It was clear to Naofumi that he was dreaming, it was one of those dreams of pitch-black darkness that seemed to invade his mind. Leaving nothing but him alone floating in the abyss.
admittedly he preferred this to the nightmare he was just in, he didn't dare ask the question of how he was dreaming within a dream.
"Lady Shield Hero, please wake up," a high-pitched, definitely feminine voice invaded Naofumi's ears, breaking the monotony of floating in the ocean-like abyss, crashing him into the beaches of reality.
Naofumi knew his mother never sounded like that, nor would she ever wake him up… there were other differences that Naofumi's fledgling mind noticed, there was a strange mix of…he wasn't quite sure how to describe the smell…one was the smell of dried blood, that he was only faintly familiar with, mostly due to the few times he went to a bar. his friend would get into fights, and another was a smell that was akin to when someone had bad gas after they went to the restroom. But those two smells were desperately fighting against a nice flowery smell of perfume.
Normally Naofumi slept without his shirt on so when he awoke to the odd feeling of a scratchy cloth that rubbed against his back…it also felt more sensitive than it would normally.
Something was clearly wrong, Naofumi had a dreadful feeling crawling up his tail.
"Lady Shield Hero, I do implore you to get up," The soft girl's voice finally seemed to come back.
Finally, the second two came into the formula of confusion…it was nearly undeniable but still…Naofumi could not accept.
With the speed expected out of caffeine addicts after getting a hit, Naofumi's small lithe frame jumped up kicking off the blanket covering him and making the blanket fall to the floor while Naofumi was having his existential crisis she simply put it back on the bed as Naofumi jumped to the floor.
With that simple motion, Naofumi could feel the odd serenade that was now his body. His ears on top of his head twitched, flaking off some of the dried mud that coated the ears, similarly, his long furry tail was straight and bristled as he rushed towards the nearby mirror, the clinging and clanging of chains attached tightly to his body limiting his breath as his neck tried to expand only to be blocked by the collar around his neck.
His small pale hands gripped the gilded mirror, as his breath came harshly.
The mirror showed a young girl with a few blemishes covering her cute pale face with green shocked eyes.
The nightmare wasn't over, he knew it deep down, but still a small ember of hope was in his soul, one that believed that when he woke he would still be in his mundane life, and quite frankly he wasn't a fool for this. Humans just have an issue with giving up hope even if the odds are 100:0…though calling himself human anymore… was a stretch seeing how many non-human attributes were in the mirror, his ears even flicked at that observation.
"Good morning, Lady Shield Hero," breaking away from his current enemy.
in the corner of his vision, he acknowledged the form of a young girl, 18-26 with black hair tied into a neat little bun, with two long bangs covering the side of her face, the bun was covered by the stereotypical maid cap, going further he noticed the rest of her attire followed suit on the thin, and petite girl, he also noted a nice perfume wafting off her.
"Lady Shield Hero, follow me, we have important business to deal with," The maid said with a seemingly forced
smile, and small curt courtesy.
Naofumi lets a few deep
inhales, and exhales as he tries to restore order to his chaotic mind.
'Remember Naofumi, even if you are stuck like this, it's only going to last a week or two, it's like a vacation..yeah… a really
stress-inducing vacation,'
"What's going on?" Naofumi asked, cringing as his new
high pitch voice rattled around in his big ears.
"We're getting you ready," The maid replied with that ever-present smile.
Naofumi raised his eyebrow, but continued following her, only to quickly realize where he was heading.
"Wait! Wait! I-I can't go in there!" Naofumi yelled, pointing at the door which led to his impending doom.
"Hmm? What's the issue, Lady Shield Hero? It's just a wash" the maid said, raising an eyebrow at the oddity.
"I definitely don't want to go in there now!" Naofumi yelled his girlish voice making him cringe, it sounded exactly like a petulant child.
"Why is that?" The maid asked with a tilted head a small smirk, and a tone that seemed to match the scene of a petulant child not wanting a bath.
A debate began storming his mind, Should he admit his true form, or just leave it as it is?
"I-I was a man," Naofumi said his eyes hitting the floor, It felt wrong to admit that he was a man now in a little girl form…if felt like it should be put onto a list just for that…though he knew it wasn't his choice, but still it bashed against his mind telling him how wrong it was,
"Oh? Is that it? Well don't worry, you'll have to get used to this sooner or later Lady Shield Hero, and I think it's best to get used to it before you have these," The maid giggled as hefted her rather flat chest. Naofumi's mind briefly stopped working as he forgot that aspect of growing up, before shoving that away in his mind.
"Now, let's get you cleaned up, as… no offense Lady Shield Hero…it's harder to stand near you,"
Naofumi shaked his head trying to deny it but the maid simply grabbed his hand and dragged him into the room. Turning around the maid locked the room before placing the key on a higher self.
"Now, let's get everything ready, I already drew your bath," The maid said with a thin smile as turned and grabbed the scratchy rag that covered Naofumi's body.
As quickly as he could Naofumi closed his eyes daring not to see his form.
"It's only going to get worse from here…now can I do anything with these?" Naofumi could feel the maid pulling on the chain attached to his arm.
"Hmph that's annoying, but I don't have anything to deal with these…to think they would do so little for you little shield," The maid mumbled soft enough that Naofumi bet most wouldn't be able to hear, but he with his new ears could hear it, as if it was yelled right next to his ear.
"What do you mean?" Naofumi asked as the maid picked him up.
"Hmm? Oh! Nothing Lady Shield, just the mumblings of a maid, nothing else, and nothing more," The maid said slowly dipping Naofumi into the hot water of the bath.
The hot water surrounded and covered his feet, capturing them as he went lower, and lower until it was like a warm embrace over his entire body.
"You're going to see it sooner or later~," the maid said with a sing-song voice as she grabbed a scrub and started to scrub Naofumi's dirty body, a bit of dried blood flaked off with mud, dirt, and god only knows what, making the watercolor a disgusting brown color, as filth and brown shedded fur begin to float and mix with the clear water.
Naofumi's body began to loosen, as the scrub and soap…well scrubbed his new body. The maid no doubt used to doing this for most of her life was a master at such activities, washing Naofumi with a beautiful rhythm that loosened and loosened Naofumi's body leading him into a total state of bliss.
This was definitely a comfort that Naofumi was not used to.
"Though I know you'd wish it to be the case, Lady Shield hero, you'll need to learn how to take care of this body,"
Naofumi for a briefest of seconds opened his eyes which met the from his childish legs before he closed them again…he couldn't deal with that…even if this was his body…it just felt immoral, all the facts and logic in his brain told him there was nothing wrong with looking at his body, if he wasn't doing it for pleasure.
But as stated, humans are irrational and do things not based solely on logic or facts, and quite frankly Naofumi is human.
"Ow!" Naofumi yelped as the maid scrubbed a bit too hard on one of the scabs covering Naofumi's back.
"I am sorry Lady Shield Hero, this will be done soon," the maid said, and true to her word the scrubbing was soon finished.
Naofumi could hear the maid sigh as she shuffled around, before muttering to herself.
"I had to pay too much for this…"
With that Naofumi suddenly felt a cold wetness hitting his ears resulting in another yelp.
"Wh-What the hell was that!?" Naofumi yelled as his ears pressed down from the invading chill.
"Shampoo, specifically meant for demi-humans, as though not harmful, the normal stuff isn't fantastic, especially if you don't want your ears to go bald," the maid let out a small giggle as Naofumi could feel the girl massage and try and get the shampoo everywhere leading to a similar state of bliss before being drawn out of it with a splash of room temperature water. The cycle continued like that, before moving down grabbing his tail, and repeating once more, though the maid stopped, and now Naofumi could feel her brush his tail snagging at knots causing yelps once again to leave Naofumi's blushed face.
This cycle continued as the maid worked through his tail, then his russet hair as well. Naofumi was then brought out of the bath.
The maid grabbed a nearby fluffy towel and began to pat him down, before putting it in a nearby basket, and grabbing a few clothing items from a counter.
"Lady Shield Hero it would be easier if you opened your eyes as I am putting clothes on," The maid stated
There was a brief moment of silence before Naofumi tilted his head upward, and opened his eyes with a huff.
"That's…better,"
The maid went through the steps for him, making him step in the bland panties, before moving on to a rather simple ruby red dress, with frills here and there, and an emerald-colored bow at the chest, that really served no purpose besides looking cute. With all of this, you'd expect it to be a rather extravagant dress that just screams "Look at me!" But it was much more like a sundress, than the usual ballroom dress that the maid had to dress others. She thanked her past self silently for this choice for the hero.
"Good everything seems the right size…though that's a bit of an issue," The maid said pointing at the rather large bulge, as Naofumi's tail pushed it up.
Finally, Naofumi's head leaned down towards his outfit, a thin eyebrow raised at all of this.
"Couldn't you find…uh…demi-human clothes? I get that you didn't get male clothes since you didn't know," Naofumi muttered.
The maid let out a simple laugh before shaking her head, not even answering the question as she turned Naofumi around.
She scrunched up her eyebrows, as her mind entered a deep thought that Naofumi could only guess at what she could be thinking of.
The maid let out a sigh before grabbing a nearby pair of scissors cutting out a small hole at the back end and pulling Naofumi's tail out.
"How does your tail feel there, Lady Shield Hero?"
Naofumi focused on his tail making it wag back and forth.
As Naofumi began to answer the question he began a series of rapid coughs making him lean over as the cough began to get worse, and worse. The maid made her way over to Naofumi and began rubbing his back, trying her best to soothe him.
The coughing fit ended with Naofumi hacking up a small wad of blood, which splattered onto the stone tiles.
Naofumi whipped away the bit around his mouth as he desperately tried to get air back into his lungs, savoring the sweet tastes of life once more.
There was a moment of silence, neither knew what to say after that before Naoufumi broke the silence with a soft chuckle and a small smile which sounded more giggly than he wanted.
"The-My… tail feels fine in this,"
"Good, that's good to hear, here's the best shoes that I'd think fit you, I doubt you'll keep this, or any of it really, but it's better than that rag," The maid said handing him rather small boots, which thankfully fitted well enough that wouldn't trip over them, though they were a tad big.
"Thanks for all of this,"
The maid simply nodded.
"Well, I do believe the other heroes have awakened, I do think we should head to the throne room to meet with your party members,"
Walking around the castle clothed and clean was…definitely a different experience, there were glares and harsh words, but it was more people having wide eyes as they stared at him.
Finally, they arrived at large doors leading to the throne room, the maid bowed before turning away.
"Goodbye Lady Shield Hero," she said as she left.
With a deep breath, Naofumi opened the large doors, as soon as he did eyes turned towards him, and like a flood whispers began from the upper floors, most likely of aristocrats, nobles, and such.
"Nao-chan! You look so cute!" Motoyasu's head quickly turned to the now-opened door and yelled with star-filled eyes and a wide grin at the front near the king.
Naofumi sent a glare his way as walked up, catching his mistake. Motoyasu let out a quiet "Sorry," before facing back to the king, but still, his smile never left his damn face.
Speaking of faces, the king had a subtle facial twitch that betrayed his veneer of calm. That small twitch was a bit of his underlying rage. As he stared towards Naofumi, he gripped the armrest of his throne in an attempt to keep it back, his lips turned upwards as he spoke.
"Welcome, Shield, you came back at a great time, as I am about to send word for my aids to call for your new party members," Aultcray then snapped his fingers. Leading one of the nearby men to walk away.
"It's good to see you again Naofumi, and I have to agree with Motoyasu, you do like quite nice in that outfit. Itsuki said with a thin smile with Ren nodding in agreement, all the while unbeknownst to the four Aultcray's twitch returned at every compliment Naofumi got.
"Hey, just to make it clear no hard feelings if all of the women come to my side okay?" Motoyasu said with a devious smile that seemed to eat his face.
"What are you talking about Motoyasu?" Itsuki said with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, I am known to have an effect on women…a bit too much of an effect," Motoyasu said the last bit was so quiet that no one but Naofumi could hear it.
"Well, I think you need to get that double-checked, as it's not working with Naofumi here," Ren added rather matter-of-factly.
Itsuki laughed so hard that his eyes started to water, while Naofumi desperately tried to argue back his face a deep red blush.
"It's because-" Before Motoyasu could fight back, the doors opened, and their soon-to-be party members came strolling in.
"Ah good, to see you're all here, Please stand behind the hero you wish to be with,"
With that, the party begins to spread out, heading to different heroes, all but one.
It became rapidly clear that none of these adventures wanted anything to do with Naofumi.
Naofumi wanted to scream, yell thrash upon the floor, that this was unfair, rigged, or whatnot, but…it would make sense, he looked like a child, a weak young girl, How would he protect anyone with this body?
"Really? None of you want to party with Naofumi?" Motoyasu asked, looking at the other party members.
The silence was his only response…well before a pale hand tipped with vibrant red nail polish rose behind Motoyasu.
"I will volunteer to be in The Shield Hero's team," a pitched voice came, revealing this mysterious savior as well.
She had fair pale skin, a dazzling smile, eye-catching ruby-red hair, with her vibrant green eyes. In short, besides being his savior she was beautiful.
Naofumi's face frowned a bit as flashes that any sort of romantic interest is impossible, that frown didn't last as his joy that someone would help him triumphed over it.
"Whoa! Really? You definitely got a good one Naofumi!" Motoyasu said with a smile as the red-haired girl walked towards the small heroine.
"Would you allow me to join your party, Lady Shield Hero?" The ruby angel asked, Her face was bursting into a smile…and that was all the grateful, yet naive Naofumi could see.
Much like the king on his throne, her happy veneer was betrayed by the hand hidden behind her back, so tightly screwed into a fist that nearly bled.
Naofumi, mostly dumbfounded, struggled to find words, so he simply gave up and nodded.
"My name is Myne Sophia, pleasure to make your acquaintance," she said giving him the hand that she held behind her back.
"N-Naofumi Iwatani," he took her hand, his face a deep blush as he saw how small it was in comparison.
"Ahem, I do believe, everything is set, I will be handing out funds, everyone will be given 400 silver, and the shield hero party will be granted double that amount to help recruit party members," The King's timber voice echoed throughout the hall.
As his aides nearby handed them large brown bags of coins.
When it finally came around towards Naofumi, he reached up and grabbed the brown bag only to nearly crash onto the floor via the pure weight of the thing.
"Lady Shield, I think it's best if I carry it," Myne said, grabbing the large coin bag and tying it around her waist.
"Y-Yeah smart," Naofumi said with a thin smile and a light laugh.
"With these funds, and my blessings, Heroes! Begin your adventure!" The king yelled out his arms spread out.
With that, an onslaught of murmuring erupted from all parts of the crowd, fellow party members, and more.
Naofumi's ears collapsed and tightened around his small skull.
"Let's get out of here, and discuss what we need to do," Myne suggested which Naofumi nodded.
Myne then led Naofumi through the twisting hallways, and corridors of the castle like it was the back of her hand.
"So, first off, we should get weapons, and better armor, thankfully I know just the place," Myne said once again leading Naofumi through the bustling city that was Castle Town…he noticed something…off, there was a lack of people like him…demi-humans that is, where he looked he didn't see them.
Naofumi was snapped out of it when they finally reached the blacksmith shop.
A soft ringing bounced off the walls as they opened and entered the store.
A large bearded bald man, with a ton of scars covering his face, sat at the counter with a wide smile.
"Welcome miss! We have weapons to the left-" The shop owner suddenly stopped as his smile collapsed
"...armor is to your right, If you have questions feel free to ask me," he continued though now, the joy was sapped out of him.
"Ah, thank you, I was wondering if you have any sort of armor that would fit her,"
Naofumi's tail bristled at the "her" bit but decided not to fight for the sake of convenience.
"Hmm, I might, in the back, I don't get many customers with that figure…" He said turning around and heading further in.
Myne simply nodded before looking at the armor lining the walls, a soft tune from her closed lips, she shook her head as the tune carried onwards.
Meanwhile, Naofumi looked at all the spears, swords, and other such weaponry.
"I can't believe it, real swords!" Myne briefly turned her head towards Naofumi, and she could swear Naofumi had stars instead of pupils as she stared at every single one, her tail wagging so rapidly Myne thought she was gonna take off.
"...hmph, cute one, I hope you treat her right," the shopkeeper said as walked up behind her.
Myne's twisted into a glare before shifting into a smile.
"Of course, Lady Shield Hero, come here,"
Breaking away from the beautiful emporium of items that Naofumi never hoped to see in Japan.
"Here, this is the only thing I thought would fit ya," the shopkeeper said, tossing Naofumi a small red and brown dress shirt.
"Best to have that dress as an under layer, the metal can chafe, Changing room over there," he said pointing, which Naofumi nodded and headed off.
"That's the shield hero?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Indeed, and it's my duty to keep her safe," Myne said with a smile before grabbing a rather expensive thing of armor, and a short dagger, and placing them on the counter.
"300 silver for it all,"
"Sounds good, but let's see if Lord Shield Hero can fit that chain mail,"
After a minute or so Naofumi came out with a thick red blush, but everything fit properly.
"Alright let's try out the dagger, give it a few swings," Myne said with that smile etched onto her face as she handed Naofumi the dagger.
A thin frown fixed itself on Naofumi's face as he realized he wouldn't be able to use any of the cooler weapons.
"When you level up, you'll be able to use a sword, or whatever weapon you want,"
'This is truly like an RPG, I can't get the cool shit till I level up
Naofumi shook his head before grabbing the dagger.
A bright purple light coming from the center of his chest, and bright pink light from his shield's gem suddenly appeared, and with it a bellowing scream forth.
"AHHHHHHHH!" Naofumi dropped the dagger as he rolled on the floor as purple lighting wrapped around his body leaving light burn marks everywhere it zapped.
"WARNING LEGENDARY HEROES ARE ONLY ALLOWED TO USE CONTRACTED WEAPONS"
Those words flashed in his mind.
"O-Ok-" Before Naofumi got out, another rough series of coughs as thankfully the lighting ceased.
"What the hell was that?" The shopkeep yelled
"I-I am not…allowed…to…use other weapons," Naofumi huffed out as slowly got up, and moved away from the dagger.
'Hmm…interesting," the shopkeeper muttered, scratching his beard.
"So, how much is everything now?" Myne asked with a tilted head.
"280 silver," the gruff man huffed out to which Myne pulled out the requested amount.
"Alright Lady Shield Hero, let's go fight some monsters!" Myne said with a smile and an unsheathing of her sword.
It was utterly embarrassing, he couldn't kill a single one, No matter how hard he punched, or kicked, nothing would pop the blasted balloon creature…well there was one way, but Naofumi felt incredibly embarrassed by it and refused to do it again.
Naofumi was getting so frustrated by the current balloon, that a primal instinct kicked in, and he bit the balloon popping it instantly, which also helped him discover his more than-usual sharp canine teeth.
"It's okay Lady Shield Hero, no one will think less of you because of it, c'mon Let's head to the inn get some dinner, and get some rest for tomorrow. Myne said, giving Naofumi a strange over-the-shoulder hug.
Besides the whispers, dinner was fine, though embarrassing a normal adult menu item, and getting a strange look, was embarrassing, and more so when he could barely eat a third of it.
But besides that Naofumi went to bed with ease, the bed completely consuming him.
Naofumi awoke, at the crack of dawn, and walked downstairs to the site of Myne eating at a table.
"Good morning Naofumi,"