Alright peeps, thanks for patiently waiting. I'd say you can expect the same things you saw from the Author's Notes in Chapter One of Hope. And, of course, I hope you all enjoy Arc 5: Cal Mira Archipelago.
Summary: The Heroes have finally dealt with the Pope and are working together to build a safe haven for themselves and their parties. However, setting it up is only the beginning of their problems. With new relationships forming, a psychopathological princess hiding in the shadows, and heroes from another world knocking on their door, the Cardinal Heroes will be stretched to their limits. Things get worse when a massive beast is awakened. It's clear that hope will not be enough to survive the trials ahead. If they're to live, friendships must be retained. Knowledge has to be attained. And as Fitoria said, Naofumi will have to learn to be Diligent to protect not only the people of the world, but the friends and loved ones he has come to cherish.
Diligence of the Shield Hero
Chapter One: The First Counsel of Heroes
The sun was slowly moving through the morning sky. Clouds drifted listlessly from the wistful ocean, and a gentle sea breeze was blowing in through the open window, bringing its cool rejuvenating touch to one very important individual.
"Huahhhh…"
A spiky black haired guy yawned into his hand, the coolness of the breeze somewhat bringing him back to reality. He sat back in his chair with a tired look on his face.
How long had he been here already? He wished he could just go back to bed. His green eyes turned towards the window again, staring past the fields at the neverending ocean outside. A shield with a green gemstone rested on his forearm.
This figure is Naofumi Iwatani, the Shield Hero. He's originally from the Japan of another world. However, after picking up the wrong book in a library, he was summoned alongside three others to this world, in a country called Melromarc. There, he learned they'd been summoned as the world's four Cardinal Heroes to fight and defend against a disaster known as the Waves of Catastrophe.
There's still a lot of mystery to them, despite having faced them twice. However, if they're not dealt with, they could eventually lead to the end of the world.
After being summoned, Naofumi was a naive, kind person. He originally started along the same line of thought that the other Heroes had. They had been summoned to a gamelike world. To the others, it reminded them of the games they had played. And though it'd felt real, they insisted it was only a game. And he believed it.
Two nights after his summoning, he overheard a plot by his former party member, a princess he called Bitch, and a nun from the country's religion, the Church of the Three Heroes. They worshipped the other Heroes, but considered him to be a devil.
They were pretty stupid some of the time, but a genuine threat regardless.
The plot was this. Falsely accuse him of rape, and keep him weak and partyless so he'd die fighting the next Wave of Catastrophe. It would have worked too. As the Shield Hero, he couldn't equip any weapon besides his Legendary Shield, which had the worst ATK stat out of all the Cardinal Heroes, and possibly all the weapons in the world. Even now, months later, it still took him between four to five minutes of punching to kill a level 1 balloon, whereas a child with a stick could probably kill it within a minute. Thus, he had to rely on party members to level up and get stronger.
With his life on the line, Naofumi realized that this world wasn't a game even if the mechanics made it look like it. He got scared, and fled from everyone and everything before the Princess and Church could enact their plan. Running away, however, had only made him look worse in the eyes of the people.
What followed for Naofumi was a period of rage and depression. His kindness and naivety disappeared, being replaced with skepticism and hatred. He didn't dare to show his face in public. His only help had been a slave girl named Raphtalia, a Raccoon demi-human who was now his girlfriend.
There was a long story there, but needless to say, she was the main reason Naofumi was still alive and fighting now, months after the incident. She'd helped him to survive and to gradually heal mentally and emotionally from the whole incident. He was still a jerk most of the time, and he suffered from the occasional nightmare, but she'd stuck by his side regardless. And while she had her flaws, he couldn't ask for anyone better to be his companion.
Gods, he remembered being so depressed that he lost his sense of taste for a time. That sucked. He was really glad Raphtalia helped to fix that...
...
"Sir Naofumi, are you paying attention?!" An annoyed, high pitched voice destroyed his thought process with the grace of a flying brick.
"Yes, Second Princess." Naofumi dryly replied without looking.
"It's Melty! And face me so I know you're at least listening to me!"
"Fine. Whatever." Naofumi turned to see the pout on the face of a blue-haired, blue-eyed, twelve-year-old girl.
That was Melty. She dresses in a fancy frilly blue and white outfit, with two blue ribbons holding up her blue hair in twin ponytails. It was the only outfit Naofumi ever saw her wearing for some reason.
Seriously, didn't she have any other outfit? Or did she have 10 pairs of that dress?
Anyway, she's the younger sister of Bitch, which had honestly irked Naofumi at first. However, she was quick to prove that she was a far better human being, unlike her older sister. She was actually competent as a royal, and showed care for those around her. She even stood up to her older sister when she was trying to have them all killed in the Capital.
However, despite all that she'd done, Naofumi had taken to calling her Second Princess. At first, it was because of her naivete, but now, it was because he enjoyed pissing her off. Something that Raphtalia didn't appreciate.
Hey, he said Raphtalia was his girlfriend. That didn't mean he had to follow everything she said.
Regardless of what he called her, he did care about the young Princess. Melty had been targeted by the same people who wanted him dead. Now, he had her working as the governor of the land he and the other Heroes had been given by her mother. To give her both experience in ruling, and to keep her in a place that'd keep her protected from those enemies.
He still loved taking opportunities to poke fun at her. But he wasn't without a heart… most of the time.
"Anyways, as to what we were discussing…" Melty said in her princess attitude.
Another round of yawns sounded. Naofumi's eyes moved from Melty to the other faces of those sitting around the table.
They looked just as excited to be here as he was.
"What's this list of laws you're going over for?" A black haired teen with a sword on his back asked. The sword had a blue gemstone on it.
That was Ren Amaki, the Sword Hero. He's a quiet teenager who tries to play it cool to hide his social and anxiety issues in most situations. However, he is competitive at times, and when you look past his flaws, you can tell that he has a big heart, and that he cares a lot for those around him. Unlike Naofumi, he was summoned after he died saving his best friend from a murderer. The guy stabbed him, and he died shortly afterward, appearing in this world with a Sword in his hand.
He was the first Hero to not believe Bitch's accusation, and he helped Naofumi out when he didn't trust others. Foiling a plot from the Church of the Three Heroes, as well as giving him helpful information that helped him become stronger. He still made mistakes, like killing a dog girl's adoptive dragon father because a "quest-giver" asked him to. But he eventually realized he wasn't playing his game. He's been trying ever since to make up for his mistakes. He took in Wyndia, the dragon's adopted daughter, and helped her to grow big and strong. He shared monster materials with the other heroes, some of which went into Naofumi's latest armor. He even saved Naofumi's life several times, and stood by him when they took down the leader of the Three Heroes Church.
He was a good guy, in Naofumi's opinion. Though if you were to study him closely, you'd realize he could almost pass as a girl.
Of course, he'd never mention that to his face. The guy is self-conscious enough as it is.
"As we're establishing ourselves as a new country, we'll have to make sure we comply with international laws for trade and regulation," Melty answered. "For example, we could be fined if we crossed into another country's waters without the proper permissions, paperwork…" She spoke for another minute. Using jargon and other words most of the Heroes couldn't even understand. "And that's if we trade by sea. There's a lot of other issues we'll have to deal with trading over land."
"... Oh…" Ren sat back in his chair. Afraid to ask about those laws.
"That honestly sounds more like Naofumi's area of expertise." The blonde-haired teen next to Ren said. He had a bow on his back with a gold gemstone on it.
"I might have experience from being a merchant in games, but that doesn't mean I understand all the laws associated with business," Naofumi muttered.
"Oh…" The boy went silent.
That was Itsuki Kawasumi, the Bow Hero. He's quiet in a different way from Ren. More reserved, calculated, dignified. Yet he's also easily excitable and extremely competitive. He secretly loves being praised too. It probably comes from the fact that he was bullied a lot in his past life before being summoned.
Fortunately, he hadn't come here because of those bullies. His death was an isekai classic.
A quick impact from the famous and lovable Truck-Kun.
Naofumi's first interactions with the teen had been nothing short of unpleasant, with Naofumi wanting to slap him upside the head for being a prideful arrogant snot that was more boy than Hero. He'd had a bad party that fed his ego. However, like Ren, he eventually became better.
He realized he wasn't playing a game, pretended he still was so he wouldn't be overcome by past trauma, unlocked a Curse Series, and eventually faced his traumas to become a real hero.
Now, almost his entire party had been replaced by competent people who wanted to help him. He was trying, trying to be less prideful and less of a prick. Between moments where Naofumi genuinely talked to Itsuki one to one, he learned he really wasn't that bad of a person. At heart, he was a good kid.
He still got on his nerves at times, but regardless, he was nice to have around. He also had a green-haired girl in his party named Rishia that he'd admitted was like him before being summoned. He'd looked down on her before because of that, but now he wanted to help her grow just like his party had helped him. Seeing her really showed how far he'd come since being isekaied.
"It's alright. I understood most of that stuff… I think?" A blonde-haired man sitting across from Naofumi said. He had a spear with an orange/red jewel in it resting against his side.
And that is the fourth Hero, Motoyasu Kitamura, the Spear Hero.
To keep it simple, he's a blonde who pretty much simps for everything woman. He's tall, handsome, loving, and a huge pain in the &^%. It wasn't until recently that Naofumi actually learned that he could be a decent older brother figure to him and the other Heroes. It also wasn't until recently he learned the guy had a massive angel fetish.
Out of the other three Heroes, Motoyasu caused Naofumi the most trouble in the past. Dueling him to free Raphtalia and take her away from him. Capturing him and bringing him to the Capital, even after learning there was a chance he was being manipulated. Being the dog of the royal Bitch whose sole purpose in life was to cause Naofumi and others as much misery as possible.
Just to name a few of the grievances he had against the blonde simp.
Still, after Naofumi had tricked Bitch into confessing in front of Motoyasu, he somewhat came around. He learned the world wasn't a game, and after learning about Bitch's true evil nature, he left her in a cell to rot. He stood by his side with Ren and Itsuki when they faced the leader of the Three Heroes Church together. Now, he was working to become an actual hero.
Though the simp needed all the help he could get since he still refused to believe that strengthening methods could be shared between Heroes for some reason. What an idiot...
Melty continued addressing the four of them, and Naofumi's mind wandered to the last few days.
The Heroes and their parties had gotten somewhat used to their new routines. Ren was now trying to progress in sword training to become a better fighter, using the help of another one of Naofumi's newest party members. A rose haired knight named Eclair Seaetto. He met her in a prison cell in the Castle Dungeons. She'd been imprisoned by Bitch for murdering an assassin that'd been sent to kill her for trying to join the Shield Hero's party.
Naofumi honestly thought that after she'd avenged the death of her Father, the musclehead would lose steam and relax somewhat. But now, she was training harder than ever. She was helping to train Ren, Raphtalia, and others in the village who wanted to better their sword skills. It was nice that she was voluntarily filling that position, but the girl really should take some time to relax. She loved her sword far too much as it is.
Itsuki and his party were steadily making progress on a monster situation outside of a country bordering Melromarc. Itsuki was looking at it as a good leveling experience. Sometimes, he was able to bring extra people or knights from the village along to help them level up off the monsters.
Motoyasu hadn't said how his training was going, but based on how upbeat, and beat up, he was before the meeting, it must have been going very well. Hopefully, that was the case.
As Naofumi had thought earlier, that simp needed all the help he could get.
As for Naofumi himself, he was busy tackling a multitude of tasks. Grinding alongside his party. Compounding medicines. Gathering herbs. Finding places to acquire ore and gemstones to make accessories. Cooking for people in the village. Etc. His list of things to do seemed endless at times.
He'd been less busy as a college student working a part-time job.
He'd finally settled into his new schedule somewhat when Melty effectively crushed their plans for the day by calling them in for this unplanned meeting to discuss their country's new laws, policies, and more. She claimed she needed their counsel and wisdom on several different matters.
It felt more like she was trying to teach them how a bureaucracy was supposed to work.
Even if he would never admit it, Naofumi couldn't help but feel a certain degree of respect toward the Second Princess, with her being able to handle the kind of stuff she was discussing over with them on a day to day basis, but they honestly had no clue how any of this bureaucracy stuff worked. That's why he and the others had put Melty in charge of it.
Couldn't she run it without their assistance? How bothersome.
"We need to figure out how we're going to enforce these laws I've outlined!" Melty yelled irritably, once again bringing Naofumi out of his state of mind.
"Just put any rule breakers under Itsuki's bow. That should keep them in line." Motoyasu said boredly.
"That sounds good to me," Naofumi muttered. What had he missed? Hopefully, it wasn't anything too important.
"Why does it have to be me?!" Itsuki asked.
"Aren't you the one that's all for justice out of the four of us?" Motoyasu asked.
That may be so, but I'm not going to casually execute people for breaking the law! That's barbaric!" Itsuki said firmly.
"Whoa, relax, I wasn't saying you had to execute them," Motoyasu said tiredly. "Just, you know, put the fear of Justice into them. Rough them up a little if you have to."
"Oh. Well, okay then." Itsuki calmed down and looked down at the table in embarrassment. Had he actually been looking for an argument there?
Wow, he must have been really bored.
"We are not doing that! That would be horrible to have to call the Bow Hero up every time we needed a criminal punished!" Melty yelled to grab their attention again.
"Well, how about we have Ren punish the rule breakers too?" Motoyasu hesitantly suggested.
"I'd be up for that," Itsuki said.
"Ditto," Naofumi muttered. As long as he didn't have to help. Not that he'd be of any use since his ATK stat was utter garbage.
"Wait, hold on there! I didn't ask for that!" Ren quickly snapped to attention. That was not a responsibility he wanted to be put under!
"Ugh, no, that isn't what I'm saying!" Melty yelled again. "We can have the knights enforce the laws! I just need to figure out how they'll go about enforcing them!"
"Hmmm…" "Sounds good to me…" "I guess you do you…" "Whatever…"
Melty facepalmed at their reactions.
"Tell me again why you can't make the laws for us?" Naofumi whined.
"This is YOUR country!" Melty emphasized, glaring at them all. "I can't do all the work by myself! I need your input so I don't accidentally enact something major that one of you doesn't agree with!"
"Ugh, that makes it sound like we're a democracy." Motoyasu groaned.
"Umm, actually, if we strictly based it on the definition, our city-state would be an Oligarchy or a Plutocracy depending on how you look at it. Since we're not nobility and the four of us hold all the governing power, with Melty as our representative." Itsuki awkwardly coughed to the side.
There was an awkward pause following that.
...
"What?" The bow hero looked back at the table in annoyance. "I went to a good school."
"No, no it's just..." Ren looked away and nervously banged his fingers on the table's surface.
"Isn't that ... a bad thing?" Motoyasu spoke out with some effort. "I mean, I wasn't an ace college student, but I'm pretty sure that these words are supposed to mean something very bad."
"Hmph, what does it matter?" Naofumi crossed his arms. "This whole meeting is a huge waste of time. We barely have enough people to call ourselves a village, we're getting way ahead of ourselves here. You know second princess, maybe if you played less with Filo, we wouldn't have to be in here."
"Don't you dare bring Filo into this!" Melty yelled at Naofumi. A vein visibly bulged on the girl's forehead.
Filo was Naofumi and Raphtalia's daughter figure, and Melty's bestest friend in the whole wide world. She is a Filolial that oddly reminded Naofumi of a bird from a video game he'd played known as Chocobo. He bought her as an egg from the same slave trader that sold Raphtalia to him, and the two worked together to raise her after she hatched. Unlike the birds in that game though, she grew up white-feathered instead of yellow. As well as that, after reaching a certain point in her growth, she gained the ability to transform into a little girl with blonde hair, alongside a stomach that could hold a whale.
He hadn't fed her anything whale-sized yet. But he wouldn't be surprised if she could eat that much. She'd been more of an annoyance in the beginning. But she eventually grew on him to the point where he considered her his daughter. When she and Melty met, it had been instant friendship. Filo really was amazing.
"She's the only reason I haven't gone insane from all the work you're putting me through!" Melty yelled at him. Was Melty sure she hadn't gone insane yet? She could have fooled him.
Filo was also possibly the only one besides Raphtalia that could stand the bluette for a long period of time. How did she do it?
"Yeah, don't bring sweet Filo into this matter!..." Then again, she wasn't the only insane person in there. "... What's the matter we're discussing again?!" Motoyasu asked.
…
Itsuki and Ren both facepalmed. "I think it's trying to come up with laws or something," Naofumi answered.
"This is harder than I thought it'd be," Itsuki muttered. He was one for justice, but he'd never realized how hard it was to define what would be just and unjust.
It was like being asked to write a 1000 page essay on a topic he'd never studied. And making it in line with the opinions of three other people from different worlds.
Oh yeah. The Heroes might have all come from Japan. But they were from different versions of Japan. So maybe some theorists were right and there was the possibility of a multi-verse after all.0
"I'm just asking if we really have to have all these rules in place." Naofumi pointed down at a potential law that Melty had outlined on a piece of paper.
That reminded him that he was still the only one out of the four of them that could read Melromarc's language. Their weapons had the ability to auto-translate languages for them, but did nothing to help them understand written words. Naofumi had learned Melromarc's written language out of necessity thanks to Raphtalia. And even if they weren't on the run anymore, the other Heroes would benefit from being able to read spell books and whatnot like him.
He'd have to have that fixed sooner or later. But right now; "I doubt 'no throwing your &^%$ on a public street' is going to be an issue." Naofumi said.
"You wouldn't believe how much of an issue that was in the Capital a few years back!" Melty said indignantly.
"Sure, and we're going to be just like that large city," Naofumi said sarcastically. Melty fumed in her seat at his utter disregard for Lurolona Village's hygiene. "Does that mean you plan on throwing your *&^% onto the street, Sir Naofumi?!" Melty asked in a voice that was definitely not refined or ladylike.
"Ew." The three Heroes looked at him in disgust.
"Hey, I never said I'd be doing that!" Naofumi said in disgust. "I just don't see a use for putting in a law that should be common sense! Do you know how many laws we'd have to put in if we wanted to include everything that was common sense?!"
That 1000 page essay would quickly turn to 10000.
"Let's just agree to have it in there and move on," Motoyasu suggested. "You never know when it might come in handy.
The others muttered in agreement, still giving Naofumi lingering looks as if they were pondering if he really was against that law or not.
Their houses didn't have plumbing yet. So unless he didn't plan on using the temporary outhouses...
"Fine! Keep that dumb law in there! I doubt we'll need it!" Naofumi caved.
"Alright. There's just one more thing in regards to it. What would be a suitable punishment for breaking this law?" Melty asked.
"Being forced to spend a day in one of your meetings," Naofumi said immediately. The others instantly started nodding in agreement.
However, they stopped at Melty's intense glare.
Her mother would have been proud.
Eventually, they settled on a simple fine and moved on.
Melty pressed her hands into her forehead. Was one of her hairs turning grey? She couldn't tell. She wouldn't be surprised with all the stress Naofumi was heaping on her. Maybe she'd name this hair after him just to spite him. Then she'd see who'd be laughing after this boring meeting came to an end!
The discussion continued for another hour and a half. To their credit, Naofumi and the others did try to be serious, with Naofumi thinking less about the past and trying to focus on the now. But they were quickly growing more and more disinterested. Many of the laws they were outlining didn't seem very important. Roads, sidewalks, well digging, etc. Their village was really, really small. There shouldn't have been a need to write a full government out front at the start.
Then again, this was probably Melty's way of making sure she wouldn't have even more work and additional stress to deal with later when more people moved into the territory. So they did try to pay attention…
Oh well, it gave Naofumi the perfect time to give more thought to their current situation while he pretended to listen.
Lurolona Village was currently made up of over thirty people, not including the Heroes and their parties. Twenty of them were former Melromarc knights that had volunteered to assist the Heroes. The rest were demi-humans Itsuki had saved from abusive nobles. A good number of which were kids.
One of the kids Naofumi personally knew was a dog boy named Keel. Looking out the window, he could see the black and white-haired ten-year-old currently playing around with some of the other kids. They kicked around a ball and laughed. That was good. All of them were former slaves. The fact that they were doing this showed their past lives in slavery hadn't completely broken them.
Two kids Itsuki had saved several days ago stood to the side. When the ball came near them, they made no move towards it. That wasn't a good sign. He'd have to check up on those two with the apothecarian when he had time.
Past them in another field, he saw Eclair with Ren's party and a few of the knights. They had a temporary arena set up for training, duels, and the like. She was currently running everyone through some sort of sword training exercise. Naofumi believed it was called a kata, but he wasn't an expert on swordsmanship, so he wasn't sure.
What little he could see of the village to the side looked somewhat decent. The rubble around the Church had been cleared. New homes had been set up, as well as a barracks for the knights. Soon, they'd be able to focus on cleaning up the rest of the village and focus on other tasks like farming.
Naofumi frowned. He realized that unless they wanted to live off of fish and monster meat, they'd need to find another way to acquire food. Hell, that was one of only a few problems they faced. Besides the knights, those living here had no money. Unless he could find tasks for them to do, they'd be totally reliant on the Heroes for their wellbeing. Money, they could really use more of it right now. Itsuki's quest to handle those monsters would bring in money, and Naofumi would be bringing in a lot too once he delivered medicine to that Lord and reestablished the Nocturnal Doctor.
...
Why had Melty asked them to do this again? This was incredibly boring, not to mention, draining. He had other important things he had to handle, damn it! Just handle the bureaucracy stuff so he could actually focus on the other issues that needed his attention!
"Look!" Melty finally snapped in frustration at seeing their eyes all gloss over again. "I'm not asking for much! I just want your input for these major changes and decisions!" She complained.
"Well, do you guys think we've covered anything major yet?" Naofumi asked.
All three of them shook their heads. "Fine, you can call us back in when you've covered something major," Naofumi said dismissively as he stood up.
"Wait, but you can't leave yet-"
"Watch us," Naofumi muttered. "I'm actually busy with important matters too. So unless you have something that's more important than them, Second Princess, then you can shove it where the sun doesn't-"
"But- but there's still the last issue I wanted to discuss!" Melty stood up and blocked Naofumi's path out of the room. Giving him a stubborn look that she had definitely learned from Filo. Her face was set in a pout, and her eyes were big and staring into his soul.
"And what would that be?" Naofumi snarkily asked. Did this little girl think such a look that wasn't coming from his daughter would actually work on him-
"Slavery."
…
…
Naofumi said nothing as he went and sat back down in his seat.
The groggy faces and disinterested eyes around the table disappeared. For once, the four Heroes looked serious. Inside, Melty felt a smug sense of satisfaction to have their undivided attention at last.
That was a very important issue for Naofumi as well. He'd nearly shoved it to the back of his mind. But it looked like it was time to address it.
"We have former slaves living in the village. We also have a Cardinal Hero who currently owns a slave." Melty said.
Naofumi still gritted his teeth at the reminder. He would have rather faced this after most of the other issues had been resolved.
"I understand that the general consensus among the Heroes is that you don't approve how this world handles slavery. However, we need to make sure we're clear about what the fate of freed slaves will be. As well as that, Sir Naofumi is a slave owner. I believe that is something that warrants serious discussion before I can plan any laws around that area." Melty said.
The four Heroes looked amongst themselves. "She has a point," Ren admitted.
"Yeah, she does." Itsuki and the rest focused on Naofumi.
"Hey, you guys already know I don't treat my girlfriend like a slave!" Naofumi angrily said.
"We know that. It's quite obvious who the real master is there." Motoyasu joked.
Naofumi blinked in astonishment, and had to force back a blush. "Well, um, uh-"
"Still, in legal terms, you are her slave owner Naofumi," Itsuki said. "If we were to outright say that slavery was illegal here, then, well… you'd be breaking the law."
"Would that mean I wouldn't be allowed to live here!?" Naofumi asked incredulously. After he'd gone through all the effort to convince Mirellia to set this up for them!
"No, of course not," Ren said. "Naofumi's right. He doesn't treat Raphtalia like a slave. You wouldn't be able to tell she was his slave unless you saw her slave crest. So it wouldn't be right to punish him for it."
"Yes, thank you, Ren," Naofumi muttered in relief.
"Then does that mean others could have slaves as long as they treated them well?" Motoyasu asked.
Ren shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Naofumi groaned. "Look, I'd erase the damn thing off of Raphtalia's chest myself if it wasn't for the fact that it's one of the biggest boons that's been keeping her alive in fights." He said through gritted teeth.
The others already knew about the growth and stat modifiers from the Slave User Series that made Raphtalia insanely powerful compared to their other party members. To get rid of that now would be cutting her off from a lot of amazing future growth. Especially when the fight with Glass had shown how desperately they needed more power.
"A valid point. But that brings us back to earlier, how would we outlaw slavery if one of us is a slave owner?" Itsuki asked.
"I mean, maybe we could word it as treating someone like a slave?" Ren suggested.
"Wouldn't that cause a problem for parents trying to have their children do chores?" Motoyasu asked.
Ren paled at that. It could be seen that way. "Never mind, forget that. Bad idea."
"We could do it where the four of us are all slaveowners, and that we're the only ones allowed…" Now Motoyasu was the one being given all the incredulous looks. "On second thought, never mind." He shut up. Rino, one of his party members, was a former slave. Bitch's former slave.
If he were to try and put a slave crest on her again, who knew what she'd do in response?
Naofumi groaned once more. "Why don't we just call those that are registered to me as slaves by a different term? Then we wouldn't have to worry about-"
"Wouldn't that mean anyone could just change the word and get away with what they do to their slaves here?" Itsuki asked.
Naofumi scowled. "I know it isn't perfect. But I don't plan on getting rid of a crest when there's a chance it could keep those I care about safe and-" He was saying.
"Wait, did you just say 'anyone' that gets registered as your slave?" Itsuki asked.
…
There was a pause around the table. All eyes stared at Naofumi. Naofumi shuffled nervously in his chair.
"Are you hiding something from us, Naofumi?" Ren asked worriedly.
Naofumi's scowl shifted to a frown. He turned his head to the side. "Damn it." He'd hoped to put it more gently. But since Itsuki had bluntly said the issue that was on his mind. "Yes, I've been considering it-"
"WHAT?! WHY!?" Itsuki roared at him. He looked very pissed off.
"Naofumi, that's messed up," Motoyasu said angrily. "What fair maiden are you planning on enslaving next!?"
"First, no!" Naofumi yelled at Motoyasu. "Second, it wasn't my idea, it was-" Naofumi was saying.
"No! It's bad enough you have that crest on one person Naofumi!" Ren, in an uncharacteristic display of emotion, yelled at Naofumi.
"What's wrong with you!?" Itsuki stood up and pounded a fist into the table. "I've been working to free these people! And you're thinking about reenslaving them!?"
"No, it's not the people, I'm talking about-" Naofumi tried to refute.
"I refuse to allow you to enslave another-" Motoyasu began one of his white knight speeches.
"IT WASN'T MY IDEA! IT WAS DOU-LON THAT SUGGESTED IT! OKAY?! STOP THINKING OF ME AS SOME EVIL CRUEL OVERLORD THAT WANTS TO BUILD A HAREM!" Naofumi stood up and yelled down at them. Waves of visible anger could be seen coming off of him.
…
"Why am I only hearing about this now?" Melty finally asked in surprise, since Naofumi's outburst had silenced the other Heroes.
Naofumi growled as he crossed his arms. "As I said, it wasn't my idea! It's already bad enough that my girlfriend is technically my slave! I don't want to have another slave, or two, or three in my party! Okay?! But what choice do I have if I want to help that white tiger get stronger?!"
The Heroes looked at each other uncomfortably. Dou-Lon is Naofumi's most recent party member. A tall demi-human that looked somewhat like a white tiger even when he wasn't in his therianthrope form. Between the standard ears and tail, his slanted cat-like eyes, and white fur that grew on his arms, legs, and neck.
He's from Siltvelt, and was originally one of the Royal Guards assigned to protect the Council of Representatives that led the country. However, he and his friends had been assigned a mission to track down and bring back the Shield Hero. It obviously hadn't gone as planned. And now, he was a member of the Shield Hero's party.
"Your Hakuko party member asked you for it?" Ren asked.
"Yes. I believe I already said that." Naofumi said.
"That Hakuko you burned with your shield at the last wave-"
"Yes, that guy!" Naofumi angrily said to Motoyasu's probing. "Apparently, he asked Filo why Raphtalia was so much stronger than him even when he changed to his therianthrope form, and she mentioned what my Shield could do. Ever since then, he's been begging me to consider making him my slave so he'll be better able to serve me and all that crap! But as it stands, he's a higher level than Raphtalia, and he can boost his stats by shifting to his therianthrope form, but even then he's far weaker than Raphtalia was even before she classed up!"
...
The other Heroes looked at each other again. Then at Melty, and then at Naofumi. What were those idiots thinking now?
"Y-You're not planning on making her your slave too, right?" Motoyasu asked.
"Of course not! She's annoying enough as it is!" Naofumi griped.
"Hey!" Melty whined.
"But, but why would you consider doing that?" Itsuki asked worriedly. "Would you really be alright with that, Naofumi?"
…
Naofumi stood up from the table. "You know what, I'm done discussing this! Thanks for bringing the crap back to mind, idiots! It wasn't like I had enough to worry about already!"
"Naofumi, wait-" Itsuki's next words were cut off when he saw the gemstone on his shield flashed red.
He and the others immediately realized that pressing him further on the matter right now would be a very bad idea. Naofumi had been the first to unlock a special power known as the Cursed Series. It was a Shield Series that actually allowed him to do damage. However, he went into a murderous rage every time he used it. As well as that, using it came at a price. So when his gemstone flashed red, the others knew he was close to equipping it and knew it was time to shut up and not make any sudden moves that would tip Naofumi over the edge.
He flipped everyone the bird, and when no one gave a reaction, Naofumi stormed out the attic door. A moment later, they heard the doors of the Church slam shut.
…
There was an awkward silence for a moment. A thick tension left hanging in the air...
"Well, um, I guess I should get back to training." Motoyasu abruptly stood.
"Yeah, same." Ren stood as well. He had no idea how much makeup work Eclair would force him to go through while she worked with the others.
It was likely to be a lot. But he'd rather face that than Naofumi's wrath.
"Yeah… I still have a few more monster nests to find for that country." Itsuki mumbled guiltily as he stood up.
Melty sighed. "Alright. I… I guess I'll see what I can do about all this in the meantime." She said sadly, looking down at all the paperwork she'd arranged for the rest of the meeting. "Thanks for your input and time, holy Heroes." Even though it felt more like she'd wasted their time.
"Hey, it's no problem! Ask for my help again anytime!" Motoyasu said with a smile. He approved of this Princess far more than the other one. He wished she could have been his party member. Damn was Naofumi lucky.
Though he hoped he wouldn't have to help too much with this bureaucracy stuff. Man, he was having flashbacks of being the Lord of Lute. He really hoped it wouldn't go that bad again.
He faced away from the table. "Portal Spear!" He disappeared in a flash of light.
Ren nodded to them and quickly ran out the door.
Itsuki selected the skill on his HUD, before he could say it aloud though, Melty stopped him. "Sir Itsuki, if I could speak to you briefly…"
"What is it?" He asked curiously.
She held her hands in front of herself. "Do you think we were too hard on Sir Naofumi during the meeting?"
…
Itsuki sighed. "A little, yes. It's not his fault he had to resort to slavery, we shouldn't be blaming him for it…" His eyes took off a far off look, which disappeared when he shook his head. "Regardless, I can't believe he's even thinking about having more slaves. I mean, my goal is to get rid of slavery. And for Naofumi to just, just..."
"He did say Dou-Lon asked for it." Melty pointed out with a sigh. "Knowing him, I can see that happening."
"That makes it even more messed up! Who'd willingly want to become anybody's slave?!" Itsuki said that, and then he remembered that Siltvelt practically treated Naofumi as a God. They were willing to disobey their leaders to help him.
Was it that far of a stretch to say they'd willingly put on chains and crests? "Alright, scratch that. But I can't understand why Naofumi would consider it!?"
Melty stood there, thinking for a moment. "Well, we can't deny Raphtalia's strength." She eventually said. "Even with her lack of training, she's one of the most powerful warriors I've seen on the battlefield… If Sir Naofumi could really share that growth with others just by painting a crest on their chests, we could drastically strengthen the knights here, along with anyone else willing to help out with the Waves. We'd be able to save more people, and better defend against monsters." Human, or otherwise, she left unspoken.
"... … Yeah, sure. But Ren said Wyndia is pretty powerful now thanks to the special class-up she received. And it's not like he doesn't have multiple shields capable of boosting his party members-"
"In his defense, I did have to ask Sir Naofumi about it when I realized my stats weren't going up as high as Raphtalia's. He said that because of the multiple shields he's unlocked in the Slave User Series, their combined boosts help Raphtalia more than his other shields. Her class-up only made the growth she achieved all the better."
…
Itsuki groaned. "This just feels so wrong." He muttered. "Why can't he just find other shields that could make up for the slave boost?"
"Why don't you just find some bow weapons that would do the same?" Melty counter asked in an annoyed tone.
The Second Princess had him there. Absorbing some of Rishia's hair had unlocked the Companion Bow, and absorbing some of Maya's hair had unlocked the Raccoon Bow. The Companion Bow offered an overall boost to stat growth for anyone in his party. The Raccoon Bow had the same effects as Naofumi's Raccoon Shield. However, outside of that, he'd really had trouble finding more weapons that'd give all of his party members a boost.
Those were the downsides to those weapons. Unless the person was in his party, they wouldn't receive benefits from it. Hell, the Raccoon Bow only helped Maya since she was the only Raccoon party member he had. With the Slave User Series, it didn't matter if the person was actively in the party or not. As long as they were registered to Naofumi as his slave, they'd reap the benefits of the stat modifiers and growth boosts while leveling up.
"Why are you suddenly defending him?" Itsuki asked. "Weren't you the one that brought up the slavery issue?"
"I brought it up because it's something we need to discuss," Melty answered in a royal tone. "I want to make sure we come to an agreement that doesn't infringe on the Heroes' abilities to make their parties as strong as possible for the Waves." She said seriously. "I'm horrified by the thought too, and I'll absolutely refuse to have one of those crests put on myself, but with the threat we're facing, I don't feel it right to stomp out the choice altogether. We need all the help we can get."
"Because anyone that becomes his slave would have access to a significant power boost," Itsuki muttered. "And have a higher rate of survival than anyone else."
The thought honestly sickened him. But, again, Naofumi wasn't your typical slave owner. It was definite that anyone that became his slave would be treated like a person. He wouldn't even consider them to be property, so that argument was out. Plus, they'd become more powerful than any knight or adventurer. He also wasn't doing it because he wanted to. He was doing it because he wanted to give those he cared about the best chance for survival. And if their village was attacked, having a lot of powered up individuals backing them would make it far easier to defend themselves.
The only real argument against it was morality. And that was not something that couldn't be cast aside so easily.
It wasn't just a simple cut and dry argument like in a U.S. history class. This situation here was complex, with layers upon layers of different issues on both sides to deal with. It wasn't exactly wrong, but it also wasn't exactly right. It was a grey area that could very well lean both ways depending on the context, intent, and other factors.
It was giving Itsuki a headache just thinking about it.
"I'm sorry, I think I've taken up enough of the Heroes time today." Melty suddenly apologized. "I just want to make sure this will be thought about thoroughly by all the Heroes before the next time I ask for a meeting." If she asked for another one, that is.
Maybe it'd be better to focus on the major issues like Naofumi suggested. After all, she'd know what was best for most anything else.
"It's, it's fine," Itsuki muttered. This was a problem they'd have to figure out sooner or later. Thanks to Melty, he'd have more room for thought to think it over. "Take care, Second Princess... Transport Bow." Light surrounded Itsuki's form, and a moment later, he was gone.
Melty sighed, pulled out the Book of Laws from Melromarc. That grey strand she'd noticed before looked like it'd soon have another twin joining alongside it.
Moving the strands of hair from her face, the bluette got back to seeing what would be useful and what wasn't needed for their new small country.
She had to admit Naofumi had a point. Many of these laws did look pretty useless in hindsight...
Though she was far too stubborn to ever admit that to his face.
Author's Notes:
I ask this of the reviewers who want to discuss this subject. Don't have a review war over slavery in this chapter. Keep in mind what I put near the end.
It wasn't just a simple cut and dry argument like in a U.S. history class. This situation here was complex, with layers upon layers of different issues on both sides to deal with. It wasn't exactly wrong, but it also wasn't exactly right. It was a grey area that could very well lean both ways depending on the context, intent, and other factors.
I don't want a U.S. history argument. Seriously. I've done more research on U.S. history and World History than most of you. I've also read more than my fair share of biographies of the lives of slaves. This isn't a personal attack on anyone. You are talking to a person that condemns slavery. I get it. So realize that this here is me looking at it from their world and not our world. I want consideration of the context, intent, and other various factors at play here in their world. Same as in the LN. Don't treat it like our world. Actually give me something to work with besides "Slavery is bad." or "It's okay here! Just do it so we can have an OP slave army to whoop Bitch's face with!" I want a genuine discussion that provokes thought on both sides, not a cut and dry U.S. argument or troll response that DOES NOT WORK for this scenario. I won't be afraid to delete those types of comments.
Got it? Okay, on to the hero clip!
Hero Clips!
LN Prologue
"What was up with this chapter? I hardly got any time to say anything!" Motoyasu complained.
"Yeah, what was up with that?" Ren grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. He was jealous that he didn't get the window seat. Naofumi got to have all the fun while he was forced to count the number of lines the table had.
He counted 1504 of them, by the way.
Naofumi frowned. "It's been sixty-three chapters. Don't you think the readers deserve a recap of important characters and events?" He asked.
"Bruh. Your ramblings took up at least half of the chapter." Itsuki said. "And important characters. You barely covered any of the members from our parties!"
"You only mentioned Wyndia and Rishia!" Ren accused. The other forgotten party members sniffed in the background. How could the great Shield Hero do this to them? Even Keel had been mentioned, and he(?) wasn't even a member of his party yet!
"He didn't even cover my party! And it's the smallest out of all of your guys!" Motoyasu whined. His two girls sniffed behind him. What were their names again? He could have sworn he'd mentioned that one of them was Rino. But which one was it?
"Well, that's because I hardly know anything about them," Naofumi said. "As well as that, your redemption was the most recent. So I haven't bothered to learn much about you or the girls with you."
"Grrrrr!" Motoyasu clutched his spear tightly. His girls had to hold him back.
"Anyway, that's beside the point. Don't you think this chapter could have been used for more important stuff?" Itsuki asked.
Naofumi shrugged. "Maybe. This is just how I do it."
Ren sighed. "I was hoping he wouldn't retain this aspect from the Light Novels."
"Hey, at least I don't summarize what happened at the beginning of every arc like that jerk does in those books!" Naofumi complained.
"Fair point. But I don't want to see you making a habit of this." Itsuki said.
"I covered most everything in this chapter! If the readers can't remember everything else from the past sixty chapters, that's on them!" Naofumi yelled.
"Just don't do this again for the next grand arc, please," Ren muttered.
"Bite me!" Naofumi yelled.
In the distance, Raphtalia sighed while petting Filo's head. "I wish Naofumi would learn to relax."
"Filo wishes Daddy would learn to relax too, mommy," Filo said cutely.
"Hmph!" Melty pouted next to them. "I just want him to stop calling me Second Princess!"
"Not happening," Naofumi muttered.
"MEANIE!"
Till Next Time
Allen