The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 01 (20 page)

My parents were gone, and my village was gone. It was like the world was telling me to die.

It hurt. I wanted to die. I wanted it to be quick.

I don’t know how much time passed. I was just staring through the bars of my cage. Many people came and went.

And then…

“This is about the cheapest I can offer you.”

The slave trader had brought a young man to my cage.

“The one on the right has a genetic disease. He’s a rabbit. The one in the middle has panic attacks and is a raccoon, and the last one is a mixed-breed lizard man.

“They all have their share of problems.”

The young man was negotiating with the slave trader. The young man met my gaze for a minute.

His eyes were sharp enough to kill. He looked angry.

I gasped.

His eyes wandered to the other two slaves. His eyes were scary.

He was filled with hate, more hate than the man that whipped me.

It looked like he hated the whole world.

If he bought me, I’d probably die in a day or two…

“She has panic attacks in the night. She’s a lot of trouble…”

Were they talking about me? I couldn’t tell.

But in the end, the young man bought me.

The spell to register as a slave always hurt. I hated it.

But I was sure this would be my last owner.

Because I… I didn’t have much time left.

A little while later, the new owner gave me a knife and made me kill a monster.

It was so scary, but if I didn’t do it, the curse on my chest burned.

We left the weapon shop, and my stomach started rumbling.

He was going to yell at me! I shook my head; I wanted to tell him that I was fine. I was fine! So don’t be mad at me! Don’t whip me!

Sigh…

He just sighed.

Was he angry?

He just walked off and brought me to another shop. They were selling food there.

I think I had seen the shop in town before.

“I’ll have the cheapest lunch you’ve got, and she’ll have the kid’s meal that that kid over there is having.”

“What?!”

I had been gazing, envious, at what that other kid had been eating. Then my new owner just bought it for me? I couldn’t believe my own ears.

Everyone outside of my village was supposed to be evil, weren’t they?

“Wh…Why?”

“Hm?”

“You looked like you wanted to eat it. What’s the problem? You want something else?”

I shook my head.

“Why are you feeding me?”

Because, ever since I’d become a slave, no one had treated me this way.

“I already told you. You looked like you wanted to eat that.”

“But…”

“Just eat it. I need you to be healthy. If you stay skinny like that, you’re just going to die.”

Die…? I would die. I was sure to die… Just like Rifana. I’d die of the same disease.

“Here you are.”

The waitress set a big, elaborate meal in front of me. There was a flag sticking out of it.

What I had been envious of, only minutes before, I now had for my own. I hesitated. I bet that when I went to eat it, the young man would throw it to the ground and laugh at me.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

He looked at me, confused.

“Can I?”

“Yeah, hurry up.”

Yes. He would probably destroy it all. I slowly reached my hand out.

I looked quickly over at him.

He didn’t look like he was going to do anything. I touched the food.

I pulled the little flag out and felt like I’d accomplished something. I felt like, as long as I had that flag, I didn’t need anything from anyone. I felt like I was back in my village. I felt like it was the very same flag, the one that we’d lost.

I held tight to the flag as I ate the food. It was so delicious that I found tears streaming down my cheeks.

If I cried, he’d yell at me for sure. I tried to wipe them away without letting him notice.

“Is it good?”

“Yes!”

No! I’d accidentally answered him, and he’d seen that I was happy. He would punish me for sure.

“Good.”

That’s all he said. I couldn’t understand.

I held tight to the flag. I felt like it was filled with… something.

Compared to the flag our lord had given us, it was very small and very cheap, but it felt like it contained all that I’d lost. It felt like it wanted me to remember something important.

I turned to the young man.

He looked just as angry as ever, but something was different.

What was it? His face and voice were so scary, but was he really a nice person?

I had so many doubts.

A lot happened that day. He gave me medicine, and made me walk to all kinds of places.

But there was one major difference.

The dream that had been haunting me was different.

“Raphtalia…”

My parents were standing on top of the cliff.

“Father! Mother!”

I ran to them with all my might.

I wanted to see them. I wanted to stay with them.

I shouldn’t. I knew that I shouldn’t, not in front of them, but I felt tears filling my eyes.

“It’s okay… It’s okay…”

“Don’t cry. Be strong.”

“Ugh… But…”

I kept crying, and my parents just held me and rubbed my head.

“We are always watching over you.”

“Yes. Please, be happy.”

“But…”

“You’ll be okay with him…”

Then I woke up.

I couldn’t believe it. My new owner was holding me, and rubbing my head.

He wasn’t a bad person. He wouldn’t play with me, wouldn’t hurt me.

He was clumsy and rude, but he was a good person.

He didn’t have any money, but he still gave me medicine, bought me food, and prioritized my equipment over his own.

Then, I finally found out who he really was.

His eyes were dark and filled with hatred and sadness.

He was violent, angry and vulgar. He was scary.

But he understood pain, and at his heart he was kind.

Yes, he was the person that Rifana and I longed for… the Shield Hero.

The Shield Hero bought me all kinds of things.

I had lost everything, but now I was surrounded by treasures.

“Hee, Hee…”

The Hero gave me a bag, and I smiled as I filled it with the treasures he’d given me.

There was the ball. There was the broken knife. There were lots of things. But the most important one was that flag.

And there were many things that I couldn’t put into the bag.

I felt healthier, better, and stronger.

“Here, eat up.”

“Okay!”

Rifana, can you hear me?

I’m fighting with the Shield Hero.

You’d never believe it.

I had a dream that night too… a good one.

Rifana, she was standing right in front of me. She was smiling. I told her everything that had happened. We talked about all kinds of things.

“Raphtalia, keep your chin up!”

“I will.”

“Lucky you! Fighting with the Shield Hero!”

“Heh, heh… Jealous?”

“Ahaha! A little!”

In my dream, she looked happy and peaceful. She was smiling at me.

“I’m watching out for you.”

“I know.”

“Let’s go back to our village, where the flag is.”

“Yes! I’ll see you there!”

I hoped that my parents were watching me from wherever they were. I wanted them to see me rebuild it all.

I wanted strength. I wanted to be strong enough to take care of the bad people that wanted to hurt us.

The world was so cruel and hard. It was filled with darkness and evil, but I wasn’t going to give up.

I didn’t want to lose anyone else.

I’ll get stronger, enough to protect my parents, to protect Rifana. Yes, to protect Mr. Naofumi.

I could do it. And so I continue on.

The Rising of the Shield Hero Vol 01

(c) Aneko Yusagi 2013

First published by KADOKAWA in 2013 in Japan.

English translation rights arranged by One Peace Books

under the license from KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Japan.

Written by Aneko Yusagi

Character Design Seira Minami

Cover Design by Yusuke Koyama

English Edition Published by One Peace Books 2015

One Peace Books

43-32 22nd Street STE 204 Long Island City New York 11101

www.onepeacebooks.com