The Substitution of the Shield Hero

Sylvia flushed, obviously happy at the answer. Her soft white ears twitched and her eyes crinkled at the corners.

But Lia didn’t look quite as happy. “U-Um, Goshujin-sama… isn’t the hero supposed to protect everyone though?”

I laughed. “Me? Protect everyone?” I remembered what had happened to me since arriving in this world. I remembered the injustice that happened back in my world.

Lia looked confused. She tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brows, causing a few strands of her brown hair to cover her red eyes.

I gently brushed them away and said to her, “Sadly, Lia, not everyone in this world is deserving of protection. While monsters are scary and dangerous, you should know that people are the worst of them all.”

Did I get through to her? While Lia still looked a bit confused, she nodded.

“Now.” I clapped my hands and turned back around. “Since we’re done off-loading our loot, it’s back to training time-“

A pair of grumbling noises from behind me interrupted my speech.

I sighed. “…Or we can do that after getting some lunch.”

“Sorry, Goshujin-sama.”

“Sorry Master Naofumi.”

I shook my head. “It’s fine. You two are growing girls, I guess.”

We walked past some stands selling food. A middle-aged woman held out grilled meat. She noticed us as we approached, and while her gaze sharpened as she saw me, it softened when she saw the girls.

“How much?” I asked.

The middle-aged woman glanced between me and the girls then said, “50 coppers for a stick.”

I frowned. For just one skewer, it was pretty pricy. Even if her heart was softened by the girls, it looked like she wasn’t willing to let me off.

Lia tugged on my mantle. “It’s fine Goshujin-sama.”

She must have seen my hesitation as the young racoon girl shook her head. “We can just hunt some usagi again.”

Sylvia nodded. “That’s right, Master Naofumi. There’s no need for you-“

“I’ll take ten.”

The woman blinked in surprise. “Eh? Th-that’s…”

“Five silver, right?” I stacked the coins on the counter before she could take back her words. At the same time, I stared into her eyes. “Ten skewers. I hope you don’t plan to go back on your words.”

Was it a sense of guilt? The woman glanced at my girls again and then said, “…Here. An even dozen for the young ones.” She wrapped twelve in a bag and handed it over.

“Thanks.”

Despite the callous treatment, I made sure to thank her. It wasn’t out of habit, but rather a purposeful move.

The woman flinched. Before she could say anything in response, my girls spoke up as well.

“Thank you, nice lady!” Sylvia spoke up with a bright smile and bowed her head.

“A-ah! Thank you, miss!” Lia quickly copied Sylvia and lowered her head as well.

If the woman was feeling guilty before, she was being stabbed in the heart now. Seeing the sincere praise from the girls made the woman visibly uncomfortable. Still, she managed to piece together a smile and said, “It’s nothing dearies. Enjoy your food!”

I figured that was enough. “Come on, you two. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”

I handed a skewer each to the girls and started walking towards the town exit.

A pair of footsteps behind me indicated that the girls were following close by. Glancing back, I saw that they were cutely holding onto my mantle with one hand each and holding their skewers in the other.

I shook my head and kept walking. At least, that was the plan. But whether because the day had been going too smoothly or because some higher force felt like dicking with me, a voice called out.

“Get out of here, you beasts!”

I stopped. Lia and Sylvia did as well.

The satisfied face they had from eating the meat skewers dimmed. For Lia, her ears flopped down and she lowered her head. For Sylvia, she narrowed her eyes and clenched her fist.

I turned towards the source of the voice. It didn’t take long to locate. A young child, a boy barely ten years of age, was glaring at Lia and Sylvia, his finger pointing at them. “Melromarc doesn’t need your kind here!”

The kid kept spouting nonsense. Glancing around, I didn’t see anyone stopping him. There were a few that looked upset, but they didn’t step out to reprimand him.

I laughed. “How ridiculous.” Amidst the hesitant crowd, my voice carried like thunder. At the same time, a chill crept across the surroundings as [Fear] activated on its own.

There was a tug on my mantle. “Master Naofumi.” Sylvia spoke up. “It’s fine.”

I glanced at her. The beautiful fox child, an ethereal young girl that would become a devastating beauty when she grew up. Silver, snowy hair and violet eyes like pure amethysts. A face that should be filled with joy was marred with resignation- no, jaded with reality.

“Let’s just go, Goshujin-sama.”

Lia’s quiet voice echoed after Sylvia’s. Glancing at her, I saw that Lia was the same as Sylvia. This was a young girl who should be running around with kids her own age and enjoying life. One that should be getting along fine with people like the boy who called out. And yet…

I grit my teeth and spun back around. No, before that, I moved Lia and Sylvia in front of me.

“Master Naofumi?”

“Goshujin-sama?”

Both of them questioned me. Both of them were confused.

In response, I said, “Look straight forward and walk without looking back. Bastards like that don’t deserve your attention.”

Did the kid hear me? Almost immediately after I finished speaking, he shouted. “Leave already! People like you-”

Suddenly, the air grew silent.

Lia started to turn back but I pushed her forward. “Didn’t you hear me?”

“…Yes, Goshujin-sama.”

Sylvia seemed to have already gotten the message, as she started walking ahead of me without further prompting.

As I watched the two girls move in front of me, tense, but again starting to eat their meat skewers, I glanced at the message that had appeared in front of my eyes. At the source of the silent crowd.

[Your anger, wrath, disdain, and killing intent have been crystallized. The shield “Shattered Veil” has been unlocked.]

[Error: The Shield Hero is not one who attacks! Shattered Veil has been disabled by the Shield Spirit.]

[Parallel System denies the Shield Spirit’s intentions. The forced suppression releases a portion of your true strength.]

[Capacity increased to 1000.]

[The skill “Ominous Aura” has been unlocked.]

[Ominous Aura: A warning of certain death. Those that defy you or seek to go against your intentions are faced with otherworldly pressure and locked in place. The extent to which one is restrained is determined on .1*Capacity + current level.]

It was a flurry of information that told me a lot about my current status.

It also pissed me off. If it wasn’t because of that damned Shield Spirit nobody would dare to treat me like they did now. They would learn all too soon what provoking a man with nothing to lose and all the power in the world at his disposal meant.

But I controlled myself.

My anger, my killing intent, my disdain. I carefully locked them away and guided my girls out of town and into the fields.

They were more important. As for the people of this world… the queen had better give me enough compensation when she returned or I would just let the world burn.