I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero
Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad on the SPAG edit! Also special thanks to 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.
A few makeshift tents, by a roughly thirty paces long, twenty paces wide flower field cover their fur sleeping bags in the back garden of Umbra Magical Emporium. That is the newest sleeping arrangement for the Shield Hero's party, and Mein herself, by extension.
Time like this makes the undercover princess realize how long her journey with the young man from another world truly is, even if she's only been with him for over two weeks. She would have thrown a fit at the protest of this squalid sleeping arrangement from before. Especially when Deidric, the owner of Melromarc Castle's most prestigious inn, already offered them the best room if they paid the inn owner a visit.
But now, Mein simply accepted this as another part of her new reality. Especially after her... unfortunate incident in the depth of Lute Mine.
Mein's hand reaches up to run through her rough, scarred face towards the back, where one of her ears used to be. She wonders why nobody had the decency to inform her of this particular injury. Maybe they did, and she simply missed the words when she was going in and out of consciousness.
With such prominent scarring on both her face and shoulder, why would she need to worry about a missing ear? Her social life in the noble's circle is finished. The silver lining to this predicament is that being herself right now, she would no longer need to worry about marrying Faubley's pig king. If she can't manage to tie a hero firmly around her waist, the only life waiting for her is being left forgotten in a chapel.
If only she didn't grab onto the damn raccoon child and let her fall down the cliff.
What would her little friend think of her?
Well, there is no use thinking over all the what-ifs now. While she did secure herself an escape route through the Spear Hero, the best choice is to stay with the Shield Hero. She had already spent too much time, effort, and paid too high a price for her current position.
The princess lets her arm drop as she begins to touch the yellow, almost butterfly wing shaped flower petals. The flower's genus was Orchileon, better known by its common name 'Dragon's tongue'. Native plants grow on the hot tundra of the old kingdom of Midgard, where potion makers all around the continent cultivate them thanks to one of its properties making one's voice deeper with an echo, which helps a shopkeeper's bartering skill when particular customers want to haggle with them.
The first princess had known this plant for one of its different magical properties, particularly the one that helps the user resist the burning sting of fire effects. She can't help but smile, as she thinks back to how Uncle Aldrecht used to have a small pile of Orchileon flowers on his work table, alongside whatever other re-agents that offer resistance against fire - so that she won't burn herself when she's practicing her magic with him.
"Shields unite against the world!"
Chapter 20: Retracing your steps
The princess in disguise looks up to peer on the other side of the flower field. The group of young children from Lute Village seems to be playing pretend with Naofumi's domesticated balloons.
The battle cry of Faubley Hero Academy's Shield Order. Mein didn't think she'd hear it this close to home. Especially not from such a young and vigorous voice.
Needless to say, pretending to be heroes tended to be a popular form of play amongst the children of ... humbler birth who lack toys, and have to rely on their imaginations. The Shield Hero isn't exactly popular, both thanks to the previous holder of the title and the passive nature of their role.
What child would want to hold a piece of board and let others come to them when they can swing a stick, a broom, or fire a slingshot themselves?
The children from Lute village, apparently. The small group of boys and girls carry pot lids, or have some wooden boards strapped to their arms, as the orange abominations bounce into their tight formation back and forth.
Naofumi's actions from the last week did a good job turning the opinion of the village around on the Shield Hero. If only he has more time to do this on the whole nation before the Three Heroes' Church has the time to do whatever it is they are trying to achieve.
Mein sits down on the dirt near the field of yellow Ochileon flowers. She props up her head with her hand, eyes vaguely looking at the group of playing children.
The princess' mind went back to the word of the Pope back in the Cathedral from three days ago.
Can she trust the word of that old fox? On the one hand, having the nation's strongest religious faction backing her claim of the throne will be a huge advantage over her younger sister. Especially considering the faithful makes up most of the country's higher echelons of nobility.
On the other hand, the Pope's motivation is highly suspicious. Especially after he all but admitted his interest in stepping out of the role of the nation's spiritual leadership and into the actual administration of Melromarc. Even if the Pope's words are true, relying on his support alone to claim the throne is the worst outcome for herself. She would have little power herself, and be propped up as nothing more than the Pope's puppet.
No, sticking with the Shield Hero is still her best option, even if she's going on a collision course with the Three Heroes' Church in the future.
"Mein, are you... I don't know. Are you feeling okay, today?" The unsure voice of the young man makes Mein turn her head. She looks up from her little patch of grass and dirt to see the Shield Hero slowly climbing out of his tent, his hair ruffled and cloth roughed. His sight is wandering all over her direction, obviously projecting concern for her wellbeing but seemingly afraid to find a focal point.
"I'm fine, Master Naofumi. Thank you very much for your concern." The Shield Hero freezes at her words, his eyes look away to a corner with some wooden boxes and barrels.
Did her words, or tone drip more sarcasm than she intended? Or is the Shield Hero having a hard time facing the consequences of their action back in the mineshaft?
Now Mein thinks back to it, Naofumi has been acting like this for the past few days, after his short lived scuffle with the Spear Hero. She was also mired in her own personal hell to sort it out.
Regardless of his reasoning for averting his gaze, or her personal feeling about her latest... setback. Pushing the young man away from her is the last thing she wanted, intentionally or otherwise.
"It's okay, Master Naofumi. I don't break that easily." Mein stands up from where she is sitting and walks towards the Shield Hero.
That's right. If there is one thing she takes pride of herself above all else, it is how she keep coming back setback after setback. Mother wants to cast her aside by having another heir, but she'll continue fighting for her right to the throne.
Even to her last breath, if that's what it takes.
She cast her eyes inside Naofumi's tent, and sees the new recipe books he received from the apothecary piled up right beside his sleeping bag. The Shield Hero is likely reading over it before he turned in last night, after another night session of studying their language with the incognito princess.
Mein kneels down right in front of the Shield Hero, their noses almost touching each other. "Look at me, Master Naofumi. What happened back in the mineshaft isn't your fault, so don't beat yourself over it. Or do you find me hideous now?"
Well... she is. As much as she wants to deny it.
In noble society, the tiniest blemish is ammunition against one's standing. Her social life is effectively over, with scars as large and grotesque those on her face and shoulder.
But if the Shield Hero feels personally responsible for it, she'll use it as a chain to bond his destiny to hers. She has to use something as her weapon, now that her beauty is gone. Because the Shield Hero will never fall for someone like her, when he learns what she is truly like after she casts away this 'Mein of Samphor' identity.
"NO! No, that's not it. I'm... I should have been more careful. I promised I'll be your shield, but I wasn't even there. What good is a shield, when it's nowhere near you when you get hurt?" The Shield Hero's eyes finally meets hers. He manages to keep himself calm for the short duration of his ramble till the end. Naofumi's dark eyes ends up trailing down to his feet. His breath rapid, voice distant. "The Wave is coming. What if I mess up again? There'll be countless monsters like that dog from the mine."
"As were I, Raphtalia, Kyubey and Lautrec. We all got too complacent after things went so well from the warm reception we received from the kind people of Lute." Mein pulls Naofumi into a tight embrace. She rests her head on his shoulder, burying her face close to his neck just like before. "We learned from this, all of us. You don't have to beat yourself, Master Naofumi. You have already been taking steps to make sure this doesn't happen in the future, didn't you? That's why you read those potion recipe books in the dead of night. That's why you have been practicing Miracles that good preacher taught you. We'll be okay."
They will have to be. What kind of story it is, if the Legendary Hero and his companions all die horribly in the first Wave?
Besides, they won't be fighting alone in the Wave. The party of the other three heroes, and the elite of glorious Melromarc will stand beside them. The only thing she needs to concern herself with, is to have her Naofumi put up a good show in front of everyone.
Her words seems to sooth the Shield Hero, who is no longer on the verge of panic. "Yeah. We can only prepare and do our best. I better get back to practice my Miracle, if I want to use it properly by the end of this week."
"That's the spirit, Master Naofumi! I'll go practice a little with my sword." Mein slowly pulls away from the Shield Hero and stands right back up. Not that she doesn't want to stay close to the young man for a while longer, but she knows that a good balance between being too clingy and too distant is the best way to have her man coming back for more.
"Is … is your shoulder healed enough for your sword?" The Shield Hero looks at the incognito princess, concern still evidently in his eyes.
"What did I say from before, Master Naofumi? I don't break that easy." Mein gives the young man a wink as she slowly moves her shoulder back and forth. Naofumi chuckles at her while trying to smooth out his messy sleeping bag hair. "But thank you for your concern, Master Naofumi. Truly. I think I'll stick to a wooden branch for now."
The Shield Hero sits back down into a meditative station while Mein goes to pick up a fallen branch that's roughly the length of her sword. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, recalling the time when she first learned fencing from the vice-captain of the royal guards.
"Alright, your strength and stamina is nothing to boast about, but you have good reflexes. At least that's something we can work with." Vice-Captain Zellus walks in a circle around the young first princess of Melromarc while he keeps tossing and catching a throwing knife in the air. He looks decidedly unimpressed after instructing her to freely swing around a wooden practice sword for what feels like the whole afternoon. Her arms feel like they are bound with a Titanite weight by this point.
It's hard to imagine this man not only being one of the greatest swordsmen in the country, but also a former grand champion of the Coliseum of Fools from Zeltoble. Some people even compare him to the King of Rape's former companion Isshin Q'ten Lo, the Sword Saint of Shee Kok Mountain.
"Now, let's get you learning on how to actually fight with a sword, and not flail around like a dying ape." The man stops in front of the first princess. His eyes doesn't even meet hers as he begins to pick dust out of his nails with his throwing knife.
"Yes, Master Zellus." The disgruntled princess mumbles under her breath. Father is adamant about her showing proper respect to her teacher, as much as the commoner is decidedly beneath it. After what happened with Mother, the last thing she wants is to disappoint Father as well and never receive proper education and training.
She scoffs at the prospect to actually having to work for her birth right. But Mother and Father made it clear how much those skills are needed with their tales of the Great War. The only reason Mother survived, and her family perished is because she's the only one who took the warrior side of being a princess seriously.
The sudden closeness of the young Vice-Captain's face makes her jumps back with a startle.
"One more thing, and let's make it clear. Never call me 'Master', or 'Teacher', or any variation of above while you train under me. I'm your coach, or a trainer. Nothing more, or less." The Vice-Captain's voice is dead serious unlike before.
"Is there a difference!?" The first princess cries out as she smoothes her chest with her hand. It barely helps her pounding heart, which feels like is jumping out of her throat with the Vice-Captain's sudden movements.
"If I'm your trainer, I train you. Nothing more, or less. If I don't want to train you, or you don't want to practice under me, we go our separate ways, with you being the princess, and me being a soldier. No hard feelings lost, unless you feel particularly vindictive." The Vice-Captain shows his teeth to the young princess with what looks like a sneer. "Let's face it. It's more likely that I ditch you, not the other way around."
"Well, the joke is on you, Vice-Captain. I don't plan to learn how to swing a sword like a brute any more than I have to!"
"And if you are a teacher?" Despite her indignation, the first princess feels an insatiable curiosity on how the eccentric Vice-Captain differentiates between a trainer and a teacher.
The man's eyes look distant for a moment. He speaks the next line as if reciting from a sacred religious text. "A day of teaching is a lifetime of parenthood."
There are rumors about Zellus being a fake name for the Vice-Captain. While black hair is nothing special, his brown eyes, slightly darker skin tone, and less angular facial structure sets him apart from typical men from Melromarc or Faubley.
In fact, Mein heard from some gospel maids in the castle on how the Vice-Captain's look resembles more of the heroes from other worlds. She previously rejected those notion as a lovesick servant trying to live out her fantasy through the youngest man from a position of power within the palace.
This rumor doesn't feel so unbelievable now after witnessing him sharing a side that's both personal, and exotic.
The man claps his hands together as the distant look disappears from his fast like morning dew under the mid-day sun. "Alright, let's get you trained on how to use that sword now. Hop on it!"
Mein lets her still-recovering body guide her mind. Every slash, chop, and slice from the Aldori Style's Form One seems to come to her naturally. With how absolutely abysmal she's been holding up since joining the Shield Hero's party, she'd expect herself to forget even the basics of what Coach Zellus taught her from long ago. Yet they came to her as naturally as breathing.
She's always favored her magical prowess over swordsmanship. While she has the talent for the Aldori style Coach Zellus trained her in, magic was something that came to her naturally. She didn't need to spend too much time practicing to get better thanks to the strong fire affinity she inherited from both Mother and Father.
In order to properly grasp how to fight with a sword on the other hand, she had to get better by repeatedly practicing the same boring movements. She had to put in both the time, effort, and the sweat without seeing any tangible improvement.
Guess the eccentric Vice-Captain was right after all - hard training can never betray you, only you can betray hard training.
The princess lets herself immerse into the Root Form, the one that's designed to be the foundation of the more specialized Eight Extensions of Aldori Style's Nine Forms of Solitude.
She stops herself after a full cycle of practicing Form One, her breath barely changing after her practice despite not being in the peak of her health. She lets go of the branch she's been using and turns to look at Naofumi once again, where the young man's body is glowing with the golden shimmer just like when he's practicing with the scarred preacher. His face looks much more serene now, compared to the painful concentration back in the Cathedral.
The shimmer bursts from his body and shines over everyone in the yard like a ray of bountiful sunlight. Mein feels whatever stamina she lost when practicing her sword had become fully replenished. In fact, she feels much more energetic than before. The children from the other side are silent for a moment, before they burst into loud cheers and screams as they run around the garden with Naofumi's balloons.
"I did it. My first Miracle cast." Naofumi's face is positively glowing even without the golden light of the Miracle. He obviously needs more practice if he's ever going to use it in actual battle, but it's still a great achievement nonetheless.
"Humph! That's a pretty good cast. Too bad you decided to learn from those marble tomb charlatans." A scoff of derision comes out from the backdoor of the Magical Emporium before Mein has a chance to congratulate the Shield Hero. The princess whips her head to the voice and finds the short, portly owner of the magical shop standing in the door frame.
Naofumi looks up at the shop keeper, his face obviously confused by her words. "The spell feels pretty real to me. How are they charlatans?"
"Sure, Miracles work great. They only require your concentration and not your deep mana reserve. That's when they decide to work at all." The pudgy Witch pulls her right hand off her waist and shakes her finger at Naofumi. "But if you get even a little distracted while you cast? Poof, your entire spell is gone. Time wasted, when you can do a million other things to help you. Next thing you know, those charlatans will tell you not to wear your loincloth because an itchy bum made you fail your Miracle. Now, I promised you I'll teach you some real magic last week. How about now?"
Naofumi gives Mein a curious look. The first princess nods her head back to the Shield Hero. Being a sorcerer herself, she trusts the good old school of Wizardry magic much more than the Miracle branch from the church. Why put your faith in some external beings by clumping up to them, when you can control the power channeled through the Aether between endless worlds?
"Oh, okay. Having more ways to prepare for the Wave is better." Naofumi nods his head as he slowly stands up from his tent. The young man wobbles a little as he rubs his no doubt numb leg with his hands. He slowly strides his way to the older Witch and disappears into the shop with her before giving one last nod of acknowledgement to Mein.
"Alright, you little rascals take it outside if you have too much energy while I teach the Shield Hero magic. Don't destroy our beautiful field of Dragon's Tongue." The portly Witch waves her hand to the screeching children running around in her yard garden.
"Yes, Madam Dora." The oldest child hammers his tiny fist on his left chest. The group of children quickly scram out of the yard with the trio of Yuzu.
Now that the garden is quiet, the princess decides to follow Naofumi's example. She sits down in front of her own tent into a meditation position and prepare to practice her magic. That's when the demi-humans from their party return back to the small garden between the magic shop and apothecary. Mein notices the light scrapes and bruises on both Kyubey and Lautrec, and the struggling rabbit pill between Lautrec's arm.
"You don't have to do this, if you aren't ready. Raphtalia." Kyubey moves his good hand through the raccoon girl's hair. He rejoined their group after Gaston returned to Lute and no doubt brought the news of Mein's recovery.
The girl's eyes is downcast the whole time. She is biting down on her lips. Hard, if the small trail of blood running down her chin is any indication. She looks up at the rabbit man. "I have to. I don't want to be useless again."
"Hop on to it kid, we don't have all week waiting for the Wave." Lautrec's gruff voice cut through the screech of the squirming monster between his chest and arm.
The raccoon girl nods her head gravely. She walks away from the two demi-human adults before turning to face Lautrec, dragging her feet all the way. Raphtalia takes three deep breaths as she pulls her dagger out of its sheath. The girl pushes her head right back up, and meet her eyes with the eyes of the monster.
Her body instantly freezes.
Bad move. You shouldn't look at your prey in the eyes, when you are clearly not ready to plunge the dagger into its heart. The panic in their eyes paralyze your hand, when you subliminally connect their fear of death to anyone you care about.
Mein learnt this lesson the hard way. Ironically in an almost identical circumstance as the raccoon girl is facing now.
"I will not run away, I will not run away, I will not..." Raphtalia's arms is trembling even as her knuckles are turning white from gripping the dagger. The one line she repeats over and over like a mantra makes Mein's whole body instantly turn cold and numb.
Is the demi-human girl implying what she did back in the mineshaft? What if the girl tells the Shield Hero what truly happened in the mine?
"What are you waiting for, kid? Are you going to wait till a Wavespawn tears out your throat?" Lautrec's voice cut through the thick air in the yard, shaking both Mein and Raphtalia awake from their personal nightmare.
"AARRGGHH!" Raphtalia lets out a beastly scream that sounds more like a desperately cornered animal. She begins to stab at the screeching rabbit pill repeatedly and furiously with her dagger, over and over, until only her screams remain in the yard.
"That's enough, Raphtalia." Kyubey quickly steps in and drags the girl away by her shoulder while she furiously repeats her stab motion at thin air. "The monster is already dead."
It takes Raphtalia a few moments before her eyes become focused once again. She looks at the mess of flesh and blood still clutched between Lautrec's arm and chest, and back down to the drenched dagger in her equally bloody hand. The girl lets go of the weapon like it's on fire, she falls back down onto her bum despite Kyubey's valiant effort trying to hold her with his single good arm.
"What's wrong, are we under attack!? Raphtalia!" Naofumi barrels through the door onto the yard. He looks at the mess on the other side of the garden, before a horrified realization slowly dawns on his face. The Shield Hero quickly dashes his way to kneel down to the other side of the raccoon girl. He pulls her into a tight embrace and turns to yell at Lautrec angrily. "What were you thinking!?"
"Prepare her for the coming Wave." Lautrec tosses the bloody mess that was a rabbit pill a moment ago into the field of Dragon's Tongue. The lizard man pulls his arm up to his face and licks away the blood on his wrist. "Stab at the thing between its eyes. Quicker, less messy that way. Now, if you excuse me, Master Shield Hero, I'm going to get my wound taken care of."
It takes Mein now to realize there's some cuts on Lautrec's arm, likely thanks to Raphtalia's furious ... assault on the rabbit pill.
The lizard man is about to go into the apothecary before he turns to look at Raphtalia. "Good work for your first kill."
"What a mess." Dolores comes out of her magic shop again. She also makes her way to the still sniffing raccoon girl. "Want to come inside with Aunty Dora? I have some hot cocoa that'll make you feel better."
Raphtalia looks up from Naofumi's chest. She gives a weak nod to the pudgy Witch as Naofumi releases her. The magic shop owner takes her small hand into her own and guides her inside.
"Madam Dora is right. We are a mess, and the next wave is in four days. Will we be ready?" Naofumi slowly stands up, his shoulders slumped in a sign of defeat.
"We will be as ready as we are, Master Shield Hero. You are doing your best with what you have." Kyubey puts a hand on Naofumi's shoulder. He walks a little distance away from the Shield Hero. "You want to do some parrying practice before Raphtalia and Lautrec come back?"
"Yeah, sure. I need something to get my mind off... and I need to get my parrying timing right." Naofumi looks up at Kyubey and nods his head. He flexes his shoulder a little as he gets into a defensive stance while Kyubey readies his rapier. The two of them begin to exchange a flurry of stabbing and blocking in the yard.
The sound a light weapon like a rapier makes on a Shield is nothing compared to heavier weapons like axes and maces, or even a standard one like an arming sword. Yet every sound when Kyubey's rapier clashes with Naofumi's sword is like a thunder clapping on Mein's heart.
From the reaction of Naofumi, it's obvious Raphtalia didn't tell him the full story of what happened back in the depth of the cavern underneath the mineshaft. Why didn't the girl tell him everything? Was she confused and didn't realize what happened herself, or is she withholding the information for something more sinister later?
More importantly, what should she do? She needs to find a way to minimize the damage the revelation will have on her relationship with the Shield Hero. Should she simply stay quiet, and hope for the best? Maybe trying to poke around the raccoon girl and sees what she knows? Or maybe come clean with her Naofumi? At least if she's the one who is telling the truth, she can present the case to make herself look best.
A rapier suddenly jams right into the earth right before her legs. It takes her a moment before realizing it could have easily pierced through her skull. She jumps right back with a surprised yelp as her head hits the brick wall. The sudden pain almost makes her black out again.
"Sorry, I lost my grip. My hand is numb now." Kyubey quickly jogs to where his rapier lies half buried in the dirt. It takes him three tries before the rabbit man manages to pull it up.
Or maybe it's Mein's eyes playing trick on her. There seems to be two Kyubeys in front of her, after all.
"Go rest up a little with Raphtalia, or Lautrec. I'll take care of Mein." Naofumi gives the Rabbit man a pat on his back as he kneels down by Mein. The young man slowly lies her down, making sure her head is resting comfortably on his leg.
"Okay, I will check on Raphtalia and see how she's doing."
"Master Naofumi... I need to tell you something." Mein can see stars in her eyes while the world is still spinning around in her eyes. It's... probably a bad idea to run her mouth when she feels like she can barely think straight.
But she doesn't really care now. It feels good not having to carefully construct every word leaving her mouth like her life back in the palace. For once, she wishes she can live a life like the Legendary Heroes where they aren't beholden to all the unwritten rules of noble society. Even if they burn it all down like the King of Rape.
And of course, it's better when it's someone like Naofumi, who is always sincere with his companions just like a storybook hero jumped out of the ink on the pages. It would be nice, if he cares for who she really is, and not this carefully made up persona of 'Mein of Samphor'. Even if there's no way it will ever happen.
"Hush, Mein. Rest now." Naofumi looks down on her and gives a reassured smile. Mein feels her chest tighten when she thinks about how this look might change after the next moment.
"I didn't tell you what happened in the cave, before you came to save me from the dog." Mein has to clutch her eyes shut for a moment just to regain a little bit more of her bearings.
"Raphtalia told me everything. You saved her from the underground river. You did your best taking care of her in the cavern." Naofumi's voice sounds like they are much further away from her. It surprises the first princess on how high the praise Raphtalia give her, considering what ultimately happened.
If she's smart, she'll stop right here and wait for better odds, or at least after she gain more information from the raccoon girl.
But after so many lies told already, and many more that will surely follow... wouldn't it be nice to tell at least one truth to her Naofumi? After all, the suspense of what the Shield Hero will think of her if he learns the truth inside the Cavern is crushing her lungs.
"That's... not the whole truth, Master Naofumi. I did do my best to help Raphtalia, but when we run into the dog... I was too afraid to think, or do anything. I, I tried to run for my life." The first princess cringes at how bluntly she's relaying the information to the Shield Hero. She closes her eyes, not wanting to see the look of disappointment, or possibly even disgust on Naofumi's face.
She simply waits in the darkness as spots of color seems to randomly pop into the back of her eyelid. The Shield Hero didn't push her head right off his leg and stomp away, or say anything about her confession. She slowly opens one of her eyes, trying to peek at what is happening with young man from another world.
Naofumi looks much more pensive than she initially guessed. His eyes are turning in their socket, not obviously angry like she imagined, but distant. It's a look similar to Vice-Captain Zellus back when the man revealed to her the difference between a teacher and a trainer to him. Naofumi's free hand is over his face, rubbing and pitching at his nose as he seems to be processing the information. "Master Naofumi? What are you... going to do? Now that you know I'm not as good as you thought?"
"Well... I am not happy. Obviously." The Shield Hero lets out a long and pained breath he seems to be holding. His eyes slowly draws back into the present as he looks at her. "I think I knew, even before you told me what happened. The way I found you ... the dog had you pinned face down. And Raphtalia ran to you from behind. The most logical conclusion is that you were running away from the dog and her, but I tried to tell me you were leading the monster away from Raphtalia."
The first princess feels her lungs tightening in her chest once again. But at the same time, there is also some sign of relief in Naofumi's response. He is smart. He would have put everything back together, even if the raccoon girl or even herself never tells him what happened.
The Shield Hero's eyes look up at the cloud. It seems like he is thinking about something from his past again, very likely from his own world. "But, what I want to say is ... I think I understand why you did what you did. I … I was panicking myself when you and Raphtalia fell down the cliff. I was ready to jump after you two, if Kyubey and Lautrec wasn't holding me back. And the run through the cavern to find you two ... it was the scariest thing I had to do in my life."
It's clear the Shield Hero isn't thinking any straighter than her at the moment, with his ramble that seems to make very little sense. Especially put into context with what she revealed to him.
"What I'm trying to say is you must be very scared when you came to face the dog, and you made a bad decision. It's... understandable."
...What?
Shouldn't he be... angrier?
"It's easy to say a person should always do the noble, selfless thing even when it hurts them. But it's not so easy when you are put into these positions." Naofumi's finger tightens around her shoulder, to the point they are beginning to feel like a metal claw contracting into her flesh. It occurs to Mein that the young man doesn't realize what he's doing, as he's probably reliving some past experience. "I, I can't fault you for failing to live up to some ideal."
'When I couldn't live up to the same ideal' went unsaid by the Shield Hero.
Mein wonders what happened in the Shield Hero's life back in his own world, to the point it seems to give him strong empathy despite her cowardly act. And apparently, such feeling had originated from some kind of personal regret or pain.
The undercover princess thinks back to her own life. Specifically on the decision when Mother rejected the suggestion of sending her to Faubley's Hero Academy and instead had her home schooled. A fancier saying than 'keep her idle by and doing nothing, so the gap between her abilities and her younger sister isn't an unreachable chasm due to their almost decade difference in age'.
Could something have happened when her Naofumi was attending his world's hero academy? Maybe something happened between him and a good friend? Something that made him being chosen as the Shield Hero instead of said friend?
"Whatever happened in your past when you attended Hero Academy, Master Naofumi. Don't feel sad. I'm glad you are the hero we summoned." Mein slowly rises a hand up, trying to caress the miserable looking young man's cheek. She ends up smothering his nose instead due to still seeing double.
"Hero Academy?" The Shield Hero looks confused for a second.
Did she guess wrong? Or maybe the school simply goes by a different name? Yes, that sounds more likely. Why wouldn't the world the Cardinal Heroes come from have specialized training facilities, when every spoiled noble brat on the face of Medea could attend one in Faubley?
"Yes, it's the most prestigious school for the children of nobility ... or even children of common birth if they show great promise. We need the best to protect our world from the Wave of Catastrophe together with the Legendary Heroes, after all. I would have loved to attend myself – so I guess I'm not good enough." The last part was spoken with more resentment than Mein thought she even had in her. Guess she does want to go to the Hero Academy after all. For the freedom of not constantly being compared to her perfect little sister, if not for the possible connections she'd make with nobles from other countries and possible future Vassal Heroes. "A Legendary Hero like Master Naofumi must be from top of his class, to be chosen as our savior."
"I see... yeah. We have something like that." Naofumi's eyes trail away from Mein. It's clear he doesn't want to talk more about the Hero Academy of his world. The training, and competition to be chosen as the Shield Hero must have been brutal. "Let me try the new healing spell Madam Dora taught me. Maybe it'll make you feel better."
The Shield Hero begins to chant for one of the more basic healing spells as a white light seems to shine over Mein. The effect washes over her, like pulling herself out of the underground steam and taste air again. She can finally think straight, and her face immediately burns up at the serious blunder she's been going through while her mind is still muddled.
"Do you feel better now, Mein?" It seems like the Shield Hero is trying to avoid the topic of what he went through in his world's equivalent to Faubley's Hero Academy. Now the incognito princess can think straight once again instead of blubbering the first thing coming to her mind like a child ... she does admit the tactic is successful. She's more than willing to not mention this page of her story into her future journal as the high queen of glorious Melromarc.
"Yes, I feel all better now. Thank you very much, Master Naofumi." Mein quickly flips up from Naofumi's legs and stand on her own feet. "About what we talked about earlier..."
"It's in the past. We have both done things we regret, I'm sure." The Shield Hero is right of course, she most definitely regrets falling down the cliff with the raccoon girl now. "Let's do better from now."
"Yes, that's... quite agreeable, Master Naofumi."
"Okay, I'll go see if there's anything I can help with the Apothecary next door. Nothing better to put what I learned into practice, I guess." The Shield Hero looks to the side again, not meeting Mein's gaze as he scratches his head. He quickly retreats into the building on the other side of the flower garden.
Mein feels like going to lie down into her bedroll again, despite the fact that she's still in the early morning and had a good eight hours of [Well Rest]. She turns around and sees the raccoon girl standing in the door.
The first princess blinks her eyes at the petite form of the demi-human slave girl. She wonders where the rabbit man is if he went to check on Raphtalia from earlier. A quick scan towards one of the Magical Emporium's windows reveals him sitting near the window while looking out. A place where he can observe what's happening in the yard but not intruding on anything. Smart demi-human, this one is.
Same can't be said for the young raccoon girl. But then again, she's still a child. Ten, or maybe twelve summers and winters old. "How long have you been here?"
"Since you started talking with Master Naofumi. About what happened in the cavern." The girl leans her face into the door frame as she obediently replies.
"Well, you must be disappointed. After learning what really happened back then." Mein looks away to the swaying bushes of Dragon's Tongue as a small gust of wind seems to pick up. A few plants are crushed by the dead rabbit pill, but the rest will no doubt grow taller and healthier thanks to the fertilizer Lautrec generously tossed out.
The raccoon girl's head tilts the other way, almost like she's confused at Mein's word. "Should I?"
Mein has to blink her eyes a couple of times after Raphtalia's reply. What does she mean? Of course she should at least be disappointed, maybe even angry! She was left to die by a monster, after all.
It occurs to the first princess that she should have simply let this discussion go. It is to her advantage that the slave girl is too dimwitted to even get angry at her actions. But she feels like something heavy is crushing into her chest once again, if she does not set this matter straight.
Even her worst future prospect, the one where she becomes a nun, is a decidedly comfortable life. She is from the royal house of glorious Melromarc after all. She would be given the highest status and luxury allowed within the Three Heroes' Church without having to participate in the most dangerous actions, such as healing the sick during a plague or fighting on the frontlines as a warrior priest or a cleric knight.
Yet, it's still not enough. It's never enough for her until she sits down on the throne of glorious Melromarc, or she closes her eyes, permanently. Whichever comes first.
And here is this slave girl, who went through trauma after all her tragedies. Yet she's willing to put herself through even more torture, just so she can have a place in a hero's party to fight in the Wave of Catastrophe. Simply because the Shield Hero was nice to her.
Huh, why is she acting so impulsive and to be frank... idiotic. Maybe the Shield Hero's healing spell wasn't that effective after all.
"Of course you should be disappointed in me, you should even be angry at me! I, I was going to leave you to die just to save myself! It's, it's not the right thing to do! But that's how the world works. You can't trust other people, not even your family! The only one you can trust is yourself. You have to work to get what you want. If you want something, you have to take it yourself." Mein's voice becomes louder and more haggard as she kicks around some pebbles in the yard as she thinks back to her mother once again. The piece of rock bounces against the wall and hit her shin back. It stings.
"But Master Naofumi is nice to us all, and he doesn't ask anything in return." Raphtalia's word instantly makes the anger inside Mein deflate. Of course, while Naofumi definitely has his share of flaws, his sincerity in treating everyone kindly is what makes him so different from every boy and man who courted the first princess in the past.
Well... almost every boy and man. But that's neither here nor there.
"Of course, Master Naofumi is kind to everyone. He is the Shield Hero. Most people aren't the Shield Hero." Mein looks down at the raccoon girl again.
"Oh." Raphtalia's eyes slowly grows larger just like her mouth, her face seems to slowly turnaround from right to left.
Yes, use that brain thingy.
"You were nice to me too. You tried to save me from falling down the cliff. You pulled me up from the river. And you took care of me till we ran into that dog. You didn't have to do any of that."
For a moment, Mein doesn't know what to say back to the raccoon girl. It occurs to her that the smarter choice was to simply leave the raccoon girl in those situations, even set aside from her final... setback. All the extra effort she went through to take care of Raphtalia was definitely NOT worth whatever goodwill she might gain from her Naofumi.
"How did that turn out for the two of us? We'd be both dead, if Master Naofumi didn't show up in the end." Mein feels tired with the direction this conversation is going. She most definitely needs to lie down now, after this is over.
"Oh," comes the equally eloquent reply from the slave girl befitting her stature. Raphtalia squats down as she looks at some tiny insect crawling around in the yard. These pitiful little things do not even give a single point of experience if one bothers to squash them under their heels.
The raccoon girl's next words surprised her even more. "You were brave."
"Excuse me?" Mein has to admit, now she truly has no idea where Raphtalia is taking this conversation.
"You were brave when we first went to Lute village, and went around the field with Raki and his friends. When Master Naofumi got pushed down by those porcupine monsters, you saved him by tossing your fireballs at them." Raphtalia stands up to meet Mein's eyes without faltering. "You were scared of the dog and ran, because I was weak and useless. You would fight bravely if Master Naofumi was with you."
Mein blinks her eyes, unable to say anything as the raccoon girl walks up to her and hugs her legs.
"You are right. I can't rely on everyone being nice to me. I have to earn my place in Master Naofumi's party. Because you did more for me after what happened to my town than most people. You are my hero, just like Master Naofumi"
Mein does not know how she feels about Raphtalia's completely misguided gratitude towards her impulsive actions that even she came to regret. But one thing she is sure of.
It's nice to be appreciated for once, instead of trying to live up to a standard that's never good enough.
The undercover princess runs a hand through the girl's hair. She didn't even play Raphtalia's ear this time.
"Everyone's ready?" Naofumi puts his heavy bag inside his shield and flexes his shoulders. The legendary weapon takes the form of a light metal ore on his wrist. The perfect balance between DEF rating, and weight. He flips up his helmet's faceguard to look at the rest of his party as they go into countdown before the Wave arrives. "Let's go over our battle plan."
Mein nods her head alongside their demi-human companions. The Shield in his full knight's plate mail, does not resemble the unsure young interloper from another world. With the grim determination on his face, he looks every part the Legendary Hero sung by the bards across all taverns.
"We'll stick to our old tactics. Kyubey and Lautrec, you two are on our flank. Try to soften up whatever we face from the side, and pull back to me before you get overwhelmed." Both adult demi-humans nod their head, as they pull out their respective weapons.
"Mein, stay close behind me. Use your spells to control the crowd when they cluster up. Cut them down with your sword when they get close." The princess gives Naofumi another nod as he looks towards her.
"Raphtalia." The young girl stops arranging potions into the many pouches around her cloth and looks up at the Shield Hero. "I won't force you to stay with Uncle Smith, or Madam Dora if you want to fight ... so stay away from danger. Give potions to whoever's in trouble, like you been doing from before."
The raccoon girl furiously bobs her head to the Shield Hero.
Naofumi stands back up and pulls his face shield down again. His chest rises, probably taking a deep breath behind the blue Chromezoid face plate. "I won't waste my time saying I'll do my best to protect you all. Talk is cheap. Let's do our best, and return back for a celebration worthy of a hero."
The last grain in the Dragon's Hourglass must have fallen down into the bottom pile. As soon as Naofumi finishes his speech, a bloody red light shines down on all of them. Mein comes face to face to a burning sky the next moment she opens her eyes.
The Wave of Catastrophe is finally here.
End Note:
So... people who have been privately message chatting with me probably know I have a big problem with the 'best girl' Raphtalia from canon. On the one hand, she's practically precision engineered to be like-able, so I like her personality especially in the highly cynical fantasy world of Rising of the Shield Hero, where the hero summoning has been done so many times, the world leaders stopped seeing them as some kind of savior figure and more as another resource to exploit. And the fluff moment she shares with Naofumi is genuinely sweet compared to most other things in the story.
On the other hand... I absolutely HATES her from a pure meta narrative point (she's my second most hated character in term of meta-narrative after queenie), because she's such an absolute tool, and all her iteration through out the story exist solely for Naofumi's benefit. At the start, she's a traumatized shy child, because realistically speaking that's the only kind of character who can still get Naofumi's sympathy after he gets stripped of everything after a false rape accusation by Amber Heard.
And almost out of nowhere, she becomes this hyper competent sassy big sister character after Naofumi begin to trust her because he needs a loyal companion to swing the sword for him. The LN iteration tried to fix this problem by adding that Lute Mine dog encounter to show the inciting incident on what made her go through the change, but it still doesn't fix the problem how a traumatized child doesn't realistically become the hyper competent warrior THAT FAST (a week or two at most by my estimation). It's like the same critic Harry Potter fans aimed at Ginny Weasly who exist solely for the benefit of Potter Jr., except many times more egregious because it got fast tracked to light speed.
To be fair, on the meta-narrative all characters exist for the benefit of the plot, and her character arc of traumatized child forced to face her fear and grow up into a warrior is a good arc. But my problem is Raphtalia's canon character arc is done so fast, and so half-hearted it becomes abundantly apparent she exist ONLY as Naofumi's tool and bed warmer, and not as her own entity. Which is why I decided to stretch her arc much longer than canon.
Now, some of the guest reviews.
To Halo:
No need to feel sorry, I'm sure you were only curious on the backstory. And I am very grateful that you liked this story so much to the point of wanting to know what happened in the previous cycle. I just think this is a case where 'less is more' as shown by Dark Souls style story telling.
To Guest1:
Glad you enjoyed this iteration of the Pope! One of my biggest grip with canon RotSH is how all the villain are some combination of incompetent, stupid or evil (or most often, all of the above). As already said by someone much smarter than me, the best kind of villains are heroes of their own story, and their theme challenges the story's hero in a compelling and logical way. I certainly do want to remake the Pope into this kind of villain.
Thanks for the explanation on who Maple is! To tell the truth, I'm very much sick and tired of this current Isekai story trend that's all the rage in Japanese novel/manga scene so I don't check most of them out. It reminds me too much of the shit show that is Chinese power fantasy type of web novel boom at the start of 2000 and still ongoing. Credit where credit is due, at least Japanese Isekai stories tend to have more creative premise than most Chinese power fantasy web novels which is basically the same story told over and over again with a different paint job.
To Guests:
Once again, glad you enjoyed this version of the Pope!
For the FATE/FMA references... I think having the Pope reveals how he consider himself an actual disciple of Shirou Emiya during his youth carry a certain kind of expectation on what his character would be like for people who are familiar with said FATE character (as opposed to some random nameless Bow Hero). As for the equivalent exchange part, I think the lesson is universally applied to any story because it's a very fundamental (flawed) lesson on how the life operate.
And thank you very much for the support of my creative decisions!
On Malty missing an ear... that was actually Comrade Broseph's suggestion. Since he thought a simple scarring wouldn't be punishing enough to Malty for leaving Raphtalia to die, because in his words 'nobody but herself care'.
I personally disagree with that assessment, since I feel a much more apparent scarring on the face and shoulder would actually have more impact than having an ear torn off, which can be easily hidden by hair or helmet. But I decided to ultimately go with both as a tribute to my former co-writer.
To Rando12:
Hope you actually liked this iteration of the Pope. Well... the circumstance of his companions leaving him is actually a bit more complex than on the surface, which will become apparent shortly in future chapters.
And yes, I realized I kind of sort of made Malty into a Jerkass Woobie, and in my original plan she's supposed to be much more conniving at this point. But I liked this current version since it happened naturally as I was writing, so I'm running with it.