Shall I show you a True Shield?

by Ryujin Maou

Does the hero always win? All fairy-tales end when the heroes save the day, however, is reality like that? "I'm the Shield; my duty is to protect. If a hero is not enough, I shall become whatever is necessary. Devil, demon, Demon Lord. I need defense, defense that surpasses the gods. To protect those whom I've been left with, to fullfil my duty. I'm the Shield!" "I am the Shield!"

20. Preparing for the Uncertain Future

Chapter 20: [Preparing for the Uncertain Future.]

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"Sir heroes, in a few days the Island of Call Mira shall become active once more. It is a great opportunity for you and your parties to further improve your power and skills." Mirelia explained in an excited manner, pointing to an archipelago of islands off the western coast of Melromark. Naofumi let his [World Map] skill update the location, the hero mentally noting how to access the place from Seatto. "It stands to reason that we shall provide travel fees, proper lodgings and a field guide to take you to the remarkable locations of the island. You might even discover a secret or two about it."

Naofumi stared at the queen in front of him with a dubious gaze. The other three heroes excitedly hounded the royal, paying no attention to the supposed decorum and manners they were to display. It was lucky they were in a private chamber together with the queen, else rumors about their uncool manners would spread like wild fire.

The Shield Hero crossed his arms across his chest, musing the proposition of the queen. There wasn't a true reason for him to decline the offer, and now that his party had finally managed to get their class-up, they badly needed some experience points to increase their status. If the expressions of the other three were anything to go by, then this Call Mira Island would be akin to an Exp Booster event. Those could net rare and exclusive items that had special bonus effects or uses, and he wasn't one to say no to such opportunities.

But first, he had to acquire information: info was a merchant's life-line after all.

"What do you mean active? Is there some special effect happening around this time?" He innocently asked, probing for information.

The other three looked at him with surprised expressions.

Ren took the initiative to talk, considering the other two heroes weren't exactly in Naofumi's graces. "How do you not know this, Naofumi? Call Mira is rather famous for their resorts that specialize in treatment and comfort. Besides, you gain a status boost until the next wave if you do a few events correctly, and permanent ones if you are lucky." The Sword Hero bragged, puffing out his chest and presenting his "superior" knowledge to his fellow heroes.

Motoyasu didn't seem surprised by the information, Itsuki nodding along with a slight smile. Naofumi hummed, looking at Mirelia for a better (read unbiased and this-worldly explanation without game-terms) explanation. The queen gave the Shielder a soft smile.

"Naofumi-sama, Every once in ten years Call Mira and the surrounding islands go through a phase of sorts in which the experience gathered on the island is greater than normal, thus it became a hotspot for adventurers and those looking to breakthrough any bottlenecks in experience they have been stuck at." The queen explained it fairly well and although the Shield Hero already had an idea about what sort of event it was, he wasn't aware that such things would happen in this world. How RPG-like, the hero joked in his mind.

"However…" The queen's expression took a turn for the serious, making the four males pay complete attention to her next words. "The four holy weapons do not allow the heroes to fight close to each, with the sole exception being during the period of the waves; that being the case, I would like for you to exchange information with each other." The royal's request made the heroes glance at each other, the otherwise tranquil mood from before changing to one of awkward silence and suspicious glances from each other. Mirelia – of course – noticed this, but the queen decided to be imperative and push forward. "To ensure a fruitful experience in Call Mira as well as maximize the gains each hero will gain, it would be better to share methods, rotations and any strengthening methods that you use with each other. You all have my word that no secret will ever leave this precinct! How about it?" The diplomatic approach of the woman seemed to have some effect on the males, as they eyed each other appraisingly.

Naofumi grumbled to himself a bit, but he could see the woman's logic. He hoped that the other three could see it too, else the meeting would go south really fast. He huffed a sigh, but relented and nodded. "Alright, seems fair." He said in his usual rough tone.

Ren once more was the spokesperson among the offensive heroes, but this time it was clear that the Sword Hero wasn't pleased.

"I understand that you might not have access to this, but my belief is that if one wants information then that person should search for it themselves. I have a busy schedule, so I don't have the time to babysit and feed you the important information I have managed to acquire with so many hardships." The Sword Hero exclaimed, eyes staring straight at the Shield Hero in a challenging manner. That got the furnace in Naofumi's stomach to stoke up, a slight spark of cursed fire lighting up in his belly.

The Shielder's expression hardened, his brow furrowing up as Naofumi was about to spit some truths to the youngster. However, before he could open his mouth, Mirelia snapped her war fan open and closed in a quick motion. The royal woman held the closed fan close to her mouth, her eyes closed as she seemed to pick and choose her words carefully.

"It seems that speaking with too much tact has too many demerits when dealing with you…" The royal queen snapped her eyes open, her purple orbs lit with fire that belied her skill with ice magic. "Let me speak as clear as possible then. Outside of Iwatani Naofumi-sama, you three were of about no use to this world." The words cut through the heroes in a cold manner, the sentence surprising Naofumi himself as he never expected the woman to lay out the truth to the heroes.

Motoyasu was the first to snap out of the shock. "What do you mean by that?! Are you saying that we are weaker than Naofumi!?"

Itsuki was clearly bothered by the statement, standing up from his chair and slamming his hands on the table in front of the group. "Our actions have always been in the interest of this world! There hasn't been a moment in which I haven't acted when the interests of this world weren't my priority!"

Ren narrowed his eyes at then queen, but he managed to keep his mouth shut. As much as he hated to admit, during the last wave and even during the war against Pope Biscas, Naofumi was a key player in both events. The Sword Hero was bothered immensely by the words of the queen, and he could try to play the favoritism card to try and put the woman in check; yet, the Sword Hero had a feeling that Mirelia was just waiting for him to try that, her intense stare at him proof that the royal queen was merely waiting for him to trigger her trap.

The Sword Hero restrained himself to crossing his arms over his chest (imitating the manner which Naofumi did so) hiding his hands which were firmly grasping at the underside of his arms. "…our levels aren't so low that we were useless during the fighting." He decided that the best act right now would be carefully walking around the word-traps laid by the devious woman.

Mirelia glanced at Naofumi from the corner of her eyes, the Shield Hero catching her gaze and taking a deep breath to hold in his temper. She took the chance and cut through their excuses.

"Is that so? Pardon my memory then, heroes, but I do remember rather clearly the reports from the last wave attack; you three failed to properly cooperate with each other, costing our nation precious resources. Were it not for Naofumi-sama, the last wave boss would not have been defeated and might still be roaming our lands. During the incident with the deceased Pope Biscas, you were led astray by the man claiming himself to be a prophet of god, and nearly caused a civil war to happen in Melromark due to the ambitions of a tyrant, who was very quick to try to get rid of you when you didn't meet his expectations. Need I say more?" Mirelia's voice grew colder and colder the more she spoke, the three heroes sporting wry expressions, Motoyasu being the most prominent one.

"I say this not to be cruel, dear heroes, but because the fate of my country and the entire world in being placed in your hands. The four cardinal heroes must cooperate and help each other grow stronger; right now that means sharing information." Mirelia eased on her words, calming down somewhat and holding in her magic aura.

The trio exchanged looks among each other, their expression one akin to people being forced to swallow bitter bugs.

Itsuki sat down and imitated Ren, crossing his arms over his chest for a moment before he realized he creased his clothes. The Archer pondered between maintaining his pose or resting his arms at his side before he gave up and placed his hands back on the table. "Fair enough! I do admit I haven't been as diligent as I should have been."

Naofumi let his brow unfurrow, surprised that the Bow Hero was willing to admit he had been at fault for something. What's next? Would Firo come bursting through the wall looking for snacks?

"However! Naofumi should go first!" Itsuki declared, pointing a finger towards the Shielder.

Of fucking course! There it is… Naofumi sighed in frustration, chastising himself mentally for ever believing that these thick headed dunces could be anything more than self-centered fools.

Ren glanced at his fellow hero and wondered what his plan was. Motoyasu nodded in agreement, waiting for a chance to offer any useful input.

"Your friends are unusually strong for their levels, and you yourself have been showing some weird abilities so far. Nobody has ever heard of a shield that can attack, much less do those special moves that you have displayed! Besides, that black shield of yours is too creepy!" Accusation after accusation, Itsuki pressed on, fully willing to discover the truth behind Naofumi. Had the man encountered her too? Was he being backed by some mysterious entity now? That could explain this sudden change in his favor, as before the Shield was scorned; now it seemed as if the three offensive heroes were the ones being backed into a corner. However, if a goddess or any other celestial deity was behind the Shielder, then it perfectly explained the situation.

Motoyasu saw his chance to add something meaningful to the conversation. "True. I mean, ever since our duel back on the castle garden there was something different about you, Naofumi. Are you cheating or something?"

The Shield Hero blinked, wondering if he had truly heard those words.

"Are you actually retarded or did that bitch pour down dumb-juice in your head?" Naofumi retorted back to the Spear Hero, maintaining a level headed tone. Tensions rose rapidly inside the room, the heroes glancing at each other with confrontational eyes. Mirelia was tense, her back straightened and her magic just about ready to be cast.

Naofumi closed his eyes, a deep rumble building inside his chest and echoing inside his throat, the sound that left his mouth a bonafide growl that belonged more to a dragon than a human, wisps of cursed black flames sputtering out of his nose together with a thin smog-like smoke, the air in the room becoming tainted with the smell of burnt wood and Sulphur. The hero's jaw seemed to become too awkward for the human's frame, and for a moment it seemed as if Naofumi would sprout out wings and roar.

Nothing of the sort happened, as the Shield Hero's armor released a soft glow from the gem cores imbedded in the metal. Naofumi opened his eyes, displaying irritated green human orbs, his nostrils no longer releasing cursed smoke. The air was still stagnant inside the room, but it did not grow heavy as it had been doing for a while.

"If it does really help you, I'll share what I know and whatever I did to reach this stage. It's not like it is a secret or anything, it's more or less use of common knowledge. However!" He snarled, catching the attention of his fellow heroes. "If you piss-ants lie to me or try to fluke out on sharing information, I'll personally make sure that your lives become a living hell and I'll wring your goddamned necks out!" Naofumi stated, his armor slightly groaning as it begged to be filled with cursed mana and become [Berserker's Armor] once more.

Ren dry-swallowed, one hand dropping from his cross-armed position and sneaking to grasp the handle of his sword, the young hero blinking his eyes to dispel the illusion of seeing the Yama Village's dragon behind Naofumi.

Motoyasu's back was drenched in sweat, the blonde hero trying to maintain a casual stance and failing badly at it.

Itsuki was impassive in his stance, staring at Naofumi almost as if challenging the hero to do anything to invite an arrow between the eyes.

Naofumi grunted, annoyed at the behavior of the heroes and further annoyed at Mirelia for failing to control the fools. He purposefully looked at the queen, dragging his gaze in between watching the woman and the heroes.

Queen Mirelia kept her stoic front strong, waiting and hoping that this did not break down into a shouting match (or worse, a brawl).

"Well…" Naofumi began. "After the incident with Malty…" He began a retelling of the events that happened ever since he arrived in this world. To his surprise the heroes listened to his every word without much fuss – Queen Mirelia being the one that seemed the most focused on his story – and by the end of it, they all stared at the Shield Hero with inexplicable expressions in their faces. It stood to reason that Naofumi kept some information to himself (he wasn't obligated to truly tell everyone of all his secrets), but he was honest about his methods of power acquisition, i.e behaving like this world was his new life instead of playing a fantasy or video game or whatever the hell the other three thought this world was.

Being done with his story, Naofumi kept his level-headed gaze at the Sword Hero, his expression telling of his wants. The Sword Hero gulped and began explaining the secret behind his own strength, the method he used to become the currently highest leveled hero among the four cardinal heroes. The more Ren explained the more Naofumi grew confused at the Sword Hero's methods. The Shield Hero could understand the logic behind the method of Weapon Experience as they were using magical weapons after all. According to Ren's explanation the more you used a version of your Holy weapon then said weapon would accumulate experience, allowing the user to increase their stats or transfer the experience to other, more worthwhile weapon. It was an interesting method that encouraged using all forms of the weapons you could gather…

And according to Itsuki, it was a bold-faced lie.

"Lies like that might fool the others, Ren, but it will not work on me. While it surprises me to know that Naofumi didn't know the basics of Item drops, weapon copy and transferable skills; lying about strengthening methods is just bad manners." The Bow hero haughtily reprimanded the Sword Hero, shaking his head as if he was dealing with a toddler.

Ren stared at Itsuki with displeasure written all over his face. Calling him a liar to his face was just asking to meet the shard edge of his blade.

"Since I'm in a good mood I shall share some of my knowledge." Itsuki's tone grated Naofumi's ears, the Shield Hero turning his bored eyes away from Ren and focused on Itsuki, all the while lazily scrolling through his Help Menu in his HUD. Nothing about the information that the heroes spoke had been present there, but Naofumi pressed on. They couldn't all be lying stone-faced to him.

Itsuki's method also made sense from a logical perspective. Everything in the world had a rarity rating that varied from F-tier to S-tier, with more special ranks being locked behind difficult and special requirements that could only be unlocked once the person in question did the requirements. Naofumi nodded in comprehension, as that had been a mechanic in several games that he played back in Earth. He would be miffed at himself for not thinking about such thing, but then again, this was real life. He wasn't going to be worried about obscure rarity ranks when there were monsters to be slain. "It is only logical that you search for the highest tier of rare weapons available!" Itsuki puffed his chest, proud of educating his fellow heroes with his words.

There was only one problem.

Motoyasu snorted at him, leaning back on his chair and acting as if Itsuki had told one big joke.

"Yeah, yeah! Item rarity is good and all that jazz, but if the stats are garbage then it doesn't matter how rare your shiny trinkets are! Listen, Naofumi! Don't let them trick you! If you want to succeed, then it is all about Refinement. Get yourself a good blacksmith and some good materials and have him refine your weapons and armor. You copy the weapons you need and only then you buy the items and then gift them to your party. That way you save yourself some money and you can raise their affinity points while you are at it." Motoyasu became surprisingly talkative as he explained his method, nonchalantly talking with the Shielder almost as if he hadn't tried to murder him a few weeks back. Talk about a convenient memory.

Yet, the third method also made too much sense to be an idea of the moment or some piss-poor lie. Naofumi kept his eyes glued to his HUD, searching his menu constantly for any hint of the presented methods, but failing to find anything that might indicate that the three heroes were speaking the truth. Were their methods specific to their weapons?

Itsuki and Motoyasu began a fierce debate about who was speaking the truth as the methods of strengthening between the heroes weren't similar, the only alike thing between the groups were the talks about the monster drops (it made sense if life were a game, otherwise there would be no way for monsters to drop piles of conveniently skinned fur and sizeable chunks of cut meat), the weapon copy feature (talk about scamming merchants and blacksmiths everywhere they went, the cheap fucks), and transferable skills (that one had Naofumi still puzzled).

Ren made the two sit down by drawing his sword out, the sound of the weapon leaving its sheath calling everyone's attention. The young hero gently laid the weapon on the table, making it cycle through a few forms before it returned to its default stage.

"I have slayed many monsters and absorbed a great deal of rare monster drops, but I have never seen something like those shields that you have got with you, Naofumi. My appraisal skill tells very little about any of them, and when it does give me something to go on it is just the weirdest naming ever. We have shared our methods of strengthening, it is time you did yours; we have listened to your story, but so far nothing about how you got this strong." Ren's points made the other two heroes stop their word fighting and focus on the Shielder, their eyes all but demanding answers from Naofumi.

The hero sighed.

"Then, you haven't exactly being paying attention to my sob story." Naofumi said with some sarcasm, making the young hero narrow his eyes at the Shielder. That made Naofumi sigh once more. "We have been granted Sacred Weapons that somewhat violate some laws of physics and yet follow others. It only makes sense that you experiment with what the weapons consider materials. The Help Menu said that the gems on these things absorb materials to unlock new forms; then it stands to reason that they could absorb any and everything there is around us to unlock new forms and powers. Physical and metaphysical, there was never a rule that said that the weapons only took in things that could be seen or touched!" Naofumi tried to explain, calling upon his [Wrath Shield III].

Instantly, tensions shot through the roof as the cursed mana around Naofumi flooded the room, heavily weighting over every single person.

"Just because we are heroes doesn't mean that we are restricted to one thing or the other. Our weapons might be clingy, but they do offer a great amount of freedom, if you know how to use them." Naofumi kept his explanations simple and to the point, easing on the pressure by dismissing his cursed shield. "Besides, this is real life. Training once in a while might not be the same as power leveling, but it does increase your status; doing some manual labor isn't going to kill you, and it might net you some pretty good shields if you know what you are looking for."

The three heroes looked at Naofumi with blank gazes, wondering if the words that the Shielder spoke were the truth. Their gazes bothered the man, making him narrow his eyes at them. Their methods stemmed from their gamer knowledge while Naofumi proceeded by acknowledging this as the real world he was living in now. There wasn't time to indulge in fantasies, this was real life.

Even now the clock ticking to the next wave event kept on trickling down, stopping at nothing.

Animosity began to fester among the heroes once more, each one doubting the words of the others. Dark feelings of jealousy and envy thickened until it was close to becoming a dark broth of maliciousness…

*BANG*

The doors to their room/chamber were suddenly opened, one guard hurriedly entering and almost falling to the ground in a tired mess. The man was quick to recompose himself, standing ready and saluting the figures in the room.

"EXCUSE ME FOR THE RUDENESS!" The guard shouted. As soon as he noticed his mistake the guard took a few more deep breathes before attempting again. "Excuse my rudeness, my queen, heroes! However, could the cardinal four please help out?" The man's pleading request made the four heroes in question raise their brows in curiosity.

"What is happening?" Naofumi calmly asked, his crossed arms and somewhat serious expression making the guard bow to him before answering.

"It seems that the heroes' companions have gotten into a squabble and have been sending threats to each other. We tried to contain the situation, but we could not help much." The messenger spoke somewhat awkwardly, trying to avoid putting blame at the heroes and their groups, but also trying his best to convey the trouble of the situation.

Normally soldiers and knights would be more than enough to handle adventurers. Even the most troublesome and battle-seeker adventurer would avoid tussling with a knight or soldier, since military training and tactics were painfully effective and buying a fight with an entire garrison of trained men would spell a world of pain for anyone dumb enough to try. That would be the standard; however, when dealing with a party that followed a cardinal hero (or even a Seven Star Hero for that matter) numbers meant very little.

Hero followers gained experience at accelerated and absurd levels. Sometimes entire martial schools would be formed by those followers long after the hero's time, and family generations of strong people would continue the path carved out by their ancestors. Normally raising a few levels took years of work or a lifetime filled with battles; all of that could be skipped in the short span of a few months due to the Holy Cardinal weapons. Thus, if trying to fight against knights was foolish, trying to fight a hero's companion would be foolishness cubed.

Naofumi sighed in frustration, wondering what had happened to have their parties fighting. He wondered if his girls were also in the middle of this mess.

The Shield Hero stood from his seat, calling the attention of everyone upon himself.

"We aren't seeing eye to eye right now, so it is better to take some time off and try it later. Let's deal with this problem first." The Shield Hero stated, trying his best to maintain diplomacy. It wasn't as if he wasn't angry (furious even that these three idiots), but mindless rage had a time and a place. Besides, he was still under the effects of the [Curse of Wrath], he should be taking time recuperating his stats, not getting into pointless fights. "Let's see whose shoes got stepped on."

[XXX]

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[XXX]

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!" Booming laughter echoed inside the inn room that Naofumi was sharing with Raphtalia, the raccoon girl sitting on the far left corner while the hero sat at a chair in the middle of the room. It was fancier than what he was used to, but the hero would not complain about paid lodging, especially since it wasn't coming out of his own pocket.

Raphtalia wished she could reprimand her master for displaying such joy at other people's expense, but she took it as punishment for being one of the reasons.

While the heroes discussed matters with the queen, their companions were allowed to attend to their own matters or just stay in the castle and wait. Most chose to remain in the royal castle, enjoying a bit of food and some service from the royal cooks and servants. At first Naofumi refused to go, stating: "I have better shit to do than to sit around and listen to some meaningless compliments from your useless bootlickers.", but once Shadow relayed some information to him, their master decided there was some worth to sticking after all.

He never stayed in the royal palace more than necessary, always leaving straight after business talks were done, but at the very least it granted Raphtalia and Firo a chance to talk a bit more with Melty. The raccoon girl allowed the philorial loli to go play around with her friend, remaining behind to wait on their master while she read a few books. Raphtalia enjoyed reading, as it was one of the hobbies her parents made sure she developed (that and listening to old tales). Felicia had gone to the market to stock up on her personal supplies and Shadow went to do whatever it was that she did.

That left Raphtalia and Dera-chan to themselves. Speaking of the monster, she was curled up behind Raphtalia's seat, most of her heads busy sleeping while one leaned against Raphtalia's seat's backrest, overlooking the reading material the raccoon girl had.

Up to that point everything was peaceful. Then, the duo of slaves heard a commotion, one of the free rooms made available to the heroes' companions becoming a cacophony of noise and voices. Shouting and hurried steps followed, and then a girl was almost booted out of the room (quite literally, Raphtalia thought) and the shouting continued. Raphtalia wondered if she should intervene, but in the end she decided to remain in her seat and avoid getting into trouble. Getting involved with the other heroes' parties normally tended to spell trouble, so the girl would make it like her master and dip out.

Raphtalia was kind, but she was no fool. Whatever mess was happening, the group could deal with it themselves. She was her master's slave, and not a troublemaker.

"Rishia! We have said this countless times, but it seems that you still can't seem to learn anything useful! Go train your worthless body and maybe Itsuki-sama might still benefit from your incompetence as a baggage carrier." A male voice shouted, and if Raphtalia's memory was right then this man should be the second in command for the Bow Hero's party. Nothing she should concern herself over with.

The named Rishia picked herself from the ground, trying futilely to hold in her tears as she lowered her head and bowed to the man in the room. There was some music echoing from the room, a few other voices displaying various levels of concern (or more lack thereof) about the girl. She tried to make her way out, but then the girl bumped into someone else and once more fell on the ground.

Rishia released some weird noise that Raphtalia found somewhat amusing (she would enjoy it more were it not for the situation and reason the girl released her exasperated Fwueh!), but her fall had the effect of drawing attention to the person whom she bumped into. A head full of fire-red locks instantly put Raphtalia into a bad mood, her tail frisking at the sight of the ex-first princess.

The woman arrogantly strolled down the hallways of the castle, and even while stripped of high-tier gear, she still maintained an air of superiority and arrogance that would make one question how could one person be so shameless. By her sides stood the other two magicians that made up Motoyasu's harem–ops! Raphtalia meant to say party, one brunette and another blonde, the trio of women walking around almost as if they owned the place.

Malty scoffed at the fallen girl, looking at her as one would look at trash. Yet, she did not pick a fight or haughtily displayed her status like she used to do not long ago. She merely side stepped the girl, looking at the room from whence Rishia came and making a show of pinching her noise, now opening her mouth to speak.

"And here I thought I smelled fake perfume and pecha incense, but it is merely Sir Useless-sama and his troupe of bow-lover fanatics." Malty's tone of mockery was one vicious thing. The response was almost immediate.

The man angrily huffed at the redhead, but seemed to recompose himself, the noise of armor echoing to the raccoon girl's attentive ears, even from her current distance. "Oh, but if it isn't the traitorous princess who set a failed coup against the magnificent regent queen. What business does a stray bitch has speaking with one of Itsuki-sama's vanguard?"

While tensions between those two raised, Rishia took the chance to slowly crawl away from the incoming fight, the sight of the girl in all fours a bit pitiful (tugging at Raphtalia's heart and almost making the raccoon girl stand up to help the girl). Unfortunately for the girl she was still in the sight of the ex-first princess.

The redhead magic caster crossed her arms under her chest plate (the item cheaper than what was usual for the woman) and furrowed her brows in discomfort, but she pushed whatever was troubling her aside and scoffed back at the man.

"Vanguard? I only see a group of pompous busybodies that think themselves too important for what they truly are. Besides, I see one of your groupies is busy licking the floors clean; at least one of you know your true place!" Malty exclaimed, pointing to Rishia and then back at the people in the room.

The sound of armor clanking emanated from the room in a hurry, the man becoming slightly visible from the door's frame, but what triggered Raphtalia into action was the sound of a sword being drawn.

Malty raised her hand and prepared a spell, a fireball floating over her hand as the redhead took a few steps back and allowed the warrior to exit the room, the man sporting a furious visage and making Raphtalia cringe a bit at the strong alcoholic smell that permeated from the man.

"RISHIA!" His shouting voice made the still retreating-in-all-fours girl to flinch in place, the sword in his hand making the girl begin shaking rather badly. The man ignored Malty and her group in favor of swinging his sword at the other downed girl. The raccoon girl was sure the sword would miss (be it by miscalculation or by drunkenness), but she had already waited and heard too much.

She was by Rishia's side in just a few strides, drawing her dagger from its sheath and jamming it into the close wall, the length of the blade just enough that the incoming sword bounced with a shower of sparks. Her act made Raphtalia the center point of attention instantly, the people still inside the room now pouring out due to the sound of blades meeting.

"I see that you have been having some leisure time. It would be best for it to not be spoiled by hurting a defenseless girl like this." Raphtalia said as she pulled her dagger out of the wall, crumbling bits of plaster falling on the ground almost as if to accentuate her point. The man seemed livid that his swing had been blocked, especially since he wasn't even aiming to hit the girl in the first place. So what if he did anyways…

He scoffed loudly, amused at the actions of the demi-human. "I guess trash does attract trash after all. For a demi-human to be the one helping you, you truly have no use Rishia. The stench of useless wenches is gathering even more of them." The crusader (his armor was a dead give way for Raphtalia) rested his weapon back on his shoulder pads, smirking at the two girls. "Tell me, dirty beast, why are you here pestering me instead of begging at the lap of your master for some scraps?"

Rapthalia's response?

"Purple Lightning."

…

…

…

"Garbage heroes, garbage teammates." Naofumi stated with mirth, pouring himself some juice from the pitcher at the table and quenching his thirst.

While Raphtalia agreed to his line of thought, she still felt some shame when lashing out with a killer technique meant for assassination. After she helped the crusader acquaintance himself with the stone floor due to smashing the pommel of her dagger onto his temple (and denting the helmed he wore), the raccoon demi got the Rishia-girl away from her party to avoid further conflict, no one trying to get some payback due to the following mountain of muscles, scales and poison that was Dera.

The four-headed serpent slithered with sinuous grace, all her heads awake and ready for any action, four forked tongues flickering to taste the air every once in a while. It was one thing to try to mess with a human or a demi, another entire different challenge would be trying to tackle the poisonous behemoth of a monster.

That explains Dera's earlier mood, Naofumi mused to himself, seeing the Orochi snapping her jaws one at each other, angered at something. The dragonkin was curled around close to his bed, one head buried under his pillows as the others stared jealously at the winning one.

Naofumi let the monster do her own thing while he began to undress from his armor, Raphtalia quickly approaching him to help him undress. Firo had vanished somewhere inside the royal castle (her live location available at any time at the corner of HUD), but he didn't really need to check it out as he was sure that she would probably be together with Melty.

He wasn't sure how the two girls managed to bond so quickly, but maybe it was Melty's habit of carrying around spare jerky to feed his overgrown chicken. He should put a stop to that, but then again, there was nothing compelling him to do so. It wasn't like the habit was harmful, and Firo was completely loyal to him (even if her stomach made him sometimes question that allegiance), so he could rest his head easy and not worry about being smothered to dead by a fluffy chicken…well, considering Firo and her own quirks, it might happen innocently, so he would watch out anyway.

Naofumi whistled as the last of his armor was removed. Raphtalia eased the heavy piece (for her anyway) on the ground by the bed and sat by his side. The two remained in a comfortable silence, Naofumi stretching his limbs and trying to ease some soreness away. He then stood and went to sit by his previous chair, taking a few papers from his supplies close by and noting down every bit of information he received from the three heroes.

He glanced back at the girl to check on her state, seeing the raccoon girl demi already asleep. Naofumi's expression softened as he took a few minutes to observe the girl rest easy, his papers left on the table as he approached to watch the girl a bit closer. Seeing Raphtalia sleeping with such peaceful expression made the hero's heart become at ease.

At least I'm doing something right, Naofumi mused as he gave the girl a headpat and relaxed a bit more seeing Raphtalia nuzzle against his calloused hand. The shielder left the girl to rest as he grabbed the table and brought it closer to the window. The hero spread the papers on the table and leaned back on his chair, crossing his arms and trying to figure out the information that he had received from his fellow heroes.

The three were very much confident in their strengthening methods and Naofumi was fairly good at telling when people were lying (he had learned quite a bit ever since coming to this world). He huffed and closed his eyes, trying to piece the information in a coherent manner; nothing that they had told him was in the Help Menu (the one that had saved him very much during his time here) and Naofumi wasn't truly willing to bet his life into the advice of the ones that had nearly got him killed. It was quite the dilemma.

Shadow's presence entered his sensing range, the hero continuing his musings as the girl entered the room through the window. She closed the window and began the usual process of taking off her armor and putting away most of her weapons. She even took off her hooded cloak, stretching in a very obvious manner to try and appeal to the hero.

When the rogue noticed that her master was too busy with his thoughts, she sighed in disappointment and approached him, looking over his shoulders the papers that he had spread on the table. Most of the words and terminology went by over her head, Kana having no idea about these strengthening methods or whatnot, but it seemed to be something very particular to the heroes and their worlds.

Her master was deep in thought. Kana figured he would be thinking deep into the night, as he used to do when a particular situation troubled him, so she would do something for him too. The rogue went downstairs to grab a light meal and a drink for him, aware that her rather common appearance would fool anyone on the lookout for the Shield Hero's companions. They might not be persecuted anymore, but she was as cautious about things as her master.

It didn't take long for the girl to return with a sandwich and some ale. He seemed to need to relax even for a little bit, so Kana figured some nourishment and some alcohol would do him good. Her master wasn't one to usually drink alcohol – not that he couldn't; if anything it was almost like water to him – but he could appreciate the fine drinks once in a while. Wine was a no-go with him, but anything else was normally accepted by the hero.

She left the meal on the corner of the table, massaging the shoulders of her master so as to alert him about the meal.

"Master, this one has brought you something to eat for later." Kana whispered close to Naofumi's ear, the hero clenching his jaw to avoid shivering.

"Thank you." He whispered back, one hand coming to try and pat the girl on the head, her leaning position behind his back making his grasp at her neck. He massaged it slowly while the girl hugged him, Kana nuzzling her check against his own, his facial hair tickling the girl and dragging a small giggling laugh from the rogue/assassin.

Kana finished nuzzling against her master and made her way to her back to rest for the day, leaving Naofumi to ponder different thoughts now.

He sighed, looking over his shoulder at the two girls sleeping. Felicia had already relayed to him that she would remain a few days with her aunt until they needed to travel again, so the hero needed not worry about the raven-haired witch.

Naofumi ate the meal Kana brought him, the hero slowly enjoying the drink that the girl brought to him, the taste of the fermented barley and honey bringing some nostalgic feelings to the young man. He was barely 21 and yet he was being settled with the responsibility to save this world, his fellow heroes being of less use than ripped condoms in avoiding pregnancy or diseases; pile all of that and his lack of overall general knowledge about this world and you could forgive the Shield Hero for being crabby and annoyed when he was thrown curveballs and told to deal with them as it would. He was too stubborn to give up and curl into a ball to simply die, but man he wished for some true help that was not vague hints or being yelled at to do things without explanation.

Trust in them, right? As if things could ever be that simple. He mused in his mind, nursing his tankard and letting the liquid slosh inside as he watched the two moons through the window. Could he bring himself to trust in the same fools that almost got him killed; who insisted in foolishly committing the same mistakes; it was hard enough to hold back from wringing their necks even now, how could he trust in them to strengthen himself?

Naofumi spent the night thinking about the situation, the empty tankard of ale sitting on the table as he ended up sleeping in his chair. Should have bought a casket or even a whole barrel, the thoughts swan in his head.

[XXX]

---

[XXX]

Naofumi woke up early the next day (never one to suffer from hangovers). He got his gear in check and headed downstairs for breakfast. The girls would sleep for a little longer – comfort on the road was hard to come up, unless they found an inn – and so he would spoil them a bit. Besides, he needed to get a few things in order to be able to travel to Cal Mira soon.

Eating his morning meal was a quiet affair, no adventurers or anyone else for that matter coming to harass or bother him. Which the hero would appreciate, if it wasn't for the fact that those individuals decided to murmur and talk in hushed tones about him; it put quite the damper in your mood.

Naofumi quickly finished his meal and went to his room to drop a note about his absence and headed out to the castle town. Normally travelling to Seatto Port Town would take one week by carriage (five days if you had great mounts), but Firo could shorten that time to two days if she was motivated. Food was the greatest motivator for the philorial monster girl, so Naofumi would make sure that he was stocked up in spices and anything else that he might need.

He would be quite busy with kitchen duty in a few days before the visit to XP boost islands, so he would get a head start in things. Worrying about running out of food was not necessary for him since he would be butchering monsters for their meals, but what worried him was the dietary needs (and the girls' tastes since he was used to cook with plenty of spices) of his party of female companions.

Walking through the market gathered some glances from the civilian populace, some waving at him and others offering some small gifts to him. He rejected the gifts kindly. It was weird for him to suddenly be looked up at now, but he managed to push his feelings down and get his required items.

The Shield Hero made his way back to the inn and returned to his room. Naofumi never bothered to knock at the door, pushing it open and massaging his eyelids, muttering his annoyance at the suddenly lovey-dovey civies that almost swarmed him.

"Shadow, can you please fetch Firo so that we can get going. We sort of have a lot of ground to cover." Naofumi requested, huffing in a tired tone as he entered the room and sat on the closest bed available.

"Yes, master. Would you also want this one to fetch the space witch?" The girl's answer made the hero hum in a pleasured tone, the man finally opening his eyes to find a scene straight out of a rom-com anime or something. Kana was fixing the straps of her boots, her breasts uncovered – her upper clothing and armor in a neat pile by her side – allowing Naofumi an unobstructed eye full of her chest.

Raphtalia was in a greater state of undress then her slave sister. The raccoon girl was shocked still as her master entered the room; it was her luck that she had managed to put her underwear on, the simple grey panties hiding her privates and nothing else. Her own clothes were in a pile on her bed.

Naofumi blinked twice, wondering if the normal tsundere-scene that was so frequent in anime would happen to him right now. The "lucky pervert" incident was quite the staple after all, and any rom-com or slice of life would have one or two of these scenes (sadly, they would just end in the MC getting punched/slapped). Why was the shielder thinking such foolish thoughts right now?

Who knew?

As the silence prolonged and no one said anything, the mood became even more awkward. Naofumi decided that he would play it cool, he was an adult and should not let the embarrassment get to him. He coughed, attracting attention back to him. Well, he was already the center of attention of the room, but nonetheless he did cough.

"So…about fetching Firo…right…there was also Felicia…"

His words did nothing to disperse the awkward mood. Shadow continued dressing up as if he wasn't getting a perfect view of the girl, the rogue assassin nodding to his "orders" and finishing to dress up.

"Right away, master. This one shall get on with the mission. Shall I put the supplies you have brought to our carriage?" Kana asked, fixing her hooded cloak and placing on her mask to hide her identity. Naofumi nodded, Raphtalia still stuck in her position of pulling up her panties, her hands still glued to her sides and her fuller breasts hanging like ripe fruit to the hero.

He took his eyes away from the sight, directing his glance to Kana's smaller frame and managing to open his lips to speak once more. "Yes, that would…be good." Naofumi managed to speak, catching the extreme blush that painted Raphtalia's cheeks.

This situation was weird. He had already seen her naked quite a few times when she was in her younger form (to make sure she had properly washed up (younger slave Raphtalia was quite lacking in quite a few manners)), but this was a bit different. The girls' affection shows that he was being purposefully dull towards, but such thing was becoming harder to accomplish by the day.

Kana quickly went to accomplish her tasks, leaving her master and her slave sister together in the inn room.

Naofumi slowly turned around, allowing Raphtalia some modicum of privacy. He finally heard the girl moving, the raccoon demi quickly trying to put her clothes on while rambling a cacophony of words that made no sense whatsoever.

"N-n-n-n-naofumi-sama." Raphtalia's embarrassed voice reached his ears and Naofumi slowly turned around, observing the demi human keep her eyes anywhere but towards his frame. It brought some amusement in his heart and he couldn't help but lightly laugh at the girl's ashamed attitude.

"AHhhh Naofumi-sama is laughing at me! Not fair!" The girl's embarrassment was quick to turn into annoyance at the attitude of her master. How could he be laughing while she was embarrassed as all hell, been seen almost nude like that had been one of the greatest shames in her life!

He wiped a tear that had gathered at the corner of his left eye, his amusement washing the shame away from the moments earlier. Raphtalia pouted and turned her back on him, her tail frisking up as the girl went on a rant about his lack of manners. All that he could do right now was laugh a bit at the bit, joyful that the embarrassment had mostly passed away like this. What a joy! Naofumi laughed.

[XXX]

---

[XXX]

Much like Naofumi had imagined, feeding Firo and doing some upgrades on his wagon had shot the philorial's mood upwards, his monster carrying the vehicle with considerable speed that allowed the hero to cut his travel time incredibly short. New springs and stabilizers had been installed, old man Erhart's work being considerable in improving the ride.

The blacksmith had quite the skill when it came to crafting pieces, and although Naofumi was no car engineer, the mere basic description of the items allowed Erhart to begin rough drafts of the pieces along with the hero, their hours of brainstorming becoming the experimental pieces that were installed in his wagon. There was still shaking, but the ride had become far smoother than most of the carriages the hero and his party had ever been to. Even Felicia had been surprised at the comfort.

Right now the party was going towards Seatto Port Town, Naofumi observing the dirt road as he worked a bit on some jewel-crafting. That fat merchant had imparted quite some skills to Naofumi, going so far as to reveal his home address in Melromark's capital to the Shielder, trusting him to come back and learn more about the so called "merchant way". The hero was a bit on the fence, but in the end he decided that learning new skills was always welcomed.

The girls were, as usual, doing their own things. Travelling on the road entailed finding anything that could busy your mind and pass time; for him, that usually meant catching up on map-reading, metal craftsmanship and light bulk-preparation of items. Alchemy was reserved for when he was in towns or staying at roadside inns, where there was no chance for error in his work, precise measuring being of utmost importance when dealing with potion-making and alchemy works in general. That being the case, you couldn't be working on a moving carriage like that.

The girls normally did much better in their departments. Raphtalia usually took the chance to catch up in her reading, both for entertainment and for studying. Dera did her fair share of sleeping, as always; Shadow did some light scouting or reading too; Felicia also busied herself with study tomes or some smoking. Books were quite the best option for travels, so the hero had had a small shelf adapted to fit in the wagon, the books and scrolls that fit there being constantly changing since the girls did go through them at a fast rate. At first it was quite slow, but the constant reading during their travels honed their skills at both speed-reading and the subject being read.

He had spotted a few dodgy books in their contents, but he let them fly by so long as it wasn't too low. Naofumi remembered about the books under his bed back in Earth and wished with all his heart that his little brother had made them vanish before his parents could have combed through his previous room; there would be nothing worse than if he returned and his parents brought his fetishes into question.

He sighed, questioning his own sanity. Here he was, stranded into a different world and fighting for his survival every day, yet his mind still had time to wonder about foolish questions such as the dirty mags under his bed.

Naofumi placed his crafting tools aside, storing the polished and crafted gems and jewelry in a safe box. He would not get much work done if his head wasn't in the zone, so he chose to put his eyes on the road. Much to his surprise, Firo was already close to the coastal area, the smell of salt reaching his nose. Raphtalia also sensed it, approaching her master and sitting by his side as she watched the changing landscape.

The land showed signs that it had been worked on, a few collapsed buildings dotting the area and pointing that very much towards Raphtalia's words that the village was raided. The hero never doubted the words of his slave, but having the visual confirmation stoked the embers of wrath towards Melromark.

His blood pumped in his ears, Naofumi suppressing a growl from leaving his throat, his teeth feeling too big for his jaw. He felt the raccoon demi-human's hand touch his own, Raphtalia grasping his limb and making the hero glance at their wrapped limbs, his right armbraces already darkening and resembling dragon scales, his cursed power reacting to his feelings.

"It is in the past, Naofumi-sama, it can't be changed. However, we can still carve a future for those that are still here. Kiel-chan, Rifana-chan and the little ones haven't had the chance to experience things, but I can help them now. Let's focus on this." Raphtalia pleaded, surprisingly controlled in her emotions, even when seeing the devastation that the Waves caused and the further damage caused by people looking to profit from her village's suffering.

He wasn't exactly a champion of justice, but even Naofumi (as rough as he was) felt sympathy to the suffering that occurred here, even long after the fact. How could he not?

He settled down and released a tired, huffing sigh. "You are too kind for your own good, Raphtalia. It is okay to harbor some dark feelings, you know?" He off-handedly offered some advice, looking towards one of the bigger wrecked building and spotting a few other carriages already parked by.

His slave chuckled at his remark, releasing her hold over his right hand and moving her hand through his wild hair, trying to tame his wild mane. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, but allowed her to continue uninterrupted. "You're already holding enough grudges for the rest of every single one of us. You should be the one releasing some of those feelings out, Naofumi-sama."

He waved her off.

Their wagon approached the other group already here, the mercenaries guarding the area standing at attention, grasping at their weapons and sending pointed stares at the hero and his party. Naofumi ignored their lancing eyes, guiding Firo to the middle of the congregation. Before the situation could escalate into conflict, the hero opted to jump out of his seat, his boots clanging and silencing the last whispers among the mercenaries.

Raphtalia was quick to be by the hero's side, her hands around the handles of her sword and dagger, the raccoon demi releasing quite some aggressive vibes. Shadow was observing the situation from the rooftop of the wagon, her hands already manipulating a great length of Metal Thread Wire to slice any opposition. Dera released a hissing noise from inside the wagon, the sound alerting the armed men that the hero was packing some heat with him.

"Come out already Belougas, I haven't got all day you fat prick." Naofumi loudly proclaimed, the mercenaries stunned by his loud voice.

A hackling laughter echoed among the wagons, its origin being the circus-pattern tent settled right in the middle of the camping site. A flap of the tent was lifted and from inside it came out the slimy looking man. Dressed in a fancy and gaudy coat, wearing a top hat decorated with feathers and one monocle that shone with unnatural light; the slave-trader whom, ironically, was the most trusted person in Naofumi's short list of acquaintances that he didn't immediately wish to burn into a cursed crisp. Quite the heroic behavior, to be in comradery with a literal slave-trader, Naofumi darkly joked in his head, aiming for a seat and taking to himself the first tankard he saw.

"Hey!" One of mercs complained, but immediately shut up once the entirety of the camp directed their eyes at him.

"Oh me oh my, Naofumi-sama! My best customer! To what do I owe the pleasure of having your visit?" The slave trader, Beloukas, chimed in the conversation, his sleazy smile always making Naofumi feel grossed out.

The hero narrowed his eyes at the slave-trader, drinking whatever liquid was inside the clay tankard, almost immediately spitting the liquid out and sending a harsh glare at one of the mercs.

"What the fuck is this, you into drinking piss or something?" Naofumi loudly complained, throwing the empty mug at the general direction of where he heard the last merc complain. He heard a clunk, a pained moan, and a body drop. The hero spat out a few times. "I paid you quite well, you can't do the same with them?" The hero complained to the slave-trader, the man rubbing his hands together and chuckling.

"Sir Naofumi, please! Do you take me for some sort of cheapskate that would shirk fee when contracting protection for my best client's products?" Beloukas said in a fake-hurt tone, his expansive body filling the expensive suit rather fully. The slave-trader smoothed over his moustache and pointed to the tent, a few cages being visible. "They are using their own personal rations to finish the old ones so that can enjoy the new provisions. Merc behavior, nothing that should concern my lord; besides, they are quite wary of the free-given meals, considering that you are also feeding your slaves with it."

Naofumi raised a brow at the man, but he couldn't push the issue too much.

Ever since the hero had received the land rights to Seatto and the surrounding are he had been in contact with Beloukas, settling a few transactions with the merchant to improve the area until Naofumi could better focus on it himself. His time-table was short these following days – and he was pushing it thin by travelling here instead of waiting at the port for the ship that would take him to the Cal Mira Archipelago – so Naofumi opted to place some modicum of trust (and money) into the Slave-trader's hands.

Well, calling it trust would be too much of a statement; in the end it merely was a financial transaction. The hero would reward the trader with coin and allow the merchant to settle a base in his town, and the slave-trader would bring him in priority demi-human slaves that had some connection to the previous Seatto Town, be it previous residency or mere acquaintance, and information. It would be better to start with demis that already had a connection to the place than to begin establishing a new bound to the land so suddenly.

He would allow the people to settle back under his wing, the features of his shield compensating and allowing the slaves to recuperate at a faster pace. The reality was that he would own these people, their land and was effectively taking charge of the entirety of their lives, they would become his to command. It was sort of a faux-godhood, something that really gnawed at your sense of decency.

The hero shook the thoughts aside, wondering if his curse had anything to do with these dark ideas trying to sprout in his head.

Naofumi looked backwards, seeing Shadow oversee the mercs in her high stand. Raphtalia walked to his side, serving as a "body guard" and observing the situation, ready to act at the mere mention of danger to her master or even a mere word of command from him. Dera decided to slither away from the wagon, slowly snaking her way close to her master too.

Firo pouted, unhappy that she couldn't be by her master's side, unless she wished to abandon her wagon and that would be an absolutely no-go. She was ready for a fight, but for now she opted to remain by the wagon, her most precious treasure.

Felicia also left the wagon, the witch immediately calling the attention of the male mercs that remained around the camp, a few of the more courageous ones whistling and cat-calling the witch dressed in alluring attire. The raven-haired witch ignored all the calls and swayed her hips until she approached the two "merchants", her pipe already lit and leaving a trail of smoke wherever she had gone past. She approached Naofumi's back and leaned against his free shoulder, looking straight at Beloukas and letting some mana leak from her core.

"…" Felicia didn't say a word, content in letting the area become saturated in her leaking mana as she stared at the slaver.

Beloukas tried his best to smile, but the mana saturating the air bore down on him heavily, making the merchant sweat and struggle to maintain his poise. The mercs around the camp tried to draw their weapons, but the entire group that a feeling that if they did so they would lose their heads.

The witch blew a puff of smoke, leaning heavily against Naofumi. She was about to speak directly to the slaver, but Naofumi beat her to the punch…by karate-chopping at the witch, his hand smacking the top of the raven-haired beauty's head and making her immediately stop her intimidation act, dropping her pipe carelessly on the table and hold her head.

"That's enough of that." Naofumi declared, rolling his eyes at the behavior of his travelling companion. Felicia pouted a bit at him, but acknowledged his order and restrained her mana, dispersing the oppressive aura around the camp immediately. "Don't mind her, she is just eager to display her new tricks." He nonchalantly stated, showing that he hadn't been bothered by the act at all. Beloukas's smile widened further, the man taking a handkerchief and wiping the sweat away. He got up and pointed towards the cages.

"I know that Naofumi-sama is loved by his slaves and companions very much, this much is no problem at all. Few people can proudly proclaim to have reached this level of control over their slaves." The slave trader smirked while guiding Naofumi towards the tent, the mercs steering away from the duo while Raphtalia stood at attention close to Naofumi until he entered the tent. Felicia pouted and found herself a seat, pulling smoke from her pipe and lazily blowing the smog away while the raccoon girl guarded the entrance.

The slave trader guided Naofumi towards another table inside the tent, the various cages around the place filled with all sorts of demi humans and monsters, all the creatures staring at the shielder with a mix of awe and fear. At the table the hero found someone already waiting for him; good-looking face and well-crafted clothes, the bespectacled man sat on a chair and looked at the hero with a well-practiced smile.

"Lord Naofumi, it is very good to see you like this instead of in a fleeting manner. How do you fare?" The nobleman spoke in a friendly manner, extending one hand to point at a close by chair. "Shall we talk?"

Naofumi recognized the soft features of this one. He was the lord of Shiramo Town, one of the few places in Melromark where demi-humans were treated decently. The hero let his brows soften a bit, leveling a neutral gaze at the man.

"Your robes seem fancier than last time." The hero stated, grabbing the offered chair and sitting down, leaning back and resembling every bit a mafia boss waiting results from his subordinates. Shiramo's lord chuckled and pointed at a specific pin attached to the chest area of his robes.

"Indeed, sir. After the incident in Ninguenyami Town, the honorable queen decided that the management of the city should be handled by someone with experience in peaceful coexistence between humans and demis; that honor has been placed in my hands, and I hope to be capable enough to answer to her expectations." The man explained, his face displaying the practice-smile that was oh'so common when dealing with noble lineages. That smiled grated Naofumi's nerves, but the hero endured it for now.

"How long did you practice that answer in front of the mirror?" Some sarcasm dripped from his voice tone, Shiramo's lord managing to morph his face from the plastic smile to an awkward (at least a more genuine) one. "Anyways, I take that everyone from back then is healthy." The hero stated, settling an inquisitive look on his face.

Shiramo's lord nodded, pulling a piece of parchment from his robes and passing it to the Shield Hero. "Of course, sir! I compiled a list of all the slaves that were rescued from the dungeon and detailed their current condition. Most of them have suffered from long term exhaustion and severe malnutrition, but we have managed to save all the remaining ones." The man shared the good news with Naofumi, the hero nodding along and feeling his heart a bit lighter. "There were a few dead before you even arrived at the dungeon, and an honorary pyre was burnt to pay respects for them. The slaves were very grateful."

Naofumi grunted a sound in acknowledgement.

"Naturally, most of the remaining assets from the deceased lord Butamaru have been used to repair the town and pay reparations to the slaves. You did quite a good job cleaning his personal vault. I had to annex Ninguenyami as a section of Shiramo, otherwise it would be impossible to solve the problems that Butamaru left with his death. Honestly, it was a complete mess in terms of administration and city care. It was a wonder that the place was still running with that man in charge." Shiramo's lord complained, pushing his glasses back in place. Now that Naofumi had a closer look at him, the young man's face displayed signs of tiredness that were being masked by some make-up.

"I brought everyone here, as per your request. Your…associate has been helping them to accommodate while construction hasn't started yet." At the young lord's words Beloukas smirked and puffed his chest, taking his top hat off and wiping it clean.

"But of course I would; Shield Hero-sama is my best customer! I would never dream of troubling him and losing his trust just to get a few extra coins in my purse – that would be preposterous!" The slave trader sleazily said, trying to lean on Naofumi almost like a love-struck girl.

The hero lightly smacked the merchant's hand away, sending a half-hearted glare at the man. "Don't try your luck." He warned, huffing out a twin stream of dark smog from his nostrils. Beloukas properly sat back in his chair, but it was clear that the slave trader was far from scared by the threat of the hero. Naofumi turned his face to focus back on Shiramo's lord. "Bill all the travelling, medical and feeding fees to Mirelia." The hero's dismissal of the queen's title wasn't missed by the two men, their expressions telling different stories: Beloukas's shifty smile creeped and stretched even further, the man's satisfied expression bordering on static; the lord of Shiramo Town had a sour look, his face a mix between understanding and awkwardness.

The shielder looked over the cages, the slaves flinching from the intensity of the hero's eyes. He sighed, standing from his seat and returning his eyes to Shiramo's lord. "Come on, take me to them."

"Right away, Naofumi-sama."

[XXX]

---

[XXX]

Naofumi exited the tent from the back part, being guided to the southwest part of the ruined town, already spotting a few demis working on clearing debris from a few of the less-damaged buildings. They were dressed in shabby clothing and had collars around their necks, but their body condition was much better than the commonly seen slave. A few stopped their work momentarily to observe him, wary eyes switching between the bulky frame of the hero and the chubby form of the Slave Trader before they returned to their work with hushed, grumbling whispers.

The hero sighed and continued his sight-seeing/evaluation of the state of the land. It wasn't pretty and there was much work to be done in Seatto if things were to be functional, never mind making it thrive, but Naofumi was willing to put in the work and resources. He had helped Melromark (and he hated the country with a passion), he could help Raphtalia's home-village no problem.

It took about forty minutes to complete his tour, the hero making a mental road-map of what he could prioritize for land development, his lessons in micro-economy slowly coming back to him. Naofumi let the thoughts simmer down as he focused on one of the slaves in particular, a kid with black hair and wolf-ears atop his head. He was close to one of the collapsed houses, but instead of cleaning or anything else, the kid was staring at the building silently, a sturdy branch grasped in his hand.

The shield hero was sure he had seen the demi-human kid somewhere, his memory working rapidly to supply the memory. He recognized him as one of Raphtalia's close friends from Ninguenyami's dungeon, one of the last ones that his party managed to rescue there. He approached the child, letting Beloukas and Shiramo's lord waiting as he got close to the child.

"Hey, you good there, kid?" He asked, trying to be as candid as possible. It didn't exactly work out as the kid flinched in place before turning to face him, but the hero shrugged and continued. "Was this your house before?" Naofumi tried to strike some conversation to see if the kid would open up.

"…" The wolf demi stared at Naofumi for a while in silence as he tried to take in as much detail about the hero as he could. The kid seemed to have enough of his staring and pointed the branch at Naofumi, the shielder raising a brow in a questioning manner. "You! I remember you! You are the bastard that owns Raphtalia-nee-chan! I'll fight you! When I win, you will release her!" Suddenly the kid proclaimed some absurd remarks and jumped at Naofumi, wildly swinging the branch as if to imitate a sword.

Naofumi crossed his arms over his chest and dead-panned at the rushing child, wondering what sort of tomfoolery was this. He let the young boy approach him, not making any effort to move or even prepare to receive his attacker.

The wolf boy huffed and did a lunging attack with the branch, shouting his intent for everyone to hear.

Naofumi waited until the very last moment before he did a very simple side-step, extending one boot and putting in the way of the kid, tripping him and making him kiss the ground, the momentum dragging the kid a few inches on the ground.

Needless to say, silence became prominent in the area around Naofumi, slaves and mercs observing the situation from afar, unwilling to get into the fallout zone if the hero were to blow up. The Shielder was still in his place, arms crossed and watching the wolf type struggle to get up, the not-as-bad-as-before-but-still-thin arms of the boy wobbling rather wildly as the he tried to stand back up.

Sighing at the display, Naofumi shook his head and raised one hand towards the kid. The mercs sucked in their breaths while the slaves looked over worriedly, wondering what the hero would do with the kid. The wolf boy's ears flattened against the side of his head, a pathetic whimper leaving his mouth and making him resemble every bit a kicked puppy.

The Shielder's hand grasped the kid's short shirt by the back of the neck's scruff, Naofumi effortlessly lifting the boy up and letting him stand up. The hero brushed a few turfs of dirt off the young boy's face and shoulders and then returned to his arms crossed pose.

"You are that kid Raphtalia and I saved for sure. You are quite the spit-fire." Naofumi stated nonchalantly, his gaze sweeping the area. "Say, where is that other one I helped out? The weasol one." He asked without any hurry, almost as if the child hadn't just tried to attack him with a branch.

The wolf kid stood there, unsure what to do after this particular happening. He was expecting many things, particularly an explosive shouting match, but nothing this mild. Almost as if he was hit by lightning, the kid jumped back and tried to form a combat stance, his branch still poised as if it was a sword. The Shield Hero sighed and rolled his eyes, but waited until the kid tried again.

And try again the kid did, this time coming for an overhead strike. Naofumi was ready to eat the blow head on, sure that the 'weapon' would break into tiny pieces before it ever did damage to him. Except, the wolf boy did not follow through with his attack, surprising Naofumi at the sudden change in tactics. The kid ditched the branch and jumped into a tackle, his hands aiming for the hero's neck as his clawed fingers looked ready to render flesh asunder.

Only for a scabbard to be thrown at the boy, bonking him on the head and distracting him, the boy crashing against Naofumi's torso almost as if he was a crash-dummy doll. The kid slowly slid down and fell on his butt right in front of Naofumi, a shadow appearing behind the wolf-eared youngster and a hand in a chopping motion was raised before it came chopping down atop his head several times.

"Keel-kun *bonk* what *bonk* do *bonk* you *bonk* think *bonk* you*bonk* are *bonk* doing *bonk* to *bonk* Naofumi-sama?" Raphtalia was the one responsible for the now named Kiel's failure to amount to anything besides a pitiful tantrum.

Not that his claws would have done much, Naofumi mused in his head, his own right hand fixed to karate-chop at the kid. Just because it surprised the hero, it didn't mean he could not react to the "attack". Yet, he wasn't about to hurt a malnourished kid. Lightly reprimand him later for acting the fool, sure; but nothing more than this was necessary now since Raphtalia had probably heard the commotion and had come to check to see if he wasn't the one doing some thug-like activity.

His slave grasped the wolf-boy's furry ear with a strong grip, the kid wincing and yipping in pain. Naofumi merely watched the situation unfold, trying to guess what sort of relationship the two had; Raphtalia seemed to know the kid very well, with the way she was handling him reminding the hero of an older sister correcting her younger brother's naughty behavior.

"Raphtalia-chan, let go of my ear please!" Keel begged, just about ready to cry at the punishment.

The raccoon girl held the boy's ear for a few more seconds, adding a final twist to make sure the lesson stuck and released it. Keel winced and began massaging his hurt ear. Although the child clearly wasn't expecting the punishment, it was clear in his face that Keel was happy to see the raccoon demi. He rushed towards Raphtalia and hugged her midsection, burying his face and nuzzling against it in a lovingly fashion.

The girl began patting his head, the wild black hair somewhat resembling Naofumi's mane. She tried to be as soothing as possible, Keel's voice cracking and as the wolf-boy tried to hold back from sobbing. It was a heart-touching moment for sure, but Naofumi still had things to do, so he began to make himself scarce.

"Wait!"

The hero stopped in his tracks, the high-pitched voice of the child calling him back. He turned his head to see Keel giving him a pointed stare, his blue eyes trying to find something in the hero's frame. The kid looked him up and down, committing every detail of Naofumi's frame into his mind, his eyes lasting the most on Naofumi's weapon, his shield.

"What is it, brat?" The hero asked in his usual rough way, not being one to molly-coddle anyone.

Keel's brows furrowed and the child showed his teeth at the hero in an attempt at intimidation. Naofumi raised one of his brows at the display, finding the sight cute instead of threatening. The hero rolled his eyes at the kid and made to leave, this time uninterrupted by the wolf-kid. Raphtalia stayed behind with him, the shielder allowing her to reconnect with an old friend.

Beloukas patiently waited on the sidelines, his slimy smile ever so present in the slave trader's face. "My lord, what a display! Not an overly kind master that will allow himself to be stepped on, neither an overly harsh taskmaster that would break the body and mind of his slaves; a magnificent use of the Carrot and the Stick." The slaver exclaimed, guiding Naofumi towards the monster cages.

"Save the cheap flattery, only nobles suck that up." He grunted, approaching one of the cages and rasping his knuckles against it, waking up the monster inside. It was an earthworm-looking thing with a rich-brown color and tough looking skin. "What are these things?"

Beloukas rubbed his hands, very much happy to be pitching a sale. "That, Naofumi-sama, is a wormling. Very handy creatures for those in need of quick farmable land; they enjoy being deep underground and eat decayed matter, so you need not worry about feeding them and they are quite docile. Will attack in extreme cases, but most of the time they really prefer avoiding trouble." The slaver explained a few more details of the creature to Naofumi, the hero humming along as he planned a few things.

"How many you've got?"

The slimy smile grew two-fold.

"Ten adult ones. They tend to last quite some time, sir, and do not overly reproduce. They aren't very smart, but do learn to obey very quickly. Someone as proficient in slave handling like you will get the hang of it rather quickly."

Naofumi rolled his eyes and sighed at the boot-licking. "Got it. Don't move their cages anywhere, I'll buy all of them; hope you are already calculating my discount for buying them in bulk." His words made the slaver sag his shoulders a bit, but the man quickly bounced back.

"But of course, sir! Since you are my most loyal customer and a very good buyer, a discount is a must." Beloukas approached Naofumi, one hand beckoning the hero closer. The slaver whispered close to the hero's ear. "I have word of a premium shipment of slaves captured from one remote village deep in Silvelt territory. I can procure them for you, but you do know that these things do cost; there's travel fees, security fees, bribing fees and all the other expenses that such endeavors entail. I shan't bore you with meddlesome details, sir, but…"

Naofumi sighed again, a grumble akin to boulders scraping against each other dully echoing from his throat. "I'll buy full-price this time. I want good information though, and that you put more effort in the search for previous habitants of Seatto."

Beloukas nodded, this time more serious. "Consider it done, my lord. The next batch will be of the highest satisfaction to you."

The Shield Hero grunted another acknowledgement to the slaver, separating from Beloukas and inspecting the remaining area. A few tents were raised and some of the more malnourished or hurt slaves were resting there, Naofumi's presence there making many nervous. For them it mattered not that he was the Shield, he was a human and his presence was akin to that of a bandit or a thug; that was without counting the fact that he'd bought them as if their lives were mere merchandise.

The hero searched the simple cots and the mats, looking for a particular individual. The slaves were wary of him, trying to not get into his way or be his target.

He finally found his target. Tucked comfortably in a cot in a corner, a demi-human child rested almost peacefully. Naofumi approached the cot and grabbed a nearby small crate, sitting on the wooden piece and observing the state to the kid. Her cheeks were a bit sunken and she was still a skinny thing, but she was alive and breathing.

"E-excuse me, master…what do you require with the little one?" A hesitant male voice asked from behind him, Naofumi slowly turning his head to find the source of the voice. The voice belonged to an elder demi with round and stubby ears atop his light-brown hair, the old man's body surprisingly buff for a slave.

"I was checking to see if her condition had improved. She pulled through by the skin of her teeth, but I'm glad to see her alive." At Naofumi's answer the elder sighed in relief, putting one hand to his chest and allowing Naofumi a look at his rather massive paw. A bear-type demi-human, the hero mused in his mind. Hard to imagine him just surrendering like that, even if he is old. "You know her?" He asked the humanoid bear-shaped person.

The elder approached them with careful steps, always measuring his walk as if to avoid spooking Naofumi into action.

"My lord, that I do. She is Rifana-chan, one of the young'uns from our village. When the waves struck, she was one of the many that became an orphan; next came the looters and the slavers, and in the end we return to our land in shackles." The old man explained, his voice regretful. He glanced at Naofumi with tired eyes. "My lord, if you are our next master, please do treat us kind; we work hard and can cover up for the children's share, let them rest if only until they regain some meat back in their bones. My bones are old, but they still have strength in them, let me cover their shifts."

Naofumi wasn't sure what he was witnessing, but his heart panged with pity and anger. "What is your name, old man?"

The bear demi lowered his head. "I am Marony, master. Last known survivor of my family and merely an old man hoping to be of use."

Naofumi released a puff of smoke from his nostrils, careful to do it as far as he could from the child. "Do you know someone called Raphtalia?"

The elder nodded to his question. "Aye, that I do. Young'un Raphtalia, kid was a spunky one. Always running around and playing about, she was quite the leader for the other kids. She was the one that managed to help us consolidate after the Wave struck. It was a pity the slavers came right after too. I wonder if she made it out alive…"

Naofumi stood from his seat and approached the old man, examining his frame. Marony stayed still, his shoulders being pulled back and his massive paws put forward to display his thick arms. The hero placed one hand on the demi's left shoulder and patted the light brown fur there. "Don't worry about that for now. Just make sure to help the little ones for now; the rest will soon fall into place." The hero made to leave the tent, but stopped at the entrance. He turned around to face the bear demi old man, seeing the elder carefully make sure that Rifana was alright. Naofumi left without saying anything anymore.

[XXX]

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[XXX]

The inspection didn't take long, but it left Naofumi tired mentally. He thought himself ready to tackle on this challenge, but the realization that he would be responsible for more than a handful of people began setting in. Sure, they were slaves and nobody would bat an eye if they perished, but Naofumi would. He was either buying or receiving the lives of these people, human or otherwise, and different from any sort of game, if they died it was all over for them.

The hero held back a sigh, aware that he had been doing those quite frequently these days. Complaining and whining would not change anything – and wasn't even a release for tension anymore – so he decided to focus on action. That began by drawing a few drafts with his plans to guide those that would remain here and work in rebuilding while he worked on other fronts.

He was…grateful wasn't exactly the word he would use for it, but he'd use it until he found a better word for this particular feeling…he appreciated the tent set up for him and his party, Beloukas having guided him here after the tour around the wrecked remains of the town. His group of girls dispersed to explore the town on their own.

Raphtalia was going around trying to see if she met any acquaintances or old friends again, Keel almost attached to her hip, behaving just like a dog. The imaginary sight of seeing the kid excitedly wagging his tail as he followed Raphtalia brought a chuckle out of Naofumi's lips. Shadow was busy too, drawing her own map of Seatto and most likely planning out hidden safe houses and observation outposts. He opted to avoid calling her given name while they were out in duty, the girl herself preferring the title of operator than revealing information to the enemy.

Firo had parked their wagon close to the tent and decided to mingle with the children, returning to her human form and playing about with the little ones that could play about. There was quite the number of children recuperating from their exhaustive, back-breaking labor forced upon them, so the philorial queen candidate should not be running wild.

Dera had followed him, lazily content with curling into a pile of scales and muscle behind his chair as he penned down his ideas. The Orochi (he was still getting used to calling her that) releasing a soft hissing as she slept/guarded him.

Finally, Felicia was also in the tent with him, at another corner, busy with her own project. Ever since she advanced her class, the witch had been devoted in her study of magic, doing various spells he hadn't seen previously and busily writing everything down in a few tomes. The Spatial Rend Witch also had been rather touchy-feely with him, something that for all intends and purposes should have bothered him a great deal, but wasn't doing so, much to his ever growing curiosity.

Ever since the incident with Malty, Naofumi had avoided physical contact with other people, especially females. He was never a physical person even back in Earth, but after the accusation he shunned that sort of closeness almost entirely. As things went by, he had to power through that to continue his journey (having to sleep near young Raphtalia to quell her night-terrors, Firo's natural clinginess, Dera's jealousy of her monster-sister, Kana's sporadic requests for affection and Felicia's flirty personality), but before he knew it, Naofumi had lost this fear of touching women.

He wasn't about to go play at being Motoyasu, he was no fool after all. However, once in a while it was good to feel the heat and touch of another person.

Maybe I have changed…maybe changed too much ever since I came here. He mused, releasing his rough charcoal pencil and crossing his arms over his chest. His armor clinked as metal met metal, the hero still finding himself with the heavy protective layer on. Another thing that changed in him; previously in Earth he preferred agile characters over bulky ones, as mobility was always a priority for him in games. Fast characters meant that he could quickly gather valuable items in raids or quests and sell them before anyone knew about it, meaning more time to gather more loot to sell once more. The game could be closing down, every server shutting off and there would be Naofumi, always trying to sell off loot.

After having his armor stolen and almost losing his money, Naofumi had unconsciously being opting for heavier armor. Nothing that could hinder his mobility, but he had been bulking up his defenses, making sure that no one could ever take anything from him without being ready to be weighted down.

He patted the armor, feeding some magic to the purple cores socketed in his armor. A dull, almost ethereal roar echoed in his head, a small tempting promise of violence and wrath asking to be released, only for it to bow down in front of his will. Naofumi began unlacing his armor off, first loosening every piece and slowly removing it. First were the heavy duty gloves and vanbraces, the pieces being placed carefully by his desk's edge. Then, the moss green cloak and fur pauldrons that he folded as neatly as he could; following that came the cuirass, which he settled on the ground (it was the heaviest piece of the set after all), and the cuisses that protected his legs.

He groaned in relief, rolling his shoulders to release some tension. A smoky smell permeated around him, making the hero turn to find the source. Felicia was approaching him with her lit pipe, a tome closely held in her free hand as she swayed her way closer. The witch used the edge of the desk as a seat, her dress riding up as she crossed her legs.

"Already settling for the day, fortress-kun?" The melodious voice of the witch was rather soothing in his ears and the smoke trail of her pipe added a minty smell to the tent, helping him relax as it reminded Naofumi of his mother's incense candles. The Shield Hero leaned back on his provided chair, eyes going up and avoiding the sight of the witch's supple legs. He took a deep breath, sucking in through his nostrils some of the smoke, second-hand smoking alongside the witch.

"I have to write down the plans and orders for the slaves and also draft a business accord with Beloukas. Then there is trade and tax policy for when the place is up and running, how to settle in all the new and old people; all the boring paperwork that keeps things running." Naofumi explained, focusing back on the witch. Felicia nodded along, placing her book on the desk and musing something in her head.

"There is quite a lot in your plate, and you haven't even established the place as a town again; you sure have it tough, fortress-kun…" The witch commented with a mirth-filled voice, making Naofumi stare pointedly at her. "Come on, don't look at me as if I am the villain here, your (curse) gaze makes me hot and bothered…" Felicia joked, taking a particularly deep drag from her pipe.

Naofumi rolled his eyes, one of his hands requesting the decorated pipe. Felicia smirked and gave the item, watching intensely as he took a hit of her favorite blend, this time the hero easily took a great deal of smoke in his lungs, smoothly exhaling a cloud of smoke through his lips much like she was used to do.

Felicia hummed a satisfied noise. "Well, well, well, have you been sneakily practicing?"

The shielder took another quick puff before he returned the pipe, already having had his fill of the tobacco. "Not really…it sort of just doesn't really bother me now. I'd kill for a proper drink though; nothing made here has managed to even buzz me a bit." He had gotten over his fear of alcoholic drinks – a fear that he shouldn't even have in the first place, but had managed to acquire thanks to a certain red-haired ex-princess – but he wasn't one to drink on the job. Considering his job was save the world from the waves (and the incompetency of certain fools), Naofumi wasn't exactly slotting much time in his search for a good drink.

The witch pursed her lips, moistening them with a roll of her tongue before she spoke again. "There is a fruit that is said to contain so much concentrated alcohol that it would kill a man if eaten raw. Lucoa fruit if I'm not mistaken…Since we are going to Cal Mira in a few days, we could order a barrel of Lucoa wine…they use a barrel of water to dilute a single fruit, so that should provide a suitable enough drink for you, fortress-kun."

Naofumi's expression lit up, a genuine smile painting his lips. "Thanks."

It was such a common way to express gratitude, but the witch found the joy in Naofumi's eyes to be as captivating as the curse that he could employ when filled with wrath. The witch found herself staring at his orbs, easily losing herself in them. The sound of a tankard being settled upon the wooden desk was the only thing that managed to shake up the witch, her cheeks flushing as she found herself under the staring eyes of Shadow, Naofumi busy with an alchemy project (her words about the Lucoa fruit had set him off in brewery at an Advanced Alchemy book).

Felicia noticed that she had daydreamed hard from just a mere glimpse at a wholesome Naofumi. That was dangerous fortress-kun, I nearly fell for you right there. The witch joked in her head, giving the rogue/assassin operator a smile.

He thanked his Shadow, drinking from the tankard without missing a beat, the honeyed mead much better than the drink he had earlier from that random merc.

Kana also removed her gear and placed it in a chest close to Naofumi's desk, grabbing his gear and also placing it inside. The brunette then settled on a cot nearby, her brown eyes still staring at the witch.

"Something I can help you with, assassin-chan?!" Felicia asked in her usual voice, making the rogue turn her back to her.

"…so you too, huh?" Felicia swore she heard something from her fellow human, but the operator had managed to fall asleep way too fast.

[XXX]

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[XXX]

To Be Continued

AU NOTES

Sorry for the wait, this one took a while to be put down on the pages, since real life has been itself (to no one's surprise). There isn't much to say besides hoping that you all enjoyed the chapter.

If you feel like/can afford/is willing to fuel my crippling addiction to coffee and hentai, my ko-fi is /ryujinmaou