The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 13

by Aneko Yusagi

  “Are people going to recognize you?” I asked Sadeena.

  “It’s been ten years since I left this country. I should probably be careful just in case, but there aren’t many people that know my face. But little Raphtalia definitely needs to hide her tail and ears. Those might give us away,” she replied.

  “Is her race special or something?” I asked.

  I wondered if her tail and ears would really give her away. People just assumed she was a racoon in Melromarc and Siltvelt. Her actual race was supposedly something else.

  “Either way, you two should be careful,” I said.

  “Yeah,” Sadeena replied.

  “Are there humans in this country?” I asked.

  Sadeena nodded.

  “There are, but they’re not very highly regarded, just like in Siltvelt. That said, they don’t end up as slaves or anything like that,” she replied.

  Oh? That was commendable. But I still wrapped a towel around my head to disguise my race, just in case.

  “Alright, let’s do this. Where are we supposed to go?” I asked Gaelion.

  “Hmm, it seems we need to head to the biggest building in the port town. It’s supposed to have a tower,” he said.

  “Ah, that must be that lighthouse,” I replied.

  And so we began to make our way toward the port town lighthouse.

  I saw something that looked like an ancient burial mound on the way.

  “Ah, so that’s where we are,” Sadeena said.

  “You recognize this place?” I asked.

  “Yeah, everyone knows this spot. The remains of a monster defeated by little Raphtalia’s ancestors are buried here,” she replied.

  In the back of my mind, I imagined them building the burial mound because they were afraid of being cursed by some giant spider monster or something. That probably wasn’t far from the truth. And then I remembered the stone monument where the Tyrant Dragon Rex had been sealed away.

  “The monster isn’t sealed away in there . . . is it?” I asked.

  “I know what you’re thinking. I’m getting a really bad feeling about this,” Raphtalia said.

  “Yes, I observed that fight from within your shield,” Gaelion added.

  “I have no idea. Either way, I can’t recommend destroying ancient ruins,” Sadeena replied.

  “I know that. Let’s hurry up and get out of here,” I said.

  “Agreed. Any time Mr. Naofumi touches something, it’s like kicking the hornet’s nest, right?” Raphtalia replied.

  “Where did you learn that?” I asked.

  She probably heard it from the slave trader or something. That wouldn’t have surprised me. It could have been Eclair too. Or maybe it was something Ren had muttered while they were talking. I probably needed to consider reeducating her from the ground up. I could teach her that “touching Mr. Naofumi is like kicking the hornet’s nest,” for example.

  “. . . ?”

  Gaelion was tagging along behind me. He had his head tilted way off to the side and was staring at me with a confused look on his face. I wished he would stop that. It made me nervous.

  We left the burial mound behind and made it to the port town shortly after. It definitely had an Edo period feel to it. But there were also buildings made out of bamboo-like plants that seemed out of place, but it still felt Japanese. There were trees with flowers in full bloom that looked just like the cherry blossoms in Japan. It really added to the atmosphere.

  We stood still for a few moments and then Sadeena pointed to the cherry blossoms.

  “That’s a sakura lumina. It’s a tree that produces this country’s energy. They serve as lighting, since they glow at night, and they provide energy for all kinds of equipment,” she said.

  “Oh? They can do all of that? Sure sounds convenient,” I said.

  “I’m no expert or anything, but as far as I know, the trees will only grow within Q’ten Lo. I heard they tried to plant some in Siltvelt,” she replied.

  I wondered just what kind of tree it was. There might have been some kind of issue with climate or something. I figured it would be worth seeing if I could bioengineer it to make it grow elsewhere. Rat probably would have loved the thing. I had a feeling she could resolve the issues with the bioplant if she got her hands on one of them.

  “Hmm . . .”

  I kept spotting unique decorations that looked like tanuki all over the place. Like that! I saw one that looked just like one of those lucky cats. It reminded me of Raph-chan. There were some little tanuki stone statues that looked like the guardian lions common in Okinawa too. But these tanuki were slightly different than the ceramic tanuki figures Shigaraki was known for. I don’t know why, but even the roofs of the buildings made me think of tanuki.

  “Mr. Naofumi, why are your eyes darting around so much?” Raphtalia asked.

  “There are so many distractions. I feel like I’m in some kind of Japanese-themed Raphtalia Land,” I replied.

  “What does that mean!?” she shouted angrily.

  I held a finger to my mouth and signaled for her to keep her voice down.

  “Don’t get so excited,” I said.

  “But—” she began.

  “He isn’t really too far off this time, little Raphtalia,” Sadeena interjected.

  Ah, that was right. Her family did rule over the country, I guess.

  “But don’t things seem really tense here in the town?” I asked.

  “Now that you mention it . . . something does seem off,” Raphtalia replied.

  It wasn’t because of our presence. It felt like the residents were all walking on eggshells or something.

  “Maybe they have wanted posters up with sketches on them or something,” I said.

  I saw a signboard and headed over to see what was on it. But I couldn’t read it, of course. It looked like the same writing I’d seen in Siltvelt.

  “Sadeena, do you know what this says?” I asked.

  “Let’s see . . .”

  Sadeena looked at the writing and furrowed her brow. It was rare for her to respond like that. And then—

  “Waaahhhh!”

  I suddenly heard a little kid scream. I looked over to see a huge bee called an “orange needle B”—that had to be a joke—pop up from out of nowhere and attack a kid. The residents were all just cowering in fear as they watched. I immediately rushed over in front of the kid and blocked the orange needle B’s attack.

  “Raph—”

  Before I could give Raphtalia the order, Sadeena ran over and held her back.

  “You take care of it, little Gaelion! And whatever you do, don’t use your counterattacks, little Naofumi!” she shouted.

  “Huh?”

  “Kwa?”

  Gaelion leapt at the orange needle B. Just like Sadeena said, I focused on keeping my shield from activating any counterattack abilities. Gaelion bit into the orange needle B and it died.

  “Th-thank you,” the kid said.

  “No worries,” I replied.

  The surrounding residents were all staring at me. They were white as a sheet.

  “Y-you . . .” one began.

  “Are you not afraid of the government officials?” another asked.

  “Huh?” I replied.

  And then several people wearing expensive-looking hakamas came running over.

  “You there! We saw you kill that monster!” one of them shouted.

  Sadeena stepped forward and addressed the man.

  “All he did was protect a child from a monster. After that, another nearby monster just happened to eat that monster. That’s all,” she said.

  “That’s absurd! Do you not know the rules of the land?!” the man shouted.

  “Kwa?”

  Gaelion looked at the man with a confused look on his face. What was going on? What were they talking about?

  “Of course we do! We would never break them. And even I know what kind of monster this is,” Sadeena replied.

  She pointed at the glass bead
on the straw-rope collar that Gaelion was wearing.

  “Th-this monster is a vassal of the water dragon?! Our apologies!” the man said, and the group of government officials left.

  “Kwaaa?”

  As soon as the officials were gone, the surrounding residents began to applaud. What in the world was going on?

  “Little Naofumi and little Raphtalia, we’re drawing too much attention here. Let’s keep moving,” Sadeena said.

  “Uh, okay,” I said.

  “U-understood,” Raphtalia replied.

  “Oof!”

  Raphtalia ran into a man who had followed the government officials over. The man seemed to be a rubbernecker. He looked like he was in his late thirties. His ears looked like dog ears. But then again, something about the shape was different than Keel’s or Wyndia’s ears. It was kind of like how there were tiny differences between Raphtalia and the racoon-type demi-humans. He was probably some race unique to the country.

  “Oh my! Are you alright, little miss?” the man said.

  He wrapped his arms around Raphtalia and caught her before she fell.

  “Oh, umm, yes. I’m fine . . . So you can let go of me!” she said.

  Raphtalia forcefully freed herself from the man’s embrace.

  “Pardon me. It’s just that fate brought us together like this, little miss. How about you and I go somewhere to enjoy a cup of tea or nibble on some dumplings?” the man suggested.

  “What the hell . . .” I said.

  This bastard was clearly trying to hit on Raphtalia. I acted extra threatening as I stepped between Raphtalia and the man. I glared at him.

  “That’s my companion. If you’re trying to pick up girls, go try somewhere else. And think about your age too,” I continued.

  He was clearly old enough to be her father. Even if demi-humans did initially mature rapidly, they obviously didn’t age rapidly, judging from Sadeena’s appearance. It only took one glance to know that this bastard wasn’t anywhere near Raphtalia’s age. I mean, I guess it was possible that age difference didn’t matter when getting married in this world, but still . . .

  “Come, now. A man can never grow too old to enjoy the company of a female,” he said.

  That bastard . . .

  “Oh? Be careful about getting too feisty. You might just upset little ol’ me,” Sadeena said.

  Sparks of lightning leapt from her skin and she glared at the bastard with a menacing look in her eyes.

  “We’re in a bit of a hurry, so off you go,” she added and flashed him a big smile.

  But he clearly had no intention of giving up. This time he grabbed Sadeena’s hand.

  “My, oh, my. Aren’t you the lovely one, little miss? Today is a good day, indeed. To think I would have the chance to encounter such beautiful ladies!” he said.

  We had another Motoyasu on our hands here. That’s who this bastard reminded me of. Even though Motoyasu was only obsessed with Filo now. Still, I decided to declare this guy Motoyasu #2.

  “Come, ladies, let us enjoy a drink together!” he continued.

  I guess his kind were always around, no matter what world you were in.

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. I already have feelings for someone else,” Sadeena replied.

  She gripped his hand tightly and fired off her lightning magic.

  “Zweite Thunderbolt!”

  The bastard screamed like a little girl. He nearly folded over backward as he was fried to a crisp, and then his body crumpled to the ground.

  “Y-you’re a rough one . . . Ha, ha, ha,” he muttered and then lay there completely motionless.

  They were really something—Sadeena and the bastard both.

  “Alright, let’s go,” Sadeena said.

  “Uh, yeah . . .” I mumbled.

  I guess those government officials didn’t care if we zapped some guy. They were looking on disappointedly but showed no sign of coming after us. Strange. We followed Sadeena down a road with fewer people and continued toward the lighthouse.

  Chapter Thirteen: Q’ten Lo Revolutionaries

  “So? What the hell is going on?” I asked.

  We saved a civilian by defeating an attacking monster and they scolded us for it. What was up with that?

  “Apparently the country’s ruler—the Heavenly Emperor—has issued a mandate declaring that all life must be treasured. In other words, anyone that kills a monster, or any other living thing, will be severely punished,” Sadeena explained.

  “Huh? Like some kind of law against cruelty toward animals?” I said.

  They tried that in the Edo period and failed. I guess this country had to deal with such a ridiculous law too. Did they not realize how foolish that was?

  “Is there something like that in your world too, little Naofumi?” Sadeena asked.

  “Yeah, there was a shogun—a king, basically—that supposedly tried something similar a long time ago in my world,” I said.

  After hearing Sadeena’s explanation, I understood why she had Gaelion kill the monster. Basically, if one of the townspeople killed a monster, they would be punished. But Gaelion was a dragon. If a monster killed another monster, there would be no punishment.

  “That ornament the water dragon left Gaelion sure saved us,” Sadeena said.

  “So they can’t punish a monster that’s considered a vassal of the water dragon?” I asked.

  “It was just a guess, but it worked,” she said.

  “Kwaaaa!”

  Gaelion jumped up on my shoulder. He seemed happy that he’d been able to help out.

  “If the monster is being controlled, then normally the owner would be punished,” she continued.

  “So that’s why you acted like Gaelion was a wild monster. And a vassal of the water dragon, on top of that,” I said.

  I guess the water dragon was pretty important in Q’ten Lo. I’m sure the Heavenly Emperor, or whatever, was more important, but bringing the water dragon into it complicated the matter enough that the officials didn’t want to get involved. Besides, surely a law protecting all creatures would protect the water dragon too. That made it a legal gray area.

  “It was a bold move, but it worked since little Gaelion is a dragon,” Sadeena said.

  “Me, someone’s vassal? You insult me,” Gaelion grumbled.

  Oh? The adult Gaelion was speaking again.

  “Well, technically, you do belong to me and Wyndia,” I said.

  He groaned. The baby Gaelion didn’t seem to mind.

  “Unbelievable . . . To think they would have such a terrible law,” Raphtalia said.

  “Now it makes sense why they see you as such a threat to their emperor,” I told her.

  By enacting such ridiculous laws, it puts the emperor out of favor with the people. Of course the leadership would get antsy if someone from the imperial bloodline showed up wearing the royal garb when public opinion of the emperor was volatile. Considering what had happened in my case, it wasn’t hard to guess how the citizens would respond.

  “I have a feeling I’m starting to really understand how you felt now, Mr. Naofumi,” Raphtalia said.

  “We’re misery buddies!” I told her.

  I understood what she was going through so clearly it hurt. But my shield had mostly helped resolve things in my case.

  “Either way, this is the perfect chance. If we play our cards well, overthrowing the current rule should be easy,” I said.

  Judging from Sadeena’s reaction, this law seemed to be relatively new. And the citizens didn’t seem to be happy with it, either. Dragging their stupid shogun—emperor in this case—down from the throne would be more than doable.

  “Oh? Does that mean you have a plan, little Naofumi?” Sadeena asked.

  “You could say that. Regardless, we need to get Filo and the ship with Itsuki and the others here first,” I replied.

  We began preparing to attack, once we got close to the lighthouse.

  Sheesh . . . I’d been getting really tired of
all this assassin business lately. It was time for them to see how it felt to be the ones attacked! I decided to make sure to go a bit overboard.

  As we approached the lighthouse, I noticed something. The lighthouse was actually just a wooden structure built around a massively tall sakura lumina tree to help support it.

  “Are we supposed to burn that thing down?” I asked.

  “No. Once we defeat the guards, we’re supposed to be able to gain access to that sakura lumina, using the Way of the Dragon,” Gaelion replied.

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  Hmm. We were hiding in an alley and observing the lighthouse when, all of a sudden, some guy who was wearing what looked like samurai armor came running toward us. That wasn’t good. Someone must have alerted the officials or something.

  “Let’s withdraw. Just act normal. But move quick. Raphtalia, you get ready to use your concealment magic,” I said.

  “U-understood!” Raphtalia replied.

  “Oh my . . . I suppose it does seem like forcing our way in could be difficult,” Sadeena said.

  “We could always destroy the lighthouse. Then I could fly us out of here using my larger form,” Gaelion suggested.

  His strategy could work too. But there was a risk of being knocked out of the air. If we were going to force our way in, it was probably best to wait until night and decide on an escape route beforehand.

  We kept moving and Raphtalia continued reciting the concealment magic incantation so that we could escape from the samurai warrior.

  “Okay, I’ll activate the spell once we turn that corner,” she said.

  “Alright,” I replied.

  We hurried around the corner and Raphtalia cast her magic.

  “All Zweite Hide Mirage!”

  The concealment magic embraced us softly. I assumed we’d disappeared. The samurai warrior came running around the corner and started looking all around for us. Nice! Now we just needed to leave the area without being noticed and wait for another chance to—

  “I beg of ye, please show yourselves! I am no enemy of yours!” the man exclaimed.

  He suddenly dropped to the ground and prostrated himself. We moved away several meters and began whispering to each other. The samurai warrior remained motionless with his forehead buried in the dirt.