The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 01

by Aneko Yusagi

  There were monsters crawling up and swarming behind me.

  It looked like they were finally realizing that they needed me. The fools finally shut up and backed down.

  I swear, there wasn’t a good man to be found in the whole world.

  If I weren’t the Shield Hero, if I could do something besides protect people, I certainly wouldn’t have stayed to save them.

  Soon enough, we had managed to halt the progress of the monsters, and to beat them back. We managed to get a foothold and dealt with most of them.

  After Raphtalia finished evacuating the useless villagers, she came back to the line and handled attacking.

  The knights supported us, and eventually the cracks in the sky closed, but it took a number of hours.

  “That pretty much takes care of it.”

  “Yeah, the boss was easy enough.”

  “Yes, if this is all we are up against, the next wave should be a simple matter.”

  The other heroes, who’d handled the majority of the offense, were talking about the boss, which apparently had been some kind of undead chimera.

  That was easy enough for them to say. They’d left the protections and evacuation of the villagers to the knights and the adventurers. They’d been here for a whole month, but they were still acting like they were in a game.

  I decided to ignore them and their foolishness and just focus on relief, relief at having won and at having survived. The sky was the same as it had ever been. It was filled with the colors of sunset. I was safe for at least another month.

  I hadn’t taken much damage. It must have been a weak wave. I wasn’t sure if I’d be so lucky the next time. If I wasn’t, what would happen?”

  “Very good work, Heroes. Thanks to your efforts we were able to overcome the threat posed by the wave. In thanks, the king has prepared a feast. You will be compensated for your efforts there, so please come.”

  I didn’t want to go. But I didn’t have any money. So I fell in line with everyone else and followed them.

  That’s right. He’d said that support funds were to be provided every month.

  500 pieces of silver. That sounded like an awful lot of money to me.

  “Um… Uh…”

  The Riyute villagers had spotted me.

  “What?”

  “Thank you so much. If you hadn’t been here, we wouldn’t have been able to save everyone.”

  “You would have figured something out.”

  “No.”

  Another villager disagreed.

  “I’m only alive because you were here.”

  “Think whatever you want.”

  “We will!”

  They all bowed to me and left.

  The village was severely damaged. Rebuilding was sure to be long and difficult.

  So they hated me the whole time but would thank me when I saved them. They were flippant little things.

  Whatever. It was better than being treated like a criminal.

  “Mr. Naofumi.”

  After the long battle, Raphtalia was covered in mud and sweat, but she was smiling as she ran up to me.

  “We did it. Everyone is thankful.”

  “Great.”

  “Thanks to you, there won’t be any more orphans like me.”

  “Sure.”

  I didn’t know if it was just relief at the end of a long battle, or if she was reminded of her own past or something, but there were tears in her eyes.

  “I… I did what I could. I tried…”

  “You did good.”

  I rubbed her head.

  She was right. She’d done everything I said, and she fought hard.

  I needed to let her know she’d done well.

  “I killed a lot of monsters.”

  “You did great.”

  “Ahaha”

  She looked so happy, and laughed, which I thought was a little strange. I didn’t let it bother me though, and we made for the castle.

  “Excellent work, Heroes! I’m truly shocked! We suffered far less damages than last time!”

  The sun had fallen and night had come. We were gathered at the feast the king had prepared for us in the castle.

  I didn’t know how many people had died in the last wave, but apparently the deaths this time could be expressed with a single digit.

  Certainly he wasn’t going to suggest that any of us were more responsible for the new outcome than the others.

  Granted, the other heroes had taken out a lot of enemies, so I wouldn’t suggest that it was all thanks to me. And yet… I didn’t honestly think we would get off so easily the next time.

  The hourglass had transported us to someplace nearby, which certainly was a help. Had it been further out, somewhere that the knights would not have been able to get to so quickly, what would have happened then?

  There was so much to learn.

  I opened the help screen.

  Fighting the Waves:

  As long as the preparations are made beforehand, you may arrange for any number of people to be transported along with you.

  Did it mean that I could have arranged for all the knights to be automatically transported with us?

  Maybe. Maybe none of the heroes had arranged to have me show up.

  But it seems none of the other three heroes had made those arrangements either.

  Why?

  If they knew the game, and how it worked, why wouldn’t they have arranged for the knights to go with them?

  They probably just thought the wave would be simple enough. Either that, or they’d been lazy about reading the rules. That was probably it.

  Regardless, they were fools. It was a huge feast, but I sat in a corner and disaffectedly ate my food.

  “This looks delicious!”

  There were mountains of food that she normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to eat. Her eyes sparkled as she looked it all over.

  “Eat whatever you want.”

  “Okay!”

  I couldn’t afford to give her great food all the time, so she should eat whatever she could when she had the chance. Besides, it was thanks to her that we fared so well during the battle.

  “Oh… But if I eat too much, I’ll get fat!”

  “You’re still growing.”

  “Um…”

  She looked concerned.

  “Just eat.”

  “Mr. Naofumi... Do you like fat girls?”

  “What?”

  What was she talking about?

  “Oh, nothing.”

  Just the thought of women made me remember that woman. I couldn’t even think about liking women right then. Honestly, they just repulsed me.

  “Oh right. I forgot. That’s the kind of person you are, Mr. Naofumi.”

  She sighed, as if surrendering to something, and reached out for the food.

  “It’s delicious, Mr, Naofumi.”

  “Good.”

  “Yes.”

  This whole banquet was stupid. I wish I could just get paid and get the heck out. It pissed me off just to see so many jerks in one place.

  Now that I think about it, the reward might not even come until tomorrow. Was it a waste to have even come? No. At the very least we saved on the cost of food. Apparently Raphtalia was concerned about her weight, but the truth was that she was still growing, and she ate a lot.

  “If only I had some plastic food storage containers or something. We could take leftovers with us.”

  Without any refrigeration, the food would only last until tomorrow. Maybe I could get the cook to wrap some stuff up for me later on. Maybe he could give me some left over stable goods too.

  As I was thinking all this over, my mortal enemy, Motoyasu, was pushing his way through the throngs of people and coming over in my direction.

  What did he want this time?

  The thought of talking to him made my stomach turn, so I tried to avoid him by walking off into the crowd. He followed me, glaring the whole time.

  “Hey! Naofumi!”
/>   “What?”

  Very purposefully, he removed one of his gloves and threw it in my direction.

  I think… Yes, that was supposed to signify a duel.

  The crowd erupted in surprise at Motoyasu’s next exclamation.

  “I challenge you to a duel!”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  He’d finally lost it.

  Sounds just like the kind of person that spent too much time in games. Then again, he was the kind of animal that would leave people to die while he goes off to fight a boss. Some hero.

  “I heard all about it! That girl with you, Raphtalia, she’s a slave!”

  He was seething with anger. He thrust his finger at me and shouted at the top of his lungs.

  “Huh?”

  Raphtalia made a weird noise.

  She had a plate full of delicious food, and was shoveling it into her mouth when she overheard Motoyasu’s accusation.

  “So what?”

  “What do you mean, ‘so what?’ Are you even listening to yourself?”

  “Yeah.”

  What’s so wrong with using slaves?

  There wasn’t anyone who would fight with me willingly. That’s why I bought a slave.

  And besides, this kingdom didn’t have any laws against slavery.

  So what was the problem?

  “Yeah, she’s my slave. You have a problem with that?”

  “You… You can’t force people into slavery! Especially not us! We come from another world. We can’t behave that way here!”

  “What’s all this now? You know there are slaves in our world too.”

  Granted, I didn’t know what world Motoyasu was from, but he was human, and humans had a history of slavery.

  If you think about it, we’re all sort of slaves to society anyway.

  “We can’t behave that way here? We? Just focus on yourself, okay?”

  He couldn’t make up his own rules and then expect me to follow them. He was crazy!

  “You stupid brat. This isn’t our world. Slaves do exist here. What’s wrong with using one?”

  “You… How dare you!”

  He stepped back and pointed his spear at me.

  “Fight me! If I win, you have to set Raphtalia free!”

  “Why do we have to fight? And what do I get if I win?”

  “You can do whatever you want then. You can just keep using Raphtalia the way you have been!”

  “Some duel.”

  I turned away, and made to leave. Why should I fight when I had nothing to gain?

  “I have heard what Mr. Motoyasu had to say.”

  The crowd parted, like the Red Sea, as the king came strolling up.

  “I had heard rumors of a Hero using slaves. But I cannot believe that it is true. So that’s how it is, the Shield Hero truly is a criminal.”

  But slavery was legal here. If everyone else was using slaves, why were they singling me out like his?

  “If Motoyasu’s words do not sway you, then perhaps my order will. Duel!”

  “What do I care? Hurry up and pay me for my services. If you pay me, I’ll leave and get out of your hair.”

  The king sighed, and snapped his fingers. Soldiers appeared from all directions and grabbed me. I saw them restraining Raphtalia too.

  “Mr. Naofumi!”

  “What’s all this?!”

  I glared at the king with all the hatred I could muster.

  He… He hadn’t believed anything I’d said. Either that, or I was in his way.

  “In this land, my word is law! If you don’t cooperate, we will take her from you by force.”

  “Damn!”

  The royal magicians, no doubt, did know the spells necessary to break the slave magic that held her. So if I didn’t fight this duel, I would lose Raphtalia for sure.

  Come on! That wasn’t fair! She’d finally become useful!

  Just how much time and money did they think I’d invested in her?

  “You don’t have to fight! I will… Mph!”

  They stuffed a gag in her mouth to silence her.

  “There is a chance she is under a spell, so that she must support her master. She must be silenced for the time being.”

  “Obviously you’re going to let her participate in the duel?”

  “She is the prize of the duel. Why would she participate?”

  “Y…You bastard!”

  “Everyone, to the castle gardens!”

  The king ignored my complaints and announced the duel in the gardens.

  Damn, I wasn’t able to attack!

  The outcome was as good as set.

  Chapter Twenty-Two: The Clash of Spear and Shield

  They altered the gardens to make space for our duel.

  Torches were set along the perimeter, and everyone who’d been enjoying the feast came out to watch the heroes fight.

  But of course everyone already knew how it was going to turn out.

  I was unable to attack at all, and there I was fighting with the Spear Hero.

  But this wasn’t a fight between the Shield Hero and the Spear Hero. This was a fight between Motoyasu and me. He was just so prideful. I couldn’t stand it.

  Anyone could see how it would end though.

  Everyone was shouting out their bets, and I couldn’t hear anything over the din.

  The castle had mostly been filled with nobility and knights, but there were some adventures there too, people that had fought with us against the wave. I suppose it was only natural that they would bet on it.

  So apparently everyone knew that I would lose, and they wanted to make money off it.

  Ren and Itsuki were watching from the castle terrace and laughing.

  They probably couldn’t wait to see me lose.

  Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit!

  All of them, all of them wanted to get rid of me.

  During the battle, they rained fire down on top of me.

  The whole world was my enemy. Everyone was an enemy that laughed at me.

  Fine. All I could do was lose. That was my only option. But I wouldn’t go down without a fight.

  Watch me, Motoyasu. I hate you. I HATE you, more than you know. More than you can imagine. You can’t stop it.

  “Now for the duel between the Shield Hero and the Spear Hero! The duel will end when one of the contestants is pinned, or admits defeat.”

  I rolled my head, snapped my fingers, and set my footing.

  “In a battle between a Shield and a Spear, who will win? Give me a break. You are going down.”

  Motoyasu stuck his nose in the air and laughed at me.

  Ugh, I hate him.

  “Now then…”

  Motoyasu, I’ll show you that victory means more than just beating your opponent.

  Victory was about accomplishing your goals. If our goals were different from the get go. The best spear in the world was the one that kills its opponent, but the best shield in the world is the one that protects its holder. They weren’t trying to accomplish the same thing at all.

  “Begin!”

  “AHHHHHHHHHHH!”

  “GRAHHHHHHHHHHH!”

  I braced myself for a blow and ran at Motoyasu. Motoyasu readied his spear and ran at me. He wanted to end it with one good jab.

  Suddenly, we were very close. I was in his range, and he threw his weight behind the spear and jabbed it at me.

  If I knew where the attack was coming from, I could probably defend myself.

  “Chaos Stab!”

  Motoyasu’s spear instantly split into many spears, and they all flew at me.

  A skill! He was really coming after me.

  But he couldn’t stop my advance. I protected my head with the shield and ran at him.

  Ugh… Sharp spear points bit into me in two places: my shoulder and side.

  It was a scratch, they’d only grazed me, but a hero’s attack really was much stronger than the enemies we’d faced up until now. But the skill had a recharge time, app
arently, and he was now in cool down mode.

  “Take that!”

  He turned and thrust the blade of his spear at me.

  That was what made a spear weak. It was great for fighting at a distance, but once the enemy got close, it became unwieldy very quickly.

  Normally, he’d want to kill the enemy before they got too close. But he couldn’t do that because my shield gave me enough defense to get past his first attack.

  I dodged the spear jab, threw all my weight into my shield, and tackled him to the ground.

  Then I raised my fist and punched him square in the face.

  Clang!

  Damn! I really couldn’t do any damage.

  Was that my only attack? No, I had something else.

  Motoyasu smiled when he realized my attacks weren’t hurting him. He was laughing at me.

  Just how long did he think he could laugh me off?

  I threw back my cape and pulled out my secret weapon and pressed it against his face.

  “Ahh!”

  They’d all burned up during the rain of fire, but I picked up some more on the way back to the castle.

  “What the??”

  Ahaha… Motoyasu was screaming in confusion.

  The balloon bit down deep.

  “Ouch! Owww!”

  It had bit into his face, his perfect little face.

  That’s right, I couldn’t attack by myself. That’s why I have these special weapons, designed for attacking other people, and they are called balloons.

  “Ahaaaa!”

  I put two on his face, and then on his legs to keep him from getting up. Then I put another one on his crotch for good measure.

  “What the hell are these balloons?”

  The crowds were shouting.

  Like I cared!

  I put all my weight onto the balloon, and made sure the teeth were digging deep into his crotch.

  “What… You! I’ll get you!”

  “If I can’t win anyway, I might as well make you as miserable as I can! I’ll start with that face you use to control the ladies, and take care of your little friend down there too! Without your face and your balls, you’re nothing! Some ladies man!”

  “What?! Arghhhhhh!”

  “You’re not getting up!”

  He reached up to pull the balloons off, but I held his arms down.