This is a Full Metal Alchemist and Rising of the Shield Hero Fanfiction only.

"About 50 silver pieces and that comes with a discount on repairs." I took the money and gave it to Erhard. He actually counted each silver piece, I honestly don't know if I should feel insulted or worried that some people try to short change a man with this many weapons near him.

"Well now that you got yourself a nice set of armor, and look dashing wearing it, mind if I ask you something? I think you would get ready for the waves with the help of a few party members, and as such, I offer yet again myself as one of such party members, oh we could have a lot of fun."

I still remember what that book said, and this person Myne does sort of fit the profile, so I decided to do this in a less direct way, maybe she can take a hint. "Erhard, have you ever been to the royal palace? They have this really impressive foyer. Did you even notice that beautiful portrait right above that beautiful fireplace?"

Myne was still trying to seduce me, too bad for her it is not going to work. "Oh, you mean the painting of the royal family, yes, I have to agree with you that was a rather beautiful painting, why bring it up?"

Really is she not taking the hint, "Well it is a pretty nice family portrait, and don't the lady right near us sort of reminds of how would the cute little girl in that painting would look if she was her age?" Now that made Myne begin to worry, and she stopped her attempt to press herself against me.

I turned around and looked at her trying to be as nice as possible, "Now if that was the case, I do believe that would make you the daughter to King Melromarc, so you do realize that where I go usually there are particularly dangerous beasts, and other kinds of creatures right? What would you call a person that takes a princess of this nation to such a dangerous place?"

Erhard just looked at me and said quite plainly suicidal if not also insane. "See our friend here realizes it, so I am sorry princess, I can't accept your selfless proposal, I appreciate the offer, but honestly you would be better off with the other heroes, they have more members and can dedicate at least one of them to keep you safe."

She was showing her temper even if she didn't realize she was with that glare. "I do find it rather faltering that you think little old me could be confused as a princess, but if you don't have more party members how are you going to prepare for the coming waves?"

I was getting ready to leave when I turned towards the door and decided to answer, "It is quite simple, the princess would be irreplaceable, so I just need party members that are not irreplaceable, I hear there is a tent by the entrance of town that sells slaves. I think I will see what the merchant has on stock."

"Again Erhard thank you for the armor, don't close up too early, I might need to come back to buy gear for the slave I will more than likely purchase. Since I am the shield hero, I guess a nice demihuman would be a good choice, they are very loyal to the shield hero or so I heard."

That was the final straw for Myne, she left really angry that I turned her down and instead I was planning to spend my money to buy a demihuman, and provide that demihuman with gear.

She left in a huff and I don't think even Erhard did not notice that she fit the picture of the angry princess who didn't get her way. As I left the shop I went to the slave merchant's tent. I had to admit it sort of reminded me of a circus tent more than anything.

"Ah, welcome, welcome to my humble little business, you are here earlier than I expected Mr. Mustang, I was planning to offer you my services how in the world did you hear of my business?"

I looked at the man, a strangely dressed man, rather plump, and jewelry and a gold monocle. "I was listening to some merchants say they purchased their slaves from you, so I decided to purchase a nice set of armor, and come and see what you got in stock. You might have heard that I am the only hero that has no adventurers to help me."

He laughed and looked at me with a smile, "Indeed I heard, that is why I was planning to go and find you later this evening. Don't mean to interrupt your very important activities, that is why I planned to meet you when you got done with your day's activities."

He began to walk in and I decided to follow, "I have to admit that this is a rather nice looking tent, now what do you have for me? I need at least one slave to help me prepare for the coming waves."

He kept walking till we reach a rather impressive looking beast, he was at least four times my level. "Indeed, you are very wise in choosing a slave over a common adventurer, you might not know this, but our slaves are both obedient and loyal, we keep them under control thanks to a seal based curse. As an owner you can ensure their obedience, and should they even think of betraying you, well you can end that slave's life."

I looked at him, "Something that you can't be too sure with a common adventurer who can easily slit your throat just robs you. I gather you are showing me this impressive beast for that purpose, indeed he is impressive, but somehow I gather you know that I probably couldn't afford him."

He laughed again, "Oh, I do love having such an intelligent potential customer, indeed, I wanted for you to see my best item so that you can be assured that my merchandise is top quality, and you gain an appreciation for my wares."

I have to admit this beast is strong, highly experienced and thus why he is so expensive. "Yes, but I am looking for something more shall we say disposable and since I would use said slave in combat I prefer one with a more affordable and economical price."

He began to walk away from the beast and he began to nod his head, "Well if you want a lower price then that would mean a demihuman, since Melromarc practices human superiority, you will find that most demihumans are treated as merchandise here in the capital, and so their lives are never that easy or fair."

He stopped in front of three cages, "Now these three I can offer for a good price, well if you are looking for something on the lower price range, I wouldn't get near that half raccoon girl there, she has been giving me no end of trouble, she is so sick she is not long for this world, her previous master did enjoy his torture. She is not exactly well mentally either."

I looked at her and did my best not to scare her any more than she already was, and I looked at the merchant, "Well since she has been giving you so much trouble, why don't I do you a favor and take her off your hands? How much for her?"

He looked at me and began shaking his head, "I don't know, you said you needed the slave for combat, I don't think that half-dead raccoon girl is going to be much help." I simply told him not to worry I would train her after all this was no different than upgrading my shield.

"Well I can't say you are wrong, how about twenty silver pieces?" I told the merchant it would be fine. The girl was taken out of the cage and she was placed nearby, I had to cut my hand and allow my blood to mix in with a rather strange ink-like mixture. The merchant took the plate where the mixture was and he exposed the seal that was on her chest.

He took a brush and painted the mixture within the circle of the seal and she began to scream as if she was in pain. I placed the silver pieces on the nearby table. "I wouldn't worry to much sir, the pain will subside soon enough." I decided to go to her and knelt down to look at her.

"Why don't you tell me your name?" She looked a bit scared and she was acting sort of shy, if I didn't know any better I would say she was naturally being cute. She finally looked at me with some rather beautiful eyes, she said her name was Raphtalia. The second she did I decided to add her as a companion.

"Sir, I think you made an error, there are twenty-two silver pieces here," I told him that there was no mistake, the twenty was for Raphtalia and the other two were to pay for his work on the seal.

"I know better than anyone there is nothing in this world that is truly for free." He laughed as we left the tent. The second the seal was finished my shield reacted and a Slave User shield appeared, I saw that the passive was an increase in the defense and stats on the slave and a boost on exp gain. The passive was being able to see the condition the slave was in, basically a medical status check.

I think I will try to teach her to defend herself, and deal with any illnesses she might have. Once we have established a good rapport then I can have that slave seal removed, but so far I needed it for both training and to be able to check on her condition.

"Come on Raphtalia, you don't need to be afraid let's go and get you some much-needed gear ." I walked towards Erhard's shop and Rapthalia was following close behind me. She for some strange reason was acting in a rather shy way. If she thinks to try to influence me using my emotions is going to work, well she will learn the error in thinking that later.

"Erhard could you please choose some gear she can use, keep it to six silvers." He did pick some armor and a knife, I guess since Raphtalia looks like a little girl having her use a sword even a short sword would be a little too much.

She sure took her time in getting dressed in her armor or is it that she didn't know how to wear that sort of gambeson armor. I waited and finally, she came out. I paid Erhard a little extra since he picked an armor that was both efficient and comfortable for Raphtalia.

"Thank you again for some great gear Erhard, I will be sure to return should we need to upgrade, just asking how much is going to be the resale value on that armor and knife?" He looked at me and smiled, "Well if they are in good condition I would say about three silver pieces."

Good, then no need to waste it, We both left and I began to walk towards a restaurant. She stopped for a little bit, "Come on Raphtalia, we got to get something to eat, nobody can fight well on an empty stomach."

"I know that sir, but, this place..." I saw the sign and I don't care how much they discriminate, I am a paying customer and she was my companion, they better believe that I am not going to simply watch if they discriminate against her.

"Come on, we have lots to do, and little time to waste." She finally came in and I saw her looking at the food a little kid was eating. I guess she is sort of interested in that food. I sat down on a chair and she sat on the chair right in front of mine, the waiter finally came to our table.

"I will have the cheapest set, and she will have the kid's set." He didn't waste a second before he said that it would be three coppers. I gave him five to also buy something to drink, two glasses of lemonade."

The waiter left and we just sat there waiting, I heard some rather nasty comments about Raphtalia, and I was not liking these comments at all, if the owner of this place wants me not to beat up his customers he better damn well hurry with that food, cause my blood was already boiling with the comments they already made.

The waiter arrived and placed both plates on the table, the kid's meal had a little flag sticking on the rice and everything. "Wow, this looks so good, master why did you get this for me?"

I looked at her and then decided to drink some of the lemonade, "You looked like you wanted to try it, come on Raphtalia, let's eat before the food gets cold." She starting to eat, but she was eating a little too fast, made me think she was going to choke, and sure enough, she was coughing soon as she was halfway done eating the rice.

I pushed my glass of lemonade towards her, "Here, drink." I kept eating my food, for some reason this food tastes bland, almost like it has little no flavor. The way Raphtalia is eating pretty much told me she thinks the food tastes good, but this stuff I am eating left much to be desired, must be because it is the cheapest items.

I tried really hard to finish my meal, honestly, I felt like I was eating chalk. Did they pour something on my food or is there food always like this? Cause if it is, I need to find a new restaurant cause this one is going to go out of business with this food and this service. I have seen bars in seedy back allies with better customer service that this dump.

Raphtalia got up and I simply pushed the chairs out of the way. She seems to be in a better mood so all in all, it was not a waste.

We came to the field and sure enough a metric ton of balloons, honestly, they feel like they are cockroaches, I could kill them by the thousands and I never run out. I saw how she was trying to use her knife and sure enough, she had no clue, I guess some basic weapons training was in order.

"Rapthalia, listen, I got to pick some herbs, but do as I tell you. Don't worry I will not be far from you." She looked a bit scared, I am guessing this is something that I should be aware off, or maybe it is simply that she is an innocent young girl and of course she would be afraid of fighting strange creatures.

I gave her instructions on how to approach, how to use her knife, counter and everything that I could think off in close quarters combat. As I finished collecting the herbs and had begun to grind them into medicine for her cold she really got into the swing of things, she killed five mushroom monsters and she collected the pieces as I told her.

I checked again her status and it shows that she is low on stamina, I guess a little break is in order, I looked at her physical status and sure enough, it said she had a very bad cold. Considering we were in a land without antibiotics, well there was no doubt anyone would consider her current illness as life-threatening.

"Alright Raphtalia bring me those pieces to me, I need your help with something." She tried to carry a pile bigger than she is, of course, she would stumble, so I put the mortar down and went to help her carry the pieces of the monsters she was carrying. We finally made it back to the tree where I was mixing the medicine.

I touched her head, and rubbed it, "Good job Rapthalia, just remember what I told you about how you fight with a knife. Come here, I need to you to drink this, it's medicine I just made, it should help you feel better."

She took the small cup and began to drink, but as soon as she tasted it she threw it up all over my shield no less, great now my shield absorbs that too. The second it did, it appears like it would unlock a shield if I kept doing that who knew that stuff I make also unlocks shields, and here I thought it was only going to happen with raw materials.

"Yuck, bitter." I guess she really is this young, nothing good will happen if she is not willing to take her medicine, I need her to get better. "Rapthalia all good medicine tastes bitter, but if you take it, you will feel better and stop coughing and feeling bad. You could even end up making me feel sick, and people around you, you don't want that do you?"

I gave her another serving of the medicine and this time she did not spit it out or threw up, she drank it till there was nothing left. I continued to make more of the medicine and decided to bottle it. I did promise the guy from the apothecary that I would let him see how good my medicines were, I also need to know so I can make better medicines for Raphtalia, no cold is going to kill her on my watch.