Author's Note:

First off, I want to thank Allen Blaster of Virtue of the Shield Hero fame for his comments and suggestions. I also would like to thank Robotech275 of Crafting Hero and Cooking Hero fame for helping me with timelines and suggestions on how Weapon Forms actually work so that going forwards they will be more in line with how they are presented in canon. I will also be rewriting some portions of the first and second chapter once I get deep enough into the story to fix some of the mistakes I was not aware of. Chapter was beta read by Kampfpanzer who's story Locked & Loaded In Another World is one I highly recommend reading as well as those named above.

To answer review questions:

To all guests, thank you for your responses, your input and compliments are much appreciated. To the guest that said they never thought of this story idea, I hope I can continue to meet and exceed your expectations. To BLACKSERFT98: I will be going more into depth into Naofumi's abilities and dealing with his potion-making/cooking abilities in the next chapter. I hope you look forward to it. To Krieger Techpreist: Thank you, again I hope I can meet and exceed your expectations as I am writing this for myself and for others to enjoy (or hate) as they will. To Da Lone Ranger: I'm going to do my best, I probably won't go into too much depth into the shields he gets just because it's a pain to come up with ones that aren't canon but aren't overpowered and while making sure that the other heroes get something equivalent. To blueassassin996: I can understand and appreciate your stance. I have a similar one when it comes to fics. I hope that with this chapter it will convince you to fave and/or follow this one. Finally to MaxPrime: I am sticking fairly close to canon at the beginning because I feel that even if he managed to avoid being framed for rape by Malty, there would have been something else that would have ruined his reputation and have made it hard for him to get stronger or receive help from people. I had Naofumi buy Myne's canon armor because I felt that he could see that she was getting extremely pissed and wanted to ease tensions before they went out. Not to mention he knew she was the First Princess and if he didn't at least buy her really good armor, it could make him look bad in front of the king. As to his chainmail, he was too tired to put it in his armor, he did put all his money in the inventory though as you'll see in this chapter and you'll also see the start of where I diverge greatly from canon. Hope you enjoy it still going forward.

This chapter will be dealing with Naofumi being framed for rape and the trial and how he deals with it, I will likely end with him arriving at Beloukas's tent and maybe him meeting Raphtalia.

12 Reviews, 14 Favorites, 26 Follows and over 800 views and counting. Again, thanks to everyone who is supporting me, you are one of the main reasons that I write and will continue to write. As always, I will try to release a chapter bi-weekly, but it will depend on work and life. Let's dive into the story.

"Speaking"

"Thinking…"

[Status Magic]

The Struggle of The Shield Hero

Chapter 3

Every Dictator Needs A Scapegoat

"Don't waste your time trying to provide people with proof of deceit, in order to keep their love, win their love or salvage their respect for you. The truth is this: If they care they will go out of their way to learn the truth. If they don't then they really don't value you as a human being. The moment you have to sell people on who you are is the moment you let yourself believe that every good thing you have ever done or accomplished was invisible to the world. And, it is not!"

- Shannon L. Alder

I was awoken by banging on my door and someone yelling, "Shield Hero! Open up immediately!" I was then grabbed by someone as I opened my eyes and dragged out of bed as a knight barked at me.

"By the authority of King Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, you are under arrest and will be brought forth to court for trial!"

I blinked and tried to fight the knights off and said to them.

"What the hell? Let me go, I've done nothing wrong! You're making a mistake!"

They didn't even give me a chance to put on my clothes and dragged me out of the inn in my underwear and through the streets like a common criminal. I could have probably broken their grip and gotten away and with my defense, likely not even got hurt if they tried to attack me, but I felt that it would be a better idea to just go with them and find out exactly what was going on. I had a feeling however, that the source of my problems would likely be my party member, the First Princess 'Myne Sophia'. I already had a read on her personality and with all the subtle hostility and discrimination I was experiencing, it wasn't a stretch to think that whatever I was being accused of, was a direct result of that.

I was brought straight into the castle and marched into the throne room without even being announced, which further told me how serious this was. I was shoved onto my knees in front of the King who looked almost irate. To the side, were the three heroes who were looking at me disgustedly, along with 'Myne Sophia' who was hanging all over Motoyasu who was wearing MY chainmail. I raised my eyebrows at this, but seeing as how she had left him to come over to my party yesterday, I got the feeling that this was all a part of her plan.

That thought was pretty much confirmed when the King spoke up, trying hard to keep his rage out of his voice, as he was acting as my judge to the rest of the court who were there to observe my plotted downfall.

"The Shield Hero, Naofumi Iwatani, stands here accused of the most heinous crime in our laws. The crime of attempting to rape his party member, the adventurer, Myne Sophia. Dame Sophia, will you please describe the events that took place last night."

"Why am I not surprised, she's a woman and the King's daughter… Of course, it's becoming clear now. They've set me up to be a criminal and scapegoat. I'm going to have to speak up, if only for the record, but no matter what I say or what evidence I bring up, I'm going to be found guilty. Damn them!"

I gritted my teeth in a fit of anger and I wanted to scream at the injustice of it all. 'Myne' started to spin a tale of how I somehow got drunk, broke into her room, and assaulted her. The fact that I was only level 1 and with only 1 ATK notwithstanding only made things more absurdly grotesque. I was forced to listen as she described how she immediately ran to Motoyasu to get help and tell him her story.

The other heroes, especially Itsuki with his thirst to be a hero of justice, were buying this tripe so I knew I had no allies there. I honestly didn't blame them. "Myne" was a really good actress, and when they brought their 'evidence', of a ripped piece of lingerie that supposedly was found in my room? I was almost convinced that I did it. If you weren't from a modern world where a more thorough investigation would be made, and even then I still might not have been believed. I waited until they were done and spoke.

"So, do I get the opportunity to speak before I'm inevitably found guilty and sentenced?"

The King glared, but looked around the room, and realized that he would have to give me the opportunity to at least make a defense before he finished railroading me or the plan wouldn't work fully that I suspect was the work of the Three Heroes religion, the bitch princess and the King was all in on. He motioned for me to speak and the guards let up on me. I ignored the King and turned to address the three Heroes.

"Motoyasu, Itsuki, Ren. I know you likely won't believe me, but I'm innocent. We all come from a different Japan, but the legal system can't be that different. I'm being framed, and you know how 'justice' works in our homeland and how it works in medieval fantasy. Use your heads. I'm the SHIELD HERO, you even were quite adamant that my class sucked. I have 1 ATK and I'm still at Level 1. How the hell could I overpower her?"

I turned to Itsuki and tried to make him understand and maybe get him to see the injustice of it all.

"Itsuki, think about it, you've seen the stories in our world about people like Amber Heard and how that all went down. Why isn't she covered in bruises and other injuries if I supposedly did it? That's not to mention the absurdity of the 'evidence'. A ripped piece of lingerie, supposedly found in my room, really? It could easily have been planted! There's magic in this world after all!"

I next turned to Ren and said to him,

"And Ren, even though you said that I was basically useless and weak, can you really believe that I would assault someone… my one and only companion, who is supposed to be a strong and capable adventurer whose level is way higher than mine with only 1 measly ATK and just a shield?"

Finally, I turned to Motoyasu and did my best here, even though I knew it was useless and he wasn't going to believe me because he was into the whole MeToo and Believe All Women as a feminist and skirt chaser.

"And Motoyasu, where did you get that chainmail? I was wearing it myself just yesterday AND YOU SAW ME DOING SO! Also, why is she hanging all over you if she was supposedly almost raped last night? Seems inconsistent with a supposed rape victim since they would not want to be anywhere near their attacker or even another man for that matter. Finally, her name isn't 'Myne Sophia', she's the elder princess and his daughter!"

My pleas fell on deaf ears, although I did make good points that made each of them uncomfortable. They trusted the King and being young men, were wired to believe the beautiful woman over the lame otaku. The King sneered at me as 'Myne' hid a laugh behind the back of her hand. The King did say however.

"Yes, this is true, my daughter that you VIOLATED was using an alias to help potentially avoid being targeted. Her real name is Malty S. Melromarc. But you seemed to know about her already… which makes what you did high crimes against Melromarc! Regardless, based on the evidence at hand, I, Aultcray Melromarc XXXIII, King of Melromarc pronounce the Shield Hero, Naofumi Iwatani, GUILTY! His sentence is "death by guillotine!"

I glared at him and tried to appear as confident as I could, even though I was scared out of my wits, I had no ATK and only Level 1. There was no way I could escape when they dragged me to the execution grounds. However, the King spoke up once more.

"As you are a Cardinal Hero, and needed to fight the Waves of Catastrophe, the sentence shall be delayed until after the Waves are dealt with and then we will revisit your conduct then. Until then, you will receive no help from this Kingdom and all will know of your terrible misdeeds. You are lucky…"

He leaned forwards and down to look me in the eye, almost spitting in my face as he said his final words.

"If it was up to me, I'd have not only your head, but bring forth the Soul Eater Worms to feast upon your very soul so that not only would you die but you would be ERASED from EXISTENCE ITSELF for ABUSING MY DAUGHTER!"

He slumped back and then motioned to the guards that held me and said then.

"Take him away before I change my mind, I want him out of my castle immediately, and barred from it unless I summon him specifically."

I wanted to snarl and yell at everyone for this, maybe try and convince someone, anyone of my innocence. But as I was dragged out of the throne room by the guards, there was no one who bothered looking at me, no sympathetic looks. This kingdom and its royal family were pieces of trash as far as I was concerned.

"Screw them all, I'll figure out a way to get stronger. I can't attack, so I'm going to have to rely on someone else to do it for me. That bitch showed me just how having an actual ATK stat is necessary."

I was tossed out onto the street outside the castle and the doors shut in my face with the guards glaring at me, subtly goading me to try and pass them. I got up and glared back up at the castle and I muttered to myself.

"This isn't the end, your Royal Trashiness, you and your Bitch daughter haven't seen the last of me. I'm going to make sure that someday, you get yours and I'll clear my name."

I thought about the portraits that I saw on the wall outside the throne room. Until now, we've only met the trash King and the bitch older daughter. But where were the Queen and the youngest daughter? Why have we not seen them yet? Or even mentioned for that matter? What were those two hiding? I needed the answers to those questions quickly and it's why I turned and headed into town directly towards Erhard. Of all the people in this godforsaken kingdom, he was the one I trusted the most, he had dealt with me fairly and without any hint of discrimination or dislike.

I had to endure the looks of people and the whispers of 'Rapist', 'Shield Demon' and the always handy 'Scum' as obviously the Trash King and Bitch Princess had made sure to spread the word, before I was even brought in front of them. How else could the entire Castle Town know about it? I also had to endure the humiliation and laughter of others who noticed my lack of clothing, helping to shred what little remained of my pride and self-respect. I really needed to get some clothes.

I made it to Erhard's and started to open the door. He looked up and before I could even blink, he had me up against the wall, fist raised and growled.

"Is it true? Did you do it?"

I simply looked at him and glared and said calmly.

"No, I didn't, I was set up… by that bitch princess and her trash king father…"

He clenched his teeth and fist and looked into my eyes before finally letting me go and sighing as he said.

"Yeah, I'd heard rumors that the First Princess has some personality issues, and you seemed like a nice guy but one never really knows right?"

I looked away and ground out.

"Well, at least you believe me, that's more than I can say for the other Heroes and the rest of the city."

Erhard winced and then noticed my lack of clothing, blinked and raised his eyebrow as he said.

"Not that I'm judging Kid, but why are you dressed in your undies? Trying to make some sort of fashion statement or something?"

I gave him a look of disdain and said to him,

"No, I was like this when they woke me up and dragged me directly into the castle. I wasn't even able to grab my belongings from the inn because they confiscated them. Not to mention that the bitch gave Motoyasu my chainmail. I was hoping that you might have some spare clothes I can borrow and maybe a cloak to be able to cover my head to hide my face."

He stroked his chin and then said to me,

"Not sure about clothes, but I do have a cloak that you can have, it was part of my adventuring gear back when I was an adventurer. I don't need it anymore anyways so you can have it if you like. I'll look in the back and see if I have any clothes too."

I relaxed a lot when I heard that, even just a cloak would help make life a lot more bearable, clothes I could probably get from a second-hand shop. I did save all my money in my inventory, not trusting that bitch any further than I could throw her, which turned out to be a very good thing. I could at least afford to get some cheap clothing that I could learn to mend if inevitably it got ripped and damaged while out in the wilderness leveling.

That didn't, however, help me with the fact that I had essentially no way to attack and do damage. I needed allies badly, I had thought to maybe ask Erhard to partner up with me, just until I was of a high enough level to be able to fight on my own if that was even possible. But learning that he didn't need his adventurer gear anymore made the possibility a non-starter. I finally said to him as he came back and passed me the cloak and a pair of pants that I put on barely fit me.

"Erhard… I hate to ask you this, but because of the circumstances, and the fact that I can't actually attack things and do damage, I need allies. Do you know who I could ask or where I could ask to find trusted people that would team up with me?"

He looked at me with a somber look and then replied.

"Well Kid, here's the problem, with your reputation coupled with being a criminal I wouldn't recommend trying to ask anyone. Normally I'd have said the Adventurer's Guild as you can hire mercenaries and adventurers to work with you for a fee, but I don't think you have the money, and I wouldn't trust the ones that would agree anyways."

He sighed and rubbed the back of his head and looked very uncomfortable, before he finally looked back up and said slowly and carefully.

"There IS a way to get some trustworthy allies… but you're probably not going to like it…"

He warned me as I raised an eyebrow and leaned forwards to listen. I replied back to him.

"Really? What are we talking about here?"

He took a long breath and then forced it out.

"I'm talking about slaves… demi-human ones in particular…"

I was shocked speechless for a long moment before I said.

"Wait, what? What do you mean, slaves? There's slavery here?"

He nodded gravely and then said to me.

"You… haven't noticed that demi-humans are a minority in this place right? And the ones who are here, tend to be servants of the nobility?"

I had to pause and think back, I remembered 'Myne's' subtle racism when she saw a couple of dog demi-humans who were helping a rich and fat nobleman who was berating them for being too slow. I finally had to nod to Erhard and bite my lip, was I really going to have to fall down that low and become a slave owner to be able to do my job? He then said,

"Kid, I know it's not ideal, but slaves are given a crest that makes it impossible for them to hurt their owners or lie to them, or even disobey their commands without being shocked."

My eyes widened at this, it was FAR worse than I thought, and Erhard thought THIS was the best way for me to get some help? He continued.

"Yeah, I don't have any myself, but I'm acquainted with someone who deals with stuff like that because his main job is selling monster eggs and some of his customers want armor or weapons for them, strange as it is."

Here he sighs and then says finally.

"You know what, you'll see what I mean when you meet him, just leave my store and then go down the street and head into the slums. As soon as you arrive, you'll see a big circus tent… go inside and uh, hopefully you won't run away."

Well, that didn't bode well, but I had few options at this point and very little money. I managed to get Erhard to let me borrow some very cheap leather armor that wouldn't last more than a few levels before it became useless, but at least it covered my vitals and gave me some form of protection besides my shield. I followed his directions into the slums and immediately caught sight of the tent over top of the buildings and used it to guide my way through the winding streets until I finally reached it. The tent was open and I had misgivings upon misgivings as I could smell a stench coming out of it that made me realize just how bad this idea really was. It was the smell of despair and death. However, a short fat and greasy man, wearing an outfit that was a cross between a pimp and a ringmaster in a circus walked out and grinned as he adjusted his sunglasses.

"Great, I see what you meant Erhard, this guy is a businessman through and through and morals are irrelevant to him."

He spoke up then as he offered his hand, that grin giving me the creeps as it made me think he knew exactly what I was thinking, that I disliked him, and it gave him a lot of pleasure to be the villain… among other things that I didn't want to think about.

"Well now, it looks like we have a customer, one that appreciates and understands business and the necessity of it."

It took all of my willpower to not throw up at this, I had to remind myself that if the trash of this kingdom hadn't set me up and made me a criminal, this wouldn't be necessary. I resolved myself that whoever I bought, I wouldn't treat them like a slave, I'd give them the choice to fight for me or else free them if they refused. I just hoped someone would take up the mantle for me. I had to take a shaky breath and then say.

"I heard you sell…" I ground out the next word, "merchandise. I am looking for someone who can fight for me."

I knew that he knew who I was, but he knew that I knew that he knew, and so the mind games began. I was far behind the curve on this one, having little to no knowledge, and I was going to have to use all my wits if I was going to be able to get what I wanted without being taken to the cleaners. This man was the type to sell his own mother and for as much as he could get, and not bat an eyelash. That was my one saving grace, that he was solely motivated by coin, with enough and the promise of more later on I would likely prevail, or at least come out even. He smirked then and replied.

"Yes…" He drew the word out, "I do in fact sell merchandise that can serve your purposes, follow me inside, and we will see what suits you best."

He turned and I was forced to follow him inside, feeling trepidation with every step, and the inside was worse than the outside. The front of the tent housed his working area and office but he passed through it quickly to push open a curtain and lead me through. He stopped in front of a cage that as I moved forward, I had to jump back as something snarled and slammed against the cage and I saw something extremely hairy, with sharp claws and fang and reminded me of a werewolf. The circus ringleader guffawed at my obvious discomfort and fear and said to me.

"It's a beast-man, we consider them in most respects, people… although this one is wilder than most."

I looked at him and there was the hint of madness in the beast-man's eyes and that was a big red flag. Why was he showing me this one first? What was his angle, if he knew who I was, he also knew that I didn't have much money or resources behind me nor was I able to ask for any from the trash royal family. I said then.

"I realize that I'm a hero and all, but I still don't know a lot about this place. Can you tell me a little more about it?"

This was going to cost me more than I like, but I was already having to pick the lesser of two evils at this point and I couldn't afford to be choosy anymore about how I did things. I was likely going to have to be ruthless and aggressive and use my criminal status to my advantage if I was going to survive. I needed to use everything, including putting myself in debt to a slave trader and using slaves to survive this hell that I was dropped into. I didn't know what I was supposed to know, that's why I needed to get the answers to my questions. Erhard wouldn't be able to answer as he was a simple blacksmith, maybe the best in the kingdom, but had very little information beyond that. This man struck me as someone that dealt with more than just merchandise and bought and sold information as well. He replied.

"The Melromarc Kingdom tends to consider humans as higher order creatures than these other types. It can be a tough place for beast-men and demi-humans to live."

"That would explain why they're slaves at least, this rotten place doesn't even consider them to be close to humans, clearly they discriminate against them. But that doesn't completely answer my question."

I asked as I thought through what he just told me.

"Ok, fine, but what exactly are these demi-humans and beast-men?"

He smirked and answered easily.

"Demi-humans look just like humans from the outside, but they have some differences on the inside. They are considered to be a type of human. Beast-men are technically a type of demi-human, the sort whose beast-like characteristics are particularly powerful."

"Gotcha. So, they are in the same category."

"That's right. And because the demi-humans are, at least in this country, considered to be one step away from monsters, it's hard for them to live here, and they often end up sold into slavery… Incidentally, I should mention as I'm sure you don't know, the demi-humans actually revere you as their God… just as I'm sure you realize that this kingdom reveres the other three heroes and considers you to be… well, the devil."

Well, that partially answered one question I had, this place considered me to be their religion's devil. I had to know, so I started to speak and ask the obvious question, but the man cut me off by saying.

"Yes, it's as you suspect, there is a kingdom of demi-humans called Siltvelt and they follow demi-human supremacy and enslave humans and call you their God. Incidentally, there was a war between the two countries and there are bad feelings which remain after."

A war with a country that considered me their Lord and Savior? Yeah, that would definitely explain why people hated me on sight, even before you added the false accusation of rape on top of that. I turned to the man and said to him,

"Alright, so that helps me a lot, and I can probably fill a lot of the blanks in myself. So, the question then becomes, how much for this one?"

"Well, you must understand how useful a beast-man is in a fight. Naturally this affects the price."

Again, he probably knew exactly how much money I had, and because of that he was going to try and swindle me. That was just the nature of the beast called business. Buy low, sell as high as you can get away with, use whatever means necessary to do so as long as the customer is still satisfied at the end of the day.

"How about 15 gold pieces?"

"I don't know anything about the market price, but I'll assume that you're giving me a good deal?

One gold piece was the equivalent of 100 silver and there was a reason that the trash king provided us our funds in silver and not gold. The gold pieces were worth so much that few could exchange them. It was much easier to buy and sell in silver and so the vast majority of commerce in town was in silver, not gold. I learned that while shopping with the bitch yesterday. I needed to know this because I was going to have to get involved in business myself as soon as possible, selling whatever I could to be able to afford gear and supplies, especially if I managed to get anyone to fight for me from here. I said with a sigh and a glare at the man.

"You know that I can't afford that, so you started with the most expensive one, right?"

"Yes, well, I can tell that you are going to be a great customer regardless. I would be a poor business man if I didn't start with our best wares."

Definitely a slimy piece of shit, but useful, for now. I definitely was going to have to keep my wits about me as we went along. He continued to speak.

"For your own information, please take a look at this slave's information."

He held out a small crystal to me. I noticed a flashing icon, and soon enough words appeared before my eyes.

Battle Slave: LV 75

Race: Wolfman

I also was able to read his skills and thanks to my Otherworld Device Shield, I was able to get some extra information that told me that he was suffering the Berserk status and that it raised his ATK value by 50% and lowered his DEF by the same amount and that he couldn't distinguish between friend or foe because of it.

"LV 75, that's way more than my measly LV 1. If he were on my team I would be so much stronger than the other heroes and my life would be so much easier. The problem is that status. Could I control him? He doesn't look all that healthy and if he's so high leveled, why is he only offering him for 15 gold and not more. How is he able to control them himself anyways for that matter."

I spoke up to ask that question and said to him.

"How do you control him, even in that cage, he's so feral that he could possibly break out and kill you given the chance? And why if he's so high leveled are you only selling him for 15 gold and not more?

The man smirked and snapped his finger and the wolfman started to scream as I saw arcs of electricity jump from a symbol that appeared on his chest and the man explained.

"… Punishment is as simple as a snap of your fingers. It can even be arranged for you to work it into your Status Magic so that you don't even have to use a snap of your fingers. However, a ceremony is necessary. The owner's information must be shared with and absorbed by the slave."

"So that the slave can always understand the owner's intentions?"

"You have it my boy"

He laughed and then the symbol on the wolfman's chest faded away and he slumped to the ground, panting, growling and ignoring him, the slave trader said to me.

"He used to fight in the Coliseum. He hurt his leg and they were going to dispose of him. That's when I stepped in and bought him."

"Lovely, so he's damaged goods, his level won't matter because he won't have the mobility to fight properly."

As I was ruminating over this, the slave trader got down to brass tacks.

"Now then, I've shown my best. Tell me, sir, what kind of slave are you interested in? We have slaves specialized for battle or for physical labor. Or if my intuition proved correct…"

I glared at him and said simply.

"I'm innocent, but you already knew that, didn't you. You know far too much as it is… But to answer your question, I need a cheap slave or slaves that can help me level."

He scratched the back of his head as he removed his top hat and then thought out loud.

"Do you have a preferred gender? I say that because I have 3 that might suit you, but they are extremely low level. They might, however, be good if you want them for that…"

His smirk was wide as he insinuated once more that I was looking for a pleasure slave, and I glared again at him, and cut that off with.

"I don't care about that, if they can fight, we can level together."

"Good answer, well… follow me then, we'll see if they are to your liking."

We passed further through the tent and into an area where I could hear crying children. The sound was breaking my heart, he was selling me children? How would children help me? He suddenly stopped in front of three cages and spoke to me.

"These are the cheapest slaves I can offer you today, sir."

The first had a young boy of around twelve or thirteen, who had dog-like ears and features and reminded me of a fierce puppy and who glared at me and refused to look away.

The second held either a raccoon or tanuki eared girl who looked the same age as the dog demi-human beside her. She was skinny and terrified and had pink eyes that didn't even look up and seemed dull and dead.

The third held another girl who looked like either a cat or ferret or even a weasel demi-human that also was about the same age as the rest. She however, did not even stir, and looked to be the worst off of the three. Was she even alive? I didn't know and I waited for the explanation from the slave trader.

"All three of them are level 1 and are from the same village and were enslaved after the Wave destroyed their home and killed their parents. A shame really, their village happened to be an experiment that was supposed to be a peace gesture with Lintvelt, who created a village just like it, only for humans. Starting from the left, a dog demi-human who is fierce and protective of his two friends. Next, a raccoon demi-human who is sick and has night terrors and has been sold back several times because of it. Finally, a weasel demi-human who is also sick, but has been so badly damaged by their previous owner that she will likely die within a few days or so."

He shrugs as he seems quite sanguine about the impending death of his supposed merchandise and then continues.

"The dog is worth the most at 100 silvers, the raccoon at 50 and the weasel… well I wouldn't recommend buying her, but if you want her, I'll sell her for 10 silvers only and waive the fee for the ceremony."

I looked at all three, my heart was breaking, I quickly looked at the money I had in my inventory. Of the 1000 silvers I was given, only 300 remained. I hoped Erhard could be convinced to do things with I. because I was determined to buy all three of them. Even if they couldn't fight, I couldn't just leave them here. I'd buy all the other children here if I could, but these three were the only ones I could afford right now. I said then to him.

"How about I give you 125 silvers for all three, and later on, when I manage to clear my name and be able to do proper business I'll be a regular customer and buy more merchandise from you?"

He thought about it, but only for a second and then laughed, the dog demi-human looked shocked, the raccoon looked terrified, and the weasel demi-human managed to wake up and looked up with at me and for some strange reason at my shield and had a soft relieved smile and whispered.

"You came…"

Before she closed her eyes again. I blinked, and the three of them were removed from their cages and then brought to the front where his work area was. He brought out some special ink and had me use a knife to cut my thumb and mix a drop of my blood into the ink. He then powered up a magical circle underneath each of them and then his assistants used the ink to paint a crest on each of them. The weasel demi passed out immediately and I caught her before she fell. I definitely was going to need to heal her somehow. She definitely wouldn't last the night at this rate. As soon as all three were marked, on my HUD, underneath my health, magic and SP bars appeared three names and a notification popped up in my vision.

Slaves A, B and C have been added to the party.

Damn that bitch! There was a party system? No wonder I wasn't getting much XP, she never told me about it and kept it all for herself. I noted that there were no names associated with any of them on my HUD, perhaps because I hadn't learned them yet, and that Slave C the weasel's health was dangerously low. All of their health bars were low, but hers was the worst and nearly empty.

I passed 200 silvers to the man and he raised an eyebrow.

"What is the 75 extra for?"

"I want a bottle of that ink please; I want to try and absorb it into my shield and see if it'll unlock anything for me. The rest is your commission. You were going to weasel it out of me anyways."

He smirked.

"You got me there, Sir Shield Hero, I can see that we'll have a long and fruitful relationship together."

I again wanted to throw up, knowing that he was probably right, and hating myself for it. One of the assistants allowed me to absorb the ink they used with my blood and it gave me an incredible couple of shields.

Slave User Shield:

Equip Bonus (locked): Slave maturation adjustment (small)

Slave User Shield II:

Equip Bonus (locked): Slave status adjustment (small)

Incredible, this would help them tremendously, I couldn't wait to get them out into the forest to level them up. Although, I held the weasel in my arms and picked her up princess carry style and said to the other two.

"Let's get out of here… follow me…"

I walked out of the tent, feeling melancholy as I did so, the dog and raccoon girl following along. Once we were far enough away I turned to look at them and got down onto one knee before them as I spoke to them gently holding carefully to the frail weasel girl in my arms.

"My name is Naofumi Iwatani, and as you might have heard I'm the Shield Hero. I've been summoned to fight the Waves of Destruction, the same ones that destroyed your village. I can't fight on my own, only defend and I need help. I've been falsely convicted of a crime I didn't commit and because of that, I can't get any support from the kingdom. Before we get into things, what are your names?"

The two still awake looked at each other wide-eyed and the dog boy said excitedly.

"You're the Shield Hero! That's so cool! I'm Keel and I wanna be a real man of the sea like my Dad someday!"

The raccoon girl was shy but said politely, even though her voice was still full of despair.

"I'm Raph *cough* talia… and that's my best friend Rifana in your arms."

As soon as I learned their names, it updated on my HUD and I nodded as I said.

"Listen, Keel, Raphtalia, Rifana… I need your help, like I said, I can't attack and I need someone to do it for me. Will you help me? I'll understand if you don't want to, I'll protect you and take care of you either way because you are now my responsibility. But I hope you will, but I won't force you either way."

Rifana managed to open her eyes and gasp out.

"I… I don't have long… but… I've always dreamed of one day meeting the Shield Hero."

She turned in my arms to look at Raphtalia and smiled a bit.

"All of us did, dreaming of going on adventurers with them, and fighting the Waves as companions. I don't have long, but until my dying breath… I'll fight with you, Master."

Keel then spoke up next.

"Darn right! How can I call myself a man of the sea if I won't fight! I'm in!"

Raphtalia looked up into my eyes, and for some strange reason, something passed between the two of us. There was an understanding as she spoke up.

"Save Rifana… and I will be your sword… and follow you wherever you go."

"She's serious about it too, I'd wager the two, no three of them were closer than just friends, almost siblings if I'm reading their relationship right."

I nodded to Raphtalia and I reached out with a hand to gently pet their hair and ears. Their tails were wagging a mile a minute as I said.

"I was going to do that anyways, you don't have to fight because of that reason, I promise I will protect you and take care of you even if you didn't want to fight. But I'm glad that you do. First things first though. We need to find an apothecary and see if we can't do something about Rifana here, I still have a little money left. Maybe we can buy medicine and potions for all three of you to get you closer to fighting shape. Then we'll go to a person I know and see if we can find you something to use to fight with, ok?"

The three of them all nodded to me and we turned to head back into the middle of town.

And there we are, the first real major divergence from canon. Yes, I had Beloukas have both Keel and Rifana who were at this point prisoners of Idol Rabier. It was never explicitly stated, but I'm fairly sure that Rabier sold Raphtalia either when Rifana died, or shortly after. Now I'm aware that with Rifana alive, Raph-chan will not be Raph-chan, but I do have plans for her once we get there which won't be for quite some time. I plan on taking things very slow during the first arc which will end with the Second Wave and the Duel between Moronyasu and Adultfumi as I am naming him. Please do leave a review or feel free to DM me any questions you have, I will be glad to answer either in the author notes in regards to reviews and in DMs for questions that are potential spoilers.

As always, peace out.