by Aneko Yusagi
Prologue: The Spirit Tortoise’s Barrier
After saying our goodbyes to Kizuna and the others we were transported, and just like when being summoned to a wave, our surroundings instantly changed. We were in . . . Yes, these were familiar fields, along with their view of the Melromarc Castle Town.
“We made it back.”
Raphtalia’s voice was overflowing with emotion. I guess it did feel a bit like a homecoming.
“Looks that way.”
“Fiiinally!”
Filo seemed to feel the same way.
“We’ve returned at long last!”
Even Rishia was getting emotional. Just as I felt a sense of relief begin to settle in, a brilliant light shot out of my shield and high into the sky . . . and then faded away as if it had dissolved into the atmosphere.
“Whoa!”
“Wh . . . what was that?!”
“I’m guessing that was the Spirit Tortoise’s energy returning to this world.”
The whole Spirit Tortoise ordeal hadn’t lasted that long. Even so, there was something deeply emotional about it all. Thinking about it, it seemed short, but it had actually been a long battle.
The Spirit Tortoise was something that existed to create a barrier that would protect the world, but someone seized control of its body, and so Ost reached out to me for help. It turned out it was Kyo that had manipulated the Spirit Tortoise and inflicted great damage upon this world, and we ended up chasing him all the way to another world.
In that other world, we met Kizuna, who was one of the four holy heroes just like me. Kizuna joined us to fight Kyo, and together we made Kyo pay for what he’d done. Then we took back the Spirit Tortoise’s energy and returned to this world.
The Spirit Tortoise was one of the guardian beasts, which were monstrous creatures meant to consume the souls of living things to create a barrier that would halt the fusion of worlds—a phenomenon known as the waves.
Apparently once enough of this energy used to produce the barriers had been collected, it would be possible to make the waves stop. But even if less than the full amount of energy had been collected, it would still be possible to stall the waves for some time . . . or so I had been told.
We had taken back that energy, and now it had been released out into this world to serve its original purpose. It was a magical sight, and I had a feeling it had probably been visible from far off in the distance.
I had been staring at the Spirit Tortoise Heart Shield on my arm and lost in thought when suddenly I realized something. The very last of the light had left the shield. I guess all of the energy that was stored inside had been released. Even the faint glow that had remained for a moment had now faded away.
I noticed that the Energy Blast special effect was at zero percent now. The other stats had fallen a bit, too. It was as if the shield was saying it had served its purpose and its work was done.
“Well then, I suppose we should check up on things here.”
“Agreed, Mr. Naofumi.”
That was Raphtalia.
Raphtalia was a demi-human girl and former slave that had been fighting by my side for so long that I recognized her voice instantly without having to turn around. Even though I considered myself something of a surrogate parent to her, it wasn’t uncommon for me to be the one relying on her in certain situations these days.
She had been chosen by the katana of the vassal weapons to be its owner in the other world, which meant that she could no longer be a slave. She possessed a beauty that felt Japanese somehow, and miko clothes suited her strangely well. Maybe it was because of her tanuki-like ears and tail?
“Alright then, let’s see how long until the next wave.”
I glanced over at the hourglass numbers that hovered in my field of vision. I could see . . . the red hourglass numbers had come to a halt. I also noticed that the blue hourglass icon had become active.
Was that an 8?
I was pretty sure I remembered Ost saying something about a delay before the next guardian beast appeared.
The Phoenix, was it?
That made sense. The blue hourglass was showing how much time we had left before the Phoenix’s seal was broken. It looked like we had around three and a half months before the seal would be broken. Only three and a half months after a battle that intense? Or maybe, should I have been happy that we even had that long?
“Looks like we have three and a half months until the seal is broken on the next guardian beast.”
“Oh . . . I see. Seems like we have less time than expected.”
“Not necessarily. Compared to how it’s been up until now, that should be plenty of time.”
The first wave came one month after I’d been summoned here. The next was a month and a half later. Pretty much right after that was the whole Church of the Three Heroes mess, meeting the other heroes to exchange information, the wave at the Cal Mira islands, and then the Spirit Tortoise incident.
The next Melromarc wave would have been right around the corner, which means . . . it had been right around four months since I’d first arrived in this world.
“That’s just about the same amount of time I’ve been in this world, combined with the month spent fighting in Kizuna’s world.”
“Reeaallyyy?”
“Considering how old you are, Filo, three and a half months should be more than enough.”
Filo was a young girl who was actually a type of monster called a filolial. Filolials were strange bird-like monsters that delighted in nothing more than pulling carriages, but Filo was a certain type of filolial that was considered superior among their kind, and she had the ability to transform into what looked like an angel. If she kept her mouth shut, you might think she was just a cute little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Her actual age was one month less than the total amount of time that had passed since I’d been summoned to this world. In other words, the three and a half months was about the same as the total length of time that Filo had been alive.
“Fehhh . . . No time for a break, I guess.”
That was Rishia that just made that whiny “feh” sound. Rishia’s abilities fluctuated based on her emotional state, but the girl had the potential to be a real heroine. I had to give her credit for contributing more than anyone else in our fight against Kyo.
I took her in after Itsuki, another one of the heroes, tossed her aside for having nothing to offer the team, but her performance had made it clear that she had plenty to offer. She still couldn’t manifest that strength without becoming extremely emotional, but I was sure that would change once her abilities had really blossomed. I figured she was just a late bloomer and her stats would only improve going forward.
“Yeah, not really. We need to figure out how to get stronger before it’s too late. Not to mention, we’ll be fighting the Phoenix next, so we better train hard. Time is limited.”
“Okay!”
“Rafuuu!”
Raph-chan responded along with Rishia.
Oh yeah, Raph-chan was a shikigami that had been created using a lock of Raphtalia’s hair. She was a cute little thing that looked kind of like a tanuki or a raccoon. I imagined it’s what Raphtalia would look like if she were turned into an animal. Raph-chan was surprisingly sharp and had proven useful in all sorts of situations.
I noticed my shield was reacting to something. What’s this? Familiar Shield?
When I checked the flashing shield icon, it indicated that the Familiar Shield had been unlocked. It was pretty much the same as the Shikigami Shield. I must have needed it to use Raph-chan and that’s why it appeared.
I sure was glad that Raph-chan hadn’t disappe
ared or something due to differences between this world and Kizuna’s world. It seems things that weren’t compatible with both worlds ended up with their names garbled in the status screen and ceased to function after crossing over. I’d thought about how depressing it would be if the Shikigami Shield ended up with some unrecognizable name and Raph-chan turned into a stuffed doll or something, but thankfully nothing like that happened.
“Mr. Naofumi? You’re thinking about something weird, aren’t you?”
“I was just thinking about how happy I am that I can use Raph-chan in this world, too.”
“Oh . . .”
It seemed like Raphtalia wasn’t really sure what to think about Raph-chan.
“Although, it looks like all of the powering up that I did has been reset. I’ll have to do that over again, but this time it will be in a more familiar world. I’ll make you more powerful than you were in Kizuna’s world in no time, Raph-chan!”
“Rafuuu!”
I loved how Raph-chan always knew just how to respond. She was standing up on two legs as if to show a sense of determination.
“Oh, it looks like someone from the castle is coming to pick us up.”
While Raph-chan and I were busy gazing into each other’s eyes, a familiar-looking carriage appeared, heading in our direction from Melromarc Castle Town.
And oh yeah, that was the corpse of the Spirit Tortoise that lay towering behind us. We had ended up right in front of it when we were transported back. A month had passed since we left, so the remains had been cleared away to a certain extent. The flesh and some other portions had been removed, and the flora from the mountainous areas had begun to spread . . . or at least it looked that way.
Ost . . . we made it back.
For a split second, I thought I could see a soft light radiating from the corpse of the Spirit Tortoise, as if in response to my sentiment . . . but surely it was only my imagination.
“Well then . . . I guess we should start getting caught up on things with whoever it is headed this way.”
“Agreed.”
“We have a lot to discuss, and all kinds of souvenirs, too.”
“You think Mel-chan will be happy?”
“Who knows?”
Filo was wearing pajamas that had been designed to resemble her own filolial form. She wanted to give them to her good friend Melty, the second princess of Melromarc, as a souvenir.
“Things are probably going to get busy from here on out, so be prepared for that, Raphtalia.”
That’s right. Much like Kizuna and her friends, we had all sorts of issues waiting for us that needed to be addressed, like dealing with the other three heroes that had lost to the Spirit Tortoise and been captured, for example. I really wanted to believe that they would finally listen to me after that.
“Understood.”
“Other than that . . . Yeah, I guess we’ll go if we can still manage it, after taking care of what needs to be done before the battle with the Phoenix.”
“Go? Where are you planning on going?”
“That . . . You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Umm . . . okay.”
“Fehhh . . .”
I had winked at Raphtalia suggestively, and for some reason Rishia responded with a frightened whimper. How rude could she be? Was it really so strange for me to wink?
After a few more moments passed, the approaching carriage and the knights escorting it came to a halt before us. The Queen of Melromarc stepped out of the carriage and gave a salutatory bow.
“I’m glad to see you made it back, Mr. Iwatani.”
“Long time no see.”
It had been a month since I’d last seen the queen, but she seemed pretty much the same as before. Her outward appearance hadn’t changed anyway.
“And were you successful?”
“I’m sure you already have a pretty good idea, don’t you?”
“We received confirmation of a bright light dissolving into the sky before heading this way. Am I right to assume that was proof you were able to successfully recover the Spirit Tortoise’s energy?”
“Yeah. It looks like we won’t have another wave for a while, thanks to the Spirit Tortoise’s energy.”
The surrounding knights responded with gasps of excitement.
“We should be safe until the seal is broken on the Phoenix—the next guardian beast of the four benevolent animals.”
“And how long is that?”
“Around three and a half months. That may not seem long, but . . . we’ll just have to make do.”
“Understood. I’m sure you are all exhausted after such an arduous battle in another world—in enemy territory, no less. Please, this way.”
“Sounds good. I’d like to hear how things have been going here, too.”
I nodded, and the queen stepped aside and motioned us toward the carriage she had prepared for us. We boarded the carriage and headed for the castle.
Chapter One: The Seven Star Staff Hero
“Come, Mr. Iwatani. The people of Melromarc are offering you their ungrudging appreciation. Please, give them a wave.”
“Yeah, yeah. Sure.”
Such an exaggerated show of appreciation had the opposite effect. It made it all feel so contrived.
“Thank you, Shield Hero!”
“Hero!”
It was like a real hero’s welcome, with the crowds waving to me as we headed toward the castle in the carriage prepared by the queen.
What a conniving bunch they were!
Then again, stuff like anime and history had taught me that this kind of thing was just a natural part of how the collective consciousness worked. I humored them and waved back as much as I felt comfortable with. But if it had been just two or three months earlier, my welcome would have likely been something like a piece of trash thrown in my face.
I was the Shield Demon, after all.
After we defeated the first wave, there were people glaring at me like I didn’t belong here. I knew I should be happy that I was finally getting my due appreciation, but it still really bothered me.
I wondered how much time had passed in this world since we had crossed over.
“By the way, Queen . . .”
“Yes?”
“How much time has passed here since I left?”
I had made a point of keeping track, but I still wanted to check to make sure. It was always possible that an exceedingly long amount of time had actually passed, like in the tale of Urashima Taro—the Japanese Rip Van Winkle.
“Two and a half weeks.”
“Oh really?”
Strange. Apparently time passed quicker in Kizuna’s world. You could see the surprise on Raphtalia’s and Rishia’s faces when the queen said it had only been two and a half weeks.
“What is it?”
“Around a month had passed in the world we followed the enemy to.”
“I see. To think there would be such a difference . . .”
I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but I figured it meant we had saved some time . . . maybe?
We finally arrived at the castle and were taken to the throne room.
“What happened with the coalition army?”
“All of the members are working hard to rebuild their own respective countries.”
The damage done by the Spirit Tortoise had indeed been awful. I had seen the scars left by the battle. We had managed to defeat the Spirit Tortoise here in Melromarc, but its massive corpse was still lying out in the fields with an expansive wasteland of wreckage extending out behind it.
“Let us review the current situation. At present, all of the dragon hourglasses across the world have come to a halt.”
“The red hourglass on my status screen has stopped, too.”
“I see.”
“But the other hourglass shows a time of three and a half months.”
The room took on a somber atmosphere.
“That three and a half months is our cutoff. We n
eed to complete preparations for the battle with the Phoenix before then.”
We already knew that the Phoenix would be reawakened.
“There’s more. We learned something in the world we ended up in after pursuing Kyo, the enemy who stole the Spirit Tortoise’s energy.”
I told the queen what we had found out in Kizuna’s world.
In Kizuna’s world, legends told of the waves as being a phenomenon resulting from the fusion of two worlds. It was said that if the current fusion were to reach completion then the limits of what a single world could contain would be exceeded, ultimately leading to the destruction of the worlds.
To prevent that from happening, heroes known as vassal weapon holders were slipping into other worlds through the dimensional rifts created by the waves and attempting to kill the other worlds’ heroes that possessed the holy weapons, since those heroes were the pillars of the worlds.
A commotion broke out among the queen’s advisers.
“And is all of this a fact?”
“Honestly, I think it’s all pretty questionable,” I went on. “They hadn’t actually pulled it off, and one of the holy weapons over there . . . one of their four heroes lacked the ability to fight against other people. If it really were true, surely the four heroes would need to excel in combat against other people, don’t you think?”
Although, it actually might very well have been true. For some reason, though, Kizuna refused to accept it.
“We did find something in that world that seems to offer a different explanation of the waves. Rishia.”
“Y . . . yes!”
Rishia pulled out the manuscript that Kizuna and the others had given her and showed it to the queen.
“We’re not sure what the text means, but many of the drawings seem to be related to the waves. If we can decipher the text, we might learn something.”
“Understood. I shall request the dispatch of those that decipher such things from all of the other countries so that we commence the task using all available resources.”
“I want you to put Rishia on that team. She’s already learned the language of that world, and she seems to be really good at this kind of thing.”
Frankly, she seemed like she’d be better at it than she was at fighting.
