by Aneko Yusagi
Monsters that had been raised to guard the premises had noticed a strange smell on the wind. They were basically oversized guard dogs.
They were called Guardia. They were black creatures with fangs like wolves.
There was some kind of device on their backs that emitted a noise like a whistle. Their barking and the whistling were enough to alert the dullest of guards to our presence.
“Shut up!”
“Hawooooo!”
A Guardia came running for us, but Filo reared back and kicked it across the face. It flew through the air, silent.
Filo was taking out monsters quicker than they could bark. It was kind of scary.
“What was that?”
Drawn by the noise, a guard came running.
“What the— hey!”
“I’m sorry! Please be quiet!”
Raphtalia quickly jammed the hilt of her sword into his stomach, knocking him out.
Everyone seemed perfectly accustomed to what they were doing. We were like robbers.
“Master, we have to hurry.”
“We got a quick sketch of the place, but… Raphtalia? Do you know your way around?”
“All I really know is the basement.”
“Do you think they are keeping Melty there?”
Raphtalia said nothing but shook her head.
This nobleman was the kind of person who took joy from the torture of demi-humans.
If he had access to the second princess of Melromarc, would he torture her? The answer seemed clear: yes.
We had to find some way into the building.
I stopped to think. Our immediate goal was rescuing Melty.
There were no other heroes around. Any soldiers of the Crown that happened to be in the area should be easy enough for us to take care of.
Or so I was thinking when the gate of the mansion swung open. A large group of guards came rushing out.
“What’s that?”
“Filo, do you see?”
In response to Raphtalia’s question, Filo rose up onto her toes and turned to the crowd of guards.
Behind us, at the wall surrounding the town, I could see the flickering light of torches, and smoke was rising from the town gate.
“Huh? Are they, um… fighting?”
“Who? Who’s fighting who?”
“Um… The demi-humans and the soldiers?”
So the demi-human adventurers were so upset that Nice Guy had been taken they teamed up and came after him. The soldiers mistakenly believed that I was leading them. I had to find some way to put this situation to use.
“Perfect timing. All the soldiers have come out and are running to the battle at the gate. Before they can come back, we are going straight through the front door and saving Melty!”
“Yeah!”
“Huh? Mr. Naofumi, are you sure we shouldn’t sneak in?”
“We can take these soldiers. They’re weak. You know we can take them.”
Both Raphtalia and Filo were at level 40, and that was the highest level they could get to without going through a class-up ceremony. But I had seen the soldiers fighting during the wave. They were not nearly strong enough to defeat Raphtalia or Filo.
If they came after us, we’d take them out. If they attacked the mansion, we’d take them out.
“We need to have the first move. Think about it. We are running away from the Crown to meet with the queen. If none of the heroes are nearby, we can get away with causing a little fuss.”
“That makes sense.”
“Okay! Let’s go!”
Boing!
At my signal, Filo bounded forward, kicked out a window, and jumped into the house.
“Don’t hold back, Filo! Just keep charging! You can knock down the walls if you have to!”
Still, we needed to go slow enough to make sure we found the room where they were keeping Melty.
The sketch seemed to indicate that she’d been on the second floor—but that could be wrong.
“Filo, you just keep breaking things! Raphtalia and I will keep looking for Melty.”
“Okay!”
Filo turned left and charged down a hallway. I turned to the courtyard, ran through it, and made for the second floor.
On my way through the courtyard, I noticed a strange boulder of sorts.
What was it? Some kind of gravestone?
Who would put a gravestone in their garden? This guy had issues.
Granted, he tortured people in his basement for fun. There was no use in trying to understand him.
I could hear Filo crashing through the house.
Now we just had to wait and see how the nobleman would respond.
If he noticed the excitement, what would he imagine the cause to be? Sure, he might deduce that it was the Shield Hero coming after him to take back Melty.
If that’s what he thought, he’d probably make a hostage of her.
The other possibility he might think of was that the demi-humans were revolting after he took Nice Guy.
If that’s what he thought, he’d probably make a hostage of Nice Guy.
It was like we were participating in the demi-human revolt. Sure, once he saw Filo he would figure it out soon enough.
“Mr. Naofumi! Over here!”
Raphtalia had made it through the courtyard and was pointing to a hallway. There was a door at the end of it.
“This door leads down to the basement.”
“Do you think he’s keeping Melty down there?”
“No. But he might be keeping a captured slave down there.”
“Do you think we have the time to save them? It will only make more trouble.”
“But still… I…”
If there was a slave down there, they were definitely demi-human.
Before she met me, Raphtalia experienced true horrors down there.
I heard about the terrible things he’d done. She must have wanted to save her past self, her old friends.
We didn’t have the time. But if we could free them, we might be able to save a life.
At least that’s what I thought Raphtalia was thinking.
“Fine. But we have to save Melty first. The enemy probably knows that we are here.”
“Okay!”
There was a loud crash, and a series of explosive booms.
What was Filo getting up to?
“Melllllllll!!”
Filo’s voice was echoing through the mansion. Yeah, no one was going to give Filo any trouble.
Considering that the other heroes weren’t around, I figured it was safe to assume that Filo could handle herself.
“Take care of the intruders!”
A few guards were running for us. They looked ready for a fight.
“The… The Shield Demon! Tell the governor!”
“Raphtalia!”
“Yes!”
She drew her sword and ran for the guards.
I followed her. The foolish guards drew their swords and came after me.
I was currently using the Chimera Viper Shield.
As the Shield Hero, I didn’t have the ability to attack. But I WAS able to use counter attacks.
The Chimera Viper Shield had a counter effect called Snake Fang (medium).
It meant that whenever successfully blocking an enemy’s attack, the snake on the shield would animate and sink its fangs into the enemy. It also poisoned them.
“Damn! That shield is so hard… Is it… Is it moving?! Argh!”
As I just explained, the snake on my shield lashed out and bit deep into the soldier who’d attacked me.
Once poisoned by Snake Fang (medium), you had to be careful. It you weren’t, the poison could kill you.
“You better get the hell out of here and find yourself some antidote. If you don’t, that’ll kill you.”
That’s what he got for assuming I couldn’t hurt him.
“Ugh…”
“Damn the Shield Demon!”
The other soldiers picked up their po
isoned comrade and backed away.
I could have gone after them and taken them down—but our goal was saving Melty, not killing soldiers.
Nice Guy had only been protecting Melty. The Shield Hero had nothing to do with it… but that was getting harder to believe by the minute. Especially now that the demi-humans Nice Guy fought for were revolting.
Still, I had to do what I could.
I turned on the fleeing soldiers and shouted at them like a madman.
“Where is Princess Melty?! And don’t even think about lying to me! I don’t care if she’s here or there, but mark my words: we’re taking her back!”
The soldiers agreed to take us to Melty. When we got there, Filo was locked in a death-stare with the plump nobleman.
The fat guy was holding a knife to Melty’s throat. He held her tight against himself so that Filo couldn’t get any closer. Nice Guy was collapsed on the floor between them.
He looked like he had been tortured. Melty looked like she had been crying.
This guy was evil.
“Governor!”
“You fools! Who told you to bring the Shield Demon here?! You’ve betrayed me!”
“Aren’t you haughty?”
Filo had apparently made it all this way by herself, so he couldn’t have had many guards.
“Mel!”
“Filo! Stay back! I made up my mind! This man… He’s going to take me to meet with my father.”
“Do you think he will really take you there?”
“…”
Melty was silent in response to my question.
Had this guy been a healthy person, he might have kept his promise. But how could I forget that, when he loaded her into his carriage, he said, “Everything was in accordance to God’s plan”? He was probably a fanatic.
The national religion in Melromarc was the Church of the Three Heroes, and they were the ones who’d had me framed.
If I gave Melty’s idea credence for a second and assumed that the king really didn’t know what had been happening, how would he behave when he found out?
And if this guy was part of the Church, then it was doubtful he was really going to take her straight to the castle.
“Ha, ha, ha! I dare you to take a single step! This knife might slip into the princess’s throat!”
“So we’re okay as long as we don’t take a step?”
“What?”
“Air Strike Shield!”
I sent the skill so that the shield appeared between the nobleman and Melty, forming a wall.
“Wh…?!”
“Now!”
“Yes!”
The shield had forcibly separated Melty from the nobleman. Noticing the small gap, Filo immediately ran over to him and planted a firm kick into his groin.
“Ugh!”
The fat man flew backwards and slammed into the wall.
“Raphtalia!”
“Yes!”
In a flash, Raphtalia was at Melty’s side. She checked to make sure that Melty was unharmed.
“Finish the job! Take him out!”
“Mr. Naofumi. I completely understand how you feel, but I believe we should first see to Melty and the other man’s wounds. Filo has taken care of the fat man for now.”
“Has she?”
“Yeah, I held back a little because Mel was so close. But that fat guy is kind of strong.”
He was a nobleman after all. He had probably gone through the class-up ceremony.
I ran to Nice Guy’s side. He had wounds. I immediately began chanting healing spells over him.
Then I held him close and pulled him up, whispering into his ear:
“I’m sorry. We’ve brought you so much trouble. Remember, you had nothing to do with us. If they find out that you helped us, they might torture you further.”
“I’m… sorry for everything. Don't worry… That man, he… he had no intention of letting me live. I am just happy that the demi-humans have this chance for freedom.”
“Oh…”
“I negotiated all that I could. Please… Stop it.”
Good. I wasn’t planning on crying myself to sleep anyway.
Still, once word got out that I’d raised a hand against a Melromarc nobleman… that would only put me in a worse situation than I already was.
I still held out hope that Ren and Itsuki would eventually figure out the truth. In the meantime, I really wasn’t happy about being vilified even further than I already was.
The guards looked over at the fat man and made various expressions of shock.
I finished my first aid work on Nice Guy and helped him to his feet. He turned to Melty and smiled at her.
“Both Princess Melty and the Shield Hero have treated me so kindly. Of course there was nothing to those rumors about you…”
“If you hang out with us, you’ll only get wrapped up in more of these bad situations.”
I didn’t need any other party members. He was clearly not skilled in battle—and it’s not like I was all-powerful. I couldn’t guarantee his safety.
“I understand. I will simply rely on my connections to keep me hidden and safe until all of this blows over.”
“Good idea.”
“Excellent.”
It was a relief to hear him say that. I’d been worried that we had ruined his life.
Raphtalia checked to make sure that both Melty and Nice Guy were okay, and then she turned and glared at the collapsed nobleman. Her tail stood on end, and it was clear to Filo, Melty, and I that she was livid.
“You… How could you do this to me? Torture is not a suitable punishment for your like. I’ll see to it that you pay with your very lives!”
“All the demi-humans who have died at your hands could say the very same thing.”
Raphtalia said it coolly. She slipped her sword from its scabbard.
“Could they? The disgusting creatures, they aren’t even human! They sneak into my town… It’s like they are begging for death!”
“Yes. That’s how it was. That’s the sort of man you were.”
“Huh? Do you… do you know me? That’s right! I remember you. You’re that slave I disposed of.”
“Yes. We spent a lot of time together.”
“Heh, heh… And look at you now. You’ve teamed up with the Shield Demon. I can still remember your crying face, your shouts of pain. They brought me so much satisfaction. Now I see… You’ve come back to me. You wish to taste desperation again!”
“No.”
Raphtalia turned back to look at me. Then she returned her gaze to the nobleman.
Her sword appeared to be softly glowing.
She had an illusion sword. She was able to hide herself, appearing behind the enemy to attack. She had an attack like that anyway… but her sword seemed to be pulsing with another power all together.
“I’m not a strong enough person to help you, Mr. Naofumi. That’s why I… I never rid myself of this need for revenge.”
I had warned her before, but I had never stopped her.
She was always a very kind girl, but I’d known for a while that something wasn’t quite right.
That’s it. I’d completely forgotten. Raphtalia had wanted to get revenge on someone.
If she wanted revenge, I wanted to help her.
I wanted to help.
Even if it wasn’t right, even if it wasn’t the ethical thing to do, I wanted to stand on Raphtalia’s side.
That day—that time when Bitch and Motoyasu and Trash were all against me, when everyone was blaming me and hating me, she’d stood up for me. She’d protected me. She’d saved me.
And now the man that hurt her was right there in front of me. I couldn’t forgive him.
“I… I’m not like you, Mr. Naofumi, I can’t protect anyone. I know that nothing I do will bring back my village. But I…”
She pointed her sword at the fat man.
“If I don’t stop you, right now, then what happened to me and Rifana will happen to other
children. I cannot let that happen!”
“Heh… So the demi-human turns her fangs on me? Fine. I’ll make sure you understand your folly!”
The nobleman took a whip from a guard and readied it.
So he fought with a whip?
Something about the whip felt bad… felt wrong.
“Master! I don’t like that whip he’s got!”
Filo and Melty came running to my side.
“Heh, heh… This whip has been absorbing the blood of demi-humans for years. I doubt that even the Shield Demon can stand up to it.”
Wow… so it was like a cursed object?
It seemed like the kind of weapon that would curse you if a hit connected.
“Take this!”
The nobleman swung the whip.
Raphtalia and I ducked under it before it cracked.
The room was too small for Filo to maneuver, so she turned into her human form and protected Melty.
Nice Guy ducked under the swinging whip too.
Damn. The room was small enough that he could cover most of it with that whip.
“Ugh!”
The whip accidentally connected with one of the guards.
His armor warped dramatically before he threw up blood and collapsed to the floor.
It was just a whip, but it seemed to have an enormous attack power. We’d better avoid it.
“G…Governor?”
“What are you doing? Kill the Shield Demon!”
“Y…Yes sir!”
The guards came running at us.
Raphtalia swung her sword wide, and they fell.
“You’re in my way!”
Raphtalia turned and dodged the whip. Then a guard thrust his sword at her. Defending with her own sword, she turned, twisted, and then flicked her wrist.
The guard’s sword went flying and stuck itself into the ceiling.
“Ah…”
While the guard was processing his newly emptied hand, Raphtalia delivered a roundhouse kick to his stomach, and he flew into his master.
“You worthless trash! If this were a war zone, you’d be dead!”
The nobleman was clearly agitated now. He kept swinging his whip and trying to hit Raphtalia.
But she dodged it and turned her sword on him.
“Ugh!”
She’d dodged the whip, but it continued to swing in an arc before getting caught on the leg of a table. It swung there, turning, and the tip flew toward Raphtalia’s back.
He really knew how to use the thing.
To use it in such a small space, and then to use tricks like that—he obviously had a lot of experience with the whip.