by Aneko Yusagi
“What did you say?! Are you trying to forbid me from approaching a beautiful young girl?! Who the hell do you think you are?!”
“I’m her surrogate father. I’ll say this as many times as you need to hear it. It’ll be a cold day in hell before I let someone like you get their hands on my cute little girl!”
“Try saying that again!”
The skirt chaser and I glared at each other. The old guy was standing next to me with a look of surprise on his face. He pointed at the skirt chaser.
“Master!” he shouted.
“Huh?”
What? I looked back and forth between the old guy and the skirt chaser, confused.
“I knew right away that you’d made the weapons those assassins who attacked the kid’s territory were using. But as soon as I get to Q’ten Lo, you’re here with the kid! Why?” the old guy exclaimed.
“Umm . . . Oh! Now I remember! You’re Erhard! Long time no see! How have you been?” replied the skirt chaser.
He squinted and really looked the old guy over for several moments before suddenly clapping his hands like he’d just remembered who he was. Then he started acting really chummy.
“I’ve been fine, but . . . you haven’t answered my question yet, Master!”
The old guy seemed slightly annoyed as he demanded an answer.
“Hold on. You’re saying this skirt chaser is your master?” I asked.
I tried to recall what the old guy had said about his blacksmith master. What was it again?
“You mentioned him being a skilled craftsman and a frivolous, womanizing moron who ran away to escape his debts, right?”
“Come on, kid. I may have said something like that, but just don’t lay it out there like that,” the old guy replied.
“What was that?! Well, I’ll admit that I do like my women,” said the skirt chaser.
When I recalled the characteristics that the old guy had mentioned, I suddenly realized that they all applied to this bastard. He was definitely the kind of guy that I didn’t want to run across, if it could be avoided.
“This bastard started hitting on Raphtalia and Sadeena when we were trying to sneak in undetected, and then he showed up during our battle and backstabbed the country’s government,” I said.
“Yeah, that sounds like Master, alright,” the old guy replied.
The skirt chaser flashed a smug grin. Why was he suddenly acting so self-satisfied? That wasn’t something to be proud of!
“Is he really your master?” Raphtalia asked.
She sounded disappointed. Of course she would. This was not a guy either of us wanted to get involved with. Nothing good ever came from associating with philanderers.
“So? How did you end up making weapons for a bunch of assassins who attacked my village?” I asked.
“Well, I was born here, but I wanted to experience the world, so I left. I wandered around from country to country, enjoying myself and doing my blacksmith work on the side. But then my pop died and they forced me to come back. Back then, the father of that snotty little brat of an emperor was still Heavenly Emperor. He ordered me to make equipment for the country. But when daddy died, the little brat got the throne and he’s been there ever since,” complained the skirt chaser, a.k.a. the old guy’s master.
So to make a long story short, he was from a prestigious family of master blacksmiths in Q’ten Lo. And whether it was because of his own natural talent or just a characteristic of his race, it was rare to encounter a craftsman of his level. But he was a philanderer, so he ran away from home to get intimate with women around the world. And he got away with doing whatever he wanted for a while. But then his father died and he took over the family business. That’s when the country ordered him to make weapons for them.
Being chosen as the country’s blacksmith sure made him sound important.
“Oh! Little girls!” the old guy’s master squealed.
This time he was looking at Atla and Filo. This guy really had no principles. Even so, “little girls” was just going too far.
“What is it? Do you need something from me?” Atla asked.
“Hm?” said Filo, confused as always.
“How about you two come and enjoy a cup of tea with me?” the master replied.
“Sorry, but I’m not interested. I would like to enjoy a cup of tea with Mr. Naofumi, though. And then, while we were at it . . .” Atla’s voice trailed off.
“Hm? Maaasterrr, this person reminds me of the spear guy,” Filo said.
“You sure are sharp, Filo. What are you going to do?” I asked her.
“Umm, Mel-chan said to stay away from people that say things like he says,” she replied.
Melty was actually teaching Filo some pretty good stuff. But the nonsense coming out of Atla’s mouth was only making a bad situation worse.
“Umm, sorry, mister, but I already have Mel-chan and Master, so I can’t play with you. That’s what Mel-chan told meeee,” Filo said while pointing at me.
“Damn! Don’t tell me you’re building a harem!” the old guy’s master exclaimed while pointing at me with a regretful look on his face.
What the hell was he saying? Building a harem? Me? Ridiculous!
“Don’t make me vomit!” I shouted.
Did he really think I would be building a harem? He couldn’t have chosen a worse way to misunderstand. I was just taking care of Raphtalia as something of a father figure. It was a similar thing with the rest of the villagers too. Filo was basically my pet. Melty was a business associate. And Sadeena just treated me like we were in a relationship against my will. As for Atla, she’d just latched on to me against my will, kind of like Sadeena. She was just my slave. And a battle slave, at that.
“Umm . . . Please try not to mention that kind of thing around Mr. Naofumi,” said Raphtalia.
I was getting pissed off now.
“She’s right. It’s best to avoid topics like that around the kid. Otherwise, it’s just going to put him in an even worse mood,” the old guy agreed.
“Well, if you’re not building a harem, that means I can hit on your women, right?” the old guy’s master replied.
“You’ve upset Mr. Naofumi. Now pay the price,” said Atla.
She gave the old guy’s master a quick jab in the stomach.
“Gahhh! Y-you sure are violent, little miss,” he said.
Wow, he was pretty tough.
“What are you trying to do to Atla?!” Fohl shouted.
“What are you trying to do to me?!” the master retorted as he dodged Fohl’s fist by a hair’s breadth and then backed away.
If he could dodge that then why didn’t he dodge Atla’s jab?!
“I adore cute girls! Of course I’d want to enjoy their company!” he exclaimed.
“Go make some weapons, blacksmith,” I said.
“Oh, shut up! I’ll do that when I feel like it!” he replied.
What a selfish bastard.
“Hey, Master, I know how we could cheer the kid up,” the old man said.
“Huh? Why the hell would you want to cheer him up?” the master replied.
“Well, if it’s a choice between that and inflating your ego any more than it already is, then cheering the kid up is the far better option.”
“Erhard, you bastard! And you call yourself my apprentice?!”
“It’s exactly because I am your apprentice that I’m obligated to keep you under control. It won’t be any good for my business if word gets out that my master is the one making weapons for the assassins attacking a hero’s territory. This is the perfect chance. I’ll take care of all the arrangements, so why don’t you come back with us?”
That meant this bastard would be coming to Melromarc, right? I didn’t want a troublemaker like him anywhere near me. The old guy’s master crossed his arms and stood there deep in thought for a few moments. Seriously, what was with this guy?
“Well, I’ve already decided to align myself with this new Heavenly Empress. If it means b
eing able to wander the world freely again once all the commotion dies down, then . . . it might not be a bad idea after all!” the master said.
“That’s the spirit! There were still a lot of things I was hoping to learn from you. Now you can teach me!” old guy exclaimed.
“Well, I get the feeling that being around this prick will give me the chance to meet lots of beautiful women. So sure, why not?!” the old guy’s master retorted.
The old man and his master shook on it. But as soon as they did, I noticed an almost imperceptible twinkle in the old guy’s eye that only lasted for an instant. He’d successfully managed to trick his master, in other words. I didn’t know the old guy had a side like that. Then again, with a master like this, such a thing would be inevitable.
“Oh, and Master . . . It goes without saying that you’ll pay me back for the massive debts you left me with, not to mention all of the other suffering you caused me, right?”
The old guy’s master squealed. He looked back and forth several times between the old guy’s face and their hands, which were still clasped in a handshake. It was clear he was about to try to run, so the old guy grabbed him and put him in a full nelson before eventually tying him up.
“Thanks, kid. I’ve finally managed to capture my master,” the old guy said.
“Damnit! Let me go, Erhard! I just want to be free to enjoy life and romance!”
“You can do that once you’ve worked enough to make up for causing the kid all this trouble! With your level of skill, we should be able to solve any problem, be it a financial crisis or imminent world destruction! I have faith in you!”
“Who the hell would choose saving the world from destruction over women?! Let me go! I just want to have fun!”
The old guy asked some townspeople where the local forge was and then dragged the skirt chaser off in that direction. The skirt chaser showed no signs of stopping his obnoxious belly aching. I couldn’t help but be a bit worried, but things would probably be fine if the old guy was watching him.
“What a strange guy. I guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of him now,” said Raphtalia.
“I’d really rather not. The old guy and Imiya’s uncle are more than adequate to take care of our blacksmith needs,” I replied.
I didn’t want to keep a weirdo like that around.
“That said, it is true that he saved us,” Raphtalia continued.
“Yeah, I can’t deny that,” I said.
The old guy’s master had given us the Sakura Stone of Destiny Shield and matching katana. He knew about equipment that could be used to counteract the enemy’s ability to weaken the heroes. I had a feeling we wouldn’t be able to topple the Q’ten Lo government without his help. Even just considering it made my head hurt, but I guess there was no choice but to accept working with him.
“Alright, now then . . . Today we successfully took the first step in capturing Q’ten Lo, and we were reunited with everyone on the ship. I guess we should be happy with that,” I said.
“Agreed. It looks like we’re going to be facing some rough times in the days to come, but we just have to keep forging ahead,” Raphtalia replied.
“Yeah. But we also get to uncover the mysteries surrounding your birth, Raphtalia. I’m actually kind of excited,” I said.
I cherished Raphtalia like she was my own daughter. There was something strangely satisfying about the thought of discovering her roots. But I always felt bad for her when the topic of her deceased parents came up.
Raphtalia sighed.
“In that case, how about you tell me more about your family and lineage, Mr. Naofumi?” she said.
“Me? I come from a painfully ordinary Japanese household,” I replied.
But then it occurred to me. When I really thought about it, Japan was an alien world in their eyes. I’m sure they would’ve had no idea what I was talking about if I mentioned things like computers or manga.
“I’m interested! I would love nothing more than to know about your family, lineage, and everything else about you, Mr. Naofumi! I want to know about your childhood, who your first love was, what you ate growing up, what kind of friends you had, and everything else too!” Atla exclaimed.
There was no way I was going to tell Atla anything. That response just made her sound like a stalker. Filo had Motoyasu as a stalker. I guess Atla was mine. Atla kind of had a stalker too, since Fohl’s sister complex was so severe. Maybe if I gave him some attention, Atla would shift her focus to him instead of me for a while.
I gazed over at Fohl. He perked up really straight and started looking around.
“Wh-what is this? I’ve got goosebumps. Why is my heart beating so fast?” he muttered.
Hmm . . .
“Such a complicated web of romance, don’t you think, Mr. Itsuki?” said Rishia.
“I suppose so. Do you like that kind of thing, Rishia?” Itsuki replied.
“Y-yes. I’ve enjoyed books ever since I was a child, so I’ve read a lot of romance novels,” she said.
What in the world were the two of them talking about?
“Rafuuu!”
“Hm?”
Raph-chan was sitting on top of the head of a confused Filo. I petted her while looking around at the town.
“Anyway, we’ll be doing a lot of fighting in the coming days. Everyone rest up and prepare yourselves. It may seem like a completely foreign land, but this is where Raphtalia and Sadeena were born,” I said.
“It sure is. Once we’re free to explore a bit more, I’d like to show you the place where I grew up, little Naofumi,” Sadeena replied.
“That makes it sound like capturing the country is a prerequisite,” I said.
“Oh? I’m completely serious about all of this, you know,” she replied.
I sighed. I could never tell whether she was being serious or not.
Suddenly, a cherry blossom petal came floating down and landed on the ground nearby. I guess, technically, it was a sakura lumina blossom petal. I looked over at the sakura lumina in full bloom and noticed how beautiful it was.
“Those flowers are really pretty,” said Raphtalia.
“Yeah, they are. It makes me want to take some of the trees back and plant them near the village, if they would actually survive,” I replied.
Q’ten Lo was a mysterious country. Being here felt like I had slipped back in time to the Edo period. And looking at the blossoming flowers on the sakura lumina trees made me think of spring in Japan. If I ever made it back to Japan and got to see the cherry blossoms again, they would probably remind me of all this.
The remainder of the day was like a brief moment of calm in the middle of a storm. But we were almost to the goal. It wouldn’t be long before we’d finally disposed of those annoying assassins. Even if we ended up facing some unexpectedly difficult issues ahead, things would work out. I would make it work out. Just like when I’d broken free of the web of conspiracy in Melromarc.
I was more determined than ever.
The Rising of the Shield Hero Vol. 13
(c) Aneko Yusagi 2015
First published by KADOKAWA in 2015 in Japan.
English translation rights arranged by One Peace Books
under the license from KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Japan
No part of this may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher. For information contact One Peace Books. Every effort has been made to accurately present the work presented herein. The publisher and authors regret unintentional inaccuracies or omissions, and do not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the translation in this book. Neither the publishers nor the artists and authors of the information presented in herein shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential or other damages.
Written by Aneko Yusagi
Translated by Na
than Takase
Character Design Seira Minami
English Edition Published by One Peace Books 2018
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