The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 01

by Aneko Yusagi

  Another time, I asked her what it was like to fall in love with a man. Is it different from loving your family?

  She looked confused.

  I guess she loved men differently from the way she loved me.

  “I think there are different ways to like people. My mom once said that she liked people differently from the way she liked me.”

  “Yeah! I get that. But I want to marry someone like… someone like the Legendary Shield Hero!”

  Rifana was my best friend from the village. She was more girly than I was, and she liked to talk about love and boys. She especially liked to talk about the Records of the Four Holy Weapons, because it said that the Shield Hero was nice to demi-humans.

  “Well I…”

  But just then…

  Up until that point I had never thought that my life would consist of anything other than a succession of peaceful days. I had really believed it.

  Ping!

  A loud sound echoed over the fields

  Just as I started to wonder what it could be, the air started shaking, and a sudden and powerful wind blew.

  “Ah!”

  “Kyaaah!”

  “What the?”

  We all fell to the ground and waited for the wind to die down.

  A moment later the wind faded. Everything was quiet.

  “What was that?!”

  “Hey, look at that.”

  Keel was pointing to the sky.

  I looked to where he was pointing and was stunned to silence.

  The sky looked like it had been ripped open with a knife. It was coved in a deep red crack, like a tortoise shell. It was eerie.

  “What should we do?”

  “My parents said to come back to the village if anything happened.”

  “If we don’t check it out now, we might not ever have a chance again.”

  “No! Keel!”

  The other kids and I all held Keel back, and we went back to the village together.

  “Raphtalia!”

  “Daddy!”

  My father returned from the neighboring town. I rushed over to him.

  “Are you okay? I was so worried!”

  “I’m okay. You said to come back if anything happened, so I rushed back here.”

  “Good girl.”

  He rubbed my head.

  Hee hee hee…

  My dad started talking to all the other adults.

  “Everyone listen up. I’ve just gone to see the lord of these lands. He says that those cracks in the sky lead to the ground and that huge crowds of monsters are swarming out of them.”

  “Does that mean that we have to fight them?”

  “I think it does.”

  There was a terrifying howl coming from the cracks in sky.

  My tail started swishing aggressively at the sound of the howl. It was so scary.

  “Will we be okay?”

  “Hm….”

  “H…Hey! We’re in trouble! The monsters have already flooded the town! It’s like hell out there!”

  An old man from the village ran in and announced the news. His face was pale.

  “But… How? How could they have gotten here so fast?!”

  “The lord has commanded us to evacuate as quickly as possible! He has already called for support from the castle!”

  “What had happened to the lord?”

  “I don’t know, but he has left instructions for everyone to evacuate as soon as possible!”

  “Ugh…”

  The adults looked very upset as they talked.

  “And Sadeena is away, and all the hunters are out fishing…”

  “There’s a big storm out at sea too. Who knows if they will be able to return safely?”

  The sky was looking worse and worse.

  Just then there was a large, strange sound. Everyone turned to see what it was.

  “What… is that?!”

  There was something there, like… like a person made of bones. It was stumbling and dragging its feet as it walked in our direction.”

  It was carrying something like a weapon in its bony hands, and it was shining with a dull light.

  I was scared. I was scared down to my bones.

  It was a monster.

  That was the only word that fit, and it described it perfectly.

  “Uh… aaaaaahhhhhh!”

  The adults all screamed and started to run away.

  The rest of the villagers all started to scream too.

  My father jumped in front of the monster to head them off.

  “I command the very root of power. Light! Slay the beast before me!”

  “First Holy!”

  A ball of magical, sparkling light flew from my father’s outstretched hands, and the bone monster collapsed.

  “Everyone please calm down and listen to me. We need to evacuate here as soon as possible. While our tribe commands great power, we have no hope of standing up to such numbers.”

  “You’re right.”

  My mother threw a hatchet at a skeleton as she agreed with my father.

  But there were still large numbers of skeletons heading for the village.

  “We will stay here and buy time. The rest of you…”

  “Uh… okay.”

  “Y…Yes.”

  “All right. If you are sure…”

  Everyone caught their breath for a moment before beginning the evacuation.

  They decided to head for a town on the harbor. Even in a storm, they still might be able to escape on boats, out into the sea.

  “AAAHHHHHH!”

  But things didn’t go as planned.

  “Damn these monsters!”

  A large beast with three heads was running for the village.

  My parents were fighting with all their might, but it wasn’t enough. The beast was too fast; it kept dodging my father’s magic and my mother’s hatchet.

  “Gaahhhh!”

  The beast violently swung its clawed paw, and my father and another villager went flying through the air. They both fell to the ground, their joints twisted.

  Huh? What?

  I couldn’t believe it…

  “Wh… WHAAAAAAAAA!!”

  “AAAAAHHH!”

  The villagers started panicking and running as fast as they could.

  They ignored my father’s shouts for order and ran for the ocean.

  The panicking villagers pushed by me, and I fell to the ground.

  “Everyone, wait just a second!”

  “Are you okay?”

  My mother was there, hugging me.

  But her face was pale.

  A three-headed dog was chasing down the villagers, attacking them with its fangs and claws.

  “I’m… scared…”

  My mother ran her fingers through my hair.

  “It’s okay. We’ll be just fine, don’t you worry.”

  “Um…Um…”

  If my mother said we would be okay… we would be… right?

  “We’re going.”

  My father started running off after the other fleeing villagers. My mother and I followed close behind.

  The villagers arrived at a cliff by the sea and started jumping into the ocean.

  The dog was chasing after them. And then, I couldn’t believe it! The dog jumped into the ocean after them and started eating the swimming villagers.

  The ocean turned red.

  “Wahhhhhhh!”

  “Dammit, we were too late!”

  My father was screaming. He and my mother ran off to attack the dog and defend the remaining villagers. I hid behind them.

  “Aaaaah!”

  The huge, three-headed dog leapt out of the ocean and turned to face us. It howled. It cornered us against the cliff, so that we had nowhere to run.

  “Grrr…”

  The three-headed dog leapt at us, its claws out.

  My father managed to bat away the claws with his magic, but then a shower of blood sprayed from his shoulder.

  Huh?r />
  “Dear, are you all right?”

  “I’m fine… But…”

  We were up against the cliff. The other villagers were all already in the ocean, but more than half of them had been… had been…

  “Ahhh…”

  “I was so scared. I held onto my mother’s back.

  Everyone below was swimming to save their own lives, but the current was strong, and they kept getting pulled further out to sea. They were going to drown.

  “If we don’t take care of this thing, he’ll follow the villagers into the sea and kill them all.”

  “I know…”

  “‘I’m sorry, honey…”

  “I was prepared.”

  They finished talking and both turned to me.

  “Raphtalia.”

  “Wh…What?”

  She was rubbing my back, trying to calm me down.

  “Don’t forget to smile. Be nice to the others.”

  “She’s right. When you smile, everyone smiles.”

  Father rubbed my head.

  “Raphtalia… Things will be hard for you. If you aren’t careful, you might even die.”

  “But still… Even still, Raphtalia, we want you to live. So please, forgive us for our selfishness.”

  My heart started pounding… It was like… It was like I wasn’t ever going to see them again.

  “Nooo! Mommy! Daddy!”

  I didn’t want to leave them.

  My mother pushed me, hard, and I flew from the cliff, through the air, and fell into the ocean.

  All I could see were bubbles popping violently here and there. I hurried to get my head above water.

  And then… I saw it. I saw the exact second that the three-headed dog leapt at my parents.

  “NOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

  The current took me, but I kicked the whole way.

  When I finally found myself on the shore, the sky was already dark.

  Huff… Huff…

  There were other survivors from the village there too. But some of the dead villagers had washed up as well.

  The sky had already returned to its normal color.

  I had no idea what had happened.

  But I wanted to see my parents again, more than anything. I hurried back to the cliff where I had left them.

  There were bones lying all around. It looked like reinforcements had arrived from the castle to drive the monsters off.

  When I arrived, I found strips of flesh, and the skeleton of that monster. Knights and adventurers were carrying it off.

  I was able to piece together what had happened.

  “Well, good thing it had already taken a beating…”

  “Yeah, otherwise we probably couldn’t have beaten it.”

  The adventurers and knight were bantering when they noticed me there

  “What’s with the brat? Should we grab her?”

  “Wait. We are in demi-human territory.”

  “What are you talking about? The area lord is dead, didn’t you hear?”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Anyway, leave her alone. You know what would happen.”

  They all split and made room for me to pass.

  Then I walked to the edge of the cliff and saw what had become of my parents. I started shaking and sobbing.

  “NOOOOOOOOOO!”

  How much time had passed?

  By the time I knew what I was doing, I had already made graves for my parents.

  “Don’t forget to smile. Be nice to the others.”

  “She’s right. When you smile, everyone smiles.”

  “Right…”

  They had given their lives to save the other villagers, and they had entrusted the survivors to me.

  I’d show them… I’d be good to everyone! I wouldn’t let their deaths be in vain…

  If I just stayed there crying, my parents would be upset.

  “I won’t cry any more. I’m going now…”

  I started walking back to the village.

  “Uhuuuuhh….”

  “Daddy… Mommy…”

  The villagers that had run for the ocean had formed a crowd. There were many more children than adults.

  “Is that Raphtalia?!”

  “Yes.”

  “Did your parents make it?”

  An old man who had been our neighbor asked me. He looked concerned.

  I tried as hard as I could not to cry. I shook my head.

  “Oh… That’s…”

  He was unable to find any words. He must have known that anything he said would make me cry.

  “It’s okay. My parents told me to cheer everyone up. “

  “Did they? You’re such a strong girl.”

  “Hee, hee.”

  Was I laughing?

  It’s fine. If I cried, my parents would be upset.

  “Everyone!”

  I shouted to get everyone’s attention, and all the eyes of the crying children were on me.

  “I know that you are all sad. I am too. But would our parents and brothers and friends want us to stay here and cry?”

  Everyone seemed troubled by my words. They were twisting their faces up.

  I put my hand on my heart and stepped forward.

  “To all of you that think our loved ones haven’t died, I ask you how would they feel if they came back to our village and found it like this?”

  Right. This was everyone’s village. We couldn’t just leave it how it was.

  My dad, and the lord, had always said that the village was a family that we all made together.

  “I know how sad you are. Believe me, I know. But that is all the more reason to rebuild. I mean, we’re a family!”

  Yes, father had always said so. He said to treat the rest of the village as if they were part of our family.

  So I would do it. I would take care of them all, just like father had said.

  “Right? Please?”

  I did all I could to summon a smile.

  “Raphtalia…”

  “Raphtalia, aren’t you sad?”

  “Why are you smiling? Your father died!”

  My smile weakened at their exclamation.

  I wouldn’t cry… If I started crying, I’d never be able to stop…

  “Right… I’m… not… sad.”

  I can’t cry. If I started to cry, no one would be able to comfort me.

  “Oh…”

  “Look at how hard this girl is trying! Come on everyone. If she can do it, we can do it!”

  “Yeah!”

  “Okay!”

  “You’re right, Raphtalia! I’ll do my best too!”

  Keel had been crying, but he turned to me, invigorated.

  “Yes!”

  The lord had given our village a flag. It had been a present, and a symbol of the town. Just then it fluttered down from above and fell before me. It was like it was agreeing with me.

  That was it. It was a sign, a sign that my parents were watching over us.

  I picked up the flag, and the other villagers brought over a large pole for it. We attached the flag to the pole.

  “It’s a sign from heaven! Let’s work to rebuild our village!”

  “Yeah!”

  And so everyone decided to try and rebuild.

  “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

  I was instantly awake. I was inside of the tent we had set up.

  My house had burned to the ground—most of ours had. So we were all sleeping together in a large tent

  I think I might have been dreaming.

  “Hey, did you hear that voice?”

  An older man was rushing over in my direction.

  “Raphtalia, you were screaming.”

  “Was I?”

  I needed to smile. If I didn’t, it would worry the rest of them.

  “I’m fine! It was just a bad dream.”

  “Okay… well… don’t overdo it.”

  “I’m fine! Thank you though.”

  Father. Mother.

  I’m doing my best, I p
romise…

  The next morning we decided to leave the completely destroyed houses the way they were for now and focus on repairing houses that we could live in sooner.

  We also put some people in charge of making graves for the bodies that had washed up on shore.

  The adults were all focused on rebuilding the town, and all the children were doing what they could to help.

  But we were getting worried about the food supplies. They might not hold out.

  We had discussed sending fishing boats out to get more food, but the sea was very rough, and we decided it best to save that for later.

  “What now…”

  We all counted the survivors.

  There was only one quarter of the village left alive.

  Even still, one of the older men said that we had made out as well as he could have hoped for.

  “It’s just like Raphtalia said. We are all still alive.”

  “Yeah!”

  What I hadn’t known then was that all our efforts were going to be tossed aside mercilessly.

  “Hey! What are you doing?!”

  There were some scummy-looking men wandering through the village, and they were pointing their swords at a group of adults.

  “Hey!”

  “Who are you guys?!”

  “Ahahah! I’d heard that there were still some demi-humans alive here. Guess it was true!”

  “Yeah, and this area isn’t protected. We could probably make some good money!”

  “Yeah! Argh!”

  One of the older men stepped forward and yelled at the attackers.

  “The lord of these lands will never forgive you for this behavior! There are castle knights still in the area too!”

  The nasty-looking men all smiled at once.

  “What do we care if your dead lord gets mad? And besides…”

  Swipe! It happened quicker than I could see. It happened before I could understand what was going on.

  The old man’s stomach was split open. One of the bad men had cut him with his sword.

  “What the…”

  “Ahaha!”

  “Can’t you tell? We are the castle knights!”

  “They haven’t figured it out yet, have they, Boss?”

  “Nope!”

  “AHAHAHAHAHA!”

  The old man fell over in a pool of blood. He didn’t even twitch.

  The pool of blood was spreading. Soon it was at my toes.

  “Ah! AHHHHHHHHH!”

  Suddenly everyone was panicking. I didn’t know what to do, so I ran.