The Substitution of the Shield Hero

On passing through the gate and exiting the town, green meadows spread far into the horizon. A trail led from the stonepaved streets, but for the most part it was true nature and empty wilderness.

Someone could have been impressed… but it wasn’t anything new for me.

Mein turned towards me and said, “Now then, Sir Hero. Shall we engage in some mock battles against the weaker demons inhabiting this area?”

I gestured towards her. “Ladies first.”

Mein frowned, but that quickly smoothed into a smile. “Thank you for your gratitude, Sir Hero, but I won’t be able to gauge your potential if I fight.”

“True, true…”

But really she just didn’t want to get her hands dirty.

Still, I played along.

I wandered the grassland for a while until an orange, balloon-like creature came into view. It was still a few paces away and hadn’t seemed to notice me yet.

“Sir Hero, please wait.” Mein called out to me and said, “Over there is an Orange Balloon. Although it’s one of the weakest monsters, it’s very aggressive.”

“Hm.”

I gave a noncommittal answer in response and stepped forward.

The Orange Balloon noticed my presence and focused its beady eyes on me. “GAH!” With a battle cry, it charged towards me.

“Sir Hero, please do your best!”

Mein cheered from behind me.

I didn’t respond. Now was the time to check my abilities.

The Orange Balloon arrived in front of me.

I shifted my shield to my hand, holding it like a makeshift sword, and then slashed at the orange monster.

Boing!

With a sound like a rubber ball, the monster flew through the air. However, it didn’t break. Almost immediately, it bounced back and bared its fangs.

Since it was a weak monster, I decided to test something out.

As it charged, I grabbed its mouth with my left hand. The Orange Balloon immediately bit down, but I didn’t feel anything at all. It seemed like my min-maxing had worked.

“Go Sir Hero!”

Mein cheered from behind me.

…Even though I knew it was fake and insincere, it never felt bad to have a girl cheer for you.

I shrugged and decided to thrash the balloon a few times.

After smashing it at the ground a dozen times, the monster popped.

[EXP: 1]

The sound of applause echoed from behind me. Mein walked forward with a smile on her face. “I’m proud of you, Sir Hero.”

I bit back my scoff and said, “Thanks, Mein.”

At that time, I heard footsteps. Glancing towards it, I saw Ren jogging through the field with his companions. Each of them wore serious expressions while silently moving forward.

Three orange balloons appeared in front of them.

Ren slashed out with his sword and popped it.

A one-hit kill? Nice. If only this lady wasn’t here, I’d be doing that too…

I glanced towards Mein and she awkwardly turned away.

“It will be alright. Every hero has their share of struggles,” Mein said.

“…Sure.”

I ignored her and picked up the scrap from the orange balloon and dropped it into my shield.

[GET: Orange Balloon Skin]

(Analyzing properties… Small Orange Shield unlocked.)

Oh? Convenient. So I’d only need a single scrap to unlock a shield… or maybe the requirements were greatly reduced? Either way, it seemed like my life would be a lot easier than the real Naofumi’s.

Mein walked over and stared at my shield with intrigue. “So that’s the power of the Legendary Weapons.”

I nodded. “It looks like it can transform after absorbing enough material.”

“I see,” Mein said.

“Well, it’s your turn, Mein.”

We wandered around until we found another orange balloon. When we did, Mein attacked with her sword and easily killed it with a single hit.

When she did, she gave me an awkward smile.

Surprisingly, it was genuine. Maybe she really wasn’t expecting me to be so weak.

Either way, I took up the role of bait and tank from that point on, letting Mein do the finishing blows.

We went along in that way until the sun began to set. At the end of the day, I managed to gain a level and increase my capacity again, raising it from 10 to 20.

After absorbing more material, I changed my shield to the Balloon Shield just for appearances. Now it looked a bit cartoony, like something out of Loony Toons, but the effects were the same. Actually, a bit improved. Unlocking the shields had increased my defense.

I should probably focus on those at some point. More defense points meant more stat points overall to re-spec…

Like that, we returned to the castle town.

===

We dropped by the weapon shop as we entered. Since I had to put on the show of having excess material, I decided to ask Oyaji where to sell them.

Walking inside, Oyaji greeted us. “Well if it isn’t the shield lad! I was wondering when you’d drop by after the other heroes did.”

I nodded and then held out an Orange Balloon skin. “Nice to see you as well. Do you know where I can sell this, by the way?”

He nodded and then pointed towards the store opposite his own. “There’s a shop that buys most of the monster drops if you bring them over there.”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

“So, what business do you have with me? You didn’t just drop by for that, did you?”

I was so tempted to say yes, but I refrained. Instead, I said, “I thought it was about time to get my companion some equipment as well.”

Oyaji stared at Mein and nodded. “Good idea. Well, go on and look, lass.”

With that, Mein went to browse the equipment, seriously comparing everything.

Since I had time, I decided to talk with Oyaji for a bit. “Hey, do you make all of this by yourself?”

Oyaji nodded. “I do indeed, lad. It’s rare that I need to make new equipment though. Most of the time I just buy and resell equipment from adventurers, repairing them as needed.” He sighed. “It’s a shame though. Most people can’t afford my best works.”

“Well if they’re your best works, you shouldn’t be compromising on the price. The value you feel they possess shouldn’t be undercut unless you want to lose the pride of a craftsman.”

“Hoh?” Oyaji stared at me. “You seem like you know what you’re talking about, lad.”

I nodded. “I do. I make… well, it’s a bit hard to explain it in this world’s setting, but I suppose you could call them magic primers? Magic Tomes? Things that make life easier for people.”

Oyaji’s eyes widened and he looked at me in a different light. “A spell weaver? No wonder you were summoned as a hero…”

I shook my head. “No, not something that impressive. It’s a job like yours actually. Mostly maintaining what other people made while occasionally having your personal project. I’m guessing you wake up early to craft then?”

Oyaji nodded. “That or late at night. I can’t leave the store unmanned during business hours, can I?”

I laughed, and he laughed with me.

At that time, Mein brought over a set of armor with a cute design and a short sword. “Sir Hero, I would like these.”

I stared at them for a while and then turned towards Oyaji and said, “480 silver coins. The materials would have cost about 150, so you’re getting a bit over three times the return. That’s fair, isn’t it?”

Oyaji stared at me with surprise. “…You really know your stuff, lad.” He scratched his beard and then said, “Alright. None of that usual nonsense then. 480 it is.”

I stacked 500 silver coins on the table and then handed the equipment over to Mein.

“O-Oi, lad. You miscounted.”

I was already walking out. “It’s a tip, Oyaji. Have a good night!”

I certainly wouldn’t be…

After buying Mein’s equipment, we headed to the town inn. It was 30 copper a night per person. Since 100 copper equaled 1 silver, it seemed like I’d have enough for a while… although I didn’t need to sleep, so I’d be saving more in the long run.

Greeting the innskeeper, I gave him a silver coin and said, “Two rooms.”

Mein frowned and stared at me. “Sir Hero-“

“Don’t you want one of your own? Even if you’re going to be my party member, it’s inappropriate for a man and woman to sleep in the same room, right?”

She stared at me appraisingly and then nodded. “Yes. Then I owe you a favor.”

I shrugged.

The inn owner rubbed his hands together and led us to our rooms. There, I took off my chain mail and offloaded some unimportant items. Following that, it was time for dinner.

We sat in the inn’s tavern and had dinner there. The cost was an extra 10 copper for either of us, but considering how much I had left and would eventually save, it wasn’t a problem.

Also, since it would be the last day I spent with that Mein, I decided to let her enjoy it a bit.

While we ate, I spread out the map of the surrounding country and studied it. Though it was basic and rough, the map gave a decent illustration of the area.

The area surrounding the castle and its town was a grassy meadow. A trail led from from the castle into a forest, one used as a highway by travelers. From that point on, there were mountains, along with a river.

The map was small, only covering a couple miles out in every direction, but it was a decent start.

With my ‘parallel system’ I was confident in being able to survive whatever came at me.

Mein picked at her food and examined me. After a while she said, “Sir Hero is quite diligent.”

I nodded and took a bit of my food as well. Just a simple soup, nothing too heavy. “Knowledge is power, and I’ll need both to keep surviving.”

Mein nodded, though she looked a bit concerned.

Hoh? Did she realize that I might not be a pushover like she thought? It wasn’t like it mattered.

“I see… By the way, Sir Hero. Why haven’t you touched your wine?”

“Hm?”

I glanced at the glass and shrugged. “I thought I might want some, but the mood went away after I started studying. If you want it, you can have it.”

Mein shook her head. “I’m flattered, but I was hoping to share a glass with Sir Hero.”

“Thanks, but I’ll pass. Maybe next time.”

It was bait, but I wasn’t taking it.

“Buuut…”

“Next time.”

Mein pouted. “O-Okay.”

She really cut a tragic figure. If I didn’t know how much of a bitch she was at heart, I might have felt sorry.

“Well then, I’ll be retiring for today. Please take care of me tomorrow as well.” Saying that, Mein downed her glass and stood up.

I waved at her and glanced back at the map, “Night.”

Like that, Mein left, leaving me alone at the table with my food.

I pulled out a small notebook and a pen before taking notes. Between notes, I took a few sips from my soup while going over the events to come.

It had been a while since I read the Shield Hero, and that was the original web novel. With the light novel, manga, and anime out, events could be vastly different from what I read. Who knew which of those worlds I was in now?

Still, I wrote down what I remembered.

Raphtalia, Firo, the undead dragon… The turtle, the phoenix.

Atlas.

…There was more, but I couldn’t remember them. Something about an island, a training excursion, the queen returning to apologize for the king’s actions.

The waves were there as well.

Hm…

I scribbled down as much as I could remember until a voice called out to me. “Excuse me, sir?”

“Hm?”

A waitress had walked over and talked to me. “It’s late and the other patrons have gone. I don’t mean to disturb you, but-“

“Sorry.” I closed my notebook and stood up. “I didn’t realize the time.” I pulled out a silver coin and left it on the table. “Take it as compensation for the trouble.”

The waitress’s eyes grew wide. “But sir, this-“

Before she finished speaking, I was already heading back to my room.

When I arrived at my room, I placed my notebook back in my inventory. Knowing what was coming next, I also placed some more coins in my shield and changed into spare clothes I bought earlier, a drab tan shirt and black pants. That done, I stored away my original clothes and left out just the bag of about 100 silver coins with some copper change and the chain mail I bought.

With a sigh, I laid down in my bed and closed my eyes, feigning sleep. Truthfully though, I was making preparations. Using the window only I could see, I set about making new abilities and updating my status.

Like before, I diverted all my MP into defense, agility, and HP.

But then came the part with my new Capacity. With my level up, it went from 10 to 20, meaning I had another 10 to play around with.

With the coming events, I decided on the following:

===

Detection Shield: Alerts the user to all harmful intent and all observers within a mile radius. 5 capacity.

Concealment Shield: Conceals the user’s physical appearance, scents, sounds, and other traces that would allow detection. 5 capacity.

Coupled with my previous abilities, this was now my load out:

===

Lightning: Utilizing mana as a catalyst, create a path of least resistance between the user and the target and send a current of electrons. 1 capacity.

Restore: Memorizing the previous state on an atomic level, use ambient energy to revert to previous form. 2 capacity.

Homeostasis Shield: Maintain the body of the wielder at optimum levels, rejecting any and all negative status ailments. Grants passive regeneration of 10% per minute. Prevents lethal blows when health is above 50%. 7 capacity.

Detection Shield: Alerts the user to all harmful intent and all observers within a mile radius. 5 capacity.

Concealment Shield: Conceals the user’s physical appearance, scents, sounds, and other traces that would allow detection. 5 capacity.

Capacity: 0/20