by Aneko Yusagi
I looked around and tried to judge how long it had been abandoned.
I suspected that it was probably the remains of Raphtalia’s village.
“ . . . .”
We rolled through the ruins, and Raphtalia was silent the whole time.
I kept inspecting what was left, and before long I noticed the whole landscape was dotted with gravestones.
I’d heard that the village was wiped out when the first wave came to Melromarc. This was apparently all that was left.
More than three months had passed since I first arrived in this world.
I’d heard about what had happened before the heroes were summoned and estimated that the village had been destroyed about four months ago.
Imagining that this had been a bustling demi-human village only four months ago made me realize, once again, how severe the threat of the waves really was.
“Raphtalia, big sis, how far do you want to go?”
“Just to that cliff that overlooks the sea.”
“Okay!”
The carriage rattled over the uneven remains of the road, and I looked out on the village that Raphtalia had been raised in.
We made it to the cliff by the sea, and Raphtalia climbed down from the carriage.
At the lip of the cliff stood a pile of stacked stones. I suddenly realized I was looking at a grave.
She knelt down next to them and started to dig another spot to the side. I didn’t say anything, but I knelt too and helped her dig.
I had no idea what she was doing.
When we were on the run, we met the nobleman that had kidnapped and tortured Raphtalia, and there had been corpses in his basement of people from her village.
Maybe she wanted to give them a funeral.
She had taken some of the bones with her when she left. Now she removed them from her bag and put them in ground. She covered them over with dirt and clasped her hands in prayer.
Raphtalia had told me that they were the remains of a child, a friend of hers that had always wanted to meet the Shield Hero.
At least the child could rest here now and not in that dark, damp basement.
Maybe that was just an example of the tyranny of the living.
But even if it was, I prayed that the owner of those bones would find rest and peace here on the cliff by the sea.
. . . .
I realized again—had I forgotten? I realized that Raphtalia had lost her family only four months ago.
She was strong. Stronger, maybe, than I’d realized.
She lost her family, but survived. She told me that she’d had a very trying time before she met me.
When I eventually left and returned to my own world, what would Raphtalia do?
Filo had Melty, but Raphtalia had no one.
Sometimes she asked me why I wanted to return to my old world. Maybe she was worried about the same thing—about what would happen when all this was over. Maybe she was afraid that I would leave her alone.
“I . . . .”
Raphtalia’s voice came soft. It was barely a whisper. I listened in silence.
“I . . . I’ll live enough for all of them. I want to save everyone from the misery of the waves. Coming here now, I feel that even stronger than I had before.”
“I know. And now we have the country’s support. We can save more of them now.”
People had refused to cooperate with me because I was the Shield Hero, and because of that, more people had died than necessary.
But now I had support. Now we could fight the waves together. I hoped to save more people than we’d been able to before.
“I’m sorry for all the trouble.”
“Stop that. The important thing is that . . . well . . . let’s get going.”
“You’re right. I’m going! Father . . . Mother . . . Rifana . . . .”
Raphtalia waved to the graves and climbed back into the carriage.
When the next wave was over, I’d have to think more about Raphtalia.
It was my responsibility to ensure her happiness.
What about her village and all that she’d lost? Was there a way to bring it all back?
When we defeated the nobleman that had tortured her, Raphtalia had said, “I’ll get back the flag I saw that day. I’ll get it back.”
I couldn’t bring the dead back—but there must have been survivors.
We’d found a child that was still alive in the nobleman’s basement. I’m pretty sure his name had been Keel.
Couldn’t I bring the survivors together and find a place for them to start over?
Yes, I nodded to myself. When I had the chance to do it, I’d search them out. I had to do it for Raphtalia.
If I didn’t I wasn’t sure I’d be able to forgive myself.
The plan was for all the heroes to meet in the harbor town and ride on the same ship. Obviously, the ship’s departure time was set in advance, so even though the other heroes had left before we had, that didn’t get them to the islands any faster. When we arrived, they all looked grumpy and irritated by the wait.
After all that we’d been through and all that we’d discussed, why were they all still competing to be the best? A bunch of idiots—that’s what they were.
There was still time to kill before the ship’s scheduled departure time. Everyone was lined up along the seawall, waiting to board the ship.
The guy in front of me in line seemed to have too much spare time on his hands. He was fidgeting, like he didn’t know what to do with himself.
“L’Arc, calm down, will you?”
“I know, I know! But I can’t help it. Ships get me so excited.”
Sigh. This guy sounded like he had the maturity of a kindergartener.
Apparently hearing my sigh, he spun on his heels and faced me.
“What’s the matter, kiddo?”
“Kiddo?”
I was 20. I didn’t like being called kiddo.
I sized him up. His hair was cropped short and stood up in styled spikes.
He must have held it up with some sort of hair band. Or maybe that’s just how his hair was naturally?
You didn’t normally run into people with a hairstyle like that. Maybe it was normal in this world—but it wasn’t normal in mine.
He was handsome enough. The girls probably liked him.
His eyes showed confidence. He looked like the sort of person you could depend on.
His muscles stood out from his body, clearly built through battle. His shoulders were massive. I bet he could handle himself in a fight.
It was hard to judge his age. If I had to guess, I’d say he was probably in his late 20s.
All in all, he gave the impression of a cool, experienced adventurer. For some reason, a large scythe hung from his waist.
“I’m no kiddo. I’m 20.”
“Oh, forgive me then. I didn’t mean anything by it. It just pops out of my mouth when I meet people younger than myself.”
I looked to the woman that had told him to calm down. I figured it was safe to assume they were traveling together.
The first thing you noticed about her was her beautiful white skin—it looked like ivory.
Her hair was strange—it was bluish-green and sparkled when it caught the light. But then again, so did Raphtalia’s.
Her hair was pulled back into a braid of three thick strands, and it draped elegantly over her shoulder.
Her eyes made her look kind, but you could tell she had a rigid core that wouldn’t bend. Again, something about her reminded me of Raphtalia.
She had wide bangles on both arms, both inset with massive jewels, and a tiara sat daintily on her forehead.
She was probably one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen.
The sparkling jewels only made her look more beautiful. It was like she sparkled all over—a jewel of a woman.
There was one other impression that reminded me of Raphtalia. She was somehow . . . serious.
“L’Arc, please calm down. Can’t you see you’
re bothering the other people?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
“I’m not upset. It does look like it’s almost time to board though.”
I pointed to the ship, and sure enough, the line lurched forward as the first customers stomped their way up the ramp.
At the very front of the line, looking very pompous and self-satisfied, were Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu. So they’d been waiting a while to board. The poor things.
“Hey!”
The line had started moving now, and so the guy in front of me finally started walking.
“Master!
Why was Filo already boarding the ship and waving to me?
Filo was supposed to be waiting for the carriage to be loaded, but she was already on the gangplank.
We'd managed to secure special permission to load the carriage even though we wouldn't be using it in Cal Mira.
I waved back to her, and Raphtalia and I proceeded to board the ship.
I decided to stop by our room first. All of the heroes were supposed to have rooms set aside for them and their parties, but for whatever reason, my room was down with all the other average guest rooms.
A crowd of staff members came running up to us.
“We apologize for the inconvenience!”
Did they think that they’d all get fired if I got upset with them? That I’d separate their heads from their necks?
“The heroes that boarded earlier took over all the prepared rooms, and they even occupied the captain’s chambers. We tried to do something about it, but it seems that all the rooms are full, and . . . .”
The heroes that boarded earlier? Seriously? They took over the captain’s room? Who did they think they were?
Well, I guess they all had pretty large parties. They probably gave the men and women separate rooms.
I’d also made an odd request—that they allow us to bring Filo’s new carriage. Nothing good would come from complaining at this point.
Still, I’d make sure the queen heard about it later.
“We have compensated the other guests for breaking our agreement with them and are having them leave the ship to make more room for you. Please just wait a little while longer.”
“Really? What sort of normal adventurers could afford to go to Cal Mira at a time like this?”
I asked the staff what the average price of a ticket was.
“Yes, well normally they are quite expensive. But this time the country has commissioned the trip and printed the tickets, so they are being sold directly at a lower price than normal. Still, the journey is sold out.”
Apparently the country would occasionally commandeer the islands for the leveling of country loyalists—the army, loyal adventurers, and so on. It was possible for people to sneak over to the islands on their own, but the waters were typically too treacherous for small boats.
It was like trying to get a ticket to a pop star’s concert.
The crown was covering the cost of my trip there, which meant . . . wait a second—were the islands part of Melromarc?
I felt bad for the poor adventurers getting kicked off of the boat, only to be compensated with a small breach of contract fee.
“You don’t have to do all that. If I can just have a room to stay in, we’ll all just share it so there’s no problem.”
I would have considered asking if there was any more space in the rooms the other heroes had taken, but I had to think about Raphtalia and Filo too—they probably wouldn’t want to stay with the others.
I couldn’t forget that we had all just collapsed into shouting and fighting when we tried to have a simple conversation back at the castle.
Ren’s party might not be so bad. But there had been quite a lot of them, so I was sure they had no space in the room.
There might have been space in Itsuki or Motoyasu’s room, but there would probably be issues if we tried to stay with them.
Itsuki’s “bodyguard” had started a fight with Raphtalia, and Motoyasu was traveling with Bitch.
There was no getting around it—I had to give up. And so we accepted a normal room down in the bowels of the ship.
“Not a good sign, is it?”
“Sure isn’t.”
We finished talking with the staff, and we were led to our room. We stood outside, paused, and opened the door to find . . . .
“Oh HEY, kiddo!”
I quickly shut the door again. It was the giant kindergartener from before.
“Raphtalia, I’m sorry, but go ask the staff if we can still change rooms.”
“Why? What’s the problem?”
“Hey now, kiddo—what’s the matter?”
The guy opened the door from the other side and stuck his head out.
“I told you not to call me ‘kiddo.’ I’m not much younger than you.”
“I guess you’re right. Anyway, what’s the problem?”
“Oh nothing. Looks like we have to share a room.”
“Oh yeah? Well if we’re going to share a room we might as well be friends! Come on in! Don’t stand out in that cold hallway.”
He flashed a warm smile and waved us into the room.
Something about his manic energy annoyed me. He was like the weapon shop owner sped up—I thought I might go crazy dealing with him.
“Allow me to introduce myself first. My name is L’Arc Berg—call me L’Arc.”
“Pleasure. My name’s . . . .”
“I’m an adventurer. And this over here is Therese.”
Oh boy . . . . He spoke right over me. Sure enough, we were sharing a room with a seriously annoying guy.
“Pleased to meet you. My name is Therese Alexanderite.”
“My name is Raphtalia.”
“And myyyyy name’s Filo!”
“Great to meet you guys!”
“Um, pardon me, but is Therese from another country? I had trouble understanding her.”
“Huh? Oh . . . yeah. Therese?”
L’Arc called Therese over.
She reached over and brushed her fingertips against the scythe hanging at L’Arc’s waist. Suddenly, a magic ball came floating into view.
“Can you understand me now?”
“Oh, yes, actually. I can understand you just fine now.”
“Tee-hee. I’m sorry for forgetting. I will use magic to make myself understood, so please bear with me.”
Wow . . . I never knew there was magic like that.
But actually, I guess my shield had been doing that for me since I got here. No one else had a legendary weapon handy though, did they?
I realized that I was the only one who had yet to introduce myself. Oh well.
The room was organized with three beds, stacked vertically as bunks, on each side of the room—it was an arrangement that would allow six people to share one room.
Raphtalia, Filo, and I would take one side of the room. The other two would use the other side, but that would leave one bed free.
The staff was considerate enough to not try and fill the last bed, so the five of us ended up sharing the room.
“Huh? Looks like the ship has set sail.”
With the rocking of the ship pulling away from the pier, I felt my anger subside. The rocking grew a little more noticeable, and finally the scene viewed through the window of the room began to move.
And so our anxiety-filled, worrisome journey began. Maybe I was just imagining it.
“So, kiddo, what’s your name?”
If I didn’t tell him, I’d have to sit through being called “kiddo” for the rest of the trip.
If Ren, Itsuki, or Motoyasu overheard my new nickname, there’s no telling what they would do with that. I decided it wasn’t worth allowing that possibility.
“It’s Naofumi.”
“Naofumi?”
I nodded, and L’Arc let out a raucous peel of laughter.
“Hahaha! What are you talking about? That’s the Shield Hero’s name. If you’re gonna use an alias, you might want to com
e up with a better one.”
“I AM the Shield Hero.”
“I don’t think so. The Shield Hero isn’t some kiddo.”
“Excuse me?”
“Listen up. The Shield Hero is a cheater. He steals from the pockets of the people he defeats. He’s no good.”
I guess I couldn’t call him a liar.
When Glass defeated Bitch, I did reach into her pockets and took some magic water and soul-healing water.
Even so, what kind of person would say that about someone they had just met?
Humans can do the most evil things with a smile. It’s crazy.
Just like Bitch!
“An immoral creature like that wouldn’t look so nice—would he?”
“People often tell me I don’t look so nice.”
“Oh stop that. You’re not so bad, kiddo. You just have an attitude.”
We kept going back and forth like that, and Raphtalia eventually held her head in her hands and started moaning.
Whatever—I guess if you were objective about it, I probably wasn’t the most moral guy around.
“I don’t even know what to say to that . . . ,” Raphtalia muttered.
“That’s what I’m saying! Kiddo here doesn’t seem like such a suspicious guy to me.”
Guess he wouldn’t believe me.
But still, I couldn't stand to let him go on calling me kiddo.
“Fine, how about this . . . .”
I held up my shield and changed it into different shapes, one after the other, in front of him.
“Does that convince you that I’m the Shield Hero?”
“Not really. You know I just hunted down an imposter Shield Hero a while back, and he was doing the same thing the whole time.”
“What?”
“A little while ago we had a problem with a whole crowd of imposters of the Shield Hero. They were showing up left and right. Hunting them down and catching them was basically a full time job. Kiddo—honestly you do look a bit like the wanted posters. Those things aren’t up anymore, though. I suggest you stop lying, before someone throws you off of the boat.”
People pretending to be the Shield Hero? That’s right, members of the church had claimed to be the Shield Hero while they committed crimes. It had been an overwrought effort to trash my reputation.
Meanwhile, I’d been pretending to be a saint of the bird god and had left the castle town far behind me while I traveled around the fringes of the country peddling wares. So I’d been able to stay out of the church’s clutches for a while.
