The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 01 (15 page)

He was seething with anger. He thrust his finger at me and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Huh?”

Raphtalia made a weird noise.

She had a plate full of delicious food, and was shoveling it into her mouth when she overheard Motoyasu’s accusation.

“So what?”

“What do you mean, ‘so what?’ Are you even listening to yourself?”

“Yeah.”

What’s so wrong with using slaves?

There wasn’t anyone who would fight with me willingly. That’s why I bought a slave.

And besides, this kingdom didn’t have any laws against slavery.

So what was the problem?

“Yeah, she’s my slave. You have a problem with that?”

“You… You can’t force people into slavery! Especially not us! We come from another world. We can’t behave that way here!”

“What’s all this now? You know there are slaves in our world too.”

Granted, I didn’t know what world Motoyasu was from, but he was human, and humans had a history of slavery.

If you think about it, we’re all sort of slaves to society anyway.

“We can’t behave that way here? We? Just focus on yourself, okay?”

He couldn’t make up his own rules and then expect me to follow them. He was crazy!

“You stupid brat. This isn’t our world. Slaves do exist here. What’s wrong with using one?”

“You… How dare you!”

He stepped back and pointed his spear at me.

“Fight me! If I win, you have to set Raphtalia free!”

“Why do we have to fight? And what do I get if I win?”

“You can do whatever you want then. You can just keep using Raphtalia the way you have been!”

“Some duel.”

I turned away, and made to leave. Why should I fight when I had nothing to gain?

“I have heard what Mr. Motoyasu had to say.”

The crowd parted, like the Red Sea, as the king came strolling up.

“I had heard rumors of a Hero using slaves. But I cannot believe that it is true. So that’s how it is, the Shield Hero truly is a criminal.”

But slavery was legal here. If everyone else was using slaves, why were they singling me out like his?

“If Motoyasu’s words do not sway you, then perhaps my order will. Duel!”

“What do I care? Hurry up and pay me for my services. If you pay me, I’ll leave and get out of your hair.”

The king sighed, and snapped his fingers. Soldiers appeared from all directions and grabbed me. I saw them restraining Raphtalia too.

“Mr. Naofumi!”

“What’s all this?!”

I glared at the king with all the hatred I could muster.

He… He hadn’t believed anything I’d said. Either that, or I was in his way.

“In this land, my word is law! If you don’t cooperate, we will take her from you by force.”

“Damn!”

The royal magicians, no doubt, did know the spells necessary to break the slave magic that held her. So if I didn’t fight this duel, I would lose Raphtalia for sure.

Come on! That wasn’t fair! She’d finally become useful!

Just how much time and money did they think I’d invested in her?

“You don’t have to fight! I will… Mph!”

They stuffed a gag in her mouth to silence her.

“There is a chance she is under a spell, so that she must support her master. She must be silenced for the time being.”

“Obviously you’re going to let her participate in the duel?”

“She is the prize of the duel. Why would she participate?”

“Y…You bastard!”

“Everyone, to the castle gardens!”

The king ignored my complaints and announced the duel in the gardens.

Damn, I wasn’t able to attack!

The outcome was as good as set.

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Clash of Spear and Shield

They altered the gardens to make space for our duel.

Torches were set along the perimeter, and everyone who’d been enjoying the feast came out to watch the heroes fight.

But of course everyone already knew how it was going to turn out.

I was unable to attack at all, and there I was fighting with the Spear Hero.

But this wasn’t a fight between the Shield Hero and the Spear Hero. This was a fight between Motoyasu and me. He was just so prideful. I couldn’t stand it.

Anyone could see how it would end though.

Everyone was shouting out their bets, and I couldn’t hear anything over the din.

The castle had mostly been filled with nobility and knights, but there were some adventures there too, people that had fought with us against the wave. I suppose it was only natural that they would bet on it.

So apparently everyone knew that I would lose, and they wanted to make money off it.

Ren and Itsuki were watching from the castle terrace and laughing.

They probably couldn’t wait to see me lose.

Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit!

All of them, all of them wanted to get rid of me.

During the battle, they rained fire down on top of me.

The whole world was my enemy. Everyone was an enemy that laughed at me.

Fine. All I could do was lose. That was my only option. But I wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Watch me, Motoyasu. I hate you. I HATE you, more than you know. More than you can imagine. You can’t stop it.

“Now for the duel between the Shield Hero and the Spear Hero! The duel will end when one of the contestants is pinned, or admits defeat.”

I rolled my head, snapped my fingers, and set my footing.

“In a battle between a Shield and a Spear, who will win? Give me a break. You are going down.”

Motoyasu stuck his nose in the air and laughed at me.

Ugh, I hate him.

“Now then…”

Motoyasu, I’ll show you that victory means more than just beating your opponent.

Victory was about accomplishing your goals. If our goals were different from the get go. The best spear in the world was the one that kills its opponent, but the best shield in the world is the one that protects its holder. They weren’t trying to accomplish the same thing at all.

“Begin!”

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“GRAHHHHHHHHHHH!”

I braced myself for a blow and ran at Motoyasu. Motoyasu readied his spear and ran at me. He wanted to end it with one good jab.

Suddenly, we were very close. I was in his range, and he threw his weight behind the spear and jabbed it at me.

If I knew where the attack was coming from, I could probably defend myself.

“Chaos Stab!”

Motoyasu’s spear instantly split into many spears, and they all flew at me.

A skill! He was really coming after me.

But he couldn’t stop my advance. I protected my head with the shield and ran at him.

Ugh… Sharp spear points bit into me in two places: my shoulder and side.

It was a scratch, they’d only grazed me, but a hero’s attack really was much stronger than the enemies we’d faced up until now. But the skill had a recharge time, apparently, and he was now in cool down mode.

“Take that!”

He turned and thrust the blade of his spear at me.

That was what made a spear weak. It was great for fighting at a distance, but once the enemy got close, it became unwieldy very quickly.

Normally, he’d want to kill the enemy before they got too close. But he couldn’t do that because my shield gave me enough defense to get past his first attack.

I dodged the spear jab, threw all my weight into my shield, and tackled him to the ground.

Then I raised my fist and punched him square in the face.

Clang!

Damn! I really couldn’t do any damage.

Was that my only attack? No, I had something else.

Motoyasu smiled when he realized my attacks weren’t hurting him. He was laughing at me.

Just how long did he think he could laugh me off?

I threw back my cape and pulled out my secret weapon and pressed it against his face.

“Ahh!”

They’d all burned up during the rain of fire, but I picked up some more on the way back to the castle.

“What the??”

Ahaha… Motoyasu was screaming in confusion.

The balloon bit down deep.

“Ouch! Owww!”

It had bit into his face, his perfect little face.

That’s right, I couldn’t attack by myself. That’s why I have these special weapons, designed for attacking other people, and they are called balloons.

“Ahaaaa!”

I put two on his face, and then on his legs to keep him from getting up. Then I put another one on his crotch for good measure.

“What the hell are these balloons?”

The crowds were shouting.

Like I cared!

I put all my weight onto the balloon, and made sure the teeth were digging deep into his crotch.

“What… You! I’ll get you!”

“If I can’t win anyway, I might as well make you as miserable as I can! I’ll start with that face you use to control the ladies, and take care of your little friend down there too! Without your face and your balls, you’re nothing! Some ladies man!”

“What?! Arghhhhhh!”

“You’re not getting up!”

He reached up to pull the balloons off, but I held his arms down.

He eventually managed to get the balloon off of his face, but when he was knocked down, he couldn’t swing his spear. When he ripped a balloon off, I threw another one on, and it bought me some time.

It wasn’t just balloons either, I was using Eggugs too, and so many of them that trying to find Motoyasu was like a needle in a haystack.

I just focused on making him as miserable as possible.

I was going to lose anyway. If so, I wanted to traumatize him the best I could.

“Ahaaaaa!”

“Damn you!”

He tried to get up, but I threw all my weight on him to keep him down then piled on more balloons.

Hey, if I was going to lose anyway, there was something I wanted to try.

I turned my shield into the Two-Headed Black Dog Shield.

Motoyasu couldn’t put any force in to his spear from that angle, so I was able to stop his weak attacks with the shield.

It made a sound like nails on a chalkboard.

The special effect, Dog Bite, started to work, and the dog heads on the shield howled and bit at Motoyasu.

A counter appeared for the Dog Bite effect.

The effect would last for thirty seconds, and the dog heads would bite at the enemy for the whole duration.

Normally the skill would do a little damage while it held the enemy still, but I could use it like this too.

“Ah, ouch!”

Huh? So it was really hurting him. Maybe I could win?

If so, then I had some other ideas too.

“Air Strike Shield!”

It appeared over Motoyasu’s stomach, and the weight of it pinned him down.

This was a new way to use the skill!

“Le…Let me go!”

“You think you can take me? Get me then! You coward!”

I hope he thought long and hard about challenging me, thinking that I had no way to fight back.

I held the Dog Shield and waited for Motoyasu to turn his face in my direction. Then I shoved the biting heads at him.

The effect was triggered, and they clamped down on his face.

“Dammit! Argh!”

“What do I care?”

Oh crap… The Air Strike Shield effect wore off.

“Shield Prison!”

“Ugh!”

Now he was trapped in a large cage. He’d never be able to get out, flipping around on his back like that. I threw even more balloons and Eggugs at him.

I could win this! He didn’t have any experience fighting other humans, did he?

“Guh!”

The Shield Prison broke. But the cool down time from the Air Strike Shield was also over, so I summoned another Air Strike Shield at the same time.

The balloons kept biting, and anytime I found an opening, I lunged at him with dog bite. I could win this!

“Hurry up and admit defeat! You want to win with this kind of foolishness?!”

“What is the Shield doing to the Spear Hero?!”

The crowd started heckling. What did I care? Why should I listen to people that listened in silence when I was set up?”

“Is the Shield Hero going to win?”

“No, it can’t be…?”

They were going crazy.

“Hear that Motoyasu? Give up. You’ve lost!”

“Give up? Ha!”

“Then I’ll just hold you down until you can’t stand it anymore! I really am winning!”

I looked for the king. He was watching the fight, as he would be the judge. He was obviously watching the fight, as if he was planning to do something. But what?

All I could do was keep on attacking Motoyasu’s face and limbs.

If I didn’t, it was like they couldn’t tell who was winning.

Or so I thought…

“Agh!”

Someone shoved me hard from behind, and I reeled.

I looked around wildly, disoriented, as I looked for the attacker.

Then I saw her,
that woman
! Myne!

She was hiding in the crowd, but her arm was out straight and her palm was facing me.

It must have been some kind of wind magic.

I think it was called “Wing Blow” and it was a spell that threw a fist of air at the target.

It was a fist made of air, so naturally it was transparent. Unless you looked for it purposefully you were unlikely to see it.

Myne smiled and stuck her tongue out at me.

“Arrrrghhhh!”

My screams were drowned out by Motoyasu, who’d gotten to his feet, and then he made his sudden counter attack.

He popped all the balloons, and pointed his spear at me.

I was out of balloons to use. All I could do was try and use a shield that could counterattack.

What a coward!

The rest was very one-sided.

All I could do was use Dog Bite against him.

Finally, I fell to the ground after taking so many of his attacks, and Motoyasu, breathing heavily, set the point of his spear against my neck.

“Huff… Huff… I… Win…!”

He looked much worse off than he had at the end of the wave of destruction, but he turned to the crowd and announced his victory.