Shield Hero: A New Hero

Chapter 4

Walking through the town, I saw Naofumi pressed up against a wall, some bald guy about to hit him. Walking over, the guy suddenly let him go. "What gives? Thought you were all ready to punch me." Naofumi said.

"I changed my mind."

"Good. You were about to lose your life there." Naofumi said before walking away.

"Hold up a second." the bald guy said, getting Naofumi to stop.

"What's going on?" I asked, my hand placed on the hilt of my dagger.

"Come with me, kid." the bald guy went into an alley and Naofumi followed. Shrugging, I went with him.

"You won't make it very far dressed like that." the bald guy said, handing a green cloak to Naofumi. "Consider this a parting gift."

"How much?"

"Doesn't matter since you're broke but let's call it a clearance sale and say 5 copper."

"Yeah, fine." Naofumi took the cloak and put it on. "I'll come pay ya some day." he then glanced at me. "We should probably split up for a bit, Merc." he told me. "We can't level up together."

"But-"

"Just go train." he cut me off. "I'm glad I can still rely on you." he began to walk away.

"Of course, man." seeing him disappear around the corner, I took a step in the opposite direction.

"So, you're the new hero, huh?" the bald guy asked.

I stopped in my tracks. "Yeah, I'm the new hero." I crossed my arms. "What do you want?"

"Since you're a friend of the shield hero, you're probably known as his accomplice. Here." he reached back and pulled out another cloak. This one was a dark red.

"Thanks." I took it and put it on. Reaching for some money, I handed over 5 copper. "You got any equipment I could use?"

"Yeah, come with me." he led me to his shop and we walked inside. "Choose what you like and pay up front."

Walking around the store, I browsed some armor and a possible second weapon. I knew that all I could use was a dagger, but maybe I could use two.

Seeing some armor that stuck out to me, I took it off the rack and looked it over. It looked like it would belong to a bandit. The pants were black and the shirt matched my cloak. The fur around the hood was black, along with the fur on the thighs of the pants.

"Like that one?" the bald guy asked.

"Yeah." I nodded. "I'll take it." looking back at Makoto, she watched me. "Why don't you pick something out as well?" she nodded before walking around the store.

Walking up to the front, I saw some weapons on the rack behind the bald guy. "Get me your best dagger and sword." I told him.

"Sure." he turned around and pulled one dagger and one sword off the wall. "Here."

Picking up the dagger, I gave it a quick swing to feel its balance. It felt nice. "How much?"

"200 silver for the armor. 100 silver for the dagger. And 150 silver for the sword." he replied. Feeling a tap on my arm, I looked back to see Makoto holding a single piece of armor. It had a short sleeve shirt under the breastplate and ended in a skirt. The shirt was purple with black accents.

"How much for this?" I asked the shopkeep.

"50 silver." Reaching for my coin bag, I took out 500 silver pieces and handed them over. "There's some changing rooms right over there." he pointed out.

Me and Makoto each took one room and changed into our new armor. It fit perfectly and matched my dark hair pretty well.

Walking out of the changing room, I went over to the counter and picked up my second dagger, placing it in its sheath just as Makoto walked over. I was pretty speechless at how good her armor looked on her. She even had her hair tied back in a ponytail. "It looks great on you." as I said that, her hair turned red. "I, uh, also got you this sword." I gestured to it on the counter.

She walked over and picked it up, looking it over before placing it in its sheath. She looked to me and smiled.

Looking to the shopkeep, he smirked. "We'll be back. Thanks, by the way." I told him as we left.

"Of course."

Leaving the store, Makoto followed me out. As I took a step outside, I ran a hand through my hair as I let out a sigh. "What now? We could use some more money, and we also need to level up. But I'm not too sure what to do." I looked back to Makoto. "Any ideas?"

She just shrugged in reply.

"I guess we could look for a few jobs, maybe..." I scratched the back of my head. "Then again, if people know I backed up Naofumi, they might want nothing to do with us." I let out a sigh. "Screw it. Let's just go kill some monsters."

A few minutes later

Out in the field, me and Makoto were fighting more of those balloon things. It wasn't long before I reached level 3. Then level 4. They were easy to defeat, but didn't give shit for XP.

"We need to find somethin' stronger." I began tossing and catching my dagger. "Any ideas where higher level monsters'll be?" I asked, looking to Makoto. Her hair turned grey as she placed her index finger on her chin in thought. After a few seconds, she shook her head, her hair changing from grey to a golden yellow. "Yellow? What's yellow mean?"

Makoto pulled a strand of hair in her line of sight before looking to me. She then gestured with her hands for a piece of paper and a pen. "I don't have anything to write with at the moment." I shrugged. She let out a 'sigh' but there wasn't any noise.

"Anyways, maybe if we head into the forest, we'll find some creatures to kill." I suggested. "Or should we just call it a night and continue in the morning?" I looked back to Makoto for an answer. She shrugged before holding up two fingers. "Stop for now?" I asked. She nodded in reply. "All right, then." I placed my daggers in their sheathes. "Let's find some place to rest up." I glanced at the sky to see it was covered in dark clouds. "It's gonna rain."

Minutes later

Making our way back to town, I began searching for an Inn to stay at. Seeing a pretty decent place, I went over to the doors and walked inside just as it began to sprinkle. Heading for the front counter, I pulled my hood off and ruffled my hair a bit. "Room for 2?" I asked, reaching into my pocket for some coins.

"You're the dagger hero, right?" the girl behind the desk asked. I noticed she was looking at my weapons.

Narrowing my eyes, I was already guessing she was gonna cause some sorta problem. "So what if I am?" I crossed my arms.

"I heard you backed the shield hero up when he was on trial." she said.

"Look, lady, I just want a room and to get some sleep." I told her. "Not lookin' to cause problems."

She just stared at me for a few seconds before shrugging. "1 silver. First door down that hall and on the right." she pointed to the hall.

"Thanks." I pulled out a piece of silver and handed it over to her. "C'mon, Makoto." I gestured for her to follow me.

Walking down the hall, I opened the door to our room and gestured for Makoto to head inside. Following her in, I shut and locked the door behind me. "Guess I was right: siding with Naofumi is gonna cause me some trouble in the near future." I walked over to the desk and sat down. "I don't give a damn, though. I'd back him up a million times over."

Makoto sat on one of the beds, her hands folded on her lap. She had already taken her boots, armor and cloak off, leaving her in just her dress and socks. "Makoto?" I said softly. "You're sure about coming with me?"

She nodded her head.

"Why?" I asked. "Why travel with someone that you know will cause potential problems?"

Makoto stood up and walked over to me. She sat down on the opposite side of the desk and pulled out a sheet of paper and a pencil. She began writing, and after a few seconds, she handed the paper over to me. "I want to come with you, because you're a friend of the shield hero." I read to myself. "The previous shield hero helped my kind in the past."

"Your kind?" I asked, looking up to Makoto. She didn't say anything as she tapped the paper.

"I know that the shield hero is innocent, because I saw that woman taunt you two. But even before then I knew he was telling the truth."

"So you saw her, huh?" I asked. Makoto nodded as she took the paper and pencil. "But what did you mean by 'your kind'?" she already began writing before I even asked.

After a few seconds, she returned the paper.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but there are other beings here in Melromarc that aren't exactly human. They have parts of an animal, mostly just animal ears and tail. But they're treated horribly. Chained up like some feral animal. They're called Demihumans, and I am one of them."

Looking up from the paper, I saw a pair of fox ears sitting on Makoto's head. And behind her, a fluffy fox tail slowly waving back and forth.

End of chapter 4