Author's Note:
In this chapter, the Shield Hero party return to Castle Town to do some selling and buying of supplies (namely a lot more food) and after speaking to the various merchants and to each other, decide to travel to Lurolona Village to put their pasts behind them and stay in a place where the King and the other Heroes won't bother them. To that end, they meet Lord Van Reichnott who is in Castle Town to bargain for supplies for his domain and with Naofumi's growing ability to create cheap but effective medicines and antidotes, asks for Naofumi to head to Lute Village to run an errand for him, promising him a merchant pass and to give him a ride to his domain where they could spend their time until the Wave training. They head to Erhard's to get better equipment and then head to the Church to register for the Wave before heading out to Lute, meeting the Three Heroes for the first time since the trial.
On a side note, I have a poll up, as I have forever disliked the fact that after Queen Mirellia comes back and puts Malty/Bitch and Aultcray/Trash on trial that even though she sentences them to execution, which considering all both have done, more than warrants it decides to commute those sentences because Naofumi wanted to be petty and change their names to something insulting. The poll is, how many of my readers at the end of the Three Heroes Church arc which is many chapters away, want to see Malty/Bitch and Aultcray/Trash actually executed or how many wish to spare one or the other or both to have one/both of them thrown into the dungeons in chains to live out the rest of their lives?
I want to once again thank Allen Blaster of Virtue of the Shield Hero fame for his comments, suggestions and encouragement and I urge you to read his fanfic as in my view, it is excellent. I also again want to thank Robotech275 of Crafting and Cooking Hero fame for all his help with timelines, Weapon Forms and other comments on this story. He too is a great author and I also urge people to read his and other stories in the Multi World Project like Kampfpanzer who has been and always will be a beta reader that I rely on for help in crafting this story of mine. His work Locked and Loaded in Another World is very good and the best example of a Gun Hero that isn't either far too overpowered and a Matrix/John Wick clone or else a try hard and edgelordy type loser.
Review Responses:
To Omni Fate lover: I haven't decided how I plan on handling Naofumi and his Filolial. Clearly it won't be Filo because Filo only came about because of Raphtalia and his canon personalities and some other factors.
To BLACKSERFT98: Thank you for the comments, read on to see that I did take some of your suggestions into account.
To the guest: Thank you very much, I enjoyed doing all of the interludes. I wanted to give characters who weren't Naofumi a chance to breathe and feel like real 3D characters instead of archetypes.
To Da Lone Ranger: We'll see what happens to her in the story when we get to that point, it's quite a ways off unfortunately. We haven't even gotten to the first wave although we're about sixty percent of the way there I'd say.
To vanguardian1: I understand, as of the posting of this chapter, I have removed the interludes and put them in their own spin-off story for when I want to have another character's perspective on the events of the main storyline. The only interludes I will keep in the main story will be ones that are plot essential.
To blueassassin996: As above, I have moved them as you suggested to its own story called The Struggle of the Shield Hero: Interludes where I will place any non-essential plot character POVs in from now on.
To FlexonWriter: I agree, I always thought that WN/LN Naofumi was far more ruthless than the anime Naofumi (but that was more because the anime wanted people to sympathize more with him). I've always believed that the main reason that the Melromarc world (that's what I call the world Naofumi is in) got so screwed up (at least after the Three Heroes Church arc) is because they didn't do something permanent about Malty. Even if Mirellia wouldn't execute her own daughter because of familial reasons or because she had made a deal with Faubrey or whatever, the least she could have done was remove her completely from the Three Heroes parties and had her in the dungeons for the rest of her life.
She was instead allowed to roam free with only her name changed to something derogatory and with a slave crest that could be removed/jammed easily by someone with the proper knowledge. The very least that would have happened if Bitch/Malty was removed from the board after the coup arc would be that the Three Heroes probably don't end up being completely useless or at least not in the same way they did with Malty's influence. At the very least they could convince Ren to come when they found him in the tavern and maybe prevented him from unlocking his Curse series. It definitely would make Motoyasu have to think for himself more if he wasn't under the influence of Malty, Lesty and Elena and maybe doesn't gain the Filo and Filolial obsession he ends up getting or his own Curse series. Itsuki would depend on whether or not they could get him before he went to Zeltoble to be "Perfect Hidden Justice" because I believe his party had more to do with the issues Itsuki had than straight Malty influencing him (although that for sure didn't help).
43 Reviews, 34 Favorites, 55 Follows and over 4100 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 5
I Become An Itinerant Hero-Merchant
"Whenever he could, he sought out a new road to travel. He had never been to that ruined church before, in spite of having traveled through those parts many times. The world was huge and inexhaustible; he had only to allow his sheep to set the route for a while, and he would discover other interesting things. The problem is that they don't even realize that they're walking a new road every day. They don't see that the fields are new and the seasons change. All they think about is food and water. / Maybe we're all that way, the boy mused."
"The Alchemist" - Paulo Coelho
We spent about 3 days and nights leveling in the forests near Castle Town. By this point the monsters were no longer being all that good for EXP and they were even starting to avoid us as our levels were just too high. By this point, our levels were:
[Naofumi: Level 11]
[Raphtalia: Level 11]
[Keel: Level 10]
[Rifana: Level 9]
I felt that we were strong enough at this point to be able to head further away from Castle Town and find better hunting grounds where we could level out of view of the garbage that currently sat on the throne and the bitch that was in the moron's party. The problem was supplies, Raphtalia, Rifana and Keel were literally walking black holes when it came to food and our supplies had run out long before I planned on them to.
I checked my coinage in my [Inventory] and discovered that I had very little left. I had a ton of monster drops and monster parts that I could sell, but if I was the one to sell them, they likely wouldn't take it or try to cheat me. I looked at the trio and tried to decide who might be best to be my agent in town.
Truthfully, by this point, Raphtalia had grown to be much taller and much older than Rifana and Keel and seemed to be much more mature than them. Until last night, she was still having night terrors and required us all to comfort her until she could stop screaming and crying. At least the monsters didn't attack us in the meantime.
That's not to say the other two girls hadn't matured or grown like Raphtalia. They did, it just was a bit more subtle growth and not quite as pronounced as Raphtalia's growth was. I too had grown myself while we were out leveling. I managed to get the girls to start to teach me to read and write Melromarcian and I managed to learn the simple recipes in the start of the apothecary book the apothecary sold me and master the simple tools to make weak health and mana potions along with the same medicine he sold me. The difference is when I appraised the medicine I made it was of a slightly higher quality.
I gathered the girls together and spoke to them.
"Ok, we've run out of supplies, and we've just about run out of monsters to help us level. We need more supplies and a better area to hunt in. To do that, we need to first go to Castle Town and sell off all our monster drops and parts for the money we need."
Keel suddenly spoke up,
"I have experience selling fish and aquatic monster parts to the few merchants that would come to Lurolona Village, could I help you?"
I considered it, having experience it was likely that Keel wouldn't be cheated at least. I only worried that if they wouldn't buy it from me because I'm a criminal, they might not buy it from Keel because she's a demi-human. I didn't have much choice, I nodded and said,
"Alright, but I'll be behind you, backing you up and we're going to try and hide our faces and features as best we can with our cloaks."
Keel nodded and we started the process of breaking up our camp. We had gotten good at it, so it didn't take us too long to pack everything up and put all our gear into my [Inventory] and make our way back to the capital. We had roamed out pretty far, so it took us several hours of walking before the gates were in sight.
As soon as we arrived, I could tell that there was going to be trouble, the guards were eyeing us and with weapons drawn. I motioned for the group to stay behind me as I casually strolled up to the open gates. My progress was halted by two guards who crossed their spears in front of me as the more belligerent one spat at me,
"Where do you think you're going, Shield Demon?"
I stood there and simply stared at the guard and raised my shield up, and said,
"I'm going to do a little business in Castle Town, I'd appreciate it if you'd move out of my way."
The guard sneered at me said,
"What if I don't want to, what are you going to do then, criminal?"
I sighed to myself and sensed that Raphtalia, Rifana and Keel were getting incensed on my behalf. It would be a simple matter to simply bull my way past these morons, but that would only give the Trash King and Princess Bitch more ammunition to use against me, not that they needed any more.
As I was contemplating how to deal with this, without getting into violence, I heard a carriage pull up behind us and a soft voice speak up,
"He's with me, he and his companions are helping me with an errand. You wouldn't be attempting to impede my way, would you?"
The voice was soft and gentle, but firm at the end, and as I turned to see who it was, I was confronted with a man that I could only describe as a Nice Guy as he had that kind of look and aura.
He was clearly a noble as his clothes were definitely of quality. He wore glasses and seemed to have an easy smile. He was riding a carriage that was being pulled by a huge ostrich-looking bird, a Filolial I think they were called. I had seen them around Castle Town. Raphtalia, Rifana and Keel eyed the stranger carefully.
The guards looked like they had chewed into something extremely bitter, judging from their expressions. The loudmouth guard that was trying to bar my way, said to the newcomer,
"Lord Reichnott, I didn't know… please, excuse me, of course…"
He glared at me in hatred and I was able to see the Three Heroes necklace around his neck as he was forced to say.
"The Shield Hero and his demi-human… companions may enter the city if they are helping you."
Nice Guy, err… Reichnott, smiled and leaned back in his seat and said pleasantly,
"I'm glad we could have settled this matter amicably, I'd have to hate to lodge a protest with the King about my treatment."
The guards had dark looks but they stepped aside and we walked past them as Reichnott drove in behind us. I waited until we were out of earshot of the gate before I turned to the man with my girls and bowed and said,
"Thanks for that, Lord Reichnott was it? You helped us out of a potential problem."
Reichnott just smiled and his eyes crinkled behind his glasses as he waved it off,
"Yes, my name is Van Reichnott, and it was entirely my pleasure, Sir Shield Hero. It's not everyday one gets to be involved with the Cardinal Heroes, let alone smooth their way. You are quite welcome."
He looked at Raphtalia, Rifana and Keel in turn and looked grave as he said,
"And I believe you were villagers in Lurolona, weren't you?"
Raphtalia was the girls spokesperson and she looked up at Lord Reichnott and nodded as she said
"We were, do we know you, you seem familiar."
Reichnott smiles sadly and says,
"I was a good friend of Lord Seatto's and I visited him and Lurolona often. I was sad to hear of his passing. He and I were aligned politically and loyal to the Queen. That, and the fact that the two of us treat demi-humans with dignity and respect was one of the reasons we were sent so far away from the Castle Town."
Raphtalia blinked at that, and I broke in then, and asked,
"I was wondering about that, I saw the portraits of the Queen and her youngest daughter, but they weren't there when we were summoned. Why is that?"
Reichnott nods sadly and said to me,
"Queen Mirella and her daughter, the Crown Princess Melty Q Melromarc are currently away in the land of Faubrey, attempting to come up with a plan to deal with the Waves. Truthfully, she left my friend, Lord Seatto in charge and had he not died, you would not have been summoned here."
"Well now, that was very good information to have… wait, crown princess Melty?"
I blinked and then asked for clarification, frowning,
"Wait a moment, the youngest daughter is the Crown Princess… not… her oldest?"
Reichnott nodded and said gravely,
"As I'm sure you've found out, First Princess Malty has… shall we say, quite a few personality issues that forced the Queen to remove her from her position and name her sister as her successor."
"Considering how that Trash King dotes on the Princess Bitch, it would have had to take something truly awful to get her removed from succession. Huh, not surprised honestly."
I nodded to myself as the girls all were looking at each other, the conversation flying over their heads because they hadn't had the pleasure of the Trash King and Princess Bitch's company and attention yet. I said,
"Either way, that helps a lot, but I'm sure we're keeping you from your errands that you were wanting to run and besides that, I need to sell all my monster parts and monster drops to raise the coin I need to resupply and buy some new and better equipment for my party."
Reichnott smiled and said,
"What a coincidence, I need to buy supplies myself, how about you climb into my carriage and I'll give you all a lift. My presence might help smooth your way. Do you have any plans once you finish your shopping?"
I really looked at Reichnott this time, trying to see if he had any other motives, beyond just being the Nice Guy he seemed. His smile widened as he understood and said,
"Come now, even you must have seen how hard it is for you to even do business, especially here. You could use all the help you can get. And since I can see that you question what my motives are, I do happen to have a proposal for you that would both help me out and benefit you all as well."
I looked at the girls and they gave me a look back that said they trusted me implicitly and so I nodded and as we climbed into the back of the carriage, I said,
"Alright, how about you tell us what your proposal is, while we ride?
He nodded as he started the car and said,
"Certainly, you need to be able to level and gain the coin to be able to buy better gear, and to do that you'll need to roam further away from the capital. I also need to buy and sell things in a village nearby, however, I am unfortunately going to be stuck in Castle Town for quite a few days dealing with issues dealing with my domain. If you're willing, I'll loan you this carriage and my Filolial and you can go to Lute Village and be my proxy in my stead."
"Well, we were planning on leaving the Capital for a while and let things settle down, so maybe this is a good opportunity."
I looked at the girls and they all nodded as they looked eager to go someplace else than here. I turned back to Reichnott and said,
"That works, but what should we do once we finish your errand in Lute Village and how long will it take. We still have the Wave coming up after all."
The girls were quiet, letting me do most of the talking. Reichnott pushed his glasses back up and said,
"It shouldn't take more than two or three days and you can do things in Lute Village while you wait for my contact to complete the arrangements. It's a mining town after all, you might be able to go mining and find ore that you can use to strengthen your shield. I'll also give you a merchant's pass that you can keep and once you can afford a Filolial and carriage of your own you can become a traveling merchant yourself and the pass will exempt you from tolls to enter and leave villages."
"Perfect, that'll also give us the ability to hide who we are."
He continued,
"When you're done, you can come back here with the cart and pick me up and we'll go to my domain. It's close by to the Seatto domain and Lurolona and you can visit it while you're there and level until the Wave. I suggest that before you leave, that you register with the Dragon Hourglass in the Three Heroes Church, so that you'll be teleported to the Wave and know when it will occur."
Just then, a notification popped up on my HUD explaining that Reichnott means about 'registering at the Hourglass',
[Note] Cardinal Heroes must synchronize their Weapon with a Dragon Hourglass in order to be transported to the site of the Wave. Holding up the Gem to the Hourglass within sight of it will register the Weapon with the Hourglass.
Well that's convenient, but unfortunate that the Hourglass is inside the Three Heroes Church, one that considers me a devil. That fact and the fact that I was considered a criminal would make things difficult. My only hope was that the fact that I was a Cardinal Hero would keep the more fanatical from preventing me from reaching the Hourglass. But before that, I wanted to sell all my junk in my Inventory and go to Erhard and buy better equipment for us all. Hopefully I had enough to even maybe commission a few shields that might help me and give me some attacking options.
We stopped in an alleyway near the marketplace and we all jumped off the cart and followed him along to what was revealed to be the same destination. With his support and patronage, we were able to sell our monster parts and drops for a fair price without too much trouble.
I had been worried that we would be swindled otherwise and have to resort to the tricks I learned back home to swindle… err… convince the merchants into giving us what we were rightfully entitled to. Luckily that wasn't necessary, but I always kept them in reserve if I had to.
What were those tricks you ask? Well, just a little subtle intimidation, hidden underneath polite smiles and courteous words. There was a reason businesses in Japan were all influenced by the Yakuza. The Yakuza evolved from the post-WWII Zaibatsu that were formed to help reconstruct the country then turned into the criminal organizations they are now, due to corruption and the need for national industries to be nominally under the control of legitimate interests.
But all that wasn't needed today. We had gotten enough silver that I felt confident that we could get gear that would last until after the Wave and when we would receive our reward from the King for fighting. We parted with Reichnott and made plans to meet up with him later on after we got our equipment and registered at the Hourglass to get the full details on who we needed to meet in Lute and receive the pass and take possession of the cart and Filolial who I learned was named simply George and who was surprisingly fond of me for some reason.
We headed first to Erhard's, if there was any trouble at the Church, we wanted to be properly armed and armored to be ready for it. We walked through the familiar streets until the sign for Erhard's shop became visible and we were happier. There was at least one place in Castle Town where someone still liked us and treated us as a friend, rather than a potential enemy.
We opened the door to see Erhard working hard as usual on a sword. He glanced up and his eyes widened as he took me and the girls in, his eyes mostly on the girls, he then whistled and smirked as he said,
"Good job Kid, you must have been doing a lot of leveling to get them THIS big."
He walked over and looked the girls over and then stopped at Keel and blinked,
"What the? When did the 'man of the sea' become a 'woman of the sea'?
Keel put her hands on her hips and said,
"Sea dog! I'm a sea dog now! I may be a girl, but I'm a boy at heart, so don't you forget it!"
She lifted her head and snorted through her nostrils proudly, and it was so adorable and hilarious that Raphtalia, Rifana, Erhard and I had to look away and snicker under our breath before Erhard looked back, smirked and said,
"Well, ok 'Sea Dog', but uh… you sure are short still compared to little Raphtalia and Rifana there, even though they aren't so 'little' anymore."
Raphtalia and Rifana blushed, a bit embarrassed, and I resolved to find a woman that could give them "The Talk" or things might get a bit dicey when they fully matured both physically and mentally and soon considering how fast they were leveling.
I had Erhard measure them for their armor because I felt that they likely wouldn't grow too much taller than they were now, but I did QUIETLY whisper to Erhard to maybe allow them a little room in the… err, chest area. He nudged me and said quietly,
"So, Kid, which one of them do you like… I mean, the little Miss…"
He vaguely points at Raphtalia before continuing, and I could see the three of them looking really bad at hiding that they were listening in to the conversation, which I'm sure Erhard was planning on.
"Seems to like you a lot, judging from the looks she's been giving you. Not to mention her best friend clearly has a thing for you and is pretty cute too. "Sea Dog" over there might act like a boy, but certain types of people like the tomboyish type. So… which one do you favor… or do you favor all three of them at once? Polygamy IS legal in Melromarc you know."
I groaned as all three girls were now VERY invested in the conversation and it made me really uncomfortable. Even though they looked like they were teenagers, they were in fact in real age, what one could only generously describe as jailbait. I really didn't want to say anything, because no matter what I said would cause problems. So I tried to pick a very safe answer,
"Look, I… it's not… I can't think about that sort of thing right now. I have my reputation and name to clear, and the Waves to fight… besides, right now they feel more like my daughters than…"
Before I could even finish my thought, they all spoke up in protest and grabbed my arm and I felt heaven pressing against me with three girls assets on my two arms and back,
"Wait, what! No, we're not your daughters, how can you say that Master Naofumi!"
I heard from Raphtalia who grabbed my right arm, Rifana with hearts in her eyes said,
"That's right, I'm destined to be your wife!"
Raphtalia flashed a look of furious jealousy at Rifana and for a second I was afraid the two of them might come to blows as Keel spoke up herself and said,
"Yeah! I'm no daughter, I'm your "sea dog"! I ain't going to be no one's daughter!"
Erhard was cracking up laughing at this point and I glared at him hard. It was his fault that I was in this predicament in the first place. I didn't even know how I felt honestly about each of them, and I felt awkward because I knew they were predisposed to love me, simply because I was the Shield Hero of their dreams. How much of what they felt was them liking me for me, and how much was them being immature and holding onto childish fantasies. It was one of the reasons that I DIDN'T want to get into this discussion and so finally I said,
"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! That's enough… we have a job to do first, when the Waves are over with and everyone is safe, THEN we can have this discussion. Right now, I am NOT going to be having ANY romantic interests while it might distract us when we need to be focused fully."
I looked at each of them as they all looked both guilty and disappointed and I sighed and said,
"Look, I'm not rejecting you all, ok? Hear me out, I'm not saying never… I'm just saying, not now. Besides, you barely even know me, what do you honestly like about me anyways other than I'm the Shield Hero and your owner, even though I don't and won't treat you like slaves?"
That might have gotten them started on trying to expound on whatever traits they felt were why they liked me, but I held up my hand, and said firmly,
"Not now… ok? We have too much to do, and too much at stake, alright…"
I took a breath, but I could see from the dissatisfied looks in their eyes that this conversation wasn't over. I resolved to avoid it for as long as possible as I turned my attention and irritation over the one person that stirred the pot and said,
"Oi! Quit laughing! We need new gear and luckily I have a little more coin with which to buy it. The girls need new weapons and armor more fit to their size and I'd like to see what shields you have that I might be able to buy and absorb and see what they give me as well as discussing some commissions on a couple shields that might work for me too."
He smirks and says,
"Fine, fine… the little miss could probably wield a proper long sword now that she's grown. There's one in the barrel over there."
He pointed to it and Raphtalia went over to grab one. Keel also went over to look for a short sword to replace her long knife as a backup weapon and check out the spears nearby. Rifana for her part didn't need a replacement weapon, her staff would work for her until she got into level 30 so decided to hold off. Erhard did quickly measure them for their armor and we haggled a bit on price until we agreed on something acceptable to both of us.
It was a good chunk of money and once that was done, the girls equipped with the armor that would likely be the one they'd use during the Wave, I got to examining Erhard's shields. I picked one up and held it in my hands for a few seconds and suddenly my shield somehow changed to it and I blinked. My [Help Guide] suddenly updated.
[Weapon Copy]: Heroes may copy Weapon Forms that match their Weapon. Weapon Form may be equipped when appropriate level.
Erhard saw this and yelled,
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
I blinked and then replied honestly,
"It seems that us Heroes have a weapon copy system, I didn't even know about it until I picked up this shield and held it for a few seconds."
Erhard glared at me and said,
"That's stealing! I made those shields with my own two hands, and you're telling me that you can just copy it just by holding onto it? And those three were here grabbing whatever weapon they could see… That's not gonna fly!"
I held up my hands and then said,
"Look, you're right, I'll tell you what. I'll pay you a quarter of what they're worth since I'm copying them only. You'll still be able to sell it and make twice the money."
Erhard thought about it and then frowned, before nodding,
"Alright, fine, you were at least honest about it, unlike those three… twenty five percent it is. Actually since you're needing shields… I have one that I'd like you to copy."
He went to the back and brought out an exotic but rugged looking shield that was somehow glossy as well, catching the light in a weird way. It was made out of some weird metal that I didn't quite know what it was. I held it in my hands and soon enough,
Weapon copy system activated!
Siderite Shield: ability locked: equip bonus: skill "Shooting Star"
I blinked, I had no words, I looked at Erhard and then said quietly,
"Thank you, this will help me be able to protect them and everyone better."
He nodded, pleased with my words and then said,
"So twenty five percent for that shield and the other shield you copied comes to…"
He pauses to calculate it in his head,
"40 silver."
I was about to pay him but just then Raphtalia, Rifana and Keel started grabbing shields and started thrusting them into my hands and said,
"Here Master Naofumi/Shield Bubba, copy these!"
I blinked as my weapon copy skill started activating almost immediately as the shield was put into my hands, apparently now that I knew about it, there was no more cooldown. Erhard started to try and tear his non-existent hair from his head as he said,
"AHHHH! You're taking everything! Noooooooooo!"
Weapon copy system activated.
Iron Shield conditions unlocked.
Red Iron Shield conditions unlocked.
Pink Iron Shield conditions unlocked.
White Iron Shield conditions unlocked.
Brown Iron Shield conditions unlocked.
Blue Iron Shield conditions unlocked.
Sky Iron Shield conditions unlocked.
Etc…
I got so many shields that my HUD couldn't keep up with them, there wasn't any that gave me any really good skill other than the Siderite Shield I copied. But I would check them all once we were on the road to be sure. I turned to Erhard and he glared at me and I sighed and paid him what he said I owed and what little money we managed to make dwindled to just enough to get us to Lute Village thanks to being lent the cart and George the Filolial.
We still had time before we were to meet Reichnott, and we were geared up better, so I decided to head to the Church and register for the Wave. The faster I did that, the sooner I'd know when it was going to happen, and the easier it would be to plan.
We made our way to the Church and stopped in front of the ornate doors that blocked off the Dragon Hourglass from us. The knights of the Church were eyeing us with disdain but otherwise didn't try to bar our way. I glanced at the girls and they gave me a nod, letting me know that they were ready for anything.
I stepped up in front of my party and reached out with my arms to push the huge ornate doors open. They did so slowly and with a loud protest as we strolled in casually and confidently. There were nuns that gaped as I walked in and one Church official came up to me and asked, almost affronted,
"Shield Dem… I mean Sir Shield Hero, to what do we owe the pleasure of your presence in our holy cathedral."
I could have said something quite cutting or rude, but I really didn't want to give the Church any sort of excuse to use against me to the King or its followers. I smiled and bowed to him as I said in my Japanese salaryman tone that promises absolutely nothing but yet is full of meaning at the same time. A staple as we hide our true thoughts behind our masks,
"Oh, I'm so sorry for the inconvenience, but I am here to register for the Wave. I am a Cardinal Hero after all, I must do my duty. May I ask where the Dragon Hourglass is, so that I may do so? I won't trouble this place any longer after I am done."
That made the official frown then, and clearly he was trying to somehow take offense to what I just said, however my words and tone and politeness gave him nothing with which to do so. He finally sighed and motioned a nun over who scurried over and looked like she thought I were a monster and about to eat her and said,
"Very well… Sister Anne, take the Shield… Hero to the Hourglass, He does have to be of SOME use at least."
I kept a smile on, even though inside I thought to myself, reaching back unseen to put my hand on Raphtalia who had begun to reach the hilt of her sword for his clear disdain and condescension towards me with the other two girls not far behind. My hand and gentle pressure made them all relax,
"Yes, I know exactly what you think of me, but don't worry… I suspect things will be changing very soon with the way things are going."
"Why, thank you sir… Sister Anne, I'm glad that you are all so hospitable."
Once again, I said everything and yet nothing, my words and tone left nothing for anyone to take offense to. Sister Anne then turned away rudely and said,
"Follow me."
I could see doubt in some people's eyes. Clearly the fact that I wasn't acting like a barbarian was making those in the Church who weren't entirely convinced of their doctrine to question whether or not I really was the Church's devil. That would be definitely useful going forwards. I followed Sister Anne as she took us down a tall and long hallway and when we got to the end, it opened up into a massive room where there was a huge hourglass in the middle of it, with a marble staircase and platform built around it. I stepped forwards to the landing of the stairs and raised up my Shield and a beam of light hit the Gem. Immediately, on the left side of my HUD, an hourglass symbol lit up and numbers appeared, a countdown and read,
31:03:27:32
We had just over a month before the next Wave hit, plenty of time for us all to train and get strong enough to face the Wave and defeat it. I turned and was about to leave when I heard a familiar, but annoying voice say,
"Naofumi, is that you?"
It was Motoyasu, of course, along with Princess Bitch and her two lackeys who I never got the name of. Ren and Itsuki and their parties. I thought about just ignoring them, but knew that it would likely make Ren and Itsuki dislike me more than perhaps they already did. If it was just Motoyasu, I would have ignored him, I stopped and moved to be with my party as they approached and said,
"Motoyasu, Itsuki, Ren… nice to see you again even under the circumstances."
I defaulted to being polite, it cost me nothing, and would make me look like the bigger person. The three were about to reply when Malty predictably spit at me, saying,
"How dare you, you criminal, you and your animals should not be here!"
I could tell from the dark looks that the girls were NOT happy to be referred to as that term. I contemplated just letting them go and turning Princess Bitch Malty into a bloody pulp. It would be extremely satisfying, but ultimately make my life be in danger here forever and their lives forfeit.
Motoyasu predictably stepped forwards and said,
"What are you three beautiful women doing with Naofumi, don't you know he's a criminal?"
Malty spoke up,
"Motoyasu, don't talk to those… things. Those three girls are slaves, they aren't important!"
That seemed to shock Motoyasu, Ren and Itsuki, Motoyasu yelled out,
"But we're Heroes, how can you be so terrible, slavery is illegal in our worlds!
I spoke up then,
"That's not true, here in Melromarc, enslavement of demi-humans is legal. But that's not the point, is it Motoyasu? You don't like it because I have beautiful women at my side that aren't useless, lazy and bitchy cheerleaders like you have."
With that, I started to leave, but Itsuki stopped me and looked irate,
"Naofumi, I was willing to maybe cut you some slack because you made some good points at the trial about Princess Malty, but this is another issue entirely. We're supposed to be Heroes and represent justice! Slavery is evil and should be eliminated and I will see Justice done, no matter who it is I have to dispense Justice on."
Before I could answer him, Princess Bitch Malty spoke up again and sniffed,
"He's nothing but a criminal after all, I wouldn't be surprised as to what criminal acts he'd stoop to."
Raphtalia had enough and put a hand on her hilt and said,
"That's her, isn't it Master Naofumi… the one who accused you?"
She all but spat out towards Malty, Rifana added then,
"Well, I don't really know her, but she doesn't really seem like the type that looks like a victim… more like someone who can't close their legs when there's a man nearby…"
Keel piled on and said,
"If she's what a real lady is supposed to be, then I'd rather cut my boobs off, and be a man any day of the week."
I couldn't help it, my lips curled unintentionally into a smile as she looked like Raphtalia, Rifana and Keel with wide eyes, looking shocked beyond belief that they would dare speak to her that way. Motoyasu, predictably had to try and stick up for his teammate as he tried to pour on the charm to my girls,
"Woah now, that's no way for such beautiful women to speak to each other…"
He was stopped by Raphtalia who held up a hand immediately and said,
"Stuff it, Sir Spear Hero, I'm getting nauseated at all the arrogance and entitlement in the air… Let's go Master Naofumi."
For a moment, I thought about trying to salvage something out of this, but the fact that I had slaves was going to make Itsuki less willing to listen to me. Motoyasu was a lost cause, and Ren I wasn't sure about as he was as silent as ever and stayed out of the conversation, probably because he was too nervous to speak up. My only hope was that he wasn't as overly emotional as the other two were and might see things a bit clearly. I nodded to Raphtalia and started to walk away past the three of them and their parties. But before I got to the door, I stopped and looked over my shoulder and said,
"It might not matter much to any of you, they might be called slaves and have a crest, but I don't treat them as such. Had I not purchased them, especially Rifana, they would have died within days and they were all Level 1 and sickly children and I helped them become as strong as they are now. But here's one more piece of information that maybe you should keep in mind. They lived in a peaceful village on the coast of Melromarc called Lurolona. The site of the first Wave, and just as they were beginning to recover from the damage… who should appear but knights of the kingdom leading slavers… Makes you wonder who exactly you're working with and for, doesn't it?"
That made the three of them shut up as Malty sputtered and then tried to destroy whatever credibility my words had, but I had at least made another point, hopefully undoing some damage or at the least making them doubt. Motoyasu again I felt was a lost cause as long as Bitch was in his party, and I hoped that he wouldn't be a problem going forwards.
We left the Church then and headed for the tavern nearby where Reichnott had left his cart and George and entered, looking for him. I could see that this tavern was friendly to demi-humans as there were plenty of them inside and interacting favorably with the humans here. I saw Reichnott at a table that was big enough for all of us and he waved us over.
We all took a seat and he motioned for us to order as he said,
"Go ahead and order what you like, I'm sure you must be hungry by now."
Once again he must know demi-humans quite well as if on queue, the girls' stomachs all growled at once. They all sighed and laughed at each while looking embarrassed. I was sure that I wasn't going to get any food, because the girls would eat it all up, but surprisingly, they at least left my meal alone. Maybe because they were ashamed of leaving me with crumbs before?
After we ate, the girls went to talk to some of the demi-human adventurers, mostly to swap stories and get advice on how to handle their weapons and on fighting. Reichnott put down a copper plate that had a seal on the front that I suspected was his and one on the back that was likely the royal crest.
He and I talked about details, and he gave me the manifest with what I would be carrying in the cart and what I would be picking up in return in Lute, as well as his contact who happened to be the governor of the village. He gave me a few extra gold coins for expenses and told me to keep the remainder.
We made an appointment to meet him back here with the cart and George in a couple of days so that he could get back home and he promised to give us a ride. It sounded like a decent proposal, so I accepted and then gathered my girls and left the tavern. It would take a half-day of travel by cart to get to Lute and a half-back and we needed to get a move on.
We checked that the cargo was still safe in the cart, fed George some beans that Reichnott said that he liked and we were off. Part of me never wanted to come back to Castle Town again, but knew that would probably be a promise I wouldn't be able to keep.
Since I have now posted Chapter 5, as promised, I have removed the Interlude chapters and put them in their own separate side story called The Struggle of the Shield Hero: Interludes and all non-essential character moments and points of view will be placed in there. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm not the best at writing the other Three Heroes, but soon enough we'll be seeing more of them once we get to the Lute Wave and the Duel which will be the climax of this starting arc.
Also, I have a question of my readers, who would like to see me do another spin-off that deals with Kizuna and what takes place in her world with meeting Glass, L'Arc, Therese, Ethnobolt and the rest and defeating the Dark Dragon Emperor before she is imprisoned in the Infinite Labyrinth and then meeting Naofumi and Rishia there? I might start it once we get past the Lafan Wave and stalemating with Glass. It wouldn't be updated NEARLY as much as the main story as that will be my primary focus, but I'm curious as to what sort of appetite for it might be.
I have created a Discord for those who want to follow along with my story. I will have a channel for discussions of my fanfic with myself and others as well as a channel where I will post my W.I.P. documents so that people can be spoiled if they like future storylines and events. Invite link is /Rx8UkJQwM7