Still here? Good. This time, the Essence of the Sacred Shield chose another candidate instead of Naofumi, who has already become our native. We've watched him get a Weapon many times, only to be slandered by Princess Malti Melromarc. And every time he became a black sheep among the heroes. Or worse, one of their main enemies. The event that changed the character of the hero once and for all showed us that it is not always the summoned Hero who becomes a popular favorite. They can trample him into the mud from the very beginning, in order to achieve their own selfish goals.
But now it's not Iwatani Senior. And the people around him had undergone some changes. Which ones, you might ask? We'll find out now.
***
Noise. The ears are ringing from the concussion, as if something nearby has exploded. It's very difficult to breathe. The body does not move, not a single muscle is able to move. The voice echoes in space, but nothing is heard because of the incessant creaking. It was like torture, as if death was only a short time away. And yet…
"Huh... " It's over.
Taking a deep breath, Jun opens his eyes after an unexplained concussion attack. His head continued to hurt, but it didn't make it much difficult to navigate. Slowly, the boy got up from the floor, assuming a sitting position. It was quiet, and no one was around. Just a roundish, empty room, lit by torches on the wall. The situation raised questions, but that was the least of Junpei's worries right now. His right hand felt like something heavy was pulling him down. And he looked at her.
"Is that... a shield?" The guy was confused. He didn't remember walking around Japan with a shield at the ready.
On Iwatani's arm was a dark round shield, as if forged from obsidian. Its pointed edges had a greenish tinge, and an emerald stone sparkled in the center. The same color as the burning ball on the manga cover. Jun was slightly horrified by the fact that a weapon had materialized on his arm, which, among other things, was literally chained to his arm. But he couldn't help but notice that the shield looked spectacular.
"Ah, you're awake," A sudden male voice rang out in front of the boy.
"Who's there?" Jun quickly closed with his newfound weapon in front of the unknown.
"Don't worry, Great Hero, I am one of those who called you into this world," A man in a hoodie approached our hero, hiding his hands under deep sleeves.
"A Great Hero?!" The new title took Iwatani by surprise. What did he do to deserve such honors?
"I understand that you are confused right now. Please, let me escort you to your colleagues in order to explain everything to you," The sorcerer stretched out his hand to the boy to help him stand up.
"And if I refuse?" The Hero asked nervously.
"Then we'll have to execute you and recruit another candidate," Jun gulped in fright and accepted the helping hand.
The magician led our protagonist forward down a long dark staircase. Jun tried not to think about anything, so as not to create terrible thoughts for himself. However, the phrase "Great Hero" that flashed through his mind made his knees tremble. Was he really called to another world to fight against hordes of monsters, and in the end face the Demon King, as it usually happens in classic isekai? Then it's definitely the end of his life.
Meanwhile, the feet walked on the last step.
"Oh, here's another hero woke up."
As soon as Jun got up, he found himself in a small room with tall windows on both sides. The morning sun filtered through the glass, creating a more or less pleasant environment. But that's not what caught the Shield Bearer's attention.
He was greeted by a tall, slender man, certainly a head taller. He was blond, with long hair pulled back in a small ponytail, and ruby-red eyes. He was wearing a red plaid shirt, over which he was wearing a black denim jacket, as well as dark pants and shoes. But that wasn't the most important thing. In his right hand, the man held a spear of the same dark color as Junpei's shield. There was a red stone directly under its blade, and the handle was a combination of metals in black, red and gold colors. At the sight of our hero, he smiled pleasantly, though wearily.
"It's much better than messing around alone," He sounded optimistic.
"So I wasn't the only one who was called here..." Jun felt no less relieved by this fact.
"As you can see. My name is Motoyasu," The man extended his hand to Iwatani. "My character may be bad, but I can find a common language with everyone."
"I'm Jun..." The guy felt a little awkward getting to know someone right away, but he didn't feel any negative energy from Motoyasu. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Jun shook hands with his new colleague.
"So you're the epitome of kindness, huh?" A slight tease from Motoyasu.
"And you, apparently, don't know how to manage money." Jun decided to keep up.
"Eh... that's where you're not mistaken..." The Spearman guiltily scratched his head.
Thanks to his acquaintance with Motoyasu, Iwatani was able to reduce his tension a little. If his fellow Heroes are as pleasant people as the blonde, then maybe it's not all that terrible? Right?
From the rightmost descent, the magician escorted a young boy, perhaps even younger than Jun. He had short curly blond hair, but it had a barely noticeable light green tint, and his eyes were colored yellowish-gray. He was wearing a Japanese school uniform that seemed one or two sizes too big. In his right hand he held a bow without a bowstring, which had dark gold, black and white shades, with a large predominance of the latter. The yellowish stone was located directly on the hilt.
The Archer's face was tense, even hostile in a way. For a short time, he stood by the stairs, not even wanting to move towards the two heroes, which made Jun and Motoyasu suspect that this guy was completely unhappy with the presence of other heroes. Perhaps it was also the fact that he was still a schoolboy when both Jun and Motoyasu had graduated long ago. But, in any case, the Archer did not make contact.
"Buddy, are you okay?" Motoyasu couldn't stand the tense situation. Jun didn't say anything because he was afraid of making things worse. "What's your name?"
"Why would you want to know?" His suspicions were justified, he was clearly hostile.
"Well, the three of us turned out to be heroes here. We are now colleagues and main friends to each other, so a name is the primary thing we need..."
"As soon as everything is over here, we'll run off somewhere and practically not collide, so I don't see any point in getting to know each other," The boy interrupted the Spearman and further separated the two from himself. "Moreover, you will only get in my way..." Muttering to himself, the Archer hurried out of the room, passing through the front doors. The summoners didn't stop him because they didn't want to meddle in their own business. In any case, the guy will be accompanied by other heroes.
"And here's the first asshole in the new world," Motoyasu wasn't annoyed by his colleague's behavior. He was kind of amused by it. "It looks like he hasn't finished puberty yet."
"I hope there won't be any problems later because of him..." Jun was very wary. Having such a person as a Hero, you can expect anything. He clearly cares only about his own interests, and for their sake he can use any methods, be it a setup or worse.…
"Don't be afraid, Jun. If this weirdo does anything, I'll fix his brain in no time," The Spearman assured him. "If the next person turns out to be the same jerk, then it's not going to be easy for us."
So, the last magician leads the awakened hero to a meeting with his colleagues. A boy of about seventeen or eighteen came up into the room. The first impression you might have of him was that he was unkempt. His short dark blue hair was slightly disheveled, his black shirt with white stripes was half-tucked in, and his blue trousers had some scuff marks. His blue eyes were covered by black-rimmed glasses, and his right hand held a weapon tightly. This is a sword of the same obsidian color, the edges of the blade of which were painted blue, and there was a bluish stone on the hilt.
Noticing the other heroes, the Swordsman adjusted his glasses and approached them.
"Greetings. I take it you've been called up too?" His voice was calm, there were no signs of aggression.
"It's like you're looking into water," Motoyasu replied to him. "Why are you so shabby?"
"I got into a fight shortly before I was killed," Jun's eyes widened.
"Y-you're dead?!"
"And you're not?" The Spearman's question killed. "For example, I was hit by a car."
"Well, I definitely didn't die... probably..." Jun is still not sure if the movement was a near-death hallucination or not.
"Oh... but we digress," Motoyasu quickly changed the subject to calm Jun down. "What's your name, Swordsman?"
"Amaki Ren. Nice to meet you."
"Officially, then? Okay, I'm Kitamura Motoyasu, this is Jun..."
"Iwatani," The Shield Bearer continued. "Iwatani Junpei."
So all the heroes gathered. After waiting for each of them to introduce themselves, one of the magicians finally spoke.
"Since all the Heroes have already gathered, then we can go. They're already expecting you."
Opening the doors, the magicians went to where our Heroes have already been waiting. They wandered through the dark purple corridors of the castle, the interior of which was vividly Gothic. Gloomy paintings and portraits hung on the walls, which received at least some brightness from the morning sunlight that so wanted to break through the tall windows. And beyond them, on the other side, the city was opening up. It was difficult to pinpoint the era that the structure of the city buildings resembled, but one thing could be seen for sure — the city tried not to deviate from the theme of the castle. Jun was amazed by what he saw, and it's not surprising. Moving from minimalistic houses to something so monstrous and precise in its work excited the spirit. He wanted to look at it for hours, for days, it was so unusual.
As Jun walked on, he met servants and guards. Everyone stopped to look at the walking Heroes. They especially looked askance at the Shield Bearer. "Why would that be?" — it flashed through the boy's mind. The two, and then the three colleagues, did not pay attention to anything, strictly walking forward. They were clearly not interested, which amazed Iwatani no less. It felt like they had been here before and more than once. And against their background, Jun looked amateurish.
Meanwhile, the magicians stopped at the huge doors. The moment of truth, the doors open, and the Heroes enter the hall. The hall was huge, on the left side of which there were no less tall windows with purple curtains, which were currently assembled. And on the right side there was a rostrum, on which sat representatives of the state. Servants, guards, and high-ranking gentlemen came to see their rescuers. The hall was decorated with round gold chandeliers, statues of warriors located between the windows, tall metal candlesticks with extinguished candles, a long purple carpet reaching to the end of the hall, as well as a stone fresco on the central wall, which is quite difficult to understand with the naked eye. But the main exhibits of the hall stood in front of the aforementioned work of art — two royal thrones, on one of which the king was sitting.
"Your Majesty, the Sacred Heroes have arrived!" The magician said solemnly, after which the escorts left the room.
The king sat menacingly on the throne, resting his head on his fist. He was already quite old. However, this did not affect his form, only his appearance. He had short gray hair with a silver crown on it, a wrinkled face, one grayish-green eye, and the other had been replaced with glass, as evidenced by a claw scar. He was wearing metal armor, which was covered by a purple fur cloak. And the left glove, on which his head had fallen, was different in material from the rest of the armor. When the magicians left the hall, he looked at the quartet of Heroes standing in a row, and then, placing his left hand on the throne, he spoke:
"Greetings, O Great Heroes," his voice was so impressive that it echoed throughout the room. "My name is Aultcray Melromarc XXXII and you are currently in my Melromarc state. Surely you are wondering why you were called here? The fact is that since ancient times, our world has been threatened with destruction in the face of Waves of Disasters — an unknown element that destroys the integrity of the world from time to time. And as always, when our native lands are on the verge of collapse again, we call upon the four chosen ones from another world, whose forces are able to stop the threat that has overtaken us. Heroes of the Sword, Spear, Bow and…"
"What the hell is the Shield doing here?"
A sudden furious voice rang out from the stands. The dissatisfaction of the Shield Hero's presence in this world surprised Jun at first… And then it scared. No, they didn't shout insults one after another, but on the contrary, they silenced the angry spectator. But their gazes... Junpei immediately understood what was going on. Their gazes were filled with hatred, each of them. And no, it wasn't hatred based on the status of the audience, but something else. Something very personal. Their eyes screamed that they didn't want to see him, they called for him to be kicked out, sent out of the city, out of the country, executed, burned, and every bone broken.…
Why? The only question that was on Iwatani's mind at that moment. Why do they hate the Shield? Why do they want to get rid of him? Why exactly was he called here? The kid was disgusted to be here. He felt as if so much bile had suddenly poured out on him in an instant that he literally wanted to sink into the ground, just not to feel or, God forbid, hear another nasty thing about himself. And no one could stop it. Everyone unanimously supported the hatred of Jun, and only the anxious glances of the two Heroes opposed them.
"Silence!" The king put in his word. There was a deathly silence in the hall. "If I see or hear at least one more word in the direction of the Shield Hero, each of you will end up in a dungeon" silence is a sign of agreement.
Jun mentally thanked the king with every possible ovation. Now he looked like a confused, frightened boy against the background of the trio of heroes, which further embarrassed his already offended dignity.
"I sincerely apologize to the Shield Hero for what happened. It's not your fault how my subjects treat you. However, this is a long story and we don't need to delay it now. Since I addressed you first, please introduce yourself," Aultcray was very generous to Jun. This helped Iwatani to compose himself and speak.
"Iwatani Junpei, eighteen years old, just recently graduated from high school!" He shouted confidently. The King nodded approvingly and looked at the Spear Hero standing next to him.
"Kitamura Motoyasu, twenty-one years old, third year of college!" Motoyasu decided to repeat the form of Jun's presentation, since His Majesty approved.
"Amaki Ren, seventeen years old, second year of high school!" The Swordsman was next in line.
"Kawasumi Itsuki, sixteen years old, first year of high school!" So the trio found out the Archer's name.
"Perfect. So, Brave Heroes, from the next day you will enter a completely new land. You will start this journey completely weak, so you need to develop by increasing your level," Aultcray began to explain to the quartet the main nuances of the world.
"Level?" Jun asked.
"The icon is in the lower right corner of the view," Ren prompted.
"That's right. Think about what you want to click on it."
And indeed. Previously, the icon, which seemed to be just a hallucination, actually turned out to be an important component for this world. By concentrating on the icon, the heroes opened up a whole stream of data. They saw their health bar, mana bar, and different stats combined by one common metric — level. It all looked very much like an RPG game.
"I'll leave the rest of the study of the System to you. It is also worth saying that this world is inhabited by monsters that you will have to fight, and thanks to which you will be able to raise your level. Be careful, keep calm and cool, and then you will stay alive," The king concluded. It was clear from his look that he wanted to tell a lot more, but decided to leave it for later. After all, the Heroes have only appeared in the world today, they are probably overwhelmed with emotions and it's better to let them calm down a little. "And now, you can rest. My servants will take you to your rooms, and tomorrow you will receive all the necessary things and your first companions will join you. You are free for now."
Four maids came up, distributed each of the Heroes and led them out of the throne room together. Gradually, the dissatisfied spectators dispersed until the king and his faithful adviser remained in the room. Coming closer to Aultcray, he asked a question:
"Your Majesty, what is this supposed to mean?"
"What is it?" The Wise king has already understood where everything is going.
"Why did the magicians summon all the Heroes?! Including the Shield Hero?!" The advisor was outraged that the king ignored the presence of the Shield Hero.
"That was my direct order," Aultcray answered him bluntly.
"But are you sure that summoning the Shield Hero, and even more so helping him, is the right move? You haven't forgotten about the ideals of our state, have you?" The attempt to convict the king of treason had no effect on him.
"I can't forget that we are now at the point we have reached. However, the Shield Hero can be very useful to us. I would not like to lose a great opportunity to gain even more power than what we have now" The Wise king is thinking over a plan several steps ahead.
"You do understand that Her Majesty will disagree with you, don't you?"
"She agree, she disagree, we are both the rulers here. And she has no control over me," Aultcray has never allowed himself to be manipulated. "And if there is a conflict... let's see how it turns out."
***
The maid took Jun to his room and left, saying, "If you need anything, please contact me." But the guy didn't want to examine the room. He walked to the center, fell to his knees and…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" He shouted at the top of his voice.
"Mr. Hero, what happened?" The maid have suddenly returned.
"It's okay… I just hit my foot on the bedside table..." Said Iwatani, smiling wryly.
"...okay..." the door closed.
Jun covered his face with his hands and lowered his head to the floor. It seemed that nothing could be worse than the draft. No way. Not only was he torn away from a comfortable daily life, sent to, literally, certain death, but he was also insulted to the point of not pampering. He had never felt such shame before. Naturally, after such an attitude on the part of the citizens, there could be no question of any desire to become a Hero for them. They are already disgusted by Jun, before they even have time to create anything.
After lying there for about twenty minutes, Iwatani slowly got to his feet and landed on a nearby bed. The mattress was so soft that the Shield Bearer immediately felt a wave of relaxation envelop his body from head to toe. He tried to think straight. Yes, now the residents of Melromarc can't stand the Shield. But! If Jun demonstrates himself as a Hero who deserves his title, perhaps their opinion will change. Or maybe not. Apparently, the reason for hating the Shield Hero is related to a long story that combined a bunch of key events. If so, then this dislike is something at the level of tradition, and then it's hard to say if Junpei's efforts on the battlefield will be enough to convince them? Speaking of fighting.
The king recommended that the quartet familiarize themselves with the System, so Jun decided to pass the time by studying its nuances. A huge stream of information flashed in front of his face and he had to navigate between tons of texts. It really looked a lot like a video game. It felt like Jun was wearing a virtual reality helmet and using special controllers, playing a new RPG. And it was thrilling. He still didn't know what his room looked like. He couldn't hear the sounds of the world outside the walls. He was immersed in studying.
Several hours passed like that. Jun was interrupted by a maid who invited our hero to go to the break room, where his colleagues were chatting. Leaving the system on "sleep mode" so that all the primary functions and characteristics could be seen, Iwatani followed the maid. They didn't walk for long, just one turn down the corridor was enough to reach the room. The maid opened the door, behind which the two heroes were sitting on sofas in a rather cozy living room.
"Oh, there's Jun! Come on, come in," Motoyasu was delighted to see the Shield Bearer. The door to the room closed.
"Is Itsuki coming?" Iwatani asked.
"As we were told, he immediately refused to sit in the same room with us," There was a grain of annoyance in Ren's words. He wanted to discuss with all the Characters the topics that worried him.
"And thank God he's not here," Kitamura, on the contrary, did not feel a drop of sadness about this. "What are you standing for, Jun? Sit down quickly."
There were three upholstered sofas in the room, located on each side of the coffee table that was in the middle. There were sweets, fruits, and a tea set on the table. Jun decided to pour himself some hot herbal tea.
"So," The Swordsman decided to start a conversation. "Have you already familiarized yourself with the System?"
"Yeah. I haven't absorbed so much information in a long time. It seems to me that I haven't looked through everything yet," Jun decided to share his impressions first.
"I walked cleanly through the base because I wanted to take a nap," Motoyasu admitted honestly. "But the mechanics are the same as in the game, so there shouldn't be any special problems with adaptation."
"Wait, did you play Brave Star: Online too?" Ren asked excitedly, startled.
"Brave what? It sounds like a game for five-year-olds," Amaki's face darkened for a moment. "I only played Ragnarok Online and nothing more."
"I've never heard of such a game. Is it on VR capsules?"
"...where are you from, buddy?" Ren's question stymied Motoyasu.
"Have you had any games with a similar world?" The two heroes turned to Jun, puzzled, as if asking: "Don't you?" "It's just that I can't remember any game with the same system.…"
"Now that's interesting," Ren began to ponder, scratching his smooth chin. "That is, we all have a different acquaintance with this world, am I right? The Heroes of Shield and Spear nodded approvingly in response. "Hmm... in that case, I'll ask a few questions to verify my theory. First, which city is the capital of Japan?"
"Tokyo," was Jun's reply.
"Kyoto," was Motoyasu's reply.
"Osaka..." was Ren's reply. "Okay, then the second question is, what year are you from?"
"Two thousand and twenty-three," Iwatani replied uncertainly.
"Two thousand and twelve," Kitamura replied gloomily, realizing what was going on.
"That's how it is. It looks like we're from different worlds ourselves..." the Swordsman summed up, adjusting his glasses.
"What year are you from, Ren?" Although it was no longer necessary for the verdict, for the sake of interest, Jun asked about the year of Amaki.
"Two thousand fifty-nine."
The trio was in a complete stupor. It was not enough for them to have a fantasy world that was so similar to the games they were fond of, but now they find out that their precious Land is not the only one in the universal stream. Literally, they just confirmed the theory of the multiverse, just wanting to discuss a sore point. One could only wonder how much their worlds differed from each other.
"Yeah... and I wanted to go back to my world after the waves and go celebrate the victory with you..." Motoyasu was jokingly annoyed.
"Good luck getting back to the corpse," Ren wished him pessimistically. "Do not forget that at least two moved here after death."
"Oh, don't start. Anyway, we're going to get out of here alive. Since they called us after death, it means they can resurrect us by moving back to our worlds."
"Well, think as you like," Amaki crossed his arms, as if hinting that the Spearman was too optimistic. "I'm already getting ready to stay here forever."
"I wonder, while we are here, does time continue to flow in our worlds?" Jun pondered. Hearing this thought, the other two heroes fell into thought. "What if they're out there now, trying to find us, or are they already grieving?"
Jun asked this question for a reason. Unlike Ren and Motoyasu, he's not sure if he's dead. And there is a high probability that he is now considered missing. How long has it been there? Maybe it flows faster there than it does here? Or is it slower on the contrary? What if he's been dead to them for a long time and their bond has been further disrupted? And again, Iwatani began to get caught up, and again he felt that he might be guilty.
"Let's get back to the System," Ren decided to tactfully change the subject. "Motoyasu, you said that your game had similar mechanics. What else was there?"
Kitamura scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I remember for sure that the Characters couldn't swing properly while they were next to each other.
"It's strange, my players could safely level up together. Apparently, even here we have discrepancies."
"You probably got it from playing multiplayer. I was in the single."
"It is quite possible."
"Maybe we'll check it tomorrow? Our teammates will take us to the places where the initial monsters live and we will try to collect experience from them," Jun suggested.
"That sounds great," Motoyasu said, liking the idea. "Moreover, you definitely need to level up."
"Oh, right, the Shield can't attack," Iwatani looked sour. "Don't be offended, Jun, we're not bullying. The Shield here, in fact, if we talk about classes, a support character. You can protect and heal your allies," Ren made it clear to Jun that he was tolerant of all classes.
"Yes, on the contrary, you should be proud of yourself, my friend. You have an even greater responsibility than us."
"Heh, thanks, guys," Although this cheered him up, but at the same time our hero became alert again. He really has a lot more responsibility.
***
The next day came. Jun woke up in his room feeling lousy. After talking with his fellow heroes, he spent the rest of the day lost in thought, trying to think about whether he had a chance to return. Maybe it was worth consulting with the king or the magicians on this topic? They must know something about it. The Shield Bearer both wanted to know and didn't want to, so as not to get upset once again. And this is not taking into account the Shield glued to the arm, which made finding a comfortable sleeping position more problematic.
In any case, when Iwatani got up early in the morning, following the maid who woke him up, he first went to take a morning bath, and when he was clean, he was sent to the morning table, where other called ones were sitting. The table was huge, filled with delicious dishes. Jun couldn't identify any food, either because of their strange shape or because they tasted new to the guy. The three Heroes were eating food next to each other, while Itsuki was the only one sitting far away from them. They still did not understand the nature of such human detachment. As if the archer didn't like the idea that he wasn't the only hero here. If you look at it from this angle, Kawasumi appears in an even worse light.
Having thoroughly refreshed themselves, the quartet of Heroes were taken to the already familiar hall. Going in there again, a melody immediately appeared in head using a choir and an entire orchestra, everything looked so amazing. Almost nothing has changed since the last visit. The only thing was that there were now warriors on the right side, who now had a choice of which Hero they would join the team. Magicians, soldiers, and adventurers came here as volunteers to bask in the glory at the end. So much so that they will make up legends and write stories about them. Popularity, fame, money are some of the most desirable things among people. And they're willing to do anything to get them.
His Majesty was still sitting on his throne, while the neighboring one was empty for reasons unknown to the Heroes. His gaze was focused and serious, befitting a Wise king. As soon as the Heroes lined up in front of him, he spoke again:
"I am glad to see you again, Great Heroes. Today will be your last day in the castle and your first day in the outside world. But before that, we decided to assemble a team for each of you, which will help you get used to our world, as well as fight with you in battle. As you may have noticed, they are standing right here and already thinking about which of you to join. We'll give them a few more minutes, and then they'll stand behind the Hero they want to walk this path with."
"Before we begin, Your Majesty, may I ask you something?" The Shield Bearer still dared. The King raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Ask your question, Shield Hero," He replied calmly.
"Do we have the opportunity to return home after the waves?"
The King looked down with some annoyance.
"Once upon a time, magicians really knew how to bring Heroes back to their worlds. However, that was several centuries ago, and the technique was forgotten, as the heroes did not want to go back." To say that Jun was no less annoyed by this news is an understatement. The other Heroes remained silent. Someone was not upset, but someone quickly accepted it.
"I see…"
"Well... the time has come!"
And the adventurers made their choice. One by one, they stood behind the Heroes until whole rows formed. Ren and Itsuki distinguished themselves the most in terms of the number and variety of allies. Each of them received five people as partners, each of whom was individual in class. Motoyasu gained the title of "ladies man" by acquiring three girls as allies.
"Eh... they don't choose partners, do they?" He muttered to himself.
But Iwatani got... no one. Ren and Motoyasu looked at their colleague in surprise, and Aultcray was also slightly startled. Jun had fully expected this outcome. Hatred for the Hero of Shield, of course, will not allow him to live in peace, which has already manifested itself on his teammates. More precisely, their absence. Lowering his head down, he smiled sadly, accepting the fact of his newfound status as an outcast. One thing was pleasing, no one dared to mock our hero. Although... he didn't care anymore... and then the doors suddenly opened, interrupting his annoying thoughts...
"Your Majesty, I apologize for the delay!" Jun immediately turned around.
A young girl suddenly burst into the throne room. She looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old. She had long, flowing purple hair and sapphire-colored eyes. She was wearing a dark purple jacket, which hid a white shirt with a blue ribbon bow on the collar, a dark skirt that reached to her knees, dark tights and black shoes. You couldn't tell by her figure that she was particularly beautiful, but rather that she was standard. This was further reinforced by barely noticeable bags under the eyes and drooping edges around the mouth. It's like she never smiles.
"I want to join the Shield Hero!"
There was silence in the room. The king's eyes were fully open. It was as if he didn't believe what he saw, much less what he heard. The adventurers, along with the audience in the hall, were also perplexed. Closing his eyes and clenching his hands into fists, Aultcray sighed and said:
"Come on in..." The girl stood right behind the Shield Hero. "I take it that's it? No one else wants to join the heroes?" Silence. "In that case, we'll leave it at that. We will give each of the heroes six hundred silver coins, but since the Shield Hero has only one partner, we will give him eight hundred. And now, we're saying goodbye for now. Good luck to you, Great Heroes."
The meeting ended, and the people began to leave. Before Jun could do anything, his new companion grabbed his hand and dragged him somewhere into the castle. To be more precise, in his room. Iwatani was in a stupor. This girl was like a bolt out of the blue, and he really wanted to know who she was.
Reaching the room, the companion dragged the Shield Bearer inside, and then closed the door behind her.
"I'm sorry that everything happened so suddenly, Mr. Hero. You're probably at a loss right now," The girl tried to look caring, but her tone was rather stern.
"I'm not arguing, it was really unexpected..." Jun awkwardly scratched his neck. "Why did we hide in this room?"
"To get rid of prying eyes. We don't need any extra attention, do we?"
"That's also true… Um... can you introduce yourself?"
"Of course. My name is Melty S Melromarc and now I am your companion."
At that moment, Jun realized that things were only going to get worse.