Author's Note:

I'm primarily writing this fanfic after having finished AllenBlaster's Virtue of the Shield Hero. For this fanfic, Naofumi will be much older (mid-to-late 20's) and have more life experience than he did in canon (i.e. having had a relationship before, having a job, learned to be more social, etc.) so that he doesn't make the same mistakes canon Naofumi does (he'll make different ones). On that note, let's begin.

"Speaking"

"Thinking…"

[Status Magic]

The Struggle of The Shield Hero

Chapter 1

If Only I Didn't Read That Book

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only once."

George R. R. Martin

"Success! The summoning worked!" I heard someone say as the light began to clear and I could see again. I stood up and I noticed that I wasn't in the public library anymore. I was in a round chamber with a strange circle that had all sorts of unfamiliar symbols and looked suspiciously like a magic circle that was quickly losing its glow. As I looked up, there were a few people dressed like clerics from those old games I used to play, before I had to grow up and join the rat race.

Beside me were three other people just like me but who were much younger and who each held a weapon in their hand and looked about as confused as I felt. The oldest was a blonde and looked like he probably was in college like I used to be until a few years ago and carried a spear. The next was a black-haired boy who looked like he could be in high school with a cold and closed off expression on his face who carried a sword. The youngest was also blonde but with curly hair and had a bit of a baby face and carried a bow. Wait a minute! I was reading a book about something like this just before the light enveloped me.

I didn't quite get a chance to dwell on things as one of the clerics spoke up, "Please Holy Heroes! We beseech to save us from the Waves of Catastrophe!"

Well now, this is awkward, before I could even process this my fellow "Heroes" spoke up and started to act in a completely inappropriate and arrogant way. I could tell it was making the person quite uncomfortable, so I spoke up to cut them off and said, "Ah, pardon me, your Excellency, but we're all a bit confused and frightened after suddenly appearing with no warning here. Could you please forgive the impertinence of my friends and we will go wherever you wish, so long as we can receive some answers to our questions?" The cleric looked at me first with surprise, then with almost grudging respect and gratitude as he said, "Of course, please, all you, follow me. I will take you to our King and he will explain everything."

The three students beside me all looked at me funny and it seemed that I took a bit of the wind out of their sails as they all fell in line behind me, perhaps subconsciously assuming that I know what I'm doing and because I'm the oldest. All that training in sales and customer service was helping to smooth things out. I did make note however of where we were and the area around us. The air smelled much cleaner than it did back in Tokyo, with it seemingly to be somewhat Mediterranean with it being warmer than I remember. The architecture of the castle (that's what I assumed we were in) was definitely of a medieval European-like design that was common for a fantasy setting.

I noticed some portraits on the walls as we walked down a long plush carpeted hallway of what I assumed to the royal family. One was of the Queen, a vermillion-haired beautiful woman, the King, a very regal older man that carried a staff that strangely had a gem on the top that resembled the one in the middle of my shield but with a different color. A girl with flaming red hair that I assumed was the heir to the throne as she was older than her sister's portrait who was a blue-haired girl that looked far more mature than she should at her age. I couldn't read the nameplates as they were in the (presumably) language of the country we were in but I did take note of the faces for now.

We were brought before a large set of ornate double doors that must lead to the throne room and the cleric talked to one of the guards that were barring entry. I noted that the guards too looked at me with suspicion and a bit of disdain and that like the cleric who brought us, was wearing a pendant openly that only had the Sword, the Bow and the Spear on it. That concerned me, and I filed that information away for much later.

We were announced and then we were brought in front of the older man that I saw in the portraits, although for some reason he wasn't holding the cane that was shown. He sat up as we approached and spoke. "My name is Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, and I am the King and ruler of these lands. Heroes, you have been brought here because this country, no the entire world is on the brink of disaster!" He then went on to describe a prophecy that waves would occur and wash around the world bringing destruction and death over and over until there was nothing left. Before I could process this, once again I had to internally facepalm as my fellow compatriots or "Heroes" decided to act like entitled and arrogant idiots.

"I suppose it's only natural that you'd summon us then… but don't think that we'll be your slaves." "Seems like it's all fine and good for you." "I agree. All this sounds pretty selfish to me. If your world is on the path to destruction, I don't see what it has to do with us."

When it came my turn to speak, I was trying not to show how appalled I was at the three beside me. How could they think to be so rude to a King, didn't they realize that if they angered him, we could all easily be executed by the guards with a simple command? Did they not read enough light novels, manga or watch anime to figure that out?

I cleared my throat and the King who had an irritated expression on his face from having to listen to the complaints of the three heroes glanced at me with a blank expression, but I could see from his eyes that he was not really wanting to listen to me, but only doing so out of politeness as I bowed like I would to a client or one of my higher up bosses I sometimes had to interact with and said, "Your Majesty, my apologies for my friends here." I could feel the surprise once again from the three of them and it was like they didn't understand why I was being like this. I continued, "We have been brought here against our will, so it is only natural that we have some resentment for it. However, we are willing to do our duties to the best of our abilities. We just would like to know if it's possible to be returned to where we were brought from. May we have an answer, please?"

It seemed that me being so polite and humble made King Aultcray blink and really look at me, not as a potential annoyance or something he needed to manage, but as someone to listen to and respect. He rubbed his chin as he looked at me and for a long moment I was starting to sweat as I remained poker faced, visions of him calling out, "Guards! Kill them for lese majeste!" until he then said calmly, "I'm afraid that until the Waves have been dealt with, there is no way to return to your world, Sir Shield Hero. There are legends that if you survive until the very end and complete your duty, that the choice to be able to go home will be granted by Gods."

That was a big relief to me, I had a life and a job back home, it would be bad if I wasn't able to return. He continued, "Naturally, I plan on compensating you all for your efforts and I've made arrangements to support you financially and to provide you with whatever you require. In thanks of your upcoming efforts."

Once again, my fellow Heroes decided to open their mouths and potentially ruin our relationship with the power in the kingdom. "Oh yeah? As long as you promise that we won't have a problem." "Don't think you've bought us off. As long as we aren't enemies, I'll help you out though." "Agreed" I sighed this time, why did they have to act like arrogant entitled children, I could see that the advisors and nobles that were in the throne room were murmuring to each other and weren't all that happy to hear their "Heroes" being so brash and bold in front of their King.

It was at this time that I realized that most of the people here had that same strange symbol necklace with the Sword, Spear and Bow on it. I was starting to see a pattern as they were looking at me, not as a hero like the other three, but as a potential threat if their veiled hostility in their gazes were anything to go on. Why was that? I made a note to try and find the answer to that question quickly as it could very well be a matter of survival.

I was also struck by the thought that this whole scene reminded me of what I read in that book before it somehow summoned me here. I was trying to recall more of the details when the young teen with the sword spoke up and introduced himself in a short and clipped sentence. "Ren Amaki, 16 years old, high school student." It seemed that maybe Ren wasn't too comfortable around people as he shuffled back quickly right after introducing himself to hide in the background. He was short, and if he cross-dressed, you'd probably mistake him for a girl. His hair was black and cut short. Overall, he gave the impression of a cool swordsman, maybe like K***to from that anime about being stuck in a VRMMO in a death game.

The blonde who was the Spear Hero and looked older than the other two, spoke up. "Alright, I'm next, my name is Motoyasu Kitamura. I'm 21 and a college student." Definitely a pretty boy, he looked like he probably had a girlfriend or two (or more) and possibly at the same time. It wouldn't surprise me if he got summoned because he got stabbed two or three-timing (or more) girls. He had that older brother vibe to him though, and seemed to be the kind of guy you could count on to be your wingman if you were out trying to find a girl to take home for the night (not that I have, although I did have a girlfriend for a short while just after college).

Finally, the youngest looking and shortest of our group spoke up. "I'm Itsuki Kawasumi, 17 years old, also a high school student." The Bow Hero looked like he wouldn't be out of place playing piano in a recital. He definitely had the vain and arrogant vibe to him. However, it seemed to be almost like a façade, there was something definitely brittle about the mask he wore. Like Motoyasu, he also had blonde hair that was wavy and looked almost permed. He reminded me of my younger brother with how soft-spoken he was.

Well, it was good to know that we were all Japanese, at least we had that in common even if they were likely going to be a headache to deal with. It was time for my introduction, and for a moment, I thought the King was going to ignore me as he was about to say something and then turned to me instead to ask, "And you Sir Shield Hero? Who are you…?" He eyed me curiously, it seemed I somehow had earned his attention, if not respect by being as courteous as I was. I replied, "Naofumi Iwatani, 25 years old, I work as a salaryman." I then coughed, "I believe that you would understand it if I said that I was a sort of merchant that deals with contracts and visiting customers to ensure they were satisfied and deal with their complaints." The King rubbed his chin, seemingly impressed and nodded, "Thank you Sir Naofumi, I will remember that." He then looked at all of us, "Sir Ren, Sir Motoyasu, Sir Itsuki and Sir Naofumi, please confirm your status, and give yourselves an honest evaluation."

It took us a moment to figure out what he meant before Ren told us about the icon in the corner of our vision. We managed to open up the "Status Magic" that both Ren and King Aultcray were talking about. When I managed to see my stats, I saw this:

Naofumi Iwatani

Class: Shield Hero LV 1

Equipment: Small Shield (Legendary Weapon)

Other-World Clothes

Skills: None

Magic: None

That was all fine and good, it was my stats however, that was the cause of all my consternation. I had really high defense (which was probably to be expected seeing as I was going to be the tank of the party) but unfortunately, my attack stat, which was what I assumed to be the stat that determined damage was 1. With that low of an attack stat, there was no way I would be able to level up on my own. This really seems like a game.

The others complained about being level 1 and the King did his best to calm their fears, telling us that we would need to go journey and strengthen ourselves and our weapons. He explained that we needed to raise our weapons ourselves to make them strong. I was about to ask some questions when Ren, Motoyasu and Itsuki talked about us all partying up together. The King then interjected, "I'm afraid that you will have to set out separately to recruit your own companions, the Legendary Weapons interfere with one another should you form a party. Both you and your weapons can only grow when apart from each other.

Strangely everyone seemed to have found instructions near their weapons. We all began to read at the same time.

Attention: The Legendary Weapons and their owners will experience adverse effects when fighting together. It is suggested that the Heroes and weapons are used individually.

What a headache, this definitely sounded like a game, but if it was then it sure had a lot of restrictions that made it hard at the beginning. As I was contemplating things, the King spoke up and said that we should retire for the night and that in the morning he would find companions for us. We thanked him and headed to the wing where dinner was going to be served and where our rooms would be. I looked at the others and said, "Before we go to bed, we should sit down and have a talk. There's a lot that I'd like to discuss with you." I gave them all a look and thanks to being the oldest, they at least looked at each other and nodded.

We were escorted by a girl wearing what could only be described as a maid dress (although this one wasn't the kind that you'd see in a maid café in Akihabara) and predictably, Motoyasu was leering at her from behind as he made comments like, "Wow, she's hot, I wonder if we'll each have a hot maid assigned to us?" to our general disgust. Yep, it's official, Motoyasu is a simp. I rolled my eyes and said, "Motoyasu, don't you think we should be careful to not sexually harass the staff? We don't know the laws governing that." I turned to Ren and Itsuki, "That goes for the rest of you, don't you realize that you all were being rude at the start to the cleric and the King? We could have all been executed for lese majeste if the King was annoyed enough, Heroes or not."

Itsuki spoke up thoughtfully, yet haughtily, "That would be the act of a tyrant if he was willing to do that, and I would have to bring him to Justice!" There was a self-satisfied smirk on his face as he said that. I was literally aghast, and even Ren and Motoyasu looked at him strangely, I managed to swallow the admonishment of "ARE YOU CRAZY?!" and say simply, "That… might be a very unwise idea, we wouldn't survive if we attacked the King himself." Itsuki simply shrugged and conceded the point. I looked at Ren and Motoyasu, "That goes double for you two. We need the King, so we need to stay on his good side. I seem to have his respect at least, how about I do the negotiating tomorrow as I have the experience and the skills to do so?" The three of them looked at each other and shrugged and nodded and Ren said, "Might as well, your kind of screwed anyways being a Shielder." Motoyasu nodded, "In my game, people who were Shielders were weak and couldn't do much past the early to mid-game."

Well, that was a kick in the balls, I guess that explains why I have such a lousy attack stat. Motoyasu and Itsuki agree with Ren and give more details. They almost seemed to pity me, but soon we moved on to telling each other more about ourselves and we eventually found out that we all played different games (I read a book) and that we all came from different Japan's. Ren seemed to come from a more futuristic version that had VR full dive technology, while both Motoyasu and Itsuki came from their Japan that was somewhat similar to my own. After we ate, we decided to retire and made a promise to talk more over breakfast before we received our party members.

Well, now that that's out of the way, I wanted to let people know my plans for the first arc (which is the Summoning up until the Second Wave) I plan on taking things slowly once he's been accused of rape. He will be getting Raphtalia, but I'm planning on making a major change from canon that you'll see in the next chapter. I know many may not like it because it'll change a favorite side character later on in the timeline but we'll see. I want to thank AllenBlaster and the members of his Discord for their input and beta reading and I promise that I will get better as time goes on. Feel free to leave reviews and PMs if you have any questions as I love bouncing ideas off of others.