The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 05 (3 page)

Chapter One: The Heroes’ Teammates

We took a carriage back to the castle, and when we arrived everyone was bustling to prepare the large hall for a feast.

“What’s up with all this?”

“We are preparing a feast for Mr. Iwatani and the other heroes. In celebration of their swift and decisive victory.”

“Hm . . . .”

I had been able to prove my innocence, and at least one major domestic dispute had been settled. I suppose that was worthy of celebration.

The hall was filled with long dining tables. Judging by the size and number, this feast was looking more expansive and impressive than the last feast—the one I’d fought Motoyasu at.

It had taken so long. I reflected on how long I’d been framed and persecuted. It felt like it had taken forever to prove my innocence.

I was ruminating on the past few months when the queen passed by. She was in deep conversation with a group of soldiers, nodding gravely.

“What’s going on?”

“Oh . . . .”

I went over and asked her what was up. She cradled her head in her hands and whispered an explanation, clearly distraught.

Apparently during the preparations, Bitch had shown up in the kitchen. She’d wanted to be the one to bring me my meal at the feast.

She felt bad. She wanted to repent. She felt, apparently, that delivering my food would be a step on her path to reconciliation.

Then she forcibly took my meal from the kitchen and came marching out into the hall.

However, the queen had been prepared for any potential mishaps and had given orders ahead of time to deal with any issues Bitch might cause.

In the end, it was Bitch who ended up suffering.

Before Bitch could serve me my meal, she was required to sample it for poison.

“So what happened?”

“She was taken to a hospital.”

Only a few hours had passed since she’d been read her punishment. How stupid was she to try something like that so soon?

My shield had given me resistance to poisons, so I’m sure I would have been fine. Still, recreationally imbibing poison wasn’t one of my favorite pastimes.

Bitch didn’t understand what “repent” even meant.

What was she thinking? Attempted assassination could get her the death penalty.

“How will she be punished?”

“I will see to it that she is. Bitch will only reap further hardships until she learns her place.”

“How are you supposed to punish someone so unrepentant?”

“At least we stopped her before she got too far. Had she pulled off her plan, I would have lost your trust—and I’ve spent too long trying to earn it.”

“Whatever. It was almost a sure thing that she’d try something. She never looked repentant anyway.”

She wasn’t very smart, but I suppose there was something I could admire in her stubborn persistence. What could get her so ruffled?

I could have gotten angry, but I decided to praise the queen for her foresight instead.

“Better keep a good eye out. If anything happens to me or my friends, that will be the end of our agreement.”

The queen had stepped in to help me, so I’d decided to trust her for the time being.

I was really hoping that that trust would not turn out to be misplaced.

“I intend to keep you safe. You do not even know how important you are to Melromarc and the world—but I intend to show you that as well.”

The queen, as befitting one in her position, apparently had the foresight to order a 24-hour watch over Trash and Bitch.

“You’ve got a watch on Trash? Even as he sits encased in ice?”

“Naturally. Until the two of them settle down and cease their foolish plotting, I’ll be receiving reports from my ears on the ground.”

“Good.”

The guests had begun to arrive. Once the hall was full, the queen began to make an announcement—full of royal bombast.

“I am Milleria Q. Melromarc. I would like to welcome you all to this feast, which is held in celebration, and to honor those of you who worked so tirelessly to end this painful chapter in our collective history. Please enjoy all that we have prepared for you.”

The gathered crowd broke into uproarious applause. This feast was nothing like the last one.

“Wow . . . .”

Filo’s eyes sparkled with unbridled anticipation as all the food was carried out from the kitchen and lined up down the center of the tables.

The room was divided into halves. One half was served buffet style, while the other half was waited on as if it were a restaurant.

The most important guests were seated on the full-service side of the room. If they were still hungry by the end of the meal, they were free to move to the buffet side and continue eating.

Some servants appeared with shining plates of food for our table, and it all looked so good I couldn’t stop smacking my lips.

I’d spent the last feast huddled in a corner, begrudgingly snacking on scraps. From where I sat now, that whole experience seemed like a joke.

“When we’re done eating here, you can still go to the buffet and eat.”

“REALLY?!”

“That’s what they say. You can eat all you want. But you have to stay in human form, okay?”

“Okay!”

We finished our expensive and refined plates of food. Filo quickly cast her gaze at the buffet and, receiving permission, jumped up and skipped over to it.

Quantity over quality, I suppose. It was a very Filo way to see the world. Or should I say she cared about the quality in addition to the quantity. She was insatiable in every sense of the word.

She reminded me of a younger Raphtalia in a way.

I looked over at Raphtalia.

“What is it?”

Raphtalia caught me staring at her, and she flushed, embarrassed.

“You’re still hungry too, aren’t you? Go get some more if you want it.”

“I can’t eat that much anymore!”

“You better think more about your health. With all the daily fighting and hardship, you’d better get as much nutritious food as you can—when we have the opportunity.”

Raphtalia sighed deeply. What did she want?

“Hey, Mr. Naofumi, what kind of girls do you like?”

“What?”

That came out of nowhere. But I didn’t have any girls that I liked at the moment.

Actually, the whole topic just made me think of Bitch. I wish she’d stop bringing up topics like that.

“I mean . . . is there a girl waiting for you back in your own world?”

“What are you talking about? Of course not.”

Did she think that was the reason I wanted to get back to my own world? What was she thinking?

The reason I wanted to get back to my world was simple enough: I hated this place.

They’d framed me for crimes, forced me to fight when I didn’t want to, and the knights that were supposed to be on my side tried to set me on fire. Who would want to stay in a place like this?

Raphtalia sighed heavily, again.

“I don’t know what you’re getting at, but I’m going back home because I want to. That’s all.”

When all this was over, I’d go back home as soon as possible. Did she really need a reason?

Suddenly I remembered how’d I felt on the day after my arrival here. It had all seemed so great—I really did think I could have stayed forever.

The desire to stay had evaporated the moment Bitch had betrayed my trust.

I’d already known that, but working through those emotions again made me want to go home even more.

“Shield Hero!”

“Huh?”

I turned to see who’d called for me and saw the volunteer soldiers I’d worked with calling to me.

These were the guys that had come to me of their own accord before the last wave. They’d wanted to help me fight.

“It’s so good to see you again, sir!”

“And you’re all safe. That’s good to know.”

“Yes sir!”

One of them nodded, apparently very happy.

He even flushed bright red. This kid might have worshiped the Shield Hero as a member of the reformed Church of the Holy Four.

“Until we meet again.”

“Yes sir!” they shouted in unison.

Just then, the other heroes filed into the hall.

Ren Amaki, the Sword Hero, came in first, followed by his retinue.

Ren was a teenager who always came off as cool and aloof. He was always dressed in blacks and dark colors.

He came off as the cool swordsman type. He was 16 years old, the youngest of the heroes.

He chatted with his team members for a little while before parting with them and sitting off on his own. I sensed some sort of distance growing between them.

The next to enter was the Bow Hero, Itsuki Kawasumi.

He seemed like he thought himself a real hero, traveling the world and righting wrongs. He was insufferable.

He called on the authority of the Bow Hero to cast himself as a friend of justice. He was so just—at least TWICE as just as everyone else.

He looked like he was younger than Ren, but he was actually 17. He had naturally curly hair that flopped about agreeably. People would probably find him charming . . . I guess.

He looked to me like the type of guy that played piano, sensitive and suffering and all that.

But his sense of justice was so all-encompassing that he never listened to what anyone had to say. He seemed a lot nicer than he actually was, I guess.

I didn’t have a very firm grasp on his character yet.

Motoyasu hadn’t arrived yet. Maybe he had followed Bitch to the hospital to check in on her?

Regardless, he was the only one that hadn’t yet shown up: Motoyasu Kitamura, the Spear Hero.

He traveled around with Bitch, and until I had completely proved my innocence, he treated me as if I were guilty beyond the shadow of a doubt.

Among the four heroes he was undoubtedly the most attractive. I didn’t like him very much, but I’m obligated to admit that much.

He was a self-proclaimed feminist. He loved the ladies.

He never listened to what anyone had to say. Back when there was a bounty on my head, he completely ignored the dubiousness of the charge, decided I was guilty, and dedicated the majority of his energy to hunting me down.

They say he’s loyal to his companions, which I suppose sounds quite lofty and nice. In truth, however, he was a fool to never doubt the suggestions delivered to him by his “friends.”

It was his fault, in my estimation, that it had taken so long for the country to come to its senses and expunge the true evil from its lands.

Anyway, all three of the other heroes came from some alternative version of Japan—just like I had—and all three of them had experience playing a game that intimately resembled the world we had found ourselves transported to.

The book I’d been reading at the library,
The Records of the Four Holy Weapons
, had given terse descriptions of their character.

The Sword Hero was attractive and active, the Spear Hero was loyal, and the Bow Hero was a warrior for justice.

All that was well and fine for the sake of a story, but in reality the whole lot of them were pretty miserable to be around.

“Where’s Motoyasu?”

The queen asked them as they filed in.

“He was very worried about your daughter’s condition, so he went to the hospital to check on her. We’ve already sent for him.”

“You don’t say . . . .”

The queen waved a greeting to Ren and Itsuki.

Soon everyone had finished eating, and the hall was filled with dancing and song.

But the feast was . . . well it was certainly more festive than the last feast had been. I couldn’t help but notice that it seemed to be attended by an entirely different set of people. There were less members of the nobility than I’d expected to attend, and a greater portion of the crowd seemed to be adventurers and soldiers.

It also looked like there were quite a few people from neighboring countries attending. I caught them trying to look at me from time to time.

The queen led Ren and Itsuki over to where I was sitting before she climbed the stairs to the stage.

“Huh? What’s going on?”

“The queen wants us all together.”

“I wonder why? Motoyasu hasn’t even arrived yet.”

“Apparently he’s visiting the woman who tried to poison me.”

“Poison?!”

“You know who I’m talking about, right?”

“Yeah. So it was true?”

“Maybe the queen made her drink poison?”

“No. I was with the queen at the time. She came in with a plate of food, and she was forced to take a bite of it. That’s all.”

“Really . . . ?”

We were still whispering back and forth when the queen turned dramatically and shouted.

“Now then, heroes! How did you enjoy the feast?”

“Wasn’t bad.”

“Very much. Quite a success.”

“Now that my name’s been cleared, it's a weight off my shoulders.”

“How wonderful to hear.”

Really though, it felt like all the hardship and absurdities I’d faced were finally being dealt with.

The queen stood there, nodding subtly to herself before she snapped her folding fan shut and began to address the room.

“In these regrettable times, members of our country have unfortunately done all they could to hinder the heroes’ progress. I would like to do what I can to make reparations for this.”

What did she mean by that?

“In the sea that borders our land lies a group of islands known as Cal Mira. They are in the midst of an impressive activation event. I would like to request our heroes participate in these activities.”

What kind of island was she talking about? What did she mean by “activation?”

“Really?!”

Ren was so excited he jumped forward and nearly shouted.

“What’s that?”

“Do you really mean there’s a bonus field?!”

Now Itsuki was excited too. He stepped forward to stand in line with Ren.

“What are you talking about?”

I didn’t know as much about this world as they did. Why wouldn’t anyone tell me what was going on?!

“It seems that Mr. Iwatani is not aware of what I’m speaking of, so I will explain. ‘Activation’ refers to a phenomenon that visits these lands once every 10 years. While it is occurring, the normal bout of experience earned through battles is doubled.”