Chapter Three: Trial Asundered
Naofumi didn't bother with knocking as he barged into the bathroom. "Come on Raphtalia, we're going-"
Raphtalia looked up at Naofumi from the bathtub in surprise. Thankfully, her modesty was preserved by the mountain of pink bubbles that she was currently residing in, leaving only enough space for her head to poke out. However, her eyes widened in fear at his sudden intrusion.
Only moments ago she was beyond ecstatic. The white foam had somehow turned pink when it made contact with the bathwater, but this was a mistake. She knew it, she shouldn't have used this wonderful bath foam without permission and now she was going to get punished for it.
Naofumi quickly turned around. He held out her new change of clothes and a towel to the side. "Get dried and changed now. We're leaving."
"... But, but what about-" Raphtalia tried to question.
"Just do it, that's an order," Naofumi said sharply.
Raphtalia's slave crest glowed purple, and she whimpered in pain before quickly exiting the tub and complying.
Naofumi grimaced. He forgot her crest would punish her if she didn't immediately follow an order. He'd have to be more careful with his words in the future.
He didn't turn to look as he felt the towel and clothes leave his hands. He stayed staring at the door impatiently, hearing the girl behind him still whimpering from the residual pain of the order he'd given her. He felt bad but wished she'd hurry it up. Down below, he could hear the knights moving around in the shop. He could also hear Elhart yelling at them.
"Hey, careful! That thing is more valuable than all the armor you're wearing!" Elhart complained.
Crash!
"AUGHHH! NOT MY SIDERITE SHIELD!" Elhart yelled in shock.
"Nothing under here sir!" The Knight reported to his squad leader.
"Keep searching!"
"... I'm, I'm done," Raphtalia finally said weakly behind him.
Naofumi turned around, seeing Raphtalia looking down at the ground. Her long unkempt hair was still damp, and her skin had a slight red tint to it, but at least she didn't smell anymore. And she'd managed to change into the dull red and black outfit he'd given her without needing his help. The almost colorless sleeves went under her slave cuffs, and the red and black skirt fell down below her knees.
Naofumi gave her a nod but did one last thing. He took the slave collar off from around her neck and threw it to the side. "Alright, now you're good." He said. Raphtalia felt at her neck in surprise at the feeling of the slave collar being gone. "Now, it's about time-" He was saying as he cracked the door open behind him to glance outside into the hallway. He quickly shut it though after seeing Elhart at the top of the stairs speaking to the knights.
"Hey, this is my living quarters. Do you really have to search up here too?!" He complained angrily to the Royal Knight's Squad Leader.
"The King's orders were to search the capital thoroughly for the Shield Hero. Several eyewitnesses have reported that they saw someone matching his description yelling outside your shop and then entering it some time ago." The Squad Leader said.
"The guy with the pretty red-haired lass?! Those two bought some stuff and left hours ago! Your information is way outdated! What does the king pay you bumbling idiots for?! I'll tolerate wrecking my store, but if you so much as step foot in my living quarters, then you can bet your rusty metal behinds that I'll have words with his Majesty about this!" Elhart exclaimed angrily.
"Move aside!"
"Make me, bucket head!"
Naofumi looked around the small bathroom they were in frantically. 'What the hell, how are we supposed to sneak out if we're stuck up here!?'
"Master, what's going on?"
He looked down at Raphtalia. She was looking up at him with worried eyes. "Nothing's going on." He lied.
The back of his mind nagged him that he was lying to her because he was afraid she'd get him arrested. He quickly shook the thought from his head. 'Right now, I need to think of a way to get us out of this mess.' He had no time to dwell on doubts over this little girl.
He looked around frantically, and his eyes widened when he finally saw it. 'But- you know what, to hell with it. I've already done it once tonight. Second time's the charm.'
"Master-" Raphtalia began to speak when Naofumi suddenly scooped her up again, surprising the little girl.
"Hang on, and don't scream." He ordered, running around the bathtub and opening the window.
"What- Au-" Naofumi quickly covered her mouth with his hand as he jumped out of the window. Not wanting her slave crest to activate and cause her more pain.
Oof!
Naofumi landed hard on the ground again, using his shield to take most of the impact. This time, he managed to time it right and used the advantage of focusing most of his weight on his shield side so that right as he impacted, his body rolled with Raphtalia clutching him for dear life. He came out of the sideways roll landing on his feet, one arm still holding Raphtalia tight to his green cloaked shoulder.
He still took some fall damage, but it wasn't as bad as earlier.
"Sorry." He didn't sound sorry. "Keep your eyes closed for now. Wait until I tell you it's all over before opening them again."
Raphtalia stayed bunched on his shoulder, covering her face with her hands and whimpering in fear about what was happening. Nevertheless, she obeyed what her Master said to do. He patted her head comfortingly at her silence. Silently thanking her.
Naofumi ran down a different street. It looked like the soldiers hadn't noticed he'd been in Elhart's shop since there were no angry shouts coming from behind him. He doubted that was the only group looking for him though. He needed to find an exit to the city, now.
A minute later, he still hadn't found an exit. However, he did find another group of knights.
Or rather, they found him.
"Over there!"
An arrow flew over his head impacting a sign hanging from a shop. He looked wide-eyed behind him at a squad of knights that came charging out of an alleyway he'd just passed. Some of them were armed with crossbows and were busy rearming them.
His luck was really crappy.
"&^%$#! Don't let go, Raphtalia! No matter what happens, don't let go of me!" He yelled to the little girl before releasing his grip on her, forcing her to cling to his torso like a scared cat. With both of his arms now free, he began to run, pouring all the speed that he could into his legs while deflecting the bolts and arrows directed at him with his shield.
Raphtalia did as she was told, holding onto him for dear life. Thankfully, the chain mail that Master wore was easy to grip onto. It sounded like a bunch of angry people were yelling after them and she could hear things whizzing in the air past them or loudly impacting against her Master's shield. She couldn't make out their words, but they sounded threatening.
She preferred her new master's words to those angry voices.
'They're shooting arrows at me!? Are they trying to capture me, or kill me!?' He thought in disbelief as he kept weaving left and right down the street to avoid the volleys. Even then, some of them scratched his exposed skin, leaving shallow cuts behind. Every impact against his shield dropped his HP by a fraction. Raphtalia obediently held onto his armored chainmail like her life depend on it., being protected by Naofumi's bulk and shield for the time being.
Naofumi turned another corner and finally found himself on one of the main streets of the Capital. His goal was in sight at last. An old and sturdy structure of brick and mortar, the city gate stood tall and proud...
Along with a battalion of guards set up in front of it to block it off.
And just when he'd thought his luck would turn for the better.
"Hehehe, we have the Shield Hero right where we want him." The voice was from a mustached man in full armor. He was the Royal Commander of Melromarc's knights. "Comb the streets! With all the city gates blocked off, he has nowhere to run!" He yelled in a loud booming voice.
Naofumi grimaced and quickly turned around to run up the street. But, as it turned out, that way was blocked too. Squads of knights armed with spears came out of the alleyways further up. They lowered their weapons as they advanced on him. Naofumi turned to run across the street to another alleyway, but the sounds of more yelling and loud footsteps coming from it forced him to instead keep running down the main street towards the gates while dodging and blocking more arrows from the original group of knights that was still chasing him.
'Damn it, if I stop now, I'll be caught. And if I run to them, I'll still be caught! I can't win!' A lucky shot from one of the archers struck his elbow, almost piercing his chainmail. His shield arm went numb.
' %$#$!'
The Commander up ahead smirked, as he saw Naofumi struggle in futility, trying to find an alleyway or some other small passage between the buildings that he could use to escape. The Commander knew that each one had knights with weapons drawn posted there to capture him. Or kill him. He didn't care.
It would be better if they captured the Shield Demon alive of course. But nobody would blame them if they were forced to kill him when he was resisting arrest, right?
"Men, prepare to subdue the Shield Hero! Siege Formation!" He ordered.
"Siege Formation!" The knights in front of him yelled back as they interlocked their shields, making a wall in front of them. An array of lances poked out from the top. Slowly, they spread out, lining the whole main street with a wall of metal bodies.
Naofumi saw it and grimaced to himself again. 'Come on, there has to be a way out of this!' He ducked another arrow and a second one slammed into the pack on his back. He almost fell from the force of that attack and knew that he'd have bruises to deal with later. He took a glance around him as he ran. 'Why the hell am I still running towards them like an idiot!'
Everywhere he looked, he saw knights closing in. The group behind him, and the sets of one or two soldiers guarding the alleyways to the sides to make sure he couldn't escape.
If this had been a chess game, he'd say that this was checkmate.
It was hopeless.
Another arrow almost hit his shoulder, and he quickly looked behind him to see how close the knights were. But while doing that his eyes focused on the girl holding onto his body tightly. The girl who looked so afraid, and had no idea what was going on.
...
For once, the pessimistic part of his mind didn't form a thought against her, but for her.
'If I'm captured, they won't free her. She's a demi-human. They'd sell her off to some other slave owner. She'll probably be forced to go through even more torture for "helping" the Shield Hero. And her sickness would never get treated…'
...
Naofumi's face scrunched up in anger. He hadn't known her for very long, but she was his only hope for survival in this world now. And he was hers. 'There's no way in hell I'm allowing that to happen!'
The pessimistic thought had somehow fueled him with a different kind of emotion and gave him the courage he needed to continue charging at full speed towards the shield barricade in front of him. It gave him the drive and desire to get them both out of there alive. Against all odds, he believed that they would make it. He had hope they would make it.
His shield started to glow blue with power.
"Um, sir. The Shield Hero isn't slowing down." One of the knights pointed out.
"And his shield is glowing. Is that normal?" Another one asked.
Naofumi was two hundred feet away from their shield barricade. And closing the distance fast. He held out the glowing blue legendary shield in front of him, turning himself into a running human battering ram. Several arrows hit his back, but he hardly noticed. The commander's smirk fell off when his eyes met with the determined look on Naofumi's face. 'No way. He isn't-'
"Hold the line! There's no way that even a hero can charge through us at level one!" He yelled, though there was a slight presence of fear in his voice. After all, it was a Cardinal Hero running towards them, and the Shield Demon at that.
He honestly had no idea what the Cardinal Heroes were capable of.
"Ahhhhh!" Naofumi roared, aiming for what looked like the smallest knight in the line. The eyes of said knight, who had blonde hair sticking out from under his helmet, widened in shock when he saw the Shield Hero charging for him.
Fifty feet, twenty feet, ten feet.
"Ake, don't back down, the rest of you hold the line! Hold the-" The Commander tried to order the knights.
CRASH! "AHHHHHHHH!"
Still screaming, Naofumi felt the world around him slow down to a crawl to capture what happened next.
He charged through the line with the ferocity and determination of a star quarterback, knocking the knight Ake away like he was made out of cardboard and styrofoam. The rest of the shield line quickly followed suit, however, they were not knocked away by Naofumi himself, but rather by the force of a glowing blue shockwave, originating from the Shield Hero at the moment of impact. As the shockwave spread out, knocking all the knights down onto the ground, their shields and armor shattered and then crumbled into blue specks of dust as the strange energy washed over them. Only their weapons remained untouched, but none came close to Naofumi.
Naofumi didn't see it happening. Nor did he notice that one of the bars on his HUD, the purpose of which he still had no idea about, had first dropped to zero and then into negative territory.
All he knew was that he had to keep running.
An armorless Ake along with the rest of the Siege Formation slammed into the street. Their weapons landing next to them. Naofumi continued running for the gate, moving his shield over Raphtalia's form to help protect her.
"NO! Close the gates! Close the DAMN gates!" The Commander yelled in fear. He'd never expected the Shield Hero to break through! The knights who had been chasing from behind slowed and stopped firing their crossbows in shock at what the Shield Hero had just done.
The black iron gate started to descend towards the ground. But it was too late. Naofumi slid under it, with Raphtalia still gripping tightly to him. The gate hit the ground with a resounding Thud right as Naofumi slid back up onto his feet and took off running for the forest. His green cloak billowing in the air behind him.
The commander ran up to the gate and beat his hand against it in rage. "Damn you, Shield Demon!"
It looked like Naofumi flipped a finger back at him in response. But he was soon lost in the darkness of the night.
...
"Sir, um, should we open the gate and chase after him?" One of the armorless knights asked.
…
The grimacing Commander backed away from the gate. "I… no. No." The Commander exhaled and his expression returned to its natural condescending look. "What's the point? Where is he going to go? He's level one and all alone. If the other town's guards or the bounty hunters won't get him, then the beasts will."
"... Um, whatever you say then, sir." The knight said nervously, he started to look away for some reason.
"I shall report to his Majesty about what happened here. You all are to go to the armory and resume your posts." The mustached knight said briskly, starting to walk off.
"Um, sir, are you sure you want to do that-" Another knight started to ask.
"I'll tell the King what happened! Now you all go to the armory and get yourselves replacement gear!" The Commander bellowed angrily at his knights. The last thing he needed was for a subordinate to paint what happened in a worse light just to make him look bad. "I want you ready in case we are ordered to pursue the rogue Hero!"
"Sir yes, sir!" The guards said at the same time, averting their eyes from their commander.
The Commander grimaced at his underlings one more time before he took on a professional stance and started walking up the main street back towards the castle. Not noticing that some of Naofumi's stray energy had also decimated the greaves he'd been wearing, revealing the boxers with heart-shaped stickers he wore underneath.
"Heh, huh, heh, huh." Naofumi breathed heavily, leaning against a tree in the forest. The moon was out, shining dimly in the clear night sky and illuminating his surroundings. One of his arms was wrapped around Raphtalia again, holding her to his left shoulder. Her eyes were closed and her knuckles had turned white from gripping his chain mail so tightly.
'How long... did I run for...?' His side ached in pain. It felt like he'd been running for hours. However long it'd been, he was surrounded by forest now. And he couldn't see any trace of the walls of Melromarc behind him.
'I did it. We're both safe... for now.' Naofumi felt relief. Somehow, they'd gotten out of that experience alive.
"*Cough* *Cough*, ow..." Raphtalia started coughing on his shoulder again. Naofumi recovered himself enough to put a hand to her forehead. 'Holy hell, her forehead's way too hot. I should have asked Elhart for some medicine too…' He also noticed that the arm that he was using to hold Raphtalia was feeling sticky for some reason. He sniffed, and he realized he smelt the tang of iron in the air again.
"Raphtalia, can you hear me?" Naofumi asked her calmly. However, he felt fear growing in him. Had he somehow not protected the little girl?
Raphtalia weakly nodded her head after a moment. "My… my back…" She whimpered.
Naofumi set her down and turned her around. His left arm had some blood on it. But no arrow was sticking out of her back. While he felt relieved at that, he saw the scabs at the top of her neck partially open. A slow trickle of blood came from them. Her new clothes already had patches of dark red on the back of them.
Had he not been careful enough? Had he reopened the wounds on her back in his haste to flee?!
'...' Naofumi calmly picked Raphtalia up again, readjusting his grip to put the pressure on her legs instead. Being oddly gentle as he did so.
"You can open your eyes now." He said.
Raphtalia didn't lift her head from off his shoulder. "Look, I know you're not feeling good right now, but I need you to stay awake and watch my back for me. It isn't safe to treat you here." He said as he started walking.
...
"Yes, master." The little raccoon girl said tiredly.
Naofumi sighed to himself. "Hear, how about we get you something to eat. That should help you stay awake for a little while longer. Let's see what we have here..." He set the girl back down and started to rummage through the pack that Elhart had given to him, trying to find the packed lunch when he stumbled onto something else. It was a small glass vial. He couldn't read the label, but the SMS (Status Magic System) helpfully produced a message on his HUD, identifying it for him.
Potion of Healing: Quality Unknown
Naofumi closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he struggled not to cry. 'Damn you, old man. I swear I'll pay you back for this one day.' He put the potion into a pocket in his chainmail, and after further looking and finding other medical supplies, he found one of the packages of food. He opened it, revealing some kind of fruit. "Here, try this."
When it neared her nose, Raphtalia sniffed the fruit, and her eyes went wide. One of her hands immediately grabbed it, shoving into her mouth as much as she could. The sounds, though not the best he'd heard, made him feel better since she was eating something. It felt like it'd been an eternity since she'd tasted anything sweet. So she ate the fruit greedily.
"You must have been hungry?" Naofumi calmly pointed out and picked her up again. A softer look on his face.
Raphtalia stopped what she was doing, her eyes widening as she noticed the juices from the fruit landing on Naofumi's green cloak. "Ack! I'm sorry Master. I didn't mean to-" She started to say out of fear of being punished.
"Relax. I'll wash it out another time. Right now you need to focus on eating and watching my back." Naofumi said, before continuing to walk forward through the forest.
Raphtalia looked from the remainder of the fruit back to her master, then back to the fruit. She started eating it again, though this time with more care than before. She tried to focus on what was behind them, but she let out a small "eep" or "I'm sorry" every time a drop of the fruit's sweet juice landed on his shoulder. This was because of her expectation for her master to get angry at her for letting more of the fruit's juices stain his cloak. But he stared straight ahead, his face blank and emotionless the whole time.
As if to prove he wouldn't be angry with her, when she had finished the fruit, he took out some crackers and gave them to her. "Here, eat these too."
Raphtalia remained silent, looking from the bread crackers back to his face. "What? You're still hungry, aren't you?" He asked. Or had it really been that long since she'd had a decent meal? The thought made him feel angry all over again.
…
Raphtalia slowly chewed on them in silence, not saying anything. Other than the occasional coughing fit that she had. He rubbed her head, taking care not to aggravate her back.
On the inside, she was amazed at how her master was acting towards her. Carrying her since she was too weak and tired to walk by herself. Feeding her some of his food. Walking for them both even though he must have been tired from his night's ordeals… not to mention, the fact that he, a human; was treating her, a demi-human, much nicer than humans in this human supremacist country normally did.
His headpats felt very soothing...
Eventually, the two came into a clearing in the forest. The night sky was filled with stars up above. A calm flowing river went in a zig-zag pattern across the middle of the clearing.
"Let's stop here for now," Naofumi said blandly, setting Raphtalia back down on the ground. "Don't move around yet. I'll take a look at your back after I have a fire going." She tiredly sat as he gathered firewood for a campfire.
A few minutes later, he had a warm campfire going for the two of them. Raphtalia held her hands up to it, her eyes staring in awe at the dancing flames. Naofumi stared at her from across the fire. 'She might have gone through a lot. But at least she still has that look of childlike wonder at seeing things like fire...'
He started to look through Elhart's pack to do a count of what he had on hand. 'Let's see, 159 Silver. A couple of orange balloon scraps. A knife and shortsword. The clothes I was wearing when I got to this world, a couple of extra sets of clothes for Raphtalia… come on, what happened to those medical supplies I-'
"Master, where are you going to sleep?" Raphtalia asked.
Naofumi was shaken out of his thoughts at her question. He grimaced as he realized that they didn't have any camping gear. "Sorry I don't have any sleeping bags with me. We'll both have to sleep on the ground for tonight." Naofumi informed her.
"It's… it's fine. I'm used to it." Raphtalia said quietly, looking down from the fire to her hands.
Hearing her say that pissed him off. But later. He could address that later.
Naofumi finally found the medical supplies buried in the depths of the pack. He got up, heading over to the river. "Strip your shirt and lie down on the ground for me."
…
Raphtalia's face sank, and she began to shake in fear. Yet, she quietly obeyed, lying on the ground and putting her hands over her head submissively as he continued to speak. "Those wounds look serious. The last thing we need is for you to bleed out, or worse."
Naofumi dipped a cloth in the river. Then, he came over, getting down on his knees next to Raphtalia. "Just… stay still for me." He mumbled.
Raphtalia took a shaky breath. She clasped her eyes tight as he began lowering the cloth to her back. However, he quickly backed away. It sounded like he was saying words under his breath. She opened her eyes and turned her head. She saw a furious look on her Master's face. "Master?" She asked fearfully.
The dark look in his eyes faded somewhat. "Sorry. I was just… caught off guard." He said dryly.
Seeing how horrible her back looked… whoever the bastard was that did this, he swore he'd kill him if he ever got the chance. No man deserved mercy for doing this to a little girl.
She was confused again. But he calmly got back into position and began rubbing a wet cloth along her back. At first, the chill of the cloth made her tense. But he didn't press down hard or anything. He was being soft, gentle. It surprised her. Her hands lowered from her head. What was her master doing?
He took the cloth off for a moment, and then reapplied it. He must have added something to it because she hissed in pain whenever it passed over one of her open wounds.
"I know, it hurts. Just bear with it." Naofumi mumbled. He poured more of what he guessed to be medical alcohol Elhart had put in the pack over the cloth and continued. When he was done cleaning the first area, he breathed in calmly. "Okay, now this next part is going to hurt." He handed her a stick from the pile of kindling that he'd used to start the fire. "Bite on this and brace yourself." The girl obediently did so.
The knife, which he'd set blade first into the fire, looked red and angry. Gripping the handle with a cloth, he pulled it out and then paused. His hands were shaking as he looked down between the knife and the horrible wounds on the girl's back. He grabbed his wrist with his other hand, breathing in and out heavily as he felt sweat pour down his face.
If anything, the one who needed to brace himself was he. He understood what he was about to do and why he had to do it. But his body was refusing to move. He'd never hurt anyone before, let alone deliberately. He almost wished his stupid shield would have zapped the knife out of his hands, but that traitorous piece of junk remained silent as if mocking him.
"Masur?" Raphtalia tried to speak through the wood she was biting down on.
With one last deep breath, the Shield Hero pressed the hot blade down against one of the bleeding gash marks.
"NNNGHHH!" Raphtalia screamed around her makeshift gag.
"I'm sorry…" Naofumi sounded like he genuinely meant it. He wished there was a painkiller he could give to the little girl. He hoped he wasn't making it worse by cauterizing her wounds.
He set the blade in the fire and went back to cleaning. She began to quietly sob and cry in anticipation of the next cauterization. Naofumi tried to be more gentle, but there was only so much care you could use with hot metal. She continued to cry and whimper as he continued along. Cleaning an area, and then cauterizing the wound closed.
Every time, he could feel a part of him die inside as the girl cried out and sobbed. The smell of burned flesh started to get thick, making him feel nauseous. Yet there seemed to be no end in sight.
His eyes watered repeatedly, blurring his vision and forcing him to wipe away at his face with his cape every few seconds to not become blinded and, god forbid, miss one of the wounds and burn her for no reason instead. Both of his hands were shaking uncontrollably now.
'Damn it.' He cursed himself internally, trying to force his body to obey his will. He gritted his teeth so hard he felt they were going to crack. 'Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Stop shaking. Stop shaking, you damn idiot. Get a hold of yourself!' He wiped at his eyes again with his sleeve. 'You have to do this. You have to do this or else she's going to bleed out or get an infection and die. And it will be all your fault. Now stop being a coward, own up to your mistake, and, stop, SHAKING!'
At some point, Raphtalia started to think that she was becoming delirious from the pain because she could have sworn that she could hear her new master crying behind her.
A fit of coughs wracked her, and the treatment paused. She felt a hand on her head, lightly rubbing between her ears as she coughed. When the coughing fit subsided, he continued. "Be careful. You opened up a few more of these lashes there with your coughing." Naofumi muttered. It meant that he now had even more open wounds to clean and close.
"I'm… I'm sorry." Raphtalia whimpered.
"It's fine. Just please, be careful... I don't want to do this either." He whispered the last part under his breath.
But she still heard it.
For an hour, he continued the process. He set the knife blade back over the fire to heat again and again. He cleaned and cauterized as best as he could. And, finally, mercifully, he wrapped her back with a clean bandage.
"Alright, that should do it…" He was suddenly very relieved to have passed first aid courses back in High School. He was not proud of his work. Not like this, but he was reasonably certain that she wouldn't bleed out during the night and that the cuts wouldn't get infected.
Raphtalia stayed still on the ground, whimpering in pain. Naofumi comfortingly rubbed her head and helped her put on a new shirt since the old one was soiled with blood. He was surprisingly gentle throughout the entire process.
Then, when she was in fresh clothes, Naofumi took the vial from the pocket of his armor and opened it. "Drink this."
She slowly gulped down the red liquid. On his HUD, he saw her HP bar gradually refill the more she drank. He also noticed that the girl began to relax as she did so as if her pain was disappearing. When her bar was full, there was still some liquid left in the vial. "How do you feel?" He asked.
"... tired…" She said after a moment. Her eyes looked droopy.
...
While she was looking down at the ground, Naofumi had to wipe his eyes again. Elhart, you blessed freaking blacksmith. He corked it and put it away again for later, just in case. "Alright, you should get some rest."
Raphtalia slowly laid herself against the ground, preparing to do so...
She felt a warm weight settle over her shoulders and surround her body. She looked up in surprise to see that Naofumi had taken his cloak off, and put it around her like a blanket. "It isn't much… but it should help you stay warm," He moved to his side of the fire again. He was still dressed in his cloth chainmail armor, but he looked exhausted after trying to treat the little girl's back...
...
Raphtalia stared at her new master across from her for a moment. "Master, sir," He looked at her. "Who are you, and what I mean is who are you really?" She asked curiously from inside the cloak. He was too nice for someone who wanted to be a slave owner.
Too kind.
"... I'm the Shield Hero." He answered, before looking back down at the fire.
"You mean, of the Four Cardinal Heroes?" Raphtalia asked, sounding more excited for some reason.
"Uh-huh." He responded indifferently. "Why does it matter?"
Raphtalia stared at him, her eyes wide. A memory went through her mind of her parents telling her the story of the four legendary heroes.
There was the one with the sword, the one with the bow, the one with the spear, and the one with the shield. Her father told her that the Shield Hero had always been the one who'd been the kindest to her people. That was why he was like a savior to them.
She'd always wished back then that she could meet the Shield Hero. Though the man in front of her claiming to be him wasn't… the Shield Hero that she had pictured in her mind.
"You're really, the Shield Hero…"
"Pretty sure I just answered that," Naofumi replied blandly. He realized he had a few orange balloon scraps in the pockets of his chainmail, so he absorbed them into the gem of his shield. Raphtalia's eyes widened at the action.
'It really is him…' "Master, I'm sorry for being rude, but what is your name?" She suddenly asked him.
Naofumi stayed quiet for a moment. "Naofumi, Naofumi Iwatani." He said.
"Na, Naofumi Iwatani?" She said quizzically. "I like it. But why not master, or sir?"
Naofumi sighed to himself. "Look, while we're at it, drop that "master" thing. It's creeping me out. Just Naofumi is fine, okay?"
'Just… Naofumi…' Raphtalia looked confused, but then she started coughing into her shoulder again. Naofumi sighed and looked at the darkness around him. "Get some rest. You've been through a lot today." He told her. And it was his fault she'd had to go through it.
"But, but what about you mas- I mean, Nao, um, Naofumi?" She asked him unsurely.
"I don't feel like sleeping yet." His tone was hard, not giving an answer.
Raphtalia looked up at him for a few seconds more, but the warmth from the fire and the warmth from the green cloak that felt like a blanket to her made her eyes heavy. She laid her head on the ground. "Nao… Naofumi." She said, her voice drowsy.
"Huh." He said, looking back from the forest to her.
"Th-thank you. For saving me." She whispered. She might not have known what was going on back in the Capital, but to her, it had sounded like he'd saved her from some horrible fate at the hands of those angry yelling people. And he'd saved her again by treating her back.
Despite being his slave, she was grateful that she had been saved by the Great Shield Hero that her parents told her about.
Soon enough, the heat of the fire and the warmth of kindness lulled off to a nice, gentle sleep.
...
He stayed sitting where he was for a few moments more. Studying the little Tanuki girl wrapped in his cloak… tears entered his eyes again. 'I guess this is how I'm starting off my grand adventure in this world…'
He looked sadly into the flames of the fire. 'A fugitive on the run, with little money and equipment. My name and reputation are being tarnished by everyone in this world... And my only source of help is this little, malnourished, tortured… kind, innocent slave girl… who I'm going to have to turn into a child soldier to fight for me.'
Could he even bring himself to train her?
...
Finally, he got up and started walking to the edge of the clearing. His face was dark. And his anger and frustration needed an outlet to be released. He needed something to take it out on until he had nothing left to give.
After walking only a short distance, monsters began rolling out of the trees in front of him. A bunch of creepy, red-eyed, different colored balloons. Small red arrows pointed down on them. He'd noticed them keeping their distance earlier. Now, it was time to face them.
At last, he could finally vent it all out. "Ahhhhh!" Naofumi screamed in rage, running forward towards the main one. He imagined he was punching Myne's pompous face at that moment. He pictured the bastard that had tortured Raphtalia and left her in such a condition.
He pictured himself for having to purchase a little girl to fight for him.
Pow!
With a screech, the balloon flew a dozen feet back through the air. But it was replaced by the swarm of balloons that surrounded Naofumi.
The Shield Hero got to work punching all the low leveled monsters again, and again.
And again.
Back at the Capital
"What is the meaning of this!?"
The Commander of the Knights shook in his armor and heart-shaped boxers before the enraged king. "I gave you one order. ONE, ORDER! And you let that damned Shield Hero escape the city!" He yelled.
The mustached commander shuddered where he stood. "Your Majesty, with all due respect, the Shield Hero plowed right through a Siege formation. He even destroyed our armor and shields as he escaped-" The Knight commander tried to say to defend himself.
"I don't want to hear your worthless excuses! If you spout off anymore, I'll have your head right where you stand!" The King yelled.
The mustached Commander paled and bowed low before the king. "Yes, your Majesty!" He said hurriedly. He then finally noticed his armorless pants issue and eeped as he moved his hands to try and cover them while in the middle of his bow.
Had he seriously paraded through the whole town like this without realizing it?! What kind of idiot was he?!
The King grumbled in his seat. "You're dismissed. But you will make up for your insolence!"
The Commander bowed so low his head almost touched the floor. His position looked rather comical as he then hurriedly got up and left before the King could change his mind. Doing his best to save some form of dignity from discovering he was no longer in his pants.
...
"My precious daughter." The King looked lovingly at the redheaded bitch. "I am so sorry for forcing you to do this again, but please, can you tell us one more time what happened?"
Myne sniffled pathetically. "After, after we got to the inn, the Shield Hero said he required my presence in his room. I, I thought he only wanted to continue talking strategy about a dungeon that we'd planned to travel to. Only, when I got there, he locked the door behind me… and… and then!..." She burst into hysterical sobs.
"There, there Myne. It's going to be okay, you're safe now." The Spear Hero, Motoyasu, said as he wrapped his arms around her. Malty leaned sideways into his embrace, making a show of herself in the process. If she wasn't such a Bitch, she could have made a wonderful actress.
Not.
"He, he said... that the night was still young. That he had a hunger that still needed satisfaction! I thought he was talking about dinner. But, but then, before I could ask what he meant, he, he, he... he forced me onto his bed and started ripping off all my clothes!" She screamed.
Gasps came from both the King and Motoyasu.
"It was only because of Sir Motoyasu hearing my screams that my innocence was preserved! As soon as he yelled that he was coming, the Shield Hero got scared and he jumped out the window!" She managed to finish, still sobbing into Motoyasu's shoulders. "If it wasn't for him, I… I…" She couldn't bring herself to finish and she continued sobbing.
Motoyasu scowled, still remembering the sight of finding Myne in the hallway, her sobbing in her ripped clothes. Before going into Naofumi's room. Finding her undergarments lying on his bed.
King Aultcray had a downright murderous look in his eyes. "What do you think should be done to the Shield Hero, Malty?" He said while trying to speak in a softer tone of voice for the sake of his poor traumatized daughter.
Princess Malty wiped away fake tears from her face. "If that poor excuse of a hero has already escaped the castle walls, then all I can hope for is that the monsters will be able to punish him for what he did to me." She said, hugging her arms to herself while crying.
The King growled in his seat. "To think that we have summoned such scum to our world. Malty, my dear, sweet, precious Malty, I swear that should he so much as try to show his face around the Capital again, justice shall be administered swiftly upon him!" He said.
Motoyasu nodded his head. "Yeah, I'll help to administer that justice myself!" He said loudly in agreement. "No hero should ever stoop so low as to rape a woman and then run away like a coward!"
"... I'm for swift justice myself." The Bow Hero, Itsuki, said from the opposite side of the aisle from Motoyasu and Malty. "But what kind of justice are we talking about here? Death? Imprisonment?"
The King wriggled his nose distastefully. "To even try attempting rape, especially to a princess, is normally punishable by death." He looked straight ahead. "But because of his status and role in saving our world from the Waves of Destruction, I would have left it to making him an outcast among my people and letting word of his crimes spread throughout the kingdom." He then visibly gritted his teeth. "If he had stayed to face justice for what he had done."
The murderous look returned to his eyes again. "However, since he has chosen to run away, he shall receive a far worse punishment. When he is caught, I shall have him thrown into the dungeons. He shall be stripped of everything except his shield. Monsters will be thrown into his cell, ones incapable of killing him, but that will hurt him as he's forced to kill them to level up. He will pay for his meals with their scraps, and only be let out for the waves before being put back in his dungeon when they're over. He will beg for mercy, and none shall be given to him. He will wish he'd never dared to lay a finger on my dear daughter and ran away thinking he could get away with it!" He yelled at the end, leaving no room for an argument.
"This shall be the Shield's punishment!"
Motoyasu looked happy. Malty cried as she hugged him. But the Sword Hero, Ren; and Itsuki. Both of them looked stunned. "That..." Ren said so quietly that only Itsuki heard it.
"Isn't that a little extreme, Your Majesty?" Itsuki asked.
"What would you have me do instead, Bow Hero?!" Aultcray demanded. "How should I treat the one who raped my daughter and fled?!"
"I, well…" Itsuki backed down. "Never mind."
"We'll take our leave," Ren muttered. The two Heroes headed towards the exit.
"I can't believe we got dragged out of our beds for this," Ren muttered to Itsuki.
"Yeah… still, I can't believe Naofumi did such a terrible thing," Itsuki whispered back.
"He didn't come off as that kind of person before. But Myne seems convinced." Ren said calmly.
"... Yeah, and he did run away…" Itsuki trailed off.
"Yeah, I guess he did," Ren muttered quietly. He wasn't sure how it was in the other hero's worlds, but in his Japan, it wasn't innocent until proven guilty. Arrest warrants were only issued by the police when they were certain that the person had committed the crime, so it was guilty until proven innocent. His running away only cemented that fact.
But something about Myne seemed… off. Without Naofumi there to focus on, he'd focused more on her... still, he couldn't tell what it was.
Maybe he was just imagining it?
The King was silent for a moment, staring ahead at something only he could see… "Sir Motoyasu." He finally spoke, grabbing the Spear hero's attention. "I'm entrusting my daughter to you. I pray that you will treat her better than the Shield Hero did." His eyes were glaring murderously at the end of his sentence, giving Motoyasu the hidden meaning of what would happen if he didn't treat his daughter like a Queen.
"No worries your Majesty. Your daughter will be safer with me than even your own royal knights." Motoyasu said happily, planting his spear into the ground. Myne continued to hug him tightly.
"Good, it is late. Now go." He said tiredly.
Motoyasu and Malty both left the throne room. Leaving the King to sit by himself to think.
...
'And here I thought that this Shield Hero wouldn't turn out like my bitter demi-human enemies…' He'd hoped they'd be able to work together to save his kingdom. That they could put aside their differences and get along.
But it didn't look like that was going to happen now.
'What a waste.' The King thought bitterly. What a waste of a Cardinal Hero.
Boom!
He slammed the base of his decorative staff into the ground. The booming sound thundered throughout the whole castle, announcing his displeasure with the situation.
…
The pair of two walked down the hallway together. Myne was giggling over something Motoyasu had said to her. Suddenly, she stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Is something wrong, Myne?" He asked curiously.
"Sir Motoyasu, I'll join you in a moment, I just realized I have something to do," Malty said to him sweetly.
"Oh, sure thing Myne! Take as much time as you need!" Motoyasu said happily, continuing to walk on like a fool in love.
Malty continued with her fake smile for a moment more as Motoyasu disappeared, and then when the Spear Hero disappeared, she scowled. "What do you want now, nun?" She spoke venomously. "Couldn't you tell that I'm about to land with the Spear Hero?"
Altara the nun came out from behind the pillar she'd been hiding behind with the assistance of magic. Still dressed in the same attire as earlier. She'd given a signal to Malty, alerting the First Princess to her presence. "I overheard what was said. Is the King truly going to let the Shield Hero run away? Is that it?" She asked in disbelief.
"... Yes, but it's not a big deal," Malty said dismissively. "If he does reveal himself, then he'll be thrown into some dungeon and released to the waves when the time comes. It's not that far off from what I guessed. In some ways, it's even better." Malty said happily. For one, he'd suffer even more than he would have in her original plan.
Maybe she could even convince papa to let her watch the Shield Demon be tortured by the monsters so she'd have front seat entertainment to his descent to despair.
"That's if the Shield Demon reveals himself," Altara said in a quiet angry voice to make sure she wasn't overheard by anyone. "Because of your failure, the Shield Demon now knows that we're trying to kill him. Meaning that he'll go to even greater lengths to stay hidden from the public."
And if he ran to Siltvelt. It'd all be over!
Malty had to cover her mouth to keep the evil laugh from escaping. "Oh please. The Shield Hero could barely hurt a balloon with how much attack power he has. I didn't manage to steal all his money, but he'll run out of it eventually. And with the news of what he did already spreading throughout the kingdom, nobody would believe that he was being framed, even if he yelled it to their faces." She did a little happy twirl. "The monsters between him and the other countries are too high level for him to deal with himself. I bet he won't even make it to any of the nearby villages."
Altara grimaced. "But-" She tried to say.
"The chances of him surviving the next wave are still little to none. There's nothing we need to discuss." She said, walking away from Altara.
"But, but one of the knights! I overheard him mentioning that the Shield Hero was carrying a-" Altara tried to say.
"Let it rest. I am tired tonight, and I have a real hero waiting to welcome me into his sweet, loving embrace." Malty said in a tone of dismissal.
Altara glared angrily at the back of Malty's head. "I swear if your blunder keeps the Shield Demon alive. Then gods help me, I'll let his holiness himself know that it was all your fault." She said, turning to walk away. The First Princess didn't acknowledge the nun's comment.
As Altara walked away, she was hit with an idea, however.
'Although… I don't see the Pope minding it if one more demi-human is killed... I should inform the shadows of the Church of what needs to be done. We need to confirm where this demi-child that the Shield Hero acquired came from, and strike them both down while they're weak. Yes, the Devil of the Shield cannot be allowed to live a moment more.' Altara thought zealously to herself.
After deciding on her own plan of containment, since the First Princess was too busy to make such plans herself, Altara kept walking on through the hallways of the castle.
...
Myne sighed happily as she opened the door to Motoyasu's bedroom. After a day of awful acting around the Shield Hero and dealing with bitchy nuns, she was finally ready to obtain her reward. "Oh, Sir Motoyasu…" She unclasped her armor as she walked through the door. Showing no shame as the door closed on her naked back.
...
Where Ren had been about to enter his room nearby, he paused. 'Huh…'
Hadn't she just been crying fifteen minutes ago about being raped? Why was Myne suddenly entering Motoyasu's room naked?...
...
His eyes narrowed, finally realizing it. Yeah, there was definitely something wrong here. That wasn't how a person who'd almost been raped should have been programmed to act.
Was it a bug in the system or in the NPC's narrative? He'd played games with that problem before. Those were the worst...
Or... if it wasn't a bug, maybe there was an interesting plot hook in the narrative of this world to discover… and whatever that plot hook was, Naofumi had somehow triggered it?
Ren was too curious. He had to do some digging now.
Perhaps, it was possible Naofumi wasn't guilty of what he'd been accused of at all.
Shocking, since this world also followed a guilty before innocent outlook. But he'd seen that twist happen in anime before. Who knew? Maybe the same thing would happen here.
Hero Clips!
Just Naofumi
"Look, while we're at it, drop that "master" thing. It's creeping me out. Just Naofumi is fine, okay?"
"Um, if you say so, Just Naofumi."
Naofumi looked back at Raphtalia weirdly. But then figured he'd probably heard it wrong. He left to punch some balloon monsters.
"Just Naofumi! Welcome back to my shop!"
Naofumi's eyebrow twitched. "So, you're calling me that too, old man."
It'd been some time. Raphtalia was now a teenager.
"It's what the little miss calls ya by, right?" Elhart asked Raphtalia.
"Yep, Just Naofumi was what he told me to call him!" Raphtalia said happily and energetically. "It even displays it as such in my HUD now!"
"... ugh…" Naofumi facepalmed.
"These herbs are worth around 10 Silver, Just Naofumi."
"You too?" Naofumi groaned again in the apothecary's shop.
"Is there something wrong, Just Naofumi?" Raphtalia asked curiously.
He gritted his teeth and finished his business with the apothecary before leaving. He wouldn't get mad. He'd just play it off as a long, boring dad joke.
"Just Naofumi! You are under arrest by order of his Majesty!" A random knight proclaimed.
"It's *&^%$#! Naofumi!" He yelled at the squad of knights, a Wave was going on around them. "Why does everyone keep calling me that!?"
"But you said your name was Just Naofumi, not *&^%$#! Naofumi." Raphtalia said curiously.
…
Naofumi gave her a stink eye. He looked like he was about to blow as he went back to defend against the monsters.
"So we finally meet again at last…" Naofumi and Motoyasu faced each other in the center of an arena. He twirled his spear around to show off.
"Ugh, let's just get this over with." Naofumi groaned as he got ready to defend himself-
"You'll pay for everything you've done, Just Naofumi!" Motoyasu yelled.
…
That was it. THAT WAS *&^%$#! IT!
A flaming shield appeared on Naofumi's arm, and he curb-stomped the Spear Hero into the ground before glaring up at the stunned King and nobles. "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING! THIS IS NOT FUNNY! IT HAS NEVER BEEN FUNNY! AND IT. WILL NEVER. BE. FUNNY!"
With his shield still flaming, he grabbed Raphtalia by the arm. "Let's go, Raphtalia!"
"Okay, Just Naofumi!" Raphtalia replied cheerily.
…
"AHHHHHHHH!" Everyone was left in stunned silence as the Shield Demon screamed in frustration on his way out.
Some people just didn't know how to appreciate a good dad joke.
Till Next Time
Allen