I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero
Once again, biggest thanks for Ace-Triad helping me with SPAG edit! Also special thanks to Angel Wraith for reading my rough draft and provide important feedbacks.
More author note at the end for people who are interested to see me blabber some more.
The Faubley diplomat convoy didn't change anything for Lute, other than giving the residents some additional conversation topic at night. The villagers talked about how much money it would cost the lords to make a giant carriage, or how high the levels their escort must be to not get robbed by bandits.
And for some reason, her Naofumi ran to the village's temporary craftsmen hut and cleared out their shield storage.
Other than that, life continues on for the quiet village. The militia leader Georg organized another party of temporary lumberjacks the next day, switching out the works from the previous day for a party of fresh young men. Gaston still acts as their senior tracker as they travel into the heart of Harvest Valley and fell four more dark wood trees.
Firo's level is well past 10 by this point. The dumb chick grown into its bun like adolescent form, too large to sit on Naofumi's head anymore.
Not that it stopped the bird from trying. But after falling off Naofumi's head for the fifth time, the bird begrudgingly had enough and decided to trout alongside her master.
"You think Firo will be big enough to pull our carriage by the end of this week? Mein?" Naofumi's left hand scratches the pudgy bird's neck while his right stirs the pot of stew. Firo makes a happy cooing sound while her stomach rumbles. "We still have a quest to go on."
And according to Iris, the Three Heroes Church also has its eyes set on the family treasure of House Seatto. "She has to be, Master Naofumi. The family heirloom for House Seatto is famous here in Melromarc. If we waste too much time, someone else might rob Éclair's family crypt."
"Quite a predicament we've gotten ourselves into." Naofumi nods along as he slowly scoops out a ladle full of stew to bring to his mouth. He takes a slow sip, nods another time as he starts to fill Firo's bowl. Much to the bird's delight. "If we under prepare, we won't be strong enough to tackle whatever comes our way. Spend too much time, the treasure will be taken by someone else."
Firo dives her large head right into her bowl, screeching and cooing happily as she devours the contents.
"Slow down, Firo. No one will fight you over it. And save some room for dessert later." Naofumi smiles at the bird once more as he scratches her soft feathers. The Shield Hero turns to the undercover princess once again. "You think the end of this week is good? What do you know about Three Heroes' Church?"
"I know what other people know about them, Master Naofumi. They were always popular in human kingdoms, but the Melromarc branch gained its power after the Great War, where the current Pope Balmus became one of the most well known heroes."
"And the hatred for beastmen, demi-humans, and the Shield Hero." Naofumi looks back into the pot of stew.
Chapter 27: Shattered Shield
"Yes, that too." Naofumi's words make the princess cringe a little, remembering her family plays a huge part. She stands up from their little patch of grass. "food is almost ready, I should go get Raphtalia."
"Alright, I'll stay and serve food. Maybe ask Éclair and see if she knows more about the Church." Naofumi starts filling the bowls with the big pot of stew as excited Lute villagers begin to line up in front of him, eager to get some top quality grub from their favorite hero.
Mein almost stops her feet. The decision to leave the Seatto heiress with her Naofumi without her supervision wasn't an appealing one.
Granted, the last Seatto is straight as an arrow as it goes in terms of current generation young ladies. And she's definitely more into swords than boys. But a lot of young men admire her precisely because of this.
The princess in disguise can't remain by Naofumi's side despite her trepidation, not without causing his suspicion when she herself suggested to go fetch Raphtalia. The best she can do is to go find and grab the child quickly, before anything can develop between the young hero and Seatto heiress.
With a soft sigh, Mein walks towards the edge of the village. She remembers seeing their youngest companion running off with the children from Lute.
Despite still being hours earlier than the royal court's standard, the quaint village is now fully awake. The sound of laborers carrying things around, builders hammering nails into wooden board, and craftsmen cutting and drilling their material is everywhere.
The fact everything feels normal, rather than exotic makes the undercover princess realize how used she is to this peaceful village life. She can't help but feel a little smug, how she knows more about what it's like to be a common folk more than her mother's precious heiress.
Now she needs to find another ninety nine more things she's better than her younger sister.
How sad.
The first princess pushes the feeling of inadequacy aside and starts asking the Lute villagers where the children are. Everyone directs her towards Filorial Bill's ranch, and she gives them a quick thanks while also informing them that the early meal is ready.
She doesn't need to, since the Shield Hero isn't besides her to witness her helpful deed. But the princess in disguise figures she might as well get into her role of the helpful and kind adventurer, so there's less chance she's ousted.
The frame of a fairly large sized four wheels carriage is taking shape just outside the Filorial ranch.
It's quite meager looking, compared to Lord Malfoy's golden trimmed ancient holy wood house on wheels. But it'll fit everyone of their party comfortably and still have some extra space for storage. Not that the Shield Hero needs it with his shield's storage space, but it'll be helpful to keep up the appearance of them being a wandering peddler business rather than the adventure party of the Shield Hero.
The builders are already finished fitting the wheels onto the thing, and are now starting to construct the wooden beams over the side. Mein can easily see them pulling ever some treated fabric, or strenuous monsters hide over the beams to stop rain falling over their head. The lighter, purple hue of the iron wood underneath its almost black bark even gives the carriage an almost regal air.
All in all, the thing is not shabby despite who is making the carriage. The villagers obviously put in their best effort to show their appreciation to the Shield Hero.
"Big Bill, Master Naofumi finished cooking food for everyone." Mein waves her hand at the workers while turning her head around, trying to find the children and Raphtalia.
"Oh, boy. Shield Hero's cooking! I won't miss this even for the Wave." One of the younger workers immediately tosses his hammer aside, missing his own foot by a few finger's width.
"Don't get used to it, Bevil. Master Shield Hero won't be around for long. He's here to save the world, not filling your gorge." Filorial Bill laughs at the young man's eagerness while giving his head a light slap.
"That's why I'm getting my fill for all my worth now." Bevil breaks into full sprint, leaving dust and everyone else's laughter behind him.
"Have you seen the children? Big Bill?" Mein turns to the still laughing ranch owner after failing to find the children with her eyes.
"Oh, the children? They are on the other side of my barn. Probably didn't want to watch us wrinkled old timers." Filorial Bill rubs his own face, which aside from some rough side burn is devoid of the wrinkles he talks about.
"Thanks, Big Bill. Go get some food." Mein waves goodbye to the good natured ranch owner as she makes her way around the barn. Sure enough, as she rounded the corner she could see the children standing around in a circle, not unlike a few nights before. As she steps closer and closer, it's clear something isn't right to her.
"Kiss her, you fool!" One of the older boys shouts while the other children are making unintelligent rumbling sounds.
Mein walks closer, and sees Raphtalia and Raki are standing in the middle of the circle. The raccoon girl has her eyes closed, cheek a slight shade of pink while Raki slowly moves closer to her face.
The undercover princess doesn't really mind Raphtalia pursuing romance with a boy, so long as said boy isn't the Shield Hero. But aren't those two kids moving a bit fast? Have they even held hands before they moved straight to kissing? "Alright you damn kids. No kissing under my watch."
The kids all freeze on their feet for a brief moment. Poor Raki appears to choke on his spit as he doubles over as if struck by lightning while coughing up a storm. Raphtalia's eyes open wide as she looks at Mein, her face turns into a deep shade of scarlet.
"AH! Scram! Evil big sister is here!" The boy who was cheering for the kiss lets out a death wail. This seems to wake up the children as they quickly scatter just like a few nights before, leaving poor Raphtalia and Raki fending for themselves once again.
Those Lute children are a bad influence for Raphtalia... not that the incognito princess herself has a right to say it.
"You know, Raki of Lute, I told Raphtalia you are a good kid just three nights before. And here I catch you trying to steal a kiss from her when I have my head turned." Mein crosses her arms in front of her chest, adopting her mother's 'I'm very disappointed in you' tone. "I'm here to call you all to breakfast. But I guess you really want me to eat my own words instead."
"...wait, *cough*, I can- *cough cough* s'plain!" The young knight hopeful holds up his hands, trying to dig his way out of the predicament. But his furious coughing fits make the explanation rather difficult.
"Raki was teaching me how to do emergency healing with potion." Raphtalia's ears drooped onto her head again, but it seems like the raccoon girl's loyalty to her new friend is as faithful as the Shield Hero.
"Emergency healing, huh." Mein nods her head along at Raphtalia's explanation. She isn't very impressed that this is the excuse the boy came up with to steal a kiss from their youngest party member.
"Yes, if someone goes out and they can't swallow the potion, you have to feed them with your own mouth." The young boy finally stopped his fits and gave a more elaborate explanation.
Mein simply stares down at the two young love birds until they start shrinking into their shadow. It occurs to her that the situation is rather ironic. She, the first princess of Melromarc, who seduces men with her good looks to get what she wants, is forcing a boy to court Raphtalia properly.
"Look, Raki. You aren't a bad kid, so I'm not going to keep you away from Raphtalia. I'm not going to tattle the Shield Hero either, low ATK rating or not, he's going to stomp you into the dirt if he knows what you just tried to pull." Mein slowly untangles her arms from her chest, letting them rest on her waist. The gesture still makes her displeasure known to the boy, but looks less menacing. "But court Raphtalia properly from now on, and don't cheat with Filorial dung excuses."
Raki's head jerks up as if he's trying to object, but he settles into a dejected nod. "Yes, you are right Miss Mein. I won't try to lie and cheat Raphtalia."
"Good." Mein gives both kids a nod. She walks to them and pushes them towards the village hall with a hand on each of their back. "Now, let's get some food in our belly. We still have a full day ahead of us."
The return trip took less than half of the time. By the time Mein returns with Raphtalia and Raki in toll, a supply wagon is pulling into Lute from the cobblestone road to the capital.
Kyubey and Éclair seem to have taken over the role of distributing food, while Naofumi is taking over the driver. Some of the villagers who already finished their breakfast are now helping unloading the supplies, and carrying crates and bags of their merchandise over to the cart. Likely the dark wood shields their craftsmen made over the few days to be sold to the castle's quartermaster.
Mein wordlessly give the two kids a push to let them go get their fill of food. She takes a wooden bowl of vegetable stew, and dips a chunk of hard bread into her bowl.
She'd have laughed in the face of whoever suggested one day she'll be able to live off peasant food only a short month ago. Yet here she is, happily eating stale bread soaked in stew cooked out of wild vegetables and spices. Not even the ones with monster meat, since she still hasn't gotten over her aversion to meat after the Wave fight yet.
"Mein, we are going to the capital today." Naofumi strolls his way beside the princess and slowly sits down. "The wagon driver brought us a message from uncle Elhard. He finished whatever he's making for Farkas."
"That's good. All we need now is growing Firo up." Mein scratches the pudgy bird's neck. Firo tries to snap at her finger, but the princess quickly pulls back. "Well... if we get behind the schedule we could probably borrow one of the birds from Filorial Bill. Making sure the Seatto heirloom doesn't fall into the wrong hand is more important."
"I don't like it... but you are right." Naofumi sits back and lets out a defeated sigh. "I talked to Éclair earlier. Apparently there are plenty of decent folks in the Three Heroes' Church just like that preacher we met. But more are..."
"Prejudiced, fanatical idiots?" Mein finished the line for the young hero.
"I was going to say 'more like that priestess who didn't want to sell us holy water', but that works too." Naofumi nods his head along. "I don't think it's a good idea for them to keep a powerful artifact."
"The feeling is mutual, Master Naofumi." Mein takes a small sip of her stew. No doubt, Mother would shoot her one of those disapproving glares if she's seen eating without cutlery and poise like a commoner. But the undercover princess has stopped caring about formality by this point. "After traveling with you, I realized the church told us a lot of lies. It's probably not a good thing if they become even more powerful, where no one can stop them if they turn bad."
"We'll do our best to stop them." Naofumi nods his head and grabs a bowl for himself. He digs into his meal in silence, signaling the end of their conversation.
The trip back to Melromarc Castle feels routine at this point, yet there is also a sense of things being different. The guards stationed at the gate look at the wagon they ride on with uneasiness, their muscles tense, hands on weapons tightened, bows trained onto them ready to turn them all into porcupines if they dare to make any aggressive movement.
The incognito princess solemnly realizes this well defended fortress city is no longer her home. Not until she's ready to return as its queen and master, rather than a maligned princess.
"Should I come with you guys?" Naofumi hops down the supply wagon to ask Georg. The Lute militia commander is taking their merchandise down from the wagon and moving them onto the backing sack of their own Filorials.
"We'll be fine, Master Shield Hero. Sir Rathos introduced the castle's quartermaster back before the Wave. Thank you for asking." The bold man gives Naofumi a courteous nod before going back to help his fellow villagers.
"That's probably for the best. Master Naofumi." Mein puts a hand on Naofumi's shoulder, she gently moves her chin up to bring the Shield Hero's attention to the tense city guards. "If this is how the guards at the front gate acts, we don't want to provoke those protecting the palace."
The young man slowly looks up at the soldiers, a look of realization dawns on his face as his eyes grow larger. "Alright, we'll go to uncle Elhard and leave."
The walk to the weapons shop is filled with much less affair as their party arrives at the smithy. The shop is once again empty.
The princess wonders how come business isn't lining up at the Smith Demon's door. Then again, perhaps the lack of apparent customers is evidence to the quality of his products, that his customers don't need to constantly come in for repair.
"Shield boy! I see you got my message." Elhard's mouth curves up as he sees possibly his favorite customer. He walks around the corner, and for a brief second Mein wonders if the shop owner is going to give Naofumi a hug.
The Smith Demon's fist fell on Naofumi's head instead. To the protest of Firo, who tries to valiantly but uselessly defend her master by pecking and kicking the Smith Demon at his shin.
"OUCH! What was that for?" Naofumi presses his hand onto his head, where smoke slowly rises up.
"For calling me 'uncle' Elhard behind my back. Don't deny it! You've been doing it to my face too." Elhard lets out a gruff sigh as he walks into the back room again. Not too long after, he brings out a small crate on top of a large double sided blade. He shoves the crate onto the counter with another grunt, and places the blade besides it. "Here are the equipment I made for your werewolf friend."
The shop owner starts to take the items out of the crate. Mein moves closer to take a better look, and sees the items appears to be a pair of legs, or maybe foot bracers with blades. And what appears to be a metal muzzle with leather straps.
"Got the inspiration from the Filorial's bracer talon. The ones they use for the coliseum fights." The Smith Demon holds the bladed bracers and turns it around, giving the Shield Hero's party a good look. "He'll have to learn how to fight with his feet to not lose his balance and trip over. But he won't be helpless without his arms. As for the muzzle, he should be able to hold this Siltvelt style double blade in his jaw with its help."
"No difference from those muzzled slave fighters in the coliseum. Am I a novelty, or still a slave to the Shield Hero?" The werewolf snorts at the equipment presented by the shop owner.
"Neither. If you don't want to fight for us, you are free to turn around and step out. You don't own me anything." Naofumi turns on his heel and stares right back at the big werewolf. "So long as you don't hurt innocent people, I won't come after you."
"It doesn't work that way. Hero." Farkas crosses his weakened arms. He somehow managed to make the word 'hero' sound dirty with his tone once again. "I may have forsaken my clan, but I still live with certain codes. You saving me from a slave owner demands payment, requested or not. Even if I leave now, I'm still not free for I am forever indebted to you."
"Alright, break it up, you boys." Éclair steps between the hero and the beastman, giving Mein the opening to speak her mind.
" You won't leave Master Naofumi's party because of your clan's code, that means you'll fight for him. The way I see it, you have two choices Farkas." The undercover princess holds up her index finger at the beastman. "You can either take the equipment Mr. Elhard provided and enjoy their ATK bonus, or not. Of course, you can also take them, while constantly bitch about it."
A pregnant silence falls in the smithy, making the princess wonder if she pushed too far with her last comment. She's glad the Seatto heir is the one closest to the big scary looking wolf man and not her.
After a few beats, Farkas let out an annoyed grunt. "Fine, this world has already taken my freedom and my arms. Might as well give up what's left of my dignity."
"I guess that's that." Elhard goes back to wipe his counter as Éclair and Kyubey go about fitting the new gears onto Farkas. He looks down at the stuffed, ruffled-looking bird. "I see you got a bird, Shield boy. Want to get them some equipment?"
"There's equipment for Filorials too?" Naofumi's brow rises up at the mention.
"Of course. Monster companions aren't invented by you, and adventurers want to keep their friends safe." Smith Demon points his finger at the corner of the wall where he once sold Mein her hobo leather armor. Sure enough, right beside the shelf is a bunch of claws, collars and muzzles hanging by the wall. "My selection isn't huge, since we mostly fit humans. But I got the basics covered. And you won't find any fancy but useless junks from my shop that'll only make your bird look pretty."
Naofumi walks closer and starts to inspect the equipment hanging on the wall. Firo quickly follows after him, imitating his every move. "I don't even know what to pick with the selection here. Guess I'll wait for Firo to grow a bit bigger before deciding."
"Sensible." Elhard nods his head giving his approval.
Naofumi turns around and stares at the collection of different shields inside the shop. The young man probably longs for those practical and finely crafted shields instead of the hundreds of strange looking and unwieldy monstrosities he's been unlocking. He turns to look at the Smith Demon. "Uncle Elhard, can I go ahead and use [weapon copy] on the shields you have? One of my fellow heroes taught me to replicate shields with my Legendary Weapon. It doesn't feel right to not ask you first."
"Weapon copy, you say?" The shop keeper looks up from his stool. A look of realization slowly shines on his face as his mouth hangs wider. "Ah, so that's why those three idiots were in my shop, holding my merchandise around like a bunch of court jesters."
Mein belatedly realized that's the reason why her Naofumi went to Lute village's craftsmen. He probably unlocked all the wooden and bone shields those common folks made.
The Smith Demon stands up from his stool and walks over to his shield selection. He takes a kite shield and hands it into Naofumi's hand. "Well, at least you are polite enough to ask first. My decision hasn't changed, shield boy. So long as you don't take my merchandise away, feel free to do whatever you can to make yourself stronger. No point gathering a big mountain of coins, if the whole world goes poof tomorrow."
"Actually, about that." Naofumi's mouth quivers a little at the mention, it looks like he swallowed something very unpleasant, or very sour, possibly both. "I recently discovered a way to fortify my shields... by feeding them duplicates, I can empower them up to four times. So for every shield I unlock in your shop, I need four more copies to make them stronger."
"Well, THAT you have to pay. Of course." The Smith Demon scratches his beard, looking contemplative for Naofumi's suggestion. "I suppose I can give you the bulk discount I give to the mercenary bands, or the castle's quartermaster. Since you are technically going to make one big purchase. But that's the best I can do for you, kid."
"Thank you, uncle Elhard. It's nice to know I have others to count on, even if the King is out for my blood."
"If you are going to get sentimental with me, shield boy." Elhard walks by the young man, and promptly puts him into a headlock as he drills Naofumi's head with his hammer-like fist. Firo tries to valiantly charge and tackle the big man away from her master, once again to no avail. "You can start by not calling me uncle!"
Mein looks out at the window and sees the Bow Hero standing by the side of the street peering inside. A grin on his face, likely getting a chuckle at Naofumi's current predicament. The boy hero almost jumps on his feet when he realizes he's discovered, and he quickly walks away.
Being caught as a peeper probably doesn't fit with his ideal of a hero of justice. At least he's not looking at naked women.
The process of unlocking all the shields in Smith Demon's shop took more time than securing the new equipment on Farkas. Despite winning the Spear Hero's provision money, Naofumi still doesn't have enough coins to pay for all the shields he'll need to properly empower them. So they'll have to settle it for later, when they raise enough funds.
Still, the Shield Hero looked rather excited; he gained a few dozen new forms for his shield, there seems to even be a new spring to his steps. The fact those shields are properly forged for human hands, and are much easier to wield, is no doubt also a plus.
The sun is moving closer to the middle of the sky when they leave the shop. Naofumi looks up at the sky, with his hand over his eyes to block out the sunlight. "Well, that took longer than expected. Should we make our way back to Lute?"
"It'll be too late for a lumber haul." Kyubey dutifully informs Naofumi of their missed schedule. "But we can still level up Firo some more. Maybe try to take on one of the smaller monster hives in Harvest Valley, now that Farkas has better equipment."
Right, it's easy to forget Farkas was a high leveled adventurer who already had his class-up, due to his injuries. If his arms are good, even the bigger monster hives in Harvest Valley is no doubt child's play for him.
"Alright, let's start small first. Maybe we can move onto a bigger hive if things work out." Naofumi nods his head. He's ready to start striding towards the city gate again when he notices Raphtalia looking at a building on the crossroad to the silver street.
The building in question is a well decorated, two floor building. It has a small botanic garden with trees and flowers planted by the wall, and some lounge tables, chairs and sun umbrella by the sidewalk where well dressed individuals sit and enjoy their drinks. Four, roughly human sized statues standing on either side of the entrance, with the figures holding sword, spear, bow and shield respectively.
The cafe and theater of the four. A chain of high end cafes and... well, theater originated from Tristan city operated by House Malfoy. It was part of the agreement father made with House Malfoy, where they lent a hand in restoring Melromarc Castle in exchange to build their establishment right where the new silver street crosses with the main street.
She had many funds, and not so savory memories spent in the luxury seats to watch the actors put on a show. The last time was to attend... her little sister's birthday.
They should move on. She's been carefully directing her Naofumi away from this particular establishment since day one. Mostly because she doesn't want any foreign power to have influence over him. Especially not one of the most ancient and wealthy families.
"Are you hungry? Do you want to go to that nice restaurant, Raphtalia?" Naofumi smiles and squats down to talk with their shortest party member. His action almost made the incognito princess scream on the spot.
"I'm good, Master Naofumi. I was just looking at the statues." The raccoon girl furiously shakes her head around. Little moments like this makes the undercover princess realize Raphtalia has also gone a long way since the scared little girl they picked up at the short and fat smuggler's warehouse. Instead of keeping her head low all the time and blindly following Naofumi or her around, she's looking all over and getting into different mischief like trying to kiss a boy.
Naofumi scratches his head while giving the establishment a closer look. "Are those statues supposed to represent the four heroes? I didn't think they'd build a statue for the Shield Hero right here."
"That's Cafe Theatre of the Four. It's owned by House Malfoy of Faubley and the statues of all four Cardinal Heroes at the entrance is their icon." Éclair moves closer to Naofumi's ear and speaks in a whisper.
"Oh." Naofumi's eyes blink at the mention. "We should leave, quickly."
Mein doesn't know why her Naofumi suddenly becomes tense with the mention of House Malfoy. Maybe Éclair's mention of them a few days ago made him cautious, or perhaps he has some additional otherworldly wisdom regarding the ancient noble house. Either way, she's not about to look at a gift Filorial in the beak.
"That won't be necessary." A silky voice makes the princess in disguise freeze on the spot. She slowly turns, and sees the Faubley lord walking towards the Shield Hero in all his sparkling glory. Long, platinum blonde hair perfectly groomed. A set of emerald green devil spider silk robe immaculately fitted. And a snake headed cane in his hand giving his steps a more regal air than Mother at her finest. "Sir Shield Hero, I presume?"
Two large creatures more walking boulders than men flank Lord Malfoy a little distance behind. Even without full armor, they look like they can give Farkas a run of money. Likely Lord Malfoy's most well known banner lords, Count Crabbe and Count Goyle.
Mein quickly looks around her, and realizes the lack of usual crowd around Melromarc Castle's main street around them. There are people walking around them, sure. A street peddler whose eyes constantly wanders towards them rather than shouting atop his lungs to promote his wares. Laborers whose basket is lined up against the wall instead of their back. A few commoners whose clothes are too new to be passed down from their family, walking much slower than they have any right to be.
Of course, the Lord of House Malfoy would be using his own establishment as his headquarters for whatever he planned in glorious Melromarc. And they walked into a trap before they had any idea what's going on, like a bunch of clueless rabbit pills into a hunter's trap.
"I will neither confirm nor deny the accusation." Naofumi's eyes wander around, likely also noticing the anomaly in the busy street.
"Caution is a good thing, as the last Shield Hero failed to learn until it's too late. But there is no need to play coy, Sir Shield Hero." Lucius Malfoy stops right in front of Naofumi.
Despite not being as visually commanding as the Pope of the Three Heroes' Church, the lord of House Malfoy certainly carries a different but just as dangerous air with him. Like a viper ready to jump out of the grass rather than a gigantic pillar.
"For the king of this glorious country has seen fit to pass the drawing of your likeness all over the city. Almost as if he's ready to put a bounty on your head."
"That rat bastard!" Naofumi's curse makes Mein shrink into his shadow. "What do you plan to do with that knowledge, now you know who I am?"
"Such confrontational words and tone. It suggests you already carry a certain impression with me, or my family." Lord Malfoy's face is a perfect mask of neutrality and grace despite Naofumi's words. Something Mein deeply admires, in spite of herself. "It appears someone already informed you of my house's admittedly sordid beginning. Even if it's likely a drastically simplified version. Or perhaps it is more of a hero's otherworldly knowledge? It matters not in the end. Let us try to start from the beginning. I am Duke Lucius Abraxus Malfoy, lord of the most ancient and noble house of Malfoy. I welcome you to the land of Medea on behalf of my liege, King Eggbert II."
"The pleasure is all mine." Naofumi returns the Malfoy lord's half nod, his tone showing anything but pleasure. "Although I doubt you went through the trouble of setting up this stage to give me a greeting."
"Perceptive. Hayate." Lucius gives two loud claps with his hand. The first time likely intended for Naofumi's guess, the second no doubt towards the name he's calling out to.
A valet dressed in white and black quickly walks out from behind the lord, carrying a golden trimmed, ivory colored ancient holy wood box with a fingernail-sized emerald and aquamarine on top.
The boy is likely the same one who attended to the incandescent lord two days before, if his pale blue hair is any indication. The name, and the fluffy round raccoon ear on his head both suggest Q'ten Lo descant.
The young valet kneels on the cobble stone street and opens the box, letting Lord Malfoy pick up the content inside. A deep green colored scale the size of a plate, and a thick book with blue hard cover with a white pentagon on the front.
Mein's breath becomes hitched as she sees the book, her mouth waters. Could it be what she thinks it is?
"A scale of the rare basilisk serpent." Lord Malfoy holds up the scale to Naofumi's face first before moving onto the book. "And the Grimoire of Water. One of the four Grimoires created by the first Wand Hero Brimir the Void Caller, founder of wizardry school of magic, passed down through Tristan royal bloodline. This is a mere copy instead of the real thing, of course. But the content inside is the same, despite lacking generations of charms woven into the original by the greatest magic users and enchanters throughout history. On behalf of my country and my house, I present those gifts to you."
Mein's heart is beating so fast, she can barely stand straight. The gasping sound of Éclair shows the Seatto heir is very much the same.
The descendant of First Shield Hero continues. "The content inside this book can present a solution to your current predicament brought by the king regent of Melromarc. Its water based spell has ways to distort how others view you, figuratively wearing another man's face isn't a dream once you properly study its contents."
True to the Malfoy lord's words, the basilisk scale itself is a gift of immense value, even if it isn't the venom dripping fang of the same creature. But the book, despite not being the original artifact. One can't put a monetary value onto the copy of the Grimoire of Water, for it was written by the first, and many would argue, still the greatest Wand Hero.
Some would contend the book's value being overrated, for it was so old and many newer spell craft techniques have since been developed after the Void Caller's time, which in term rendering it pointless. But any good mage knows that the most primal form of magical casting closer to the origin of magic will always be much more powerful than the more complex spell casting.
Shame it's not the Grimoire of Fire passed down through the Germania line. For she can no doubt learn some useful spells right out of the Founder's book. But studying what the founder of wizardry school's experience in using water magic will no doubt help her improve her own casting immensely.
Naofumi's reaction is much more subdued. Perhaps he doesn't understand the weight of these gifts? But by the way he looks up at the Malfoy lord from the corner of his eyes, Mein is willing to bet there's more going on. "And, what's the catch with these gifts?"
Naofumi's words dumps a bucket of freezing water over Mein's head. Of course, the lord of most ancient and noble House Malfoy would not be going around and tossing money into the wind, no matter how wealthy his family is. A foolish head of a noble house can't keep their own wealth, after all.
The worst part about this situation is she can't even try anything to undermine the Malfoy lord, unlike the same situation with those two Siltvelt rats.
The two of them have already met a couple of times in the past with her as the first princess of glorious Melromarc, when the immaculate looking lord acted as an emissary from Faubley. The last time being Melty's birthday a short few months ago. The man will likely pick up her voice and mannerisms, and oust her right in front of her Naofumi.
That would be the worst outcome, especially after Naofumi's small outburst voicing his displeasure towards her father!
"What makes Sir Shield Hero believe there is a catch?" Lord Malfoy returns the scale back into the box, but not the much more valuable copy for the Grimoire. His face remains the same graceful, but distant and cold neutrality.
"I'm no politician, but I study economics back home. And one thing I won't ever give back to my teacher. To make anything economically feasible, you need to bring in more profit than your investment." Naofumi looks back and gives a quick glance towards Mein and Éclair. "I may not know how much these would cost you, but I bet they are more than an arm and a leg. Judging from how my companions reacted. So you tell me, Lord Malfoy. Does it make any sense if there's no catch to these gifts at all? And even if, say, you don't want any money back. I'd still be owing you a huge favor for accepting those."
"I see you already learned two most important lessons for a Shield Hero. Prudence, and vigilance. Something the last Shield Hero failed to learn until it was too late, much to my family's dismay."
A ghost of a smile finally graces the man's feature. He closes the lid to the box, but hands the book forward just within Naofumi's reach. "True, if you accepted both of my gifts I could call in for a favor in the future. But do accept the Grimoire of Water, if not the basilisk scale."
Seeing Naofumi's obvious hesitation to reach for the book, Lord Malfoy continues. "House Malfoy, being the direct descendant of the First Shield Hero and House Tristan has the right to pass a copy of the spell book of House Tristan to future heroes, sanctioned by both House Faubley, and the new sadly destroyed Q'ten Lo Judges of the Heroes. I already passed three more copies to the other three heroes two nights ago. You would only handicapping yourself, if you do not accept this. Such a fact is easy to confirm, if you do not believe in my words."
Mein can't help but start chewing her finger once again at the development. Damn this snake! When she only has enough time to make herself dear to one hero, the Lord of House Malfoy has enough resources to grab all four in a set. And he's using the stupidity of those three stooges to rope Naofumi into his snare as well!
Even if she's still the first princess of glorious Melromarc, she still won't have enough money to compete with the lord of House Malfoy with her resources divided between four heroes. Now, as 'Mein of Samphor', her only safeguard is Naofumi's faithfulness to stay with his first companion.
At least it's a small comfort, that Lord Malfoy's manipulative way likely won't sit well with her Naofumi. But it only makes Mein realize the same can be said for she herself, once Naofumi learns her true identity.
"It still doesn't mean I won't owe you any favor. But I suppose I don't have a choice in the matter, if those three already accepted their gifts." Naofumi gives another long look to the Malfoy lord before finally grabbing the book. "You mentioned the last Shield Hero. What was he like? I admit, I'm surprised you aren't here to zap me to death with a spell. After what happened with your ancestor, and the last Shield Hero."
"I see you are already thinking like a player in this game, despite your worlds. As for our forefather from the time of legend..." The Malfoy lord seems to stand even more straight at the mention, if that's at all possible. "I admit I can't tell what my ancestor thought about our forefather, the First Shield Hero. But over the years, House Malfoy gained our prestige and power thanks to our relationship with the First Shield Hero, and a little cunning of our own. It would be rather hypocritical to hold a grudge, after that."
"That's a rather... gracious way to look at things. " Naofumi looks rather surprised at Lord Malfoy's reaction, if his hanging jaw is any indication. "But you haven't said anything about the last Shield... Hero yet."
"It was a decision made out of practicality, Sir Shield Hero." Lucius gives another faint smile to the young man before schooling his features. His brow seems to curve slightly into a frown. "As for the last Shield... Hero, Mikage Mikami, I admit to not have much direct, on-hand information on the man before he became much more well known as the King of Rape. My lord grandfather Serpentis was the one who made direct contact with Sir Mikami, and he had both some high praises and equally as many not so flattering words about the man both in his memoir and the stories he told me when I was a child. Do you want to hear them?"
"I don't know much about my predecessor, aside from what my companions recited from bards' tales. They aren't always very truthful to what happened." Naofumi's eyes wander back at Kyubey, who returns a silent nod of acknowledgement. The Shield Hero looks back at the Malfoy lord again. "It would be helpful to know more about him from a more intimate source - it helps me avoid some pitfalls in the future, if he was truly as vile as I heard."
"Vile was not the exact word my lord grandfather used to describe King Mikami. He was a man who had ambition and cunning in spades, but led astray by those qualities when he failed to temper them with prudence and vigilance." The valet Hayate quickly brings out a stool for his lord, and a second one obviously intended for the Shield Hero. The descendant of the First Shield Hero points his cane at the stool. "Take a seat, if you will. And I shall share what my lord grandfather saw fitting to share with me."
Naofumi's eyes seem to wander from the Malfoy lord to the stool his valet provided several times. Judging from the almost mesmerizing tilting of his head. It's almost as if he sees the stool as a torture device, rather than a tool to provide comfort. After several moments to the point even Malfoy Lord's escort is shuffling on their feet, the Shield Hero finally sits down. "Alright."
"To start, my lord grandfather, at the time only the young heir of House Malfoy, did not meet King Mikami in the earlier days when he was summoned. No, the four Siltvelt great houses saw fit to unite together and blocked my lord grandfather's access to the Shield Hero. Even if they privately tear at each other's throats." Lord Lucius takes a short pause with his story, perhaps to let the listeners figure out the implication of his words. "So my lord grandfather's recount of what King Mikami was like comes purely from his best friend, Lord Shirou Emiya."
"Wait, wait!" Naofumi suddenly jumps up from his stool, interrupting the Malfoy lord's tale. "Mikage was best friends with Shirou Emiya?!"
Mein wonders what's the reason for Naofumi's sudden outburst. Granted, the idea of the King of Rape, widely considered to be the most devilish of the Shield... Hero was friends with Shirou Emiya, the Martyr of Bow, one of, if not the greatest Bow Hero can be rather shocking.
But Naofumi's wild action speaks that there's more in his mind.
"Yes, indeed. A fact most people, especially those detractors of the Shield Hero tend to readily forget." The Malfoy lord does not show any outward annoyance at being interrupted. No doubt due to Naofumi's position. There is a taste of displeasure in his voice, but Mein gets the impression it comes from those detractors rather than Naofumi. "From what Lord Emiya shared with my lord grandfather, King Mikami had a very unfortunate childhood. Since he had nothing but unsavory words for his mother and younger sister, with no mention of his father whatsoever."
"He didn't like his family, huh..." Naofumi slowly sits back down, his eyes a little distance.
No doubt, he's thinking about his own family, those awful people who had him sleep on the floor. Sure, he said those are normal practices where he comes from, but the parents who cared about their children would surely have him sleep in a proper bed, not a sleeping bag.
Naofumi's eyes refocuses on the Malfoy lord after a few grueling seconds. "...How bad are we talking here?"
"To paraphrase my lord grandfather. King Mikami describes his mother as an ungrateful shrew who only knows how to make barking noises with her fat, ugly sow of a daughter." Lord Lucius takes a piece of napkin from his valet and wipes his mouth. "Excuse the language."
"Yikes, that sounds bad." Naofumi recoils backwards. "So he's likely abused by his family before his summon."
"Indeed." Lord Lucius nods his head slowly, his voice solemn. "The first time my lord grandfather met King Mikami was when he joined Lord Emiya to rescue King Mikami from his imprisonment. He was betrayed by the very people who supported him and showered him with riches: the four great houses of Siltvelt. After that, he becomes a deeply paranoid young man, someone whom my lord grandfather couldn't make connections with at all."
Naofumi stays silent, rather than immediately offer a comment afterwards. The dark cloud over his head seems to indicate a reminder of what he himself almost went through, if Mein didn't choose him over the Bow Hero during his trial. "I think I can understand what he went through. A little. I was almost condemned unfairly myself. I guess he wasn't always the tyrant."
"Hardly. King Mikami was a harsh man, especially to those who betrayed or mistreated him. But he was not an unreasonable monster. That came after his resurrection."
"Resurrection?" Naofumi's head peaks up at the mention. "He died more than once?"
"Indeed, he died twice. My lord grandfather's memoir describes he tried to usurp heaven with an evil ritual near the end of the last Wave of Catastrophe sixty years ago and died when the ritual was foiled by Lord Emiya, not unlike the common bard's tale. But when my lord grandfather spoke to me, there's always a sad and nostalgic expression on his face. Making me think there has to be more to the story." The Malfoy lord slowly turns his head left and right. "Sadly, trying to defend the King of Rape was an extremely unpopular stance to take even in Noble Faubley, the country that promotes equality between all four heroes. Especially with us being associated with the Shield Hero. So whatever there was more to the story died with my lord grandfather."
"So, you don't know any more than common bards after all." Naofumi stares long into Lord Lucius' face, the young man lets out a long sigh and drops his head in defeat. "I... I guess I was hoping for more."
"I'm sorry to disappoint, Sir Shield Hero. Unfortunately, House Malfoy is not omnipotent even with our wealth and influence. Sometimes history gets lost - it's better left buried for the wellbeing of our family." The lord of House Malfoy takes a pause before continuing. "But it was not the end for King Mikami. No, the head of the Azure Dragon clan resurrected him with the essence of the Dragon Emperor. And she brought back the most well known tyrant in Medean history, the King of Rape. This was the part, where King Mikami enslaved the entire Siltvelt population, bedding his own progeny and would most likely enslave the entire world if he was not killed by Lord Emiya in a duel that ended with their mutual death. Thus, we conclude the story of King Mikage Mikami of Siltvelt, the Shield Devil, King of Rape. The one who forever tainted the reputation of the order of the Shield."
"So, that's why you have such strong interest in me..." Naofumi's eyes seem to twinkle with intensity as he stares hard into Lord Malfoy. "You are hoping to regain some prestige for this order of Shield, if I happen to be the good one. And of course, you can claim credit for being the one who guided me."
"As the direct descendent of the First Shield Hero, House Malfoy has taken it upon ourselves to provide guidance and support to all the later Shield Heroes." Lord Malfoy slowly turns his head around to look at all Naofumi's companions. "But I will not insult Sir Shield Hero's intelligence by suggesting our motivation was pure altruism. You are right. It is more out of practicality. Our house is forever linked with the Shield due to our ancestry, just as House Potter's fate is forever tied with the Sword Hero. Therefore, any great exploit of future Shield Heroes, success or failure, ties right back to House Malfoy."
They obviously didn't do a very good job, if Shield Heroes throughout history gained their reputation for siding with the Siltvelt savages. Something her Naofumi is also likely thinking about, judging from the slight frown over his brows. But he's too polite to say it out loud, especially after he received a great gift from the Malfoy lord.
"Your house mustn't be doing a good job, if my clan prides itself for being a glorified slave to our god king." The werewolf Farkas on the other hand doesn't seem to share the same gratitude. He grunts out a rough response, making the two banner lords of Malfoy reach for their arming swords and maces on their waist.
"The Greyback clan, I presume?" Lord Malfoy stops his thugs with a simple rise of his hand. "Your clan's faithfulness is to be admired, even if I can see how it can also be seen as a bondage of servitude. Regardless, you aren't wrong in your criticism. Our house has admittedly, not had much success in the past. Perhaps the temptation to become a living god king is simply too great for any man, hero or not. Or perhaps it is hubris to think we can change how people behave at all, simply because we descend from the first."
Lucius turns to look at Naofumi once again. "Regardless, it helps serve both of our interests to build connections between us. To associate with the Shield is both a gift and curse. People have certain expectations towards you, and they will not change despite your actions."
"I think I can tell who my real friends are." Naofumi takes a step forward, making his intention of standing with his current companions known to the descendant of the First Shield Hero.
"Very well. Then I wish you best of luck. Sir Shield Hero. But one last thing." Lord Malfoy turns around to look at the young raccoon boy, who bows towards Naofumi. "This is my valet, and butler in training Hayate. To complete the last stage of his training, he shall remain in Melromarc for the foreseeable future to work as a branch manager for Riddle and Son trading company. You can request contact, or aid from House Malfoy, if things don't go well for you in Melromarc in the future."
"I'll keep that in mind." Naofumi's words mark the end of their confrontation with Lord Malfoy. His disguised thugs move out of the way, letting Naofumi's party walk through without any trouble.
Mein looks back, and sees the lord of House Malfoy is still standing in the same place, eyes following after them. It makes her aware how glorious Melromarc isn't the only player in this game, despite Father summoning all four heroes onto their soil.
"Mein. I'm not sure I can trust a man like Lord Malfoy for his word." Naofumi's quiet whisper brings the princess turned adventurer back to present. Mein takes over the Grimoire of Water from Naofumi as he hands it to her, more out of instinct than conscious choice. She ends up jumping on her feet afterwards out of surprise. "You are the only one in our party with any knowledge of wizardry magic. Maybe you should keep it, and look it over to make sure nothing's wrong with it?"
Mein quickly crosses over her hand on the precious book, and presses it into her chest. Yes, she will have a thorough look over its content before sharing it with Naofumi and Raphtalia. Because she needs to make sure the content hasn't been compromised by whoever copied the original script, of course.
"I will take good care of the book, Master Naofumi."
End Note:
So, more of my red princessing (haha) about canon time. One more thing I think the author missed the mark was how in the first 1/3rd of the story (which I dubbed the 'Three Heroes Church Saga'), the powers outside Melromarc are pretty much an afterthought. I think there was a line about how Siltvelt did try to contact Naofumi, and he shot their agents down in his paranoia. And from Reprisal we know Shiltfreeden did something similar, but their agent acted more like a smug idiot (not unlike Trash) because of their connection with Whip Boy. But Faubley, the supposed strongest nation in the world was barely a footnote.
I don't know if LN expanded on this or not, since my knowledge of LN is extremely limited to say the least. But from what I know, the Three Heroes Church Saga more or less stays the same. Which I find very disappointing, because it makes the novel's world feel almost claustrophobic since countries don't meaning interact with each other and with the heroes. I mean, the other countries was angry enough to essentially kept Queen Safespace from going back to her nation (which is honestly pretty understandable), but they barely tried any action to endear themselves to the heroes, or scheme to get the heroes away from Melromarc either willingly, or kidnapping? Something doesn't add up. Especially with the added knowledge of all the extra conspiracies Reprisal shown.
I honestly can't tell if this is the author's creative intention to show the heroes aren't really that valued by different countries, and they are mostly just a bragging right. Or if the author simply can't manage, or can't be bothered to come up with anything because they aren't very good at making complex political drama. Honestly, I'm leaning more towards the lateral considering how badly written a character I consider the queen is.
Review reply time.
To Guest007:
I'm not against giving a tank build actual attack power per say, since real game tank build also have ways to deal damage. But with how absolutely OP the Shield Hero's defense is, I don't like stories that also give them attack power unless their defense gets a massive nerf. Because a Shield Hero who can shrug off Judgement around level 40 range and can attack on their own just become a very boring Mary Sue character. Plus it kind of scrubs out what's unique about the Shield Hero who has to rely on their companion for the attack power.
My thought is if a writer want to write a more involved Shield Hero than simply being a walking... shield. It's more interesting to give them Crowd Control abilities, or some kind of guard break abilities rather than flat out damage ability. Not to say Shield Hero can absolutely not get any attack power of their own, but it better have some kind of massive draw back that limit how much it's useful in the story. Rather than be the Shield Hero's crutch ability like Wrath Shield is in canon.
To Night:
I don't want to give away Fitoria's whole backstory out for everyone, since she does later appear in my story, and has a very different origin than canon. A lot of it was re-written by Comrade Broseph, and I really like it.
To Guest008:
Thank you very much for your kind words!
On the Easter egg characters. I can understand how they can be off putting to readers who want a pure RotSH experience, rather than this story essentially being a soft massive-crossover. Although on that point, I would like to point out those characters being actual Easter egg characters, rather than original characters inspired by characters from other fandom (which I definitely have, like Count Winchester who aside from his demi-human prejudice is inspired by both Arthas and Anakin) does serve a role.
I am essentially inviting readers to bring their knowledge of those characters into this story, which I would either play straight to skip the intro/buildup of those minor characters, or intentionally play around and subvert.