Yusagi - The Rising of the Shield Hero, Volume 2

Prologue: Shared Pain I woke up in the castle storeroom. It was musty. I really hated it in there, but I felt pretty well rested. Snoring I could hear rhythmic snoring coming from the pile of straw next to me. A young girl named Raphtalia was sleeping there. Lets take a minute to review whats happened.

My name is Naofumi Iwatani. Im a sophomore in college. I was born in Japan, just like everyone else. To be honest, I was always a bit of an Otaku. I was at the library flipping through a book called The Records of the Four Holy Weapons when, for whatever reason, I found myself transported to the fantasy world it spoke of. I had been summoned to serve the role of the Shield Hero.

The world was suffering under waves of destruction, in which hoards of monsters and horrible disasters spilled over from other dimensions through rifts in space. Four heroes were summoned to protect the world from harm. I had a shield on my arm that I couldnt removemaybe it was under some sort of curse? I found myself unable to go on the offense at all. All I could do was defend. But I had some experience with online MMORPGs, so I focused on defending myself, and recruited someone else to attack for me. We set out on our adventure, and I was very excited.

But I fell into a wicked trap. Someone framed me for a crime I didnt commit, and I found myself convicted. So nobody trusted me from that point on. I couldnt make any friends or get anyone to help me, and they ran me out of the castle without a word. I was in a really tough spot. I figured I would just not do anything.

I thought I didnt have to fight against the waves of destruction. I was wrong. The waves of destruction arrived around once every month, and we heroes were instantly transported to the site of destruction. I was forced to protect a bunch of people that I didnt care a lick forit wasnt fair at all. I did all I could to raise money to survive, and all the while people jeered at me. They threw rocks at me.

So that girl that was sleeping next to me, Raphtalia, shes a demi-human slave. I bought her. Slavery still exists in this world, and in this particular country, Melromarc, there were people with animal attributes called demi-humans. They were sold into slavery all the time. When I bought her she was just a little girl, but as we leveled up she grew very quickly, until she appeared only slightly younger than myself. Apparently demi-humans grew differently than the rest of usthey developed based on their level, not their age.

In the beginning, I thought Id work her hard, considering she was a slave and all. But soon enough this pompous jerk named Motoyasu forced me to battle. During the fight, Raphtalia believed in me and attempted to sacrifice her own freedom to protect me. Well, there were other things too, but in the end we became close friends, and we trust each other deeply. Honestly, for the longest time, I couldnt have cared less if everyone in the world just dropped dead. But now, I sort of feel like I want to help out.

Ah Raphtalia woke up and rubbed her eyes. Good morning, Mr. Naofumi Ah Um Morning. Looking at her again, she really was quite beautiful. Her face was like a work of art. I could use words besides beautiful, but Ill hold off for now.

Her hair was brown and hung in loose curls down her back. Her eyes were big and bright. They were the color of a deep red tea. They were the most beautiful eyes Id ever seen. With all that she had been through, I dont know how her eyes were still so pure and kind. They were too pure to belong in a body of her age.

They really were the most charming thing about her. I leveled up and earned money with Raphtalia until the first wave of destruction came. It was the first wave Id seen, but it was the second wave that had visited the world. It was a hard fight, but Ill tell you all about that later on. The really tough stuff happened afterwards. Should we go get some breakfast? Yeah.

Think we can get some in the castle dining hall? Perhaps Lets go see. So we made for the dining hall, and I kept running over all wed been through. By the way, my bad name had yet to be cleared. The castle officials treated me coldly. Anytime I tried to go to the cafeteria the guards would turn me away. The knights and other heroes are still eating, theyd say.

Come back when everyone else is done. If I hadnt been forced to be the Shield Hero, if only I could have attacked, Id have taken care of that whole crowd a long time ago. And I wouldnt have let being a hero stop me! We finished eating and were led into the audience chambers. The occasion was to be one of celebration. We were all about to be compensated for our efforts during the wave of destruction. Give me a break! If they were going to make us wait a day before they paid us, they should have said so in the first place! I swear, the Trash was just trying to piss me off.

The thought of spending another second with this group of jerks was unbearable. What if I got an ulcer? The person I called Trash was, in fact, the king of this land, Aultcray Melromarc the Second? The Third? I cant remember. Anyway, apparently he was the one who summoned me here. When Id been framed and accused and convicted, he never even tried to find out the truth. He just let it all go and let me take the fall. Some king, right? And then, just last night, he used his authority to throw a fit and cause a big disturbance.

Now then, we will distribute the reward funds for your performance in the last battle, and also your preparatory funds for the next wave. Thats what I really needed: money for preparations. The Trash had promised to give the money to all of us heroes. An attendant entered the room. He held a bag of money stiffly in his fist. Now then, to each of the heroes.

I turned to look at the bags of money. At the very least, they were sure to provide us with 500 pieces of silver for each month. What would I buy with it? It would probably be wise to start with a new weapon for Raphtalia. Or maybe it was time to invest in some better armor? Come to think of it, I also wanted some new materials to use for making medicine. I could let my shield absorb them too. I could see what kind of abilities they got me.

I listened to all the coins sliding around inside the bag and fantasized about what I would buy. The attendant held the bag open so that I could see the contents. I quickly counted the coins inside. Yes, there seemed to be 500 pieces in there. To Mr. Motoyasu, both in recognition of his performance, and to express our future expectations for him, we present 4,000 silver.

Hey now! I was taken aback. I staggered and quickly looked over at the very heavy bag that Motoyasu was now holding. If I were to say something, it certainly wouldnt get me anything but contempt though, so I just bit my tongue. I felt my fingers curling, involuntarily, into a fist. They called this guy Mr. Motoyasu, but his real name was Motoyasu Kitamura.

Like myself, he had been summoned from an alternate Japan, and he was one the four heroesthe Spear Hero. He was twenty-one-years-old. The other heroes apparently had experience in, and knew all about, this world. They knew it from some game they had played back in their own worlds. But they didnt share any of that knowledge with me. They framed me and kicked me when I was down.