The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 01 (17 page)

Epilogue

The feast was long over. We found a room that hadn’t been used, a dusty servant’s room, and rested there.

It was nothing like the last time I’d stayed in the castle. That piece of trash of a king seemed like he would do whatever he could to heap misery on me.

That’s what I’d call him. Trash.

As for Myne, I’d already decided to call her Bitch… And it was only fitting, considering her behavior.

As for Motoyasu, I’d call him Man-Whore… or no… Clown.

Then again, I suppose it was possible that he was just being used by Bitch, so I decided to hold off with the nicknames for the time being.

Raphtalia saw that I wasn’t eating much and went out for a while.

“The cooks gave me some food from the kitchen that they weren’t using.”

“Ah… Thanks.”

She gave me something like a sandwich, and I ate it.

“Well, it’s not very good…”

I couldn’t taste it anyway, so it didn’t matter what I ate. I took a bite.

“Huh?!”

I’d been expecting something flavorless and gross, but it reminded me more of the first meal I’d had here.

Was I imagining things? One more bite.

“What is it?”

“It… I… I can taste it.”

“Hm?”

“Ever since they framed me, I haven’t been able to taste anything.”

But why? Even though I’d done all that crying, I felt tears welling up again.

I didn’t know that being able to taste food would feel so… so warm, so good.

“Good, I’m happy. You always made such delicious food for me, and I was sad to see that you were unable to enjoy it yourself.”

She smiled, and took a big bite of her own sandwich.

“Let’s eat all kinds of yummy things together.”

“Sure.”

Someone believed me. Just that fact made me feel… lighter.

My sense of taste vanished when Myne betrayed me… but it was back.

It was all because she believed in me, all because of Raphtalia.

Who knew that being trusted and believed in would make your heart so light?

“What should we do tomorrow? Want to level up? Or make money?”

“Right… I want to get new equipment with our reward money. We’re a month behind the others, and so that’s where we need to start. Let’s find a good place to work.”

Now I would have to fight to save this world, again. But this time, I’d be with the one person who understood and believed in me.

I didn’t want to. I was afraid so many times, but I made up my mind to stay positive, if only for Raphtalia. How else could I repay her trust?

“Mr. Naofumi?”

“What?”

“Let’s do our best.”

“Right on!”

I didn’t want to just stay alive anymore. I wanted to actually move forward, because she believed in me.

It was a whole new world, full of dreams and adventures, like an anime or a game. But it was a horrible place as well. But I… I still wanted to try.

I wanted to try for myself, and Raphtalia too.

“Raphtalia.”

“What is it?”

It might have been rude, but I leaned over and kissed the cheek of the girl who believed in me.

“Thank you.”

“Ah… ahhhhh…”

“Um… Sorry? I guess you don’t like that kind of thing.”

“No, I… I… Oh… Um…”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. That was rude. I won’t do it again.”

“It’s okay!”

I got it. She was filled with purpose, and she didn’t want that to happen. She would be angry. I learned an important lesson.

Had this been an anime, they would have depicted us in a physical relationship. But in the real world, that wasn’t going to happen.

There it was, that bad habit of mine. That way of thinking wasn’t going to work.

This wasn’t a dream world. It was reality, just a different reality. If I treated it like a fantasy game or anime, I was going to end up hurt. We needed a solid plan if we wanted to survive.

Raphtalia squeezed my hand, and I squeezed hers back.

We’d be okay; we could overcome whatever we were faced with. If I was with someone who believed in me, I could take the first step.

My fight was only just beginning. I didn’t need to rush, just take one step and a time.

Special Extra Chapter One:

The Spear Hero’s Buffoonery

My name is Motoyasu Kitamura.

I’m a university student, and one day I found myself transported to another world—one that bore a striking resemblance to a game I used to play.

I was summoned here to be one of the four Heroes that were destined to save the world, and I was the Spear Hero.

I think I have pretty good luck. The world was so much like a game I had known that I already had all the knowledge I needed to save it, and in the process of doing so, I found myself surrounded by a gaggle of lovely ladies.

“Hey, you over there! You free? Want to go on a date?”

The country had given me a task, and to accomplish it I had gone to a place called the Guild.

Had this been a game this would be the place where the player received quests, or participated in events and various episodes. In this world, however, it was also where different adventurers gathered to make money.

“I don’t know… Do I? I wonder…”

The cute girl’s eyes wandered to the huge Spear I held flung over my shoulder.

“Do you know how to use that?”

I held it out and caused it to change forms right before her eyes. That was the power granted to us Heroes!

Showing off the power should be enough to prove who I am.

“OOOOH! You really ARE the Spear Hero! Neat!”

She was excited and started squealing in that high-pitched girly voice.

Heh, heh, it was going to be a good day.

“Mr. Motoyasu, the Guild has a request!”

A cute girl with red hair pushed the other girl (the one I was hitting on) out of the way and slipped me a scroll.

“Sorry lady, but Mr. Motoyasu has an important job, so you’d better just be on your way.”

“Bu…But!”

The girl that had come over with the scroll was named Myne.

Her real name was Malty S. Melromarc. She had actually, originally sympathized with the Shield Hero, but he had betrayed her, so she decided to stick with me instead.

I swear, that guy was the worst.

He had been transported to another dimension, but all he thought about was what was in his pants.

“What? You want to be in Mr. Motoyasu’s party too?”

The new speaker’s name was Lesty. Apparently she had been school-friends with Myne. A couple days after Myne teamed up with me, she’d decided she wanted to come with us.

Her face was a little sharper than Myne’s. If Myne was a nine, she was probably an eight.

“Mr. Motoyasu’s journey is a difficult one. Do you really think you can keep up?”

That was Elena. She teamed up with me about a week after all this had started. She’d been traveling with me nearly as long as Myne and Lesty.

The other members kept coming and going with relative frequency.

I’d only been here for three weeks or so, but the remaining party slots seemed to always be filled with different people.

But hey, that’s what online games were like too. If I let it bother me, I’d never get anywhere.

When I first got here, I’d asked a bunch of people to travel with me, but they always left shortly after we teamed up. I didn’t care so much if the guys left, but I always tried to be extra nice to the girls—and they were leaving too. I can’t even remember how many of them I went through. They always just said that they didn’t feel like they fit the group—and that’s the only answer I ever got.

Whatever—I didn’t like clingy girls anyway.

Anyway, it had been three weeks since my arrival.

I should celebrate with the girls that had stuck with me. Of course, that’s what we would do.

“You want to come with us?”

“Yes!”

“Cool, let’s go then. What’s your name?”

“R…Rino.”

“All right, Rino, let’s go.”

I took her hand and sent her a party invite.

She accepted the invite and became part of my party.

“…”

I thought I saw Myne glaring at Rino, so I turned to look, only to find out that she wasn’t. She was smiling kindly.

“So what’s the next job, Myne?”

“A famine has struck a village in the Southwest. We are to protect the carriage that is delivering food to them.”

What’s this? I was pretty sure I’d heard of that job before.

The same quest was available at the Guild in the game I’d played.

The order was placed, and our levels fit the task.

“Got it. Where and when do we meet the carriage?”

“It leaves tomorrow morning, from right here at the Guild’s storehouse.”

“Got it. I guess that means we are free for now. Let’s spend some time leveling up, and then treat ourselves tonight.”

“Yayyyyy!”

The girls all squealed in delight.

I guess the girls in this world liked to have a good time.

Besides, I’d been wanting to blow off some steam anyway.

“All right, girls, let’s get to it!”

“Yayyyyy!”

We did some leveling up nearby at a spot I’d found.

We looked for a place that the monsters appeared in crowds and started hunting.

A monster quickly appeared.

It was a birdlike monster called a Sky Blue Wing.

Its flight ability was low, and it wasn’t a fast runner like the Filolial. But it still gave good EXP points.

It was a very efficient way to level up when you were between levels 30 and 40.

“You girls back down.”

“Okay! Good luck!”

“Huh?”

Apparently Rino wasn’t used to fighting in my party, so she was looking around in confusion.

“You cute girls aren’t suited to these bloody battles. So just hang back and cheer me on.”

“Oh... I…”

Yes! I sent an Air Strike Javelin flying at the Sky Blue Wing, and it fell easily.

“Woooow! You’re so cool, Motoyasu!”

There cheers really revved me up.

“Mr. Motoyasu! There’s another one!”

“Argh!”

“And another one!”

“Argh!”

“Mr. Motoyasu, I’m thirsty.”

“Argh!”

“Mr. Motoyasu, can I have a snack?”

“Argh!”

“Mr. Motoyasu, we’re going to take a rest.”

“Argh!”

We spent the rest of the day that way, and I leveled up.

I’d reached level 43, and Myne was at level 39.

Lesty reached level 38, and Elena reached level 35.

The new girl, Rino, was still at level 20.

“That should be enough for today. Let’s head back.”

I’d had enough sweat for the day, so we finished up before sunset and went back to town.

“That was a tough day.”

“Sure was. If you hadn’t been there cheering me on, I might not have made it.”

“…?”

Rino looked confused again. What was her problem?

Certainly she didn’t want to wallow in the mud and level up? No way! Girls didn’t like that kind of thing.

“Once it’s dark, let’s all meet back at the inn.”

“Okay. We will be at the spa until then.”

“Cool. Have fun.”

“Till then.”

“Um…”

Rino didn’t seem to understand what was going on. It was just a way for the girls to bond.

I wasn’t so tacky as to try and jump in and wedge myself into their friendship.

All right, well, it was a day for training. I had to get to the market and buy some food.

I went to the market and bought a bunch of food then went to the kitchen and got to work. By the time the preparations were done the sun had fallen, and it was night.

“Oh, Mr. Motoyasu, we’re baaaack!”

I’d told the innkeeper to tell the girls to come back to the kitchen when they arrived.

“Um… What are you doing in the kitchen?”

“Oh, I was just working on a surprise for… Hey, where’s Rino?”

“She said that as we were hunting today she realized that she just didn’t fit into the party. She decided to leave, but she said, ‘Thank you for everything, and I hope we meet again.’”

“Oh…”

Again? It was like no one fit in the party.

Was it because Myne and her friend were part of the nobility? You’d think that they’d still be able to get along, and yet… Besides, everyone was equal in my party! I loved them all equally.

“So what are we doing tonight?”

“Right, well, today marks three weeks since I was first summoned to this world. I wanted to celebrate with everyone, so I decided to cook for us.”

“Wooow!”

They all glanced over at my food.

It was food prepared the way we do in my world, so I wasn’t sure if they would like it. Just to make sure, I tasted it.

I’d been cooking for a while, and I had never received a single complaint.

Besides, I was a genius in the kitchen. I could make anything, and the girls loved it.

“I didn’t know you could cook! You can do anything Mr. Motoyasu! You’re amazing!”

“Yes, you are so very talented. A true Hero!”

“They’re right! My stomach is growling just looking at it!”

“I know, right? Dig in, girls!”

Everyone said it was delicious, and they ate a lot.

But I guess I made too much because it seemed like there were a lot of leftovers.

“Good night.”

After we finished dinner, and we had taken our baths, we chatted for a little while before the girls went off to their own room.

But my night wasn’t over just yet.

I guess the girls didn’t have enough energy to hang out through the night, but I did. I decided to head down to the bar.

I left the inn and walked down a dark back ally. That took me through a seedy area behind the pleasure quarters.

“Ah… I... No…”

I could hear some people deep in role-playing. Their voices echoed inside a small building. They seemed to be having quite the night.

No matter where you went, there were always businesses that profited on exhibiting the obscene. Oh well. It’s not like I could bust in there and save the girl or anything. It was her job after all.

But she sounded a lot like Rino. I’m sure it was just a coincidence. Rino was an adventurer, and she seemed like she’d had a good head on her shoulders. She wouldn’t be working in a place like that.

“Ah! Oh! Someone! Help me!”

I guess there was some real acting going on for the clients. I let those thoughts wander as I walked through town. Finally, I found a nice-looking bar.

“Haaaaaah!”

“Uoooah!”

“He… He’s too strong. And look at that Spear!”

“You don’t think… Is it the Spear Hero?!”

“I don’t give my name out to scum like you!”

We were in the middle of a quest to protect the carriage and its cargo.

We were a good way down the road when we ran into some bandits. I took them down.

“You’re amazing, Mr. Motoyasu! Wow!”

“It’s true! You just laid waste to them so easily! I think I’m in love!”

“Go Motoyasu!”

“Oh, you girls… Come on now…”

I tied up the bandits and dropped them off at the guard station of the closest village. I think it was called Riyute.

“Hm?”

I thought that I saw Naofumi heading for the mountains with some dirty little girl.

Maybe I was just imagining it?

Anyway, the girl looked like a country bumpkin. She wasn’t that cute.

Whatever, back to work.

Before long we arrived at the village in the midst of a famine.

“Oh, food! Thank you, Spear Hero.”

“Oh, it’s really nothing. Make sure you share the food equally.”

The villagers formed a big crowd around the carriage and its cargo.

Among them were skinny, starving children.

It hurt just to look at them. I had to finish the quest.

But before that…

“You’re cute! Want to get some tea?”

“I…”

Really, no matter what world you were in, girls were just so cute. I was pretty tired by that point, so we decided to get a room in town.

The next morning I woke up and went over to the room where the girls were sleeping.

“N… Muuu…”

I watched Myne’s sleeping face. She was murmuring some weird stuff.

I decided to scribble on her face. She’d be so surprised when she woke up!

“Spear Hero… Where are you off to now?”

My face was red from where Myne had slapped me, a fitting payment for my graffiti. I was speaking with the village chief.

“Just a little to… You know, fight the famine.”

“Mr. Motoyasu, where are we going today?”

“To a nearby dungeon. There is an item there that will help the village.”

“Oh, you just know everything, don’t you, Mr. Motoyasu?”

“Don’t embarrass me. Let’s get going.

Yes, there was a dungeon nearby. There was something there, in the ruins, that would fix it all.

In truth, I really should have done some research back at the castle library. But I had gotten some second-hand information, and so it shouldn’t be a big deal.

Besides, the sooner we fixed the famine, the less people would have to suffer.

That was the goal anyway. We soon arrived at the ruins.

The dungeon had three levels. They said you could solo it at level 30. It was a pretty early quest.

Now, had this been a game, you could probably set the difficulty level of the “instant dungeon” to match your own level. It was an instant dungeon, and they were instantly generated for you and your party only. There would be a map, and you wouldn’t meet any other players inside. You could take it on with just your party. Honestly, at our current levels, clearing it should be simple.

The dungeon was built of stone, and was an hour’s walk from the village. It was set into a slightly weathered cliff of red earth… just like in that game.

We entered the musty ruins and lit the candle-stands there. I remembered that the dungeon was booby-trapped.

“We shouldn’t run into many monsters in here, and we should be just fine at our levels.”

“Okay!”

Now then, I think the booby traps had something to do with the candles we lit on our way in. Our success or failure would depend on them.

And if we failed, we’d have to start all over from the beginning.

The booby trap was this: before the candles burned out, you had to defeat the golem at the very back of the dungeon.

In the game, the time limit had been thirty minutes. To be successful, you had to make it to the very bottom floor. It might have been set up like a maze, but I already knew my way.