The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 01 (2 page)

So
that’s
how it was. That’s what they wanted. This is when they try and figure out their standing and demand a reward. Well, they certainly were an outspoken, confident bunch. I felt like I was somehow losing to them.

“Yes, well, we would very much like you to speak with the king. He will discuss future compensation with you in the throne room.”

One of the robed men, apparently their leader, leaned against a very heavy looking door until it opened, at which point he pointed in the direction we were to go.

“Whatever.”

“Fine.”

“I don’t think it really matters who we talk to, but whatever.”

My outspoken companions complained as they left the room in the direction indicated. I didn’t want to be left alone, so I followed them out.

We walked out of the darkened room and down a hallway made of stone. How should I describe it? The air felt fresh… and I can’t think of any other words for it. Vocabulary has never been my strong suit. We were able to steal a glance through a window, and the scenery took our breath away.

The clouds were high, high in the sky for as far as you could see. There, below us, a town spread out from the building we were in, all the houses lined up pretty, just like one of those European cities you’d see featured in a travel brochure. I wanted to pause for a minute and take it all in, but there was no time. We were hurried past the window and down the hall, and soon enough we arrived at the throne room.

“Huh, so these kids are the four Holy Heroes?”

An important-looking older man was sitting there on the throne. He leaned forward as he spoke. He didn’t make a good first impression on me. I just can’t stand people who condescend.

“My name is Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, and I rule these lands. Heroes, show me your faces!”

I almost yelled at him to shut up, but I caught myself just in time. I guess he was in a position of authority, and he seemed to be a king of some sort.

“Now then, I shall begin with an explanation. This country, no, this whole world is on the brink of destruction.”

Seems like a rather regal introduction. The other guys with me spoke up. “Well, I guess that makes sense, considering you’d call for us from another world.”

“Yeah, figures.”

I’ll try to summarize the king’s story:

There was a prophecy about the end of the world. Many waves would appear, and they would wash over the world, again and again, until nothing remains. Unless the waves were repelled and their accompanying calamities avoided, the world was doomed. The prophecy was from long ago, though the time it spoke of was now, this very moment. There was also a large and ancient hourglass that would signal the times. The hourglass predicted the arrival of the waves, and its sands began to fall one month ago. According to legend, the waves would come in one-month intervals.

In the beginning, the citizens of the land mocked the legends. However, when the sands in the hourglass began to fall, a great calamity visited the land. A fissure appeared in the country, Melromarc, a fissure to another dimension. Terrifying and horrible creatures crawled out from it in great numbers.

At the time, the country’s knights and adventurers were able to repel the advance of the creatures, but the next wave was prophesied to be even more terrible.

At this rate, the country was doomed, having no way to ward off the impending disaster. Considering the situation nearly hopeless, the kingdom decided to summon heroes from another world.

That about sums it up.

Oh, by the way, it seems like the Legendary Weapons enabled us to understand the language of that world.

“All right,” said one of my companions. “I think I understand where you’re coming from. But does that mean you are basically commanding us to help you?”

“Seems all fine and good… for you”

“I agree. All this sounds pretty self-centered to me. If your world is on the road to destruction, just let it burn. I don’t see what it has to do with us.”

I could tell by the condescending giggle he struggled to hide that he secretly thought that this was all really cool.

Well it was my turn to speak up next. “As they have said, we don’t have a responsibility to help you. If we dedicate our time and lives to bringing peace to your kingdom, do we get anything besides a ‘thanks and see you later’? I mean, I guess what I really want to know is if there is a way for us to get home. Could you tell me anything about that?”

“Hmmm…” The king shot his vassal a sidelong glance. “Of course we are planning on compensating you all for your efforts.”

The heroes, including myself, pumped our fists in celebration. Yes! Phase one of negotiations: complete.

“Naturally,” continued the king. “I’ve made arrangements to support you financially, and also to provide you with whatever you may require, in thanks for your efforts on our behalf.”

“Oh yeah? Cool. Well, as long as you’ll promise us that, I don’t think we’ll have a problem.”

“Don’t think you’ve bought us off. As long as we aren’t enemies, I’ll help you out though.”

“Agreed.”

“Me too.”

Why did they all have to act so superior all the time? Think about where we are! Do you really want to make an enemy of the king? Still, I guess it was good to get all the particulars out of the way in advance rather than risk losing everything down the road.

“Very well then, Heroes. Tell us your names.”

Wait a second—I just noticed something. Doesn’t all this sound similar to the book I’d been reading in the library?
The Records of the Four Holy Weapons
?

A sword, spear, bow…and yes, a shield.

Even the four heroes were the same. Could I have somehow gotten pulled into the world of that book? I was starting to mull these things over when the kid with the sword, the Sword Hero, stepped forward and introduced himself.

“My name is Ren Amaki. I am 16 years old, and a high school student.”

The Sword Hero, Ren Amaki. He was an attractive young guy. His face was handsome, and he was relatively short, maybe 160 centimeters. If he cross-dressed, you’d mistake him for a girl in an instant. His face was so composed. His hair was black, and cut short. His eyes were sharp, and his skin was white. Overall he gave off a cool impression. Like a quick, slender swordsman.

“All right, I’ll go next. My name is Motoyasu Kitamura. I’m 21, and a college student.”

The Spear Hero, Motoyasu Kitamura. He came off as light-hearted and kind, something like an older brother. His face was at least as well kept as Ren’s, the type of guy who was sure to have a girlfriend or two. He was probably around 170 centimeters. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail. I normally don’t like ponytails on men, but it seemed to suit him. Overall he seemed like a caring, older brother.

“Ok, my turn. I’m Itsuki Kawasumi. I’m 17, and still in high school.”

The Bow Hero, Itsuki Kawasumi. He looked like the calm, piano-playing sort of character. How to explain it? He seemed vain, and yet, at the same time, he held some unrevealed strength. There was something indefinite about him. Something vague. He was the shortest among us, probably somewhere around 155 centimeters. His hair style was slightly wavy, as if it had been permed. He was like a soft-spoken younger brother.

Apparently we were all Japanese, though I would be pretty surprised to see a foreigner here anyway.

Oh, my turn already?

“I guess I’m last. My name is Naofumi Iwatani. I’m 20 years old, and a college student.”

The king looked down at me condescendingly. I felt goose bumps crawl up and down my spine.

“Now then. Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki, correct?”

“Your Grace, you’ve forgotten me.”

“Ah yes, pardon me, Mr. Naofumi.

So the old guy was a little slow on the uptake. But you know… I was still feeling somehow out of place among them all there. And now he forgot to include me in such a short list?

“Now then, Heroes. Please confirm your status, and give yourselves an objective evaluation.”

“Huh?”

What did he mean by status?!

“Excuse me, but how are we supposed to evaluate ourselves?” asked Itsuki.

Ren sighed loudly, like he couldn’t be bothered to explain it to us. “You mean to say that you all haven’t figured it out yet? Didn’t you realize it the moment you arrived here?”

Oh come on, he just knew everything. Was that it? Guess he was some kind of genius.

“I mean,” he went on, “Haven’t you noticed any weird icons hanging out in your peripheral vision?”

“Huh?”

But since he mentioned it… if you looked off vaguely, and focused on the soft edges of your field of vision, there were little marks there. I could see them too.

“Just focus your mind on that icon.”

I did, and heard a soft beep, just like I was sitting in front of a computer, and the icon expanded to take over my field of vision. It was like opening an Internet browser.

Naofumi Iwatani

Class:
Shield Hero
LV 1

Equipment: Small Shield (Legendary Weapon)

Other-World Clothes

Skills: None

Magic: None

There were still quite a few things listed, but I decided to ignore them for the moment. So this is what the king meant by status? Wait. Just what the hell was all this? It felt like I was in a game.

“Level 1… That makes me nervous. “

“Good point, at this rate, who knows if we’ll even be able to fight at all.”

“What is all this?”

“Do these things not exist in your world, oh Heroes? You are experiencing ‘Status Magic.’ Everyone in this world can see and use it.”

“Really?”

I was amazed at how normal everyone seemed to think it was, this numerical expression of your physical body.

“And what are we supposed to do? These numbers seem awfully low.”

“Yes, well. You will need to go on a journey to further polish your abilities, and to strengthen the Legendary Weapons you possess.”

“Strengthen them? You mean these things aren’t strong right from the get-go?”

“That is correct. The summoned Heroes must raise their Legendary Weapons by themselves. That is how they will grow strong.”

Motoyasu was spinning his spear and thinking. “Why don’t we just use different weapons while these ones are bulking up? Seems smart to me.”

That did seem like a good idea. And besides, I was stuck with a shield, not even a weapon in its own right. I’d better get another weapon.

Ren cut in to clarify, “We can work all that out later on. Right now, we should focus on improving ourselves, just like the king has asked us to do.”

It was so exciting! We were heroes summoned from another world! It felt a little like manga, but any
Otaku
worth his salt would jump at a chance like this. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I couldn’t get myself to calm down. It looked like the other heroes around me felt the same way.

“Are we going to form a party? The four of us?”

“Wait just a moment, Heroes.”

“Hm?”

Just as we were preparing to set out on an adventure, the king spoke again. “The four of you should set out separately, to recruit your own companions.”

“Why is that?”

“According to the legends,” he began, “The Legendary Weapons you possess will interfere with one another should you form a party. Both your weapons and yourselves can only grow when you are apart from one another.”

“I don’t really understand all that, but if we stay together, we can’t level up, right?”

Huh? Everyone found instructions near their weapons. We all began to read at the same time.

Attention: the Legendary Weapons and their owners will experience adverse effects if they fight together.

Caution: it is preferable that the Heroes and weapons are used individually.

“I guess it’s true then…”

But why did all of this sound so much like a game? It was like I’d been transported into a game. Anyway, games don’t feel this real, and there were real humans living here, so I guess it was still a reality of one kind or another. Still, the system reminded me of a game nonetheless.

The instructions on the weapons went on at great length and detail, but there wasn’t enough time to read them right then.

“So you think we should try and form our own parties?”

“I will attempt to secure travel companions for you all. Regardless, evening draws near. Heroes, you should rest for the night and prepare for departure on the morrow. In the meantime, I will find companions for you from the village below.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Thanks.”

We all thanked the king and retired to our room for the night.

Chapter Three: A Heroic Discussion

There were ornate beds prepared for us in the provided chamber. Everyone was sitting on them, closely inspecting their weapons, and letting their vision drift absentmindedly to check on their status screens.

I glanced at the window, only to find that the sun had set long ago, which just goes to show how much time we had spent reading the instructions.

Ok, so let’s see here. The Legendary Weapons required no maintenance at all. They were powerful and sturdy enough on their own. The material the weapons were constructed of reacts to the level of the hero who wields them, and any slain monsters were recorded in something called a weapon book.

The weapon book was something that apparently kept a list of all the forms the Legendary Weapons were capable of transforming into. There was a weapon book for my own shield that could be viewed from the weapon icon. I opened it.

Fwip!

The border of the window quickly expanded to fill my field of vision, and it was filled with rows of weapon icons. It appeared as though none of them were currently available for upgrades. Huh, would you believe it? It looked like certain weapons could be set and improved upon, growing more powerful with time.

Got it. It was just like the way that skills and weapons are leveled up in online games. It said that in order to learn skills, the powers hidden in our weapons would have to be set loose. It really did seem exactly like a game of some sort.

“Hey, this is just like a game, don’t you think?”

It looked like the other guys were reading over the help menus too. One of them responded to my question.

“Like a game? I think it actually might be a game. I know games that are just like this,” said Motoyasu, bristling with an air of conceit.

“Huh?”

“Yeah, it’s a pretty famous online game. Haven’t you heard of it?”

“Uh, no? And I’m a pretty hardcore
Otaku
.”

“You’ve never heard of it, Naofumi? It’s called
Emerald Online
.”

“Never heard of it. What is it?”

“Naofumi, have you even played an online game before? It’s famous!”

“Nah, I’ve only played stuff like
Odin Online
, or
Fantasy Moon Online
. Those are pretty famous too.”

“I’ve never heard of them before. Must be minor titles or something.”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t know what any of you are referring to. This is nothing like an online game. It’s more like a console game.”

“Motoyasu, Itsuki, you’re both wrong on this one. If anything, it’s a VRMMO.”

“No way. Even if we suppose, for the moment, that we are in an online game, it still must be the sort that you control by a mouse, or with a controller.”

Ren looked confused by Motoyasu’s theory, and he jumped into the conversation. “A mouse? A controller? What kind of antique games are you guys talking about? These days, aren’t all online games VRMMO?”

“VRMMO? I guess you mean a Virtual Reality MMO? Cut the sci-fi crap. You know the tech isn’t ready for stuff like that yet.”

“Huh?!” Ren nearly shouted in surprise.

Thinking back on it, he was the first of us to figure out how to use the Status Magic. It kind of seemed like he knew what he was doing. He might have known more than he was letting on.

“Um, excuse me? You all seem to think this is like a game you know. Can I ask what the names of those games are?”

Itsuki raised his hand and answered quickly:
Brave Star Online
.

Emerald Online
.

I spoke up next. “I dunno. I mean, are we even in a game world?” I also thought it seemed a bit like a game, but could we really have arrived in a game that I had never even heard of?

“I see. As for my opinion, this reminds me of a console game called
Dimension Wave.”

And so we all seemed to think the world represented a different game.

“Wait a second. Let’s try to collect what we know for sure.” Motoyasu rested his head on his hands and tried to calm us down. “Ren, This VRMMO you speak of means exactly what we said, correct?”

“Yeah.”

“Itsuki, Naofumi, you guys understand what he means, right?”

“I think it sounds like a game from science fiction, but yes.”

“I think I read about something like it in a light novel once.”

“Fair enough. That’s about all I can think of too. Okay then, Ren. The game you mentioned,
Brave Star Online
. Is that a VRMMO too?”

“Ah, right. The VRMMO I played was called
Brave Star Online
. The world felt very, very similar to this one.”

Considering the way Ren spoke of it, it seemed like this VRMMO thing was ordinary technology for him. It sounded like computers could read the user’s brain waves, and allow the user to dive into the computer world directly.

“Ok fine. Well, if that’s true, Ren, in the world you come from, do they have any games similar to the things we have mentioned? Like maybe in the past?”

Ren shook his head. “And just so you know, I consider myself pretty well-versed in the history of games where I’m from. I’ve never heard of anything like what you are all talking about. But the games you guys are talking about… You all consider them relatively well-known titles, right?”

Motoyasu and I nodded in agreement.

If we knew anything about online games, which we all thought we did, it seemed impossible that we wouldn’t know anything about the games we were all mentioning. Even if, for the time being, we grant that we were not as well versed in online games as we all assumed ourselves to be… We all thought we were mentioning famous games. How could we be so wrong?

“Ok then, let’s start with some common-sense questions. You can all name the current prime minister, right?”

“Sure.”

“Ok, let’s all say it at the same time.”

Gulp.

“Masato Yuda.”

“Gotaro Yawahara”

“Enichi Kodaka.”

“Shigeno Ichifuji.”

We all fell silent.

I had never heard of the other names. Not even in the history books.

We went on to compare our knowledge of Internet terms, famous Internet sites, and famous games. None of our examples matched up. In the end, we didn’t seem to share any references at all.

“It kind of seems like we all came from different Japans.”

“It does seem that way. I certainly can’t imagine how we could be from the same place.”

“I guess that means that there is a Japan in all our parallel worlds?”

“I thought at first that we could just be from different time periods. But none of our experiences match up, so that can’t be it.”

Even at that, we all had one thing in common: We were
Otaku.
That had to mean
something
.

“If that’s the case, it seems like we were all brought here for different reasons, and in different ways.”

“I’m not really into having useless conversations. Do we really need to have these things in common anyway?”

Ren spoke up as if he was the coolest person in the room, and he wanted everyone to know it.

“I was on my way home from school when I hit a spot of bad luck and got caught up in a murder case. It was the talk of the town at the time.”

“Uh huh.”

“I was with a good friend. I remember saving him, and I remember the criminal getting arrested…”

…Ren was rubbing his side, softly, as he spoke.

I wanted to poke fun at him. What kind of hero did he think he was with all this talk of saving his best friend and all that? I managed to keep my thoughts to myself.

I suppose he was saying that he caught the bad guy but then was stabbed in the side during the struggle.

He looked like the kind of guy to boast about things that never happened. I instantly wanted to file him away as untrustworthy… and yet, he was one of the heroes summed here. The least I could do was hear him out.

“Anyway, so then, before I knew it, I woke up here.”

“Makes sense. Pretty cool of you though, isn’t it? Saving your best friend and all?”

He responded to my compliment with even more aloofness. Fine then.

“Ok, I guess I’m next,” said Motoyasu, lightly pointing at himself.

“I have… Well, to put it simply… I have quite a few girlfriends.”

“I’m sure you do.”

Something about him seemed like a thoughtful older brother. He also gave off the impression of being popular with girls.

“And well…”

“You had too many at once, and they stabbed you or something?” Ren said, laughing to himself.

Motoyasu snapped his eyes open in surprise then nodded.

“Yeah well… Women are terrifying.”

“Goddam it!” I took no time to disguise my anger and found myself flicking him off. He could die for all I cared… or wait, I suppose he already had. Is that how they got here?

But wait… Itsuki placed his hand over his heart and began to speak.

“Now it’s my turn. I was on my way home from prep school. I went to cross the road, but a dump truck came screaming around the corner at full speed. And then…”

Again, we all fell to silence.

So he was almost certainly hit by a truck… What a sad way to go…

But wait… Wasn’t I kind of an outlier in this situation?

“Uh… do we really all
have
to talk about how we got here?”

“Well, we all already have.”

“I guess. Well… Sorry everyone. I was at the library, flipping through a book I’d never seen before. Before I knew it, I woke up here.”

Again, silence.

They were staring at me, cold as ice.

What was that supposed to mean. Did I have to come here under miserable circumstances to be part of their group?

The three of them started whispering among themselves so that I couldn’t hear what they were saying.

“Yeah… but he… he has a Shield.”

“I knew it… Motoyasu, you too?”

“Yeah…”

I started to feel like they were making fun of me. It was time for a change of subject.

“All right, so is it fair to assume that we all have a pretty good idea about how the system in this world works?”

“Sure.”

“Done it a thousand times.”

“I think I get it well enough.”

Well, there you have it… but wait! Am I the only amateur here?! This sucks.

“W…Well…. Maybe you guys could teach me what I need to know to fight in this world? There were no games like this where I’m from.”

Ren narrowed his eyes and glared at me. Again, ice-cold. For whatever reason, Motoyasu and Itsuki were looking at me with kindness.

“All right then, your big brother Motoyasu will, as best he can, teach you the basics.” He sounded fake, with that big smile on his face. Soon his hand was on my shoulder, and he was talking away.

“First of all, and I’m only talking about the game I know,
Emerald Online
… but you’re a ‘Shielder.’ Basically, your job is to use the Shield and protect people.”

“Uh huh.”

“In the beginning, your defense is super high, which is great and all, but as you go up in levels, the damage you start to take gets a little unbalanced.”

“Uh huh…”

“There are no high-level Shielders. At higher levels, it’s a useless class.”

“Noooooooooooooo!”

That was not what I wanted to hear. What was with the death report? All they wanted to say was that I was doomed? Hey, no thanks!

“What about updates? Were there no updates?”

Like… to balance out my class?!

“Nope. Because of the game’s system, and because of the game’s population, the class was abandoned pretty early on. It’s really not good for much. I think they had even planned to delete the class altogether…”

“And I guess I can’t change jobs?!”

“Well the associated jobs are all… how to put it? Dead.”

“And I can’t change?”

“Nah, the game never let you switch to another job tree.”

WHAT?! Was I really stuck with the worst job in the game? I was staring at the shield in my hands and thinking. Was my future really so gloomy?

“What do you guys think?” I asked, turning to Ren and Itsuki, but they both turned away from me.

“Sorry…”

“I feel the same…”

No! So I really was stuck with the short straw? I was dwelling on this, absentmindedly, when I saw the three of them in the corner of my eye. They were all deep in conversation about the game.

“What about the geography?”

“The names are different, but the map seems to be the same. If the map is the same, there’s a high probability that the division of efficient monsters is the same also.”

“The best hunting grounds will be different for each weapon. Probably best to make sure we go to different places.”

“True. We need to focus on efficiency.”

Did they all know enough about the game to figure out how to cheat? It started to look that way. Hey, there’s a thought. If my class was so weak, I could just depend on them to support me.

There were plenty of ways to do it. Even if I were weak, fighting with the party would get me experience to level up. What is another world, if not an opportunity to fight with your brothers, to deepen your bonds? That’s how it was supposed to work, right?

Now, if only there were a girl or two in the party. Then things would be perfect. If I was a Shielder, I wouldn’t do the fighting. I’d just protect my teammates, right? I didn’t really have a chance to meet any girls back in my world, but things might be different here.

“Hmm… Well, it will be fine. I mean, we are in a whole new world! Even if I’m not the strongest character, I’m sure something will work out.”

They looked at me as if they were looking at something pitiful… or at least, I thought that’s how they were looking at me. If I let it bother me, I’d be doomed before we even got started. Besides, I was equipped to defend, and this wasn’t a game. I could just get rid of my special shield and get a weapon instead.

“All right, let’s do this!” I forced myself to show some gumption.

“Heroes, we have prepared a meal for you.”

What’s that? Looks like we were going to get a nice dinner.

“Nice.”

We opened the door, and the attendant guided us to the knight’s dining hall for dinner.