Sword and Shield

Zeltoble 1

Naofumi checked the pop-up.

Requirement met: [Dragon Hourglass Sand Shield – Base Defence: 5 – Equip Bonus: Defence +5 (unmastered)]

Special Ability: Portal Shield – Teleport yourself and up to 5 other people + (your Level/20) to pre-recorded locations. Cooldown: 1 hour. Level requirement: 50.

The Shield Hero nodded in satisfaction. Now, he had the all important ability to teleport. He couldn't use it yet because of the Level requirement, but he was close.

He had also synchronized with the Dragon Hourglass. To Naofumi's embarrassment, they had also forgotten to do that when they were at the church earlier today. Luckily, it was an easy fix, and he was quite relieved to see that the Wave in Zeltoble was still a long month out.

That meant a two week gap between the Waves in Zeltoble and Melromarc. They could work with that.

"Elrasla, everything okay?" Naofumi shouted towards the back of the carriage. They were currently heading towards one of the Capital City's many marketplaces.

"I'm fine, Holy Saint," Elrasla sat meditating, her chest rising and falling slowly. "Having one's Level reset truly does take a lot out of you."

"I thought you were going to collapse for a minute there," Shirou admitted.

"I'm more nervous about my low Level than anything else," Elrasla said with a crooked grin. "Holy Saint, once I have recovered, I would like to head out and start Leveling immediately."

"That's the plan," Naofumi responded. "But we have to run a few errands first."

Raphtalia nodded. "We're going out and buying at least a single piece of every ore that we can find."

"Many shiny things!" Filo cheered from where she was pulling the carriage out in front.

"Yes, many shiny things, which is just another way of saying expensive," Shirou sighed a little.

"True," Naofumi said, none too happy either. "But I need to know what ores can be used for Weapon Tempering. I need a lot of variety to experiment. And even if the ore in question can't be used for Weapon Tempering, it can still be used to unlock another shield, so it won't be an entire waste either way."

The carriage pulled into a busy looking marketplace. Hickwaal had recommended this one in particular when the topic had come up. Said advice had been on the money: every stall in direct view was dealing in a variety of ores.

"Let's get to it," Naofumi said and divided the money.


"What's the plan, Naofumi-sama?"

Naofumi looked up from his Menu. After a long day of shopping and collecting ores, the party had withdrawn to their room at Lord Ciaran's abode. It was night now, the full moon out and everything. He had been busying himself with his Menu and the Weapon Tempering function, and had a few good results already.

Raphtalia's sudden question knocked him from his work related trance.

"Good question," Naofumi said and closed his Menu. "We're finally in Zeltoble, and we have a little less than 2 weeks until the next Wave. We need to make the most of it."

"We have the ability to teleport now and we have Classed-Up," Shirou reminded everybody. He was sat on his bed, idly cleaning his sword. "The other reasons we came here was to make money via the tournaments held in the colosseums and for equipment."

"I also need to start Leveling again pronto," Elrasla threw in.

"And Shirou's lessons with Lord Hickwaal start tomorrow," Raphtalia added.

Naofumi frowned. "We have too much to do at the same time. We're going to have to split up if we want to cover everything."

"I don't feel comfortable with that," Shirou admitted. "The Shadows might not have attacked us in a while, but we don't know what's going on with them. Something might be preventing them from acting, or they might be waiting for the best moment to strike. If we split up…"

The thought of that scenario hung in the room.

Elrasla sighed. "There's no good answer to the question, I'm afraid. We can either split up and take our chances in an effort to make the most of the time we have, or stick together and prioritize as best as we are able. We can't have the best of both in this situation."

They pondered the conundrum for a long moment. Naofumi let out a heavy breath as he came to a decision. "We're sticking together," he announced. "It's too great a risk to split up. We're just going to have to prioritize. Shirou, what plans did you make with Hickwaal?"

"Since Hickwaal is staying here until the investigation is complete, we will be having my lessons here every day from eight in the morning till about noon for at least the next week," Shirou informed him.

Naofumi nodded. "I can use that time to continue making medicine and learning more magic."

"And I will practice my swordsmanship, magic and learning how to wield Life Force," Raphtalia threw in.

"Filo will be practicing magic too!" Filo added.

"Then I will be doing some physical conditioning," Elrasla mused.

Naofumi nodded again. "We can than use the afternoon and evening to make money, get equipment and Level up further. Once Shirou's lesson finishes each day, we can go into the city for whatever we need to do that day, and we can use the evenings to go out hunting. Lord Ciaran's men will be back the day after tomorrow at the latest, so we should have a contract hashed out with him by then, and then we can go hunting and Leveling up in the evenings."

"Sounds like a plan," Elrasla agreed. "We can use tomorrow then to check out the city's many shops for shields for you to copy. After that we should visit one of the colosseums and sign up for any tournament that might suit our needs. I doubt we will be able to participate on the same day, so we will have to figure out what we are going to do for the rest of the day."

"Nothing is stopping us from going out Leveling without a contract," Shirou pointed out. "We can use tomorrow evening to make a head start."

Elrasla grinned. "Like you read my mind, boy. What say you, Holy Saint?"

"Sounds like a plan," Naofumi echoed Elrasla's earlier words.


"Now, as you know, I specialize in enchanting jewellery. Do you know why that is?"

Shirou and Hickwaal were sat a large worktable in his personal room. Said table was filled to the brim with tools, uncut jewels and other materials.

"No," Shirou admitted.

"That's because jewels are the best mediums when it comes to Enchantments. As a material jewels are highly receptive to be being enchanted," Hickwaal raised his finger in a lecturing pose. "When it comes to Enchantments, there are three factors to consider in the final product: your skill in imbuing magic, the material used and the craftmanship in shaping the object being enchanted. These three factors will dictate just what Enchantment you can apply and how powerful said Enchantment will be."

"And what effects what, exactly?" Shirou questioned.

Hickwaal nodded, pleased at his insight. "Your skill in imbuing magic and the craftsmanship involved in the final product, in our case accessories, will raise the power of the Enchantment while the material used will dictate what Enchantment you can apply. This is another reason why I prefer to work with jewels. There are so many different kinds of jewels that all have different traits that basically any kind of Enchantment can be applied with jewels. If you have a specific Enchantment in mind, you just need the correct type of jewel. The only mayor downside with working with jewels is the comparatively high cost and the skill required to shape the final product."

"In other words, I'll always be dependent on the type of jewel I'm working with for the Enchantment that I can apply," Shirou mused.

"Exactly," Hickwaal confirmed. "As your skill with imbuing magic increases, you'll have a bit more influence on the final Enchantment, but you will always have to work with the jewels inherent nature and traits. You can't just do what you please when it comes to enchanting jewels."

Shirou nodded to show he understood.

"Now, I understand you have been studying Enchantment already?" Hickwaal continued on.

"A little," Shirou admitted. "I'm still working on translating the beginner grimoire on Enchantments."

"Have you so far practiced imbuing magic yet?"

"I've tried placing Enchantments on my swords, but it didn't work," Shirou sighed.

"That's to be expected. Placing Enchantments on finished products is much more difficult than applying them while you are making the product," Hickwaal assured him. "But you do have the basic skill of imbuing magic down?"

"I do," Shirou confirmed with a nod.

"Good. That will save us some time. Today, we will be practicing imbuing magic," Hickwaal said and indicated the variety of uncut jewels on the table.

Shirou blinked. "Are you sure..?"

"I am a master when it comes to enchanting jewellery, boy, and I am more than capable of removing any mistakes in the imbuing process before the product is finalized," Hickwaal waved off his concerns. "Don't worry. Just practice and try and apply what I am telling you. Enchanting requires an equal amount of experience as it does knowledge."

"Okay," Shirou nodded and reached for a pretty green jewel.

This was going to be interesting. He just knew it.


There were 4 colosseums in the Capital City of Zeltoble, each of which corresponded to one of the four cardinal directions: North, East, South and West. Currently, they were at the Western colosseum as that one was the closest to Lord Ciaran's home.

"I've got the program for the next few days, Holy Saint," Elrasla returned, holding a large piece of paper.

They were sat at a small table in an alcove, hidden away from view from the masses. Elrasla joined them and laid out the piece of paper, on which were several sections of different script, clearly being the written word of different languages.

Thankfully, one of those scripts was in High Melromarcian text.

"It seems there are multiple tournaments being held in the coming days," Naofumi commented.

"These are fairly standard ones, as well," Elrasla added. "The tournaments will be held over a span of three days, people can only participate if they meet certain Level requirements, and there are big cash prices for third, second and first place. Gambling on the side is allowed so long as it managed by the officials of the colosseum."

"So that they can take a cut," Naofumi grumbled.

"Exactly."

"…This one looks good," Shirou tapped one particular tournament scheduled over two days from now. "It has a minimum Level requirement of 40, a maximum of 70, and substantial prizes are being offered to the top contenders."

Naofumi looked at the prizes. He whistled. Whoever took the spot would get 100 gold coins. That would more than double their current finances.

"Wait," Raphtalia jumped in. "It says here that you can either participate alone, or in a team, but said team may not have more than three members."

"You're right," Shirou winced at the fact that he had missed that.

"I couldn't participate even if I wanted to," Elrasla sighed.

"That still leaves one of us who can't take part," Naofumi grimaced.

There was a brief pause, before Raphtalia sighed heavily and raised her hand.

"I'll sit this one out, then," she conceded.

"Are you sure?"

"It's only logical. I'm the weakest out of all of us, so…" Raphtalia justified her choice.

"Raphtalia, that's not-" Shirou cut in, but he himself was overwritten.

"You don't have to sugar-coat it, Shirou," Raphtalia waved him off. "My Stats are considerably lower than Filo's, and I can't match you in a head on fight. With Elrasla not being able to participate, it only makes sense if you, Naofumi-sama and Filo are the one's to enter the tournament."

Naofumi leaned forward, pinning Raphtalia with a serious look.

To his surprise, Raphtalia smiled back at him. "You don't have to worry, Naofumi-sama. I'll admit, this had been bothering me for a while, and I am sorry for not mentioning it before, but I realized I just have to play to my strengths. I don't mind Shirou and Filo being stronger then me, because I can be just as helpful to you in other ways. A party functions better if its members have different specialties," her smile turned confident. "After all, if our battle with the Boss Monster of the previous Wave proved anything, it's that illusions are very dangerous things in open combat."

Elrasla chuckled. "This lass has a good head on her shoulders. You better be grateful, Holy Saint."

Naofumi nodded. "I do hope you aren't going to drop everything else, Raphtalia?"

"Of course not," Raphtalia denied. "I will still practice swordsmanship and learning how to wield Life Force, but I'll devote more time to magic."

"I'm sure you will do great, Onee-chan!" Filo cheered her on.

"Thanks, Filo," Raphtalia patted the human form Filolial on the head.

Naofumi got up out of his seat. "Now that all of that is settled, we better go an sign up for the tournament."

Elrasla stopped him. "Before we do that, we'll first have to pick a ring name, Holy saint."

"Ring name?"

"When you sign up, you'll have to give up a name for your party so that the announcers can call that name whenever you enter the battleground," Elrasla clarified.

Naofumi made a noise of understanding. As he pondered what ring name he should give, another thought occurred to him. He was planning on placing a bet on himself and his party, that they would take the top spot. They could potentially make another killing on top of the price money. But if he put down "the Shield Hero's party", people would definitely recognize who they were and might bet on them to win as well. That would lower their own overall winnings. In betting, placing the winning bet on dark horse was the most profitable.

So, he would have to come up with a name that wouldn't immediately give them away.

"Rock Valley's Party should do," Naofumi decided after a moment of thought.

"Why that name?" Elrasla blinked.

"That's Naofumi's last name in English," Shirou threw in.

"And it was my nickname in my own world. I thought it fitting," Naofumi shrugged.

"Fair enough."


Shirou was cleaning his sword. It'd quickly become a past time of his that he used to either close out a day, or to calm down. The latter was definitely needed in that moment. Even in the waiting areas, the drone and the shouting of the masses attending the colosseum was clearly audible. Their first match was up any moment now, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. Shirou was fairly confident in their chances, but he still felt a bit uneasy.

"Everything alright, Shirou?" Raphtalia questioned, looking up from her grimoire.

During their match, Raphtalia and Elrasla would be staying in the waiting area. There were magical devices lining the wall that functioned much like a TV, projecting images of what was going on in the arena proper. As such, there was no reason for them to spectate from the stands.

"A little nervous," Shirou admitted, shrugging as he continued cleaning his sword. "But I can handle it. This has nothing on facing down a Wave."

Raphtalia giggled. "I don't think anyone would try and argue that."

"Onii-chan! We're going to kick some ass, right?" Filo was jumping up and down. She seemed really excited for some reason.

Shirou made a face. "Those words should never come out of your mouth, Filo."

"Eh? Why not?"

Filo was currently in her human form. The words she had just said simply didn't fit her image.

Elrasla chuckled. "Ah, let the lass have her fun. It's just her way of calming her own nerves."

Filo pouted petulantly at being called out.

"Okay," Naofumi nodded to himself and looked up from his Menu, having finished his preparations. "Everyone remember the formation?"

Shirou nodded back at him. "You and I will be in the front and Filo will be in the back, using her magic at range."

It was a simplistic formation, but because they would only be a party of three and the setting there was no reason to think up an intricate one. As the bets had already been made for their betting pool, there was no reason to hold back either. If they could get away with it, they would hold a few of their abilities back in order to have a few surprises up their sleeves near the end of the tournament, but that was about it.

A gong sounded through the room.

"That's our que," Naofumi muttered and got up.

Shirou and Filo followed him.

"Success everyone! And be careful!" Raphtalia called after them.

"Don't die a pointless death!" Elrasla added, only to be scolded by Raphtalia at her crass words.

Shirou almost chuckled, but his amusement died the moment they crossed the threshold and they entered the arena proper. Said arena reminded him of the arena at the castle in Melromarc, with a stone lined floor with a raised viewing area that ringed the battle zone. It was much larger, however, with the field many times bigger and several thousand people in attendance, all of them eager to see the combat that was about to be had.

"AND NOW ITS TIME FOR THE THIRD MATCH OF THE DAY!" the announcer shouted, his voice clearly amplified by magic. "ROCK VALLEY'S PARTY FACES OF AGAINST THE MONK FAMILY! ARE YOU RRREEEAADDYYY?"

The crowd roared in approval.

Shirou took in their opponents with a single glance. They were three tall men that wore lose fitting clothing that showed off their considerable muscles. Tattoos covered their arms and legs, and their heads were clean shaven. The men in question were clearly related, probably brothers.

All three of them were grinning maliciously at them.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun."

"Hmm, not much of a challenge, but I suppose we shouldn't expect much from our first opponents."

"Roughing up that little girl in the back might be amusing."

Naofumi and Shirou shared a glance, before shaking their heads.

"BEGIN!"

A gong resounded through the arena.

The Monk Family rushed forwards, fists raised. They were high Level, and their physical abilities reflected that. They crossed the considerable width of the arena in a few blinks of the eye, ready to deal out some pain.

Naofumi met them head on, planting his feet firmly.

Two men of the Monk family targeted Naofumi, lashing out with their fists, while one of them circled around Naofumi and headed for Filo.

Clang! Clang!

A ripple of surprise travelled around the arena.

Naofumi didn't looked pained at all. One fist had bounced of his shield, the other one had struck him dead in the chest, but he hadn't felt it at al. The surprise was warranted. Anyone that looked at them could see their Levels, and the men of the Monk family were all in the upper sixties. They had more then 20 Levels over Naofumi, but their fists had been unable to beat his Defence.

The Shield Hero felt a faint twinge of amusement. They should just be happy that he didn't let his shield's counter attack trigger. He had the Chimera Viper Shield equipped. If Naofumi hadn't consciously chosen to not allow the counter attack to trigger, one of them would have already laid collapsed at his feet.

"What the hell!"

"What is this guy made off!?"

They started wailing on Naofumi, lashing out with fists and kicks in a constant, clearly well practiced stream. All of it was vicious. All of it was precise.

All of it was useless.

The third, the one with the highest Level, didn't notice the show going on behind him. He had his eyes set on Filo.

Shirou stepped in his path, sword still sheathed.

"Out of my way, you trash!" the man spat and raised his fist to knock him aside.

The punch brushed by Shirou's cheek, having dodged the fist by a hairsbreadth. Without pause, he stepped in and rammed the hilt of his sword into the gut of his opponent.

"Ack!" spittle flew from the man's mouth, his breath knocked out of him. He went sprawling on his back, heaving for air.

There was another ripple of surprise, but Shirou did not pay it any notice. The man's punch had been well thrown, and his clean movements proved that he was and old hand at combat, but the difference in Stats gave Shirou a significant advantage. The man had probably assumed that he would have the advantage in that regard, as he was more than 20 Levels higher than Shirou, and that had made the man arrogant in his approach. But Shirou would not be able to exploit that arrogance more than once. When the man got up, the real fight would begin.

So, he was determined to not let it come to that.

Shirou leaped.

"Wha-ARGHHHH!"

Many of the people watching winced. Shirou had landed knee first in the man's gut with all his weight, using the momentum of his fall to his advantage. He got up, drew his sword, and rammed it into and through the man's shoulder, pinning him to the floor like an insect to a board.

"Brother!" one of the Monk men that had been wailing on Naofumi shouted, noticing his brother's distress.

That was a mistake. In that moment of distraction, Naofumi seized the man by the arm and flung him towards Filo.

"Filo commands the origin of power! Filo has read and deciphered a law of nature! Blow them away with a raging tornado!"

"Zweite Tornado!"

The horizontal tornado swept up the flailing man, carrying him off and lacerating his flesh all over. He rammed head first into the arena's raised wall.

The man was out on impact.

The last man of the Monk family stepped away from Naofumi. He looked at his out cold brother, then at his other brother who was writing on the floor and unable to get up. He slowly raised his hands.

"I surrender," he said rather meekly, in contrast to his earlier haughty demeanour.

"WE HAVE A WINNER!" the announcer shouted over the shocked murmurings and cheering of the crowd. "IN A STUNNING UPSET, ROCK VALLEY'S PARTY ABSOLUTELY TRASHES THE MONK FAMILY! DO WE HAVE ONE OF THE TOP CONTENDERS RIGHT HERE!? WE SHALL SEE!"

Shirou blinked. Well, he thought to himself. That was easy.


A length of twig bounced off the curved surface of a shield with a loud clang. Several more clangs were heard in quick succession in the fresh morning air that the party was enjoying in the courtyard of Lord Ciaran's mansion.

"Ugh," Naofumi groaned and raised his shield to block the next hit.

"Good! You're improving, Holy Saint!" Elrasla spun the twig in her hand and jabbed at the Shield Hero.

"Easy for you to say! Ugh!" Naofumi blocked the jab, but still felt the blow reverberate up his arm and down his body.

He might now be able to use Life Force, but that didn't mean that he could wield it with expertise. He could infuse it into his Skills no problem. That was easy, but using it for anything else still required practice. If he wanted to learn how to negate Defence ignoring attacks, he would still have to learn to do that manually.

The only way to do that was to train. In practice that meant having Elrasla attack him with Defence ignoring attacks and try to guide the energy she injected into him with his own Life Force and expel it from his person without doing any harm.

The problem? It was rather hard to do that in mid battle, and it hurt like a bitch when he failed to do it.

Worse, Elrasla had informed him of Defence rating attacks. Attacks that did more damage the higher the Defence of the target was. Hengen Musou's first form, Point, allowed a Life Force user to ignore the Defence of a target, but more skilled users could turn the rigidity of someone with a high Defence Stat against them and turn their strongest attribute into a liability.

As the Shield Hero, Naofumi had no other choice but to master the skill of negating such attacks. Or it might just be the death of him. That left him with no other option but to suffer through this training. And here he had thought that he might for once have found and exploited the easy route. How naïve he was.

"Old Lady sure is strong," Filo commented from where she was practicing her wind magic.

"No kidding," Raphtalia shook her head, taking her eyes from her grimoire. It was a new one Naofumi had bought for her in the Capital City. She had already finished all the beginner ones she had gotten from the Magic Shop Owner and had moved on to intermediate. "Hard to believe she is only Level 23 right now. Hengen Musou is really something."

It had been a little less than a week since they had arrived at the Capital City of Zeltoble, and they had been making full use of the remaining time before the next Wave. All of them had been polishing up their skills, Naofumi had copied hundreds of shields out of the many shops in the city, Shirou was reportedly making good progress at picking up Enchantments and accessory crafting, and Elrasla was building up her Level again remarkably quickly.

The constant hunts Lord Ciaran was sending them out on were helpful. Just like Elrasla had predicted, the fact that she could still fell much higher Level monsters thanks to her skill with Hengen Musou and Naofumi's abilities keeping her safe on the battlefield ensured that that she would Level quickly with appropriate prey. But even she was surprised at how quickly she was Leveling. The benefits of being a companion of a Hero could not be understated.

"Where's Onii-chan?" Filo abruptly asked, tilting her head.

"He is practicing with Lord Hickwaal, remember," Raphtalia reminded her.

"Ah, Filo hopes he brings back something shiny!" Filo exclaimed.

Raphtalia giggled. Queen or not, Filo was still a Filolial at the end of the day.

"Ready for the next battle?" Raphtalia asked.

"Uh-huh!" Filo nodded energetically, smiling with readily apparent confidence.

She had a reason to be confident. Shirou, Naofumi, and Filo had been bulldozing their way through the tournament. They had made it all the way to the semi-finals criminally easy, all of them not even getting injured once or being seriously pressed by their opponents.

"Filo is looking forward to it!" Filo cheered, almost dancing in place.

"That's a good attitude to take," Raphtalia said, but then cautioned her. "But remember to be careful as well. There are bound to be stronger opponents in the last rounds. And don't forget that the finals will be held on the same day as the semi-finals. If you tire yourself out in the first round you won't do nearly as well in the finals."

"Okay!" Filo considered and nodded. "Filo will keep that in mind."

Filo and Raphtalia shared a moment of camaraderie.

"UGH!"

Then they shared a giggle at Naofumi's frustrated/pained groan in the distance.


"Good fight everyone!"

Raphtalia greeted them warmly as they stepped back into the waiting area of the arena.

Naofumi wiped down his armor. "It went well."

"I'll say," Elrasla chuckled. "I think the guys you fought would be of different opinion, though."

"Especially the guy who Filo kicked in the crotch," Shirou stated drily.

Filo hmphed and placed her fists on her hips. "He shouldn't have called Filo small fry! I am not a fry!"

"The squeal he made was hilarious," Naofumi said and grinned with malice.

"Naofumi-sama," Raphtalia sighed at his un-hero-like words.

They continued to banter for a short while, revelling in their well earned victory. The battle had not been particularly difficult, but they had now made it to the finals of the tournament. One more battle to win and they would have fulfilled another one of their goals in coming to Zeltoble.

"When is our next match?" Filo suddenly asked.

"The other semi-final match is about to begin. After that fight is finished, there will be half an hour intermission before the finals," Elrasla explained, checking the program she was holding.

"Who's fighting?" Shirou asked curiously.

"The Topak Family and the Knights of Justice," Elrasla read from the program.

"The Knights of Justice?" Naofumi repeated in bemusement. What a corny name.

Elrasla grinned and shrugged. "I've heard through the grapevine that the Knights of Justice have been utterly dominating every fight they have participated in thus far, much like you guys. Their name might be uninspired, but they must have some skill."

"We'll find out shortly. The next battle is about to begin," Raphtalia said and pointed towards the TV-like devices lining the wall.

The party settled in to watch the next match. Naofumi's eyes widened and he took a deep breath as the Knights of Justice stepped onto the field.

One of them was a familiar figure. A large bow was held ready at his side.

"Wait, isn't that…" Raphtalia trailed off.

"It's the Bow Hero," Shirou confirmed, blinking rapidly. "What was his name again?"

Naofumi breathed out. "Kawasumi Itsuki," he informed them. "How the hell did we not know that he was competing?"

"Holy Saint, it's not like we stuck around here to watch the other matches," Elrasla said. "We've been using all the available time we have to ready ourselves for the next Wave. Moreover, the tournament," she shook the program she was holding. "Doesn't list the names of the competitors, only their ring name and their battle record. It is a measure to make cheating more difficult. After all, it's harder to track someone down and…inconvenience them if you don't know their name."

Elrasla was right. Considering the constant threat of the Shadows, it was not like they could have let a single person behind to watch the matches. They were sticking together for a reason, and all the time they were not competing at the colosseum, they were busy preparing for the next Wave. Combine all of that with a little bad luck that they never caught a glimpse of Itsuki…

"Okay, the Bow Hero is competing and we will probably to have to fight him in the finals," Shirou said and brought the conversation back on track. "What does that mean for us?"

"I promised Fitoria that I'd work with the other Heroes," Naofumi muttered, mind racing. "But we can't pull back now. We need that prize money for equipment. On the other hand, if we were to beat Itsuki in this tournament, depending on how he takes it, it might make working together more difficult than it has to be."

"This is a competition, Holy Saint," Elrasla chided. "The Bow Hero must have taken into account that he could be beaten."

"There's also the runner-up prize of 50 gold coins to consider," Raphtalia added. "Whatever happens, neither of our parties are walking away from this empty handed."

"This might also be an opportunity," Shirou threw in. "Whatever happens during the battle we'll have a chance to talk to the Bow Hero afterwards. If we could come to an understanding with him…"

"It would be a start," Naofumi agreed, even if he didn't appear al that enthusiastic at the prospect.

Having deliberated over the situation, they settled in to watch the match. As they expected, the Bow Hero's party won the battle with little trouble.

They would be their final opponents in this tournament.


Well, this was it.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, ARE YOU READY FOR THE FINAL MATCH OF THIS TOURNAMENT!?" the announcer boomed over the roars and cheers of the crowd. "ROCK VALLEY'S PARTY AND THE KNIGHTS OF JUSTICE HAVE BOTH UTTERLY DOMINATED THEIR WAY TO THE FINALS! BUT THAT IS ONLY TO BE EXPECTED! WHO COULD EVER HAVE IMAGINED THAT TWO HEROES WOULD BE PARTICPATING IN OUR HUMBLE TOURNAMENT!?"

Humble my ass, Naofumi grumbled inwardly. There are thousands of people here.

Yeah, their identities had long since been leaked. Their Legendary Weapons and Skills were simply too distinctive to fly under the radar for long. Hell, Naofumi wouldn't be surprised if the organizers of the tournament had scheduled the matches in such a way that the Bow Hero and the Shield Hero would inevitably meet at the final of the tournament. There's no better way to drum up a crowd and encourage some last minute betting than a fight between Heroes.

"ITS ONLY NATURAL THAT THEY WOULD MEET IN THE FINALS! AND NOW WE HAVE THE ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY TO SEE A BATTLE BETWEEN HEROES! WHO WILL TAKE HOME THE VICTORY!? THE BOW OR THE SHIELD?!" the announcer's voice echoed throughout the arena.

The announcer continued revving up the crowd. Naofumi blocked it out and focused his attention on Itsuki and his party.

Itsuki was familiar. His two teammates much less so. He vaguely remembered seeing them both shortly after being summoned and at the feast at the Melromarc castle. One of them was a tall and exceptionally well built man decked out in gaudy, full plate armor. Clearly their frontline fighter. Naofumi decided to call him Flashy Armor. The other was a thin, effeminate man that wore a full black and purple robe that covered his body whole. His hood was up, partially obscuring his face in shadows. Obviously a magic user. Naofumi decided to call him Mage for simplicity.

Itsuki and his party members were looking at Shirou with a puzzled expression. Clearly, they'd noted his changed appearance.

"Yo, Itsuki," Naofumi started. "What a coincidence, meeting you here."

"…It is," Itsuki responded after a moment, nodding.

"How have you been?"

"Very good," Itsuki flashed a mysterious, confident smile. "I and my party have been progressing nicely."

"Good to hear," Naofumi said, then continued on, the polite conversation boosting his confidence he might be able to make a rapport with Itsuki. "Hey, however this battle might turn out, no hard feelings?"

"Of course," Itsuki promised.

More than that could not be said. The match was about to begin. Both sides readied themselves for battle.

Naofumi focused on their formation. Flashy Armor was in the front, a massive broadsword in his hands. Mage was standing next to Itsuki, hand raised and already glowing with prepared magic. And Itsuki himself and drawn back his bow and manifested an arrow made of pure energy.

It was hard to grasp how difficult the battle was going to be. He had never seen Itsuki and his party in action before. Moreover, considering their cooperation with each other during the Wave in Melromarc, it was clear that the other three Heroes were at least sporadically in contact with each other. It was possible that they might have figured out that they could share Strengthening Methods, and with Itsuki being 15 Levels higher than him…

All of that went through Naofumi's mind as he raised his shield and equipped the Chimera Viper Shield.

"IT'S TIME, FOLKS! WHO WILL ATTAIN GLORY, AND WHO WILL WALLOW IN DEFEAT!?" the announcer did not let up. "BEGIN!"

The gong resounded, and the battle began.

"Wind Arrow!" Itsuki announced immediately. Large slipstream shaped arrows were launched directly towards them, slicing through the air with a whistling noise.

"Faust Fire Ball!" Mage mirrored, blasting a large ball of condensed fire towards them.

"Meteor Shield!" Naofumi countered immediately. The force field snapped into existence around them. Over a dozen Wind Arrows pinged against the Meteor Shield and the Fire Ball impacted with a loud roar of flames, but the Meteor Shield took it without any apparent trouble.

Filo raised her arms, hands glowing green with magical energy. "Faust Tornado!"

The horizontal tornado headed straight for Itsuki and Mage. Flashy Armor, who had been running up to them to engage in close quarters, was forced to sidestep in order to dodge.

"Look out!"

Itsuki and Mage jumped to the side, but took care to stay close together. "Meteor Arrow!" Naofumi's shield Skill had proven to be unexpectedly strong. He should have expected it from a Meteor Skill, it was flat out the best Skill one could attain this early on, but Itsuki reasoned that his own Meteor Skill should be able to break it.

A beam of silvery energy blasted over the arena grounds, the attack's strength incomparable to their previous attacks.

"Air Strike Shield!" Naofumi deployed the ethereal shield, mixing in his Life Force in order to enhance the Skill's defensive power.

The Meteor Arrow impacted the Air Strike Shield with a rush of air and the sound of screeching metal, but again, in spite of the attack's much superior attack power, Naofumi's barrier again resisted it without issue. Itsuki's Skill sputtered out and died off, having done nothing.

There was a ripple of surprise on both sides.

"This isn't working! It's time to break out the big guns!" Itsuki, clearly frustrated at his so far ineffective assault, discretely communicated with Mage. Said magic user nodded back and raised his hands, red magical energy gathering.

In the meantime, Flashy Armor had reached the Meteor Shield proper.

"Toxic Spikes! Electric Terrain!"

Flashy Armor yelped in alarm, quickly jumping back before he could even begin his assault. Noxious purple poison rained down and electricity surged over the ground around the Meteor Shield, making it highly inadvisable to approach.

"Hidden Light Slash!"

"Ah, damn demi-human brat!" Flashy Armor barely dodged the crescent of cutting light.

Shirou narrowed his eyes at him and released another Hidden Light Slash.

"Zweite Power!" Mage casted on Itsuki, a red glow surrounding him as his Attack Stat was raised by a good 20 percent. "Zweite Hellfire!" he continued immediately.

To Shirou's, Naofumi's, and Filo's surprise, the black flames flowed over Itsuki's Legendary Bow, and were harnessed by it.

"Take this! Our Combo Skill! Raging Hellfire Meteor Arrow!" the silvery energy of Meteor Arrow seemed to be tainted by the black Hellfire, turning black as the beam of concentrated energy was set aflame. The attack surged head on towards its target.

"Second Shield!" Itsuki had moved so that Air Strike Shield wouldn't be in the way and he could target the Meteor Shield directly, so Naofumi quickly deployed the Second Shield. Again, he'd infused the Skill with a hefty amount of Life Force, prepared to pore Life Force into the Meteor Shield as well and prepped to activate Shield Prison.

The ground underneath the Raging Hellfire Meteor Arrow trembled, and it met the Second Shield with the same sound as a dam collapsing. Second Shield started glowed red hot, the flames of the Skill surging against it, streams of dark energy flowing over and past it.

But again, Naofumi's Skill proved to be superior. Second Shield held, and Raging Hellfire Meteor Arrow failed to pierce it, petering off in impotence.

Itsuki's and his party members faces were frozen in a rictus of surprise.

"What! What the hell!?"

Naofumi had seen enough. Setting the ability to combine Skills and magic aside for the moment, there was no way that Itsuki had learned of and used the Strengthening Methods of the other Heroes at all. If he had, he would have at least been capable of overcoming his barrier Skills.

They had been fighting conservatively so far because of an abundance of caution at facing another Hero, but it was apparent that Itsuki could not overcome Naofumi's Defence in a straight up match of power. There was no more reason to hold back.

"Shirou, you take care of Flashy Armor! Filo and I will deal with the Mage and Itsuki!"

"I'm on it!" Shirou immediately realized who Naofumi wanted him to deal with and stepped outside of the Meteor Shield, rushing towards the man in gaudy armor.

"You foolish demi-human!" Flashy Armor raised his massive sword in front of him. "There's no way that you can beat me! Or for the despicable Shield to overcome Master Itsuki, the epitome of justice!"

Shirou paid no mind to what the man was spouting and put on a sudden burst of speed. In the blink of an eye, he was in Flashy Armor's face. His sword swung towards the centre mass of his opponent.

"Ack!" Flashy Armor barely repelled Shirou's sword swing. His eyes widened at the sheer strength behind it, and he quickly started to backpaddle in the face of Shirou's assault, but…

Shirou was relentless, and Flashy Armor quickly buckled. Not only were Shirou's Stats far higher than those of his opponent, his skills with the blade were also far greater.

"No! My sword! Huh-ARGH!"

Shirou quickly disarmed Flashy Armor with an expertly timed swing, unbalancing his opponent, than delivered a deep slice into his shoulder, his sword parting the man's armor like butter.

"You filthy demi-hu-!" Flashy Armor started to rage, clearly not willing to give up yet. He lunged in a berserker rage towards Shirou with his fist pulled back

Shirou put an end to it by stabbing his sword into his own shadow.

"Shadow Sneak Blade!"

A shadow lined blade erupted out of Flashy Armor's own shadow, directly underneath his foot. It cut clean through the armored sole of his boot and punched up and through his foot. Flashy Armor tripped and skidded to a stop in front of Shirou with a pained cry. He curled up and held his bleeding foot.

"Shadow Bind Blade!"

Shirou stabbed his sword into his collapsed opponent's shadow. It was a technique he had learned in the day prior, one that bound the target's shadow and prevented them from moving. It was handy in situations like this.

Flashy Armor stopped writhing on the floor, his movements sealed for now.

Yeah, there is no way these guys know of the Companion Series, Shirou thought in the privacy of his own mind. Flashy Armor's Stats, despite being more than 15 Levels over him, didn't even compare to his own. What a waste.

"Mald!" Itsuki noticed what was happening, and turned to look at his downed companion. As he had been trading blows with Naofumi and Filo (in actuality, more with the Meteor Shield), this was not the smartest thing to do.

"I'll save you!" Itsuki pulled back his bowstring, targeting Shirou and readying a Skill to…

"High Quick!"

Itsuki folded over like a lawn chair, the air exploding out of his lungs. Filo might have been in human form and thus did not have a lot of weight behind her, but the sheer speed she was moving at give her kick a lot of power as it found the Bow Hero's gut. Said Bow Hero collapsed, gasping for air.

"Master Itsuki!"

The Mage launched towards Filo, retrieving a knife from the folds of his robe.

"Not happening!" Naofumi interposed himself between the Mage and Filo, letting the Meteor Shield collapse. He took the thrust of the knife on his shield, the Chimera Viper Shield. Snake Venom Fang (high) triggered, and the animated snakes sank their fangs into the arm of the Mage.

"Ah, argh! Poison!" the Mage quickly pulled his arm free and realized what had happened. He pulled an antidote out and chugged it down.

Sadly, it did little against the potency of the Snake Venom Fang (high) poison.

"That's not going to work, bud," Naofumi informed the Mage, who'd started to go pale as the poison did its work. Filo, meanwhile had sat down on top of Itsuki's back to keep him pinned. It wasn't really necessary, as Itsuki was still too busy with trying to get air into his lungs, but better safe than sorry.

A breath later, and the Mage collapsed face first, no longer able to remain standing.

There was a moment of absolute quiet.

"WE HAVE A WINNER!" the announcer boomed over the stunned silence of the crowd. "IN A HIGH PACED AND STUNNING BATTLE, ROCK VALLEY'S PARTY, LEAD BY THE SHIELD HERO, PREVAILS OVER THE BOW HERO AND THE KNIGHTS OF JUSTICE!"

The crowd erupted.

"You…bastards," Flashy Armor spat as Shirou removed his sword from the man's shadow and allowed him to move again.

Shirou sighed. This wasn't a pleasant individual at all. He hoped the Bow Hero would be more reasonable.


"You cheating piece of trash!"

Shirou blinked.

"Huh?!" Naofumi was equally perplexed, not to mention angry.

They were in the colosseum's infirmary. Injured participants were taken here and healed by experts at Recovery Magic. After their match, Naofumi, Shirou and Filo had to sit through the pomp and ceremony of winning the tournament. As such, by the time Naofumi and the rest had gotten access to the Bow Hero, he and his party were already fully healed. Even Mage's poisoning had been taken care off no problem.

Itsuki was sitting up in his bed, glaring venomously at them.

"What are you talking about! I didn't cheat!"

"Of course you did!" Itsuki spat back at Naofumi's heated reply. "How else could you have outclassed us so utterly when you are a much lower Level!? What did you use? Illusions? Doping? Cursus? Fess up you dirty cheater!"

Rage burned hot and fast in Naofumi's chest. So much for not holding any grudges! Apparently, that would only apply if Itsuki had gotten the expected result of actually winning!

Itsuki's party members nodded in agreement. All of them were glaring at Naofumi and his party, all except a petite, green haired girl that looked really uncomfortable to be there right now. To be blunt, at a glance she did not fit with the rest of Itsuki's party.

Naofumi took a deep breath and stamped down his building rage. "I did not cheat, Itsuki, I just have access to more Strengthening Methods than you do."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Listen, Itsuki. There's more to the Legendary Weapons than you think," Naofumi started to explain. "You yourself have methods to make your weapon stronger, don't you?"

"Yeah," he admitted with some reluctance.

"All four Heroes do, and we all have different methods, but we can use every single method so long as we know and believe that it exists," Naofumi revealed. "The Legendary Weapons are influenced by our perceptions."

"That's bullshit," Itsuki spat.

"It's the truth," Shirou cut in as Naofumi once again grappled with his anger. "One of the Legendary Shield's Strengthening Methods is called Energy Boost. It allows you to mix your Life Force into your Skills to make them more powerful. Try it."

Itsuki's eyes unfocused, obviously having called up his Menu. After a moment, he looked up at them accusingly. "It isn't listed in the Help Menu. You're lying!"

"We're not lying, You have to really belie-"

"Enough!" Itsuki snapped. "If you're just going to feed me lies, I don't want to hear another word!"

"We're telling you nothing but the truth! And as Heroes we need to work together!" Naofumi rejoindered. "Itsuki, we Heroes are more important than you think. If one of us dies, the Waves will get worse! And we can't reach our full potential if we don't work together! One of the Strengthening Methods of the Legendary Shield makes other Strengthening Methods more powerful the more are shared and understood. I have no reason to lie to you!"

"Like I could ever believe the words of a filthy rapist like you!"

Snap.

The sound of Naofumi's patience snapping was audible, and the enraged look he levelled at the Bow Hero was enough to make Itsuki recoil.

"I didn't rape anyone, Itsuki," Naofumi said in a low, dangerous tone. "Myne, that bitch, lied. Simple as that. Why? I'm not a 100% sure, but my guess is that she is a psychopath."

"You were convicted!"

"Yes, I was," Naofumi growled. "By the accusers own father. With no evidence other than her word. The word of a princes of a nation with a national religion that hates me. Even you have to see that it's rather suspect, Itsuki."

The Bow Hero and Shield Hero stared at each other.

"I've decided," Itsuki eventually said. "I'll see you brought to justice, Naofumi."

Another moment of silence.

"Excuse me?"

"Being thrown out on the streets penniless and disgraced clearly wasn't punishment enough for what you did," Itsuki sneered. "I'm going to surpass you. Then find evidence that you raped Myne that even the deluded fools that you call your party members couldn't possibly hope to refute, and see you locked up for the rest of your miserable life. In the name of justice, I swear it!"

Silence. Then a laugh.

It wasn't Naofumi who was laughing.

It was Shirou.

Said demi-human was cradling his head with one hand, laughing in sheer disbelief.

"What's so damn funny!?" Itsuki snapped at him.

"You," Shirou said, eyes hardening. "Knights of Justice. Brought to justice. In the name of justice. You clearly have a thing for justice. I can't really fault you for that. I do too. But what you are chasing isn't justice…You're only chasing your own self-satisfaction! To always be right! You disgust me!"

Itsuki exploded. "Out! Out! Out you filth! I will hear no more of your lie-riddled words!"

"Fine by me!" Naofumi spat back and turned to leave. His party followed him out, leaving the Bow Hero to stew in his own anger.


The party was standing in the shadow of the Western Colosseum. They had gone to a small, hidden alcove where the people attending the colosseum wouldn't see them. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was already starting to make its way down the horizon.

"That could have gone better."

"Yes," Shirou looked contrite. "I'm sorry for losing my temper like that, Naofumi."

"It's alright," Naofumi sighed heavily. "I wanted to deck him too."

"It's not alright," Shirou frowned. "I just made it more difficult to come to an understanding with the Bow Hero."

"Shirou, I'm fairly certain that was a lost cause from the start," Raphtalia added in.

"What's done is done," Elrasla said. "We need to figure out what we are going to do next."

"…We'll let Itsuki be for the mean time," Naofumi said, obviously thinking. "Maybe he'll calm down if we leave him alone. With a little luck he might just try and use Energy Boost in a moment of boredom or something and find out that we weren't lying. After the next Wave, we will try again with him and the other Heroes."

"The Sword Hero would be the best bet," Shirou opinionated.

"Master," Filo suddenly butted in. "I hear several people approaching from different directions."

"Hmm?" Naofumi raised a brow and stepped out of the alcove with his party.

"E-Everyone! I-I've come to a-apologize on Master I-Itsuki's behalf!" a trembling voice came from his right.

"You there. As my fellow countrymen, I would like to ask you a few things," a much more mature, yet holding a lazy tilt to it, voice came from their left.

"Shield Hero. It was difficult to track you down. We have much to discuss," a young voice that held a certain sense of authority to it came from directly in front of them.

Everyone froze.

Naofumi's eyes darted around, taking in the scene in an instant.

To their right stood the petite, green haired girl of Itsuki's party on trembling legs.

To their left was a tall, buxom woman with long raven hair. At first glance, she could have been mistaken for a human, but her arms and legs were black as if they were wrapped in rubber. She had a Japanese air to her, even if she was basically half naked with how she was dressed.

In front of them stood a small girl with blue hair done up in pigtails. She wore an exquisite blue dress, but Naofumi was much more focused on the soldiers standing at the ready behind her.

"Princess Melty!" the green haired girl seemed to recognize the girl dressed in blue.

"S-Sadeena-nee-san!" Raphtalia sounded shocked.

Huh?! Everyone turned to look at Raphtalia, as did the so called Sadeena, who'd been staring at Shirou with a hard expression.

Sadeena's eyes widened before a radiant, relieved smile formed on her face. "Raphtalia? That's you isn't it? Oh, you look just like your mother when I first met her."

Raphtalia ran towards Sadeena and embraced her, an embrace that was happily returned.

Everyone stared at the happy reunion.

"Okay," Naofumi said slowly. "Uhm, I'm not quite sure what is going on right now. Would everyone be alright if we'd find an out of the way place to discuss what all of you want?"

A pause. Than everyone agreed in short order.


The girl, Melty, flat out paid to rent and clear out a nearby fancy diner for their discussion. The fact that the girl had deep pockets was something Naofumi was clear to take note of. They were seated at a fancy round table near the back, all facing each other. Melty's soldiers were standing at attention near the back wall, and as the staff and waiters had been instructed to leave the premise, no one else was present.

"Let's take it from the top," Naofumi pointed towards Raphtalia and Sadeena, who were seated next to each other.

"Everyone, this is Sadeena-nee-san," Raphtalia was all smiles. She was positively glowing. "I've spoken of her a few times, remember? She was close friend with my parents and basically the cool aunt for me growing up."

"I prefer being referred to as the older sister, actually," Sadeena chuckled.

"During the first Wave, she had been out fishing," Raphtalia smiled dimmed a little. "And before she could even return to the village, the slave hunters showed up…"

Sadeena's happy smile turned into a glower. "Yes, and that's exactly why I am here in Zeltoble. I will fill you all later in on the details, but I think there is a few other things to discuss first, no?"

"Fair enough," Naofumi agreed and then turned towards the petite, green haired girl.

"Feh," the girl squawked as everyone's attention turned to her. "H-hello, m-my name is Rishia, I am a companion of the B-Bow Hero, I just…wanted to apologize for what Master Itsuki said…"

Naofumi raised an eyebrow. "I see. Well, thank you, I suppose. But if anyone would have to apologize it would be Itsuki."

"I know," Rishia mumbled, playing with her thumbs. "I just…don't want anyone to think ill of him…"

Naofumi sighed and nodded. That ship had sailed some time ago, but he would not mention it. If he did, it would be little different than kicking a scared puppy.

The Shield Hero then turned towards Melty.

"Shield Hero," the blue haired girl inclined her head at him. "My name is Melty Q Melromarc."

Naofumi's eyes hardened.

"I am a part of the Melromarc royal family and next in line for the throne," she said, getting a blink out of Naofumi. "And I have been searching for you for quite a while now."

"You're that Bitch's sister?" Naofumi spat with more than a little spite.

Melty grimaced, and knew exactly who he was talking about. "Unfortunately, yes."

"What do you want from me?"

"I just want to talk to you. Well, I am more the messenger in this regard," Melty said, and reached for the bag by her feet.

Naofumi tensed and readied a Skill, but paused as Melty pulled out a crystal ball. She placed it on the table in front of her, and tapped it with her pointer finger. The crystal ball came alight with colors, and a few short seconds, the colors swirled around to become a face.

"Shield Hero," a smooth, regal voice greeted him. A beautiful woman with purple hair stared back at him, a crown adorned with large rubies atop her head. "I'm Mirellia Q Melromarc, the Queen of Melromarc. We have a lot to discuss."

"That's nice, but I don't feel much of a need to talk to you," Naofumi seethed.

Mirellia sighed. "I realize that would be likely be the case. My husband and my first daughter have done much wrong by you. Still, as a ruler and because of the threat facing Melromarc and the world, I would still ask you to at least hear me out."

Naofumi was about to give a vehement denial, until Shirou's hand wrapped around his wrist. He shot a sharp look at the demi-human.

"Naofumi, you should at least hear what she has to say."

"Why? It's not like I can trust anything she says," Naofumi scoffed.

"You can't decide that until after you have heard her out," Shirou rebuffed.

Naofumi still looked he wanted to refuse.

Shirou saw this, and realized he had to go low. "Do you really want to pass judgement over someone who you have never met before? Just like the people of Melromarc did to you?"

"…That's a low blow, Shirou," Naofumi mumbled lowly.

Mirellia bowed her head at him. "Please."

"…Fine," Naofumi relented. "But if I think for one moment that you're trying to deceive me, this conversation is over."

"Thank you," Mirellia smiled. She nodded her head in thanks to Shirou.

Shirou nodded back.

"I'll be blunt, Shield Hero," Mirellia looked Naofumi in the eye. "I want your help, for the sake of the world and Melromarc."

Naofumi didn't say anything. His raised eyebrow indicated his scepticism.

"I'm not sure how aware you are of the political situation, so I'll explain in detail. After all the Dragon Hourglasses across the world had started to move, an international conference was called…"

Mirellia explained in excruciating detail. At the end of it all, Naofumi…laughed raucously.

"Haha. So, to sum it up," Naofumi fought down his laughter. "Because of the trashy king summoning all the Four Heroes, instead of just one as decided at your conference, all the other countries were on the verge of declaring war on Melromarc?"

It made sense. The Four Heroes are supposed to be protectors against the threat of the Waves of Calamity and mighty warriors. If one country got their hands on all four, they would monopolize said protection and leave the other countries high and dry. Not to mention that the balance of power would be irreversibly destroyed. To prevent this, it had been decided that the four most powerful and influential nations would al summon one Hero each, only for Melromarc to snub said agreement before the ink had even dried on the agreement.

"That is correct," Mirellia sighed. "I've yet to return to Melromarc because I have been busy putting out the political fires caused by my husband's actions."

"In other words, preventing war?" Raphtalia asked.

"Exactly," Mirellia nodded. "With the threat of the Waves of Calamity hanging over our heads, that's something that must be avoided at all costs."

"I'm more surprised you managed to keep the demi-human countries from doing anything," Shirou mused out loud. "You mentioned Siltvelt, right? If it really is such an extreme country with a worship for the Shield Hero, they should have stormed Melromarc long ago."

"They nearly did," Mirellia said. "If I hadn't hidden details of just how bad the Shield Hero had been treated, Melromarc and Siltvelt would undeniably be at war right now."

"Question," Naofumi grunted. "Why didn't anyone of Siltvelt approach me after I was summoned?"

"They did, Shield Hero," Mirellia corrected him.

"Huh? When?" Naofumi blinked.

"It was shortly after you were summoned. I've been told that you told the representatives of Siltvelt to stay away from you," Mirellia explained. "As they worship you, they heeded the request without a thought."

"…I don't remember that," Naofumi said with narrowed eyes.

"Many people approached you, Shield Hero, many with ill intentions, but some who genuinely did want to help you. You turned them all down," Mirellia expounded.

"…The first week," Naofumi realized. The first week after he had been summoned and before he had bought Shirou and Raphtalia. He had been such a mess at the time…Many people had approached him at the time, seeking to use him, but if what the queen was telling him was true, he'd also turned down people who hadn't meant him any harm...

If she was telling the truth.

"Let's move on. I think I have an understanding of the situation now," Naofumi brushed it off. "What do you want from me, exactly?"

"To do your duty, help to prevent war, and to root out the disease poisoning my country," Mirellia said bluntly.

"Root out a disease? What disease?" Raphtalia cut in.

"The Church of the Three Heroes and their teachings," Mirellia stated clearly. "They teach that demi-humans are inferior, evil beings, and that the Shield Hero, the one that the demi-humans worship, is a devil. Even before the advent of the Waves, the Church and their teachings brought nothing but conflict to Melromarc, and now that the Waves have begun…"

Mirellia's expression grew angry.

"The Church of the Three Heroes are the only ones in Melromarc with the skills necessary to summon the Heroes. My husband might have given the go ahead, but it was the Church that did the deed," the queen spat. "They summoned all Four Heroes, and nearly caused a war that could have doomed us all! The Church of the Three Heroes has clearly overstepped its bounds. To ensure that all countries can work together in the present, and to prevent future conflicts, the Church of the Three Heroes must be removed root and stem from Melromarc!"

There was a moment of silence.

"…I certainly wouldn't mind if the Church of the Three Heroes were to be destroyed," Shirou said in a pondering manner. "But how would we accomplish that?"

"Actually doing it would be difficult, but the 'how' is fairly simple," Mirellia's expression lightened bit by bit. "You have already been doing it: winning the support of the people."

"I don't think I have won the support of the people," Naofumi stated deadpan.

"Not all of them, no, but a good amount, yes," Mirellia smiled. "You're actions may not have been celebrated by the nobility, but the fact that you were the only Hero to go out of your way to protect the civilians during the second Wave in Melromarc did not go unnoticed by the peasantry. Not to mention, your aid to the people in the Taageero Region has gained you a solid base of support from the people in that area of Melromarc."

"The Tageero Region?" Shirou blinked once.

"It's the region where my hometown is," Elrasla explained. "It's a fairly large region that borders on the Dark Woods and Zeltoble."

"I'm told that the support of the Church of the Three Heroes in that area is at an all-time low," queen Mirellia said in approval.

"…While I was supplying my services there I hid my identity, though," Naofumi confided.

Mirellia nodded. "That might be true, but some people recognized you regardless and some figured out later that you were the Shield Hero. It was never going to be a secret for long."

There was a moment of silence.

"If we want to destroy the Church of the Three Heroes, we first need to destroy their support base. If we don't, their teachings will simply continue to perpetuate amongst the populace regardless of what happens to its leadership and rank-and-file adherents," Mirellia said. "With a little luck, as you win more support and undermine the teachings of the Church of Three Heroes', they'll try something reckless that will give us an opportunity to knock off the entire leadership at once."

"This sounds all well and good," Naofumi said with still readily apparent scepticism. "But how would I continue winning the support of the people?"

"Continuing to offer our services to people in need would be a good start," Shirou mused out loud.

"Correct," Mirellia smiled. "But I know several more concrete actions that you could take in order to do so."

"Such as?" Raphtalia asked.

"I will again be blunt," Mirellia scowled. "The other three Heroes have made a mess of things in Melromarc."

"Can't say I'm surprised," Naofumi raised a brow. "How bad?"

"The Spear Hero unsealed a demonic seed and gave it to a village suffering a famine in the mistaken believe that it would solve their woos. Instead, it spawned rapidly mutating invasive plants and a horde of monsters that are even now barely being contained. The Spear Hero is lending his aid, with his party and any adventurer that answered the call, but there is reportedly little progress so far," Mirellia began.

Several at them winced hearing that.

"The Bow Hero deposed a king of a small country to the north of Melromarc. He apparently did this in order to stop the king's excessive taxation of his people, but after the resistance took over and the Bow Hero left, the taxation rate didn't change. The money raised was needed to combat the ever present threat of monsters, and even with the king deposed, the need for the money did not change. In fact, the chaos the king's death caused has only worsened the conditions the people are living in, and refugees are flowing into Melromarc every day," Mirellia added.

The winces grew deeper, and a few scowls appeared.

Rishia looked mortified.

"The Sword Hero killed a dragon, but failed to dispose of the corpse properly. This has led to a spread of an epidemic as the body rotted. A nearby village was wiped of the map. Worse, the corpse of the dragon reanimated, and a Zombie Dragon is now terrorizing the countryside. The property damage is piling up, not to mention the loss of life. The Sword Hero has had little luck so far tracking down the Zombie Dragon and killing it," Mirellia finished.

Now all of them were downright angry.

"…Is that what happens if you leave a monster body to rot?" Naofumi questioned. "They reanimate?"

"Not normally," Sadeena unexpectedly jumped in with a shake of her head. "When a Pure-Blooded dragon is killed, their soul retreats into their Dragon Core Fragment. This Core Fragment then merges with any nearby dragonkin, and after some time, a new Pure-Blooded dragon will form as the minds of the dragon and the host merge. If that doesn't happen, the slain dragon's body will reanimate and become an out of control undead version of its former self that attacks everything in sight."

"My teachings taught me much the same," the queen of Melromarc nodded.

Naofumi rubbed his head. "Those goddam idiots…"

"To get back to the point, Shield hero," Mirellia sighed. "If you take care of these problems, your support with the people will grow."

Naofumi appeared deep in thought.

Elrasla raised an eyebrow. "Are you actually considering it, Holy Saint?"

"…I do not trust the queen, at all," Naofumi relented. "But because of the promise I made, I have to go back to Melromarc. If for no other reason than that the other three Heroes will be there."

The Shield Hero's party shared a look of understanding. The promise to Fitoria.

"But so long as the Church of the Three Heroes remains in power in, it'll always be dangerous for us within the borders of Melromarc," Naofumi let out a breath. "Even if we disregard the international situation, our own circumstances give us ample reason to undermine the church."

Mirellia's expression lightened. "You will render me your aid, then?"

"Yes, our goals align, for now," Naofumi confirmed. "But, if I find even a hint to the contrary our deal is off and you can fix your own problems."

"Agreed," the queen looked pleased.

"In the meantime, I expect to you to render me your full aid, and to clear my name as soon as it can be done," Naofumi continued to negotiate.

"Naturally," Mirellia agreed. "I'll provide assurance of my future cooperation. Melty?"

"Yes, mother," Melty took out a large piece of paper and placed it on the table. Its glowing script marked it as a Magical Contract.

Naofumi and the others leaned over to read it. Their eyes widened in shock.

"You…would actually do this…" Naofumi said in disbelief. He glared at the queen.

"Actually, it was my idea," Melty corrected him.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Believe what you will, Shield Hero, but it is the truth," Melty stood firm. "I'm well aware of the stakes involved, both for Melromarc and the world in general. If doing this ensures your cooperation, than I will gladly do so as the Crown Princess of Melromarc."

"…Fine," Naofumi scoffed. "But don't complain if I come collecting."

Melty merely inclined her head.

Naofumi took the offered quill and signed the contract.

"Besides that, the soldiers I sent along to protect Melty on her journey to find you. I have ordered all of them to follow your command. Use them as you see fit," Mirellia added.

Naofumi looked over the soldiers standing at the ready at the back. There were a dozen of them. He was not quite sure how useful they would be, but he supposed bringing them along to the Wave was not a bad idea. More hands in a large battle was always handy.

He'd first test their competence, though. They would do little good if they were little more then dead weight.

"Moreover, the Shadows I assigned to you will continue to protect you going forward."

"What?" Naofumi turned to looked at the queen with widened eyes.

"Hoho?" a knowing grin crossed Elrasla's face. "So, it's like that, huh? I had a feeling it might be like that."

"Great that you figured it out. Would you be willing to share your findings with the rest of the class?" the Shield Hero said sarcastically and a bit of annoyance.

"It's fairly obvious, Holy Saint," Elrasla shrugged. "The Shadows of the Church of the Three Heroes have been trying to have you killed, but the Shadows of the queen have been preventing them from even attempting. There literally was a war in the shadows going on all along."

Huh, that did fit with their own limited findings. Naofumi turned to look at the queen for confirmation.

Mirellia inclined her head. "It's true. My Shadows have been waylaying the Church's Shadows in their attempts to harm you and yours. They have been doing a marvellous job, by all accounts."

"They failed once," Naofumi reminded her.

"One failure in several dozen successes is not the mark of incompetence," Milrellia reproached him a little.

"Fair enough," Naofumi agreed with a sigh.

Mirellia nodded before turning towards to hitherto silent Rishia. She squawked as she quite suddenly became the centre of attention.

"Young lady, I've been told that you are a companion of the Bow Hero?"

"T-That's right," Rishia squirmed in her seat.

"I trust that you realize you can't tell anything to anyone of what you just heard?" Mirellia said. "And that I would want some assurances of that?"

"W-What do you want from me?" Rishia had gone pale in the face.

"Don't panic," Mirellia soothed lightly. "I just want your silence, enforced by a Magical Contract. Melty will draw one up."

"T-That's fine," Rishia calmed down a little.

"Wait, before anything else," Naofumi cut in sharply. "Do you know what the Legendary Bow's Strengthening Methods are?"

"Yes," Rishia squawked at Naofumi's sharp-eyed gaze.

"Then please tell me," the Shield Hero requested. "I need to know."

"…O-Okay, but if I tell you, please promise me that you'll give master Itsuki another chance," Rishia smiled weakly. "A-And that you will aid him if ever needed."

"Deal," Naofumi sighed. His promise to Fitoria ensured he would have to do so anyway, so he saw no reason to refuse Rishia's request.

Rishia looked pleased. She opened her mouth and started to explain...


And another chapter bites the dust. I hope everyone enjoyed.

I know I left a few questions open in this chapter. Like, why did Sadeena search out Naofumi's party in the first place? Don't worry, that'll be answered in the next chapter.

Anyway, have a nice day everyone, and hopefully till soon again!