guilty.

He had just imagined Raphtalia dressed up in one of the outfits on his laptop. He didn't mean to, but with her growing up, and with his laptop in front of him, it was difficult not to.

And then he did that for all of the girls.

And then Raphtalia had to say she'd want an outfit selected by him…

No, he shouldn't do that. He shouldn't force his former Otaku tendencies onto the girls, Raphtalia especially. He was practically her… their adoptive father, he had to maintain standards. At least he managed to keep himself away from the NSFW folders; maybe he could just delete them, they no longer held as much interest to him.

So, because the girls were at an age he didn't need to watch them, he sent them out. At nearly level 20, most ruffians would get their asses kicked.

Regardless, Naofumi looked at his laptop and made some last minute sketch work featuring some accessory designs that might be of interest. All he needed to do was order the fittings he had drawn and collect gemstones from the newly reopened mines; he had permission to enter and mine from the village's lord. He wondered if the other Heroes would take note of the finished accessories.

Closing his laptop, he hid them under his bed, where he kept most of the essential values: such as the merchant's pass he obtained from Lute's lord when they cleared the mine of monsters or the various earth books he brought. There was also a jar of seeds he brought with him, but that was for a project for later.

He took his sketches, barely above an amateur's artistic capabilities in quality, and made his way to a smithy. He probably should have absorbed some writing supplies to see if that gave him increased drawing skill…

The smith looked over the sketches, whilst smoking through a pipe. "What are these supposed to be?"

""Some experimental designs. Do you have anything that already resembles them?" Truth be told, he didn't know if these accessory shapes were found elsewhere in the world, but Melromarc did not have them last time he was here.

The smith grunted, taking the paper. He then took out an abacus and quickly did some math. The price wasn't too high if he used cheaper or softer metals like silver or bronze. If he had opted for gold, his budget would complain and he'd have nothing to give the girls properly sized equipment once they were back at the capital.

Naofumi paid the price, thinking the profits would be worth it in the end. He doubted any of them would be of the same cost-efficiency as the plastic bracelet he found under his bed, but they could end up being worth it. Besides, if any of the new accessories had good stats, he could just take them and give it to his party members.

As Naofumi turned to leave to buy gemstones, he heard shouting nearby.

"You call that service!? I'll sick my balloons at you until you give me respect!" It was coming from a nearby building.

Because of curiosity and the various rumors he heard, Naofumi changed his shield into a discrete form, that of a Book Shield. He then also brought the hood of his cloak over his head.

The sight he saw was… surreal. This has to be some sort of joke.

The man that stood outside of the building held two blue balloons in his hands whilst another was nibbling on his shoulder. He was shouting at the vendor. He resembled something like a personal attack on Naofumi; his hair was in the right style and color, whilst his clothes matched Naofumi's preferred green and brown color scheme. Even worse, the man wore chainmail. His shield was even a very well made replica of Naofumi's own, with the right coloration and metallic look. The only thing missing was that the man did not have a young demihuman slave to make as a stand in for Raphtalia, but instead he had one of those raptor-like knight dragons behind him. "Now, you better give me a refund and compensation for making me so ill! I, the Shield Hero, deserve better treatment!"

Naofumi looked at the guy and did a double take. He knew that he had been overworking himself to get everything ready for that meetup with the other Heroes, but no, this was reality. Naofumi stepped closer, drawn by the insanity. There was only one name for this guy: Imposter.

"Sir Hero, don't attack me!" a man who must have been a baker from his outfit yelled back.

"Then pay up for your stupid bread giving me indigestion! Or we'll burn your store!" Imposter kept shouting.

There was also a woman in heavy clothing who kept trying to draw Imposter away, but the duplicate blew her off.

Naofumi could only guess at the reasons, but assumed that since he wasn't branded a rapist in court, the country needed to make up something to vent its imagined grievances against him. The woman was probably the fake's handler and she wasn't able to control him.

Given the way he acted and how he was pretending to be the Shield Hero and lacked any real weapons, he didn't seem all that strong. But Naofumi didn't have Raphtalia or any of the girls to defeat these opponents for him. He might not have seen their level exactly, but they did not feel strong. He was tempted to find the girls to pound this fake into the ground, it wouldn't take long since Lute wasn't that big.

It then dawned on Naofumi what this situation actually was. I have in my vicinity, a rare opportunity to cut loose.

Naofumi stepped forward, catching the attention of Imposter. Maybe he should be glad Raphtalia wouldn't be here to see him fall back onto bad habits, but he hadn't tormented anyone since he came back.

"What's this? An insolent commoner!" Imposter laughed. His laugh was ugly. "You have something about how the Shield Hero chooses to deal with his lessers?"

"We should get going…" the woman spoke into his ear.

Imposter pushed her back. "Don't talk to me, woman. I know what I am doing!"

Naofumi gave them both a smirk, imagining how one-sided this battle actually was. "You're a Holy Zero!" It was oddly cathartic, even if Imposter was aping him.

Imposter blinked a few times, before eventually gritting his teeth. "How dare you!? Balloons, attack!" he threw one of his balloon monsters, a blue creature that might have been higher level than the orange or red variants.

Naofumi didn't so much as even bat it away, letting the thing latch on to no ill effect. It was oddly comforting given the situation.

"Flee in terror! My monsters will eat you alive!" Imposter kept shouting.

Naofumi just took another step forward.

Imposter threw two more balloon monsters.

Naofumi did not break a sweat.

"What? Why aren't you bleeding?" Panicking, Imposter then dashed forward. "Have at this, spike shield!" The fake Small shield he wore suddenly turned into a shield with various spikes poking out. Or maybe it was probably not a transformation, but an illusion effect being ended; it would be simpler to make a spiked shield look like the small shield as opposed to making a small shield turn into a spiked shield.

Imposter slammed his spiked shield against Naofumi, but the actual Shield Hero didn't flinch or reel back. Book met shield, no one was hurt save one man's pride.

"So, is your attack stat set at 1?" Naofumi goaded. This was even easier than he thought. Was this how people saw him the first time around? Because this was pathetic.

Imposter shoved the spiked shield again, and again.

Growing bored, Naofumi decided to take it up a notch. A book was fine, but it was not effective at anything but boosting magic. The light metal shield materialized and he slammed against the fake shield. Splitters of cheap metal and glass splattered into the scene.

"Where did you get that?" Imposter was stumbled back, his fake shield mostly destroyed. "I'm not going to be beaten by you!" He turned towards his knight dragon and gave it an order. "Attack this fool!"

The knight dragon hesitated, unwilling to attack.

"I order you!" shouted the Imposter.

There was a light electrical shock over the creature's body as its slave crest flared. It rushed Naofumi with its claws to alleviate its suffering.

The Shield Hero batted the limbs away, doing next-to-no damage. The creature was only slightly staggered.

The knight dragon then bounced back before digging its feet into the ground. With a charge, the velociraptor-like monster blitzed forward.

Wanting to minimize collateral damage, the Shield Hero took the hit. Naofumi barked as he staggered back, "You're doing this in the village?" The damage from the attack was minimal to himself due to the stat differences, but others would be suffering if he had evaded.

"A Hero's will is more important than random commoners!" cried Imposter.

Grunting, Naofumi gritted his teeth and made his next move. He cried out. "Shield Prison!" A sphere made of chains and shields engulfed the knight dragon.

Imposter shouted. "What? Who the hell are you?"

"Are you that much of an idiot?" Naofumi shouted, as he went and climbed on top of the imprisoning ball. Without Raphtalia or the others, this fight would be one where he would be guaranteed to lose if it just came down to attacking versus defending. He took a gamble.

The shield prison broke like an egg and the knight dragon stepped out.

Naofumi, expecting this, jumped on top of the raptor monster.

The knight dragon struggled and tried to throw him off, but a knight dragon is not nearly as hard to ride as an incredibly energetic filolial queen. Besides, the knight dragon already had stirrups and a saddle.

"Get off, damn you!" Imposter flared. He then went to charge Naofumi, using his splintered fake shield as a weapon.

The real Shield Hero ignored it. Naofumi smirked as he kept his hold on the thing. He knew however the knight dragon wouldn't give up until it was dead as long as it had the monster crest on its belly.

Thinking quickly, Naofumi changed his shield to the Rubber Shield he had gotten a while back. He didn't know if this would work, but he had to try. He had been curious even since he unlocked the shield, since it had this specific ability and never really had a good chance to use it. Just what were the limits?

"What the hell is that?"

Naofumi leaned forward and down, bringing his shield arm towards the creature's belly as much as he could. He spoke a single phrase, "Erase Writing." He registered a massive deduction of SP in status bars, but couldn't see the results of his work.

"... What? What happened?" Imposter Shield muttered in shock.

The knight dragon still struggled, but with a single pull of the reins, Naofumi seized control of the creature very easily. It no longer fought back.

Naofumi made a wicked laugh. He couldn't see the slave crest being destroyed, but apparently, slave ink could be destroyed by a shield created from a rubber eraser. Logic be damned.

He gently adjusted the creature's position, making it face Imposter. The knight dragon growled.

"I don't think it likes you very much," Naofumi said dryly.

One of the worst parts of being the Shield Hero is not being able to attack. Fortunately, the best way to get around that issue was to make new friends. Though, Naofumi was unsure of whether to keep it or not, given Filo hated dragons.

Imposter tried to run away, emphasis on "tried". The knight dragon bashed him against a wall. He groaned before laying down.

"Help!"

Onlookers, the people of Lute that Naofumi had been ignoring up until now, laughed at the fallen fake.

"Some Shield Hero you are!"

"What a light weight!"

No one took the Fake Shield Hero seriously. Apparently, he had been making quite a mess under Naofumi's name for some time, given the reaction.

"Anyone see that woman he was with?" Naofumi barked atop his newest acquisition.

No one had seen the woman since the fighting started. She likely fled once she knew Imposter would lose.

The knight dragon was happy about its sudden freedom and let out a cry. Hm, could he afford to keep it? What would he do with it? Did he have time to make use of it? Would it get along well with Filo? Also, he technically stole it, so maybe it would be legally a problem because of all of the witnesses? He'd have to figure it out eventually.

Naofumi dismounted the creature, brought it to a post and tied it up. It did not resist nor struggle.

The baker Imposter had been harassing earlier clapped repeatedly. He gave Naofumi a loaf of bread before returning to his store.

Naofumi waved at the man. "Mind calling someone to take him away?"

The Shield Hero slung it over his back and knelt down next to the beaten fake. "So, tell me who your employers are."

Imposter looked up with a bloodied nose. "Not talking…"

Naofumi gave him a grin; he had been expecting that. He reached towards one of the balloons that bit on him. The thing didn't want to let go, but his strength stat was high enough to just yank it off. The balloon tried to bite, but couldn't reach.

"Funny you should mention that." The Shield Hero noted there was a small monster crest on its body. He didn't think anyone would bother to put crests on balloons of all things, but maybe the blue variants were worth the price somehow. It did explain why the fake had so many of them and wasn't bothered to use them.

"Erase Writing," Naofumi repeated the skill. The crest on the monster broke. The SP cost was significantly lower this time, being only a sliver; perhaps the price was proportionate to the target's overall power.

The balloon still rabidly tried to bite at everything, but that was fine for Naofumi - there was one additional target it could harm now. He brought the balloon closer to Imposter.

Imposter howled, the balloon monster only inches away from his face. "No, no!"

"I can make this easy or I can make this hard," Naofumi threatened. There were a few laughs coming from behind him, someone found it amusing the fake got his own medicine.

"... I don't know what you're talking about," Imposter tried to play dumb. Or maybe he was actually dumb.

Naofumi pushed the balloon onto the man's arm.

He howled, tiny lines of blood spilling down where the balloons bit.

"Well?"

"Arlene… that's the woman I was with," the man spoke in a low tone.

"Does she have associates?" Naofumi went for the direct link.

"Some… slavers I guess? We met in Melromarc…" he spoke in a weary tone. "I don't know anything else…"

Naofumi rolled his eyes. He was losing his patience. "Cut the crap. She's not here anymore and she's probably already written you off."

The fake gulped, clearly afraid.

Naofumi continued, tearing into the fake. "We can do this one of many different ways. And you're not exactly alone. So who is this 'Arlene'?"

"She's… she's a nun, I think. I heard… nuns talk like her," Imposter's eyes moved in every direction, looking like a trapped animal. "She's got illusion magic… disguised my shield and all…She's probably already gone…"

Naofumi grunted. Even if the woman was still in Lute, on account of not having a knight dragon to ride out on, she'd probably be near impossible to find. So he focused on what's available to him. "And her associates?"

Imposter winced; he clearly looked like he wanted to melt into a puddle and sink into a ditch. "Misro village! Arlene and I, we got our monsters there! I think there's a base in the chapel…"

Naofumi grunted. That was the village that Ren nearly wiped out by killing a dragon and letting its corpse rot and pollute the land. He didn't know if Ren would still cause that problem, but he'd still need to check up on that place.

"Your possessions?"

Imposter looked at the knight dragon.

With a sigh, Naofumi decided that talking further would be a waste of his time.

Either way, a deal was a deal. He took the balloon from Imposter's hand and let the thing latch onto him. He didn't want to waste the effort to kill the thing and the Shield Hero was pretty much immune to their bites already.

Two very burly soldiers walked up and picked Imposter off the ground like he was a rag doll. They also did Naofumi a favor and disposed of the balloons.

The village lord came by and made a few quick statements, namely that Imposter's property was being confiscated. Naofumi would be receiving the knight dragon and the fake's bags as his compensation for handling the problem; he wondered if there were any clues in the property he just received, but that'd be an issue for later. Meanwhile, Imposter would be getting a scheduled trial to figure out who he really was and the damage he caused.

Overall, Naofumi was very pleased with how the situation ended up. He could already imagine Raphtalia complaining about how he handled it, but at the same time, the guy deserved everything he got.

When shadows adopt a role, they no longer had a name of their own. This was not merely a security measure meant to distract interrogators, but a philosophy. As a shadow, you must blend in. You are not who you were; you were a part of something larger. If you had a name while in a role, it was always as a smoke screen.

One such shadow currently went under the name "Kalisa", a lowly handmaiden who only served to dress up the Queen of Melromarc. In actuality, she was a messenger as well as a handmaiden.

"And of the Shield Hero?" Queen Mirellia stood facing a mirror as Kalisa adjusted her blouse. She had an important meeting this late at night and thus the best way for Kalisa to aid her master as much as possible.

Kalisa spoke with a tone that was saved only for gossip. "It is an intriguing development. The Shield Hero has refused any human party members, not that any planned to join before the Bow Hero spoke up. He even turned down your daughter very publicly."

The Queen grunted, very atypical of her. "Yes, whatever reason could my fool daughter have to join the one Hero who has no party of his own yet is hated in my country?"

Continuing as if nothing happened, the shadow added, "Then the Shield Hero chose to recruit demihumans at the earliest opportunity."

The Queen of Melromarc gave that thought as jewels were fastened onto her neck. "Any specifics?"

"Three demihuman children. It is believed that they come from Lord Seaetto's domain," Kalisa replied back. It was not a rational course of action, as those who play spy games could attest. Clearly, there was a motive in the Shield Hero's action, one that was not clear to anyone save those who knew him. "He opted to make them slaves."

The Queen gave a perplexing look; perhaps due to it being… very odd. "Is there a particular reason he chose them? How long did it take him to find them?" the Queen inquired.

"I cannot speak for a Holy Hero, my Queen," the shadow humbly apologized. "But it is rumored that the Shield Hero is knowledgeable of many things, as all of the Heroes are known to be knowledgeable of the world. Perhaps, he knew to go there?" He after all could have easily hired mercenaries or better combat slaves, but he chose children, slave children at that.

The queen gave a stony faced look. "Any further developments?"

"The Shield Hero has taken the life of a merchant, it seems. He has been steadily growing in wealth whilst training his slaves. It was expected for them to hit maturity by the time I arrived here. He currently operates out of Lute village. One notable sale occurred recently, in which an unusual bracelet from his world sold for 25 gold at an auction. The other Heroes have done similar when told such was possible."

Mirellia stood still as as the shadow fastened a strap. "And of the other Heroes?"

"All of the other Heroes took a trip to Zeltoble for three days before returning; the reason for this trip is unknown. The Bow Hero is under surveillance and has done little beyond searching for monsters. The Sword Hero has done little of any real note as well. The Spear Hero has, seemingly out of following a peer's example, taken a slave himself. Your daughter is in the Spear Hero's party and has… rearranged his party several times."

Queen Mirellia stared at Kalisa, as if the next few words would determine the shadow's fate.

"It is noted that many of the would-be companions of the Spear Hero are…prone to leaving within a few days. We are uncertain if the princess has committed crimes in the process."

Queen Mirellia let out a sigh. "Very well, I suppose it cannot be helped. What of my husband?"

"He keeps the Shield Hero away, but has focused primarily on appeasing the demands of the other three," the shadow said. "He has yet to make an obvious move against the Shield Hero, but he has been funneling money to the Three Heroes Church since the Summoning. Since then, various 'Fake Shields' have arisen. Their concept is based on the initial rumors of the Shield Hero wanting to build an army of demihumans and monsters, though their specific objectives and compositions all vary."

"An unexpected development which I had not anticipated, but noteworthy." The Queen's mantle came on next.

"We have also received a report for a 'Replica' held by the Three Heroes Church." Kalisa hardly knew what the "Replica" was, it was mentioned by name in the reports she read.

"Our source?"

"The slave merchant, Beloukas. He has not disclosed how he has found out about it in his message, but has stated he would be willing to make an audience with the source."

The Queen shuddered. "That will have to be done by Melty, I am afraid. An ordinary agent would be insufficient to handle that."

Kalisa bowed as she backed away from the completed Queen of Melromarc. "I believe that is all."

Mirellia sighed. "It is a pity that this discussion must come to an end. I'd rather we could continue, but I must negotiate with Siltvelt over a matter on supporting their favored hero; other countries have begun opening that line of discussion for the purposes of currying favor in the hopes of attracting the Heroes to their borders."

Kalisa frowned. The fake handmaid obviously knew the power of a sufficiently good bribe. "That is the extent of my report, my Queen," she bowed. "And of my duties as your dresser."

"That will be all," said the Queen as she examined herself in a mirror.

As she went to check herself before leaving, there was a knock on the door.

Kalisa did as was her role. She opened the door and bowed to the newcomer.

Princess Melty walked into the room, another shadow dressed as a maid right behind her.

"Mother, I require your advice," the princess spoke, her eyes reddish and eyelids puffy, a sign of emotional distress.

Kalisa stepped back as the Queen of Melromarc discarded her royal duties for a moment. The shadows both became as mere servants, blending with the background.

The Queen looked down at the girl, that was as much affection as the formal wear and regalia would allow. The shadow had no information on what the girl was upset about, but assumed it to be the results of the whole situation. Melty was homesick, among other things. This dreadful diplomatic mission was getting to the young girl. While it was essential to her education, Melty was still a child.

"What if things go wrong?" the girl said. "I'm very worried about the Shield Hero and his companions."

The Queen spoke. "Then you have to acknowledge it and move on." The lesson was direct, harsh, yet efficient in the shadow's estimate.

Melty looked down at herself. "I… that doesn't make me feel better."

"My daughter, if you want to be involved, you need to accept the possibility of the problem, to prevent it or solve it as necessary. As well as the issues you cannot solve."

The girl did not look at all convinced. "I… I will try to accept that."

The Queen cocked her head, but said nothing.

Kalisa doubted the girl actually wanted to accept anything, but the lesson was not an easy one to take. She had come to understand that rulership was frustrating.

The Queen then said. "If you feel it necessary, you may stay here rather than be at the meeting."

"It will not be necessary… I wish to aid the Shield Hero."

The Queen left. Melty followed. Kalisa ceased to exist.

Please do not read too much into the accessories. It isn't meant to be taken seriously or as a hint to anything.

The Fake Shield Hero is a variant of the plot that occurs in the Reprise timeline, in which the Church decides to make fake Shield Heroes because the real one fled the country.