I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero
Biggest thanks goes to Ace-Triad for SPAG editing this chapter. Also, special thanks for Angel Wraith for reading my rough draft and provide some feedbacks.
More author note at the end for people who are interested to see me blabber some more.
The stall owner's face turned white, with his eyes beginning to twitch as his breath becomes hitched. A drop of sweat slowly trailed down his chin from his forehead even as the stall trader tries to act composed.
The merchant's eyes keep wandering away from himself, even as he tries to barter with the clearly nervous looking man.
No, 'trying to barter' with the merchant would be very misleading. The situation was much more bizarre. It seems like whenever he shows interest in one of the items, the stall owner immediately starts to slash down his own price tag.
Naofumi Iwatani may only be a mere student learning economy, but he knows a merchant does not stay in business by giving out discounts to customers willy-nilly. The man is clearly scared, maybe even downright terrified of something.
What he was so afraid of, however - was the billion-yen question.
Did his supposed infamous reputation of being the Shield Hero (or demon, depending on one's religious belief) already precede him, or does the fear of the merchant come from something more tangible?
"As you should, meatloaf. We are on a quest from the Goddess herself! We will not be deterred from mere material inconveniences!" Lautrec's voice is rough as sand paper. Such a distinct voice, coupled with barely contained aggression behind it instantly drew the attention towards himself.
Naofumi feels the hot breath on his ears before he hears Mein's voice. "Let's just take this kind trader's deal and go, Master Naofumi. Remember what the slave trader said about Lautrec's race? I think the stall owner is clearly intimidated by Lautrec."
No, judging from the fact that the merchant only notices Lautrec after he spoke, the lizard demi-human in their party is clearly not the person who got the merchant spooked. Did Mein simply jumped to the logical conclusion and made an honest mistake, or is there more to it?
"I see..." Naofumi turns to look at both his first companion, and the intimidating demi-human in their group. He nods his head along and count out the coins for the merchant, not wanting to have a full-on confrontation with his companions. "Thank you for the deal, I really do need it now since I'm low on funds after equipping my party. I'll make it up to you in the future."
"I'll be very grateful if you and your party don't come back... I MEAN! Thank you very much for your patronage, Lord Shield Hero!"
The stall owner's response all but confirmed his fear, but it still doesn't tell Naofumi what he's afraid of. The young man's eyes fixed on the fat man, but his mind goes back to earlier in the morning. Mein brought a lot of money back even though she still has the balloon skin on her.
It was clear that she did not get the money from selling the balloon skins. At the time, Naofumi thought it has something to do with her role in the trial. Perhaps she got the funds from whoever placed her within his party, even if he doesn't know the purpose behind it. A political rival of the king, perhaps, trying to discredit him by making him acting like a fool in front of everyone?
Naofumi puts the coin down on the counter. His mind is still working on overtime as he slowly puts the new camping gear into his shield.
What if Mein did come to the bazaar in the morning, but she robbed this merchant instead of bartering with him? That certainly explain the man's strange behavior. But what of the guards patrolling the area? Surely they would stop her from leaving the scene of crime ... or try to apprehend her once she shows her face again?
Naofumi fights the urge to shake his head as he leads his newly formed party towards the gate. Perhaps he's simply over thinking things. The experience of nearly being convicted in a trial has left him jumpy, and was not helped by how everyone seems to feed him whatever half-information that only benefits themselves.
Still, he needs to be more careful from now on. If what was said about the Three Heroes' Church is true, his life is likely to become more difficult from now on.
Interlude 02: Fall of the Shield Hero
Naofumi Iwatani's mind goes back to the past week as his body automatically goes through the motions of refreshing himself over a copper bucket filled with water. It's a wonder on how the human mind is able to adapt this world that lack modern conveniences, such as running water and a plumbing system. His mind shudders a little when he remembers the first time he sees a chamber pot rather than a toilet.
The young Shield Hero gets ready to leave his room of the Lute village inn as the sun slowly rises up from the horizon. His balloon pets quickly duck under his traveling cloak and attach themselves onto his bulky plate armor. Naofumi gives one last quick look to both Raphtalia still sleeping in his single bunk, and Mein who is sleeping on the next bed. The idea of sleeping with a young woman and a small girl in the small room still makes his face heat up, but he's quickly getting used to the idea.
Naofumi runs his hand through Raphtalia's hair, as he scratches her behind her soft fluffy raccoon ears. The little girl's ear wobbles a little in response, and she makes some groggy noise that sounds awfully like 'Shield Hero'. She slowly opens her eyes and looks up at Naofumi.
"Good morning, Raphtalia. Are you hungry? Do you want to get some food?" Naofumi gives her a smile as he runs his hand through her hair again. The girl blinks a couple of times, before she slowly nods her head.
Naofumi's eyes quickly move to the other person in the room. Mein's eyebrows twitch a little as she sleeps soundly. She seems to finally be having a good dream, as a faint smirk seems to form around the corner of her eyes while the bangs of her long hair drapes down over half of her face by the sheer force of gravity alone.
She asked to have a room with two beds after they decided to have Raphtalia sleep with Naofumi, since he's the person who can get the little girl to calm the fastest when she does inevitably have another one of her attacks. Her reason being that there are certain things only a fellow girl can do when a girl needs something, which Naofumi can't really find any fault with that logic - although there are certain other things on his mind regarding his first companion.
The Shield Hero shakes his head. He puts his finger in front of his mouth to make a 'shush' gesture to Raphtalia. Naofumi slowly crawls down the bed, careful not to make a huge noise and wake Mein up from her slumber. He holds his hands and help guides Raphtalia down before leaving the room.
Naofumi's mind wanders to the past once again as his feet moves toward the dining hall. He tries to put the past week into perspective.
It's clear Mein isn't who she said she is. There's too many pieces of evidence to simply ignore. She tries to hide it behind her helpful big sister-like demeanor, but the mask still cracks up on occasions. On many small occasions, she shows how she holds herself up higher than the common people.
There's also how she fights, especially compared to Kyubey, who uses a similar fighting style. Kyubey keeps his distance from monsters, and dashes in a straight line to skewer them with his rapier. But Mein always twirls her wrist before she attacks, almost like it's been drilled into her like instinct.
It looks like Mein had formal fencing training before.
The two of them arrive at the dining hall, still devoid of people this early in the day except the innkeeper who is cleaning the mugs once again. Naofumi nods at the middle aged man as Raphtalia runs to the corner and pick up a children's story book. He follows the young girl to the empty table and sits down together with her. "Do you want to read a story before breakfast, Raphtalia?"
"Yes, Master Naofumi." Raphtalia looks up from her book. She furiously nods her head.
Naofumi smiles again. He scoots closer to sit beside the well behaving raccoon girl. "Let's read together."
"Me-Metazoan? is wandering, pulling flowers in the... garden? No, that can't be right." Naofumi ends up having much more trouble with the story than Raphtalia. The big pictures on each page does help intuitively explain what is happening even when the young man has trouble recognizing the characters on the page.
The story seems to be some kind of mix between Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland or Wizard of Oz. It's about a marionette girl created by the Bow Hero wandering the world.
Raphtalia patiently waits for Naofumi to turn the page while he pulls his hair out over the strange looking symbols. It reminds him of Korean characters due to their rectangular structure. That's when the inn keeper walks to their table and puts down two bowls of milk soaked porridge. "Here you go, milord. Two bowls of Lute Special Breakfast. Help the little lady grow strong bones."
"Thank you." Naofumi puts the story book down with Raphtalia. "Itadakimasu (Thanks for the meal)."
The girl follows his gesture of closing his palms together in front of his face, even if she butchered the Japanese pronunciation.
The inn keeper sits down across from them. He looks down at the book sitting between Naofumi and Raphtalia. "Reading this early in the morning again, milord? You'd think reading every evening after a big hunt is enough."
"Please, Naofumi is fine, sir. I'm not exactly used to this idea... and I'm not a noble in this country anyways." Naofumi puts his spoon down and swallows his last bite. His finger clicks on the darkened and slightly tattered book cover. "I have to learn this language if I want to learn magic."
"Ah, I see. Shame that shield of milord doesn't translate what's written." Lud nods his head. He stands up from the table and walks back to his counter again. "My mother-in-law runs a magical shop in the capital. I'll see if she can spare you one of them magical orbs. You don't need to know the language to learn magic from them."
"That would help. Thank you very much." Naofumi gives a grateful nod back to the innkeeper again. That's when the three Yuzu seem to wake up as they jump out of his cloak and hop on the table, eyeing the bowl of porridge in front of Naofumi. The Shield Hero carries his breakfast away from the hopping balloons. "Sorry, that's mine. You guys want some monster meat jerky?"
The balloons make some energetic and happy screeches at Naofumi. The Shield Hero shakes his head and sets his bowl back down. He takes some small bits and toss the jerky at his pet balloons. They are quickly scooped up and devoured. Raphtalia smiles at them, she reaches over to pet each Yuzu on their head.
Naofumi goes back to quietly eating his breakfast once again. His mind wanders back to his very first companion.
Mein was clearly involved with his framing in some way, that's the most likely explanation on the King's action. The old fart thought he has an airtight plan.
But why didn't Mein go with the accusation?
Did she betray the king out of her own accord? The slave trader Beloukas did say something about Naofumi is entitled to become a Duke. It's possible she wants to mooch off his future title, but it's a hell of a gamble to anger the king now.
Another possibility is she intentionally saves him from this one trap to endear herself, and lead him down a cliff later. The problem with this theory is what trap can be more damaging than convicting Naofumi for rape?
The last possibility is as Naofumi already theorized, she's an agent from a political rival of the king. She pretended to go along with the plan, only to cut the leg from under the king to humiliate him. It could even work with hypothesis number two, where it's not the king but someone else who instructed Mein to backstab the old fart, and also act as a sleeper agent beside Naofumi.
Regardless of what's the truth, there's simply not enough facts to support any theory. He's grasping at straws when he doesn't even know who 'Mein of Samphor' really is.
Samphor... the town that Mein supposedly comes from. It might be another misdirection, but that's all he has at this point.
"What do you know about the Town of Samphor, Mr. Lud?" Naofumi finishes the last of his meal and pushes the bowl forward.
"Samphor, milord? We are but simple folks here at Lute. We keep to ourselves and worry about our own harvest, not worrying about other small villages and towns on the other ass end of nowhere." The Inn Keeper lets out a hearty laugh as he picks up the empty bowl. His face turns stern afterwards. "Although I did hear some interesting rumors about the ruling noble houses from occasional adventurers stopping to drink at my inn."
"Any interesting rumors about their noble family?" Naofumi's ears figuratively perk up at the mention of this. Apparently the village of Samphor does exist, and there is a noble family around with some juicy rumors. Everything lines up with Mein's words perfectly. This might get him closer to Mein's true identity. He takes five pieces of silver coins out of his pouch and push them towards the inn keeper. "Do you mind telling me?"
"Please take your coins back, milord. I may be an inn keeper, but I have my standard and I don't deal information like thieves. Especially baseless rumors! But they are good for a laugh, so I'll share them." The middle aged man's face goes purple as he pushes the coins right back towards Naofumi. "The Ascrots keep to themselves mostly, barely even show their faces to the people they rule over. Hell, some people even suggest they died out in a plague or something, if it wasn't for the constant suitors piling up at the gate of their castle. Apparently, they have two daughters and the elder one is known far and wide as 'devilishly beautiful'."
"Devilishly beautiful, huh." Naofumi nods his head along at the 'interesting rumor', which honestly sounds very tame by his standard. Although his ideal on what quality as interesting is largely spoiled due to internet. He thinks back on Mein, wondering if such description fits his enigmatic first companion.
Mein is definitely one of the prettiest girls he met in his life and she constantly makes him blush with her flamboyant personality, but 'devilishly beautiful' is a stretch. Then again, rumors are just rumors at the end of the day. "What about the younger daughter?"
"That's where the rumor gets more interesting... and also nasty. Poor girl must've suffered a lot growing up, can't blame the Ascrots for keeping to themselves." The inn keeper shakes his head with a solemn look. "She has white hair."
Naofumi simply stares at back at the middle aged man. He wonder what's so weird about a girl having white hair when the hair of native Melromarc seems to naturally encompass the entirety of the color spectrum. "So she's an albino. That's bad... because?"
"Ah, excuse me. I forgot milord is from another world. I'm not talking about grey white, like old people. White, as pure as the fresh fallen snow is unnatural on any pure-blooded human. Only the white tiger bloodline of beastmen and demi-human have them. Some people spread rumors about Lady Ascrot that she either lost her virtue to a white tiger, or was being unfaithful to her husband."
"Is that so..." Naofumi turns to look at Raphtalia. The girl is also finished with her meal, she simply stares at the Shield Hero while fidgeting on her stool. Naofumi pushes his balloons towards the clearly bored raccoon girl. "Do you want to go play with Yuzu, Raphtalia? You don't have to stay here."
"Okay. Thank you, Master Naofumi." Raphtalia scoops the balloons up with her arm. She gives a bow to Naofumi and quickly skips her feet out the door.
"Cute kid." Lud's eyes follows Raphtalia until she disappears out of the door. "Back to the topic. Ascrot's case wasn't helped by another rumor connected to the late heir of the White Tiger clan from Siltvelt. Apparently, that fucker disappears months and months away from his wife and son. Some say he has a mistress somewhere else. With the Ascrots' fiefdom close to the border of Melromarc... well, some people began putting two and two together."
"They thought the wife of Count Ascrot was the mistress of this Siltvelt heir."
"A load of gryphon dung, if you ask me!" The inn keeper all but slams the wooden bowl back down the table. He clears his throat to hide his embarrassment. "Probably bad rumors spread out by rival houses. Count Ascrot used to be in high position in Her Majesty's court, and a load of them high lords got jealous. That's what our 'benevolent lords and protectors' really are when they come down to it, bigger choppers than the orange balloons you find on the plain. They'll gobble anyone they don't like right up. We are lucky here at Lute we are too far away from Melromarc Castle to be in the royal family's direct control, but too close so no other lord can lay their claim on us."
"I see, thank you for the information." Naofumi sits back as the inn keeper bends down to pick up the empty bowls again. He looks up and smiles at the middle aged man. "You know a lot, for supposedly being folks who only worry about the harvest."
"Well, I'm an inn keeper. Lute is a small village, but we are right beside the capital on the king's road. We get a lot of adventurers passing through in the open season." The inn keeper scratches the back of his head. "Well, I better get back to clean up the dishes. I'll leave milord alone for now."
So... the Ascrots has to deal with some very bad rumors, and apparently their elder daughter has a lot of suitors after her. Could this elder daughter be the true identity of 'Mein of Samphor'?
Perhaps the king picked her to act as the bait to frame the Shield Hero he summoned, thinking the daughter of a maligned noble will obediently follow his instructions. But Mein decided to take a gamble rather than acting as the sacrificial goat of this scenario, by betraying and backstabbing the king in an effort to get into the good grace of the Shield Hero.
The theory is a huge stretch once again, but it certainly feels possible.
But he won't know for sure unless he uncovers more evidence. And for that... he needs to gather more information himself, not blindly accept whatever half-truths, or even misinformation others feed him.
He needs to be literate first.
Naofumi buries his head into the book once again, trying to recall the lessons he had with Mein from the nights before. It would be easier if he has a Melromarc to Japanese dictionary. Sadly, it seems like previous summoned heroes didn't leave something like this behind. He's about halfway through the third page when he hears the distinctly loud squeaking from a Chocobo.
The Shield Hero sets the child's story book down and walks to the window. He looks outside to see the supply carriage pulled by the big bird once again. "You guys don't have horse carriages?"
"Horse, milord?" Lud's brows twist into a confused knot. He slaps his head after a few moment of silent. "Ah, you mean Pegasus. Some people from Faubley call them horses, after the Legendary Heroes, you see."
"You guys have winged horses, but not normal ones?" Naofumi turns back to look at the middle aged inn keeper.
"Isn't it normal for a Pegasus to have wings, milord?" The man scratches his thick beard at Naofumi's question, he ends up shaking his head. "Anyways, the Pegasus are important war resources. Even the nobles can't afford to have them pulling carriages. Well... not Melromarc nobles anyway. You need to be the real old money to own a Pegasus carriage. Like the Potter, and Malfoy families from Faubley. They have their lineage traced all the way back to the first Sword and Shield Heroes."
Naofumi blinks his eyes at the mentioned noble houses. He doesn't know how he should feel to learn that the Shield Hero is once again connected to some young adult novel villain. After a few short moments of silence, he chooses to simply ignore the possible coincidence.
"Where is my sweet baby girl?" A warm call echoes through the dining hall as the door opens to reveal a stout woman dressed in robes and a large brimmed hat. Her dress reminds Naofumi of a typical witch in popular culture.
"Mother!" Shena, the wife of Lud, runs out of the inn's backroom. "We didn't know you were coming with the carriage!"
"And miss the chance to meet the nice young man helping out my family and friends? Never!" The possible witch skips her feet across the floor like an energetic child. She opens her arms to embrace Shena, the inn keeper's wife returns the gesture. "Where is the nice young man, by the way?"
"Mother, Lord Shield Hero is standing right there by the window." Shena guides her mother to Naofumi. "Lord Shield Hero. This is my mother Dolores. She runs the magic shop in the capital."
"Nice to meet you, ma'am." Naofumi reaches his hand out to the elder witch. His hand is immediately snatched, crushed and furiously shaken.
"Please, Dora to my friends. I wish you'd come to my shop already, I would give you the largest discount I can afford. Not every day we get a selfless hero taking his own time to help us poor country folk."
Naofumi feels his face burning up. He turns to look at the inn keeper couple, who seems to find his predicament rather amusing as they hide a smile behind their beard and hand. "Please, ma'am. I'm only doing what anyone would do."
"Anyone would do, he says... well, young man. You'd be surprised how many 'Heroes' in the past only focus on licking the boots of nobles, and kick us common folk to the dirt." The energetic elder drops her hand and pulls out a transparent sphere from her pouch. "Such a good deed deserves a reward."
"Is that a magical orb, Mother? Are you going to teach Lord Shield Hero magic?" Shena locks her eyes at the sphere glowing under the morning sun.
"Not exactly my dear. This is an aptitude test orb. It'll test out what magical affinity the Shield Hero has." Dolores pushes the orb into Naofumi's hand. "Do you know how to draw your magical power, young man?"
"Not really, I been busy learning the language so far." Naofumi fumbles his hand to grab onto the magical orb. The thing is extremely smooth and slippery, making it very hard to hold onto without it flying straight out of his hands.
"Well, we can't have that. Let's sit down, and I'll guide you through it. It's like riding your filorial the first few times. Once you learn how to do it, you'll never forget for the rest of your life."
"You do that, Mother. I'll go gather Hob's wife, their baby boy, and the little ones who'll stay with you in the capital." Shena takes off her apron and turns to walk to the door.
"Thanks for having the kids stay with you, Mother. We'll all rest easier, now we know the youngest will be safe within the capital walls." Lud walks to the table and pulls out the stools for Naofumi and the elderly witch.
"Well, what is family for? Now don't dally and come with me, young man. Let's see what you got up your sleeves." Dolores pulls on Naofumi's cloak to drag him towards the table, making him almost drop the orb down his hands once again.
"Are you sure I can do magic? Ma'am?"
"Of course! All summoned heroes in the past can use magic. Some better than others." Dolores pushes Naofumi down on the stool as she sits down beside him. "Now, I want you to hold the orb in your hands just like this, close your eyes and keep your breath steady. I'll help draw out your mana in you."
"Okay." Naofumi gives one final nod before closing his eyes. He slowly breathes in and out while thinking over some soothing scenes from TV. He's faintly aware of someone resting their fingers on his forehead.
For a while, he feels nothing but two fingers on his head. Then, soothing light like warmth. It begins to travel down, like a little mouse trying to play hide and seek with him. It travels down his face, neck, shoulders, going up from his arm to his hand before jumping headfirst into the cool orb resting in his hand.
"Aha, there it is."
Naofumi opens his eyes, and sees the same soothing light that existed in his mind flickering inside the orb. "What does it mean?"
"It seems you have affinity to healing and warding magic, young man." Dolores rests her chin in her head as she stares intently at the orb. "Some minor body fortification too, but protecting yourself and many others is your trade, young man. A noble aptitude for the Hero of the Shield."
"A protection paladin, huh?" Naofumi looks down at the orb in his hand. Honestly, he's more content to be the crafter and planner behind the guild's operation back when he's playing online games. But he supposed it fits himself being the Shield Hero to have healing and warding magic.
It'll truly set himself apart from the King of Rape, at the very least.
Most of the village gathers around the supply carriage as it's about to return to the capital once again. Hob the hunter is sharing one last tear filled hug with his wife and infant son. Same goes for the parents of the youngest children, who are going to stay with their family's friends or relatives living in the capital.
"You guys are doing a good job making the underground shelter. I'll come back before the Wave to put down the rune stones for fortification." Dolores is no longer as upbeat as she was from earlier. She grips down hard on the sleeves of both Lud and Shena. "You sure you don't want to stay with me, in the capital? My shop is small, but I have room to put down two extra bedrolls."
"Thank you Mother, but Lute is our home. We aren't going to take the easy way out." Lud tenderly cradles his wife's shoulder with his large hand. His breaks his serious face with a smile. "Besides, there are what... hundreds of villages scattered in Melromarc? It'd be mighty unlucky if the next wave just so happened to hit us. And we are much better prepared than the others, thanks to the Shield Hero."
"Right, right. Do forgive me for being a sentimental old woman." The witch nods her head and lets out a sigh. She turns away to shake Naofumi's hand one last time before climbing back onto the carriage. "Come to my shop before the Wave hits, young man. I'll get you a real magical orb free of charge, for all the trouble you went through for my family."
"I'll hold you up on the offer, ma'am." Naofumi waves his hand with the rest of the villagers as the supply carriage rides away with the youngest children. He turns around to look at the head hunter walking up to him. "What's our plan for today?"
"Everyone in the militia has at least one turn with you now. We are good enough to push to Harvest Valley." Gaston opens up the map in front of Naofumi, he traces one finger along the route they are going to make like previous days. "The monsters are stronger than King's Forest, but we'll gather better loot we can use to prepare for the Wave. We'll also find newer materials to help you unlock new shields."
The pure white filorial strides his way beside Naofumi. He bends his long neck down to nuzzle his head against Naofumi's face. Naofumi laughs at the friendly bird. He scratches the bird's chin, making the filorial releases a happy cooing sound. "Oh, hi there, Cotton Candy. Guess you're with us today."
"Old Cotton really took a liking to you, huh?" Gaston is busy brushing the feathers of his own black filorial, he grins at Naofumi. "You want to try riding him? Cotton is a racer breed, doesn't let any random schmuck ride him. But they'll happily carry people they take a liking to."
"Can I!?" Naofumi feels his heart is bounding in his chest. Sure, technically filorials look more like ostriches or emus than Chocobos with their long neck. But it'll be as close to riding a Chocobo as he can get.
What self-respecting RPG fan doesn't fantasize riding a Chocobo at least once in their life?
"Well, why don't you ask him? Filorials are smart, they understand humans even if they don't speak." The head hunter turns to look at his black filorial in the eyes. "Isn't that right, Wolfgang?"
"Gua!" The dark bird nods his head and lets out a loud squawk.
"Is that true? Can I ride you, Cotton Candy?" Naofumi turns to look at the white bird.
"Gua~" The big bird bends down right to the earth, obviously letting Naofumi get on easily.
The Shield Hero hesitate for about one second before he slowly and carefully climbs up the bird's back. He carefully closes his arm around the bird's long neck to stay steady as Cotton Candy stands up. To Naofumi's surprise, keeping balance on the bird isn't as hard as he first imagined.
It seems like Mein is fixing her eyes intently on him right now. Naofumi wonders if there's any hidden meaning with such look.
Naofumi's mind continues to wander throughout the day. It becomes much more clear now they are tracking through deep tunnels that's illuminated by the faint glow of their belt fasted oil lanterns, with only the echo of their boot clicking on the rock to keep themselves company.
The young man thinks back to how Mein's eyes seem to light up when she had mistaken the piece of granite he held in his hand as a raw gem, and how such embers of enthusiasm almost dies immediately when he reveals it's just a piece of pretty rock after all. That definitely fits something materialistic. Although to be fair, a country girl from a poor family can also have said trait just as an heir raised in a noble family.
"Mein, what do you think about getting a Filorial bird after all this?" Naofumi tries to keep his voice down so it doesn't echo all over the tunnel. He would have liked to be able to observe Mein's face, but it becomes rather difficult and deliberate with him walking in the front, and Mein lingers much behind.
"Sure. Anything you want, Master Naofumi." The bland, rather than enthusiastic reply suggest his red haired companion isn't really hearing what he's asking.
Naofumi almost had the urge to ask Mein to strip down and do some belly dancing in front of him, before he snaps Mein's attention back and inform her what exactly she agreed to. That would most certainly be a good way to embarrass herself for a little payback, for all the times she catches or knocks him off balance.
The young man may actually do the deed, if he doesn't have other companions, especially children with him. He doesn't want to set a bad example for young Raphtalia after all.
"Guess we'll be having a big birdie soon, Raphtalia. Maybe you can hug them in your sleep, so you don't have nightmares so much. I think have something that's warm and fluffy will help you." Naofumi smiles and look down at the little Tanuki girl. He reaches his hand down, and plays around a little with Raphtalia's soft ears.
The girl flinches a little. She's probably still being very self-conscious about her night terrors even if such a response was very natural for someone who went through a traumatizing experience, especially for one so young. Raphtalia slowly raises her face up to look at Naofumi, and eventually gives him a nod even as he continues to touch her fluffy ears.
Ah, those Tanuki ears are soft and fuzzy. Gently moving his finger through the fur she has on her ears always warms Naofumi's heart, he still wonders if his relationship with the girl can progress to a point she'll let him pet her even fluffier tail? It'll probably be very rude to do it by force, even if he technically owns her.
Soon, they reach what appears to be a big naturally formed chamber the miners tunneled into. Mein start to use some magic to illuminate the grand sight in front of him, while Lautrec does something to... stand guard for them? Kyubey, on the other hand, takes out a pickaxe he retrieved from the foreman's office, and start to peel at some exposed metal ore on the wall.
The view of the cave illuminated by Mein's magic is simply breathtaking, especially when the waterfall on the far side wall begins to produce a small rainbow as it drops down into the darkness below. It reminds Naofumi some of the pictures he saw on the Internet about famous tourism sites around the world. He had fancied the idea of maybe visiting one such place once or twice in his life, maybe with some friends he eventually grow to care about. Now he is visiting a cavern with equal beauty in a fantasy world, with his companions he was slowly growing to care about.
The Shield Hero gives a quick look to the side. Both Mein and Raphtalia are slowly walking up to stand beside him while gazing at the beautiful scene around them with wonder in their eyes. He briefly forgets his suspicion on his first party member, or the worry he has for the reserved little girl and simply enjoys the quiet moment they share together. Kyubey's almost rhythmic knock on the ore surprisingly does not disturb this feeling of peace, but almost add to it with the chime like echoing.
Naofumi had supposed it doesn't matter who Mein truly is. In the end, she saved him from becoming a convicted criminal. And she warned him of the danger hiding underneath the surface. As long as she stays faithful, he's perfectly happy to pretend he didn't suspect a thing.
It's a good feeling that someone need him and depends on him.
He isn't prepared when Lautrec yells out the late warning, or when the dark shadow jumps out from the other side of the waterfall and knocks him on his ass.
Naofumi gets up as fast as he could, only in time to see Mein grabbing Raphtalia on the edge of the cliff, and immediately pushed off when the large dog jumps away to avoid a swipe from Lautrec. "NO!"
The Shield Hero quickly runs forward, barrelling into the dog and knocks it to its side. Naofumi is dimly aware of the howl it makes when Lautrec's shotel connects with its shoulder. But he simply charges forward to peek from the ledge. All he manages to catch is a whisk of light down the abyss as it flicks into nothing. "Mein! Raphtalia!"
He's about to jump after them when three arms holds him back. "Think before you act! Boy!"
"Lautrec is right, Master Shield Hero." Kyubei's voice is void of emotion as always, but there is a certain rapidness as he spites out each syllable that makes the urgency apparent. "Your magical map, we need to see where they fell first before attempting a rescue."
Naofumi feels the creeping chill climbing up his spine at Kyubei's implication. If both Mein and Raphtalia fall straight onto a pit... jumping after them would do nothing for them. It'll also be the end of himself. He takes one deep breath, catching his shaking right hand with his left. The Shield Hero realizes that there is cold sweat in his palms. "Wait, where's the dog?"
"Ran away, for now. Faster than me. I'm not going to give chase by myself." Lautrec snorts out of his nose. He points to the Shield Hero and Kyubei. "You two figure out the rescue plan. I'll do what I must."
"Right. [Terrain Prospect]." Naofumi activates his shield ability once again. A pulse expands out from his shield, and the glowing blue 3D map floats in front of himself as if it was outside. He swipes his hand at the map, and zooms into the cave network at its largest magnification.
"I can't be sure of what I'm seeing, Master Shield Hero. But it seems like there's an underground river right beneath the cliff. Look, this line seems to move towards one direction." Kyubei runs his finger at a snaking line flickering under the cliff. The rabbit man pulls his finger up to the cliff plateau they are standing on once again. "This tunnel opposite from us. It goes downward. With luck, we'll find Miss Mein and Raphtalia at some point."
"Are you sure? What if it... doesn't?" Naofumi's eyes darts between his two remaining party members. Kyubei's silence does not speak much for this quickly hatched plan.
"Are you a hero or not? Are you going to do something, or are you going to stand around sucking your thumb thinking!" Lautrec's angry growl shakes Naofumi back to the present.
Naofumi has to admit, the mean lizard man does have a point. He was ready to jump down the cliff after Mein and Raphtalia a few moment earlier, so what's he so afraid of now? "Okay, we follow Kyubei's plan. Open your eyes, ears... and nose."
The three of them quickly sprint down the tunnel with Naofumi taking the lead. Both Lautrec and Kyubei are on high alert judging from the lizard constantly sniffing the air, or Kyubei's twitching ears. They had to stop multiple times when they reach an intersection with multiple tunnels to check Naofumi's map again.
It gives Naofumi a chance to have a short break to rest his legs, but it makes him more and more anxious. It feels like they are walking in circles underneath the mountain when they encountered neither their lost party members or the dog. The only thing indicating any progress is his magical map.
As they get further down, the terrain around them start to slowly but surely change. There are strange glowing mushrooms on the floor, and dark root like vines climbing up the side of the walls. It makes the cave feel alien, or rather like some kind of fantasy world from a novel. Under normal circumstances, Naofumi would probably enjoy the spooky atmosphere, or at least stop and try to collect some samples for his shield. But it only grows the mounting fear of either finding the lifeless bodies of his companions, or nothing at all.
A prolonged loud screech echoes off the other side of the tunnel. It sounds almost inhuman, like some kind of banshee from a horror movie. Naofumi's heart begins to sink even as he picks up his paces, and he finally sees a sign of life other than the root like creep vine and glowing mushrooms.
The two-headed black dog is pouncing on someone's back, sinking one of its mouths into the person's shoulder. Naofumi can't see the face of the person, but the long red hair indicates who is being mauled.
There is blood everywhere in the tunnel. And for the moment, all Naofumi can see is red. "YOU BASTARD!"
The Shield Hero doesn't know where he suddenly found more strength to carry his legs. But the next moment he charges forward like a freight train and tackles the dog right from Mein's back. The two of them roll around on the floor back and forth, neither able to overpower the other for what feels like forever. Until the dog finally manages to pin Naofumi on his back and sink its teeth into his shoulder just like Mein.
Naofumi does. Not. CARE.
He is once again, only dimly aware of the burning pain in his shoulder. Both of his hands hammers and claw at the dog's head, even if it feels like he's hitting an anvil of solid steel.
What if all he has is a shield? What if his attack is abysmal? He'll snap the neck of this blasted dog with his bare hands, if he needs to.
Lautrec seems to finally catch up. His shotel falls down to the side of the dog once again and opens another gush on the infernal beast. But someone else did something to make a red geyser erupt on the head trying to bite Naofumi's face off.
The dog collapses onto the ground with a whimper, revealing Raphtalia holding the hilt of her short blade. Naofumi runs his right hand through the girl's cheek, unintentionally leaving a bloody read streak down her face. He whispers a soft encouragement to the girl. "Good job, Raphtalia."
The raccoon girl gives a strained smile back to Naofumi.
"We need to go back to Lute Village immediately, Master Shield Hero. The wound on Miss Mein's shoulder isn't closing. Our potion isn't strong enough. She needs a proper healer." The words coming out of Kyubei's mouth is even more rapid than the last time.
"Go!" Naofumi quickly pushes himself up and runs to Mein, his body jerks with a cringe when he sees the extent of damage. It's not just her shoulder, but one side of her face is bloody and mangled with visible deep gushes as blood oozes out of the wound. Mein seems to be in complete shock, her eyes stare forward without focus, mouth open and close without a sound coming out.
He cradles Mein tightly in his arms. Murmuring more to himself than to his wounded companion. "You are going to be okay, Mein! Stay with us! We'll get you to a doctor!"
The shaking to his hands are back again.
Once in his own world, he failed his only friend by not having the courage to move forward with Yugo.
And now, he failed his first companion by failing to live up to his promise to her.
End Note
When I first had this idea, I really wanted a story that get into the head of Malty. Which is why I choose to have the main story completely in her first person perspective. The downside is of this creative decision is of course, the readers won't know what Malty won't know, and there is a LOT of things she doesn't know even with the people around her, since she's not particularly perceptive (even if she's much smarter than canon).
Which is why I decided to take a page out of Worm, having alternate perspective Interludes and Omaka (for giving information that can't fill out a full Interlude chapter) to give additional information Malty does not know. As this chapter shown, Naofumi is most definitely onto her even if he does not show it to Malty's face. Hope this clarify some possible question about Naofumi's inconsistent intelligence in the main story chapters.
Now to answer some specific reviews:
To Night:
Malty is definitely better at the Game of Throne than Melty, since Melty is overwhelmingly sincere due to her inexperience, and how queenie wanted to raise her as the honorable good princess. On why the dog targeted Malty than tanuki... not sure if you remember that scene where Lautrec is training tanuki, he told tanuki to never shown open fear by always stare at the monster in the eyes.
To Fire:
I don't inherently dislike the scheming backstabbing princess, and the innocent honorable princess dichotomy between Malty and Melty's canon portrayal, and it does make some basic sense given their age difference.
Although I truly all capital HATE how in some pop culture's one-dimensional characterization where the main character is one-dimensional kind, honorable, forgiving... and always win, and villains are one-dimensional scummy, selfish, petty... and always lose. GoT/A Song of Ice and Fire does is way better where it shows being good and honorable isn't enough, kindness and forgiveness without practicality carries bad consequences. Of course, the other side is all practicality and no spirituality (as this current Isekai WN trend) lead to the degradation of humanity at large because everyone becomes cutthroat selfish. So I tries my best to tell a story with some balance to the characterization where villains have something one can sympathize, and heroes have their flaws and make mistakes as they strive to do right things. Not sure if I'll succeed since I'm pretty sure even D&D has more talent than me let along GRR Martin, but damn it if I don't try.
To Guest1:
Interesting theory, although sadly it's not true. Since when Malty recalls how all past summoned heroes are men, she's actually speaking from truth.
I want to write a story where Melromarc's paranoia towards the Shield Hero is grounded in something tangible, and not just because they are a bunch of racist idiots. So the last Shield Hero really was a piece of work... although his backstory is more complicated than 'he's an one-dimensional asshole' (because it'd be quite hypocritical of me to say I hate one-dimensional villain if I make the last Shield Hero one of such character). But regardless of reason, the bad things he did to the world is still real and continue to hurt other people.
I don't want to spoil too much... but in a few chapters more we'll get a scene from someone who actually lived through the past generation of heroes giving his own retelling of Mikage. Which while subjective than objective, should give something a bit more personally tangible to what he's like than common bard's tale or political propaganda.
To Rando12:
Thank you very much for your kind words! Yeah, I want Malty to be a flawed character in a more human way, and not in an over the top anime character way. Hope this chapter helped clear a lot of Naofumi's thought.
To Guests:
Sorry about the long update intervals. I'm trying to pick up the pace a bit more again, but sadly work's been pretty busy lately.
:(
Hope this chapter clear a bit more on how other people see the incident where Malty gets bitten.
Naofumi only rent filorial from someone else is an interesting idea, especially since Reprise of Spear Hero at least suggest filorials in a hero's team could possibly also grow into their monarch variance (since there's no way Motoyasu can rise his hundredth of birbs all into monarch without using Battle Formation). I get a chuckle at the thought of Naofumi leave a small group of birb loli and shota where ever he goes to.