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The following is a fan-based Fiction.
Rising of the Shield Hero belongs to Aneko Yusagi
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Catching Up
Misato places a bouquet on the ground. He leans up facing a tree with some carved words.
Ben Morgan
Hope Morgan
Rueben Clark
Elizabeth Newman
James Farsman
Gwen Clark
"Hey, guys… Sorry, I took so long to do this. Recent events have kept my mind preoccu- No, actually that's a lie, I just threw myself to the next thing to not think about what has happened to us…" Misato says, placing his hands into his pockets. He lightly scowls remembering the eyes of his killers… but then sighs "Don't worry, I won't go on a vengeful rampage on the small chance of avenging everyone and forget about what I can have here."
The Gun Hero then looks up at the sky pondering "Well, unless I unlock a gun that can shoot bullets that can cross through dimensions and worlds, and hits a very specific target and no one else… Then I would definitely avenge you all by blowing up their balls and then their heads." The Asian-American lightly chuckles.
"Mom, Dad, Rueben, Beth, James, and Gwen, I know it's hard to believe but I got isekai'ed, I know it's amazing, meeting people who are characters in the show, but from what I know, it's going to be an uphill battle…"
"Reuben, you know more about this world than I do, you could do a lot of good here with what you know and what to prevent, which is why I kind of question why the hell the Gun chose me. For the advantage of knowledge? Then it messed up on choosing me to do this…"
"Gwen, Naofumi would wish he had you as his lawyer back in that trial, you would have ripped them apart, and since this is a game-like world, your words probably could do damage. Or realistically roast about how hypocritical the king is, and Itsuki, we would destroy him… You always have a good sense of what's right or wrong, makes me wish you were the Gun Hero or better yet, the Bow Hero, would have made my job a whole lot easier. You were always wanting to do the right thing, although you were strict and a bit annoying when nagging me and everyone." Misato says "But now I miss it…"
"Beth, I can already picture you calling Malty a bitch the moment she even breathes… I imagine you would have loved to meet that tailor girl and make fashionable clothes with her. Maybe create the best gear to wear for protection and style, I would have worn it until you make a better masterpiece or when they are ripped apart."
"James, you were always pushy and sometimes disrespected personal space. Hell, I didn't really like you at first, but you were the first to help me against those bullies before even Gwen and Rueben could help. Because of that in time, I understood that you were a great guy trying to make me get more friends, it's how I met everyone else…"
"Mom, Dad, I know you always wanted me to stay safe and not get into trouble but with what's going on in this world, I have no choice but to get into danger, because of who I am facing, I have to risk it in order to be safe again. I'm sorry…"
Misato bows "Thank you, everyone, for everything, and wish me luck…" He turns away from the tree, then pulls up his phone looking at the group photo of him and his friends, and another photo of him with his parents. He places the phone back into his pocket.
Misato, Keel, and Rifana leaned against a tree watching Fitoria speak to two tombstones on the ground. Ace was talking to his family, the scene was adorable seeing Ace in his humanoid form covered in little filolial chicks of similar colors on top of him with his parents nearby leaning their heads against their eldest child.
The Gun Hero turns to see Fitoria gesturing her hand towards him to come. Misato complies, walking over to the Filolial Queen. She grabs his hand and pulls him to face a Tombstone with a vague carving of a gun and fresh carvings in Melomarc's language saying
Forrest Smith
The Gun Hero
The other tombstone had a vague shape of a shield with fresh carvings saying
Mamoru Shirono
The Shield Hero
"I want you to meet Misato Morgan, the new Gun Hero. It's thanks to him that I remembered your names and your gazes and with your recordings saved in my Carriage, I will never forget you…" Fitoria says, turning to Misato. "Would you like to say a few things to them?" She asks.
The New Gun Hero nods, kneeling. "Hello Mamoru Shirono, it's an honor to meet you, I am thankful for meeting Fitoria, she has helped me a lot and my initial pain when I came to this world. I'll do my best to save this world and end this war once and for all…" He says, he then stands up to face his predecessor's stone.
He notices that there is what looks like a badge in front of the tombstone, but he ignores this to say his words to the Previous Gun Hero. "Hello, Forrest, It's an honor to meet you as well… I promise to do my best to meet your expectations, I can't imagine what it's like to escape doom only to not be able to defeat the Ruler with your own hands, and while I know what it's like to survive where your friends did not, I don't really know what it's like to not even have a chance to avenge your friends… Like sure I can't kill my murderer but I know that one day they will pay, but your enemy is something else…"
"You dedicated your remaining life to preparing me and Fitoria to finish off the Ruler of the Waves, planning, prepping all the way to your death. I still question why the hell the Gun chose me, but I hope it has a good reason and that one day I will prove it…"
Fitoria's hand tightens on Misato's. He turns to look at her, she nods, and he nods back.
Time to go.
The Gun Hero's party sits in the wagon, Ace pulls it while Rifana sits on the front, steering Ace. Keel, Fitoria and Misato sit inside. The Demi-human wolf sits, facing the Gun Hero, and Fitoria sits on the Gun Hero's lap resting.
"Fitoria, what is that?" Misato asks.
The Carriage Hero hands the Gun Hero the badge. "This once belonged to Forrest and he gave it to me before his death, he said it was for luck. It has some text but I do not know what it says."
The Asian-American inspects the badge and his eyes widen in surprise. The text… it's in English! "New Portland Police Force." He mutters.
"You can read the text?" Fitoria gasps, staring at Misato hoping to know more about her second father figure.
"Ya, it says 'New Portland Police Force'."
"What is the New Portland Police Force?" Keel asks
"Well, I imagine New Portland is the name of a city. Police forces are kind of like guards who enforce the laws in that city."
Keel's eyes widened "So you're saying that before Forrest was the Gun Hero, he was also a guard for New Portland?" She says with awe.
Misato nods "It's possible…" Forrest had this badge, which looks pretty beaten up. So one reason he has this is that he was once a police officer before he became the Gun Hero, or it's a memento to someone he knew. Although the Successor is more inclined to think his Predecessor was a police officer because it would make sense for the Legendary Gun to choose someone who at least had firearms training and not someone who has none like himself. This now makes Misato wonder even more why he is the Gun Hero if countless people in his world know how to fight?
"Cool." Keel says. "What was your life like before you became the Gun Hero?" She asks. Fitoria looks up from his lap curious about his previous life.
The Asian-American shrugs "Not really worth noting, I just liked reading, gam- uh playing sports, drawing, and writing."
Keel tilts her head "Really? But you seem so cool and experienced when you fight, you're certain you didn't have training before?"
"The only training I had was sparring against Fitoria for like a week before facing Zeltoble's Wave."
"Seriously? And you won against its boss by yourself?"
"Mhm," Misato nods.
"Wow!" Keel, Rifana, and Ace said. The other two were listening with their enhanced hearing.
"So Big Bro is really strong!" Ace says.
"Eh, with my extremely high damage points, it was easy. Not really impressive."
"That is true but you were only around level 14 when you faced that spider queen and her children. High damage stats or not, that is an impressive feat." Fitoria compliments.
"That's amazing!" Keel says.
Misato smiles, patting Fitoria's head. "Thanks."
Rifana chimes in from the front "I wonder what the other Heroes will be like."
The Gun hero pauses his head patting, and he winces. "If they are anything like what I know then be prepared to be disappointed."
"Huh? How bad can they be?" The Keel asks, noticing Misato's wincing expression.
Misato rubs his head. "In the visions, the Spear Hero is a shameless flirt with girls, he's also biased, so much that he will ignore obvious evidence on how the 'main' girl in his party is a terrible woman."
Rifana rolls her eyes, recalling how some people flirted with her and Keel during their travels.
"The Bow Hero, I'll try not to rant but that little shit doesn't actually believe in justice he does things to receive a petty amount of praise, and anyone that calls him out even if they are right and want to help him, he would ignore them or kick them out of his party. He is so bad I question why the Bow would even fucking chooses him."
"Wow, he must be bad if he's got you riled up like this," Keel says, surprised by Misato's mood.
"Should I kick the Bow Hero then?" Ace offers.
The Gun hero sighs "No Ace, even though he is the worst among the four… But moving on… The Sword Hero I'll admit he's not that bad, but his social skills are garbage, always coming off as rude and trying to act cool. It just makes him look like an asshole, he's so focused on his own strength that he does terribly in teams."
"And finally, the Shield Hero… in the visions ever since he was framed for rape in a false trial, the man has been cold with people, unable to trust anyone, he has resorted to slaves in his party. Demi-Human slaves…"
"What?!" Keel and Rifana yell.
"Ya, I know… Before you start, his reputation was dropped hard, in the vision he nearly got mugged by some people after the accusations. He can't free them by force and you had that talk with Reichnott, helping slaves after freeing them is not that easy…" Misato sighs due to his bystander actions in Zeltoble. Maybe he could have rescued them and moved them to Reichnott's Territory, but then again, it's not exactly safe here for Demi-Humans right now.
"But he's supposed to be a hero! All of them are supposed to be heroes, right?!" Keel yells. "The people you described us sound nothing like the previous Cardinal Heroes! They sound like the opposite of a hero!"
"Ya!" Rifana cries out from the front of the wagon.
"Like I told you, before we were summoned, we were just normal people with normal lives, we weren't supposed to be the ones who save others, we are just people who wanted to live the rest of our lives!" Misato yells but then sighs and slouches. "But I couldn't do that back at home." He mutters that last part. Fitoria notices this and hugs him tighter.
"But Misato, you were summoned and you're acting like a hero already!" Rifana says. From her experience with the Gun Hero, his behavior has been heroic so far, how can the other heroes not be?
"Because Fitoria was the one who summoned me and kept me focused on my goals as a hero." He counters.
"True, but you had no delusions from the start, and from what you told us about the other heroes, they are all delusional, even the Shield Hero to a smaller extent." Fitoria comments. "You said our mission is to break the Heroes' delusions and have them trust each other to defeat the Ruler."
Keel nods in agreement, if the heroes are bad as Misato said then they have to get them in the right direction fast. "How are we going to do that?" She asks.
"We'll wait until we meet them or hear about their personalities."
"Why? Shouldn't we plan what to do now?"
"Because there's a chance that the heroes are nothing like what I saw in my visions." Misato says. "There are differences in this world, my visions might not be correct."
"But you were right about us being trapped in that dungeon." Rifana says and Keel nods.
The Gun Hero sighs "No, I was right about you being trapped in there, I didn't know Keel was in there too."
Keel gasps "So I could have been somewhere else?"
"Possibly." Misato nods. "I only saw a glimpse of a single timeline, and for proof, there's also another thing that wasn't in my visions."
Fitoria chimes in "There was no Gun Hero in his visions."
"Does that mean you saw a timeline where… Forrest never made it?" Keel hesitantly asks.
Misato's eyes widened, he never considered that the anime he watched could be a glimpse of a universe where Forrest… Never escaped the destruction of the world he was in…
Fitoria's grip on Misato tightens. The thought of never meeting Forrest and Misato at all was terrible. She can't picture a world without a Gun Hero there.
Ace stopped the wagon, everyone was silent as he turned around to face the group.
"So, I c-could not have met e-everyone?" Ace says quivering.
The Gun hero was surprised by Ace coming up with the horrible possibility. Ace recently has shown some surprising maturity for his age but he is still a child only about two months old and very impressionable. Ace transforms into his human form and leaps into the wagon hugging Rifana. The blonde hugs him back and enters the wagon sitting next to Keel.
The Keel rubs Ace's head. "Sorry… Want to talk about something else?" Keel asks.
"Know this, Best case scenario, there's a chance that the heroes are actually good guys and are willing to listen to each other. In a bad case, the heroes are just like what I know. But we can use that to our advantage to make them the heroes you know the legends…" Misato states. "But I do have some good news if my vision is true."
"Like what?" Rifana asks.
"That your friend, Raphtalia is alive and well, all thanks to the Shield Hero buying her."
"Really?!"
The mood became brighter as Misato explains how Naofumi took care of their raccoon friend after she was transferred from Idol Rabier. Rifana and Keel were mostly happy with the idea that their friend was in better hands than literally any other slave owner. Although they had mixed feelings on the idea of Raphtalia having a slave seal at all.
Ace felt better due to the atmosphere feeling nicer than earlier, plus the head pats and hugs helped, he transformed back and continued to pull the wagon. Fitoria remained on Misato's lap comfortably, falling asleep, exhausted from staying awake for three days creating a powerful magical field.
A day has passed. The frequency of racist travelers, people who looked at them with disgust, were getting more frequent, a sign that they are getting closer to Castle Town. A place where they will most meet the Cardinal Heroes, but hopefully the Shield Hero is nearby.
Fitoria's ahoge twitches, she pats Misato's shoulder "I sense the presence of a Cardinal Hero nearby." She says.
The Gun Hero nods, patting her head "Thanks Toria." He moves to the front of the wagon placing his hands on both Rifana and Keel's shoulders "Okay, I'll steer, stay in the back and hide until I tell you to come out."
"But Misato-
"No Rifana." He interrupts "First impressions are important, plus if it's the Spear Hero, the guy would shut his brain off more and flirt with you and Keel. Especially you Fitoria, I don't want him to even look at you."
Fitoria's eyebrow quirks up "I know you informed me of his… Obsession but surely it isn't that bad?"
Misato stares at her remembering the creepy flushed look on his face when Motoyasu, who was still sane at the time, admits he has a 'thing' towards angel girls. Then the scene where he hugs Filo, whose transformation powers were locked and weakened, in other words, when she was vulnerable, gross. And finally, the one manga page of Fitoria shuddered, after Reprised Motoyasu leaped towards her cheering loudly. Sure, they didn't show it but seeing Fitoria afterwards told him enough.
"Absolutely not…" Misato says with a dark look on his face, he be damned to let the Spear Hero meet the Filolial Queen so soon, oh and also a certain red-headed bitch might trick Motoyasu to fight him to 'free Fitoria', another problem he would face.
Fitoria, seeing the dark look on the Gun Hero, nods and places a cloak over her body, and lays down. Keel and Rifana enter the wagon and sit down but then Keel notices something different on Misato's Gun. "Uh, why did you change the Gun?" She asks.
Misato blinks, his hip does feel heavier, he pulls out the gun instead of seeing the usual Fancy Revolver he started with; he finds that his gun is currently a shotgun, a long double barrel to be exact. Strange… He doesn't recall willing the gun to this form, he shrugs and turns it back to a revolver, right next to the flashing glass orb.
The Gun Hero squints his eyes seeing a figure up ahead in the distance."Please be Naofumi Or even Ren!" He mentally prays. He's not ready to deal with the worst duo of the Four Heroes!
He sees a green cloak billowing in the wind and a small figure of a brown-haired young girl nearby. It must be Naofumi and Raphtalia! This means they have a good chance to make a good impression and convince Naofumi that his companion genuinely cares about him! Misato sighs in relief, things are according to his plan so far. He subtly messages Fitoria that it is the Shield Hero.
Now that he is closer, Misato is a little thrown off by how they look compared to the anime. Naofumi's outfit, the one he was given after the trial by the blacksmith who sympathized with him, was dirty, and a little torn, possibly from taking hits from monsters, different from the clean look he had in the show when he went on hunting. Raphtalia, she's not quite at her Episode 3 or teenager phase, from what he sees she's probably a head shorter than Keel and Rifana. Good that means Raphtalia has more potential to gain more stats than her anime counterpart. She's currently level 14 and Naofumi is level 12, dang he's that low?
The Protagonist of the show glares at Misato, he stands in front of the Demi-Human raccoon, one hand under his cloak, most likely a balloon, the other in front of the girl. "Crap I was staring too much" He needs to break the ice soon.
He slowly raises his hand to wave. "Uh, Hel-
BRRRRRRRRrr!
Misato blinks at the sudden growl coming from Ace "You're already hungry again?" He asks.
"Sorry, Big Bro." Ace replies, turning around looking a little sheepish.
The Gun Hero sighs, he activates the glass orb to flash a light, secretly drawing out the item in the Gun's inventory, and tossing a large cooked steak. "It's fine, chew on this for a little while. I set up a campfire to cook everyone a meal."
"Thanks." The Royal Filolial says right before biting on the steak, he places it on the ground and gobbles big chunks of the steak.
Naofumi's eyes narrow at the large bird, suspicious and possibly nervous about how quickly Ace eats his food. Misato ignores this as he is somewhat used to Ace's behavior, he turns to the back facing Rifana and Keel. "Rifana, Keel help me out please." He says loudly, hoping Raphtalia would hear him. He turns to see Raphtalia's mouth agape, which means it worked, now for the moment of truth.
Rifana and Keel hop off the back of the wagon holding some logs and they walk up to the front of the carriage to see which Hero it is, only to freeze in shock, staring at Raphtalia. Keel drops her log, while the blonde gasps. Raphtalia slowly steps a bit forward, trembling with each step.
"Raphtalia what's wrong?" Naofumi asks with his eyebrow raised, slowly reaching out to grab the girl back.
The young girl ignores him, staring at the two Demi-Humans in shock. "K-Keel?" She says to the familiar older-looking black-haired girl and turns to the familiar blond girl. "R-Rifana…?"
"R-Raphtalia…?" Rifana and Keel say, both taking a step forward.
Raphtalia stares at Rifana and Keel, their faces… while they look older, she could never forget her friends! The brunette runs, ignoring her master. Fortunately, Naofumi is more curious about her reaction to those two demi-humans, instead of using the slave seal to stop her approach.
Rifana and Keel do the same, running toward their friend. They both scoop the girl up in their arms and hug her tightly, crying. Raphtalia does the same clinging on to their heads.
"I can't believe it!" Keel says.
"I know!" Rifana replies.
"I thought I would never see you two again! Rifana how are you here? What happened to Idol Rabier!?"
"We'll explain later but for now I just want to stay like this for a little longer!" Rifana cries.
Meanwhile, Misato and Ace smile at the three.
"Big bro, why are they crying?" Ace asks.
"Sometimes some people get so happy that they cry, crying doesn't mean they are sad, sometimes they can be very happy. Like, imagine not seeing your parents and siblings for like ten years and finally seeing them again after so long."
"I think I would cry too." The young royal filolial sniffs, sensing the joy from the girls.
Meanwhile, the Shield Hero catches up and stares at the heartfelt reunion. Even though he became jaded and traumatized to the point of not being able to taste food or notice his companion's growth. But at that moment, Naofumi's heart became a little warmer from the happiest thing he had seen ever since he came to this terrible world.
Naofumi was wary of this group, well not Raphtalia's older friends but rather who looks like the leader of the group. The black-haired kid reminds him of Ren, he looks like he would be the cool guy in High School back at home. He has an undercut swept-to-the-side hairstyle, exotic amber eyes, some steel armor, and a black jacket. The Shield Hero's eyes widen, now noticing the revolver in the stranger's holster. What is a gun doing here in this medieval world?! Naofumi tenses, prepared to fight the moment this guy grabs the gun.
Thankfully that moment never came. The two parties set up camp as the sunset, they sat around the campfire, both parties staring across from each other. The blonde girl, Rifana, explains to his party the fate of Raphtalia's previous owner.
"Idol Rabier is dead?" Raphtalia gasps while Naofumi scowls. What the hell is wrong with this kingdom? He's bad too but this guy, what the hell is the point of whipping children up like that?! Another reason why he should prepare to leave this damn kingdom if bastards like this Rabier guy were alive. That king is trash to let this fucker do what he wanted.
"Ya" Keel nods "Thanks to Misato, he saved us from him and killed him."
"He can't hurt us anymore Raphtalia-chan," Rifana says, smiling.
Raphtalia smiles back, happy to know the horrible man is gone. Meanwhile, Naofumi's eyes narrow, Misato that's the guy's name, that's Japanese, but isn't that a girl's name? He looks like a guy unless the leader is good at hiding their gender.
The Gun Hero introduces himself walking up to the Shield Hero's party "Nice to meet you Raphtalia, my name is Misato Morgan." he extends his hand to the girl.
"His voice is too deep to be a girl." Naofumi deduces "Strange family name for someone who looks Japanese."
Raphtalia shyly takes his hand and gently shakes it. Misato smiles and turns to shake Naofumi who simply grunts not raising his hands to greet him. The Demi-human girl frowns a bit but then smiles. "My name is Raphtalia and this here is my master, Naofumi-Sama the Shield Hero." She says a bit proudly.
Keel and Rifana stare at her incredulously then at Naofumi and back their friend.
"What?" Keel growls. "He's the shield hero but he's your slave owner?" Naofumi turns his head away from her only to the blonde girl with weasel ears seeing her glare at him, Crap.
"That's because Naofumi-sama can't fight on his own…" Raphtalia says. While Naofumi turns his head away from them grunting but internally he was panicking. He expected some questionable looks from strangers but not intense glares from her friends who of course would be pissed seeing their friend is a slave, he can't run away with Raphtalia they would chase, he can't force Raphtalia to fight her friends, and even if he could their levels are higher than them. What is he going to do?
"But he's the Shield Hero! He shouldn't-
"Rifana, Keel enough." Misato says sternly, interrupting their rant.
"But Misato…"
"I know it's wrong, but that depends on how he has treated her." The Gun Hero says, moving closer to Naofumi. "Hey look at me." The Shield Hero turns to face the stranger. "Order Raphtalia to speak only the Truth." Misato says, his yellow eyes staring into Naofumi's green eyes.
Naofumi stares at Rifana and Keel both glaring at him, while Raphtalia nervously stares between her friends and at him. This guy better not pull anything… He sighs "Raphtalia I command you, to speak only the truth."
Misato steps back to face the Racoon Demi-Human. "I'm going to ask you a test question to see if the command is working. Sorry about the pain."
The girl nervously nods.
"Are you a boy?" Seriously, that's his test question? Then again is it a good way to test if the seal is functioning.
"Um," Raphtalia mumbles, her face a little pink. "Ye- ow! I'm not!" She cries from the shock of the seal.
Keel and Rifana held the girl to comfort her, slightly frowning at Misato and Naofumi.
"Sorry." Misato apologizes "Okay now that we know it works, answer these next questions truthfully." He says.
The girl nods. "Okay."
"Raphtalia, has Naofumi abused or tortured you?"
"No" She answers, the seal doesn't shock her.
"Has Naofumi inflicted pain on you?"
"Yes, BUT only for a little bit because he needed me to get stronger when I wouldn't attack the monster!" Raphtalia answers quickly. The Seal doesn't shock her.
Misato takes a deep breath. The Shield Hero raises his eyebrow, why is he so nervous?
"Do you care about Naofumi?"
"Yes."
"That so?" Naofumi mumbles in denial. Not noticing Misato glancing at him frowning.
"Why?" Misato asks.
"He fed me, cleaned me, protected me, he was willing to die to protect me from this strong monster…"
Rifana and Keel gasp "What are they gasping for? I did that because Raphtalia needed to be in perfect shape to fight. And… If I was dying at least the little girl could have a chance to live." Naofumi thinks to himself, remembering their encounter with the two-headed dog and when she killed it. His heart feels tight from that memory, most likely because he nearly died… That's got to be it.
Misato turns to face him, frowning, "Why is he looking at me?" He slowly moves his jacket, showing the inner pocket of his clothing. Slowly pulling out what looks like a dark purple handkerchief. Rifana and Keel gasp, why are they gasping?
Naofumi looks at Misato who turns back to Raphtalia, showing her the handkerchief. "Raphtalia, this cloth is made to remove slave seals, with this I can free you."
The Shield Hero's eyes widen, and his breath becomes labored, this fucker going to free Raphtalia! Naofumi scowls glaring at Misato. His status as a hero allows him to glimpse at this guy's level which is… 41! This bastard is three times his level, even if he didn't have this useless SHIELD he wouldn't stand a chance against Misato, because he also has a GUN, the best weapon in a world like this! WHY DOES HE GET ALL THE TERRIBLE LUCK?!
Naofumi's HUD began to glitch, flickering. Recalling the events of the first two days in this shitty world. When he was told how useless the Shield is in a fight when none of the adventurers wanted to join his group, and finally... That bitch… That trash king, the three douches getting good weapons…
THEY CAN ALL GO TO HELL!
"Raphtalia, it is your decision, if you allow me to free you, Naofumi will let you in his party anymore. If you don't then you can remain in his party."
What kind of stupid choice is that?! OF COURSE, SHE WOULD SAY YES SHE COULD JOIN HER FRIENDS! HAVE FUN WITH THIS COOL GUY and harem! INSTEAD!
"I refuse."
Naofumi blinks, and his vision becomes clear. What did she say?
"Can you say that again?" Misato says, unintentionally asking the question that rings in the Shield Hero's head.
"I don't want to be freed or at least not from Naofumi-sama," Raphtalia says firmly. "If I were in the clutches of someone like Idol Rabier, I would have accepted, but Naofumi is nothing like that monster…"
"But Raphtalia, even if Naofumi rejected you, you can always join us…" Keel says
"No Keel, Naofumi-sama needs me and I need him…" What the hell is she talking about?
Misato chimes in "There are rumors that Naofumi raped his previous companion, it is an action of one taking pleasure against the other's will. There is a chance he will do the same to you by growing you up to be a beautiful girl, to be a toy for his sick desires. And if not, he might sell you to the highest bidder. Lots of disgusting men would pay a lot of money to have their way with you…" He says scowling, clenching the handkerchief.
Naofumi infuriated opens his mouth to speak-
"NO! Naofumi-sama will never do anything horrible to me. I know him better than anyone else, I don't care what you or anyone else thinks of him, because you are all wrong, he is a wonderful person. I trust him with my life, I promise to always be by his side." She says clinging to the Shield Hero's arm. "Please don't leave me…" She says to Naofumi.
The Shield Hero collapses on his knees, crying. The tears… They won't stop. Naofumi hugs Raphtalia. "Thank you. Thank you…" Those words, he always wanted to hear them… No, Raphtalia fought against her fears by killing that monster, that was proof that she cared but he was too afraid and ignored them. But this time… He understands her and after a long time of sadness he finally felt… Happy.
Misato places the handkerchief into his pocket, smiling at them he then looks off to his side. "So Toria, is everything good with The Shield Hero?" He asks. Wait who? Naofumi and Raphtalia turn to see a blueish white-haired ten-year-old girl with crimson eyes and pure white wings, wearing a dress that matches her hair, wings, and eyes. Her hand was glowing blue but she lowered it, and the light disappeared.
The Shield of Rage Conditions is not met.
Shield of Rage? Naofumi looks at the log of notifications. How did he miss this?
The Shi33ld 0f Rag3: Pr05sing C0nditi0ns?! 30%
Warning! Foreign Energy has invaded the Shield!
The Shield of Rage Process has been stalled by Foreign Energy!
Foreign energy… Is the shield talking about this girl? What did she do?
Toria, he thinks her name is, nods "I managed to prevent the Shield Hero from unlocking the Curse Weapon." Curse Weapon?
Misato breathes out looking relieved for some reason "Good" He says, he turns to look at him and Raphtalia "Well, we got our answer, come on let's eat before it gets cold or before Ace eats them all up."
"Actually big bro, I stopped when the Shield guy got really angry and scary…" The Red-haired bird… Boy thing? Says, hugging Rifana. While the blonde pets his head and glares at Naofumi for scaring him.
"I'll answer your questions after we are done eating." Misato says, taking a seat. Followed by Rifana, Keel, and the fifth member of the party, Toria.
Raphtalia takes a kebab of meat and vegetables and takes a bite. "Naofumi-sama you have to try this, it's as good as the food you cooked!" She says handing him a kebab.
The Shield Hero takes a bite…
"I can taste it…"
"Who are you?" Naofumi asks Misato.
Misato stands up. "My name is Misato Morgan, I am the Fifth Cardinal Hero, I am the Gun Hero." He slowly pulls the gun out of his holster, what looks like a black revolver with a yellow glass orb on the barrel. It then turns into a musket rifle with a bayonet.
Raphtalia gasps, staring at the weapon in awe. While Naofumi was silent, staring at the weapon, confused. "The King didn't mention anything about another Cardinal Hero." Naofumi grunts.
"Because he doesn't know about the Gun Hero, it was kept a secret." Fitoria answers.
"And why is it kept a secret?"
"Well, there are a lot of reasons for that, but one reason that you might understand is to avoid stupid politics." Misato answers. "I imagine in the earlier days, the heroes were admired and worshiped but now… Now people in power just see heroes as political tools to measure their dicks. While the end of the world could happen because they are messing around with their petty schemes." He says with a groan and raises his hand to demonstrate his Musket Era weapons.
"I'm on muskets which is pretty inefficient in a world like this but… I am capable of creating more advanced guns." Misato says, turning his gun into the Repeater. "Imagine when I reach the Modern era of weapons…" He says looking right at Naofumi.
The Shield Hero's eyes widen at the implications. Misato nods "Ya… If you know your world's history, people would be scrambling to summon a Gun Hero to use as a tool. That's one of the reasons why it was kept a secret for so long."
"What are the other reasons this was kept a secret?" Raphtalia asks. Curious to why no one heard of a Gun Hero.
"Well…"
Misato explained the origin of Forrest Smith and the weapon that Fitoria guards, including some of his Predecessor's recordings. Raphtalia was amazed and horrified, knowing that out there beyond the world there was one another just like her home, only for it to be destroyed by the waves forcing one of their Cardinal Heroes to escape and warn the next world. Meanwhile Naofumi…
"You want me to trust those smug assholes to unlock the damn door? No way in hell is that happening." Naofumi says with a growl.
"That is foolish…" Fitoria says sternly, standing up. "You know very well that the Cardinal Heroes should trust each other, it doesn't matter what has happened, you must work with them or else the world is doomed. Even if there wasn't a weapon, the Heroes should work together."
"Doesn't matter?! I got framed of rape and they think I did it!"
"It still does-
"Fitoria WAIT!" Misato interrupts. Fitoria stares at the Gun Hero with a blank look. While confusing to the others, the question was clear to him, she is confused about why Misato stopped her.
"Fitoria, you are correct, but what you said to Naofumi was wrong… I'll explain why at another time. But please… Let me do the talking."
The Filolial Queen stiffly nods and sits back down.
Misato turns back to Naofumi doing a bow "Sorry about that. I understand that it seems that the heroes have thrown you under the bus right?"
Naofumi grunts. "Ya…"
Misato raises his eyebrow "Well to be fair how long have you known them before the trial happened?"
"..."
"Ya, they met you for like one day, I know it's unfair but consider this. Back in my world, I heard terrible stories of people who seemed normal and nice only to turn around and commit a serious crime. I'm not going to go into details on how they did it… But I imagine you understand what I'm talking about." Misato says sighing.
Naofumi groans, because he does understand what the Gun Hero is talking about, back at home when browsing the internet, he did see some glimpses of news articles about terrible criminals who seemed like nice normal people to catch their victims. "You're telling me they are not in on it?"
Misato ponders "It's possible, Forrest did mention that every Summoned Hero is At Least a good person at the start of their summoning. While their intentions might be good, they could be tricked into doing bad things."
"The person who accused you… It was someone you trusted, correct?" The Gun Hero asks.
Naofumi looks away from Misato. His action pretty much confirms it.
Misato sighs "Before I explain more, I want to confirm a few things. One, what are the heroes' names?"
Naofumi sighs recalling their names "The Bow Hero is named Kawasumi Itsuki, the Sword Hero's name is Amaki Ren and the Spear Hero is named Kitamura Motoyasu…" He says bitterly.
"Okay, number two when you were summoned were the other three heroes demanding things at the start?"
The Shield Hero looks at Misato suspiciously "Yes, how do you know all of this?"
Rifana chimes in "Misato says he has visions of the future from one timeline." Fitoria, Keel, and Ace nodded to support the claim. "It's how he saved me and Keel."
Raphtalia gasps and gives the Gun Hero a thankful look, while Naofumi frowns. Visions of the Future… Did Misato play a game like this world too?
Misato winks at Naofumi "I'll explain more to you in private about my sources but for now answer my next questions."
The conversation would continue with the Gun Hero asking questions for details to confirm what is true, and it matched everything he knows so far. However, they ran out of time to talk and most of them went to sleep.
The Gun Hero within his tent hears some grass crunching, and he looks up to see Naofumi standing above him.
"Can we talk?" Naofumi whispers.
"Mist?" Naofumi mutters, looking around the camp, and seeing what looks like an endless mist surrounding them.
"That's Fitoria's field magic, basically no one can enter or even leave." Misato says, walking up to him, and putting on his jacket. "We're safe here."
The Shield Hero faces the Gun Hero. "Misato… Did you play a game like this world too?" He asks bluntly.
Misato sighs "No, my source was actually an anime."
"Really?" Naofumi says, anime is his source? Then again, his source was a book that fell in the library.
"Yep, it's an Isekai Anime called Rising of the Shield Hero. Guess who's the main character?" Misato smirks
"Are you bullshitting me?" The Shield Hero says frowning. "Me as the protagonist? Ya right, I never heard of a main character that gets humiliated like this!"
"While everyone else has been the same, only the Cardinal Heroes seem to be different from what I watched." The Gun Hero says with a shrug.
"So, when you were summoned… Did you know the Shield Hero would be accused of rape?"
Misato nods "Ya…"
"So why the hell did you not help me?" Naofumi scowls
"I was summoned the same day you were summoned. I was stuck with Musket weapons, the only advanced weapon I had was a fucking six-shooter gun. There was no way I would be able to get to you without getting killed immediately the moment we attempt to leave." The Gun Hero says glaring back.
The Shield Hero steps closer to Misato. "But you could have gotten Fitoria to raid the Castle and get me out. I looked and couldn't read her level. She must be so strong our weapons can't tell how much and that's why she guards the secret weapon. So why the hell did you not have her get me out of the shitty place?"
"Because of what might happen afterwards…" Misato answers.
"And what could possibly happen? You are in a party with a strong person, what could that trash king and the bitch do to hurt her?!" Naofumi asks, yelling in a whisper.
Misato scoffs, rolling his eyes. "Come on, while you are not the person I knew in the anime, you're supposed to be smart…" The Shield Hero's eyes narrow at that insult. "You and I… watched and read many stories, and most of them I imagine were cliche and were filled with common tropes."
"What are you going on about?"
"Let's say she rescued you… how would the King, Myne, and certain religious people react when they realize that the Filolial Queen is real?"
"Certain religious people?" Naofumi asks.
"Oh ya, I forgot to mention. The majority of Melromarc worship Three out of the Four heroes as gods and the Fourth as the 'evil one'. Guess who's that?"
Naofumi scowls. So, the reason why all that happened was because of some stupid religion?
"I'll take your silence as a yes. Basically, this religion has been practiced long before we were summoned, and finally when the legends themselves have arrived on this 'mortal plane' The church needed evidence that proves that their religion and their hatred of the Shield Hero is the 'Righteous path' What a load Bullshit..." Misato says with a scowl on his face.
"So, more reasons why this place is shit, but what does it have to do with Fitoria not helping me?"
The Gun Hero sighs at Naofumi not seeing the bigger picture. "Seriously? You should be able to guess! What would zealots and fanatics think of a Legendary Mythical Monster helping the so-called demon from receiving their 'Justice'?" Misato asks.
Naofumi furrows his eyebrows, recalling the brighter days of his life enjoying his hobbies. His eyes widened at the implications "They would do extreme things, like getting everyone to attack her and hate her."
Misato nods "If they are crazy like the ones in the show, they would slaughter her kind in response, all because she helped a Hero that they despise… They might never be able to hurt her directly, but they can damage her emotionally and if a culture does grow on killing her kind, she might never know peace and would be forced to slaughter so many lives to have peace and that might not even work!… It's why she was isolated, not just to protect the weapon."
"Fitoria, despite how she looks, is perhaps the oldest person in this world, I can tell she… has been through a lot. I'm sorry for what happened to you, but I don't want her to suffer anymore… Someone as kind as her doesn't deserve that! If all my stats were like 500, I would have gone in there and kicked their asses to help you, but I wasn't and I'm still not!" The Gun Hero says, staring at the Shield Hero daring Naofumi to challenge him.
Naofumi closes his eyes and nods. "I see, with the recordings you showed about Forrest… If they are true, then how the hell are we gonna work with the other three enough to open the door? I can try but like I said, they never believed me in that court. They believe in that bitch and the stupid King…"
"That's my job… First I must see for myself if the other heroes are anything like the idiots in the show."
"How bad were the heroes in the show?"
Misato lets out a bitter laugh. "They all become traumatized, only the Shield Hero and the Sword recovered and became better, but the Spear and Bow, well… They get hit hard, and the Spear becomes crazy comedy relief, funny to the audience, and even got me a few chuckles but it's damn tragic if it becomes real. The Bow Hero… He becomes despondent, responding to the commands of anyone, fortunately for the characters in the story, he obeys to a good person…"
Naofumi frowns at this information. Half of the Cardinal Heroes become better, but the other half become mentally broken.
"With what I know even if Itsuki is anything like that bastard of a hero in the story, it would be wrong to just… Let it happen because it's easier for me. What kind of hero am I supposed to be if I don't try?"
The Shield Hero sighs, he can understand where Misato is coming from. "So, if the others are like the ones in the show, what would you do?"
"Make them realize that this isn't a game no matter how much it looks like one," Misato says, staring directly into Naofumi's eyes.
"What should I do then? If you know so much." Naofumi asks.
"Make the King, Myne, and the Church of The Three Heroes look like idiots by helping people."
"Really?" The Shield Hero asks skeptically. "Why should I help the people? They hate me."
"Not all of them and well back in my world there is a saying… 'Actions speak louder than words'. You solve the people's problems then in return your reputation becomes better, casual followers of the religion would realize how wrong the church is and stop supporting them. The other Heroes will most likely screw up, making them and by extension, the major powers here look bad." Misato says "Besides you're a good person even if you don't realize it…" He says remembering his actions in the anime.
"You seem so certain."
"While you are not an Anime Character, seeing Raphtalia healthy and happy tells me you are a good person."
"Is that so?... Well, I can see how your plan can work but I still need money just to sustain my party."
"Well duh, you're not gonna do all of this for free but just as long as you accomplish good results, in time, the people who made you an outcast will pay…" Misato says
"..."
The Gun Hero sighs seeing Naofumi's hesitancy. "Listen… Don't do this for me… Do it for Raphtalia and in time you will figure out what you want for yourself okay?"
The Shield Hero stares at his fellow hero and sighs. "I'll think about it… But I do have another question, what is the curse series?"
"A powerful weapon a hero can unlock with bad circumstances, I heard they are based on the Seven Deadly Sins, and you might have been close to unlocking Rage, right?"
Naofumi nods "How did you know?"
"The Protagonist from the show did and he burned his companion in his rage, she survived but the fact is, those weapons come with a terrible price. The curse seems to remove the User's sanity, it only took the character's friends to bring him back from blinding rage. There was also the time when the Hero in the show used it again to defeat a powerful foe but in exchange, he nearly bled to death…"
"Well… Thanks for preventing that." Naofumi says, he turns and walks back to his bed roll.
Misato smiles, while the Shield Hero's thanks were brief and rude, he knows the truth and was happy with what he accomplished today. One Hero is better now, and three more to go…
"Misato"
"Geez!" Misato yelps, drawing his gun at the voice.
He sees Fitoria awake.
"Can we talk about why you stopped me from lecturing the Shield Hero? He was wrong to refuse."
Misato nods. "Fitoria you were right to say that, but to who you said it was wrong…"
"How is that wrong?"
The Gun Hero sighs "Fitoria… When you were crying about the recordings being damaged. If I said something harsh to you like 'Stop crying! There is no point in this!' Instead of comforting you, would you have reacted well?"
Fitoria opens her mouth to argue but stops, her eyes widening. He's right… If Misato didn't comfort her and instead gave her a harsh but truthful lecture, she would have been angry at him, no matter what… Just like what she did to Naofumi when he refused.
"Naofumi was just recently betrayed and hurt, and it seemed like you just… ignored what happened to him and didn't care."
The Filolial Queen turns her head, feeling ashamed "I see…" She mutters. "But the Shield Hero seems more likely to listen now…"
"Well, I did open his eyes to new information and well he got a bit calmer, you can thank Raphtalia for that… But still like I said when we first met, the Heroes are likely not willing to listen until we deal with the people manipulating them."
"Hmm…" Fitoria murmurs.
"Let's go back to bed." Misato says, walking back to the tent. Fitoria nods and follows.
Naofumi faces Misato and Fitoria, while everyone else stares curious about what the Shield Hero has to say. Naofumi turns to see Raphtalia who is nodding and he turns back.
"I promise that I will try to work with the other heroes."
"That includes denying what happened that day. Being silent would just be an admission of guilt." Fitoria says.
Naofumi nods "Alright then."
"And I will do my best to make the Heroes understand…" Misato says bowing.
"What about the King…"
"The King is foolish, you should not waste time with him, the Unification of the Heroes is what matters." Fitoria comments while Naofumi snorts.
Misato nods "Ya I agree but the goal would be less of a headache if the King actually listened, I'll give him a single token of effort, nothing more until the Heroes are united."
"Very well." Fitoria says.
"So, what do we do now?" Raphtalia asks while Rifana, Keel, and Ace nod wondering the same thing.
Misato gives them a determined look and answers "We train, get stronger before the Waves arrive, and then we will finally meet the Other Heroes." Not noticing the Gun and the Shield's Orb are glowing.
Author's Notes:
I thought chapter 9 was big but this broke my personal record. Welcome to the end of this chapter! I have finally reached the moment you have all been waiting for! Misato meeting Naofumi! And already, The Gun Hero has fixed Naofumi! I mean it makes sense for Misato to immediately have Naofumi realize how genuine Raphtalia is to him. It would be dumb to not do that. I mean have you read "Naofumi's Rage" By Aegran5267? That fanfic made me realize how fucking close everyone was to die in that castle if Naofumi decided to activate the Curse.
Just to be clear I did a retcon again… I decided to have Misato tell Rifana and Keel the Half-truth, that he knows the future but not tell them that he knew them from a story. Not many people are accepting, the only exception would be Fitoria after seeing so much proof in front of her.
(8/20 Edit: Fitoria being clingy in an emotional sense is too soon. Changed it.)
I hope I wrote Fitoria well, I might be making her too emotional but then again, it has been a long time since she talked to people or how her actions and behaviors could be seen. After so many years of keeping people at an arm's length, Misato was the first to reach her and have some empathy for her pain.
In the anime it seemed that Fitoria didn't care, probably because after living for so long dealing with bullshit, she might be aware of what trouble might follow if she interfered with politics. There is also some favoritism since Anime Naofumi was raising a Filolial and that Mamoru was a Shield Hero as well.
As for why Naofumi here reacted badly to Fitoria insisting that the Heroes must work together compared to the source. Think of this. It's only Now that Naofumi realizes that not everything in the world is bad anymore, the trial still affects him deeply and Fitoria just ignored it. He hasn't raised Filo yet, so he's not familiar with how Royal Filolials behave and doesn't fully understand Fitoria's simple mindset towards complicated problems. Also, this is BEFORE Naofumi was framed, again, for kidnapping Melty and understanding the bullshit people in power tend to pull. He will understand one day but for now he is still new to everything.
Meanwhile Misato actually has 20/20 Hindsight, so he has a good grasp on why people are like this, for now anyway because of butterflies.
I hope you like the new image cover for this fanfic, I made it myself. The person you see is Misato Morgan holding his Gun. The Gun itself is different from what he starts with though. Just to be clear, I'm going to describe Misato's appearance.
A young man that could easily be mistaken as a 16-year-old boy. Picture him being taller than Itsuki and slightly shorter than Naofumi.
He has a short black undercut swept to the side hairstyle; the image doesn't show it that well though but try to imagine it please. I wanted him to have a cool hairstyle that isn't some variant of the messy anime protagonist look. It's also not like Levi's hairstyle either, only that guy can pull it off.
His outfit that stands out from the other four heroes is generally some long pants and a jacket, since no other hero has that for flair. Plus, it reminds me of Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil 4.
Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day!