Author's Note:

I'm thrilled by the amount of people who enjoyed my first chapter, being a relatively new author, it gives me motivation to continue this story and to improve. Thanks to AllenBlaster for his encouragement and his own story inspiring me to write my own. I also would like to pay special thanks to Kampfpanzer for help with beta reading this chapter and editing and their suggestions, make sure to read his story Locked and Loaded in Another World. BLACKSERFT98 thank you very much for the review, I will be trying to have Naofumi be a little smarter and much more willing to absorb more things and do things that he might not have in canon to improve and get stronger. To Guest, thank you very much, I'll do my best to improve it, and make it better.

This chapter will be dealing with Naofumi ending up with Malty/Bitch in his party and realizing that she isn't all that she seems before she betrays him, ending with him going to bed unknowing what is about to occur. I also will be using the light novels for most of my sources as trying to stitch in info from the web novel, Reprise, manga and anime would be a magnitude too difficult to the extreme. I will only be showing Status Magic for the shields that give Equip Skills and interesting effects that he unlocks inside the story. All other shields can be assumed to give only stat bonuses. I will also be saving all the shields to be shown in Naofumi's HUD at the end to make it easier on myself although the first one will be shown during the chapter story.

4 Reviews, 7 Favorites, 11 Follows and over 250 views and counting. Thanks to everyone who is supporting me, you are one of the main reasons that I write and will continue to write. I will try to release a chapter bi-weekly but it will depend on work and life. As always, let's dive into the story.

"Speaking"

"Thinking…"

[Status Magic]

The Struggle of The Shield Hero

Chapter 2

That Woman Was Trouble When I Met Her

"No matter the species, the deadliest gender is always the female. Men will fight until they die. Women will take it to the grave and then find a way back."

Sherrilyn Kenyon

I was woken up by a maid who told me that breakfast would be served in the same dining area where the four of us had dinner last night and that the other Heroes would be there soon. I thanked the maid and washed my face using the bowl of warm water and towel provided, noting that I likely would have to settle for wiping myself down with this instead of a bath as it would be unlikely for us to have access to a bath. I made my way and nodded to Motoyasu, Ren and Itsuki as they sat down with me.

I made an effort to try and chat with the three of them and get to know them better but maybe because of how I got on them yesterday, they weren't all that willing to listen to me, other than to be distantly polite. I shrugged my shoulders, "I guess I'll talk to them after we get out parties and level tonight." I did look up and speak.

"Hey, did any of you notice that most of the nobles and ministers wearing a necklace that only had three of the four weapons on it?"

Motoyasu blinked and said with a smile.

"What, necklace? I would be seeing their 'assets' rather than jewelry if you get what I mean, I say!"

Yep, typical of the womanizer, if he was looking at anything, it would be female and definitely not what they were wearing for jewelry. Itsuki then replied.

"Well, perhaps I noticed, but what of it? We're Heroes and symbols of Justice, it's only natural."

I sigh inwardly and can't help but feel just a little disappointed in the blond teen.

"I should have known that he wouldn't think anything of it. He's only focused on being a Hero of Justice. Doesn't help me any though."

Ren on the other hand narrowed his eyes, but tried to act cool, as he said in short clipped words.

"Yes, I noticed, and it does seem strange that the shield is not represented. Perhaps it's part of the game's lore that will lead to a quest?"

"Well, at least Ren showed some signs of being observant, even if he tried to dismiss it as a part of his game. Perhaps he might be someone that I can share my concerns with privately later tonight."

The head maid that woke me up and told me to come here for breakfast let us know that the adventurers were being assembled in the throne room as we speak and asked us to follow her. We all got up and followed her into the throne room where the King was waiting with about a dozen or so adventurers and knights, all who looked like they knew what they were doing. I did however, notice someone hidden among the adventurers, a woman slightly younger than me who resembled the First Princess in the painting I saw in the hallway outside.

We all bowed to the King and I thought to myself.

"Maybe my admonishments got through to them at least, they're at least being somewhat polite."

The King then spoke up and said to all of us in the room.

"As discussed, I am providing you all with party members that are powerful and will grow stronger still under your guidance, it gladdens me to know that my efforts will not go to waste."

I felt a bit of relief, if each of us got 3 party members, we all just might be able survive and thrive in this world. The King then spoke up once more.

"Please choose the Legendary Hero that you wish to travel with."

The adventurers all began to move and put themselves behind Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu, but strangely none of them seemed to want to join up with me. The nagging feelings I've been having with the subtle hostility I've felt since I was summoned was beginning to come to a head. I looked around at my fellow Legendary Heroes. Motoyasu, predictably, had 4 and most of the female adventurers including the woman who reminded me a lot of the princess in the painting. Ren had 5, with a mixture of men and women and a knight that looked the part with full plate armor, a huge broadsword and a shield that was superior to my own. Itsuki on the other hand had the rest and I could see them buttering him up with him lapping it up like a puppy drinking water.

The King glanced at the groups of the other Heroes, then at me, and I thought I might have caught the barest hint of a smirk before it vanished. He sighed and looked at me with a hint of regret and spoke.

"I was afraid of this; it seems that there are people whispering around the castle. They are saying that among the Four Heroes, the Shield Hero knows next to nothing about our world."

"So, my bad feeling is true, they must have been spying on us last night and this morning and listening in to our conversations. Not ideal, but perhaps there's a way I can turn this to my advantage."

The King then continued on as if not even caring about what I was thinking about.

"The legends say that the four summoned Heroes will have knowledge of our world. There are…"

The King pauses and again, I saw the faintest of smirks cross his lips, before assuming a neutral expression. I was starting to get the picture here, the King for all his respect for me, did not like me.

"Perhaps my people are wondering if you can truly be able to do your duties as set out in the legends?"

I grimaced and hid it behind my normal blank customer service face but inwardly I was starting to seethe a bit. There was clear discrimination happening towards me, and I don't think it's solely because I wasn't the most knowledgeable, among the heroes. In fact, I was almost sure that it had to do with me being the Shield Hero itself, why else would people be wearing necklaces that completely ignored that there was a fourth hero on it. At the very least, the King had agreed to support us financially, so as long as he held up that end of the bargain, there was little I could do to call him out on his clear favoritism of the other Heroes and discrimination against me. I spoke up then.

"I will do my very best, however I would like to request to be compensated with more money than the other Heroes due to the fact that I will need to find and probably hire mercenaries and others…"

Just as I was about to continue to negotiate with the King, one of Motoyasu's party members, the red-haired woman that probably was in fact the First Princess spoke up herself and in a flirtatious tone.

"Why, Sir Shield Hero, I'm Myne Sophia. Since Sir Spear Hero has enough members; I would be happy to join your party, if you'd like?"

There was a look in her eye that I didn't like, I'd read enough fiction and dated some girls who had that same look and acted the same way, entitled and spoiled. The problem was that I didn't have many options, and perhaps she wouldn't be as bad as all that, provided I nipped any hint of her trying to get me into bed immediately, especially if she was in fact the First Princess. That could end up disastrous, especially if she tried to trap me into marriage via a real or even false pregnancy. I was about to speak up before the King beat me to it.

"Seeing as you only have one party member, I will give you double the normal amount of funds for the month. Heroes, please step forwards, to receive your money for the month. Please use it to equip yourselves and prepare yourselves for the waves. According to the Church, the next wave will occur in a month, use that time wisely. I bid you good luck, and godspeed."

I looked at Myne who was already trying to use her wiles and charms on me, as if I were Motoyasu who'd be all for it, or Ren and Itsuki who likely never had a girlfriend before and would be completely susceptible to it. I didn't exactly brush her off, but I also didn't actively encourage her, she definitely seemed like she would be trouble. I motioned for her to follow me and we left the throne room. Along the way, I casually glanced once again at that painting of the First Princess and yes, unless 'Myne Sophia' was a body double and dead ringer for the First Princess, she had to be her. I could easily call her out on trying to hide who she really was, but I felt that I could hold off on that until I got to know her better. There might be a very good reason why she was helping out the Heroes that I wasn't aware of, there were instances in light novels, manga and anime about princesses having to learn to be adventurers to prove their worthiness for the throne. As we were leaving the castle, I spoke up.

"Myne, do you know where we could get armor and weapons? As you can see, I don't think my clothes will suffice as protection. We do have more money than expected, so if you know a good armorer, we could probably get better gear than the others."

Myne looked at me with a glint in her eyes, and I could see that yes, she definitely was a selfish entitled spoiled brat. The wheels were turning in her head and I could almost hear her thoughts.

"That's right, Father gave him more money, I can milk him of it and have him buy me the most expensive equipment and make me look so much better than the rest of the rabble. Equipment fit for a Princess, no, a Queen!"

She replied however in that same flirtatious tone with obvious enthusiasm.

"But of course, Sir Shield Hero, I know of an excellent blacksmith who has the best equipment in Melromarc. Please, follow me."

I said lamely as she moved ahead to lead too quickly to be in earshot.

"The name is Naofumi… ah, never mind."

She led me through the streets of the Castle Town and I was already starting to get lost in its mazelike construction. Clearly, city planning and civic projects were low on the list of priorities. We passed a marketplace where I saw all sorts of stalls selling food and goods and I could see 'Myne' glancing at some of the more expensive trinkets and then at me every so often. I kept my blank business face on and I could see the flash of irritation and pettiness in her eyes but she too was a master of hiding how she felt with her expressions. I did note however that she would sneer at some people that I could only assume were the fabled animal people or demi-humans that were written about in isekai stories. Her attitude definitely didn't endear me to her and if she had any real plans of seducing me, how she treated others would have definitely been a hard pass from me.

We ended up in front of a shop that had a sign with writing that I couldn't read but fortunately had the universal symbol of a shield crossed with a sword and armor, making this the blacksmith's shop 'Myne' was talking about. She opened the door, and I saw a huge muscular bald man that had a scar on his face hitting a sword with a hammer on an anvil. He looked up when the door opened and his face stretched into a grin as he said to me.

"Welcome, so what can I do for you, you look like you're not from around here are you?

I manage a genuine smile, this was the kind of person I could get along with, someone who understood business and customer service. A far cry from the subtle hostility of the people in the castle and even 'Myne' that I felt from them.

"Actually, I'm Naofumi Iwatani, the Shield Hero and my companion here." I pointed to 'Myne' who waved in greeting. "Told me about your store."

"Why thank you very much… Miss… Hey, haven't we met somewhere before?"

"I've been here before, Sir Erhard, your shop is quite well known and admired around here."

His name was Erhard, I'd make a note of that as I could tell that we were going to have a long and fruitful relationship together. I then took control of the conversation as I could tell that 'Myne' was going to try and get me to buy the most expensive gear available and use up most or maybe all of our money when we needed it for other supplies. As soon as I did, I noticed that her irritation was increasing and her teeth were slightly clenched, making her smile wither just a bit.

"We're going to need armor for the both of us, and a weapon for myself, and I'd like a discount because I have the feeling that I'm going to be a regular customer of yours."

Erhard grinned huge and threw an arm around my shoulders and smacked me on the back. Even with my defense, it hurt like crazy, damn he had some strength to him.

"Well now, that changes things, if you're going to be a regular customer then I suppose I can afford to give you a bit of a discount. Now, since you are level 1, I'd suggest either plate mail or chain mail. Plate mail's a bit more expensive and heavier, but will give you the most protection at the expense of mobility. Chain mail's lighter and not quite as good at protection, but you'll be able to move much easier and at your level most monsters aren't strong enough to damage you through chain mail, especially with you being the Shield Hero and all."

"Hmm, how much for either of them?"

"The plate I can sell you for 400 silvers, it's made out of magic iron to help lighten the weight somewhat so that's why it's so expensive and why I can't sell it any lower than that. The chain mail I can sell you for about half that at 200 silvers and it's about what I'd recommend for a beginner like you."

I looked at both of the armors that he brought out to show me and risked a glance at 'Myne'. She was almost begging me with her eyes to pick the plate mail, probably because it would make me look much more heroic and because it was more expensive. We only had 1000 silvers thanks to the King's generosity, but I didn't want to blow it all here and so with an apologetic look to 'Myne' I said.

"I'll take the chain mail… I think it'd be better for me until I get used to fighting, I can always switch later on when I'm higher leveled."

I did however say to placate 'Myne' who was starting to reach her limit of tolerance towards me.

"Myne, you can choose whatever armor you want, I'm sure you know exactly what you want, seeing as you were here before. I'd rather not skimp on your protection."

After I said that, the irritation immediately vanished from her eyes and she almost purred as she put the back of her hand to her mouth and laughed.

"Oh, thank you Sir Shield Hero, it's wonderful that you take your companion's safety so seriously."

She turned and chose a set of leather armor that Erhard sold to me for 350 silvers, after telling me that it was worth almost 500. As I suspected, she was someone who wanted to live the high life, and buy all the luxuries she could. I turned and Erhard put down a simple iron sword on the counter before me and spoke.

"Here, try this, if it feels good in your hand, I'll give you a free lesson in the basics of using it."

I reached and picked it up in my hand until all of a sudden there was a flash of purple lightning and a powerful shock and I was forced to drop the sword back onto the counter and hold my sore hand. A notice popped up in my HUD.

Warning: The Heroes may not use a weapon or object, aside from their Legendary Weapon, with the intent to fight with it.

What? Did that mean that I was stuck using only shields? That was going to make leveling extremely difficult and force me to rely solely on 'Myne' to kill monsters for me. I already had my concerns and suspicions about her and this just made things much more difficult and stressful for me. Erhard blinked and looked at me, then at my shield, then at the sword and scratched the back of his head.

"I've never seen that happen before, what happened?"

I looked a bit chagrinned and I missed the triumphant smirk on 'Myne's' face as I explained to Erhard.

"It seems that I'm stuck to only using shields as my weapon."

He blinked again and gave me a look of pity and patted me on the back.

"Wow, I'm sorry Kiddo, that really sucks. You're going to have to rely on your partner here and do your best if you want to be able to survive and beat the Waves."

I nodded sadly and then turned to 'Myne' and spoke to her.

"Since I can't use any other weapons, and you already have a sword, how about we buy what ever else we need to maintain our armor and your sword and then go and try and level. I want to see how our teamwork is."

Myne nodded and I took out our money and paid Erhard for our armor after the two of us put it on inside the changing area. He was extremely nice and threw in all the stuff we needed to clean, sharpen and maintain our equipment for free. As I was grabbing it, the gem in my shield started to glow when I brought the whetstone close to it. I blinked and then decided what the heck and touched the whetstone to the gem. The gem absorbed it and my shield changed into a giant sharpening stone and my Shield HUD opened up and provided me details on the shield I just unlocked.

[Sharpening Shield]

Agility +1

Equip Skill [Locked]: Sharpening I

[Sharpening]: Place weapon inside inventory to sharpen (will increase ATK (minor) and slightly increase durability)

Wait, what? I had an inventory now? Equip skills? What were those, I immediately perused my help guide even as both Erhard and 'Myne' were asking me questions.

[Inventory]: Users of Legendary Weapons have access to an unlimited interdimensional inventory system. To store items in it, place the item against the gem and think about it being stored. To retrieve items, simply access the inventory in your HUD and select it.

[Equip Skills]: Legendary Weapons possess the ability to absorb items in the world to create new weapon forms for use. Some weapon forms possess skills that can be used while the Weapon Form is active. Mastery of the Weapon Form will allow the User to use skills without having the Weapon Form in use.

I quickly looked up Shield Mastery even as Erhard and Myne were continuing to look at me strangely.

[Mastery]: Keeping a Weapon Form equipped for a period of time will increase the mastery of the shield, when the Weapon Form is fully mastered, all stat, skill and equipment bonuses will be unlocked permanently without needing to switch to the Weapon Form.

Now that was extremely useful! It encouraged me to try almost everything I could to see what I might unlock and to master them all. I quickly absorbed all the supplies given and managed to unlock the Blacksmithing skill and several stat increases to my defense and agility and strength. No ATK stat bonuses however sadly. I managed to read in my help guide that to use the blacksmithing skill, I would require blacksmithing tools, a forge and recipes that I didn't have yet, and so that skill was relatively useless to me at this point. I looked up to the two and then said sheepishly.

"Oh sorry, I guess I got carried away, it seems the Shield is pretty versatile and allows me to absorb a lot of items you wouldn't think that would normally be useful to give skills. The whetstone gave me the ability to sharpen your sword Myne and keep it clean and fix minor damage to it."

Myne blinked and for some reason didn't seem happy about this, but before I could figure out why, she smiled and clapped her hands.

"Well Sir Shield Hero, that's wonderful! But I think we're wasting daylight, if you want to get stronger, I think we should head outside the city and into the forest to level."

I nodded and waved to Erhard as the two of us left his shop and headed out through the west gate out of the city. I had heard that Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu and their parties had each taken a different cardinal direction in which to level as we learned that teaming up would negate our EXP gains.

'Myne' immediately found what I could only describe as balloon monsters and explained to me that even a child with a stick could defeat them. I tried using my fist, but the only thing that happened was hearing a solid CLANG! And their small health bar only going down the barest of fractions. It was almost pathetic in a way. 'Myne' was able to kill a dozen easily with her sword for every one that I managed to punch to death. There were different colors of Balloons that I put their 'corpses' into my shield that gave me slight boosts to stats and into my inventory that 'Myne' said could be sold for money at the marketplace. I also did the same for the Mushes that looked like Goombas mixed with the Mushroom People in Mario. I also absorbed any leaves and herbs I could find.

+3 EXP

Yep, that's how much EXP I could get from the balloons and mushes, it took me hours and close to dusk to even manage to level up to 2. Strangely though, 'Myne' didn't seem to have that problem herself or so she told me. I wondered why, and I resolved that as we decided to go back to the city before the gates closed and join up with the other Heroes at the Inn the King rented for us, to discuss things with her, including why she was hiding her identity.

When we reached the Inn, I never did get the chance to talk to her as Motoyasu grabbed a hold of me and dragged me to his table with Ren and Itsuki and tried to get me to talk about how fun it must have been to party up with such a beautiful woman. I tried to disengage myself as I was pretty tired and it took me a couple of hours before I could get away from Motoyasu.

I went over to 'Myne' tiredly and let her know that I was going to retire early, gave her the key to her room, took mine and went upstairs. I was so tired I didn't even notice the satisfied smirk she gave me as I walked upstairs. I was just too tired to care at that point and I managed to take off my armor and realizing that I still had my cell phone on me, decided to let my Shield absorb that and keeping that shield to unlock it's equip skills and bonuses before climbing into bed in my t-shirt and boxers and pass out.

Unlocked Shields:

[Red Balloon][Orange Balloon][Yellow Balloon][Green Balloon][Blue Balloon][Purple Balloon][White Balloon][Black Balloon] {Balloon Shield Series Complete}

+2 Def, +2 Agility, +5 Lightning Resistance

[Equip Skills] (Locked): Bounce – Allows User to use Shield like a rubber ball and soften and reflect charging attacks. Can be used to negate or lessen fall damage.

[Red Mush][Orange Mush][Yellow Mush][Green Mush][Blue Mush][Purple Mush][White Mush][Black Mush] {Mush Shield Series Complete}

+1 Def, +10 Poison Resistance

[Equip Skills] (Locked): Potion Making I – Allows User the ability to unlock simple potion making and poison making recipes (requires the use of apothecary equipment and knowledge of recipes as well as Medicinal Herbal Knowledge).

[Medicinal Leaf Shield][Antidote Leaf Shield]

+3 Def, +10 Healing, +15 Poison Resistance

[Equip Skills] (Locked):

Medicinal Herbal Knowledge I – Ability to analyze herbs and leaves for medicinal purposes. Unlocks ability Potion Making I as well as increase efficacy of using herbs.

Appraisal I – Ability to use HUD to appraise simple items such as flora and fauna. Cannot appraise Monster or other Enemy info without Appraisal II or higher.

[Otherworld Device Shield]

+1 Def, +10 Lightning Resistance

[Equip Skills] (Locked):

Clock – HUD now displays current time and date.

Calendar – May now use calendar functions in HUD

Camera – Shield now has access to all photos and video stored in Otherworld device and can now take pictures and video and project them from Gem.

World Map – HUD now has a mini-map that will be displayed as well as a pop-up viewable map of the world. Only known details will be shown, absorbing actual maps will allow World Map to function better and show more information.

Radar – User and Party Members are now locatable on the mini-map. Enemies and Monsters may be locatable once relevant skills are unlocked.

Phone – User may set up calls between Party Members and others that User has contact information for.

Message – User may use messaging function to Party Members and others they have contact information for.

Computer – HUD has been enhanced to show more detailed information.

And there we go; I tried my best to show how this Naofumi is a lot more cautious and a bit more aware of Myne/Malty and isn't automatically believing her or trusting her. The next chapter's the trial and Naofumi managing to go to Beloukas and getting Raphtalia… and maybe a surprise or two. Note that because Naofumi's already wary of Malty, he's not going to be as betrayed by her. He's going to be angry, no question, but he's not going to be the dick and as unaware of Raphtalia and her growth and feelings for him as canon Naofumi is. Please do favorite, follow and send me reviews. I always enjoy interacting with people and would love even more feedback. If you have any burning questions, you may PM me if you like too, I'm more than happy to respond to each and everyone of them.

Peace out.