The Substitution of the Shield Hero

Time passed as I mulled over my current situation. Well, also as I helped restore 'Riyute' village with <Earthbending>.

And wasn't that a trip and a half.

Riyute. Not 'Ryuto' like it would be if this was the NovelFire. Not 'Lute' either.

Riyute.

A weird name that was 'almost' like what I remembered, but was actually completely different.

As I fixed up the outer perimeter and raised a towering stone gate, brick by brick to surround Riyute village and keep it safe, I thought about this world.

I knew for a fact that this was 'The Rising of the Shield Hero.' That much was obvious from the initial setup.

But I had mistakenly- No, NAIVELY assumed this was the NovelFire.

I had only read that, so I figured that since I was isekai'd, it would be to a world I knew.

But I was wrong.

This wasn't the NovelFire at all.

In fact, it was highly likely that this wasn't like ANY of what I knew.

'Stupid. You fell into the same trap they did.'

Wasn't it clear from the start? Even for Naofumi in canon, the world he 'read' about in the book wasn't the same as the world he was transported to.

'So forget it.'

I had to discard it.

While I had things to confirm, like the presence or absence of certain individuals, expecting things to be the same, or even expecting the same individuals to be working behind the shadows was dangerous- No, deadly.

'What do I remember?'

I pursed my lips as I raised a watch tower from the ground, condensing it into stone and installing a spiral stairwell for the villagers to mount archers.

As I did that, I wracked my mind.

It was bad.

I knew roughly that in the web novel, Naofumi did some sidequests in the beginning, hatched Firo, saved some people, then clashed against the Church. Then there was something about the Spirit Tortoise and the Phoenix later, as well as going to Faubrey and that prince who was secretly a reincarnated soul or something.

Was there also something about a resort island? And a hero from another world...? Glass or something?

Either way...

"...No. I can't rely on it."

I lowered my hand after finishing up the watch tower before running it through in my head again.

The political dynamics, the main players in this world...

Well, I could confirm that the countries were the same at least. I remembered overhearing things and I'd seen the maps. Siltvelt, Faubrey, Melromarc, Shieldfreeden... those countries existed.

If I considered the political situation...

Well, Melromarc was definitely fucked right now.

Considering that the Legendary Shield had vanished for good, any chance of allying with Siltvelt was gone for Melromarc.

Not only that... but Faubrey was a corrupt kingdom from what I remembered. A den for lust, degeneracy, and more since it was the hometurf of past summoned heroes... I think.

At least, that was the vague sense I got from it.

Just on an international scale, war was imminent now. And likely why the Queen's Shadow asked me to wait.

Melromarc was already on thin ice after having summoned all four of the Legendary Heroes without the consent of the other countries.

But to now have had their 'Wise King' not only defame a hero that Siltvelt venerated, but also DELETE that hero completely now since the Legendary Shield had been removed from the world entirely...

And potentially with a message that was sent to everyone in this world...

'At least I have leverage.'

There was that.

Because of the King's STUPID actions, I'd gone from being a forced ally to Melromarc to a genuine third party.

I could fuck off now completely. Since I wasn't bound by the Legendary Shield now, fighting the waves for me was optional.

Those three stooges, Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu might still be forced to fight in the waves... but me?

Nope.

I could go wherever I wanted and do whatever I wanted now. If I wanted to take Lia and Sylvia and just bail, I could. If I wanted to focus on finding a way home and let this world fall by the wayside, I ALSO could.

Because I wasn't the Shield Hero anymore. I wasn't even a substitute for him.

Though I borrowed Naofumi's name... I wasn't him. And from now on... I didn't even have to pretend to try and care about this world like he did.

"...No. Let's not be too hasty." I murmured to myself.

I was a 'neutral party' right now on the political scale... but that didn't mean I would be left alone. That just meant I was in a position where I could become an enemy to anyone at a moment's notice. Not that I was a potential ally.

Or in other words... the view of me by the major countries was probably 'viable threat' instead of 'useful ally.'

At least, that was the premise I had to operate by.

Any rational person would realize that I was a man who didn't care about this world from the first place, was given more reasons to not care, and was now set free with power that potentially didn't abide by this world's logic.

If *I* could think about that and realize it, then a competent ruler and a leader of a country WOULD think and realize that.

Which meant...

'At the end of the day, it boils down to the same thing.'

Get stronger, ensure Lia and Sylvia were safe, then make moves to find my way home. And if not home, at least off this planet and to one that was peaceful.

And for that-

"Goshujin-sama!" Lia waved at me from the village chief's house. "We're done with our baths!"

Sylvia walked out as well, her silver hair still a bit damp, but changed into fresh clothes. "Yes, Master. We've finished our bath, so it's your turn. Please, relax while we take watch."

I blinked and then smiled. "Alright. Then I'm counting on you."

...Yeah. Let's relax first.

No point in stressing about it just yet...

===

A large wooden tub filled with warm water, still heated from charcoal underneath the tub.

...Or something.

I wasn't sure how it worked, but I knew that it was a bath, the water was warm, and it was relaxing.

So I slipped inside after changing and took a moment to relax and unwind.

"Ah, I should check it, right?"

Since the Legendary Shield had been deleted, I didn't use the world's system magic or whatever anymore. But I had briefly seen another form of status pop up. So I decided to take a look at that since I had the time.

I swiped my hand down like I did for the old status screen. And when I did...

===

[Status Screen]

Alias: Naofumi Iwatani

<Not your name, but the one you wear like a mask.>

True Name: <Hidden>

<A name that you hold in your heart, hiding it from the world and all observers.>

Class: 剣士の英霊 - Heroic Spirit of the Swordsman

<Also known as Saber, your ideals and feats have been sublimated to a suitable container.>

Alignment: True Neutral

<You care not for good nor evil, but only your personal code. Power is simply in the eye of the beholder. Good and evil are the same coin at the end.>

Strength: D

<Superhuman, but not to the extent of being overwhelmingly powerful. Can carry a car with minimal effort.>

Endurance: D

<Superhuman, but not invincible. Can be struck with the force equivalent to a semi-truck without flinching.>

Agility: C

<Clearly superhuman. Can easily move at a speed just under supersonic.>

Magical Energy: N/A

<Due to the rigid laws of physics etched into the soul, mana cannot be stored.>

Luck: N/A

<Due to coming from a world where time and space are entwined as well as immutable, luck-based events do not occur.>

[Class Abilities]

Magic Resistance: EX

<Due to coming from a world with such rigid rules that magic is not allowed unless it is based upon physical axioms, normal magic does not work.>

Riding: D

<Possesses intuitive knowledge of how vehicles work, but expertise depends on personal knowledge.>

[Skills]

Ominous Aura: EX

<A warning of existence that has been unraveled due to a critical mistake by an entity on the level of a god. Those possessing this skill are natural enemies of the world that defy its rules. Level suppression is applied when facing a bearer of this skill. At this rank, those opposing the bearer of this skill have mobility and stat parameters reduced to half of the current value (stats may decay as battle persists, but never increase). Negates buffs.>

Parallel System: EX

<A composite rules engine that has been engraved upon the soul due to intimate understanding. Not a mystical or otherworldly boon, but the compilation of transcendent metaknowledge of systems derived from work performed in one's vocation. Allows the construction of various modules based upon the capacity of one's soul. Current capacity: 10,000>

Fragments of the Legendary Shield: A

<The remnants of the Legendary Shield's system have been sublimated by the Parallel System. Allows construction and usage of 'Shields' provided sufficient soul capacity, materials, and logic.>

Counterfeit Magic System Solaris: EX

<Not magic, but physics molded to replicate the concept of magic itself through extensive programming and axioms. Rather than mana, it operates by an initial mana cost to establish the framework before utilizing photons and photonic energy for its source of power.

Using the fact that consciousness itself is stored as a form of light, as well as leveraging the manipulation of energy that mana allows, a cascade of axioms are utilized to bootstrap the ability to transmute energy from the fundamental and universal premise that "energy is not created or destroyed, but simply transformed."

It is leveraging the fundamental laws of physics to recreate the fantasical nature of magic through sheer logic, rationale, ingenuity, and a replicated Von Neumann machine that can be utilized as both a normal and personalized computer as well as a system to transmute and manipulate energy to produce physical phenomenon.>

[Loadout]

Shields:

Homeostasis Shield Mk III: A shield that emphasizes the user’s health and maintaining a peak performance regardless of any external changes. Prevents lethal blows as long as there is 50% health or more remaining. All negative status effects are nullified. Regeneration fixed at 25% health per second. 300 capacity.

Potential Amplification Shield Mk II: A shield that focuses on improving the abilities of the user’s allies. Latent growth is increased by twenty fold. 200 capacity.

Sentinel Shield Mk II: A shield specialized in defending. Defense multiplied threefold. Automatically redirects all party-wide attacks as well as negative effects to the user through the usage of quantum entanglement and mana resonance. 300 capacity.

Detection Shield MK II: A shield specialized in detecting hostile and malicious intent as well as potential dangers. User can detect all falsehoods within sensory range. Focused intent, hostile or otherwise, is detected within a mile radius. 50 capacity.

Shattered Veil: A shield born from the broken covenant. Although this shield is desperately suppressed by the Shield Spirit, it represents a crack in what should have been inviolable. Damage calculations now apply the defense stat for damage when attacking with your shield. When equipped, the artificial limitations placed upon you as the Shield Hero are removed.

Spells:

Restoration II: Through parsing the genetic code and ‘status’ of a target, reject all negative status effects and damage and restore the body to an optimal state. Mana can be infused to increase restoration speed. 25 capacity.

Lightning II: A powerful electric bolt is created using the understanding of static electricty and mana transformation. 10 capacity.

Laser: Forms a laser from ambient mana. The intensity is directed at the user’s will. 10 capacity.

Oxidize: Forces an exothermic reaction upon a designated target to induce rapid oxidization. 25 capacity.

Condensation: Accumulates water molecules from a designated target, ripping them free into pure water. 25 capacity.

Earthbend: Manipulate the molecular structure of a mineral at a designated target. 50 capacity.

Capacity 995/10000

Royal Illusions:

Fragarach, the Answering Sword of the Pale Blue Star: Not the Retaliator, but instead the Answerer.

<A blade that emerged in response to a man betrayed by a sacred oath, forged from material born of a world plagued by interdimensional warfare.

This sword cannot be wielded by another.

All attacks using this sword cannot be blocked.

The only means to avoid being wounded by this sword is to evade.

Attempts at parrying will fail.

When facing opponents from a different world as the user, nullifies conceptual armaments.

Outside of combat, transmutes into a shimmering blue orb reminiscent of Earth that orbits the owner.>

===

"...Well, that's interesting."

I murmured and read the status window one more time.

It was a composite. The loadout system I had while using the Legendary Shield was still present. So was <Synthesis>. I also still had an inventory system, but <Alchemy> and the other shield related systems were mostly gone.

It made sense though. I wasn't a 'Legendary Hero' anymore, so I wasn't given access to that.

What I had was just a deprecated copy... similar to a private server for a discontinued live service game.

Some features were present, but most of the live updates and other things were gone.

But that aside...

I stared at my status screen again and murmured, "Isn't this the status screen from Fate/Stay Night?"

Instead of numbers, I had rough parameter estimates. Thankfully, they weren't COMPLETELY arbitrary and had a small tooltip to help explain the rankings.

But it wasn't the tidy number system I had before...

At least, for ME.

I noticed that I could still check the stats for Lia and Sylvia.

And the party system was still active. It just looked a bit... weird.

===

[Party]

Naofumi Iwatani(?) {SABER ✫ = Ascension 0} - Lv. 1/20

Lia - Lv. 25 => Lv. 35

Sylvia - Lv. 25 => Lv. 35

===

"...Hm. Do I have a different leveling system now?"

I tapped on my name and the level only to open up a new menu called [Enhance] where I could drop in materials to raise my level. No, I guess this was just applying <Synthesis> but to my soul instead?

If levels were a reflection of one's record of existence, then it seemed like I had a cap while Lia and Sylvia didn't...

But at the same time...

My eyes flitted to the other two tabs listed in the leveling menu.

===

[Ascension]

[Palingenesis]

===

Tapping on both brought a brief tool tip saying that Ascension would increase my level cap by ten each Ascension up to the fourth, while Palingenesis would increase my 'rarity' and raise my level cap by 5 from one star to two star, then by 10 every rarity after that.

As for XP... it seemed like it had converted to a mechanic like in Minecraft for me now?

It was still accumulating, but it had turned into a form of resource like money instead of something that could be used to empower me.

Although...

'How the heck do I increase my capacity then?'

I noticed that it had gone up to 10,000... but that still wasn't enough to make the legendary shields like Avalon, Aegis, and Rho Aias.

"...Hah. The flipside of freedom, I guess...?"

I was given more tools and had restrictions removed. But as a consequence, I didn't have any proper guidance on how to get 'stronger.'

But that was fine.

I had vague ideas... and since <Counterfeit Magic System Solaris> had been installed somehow... probably alongside <Shattered Veil> being equipped, actually.

Since I had that, I had the tools and resources to fight off anything that appeared.

I just needed to figure out how to use them wisely and prudently.

Bit by bit. Step by step.

Trump cards were only trump cards when you kept them secret, after all.

For now...

I closed my eyes and sank down a bit in the warm water, letting it seep into my exhausted body.

'...Let's take a breather.'

The first wave was over.

I had survived.

Lia and Sylvia were unharmed.

We were in a safe place.

The Queen of Melromarc was aware of how fucked things were because of that damned idiot king and was on her way back immediately to negotiate with me and provide compensation...

For now, at least, the immediate fires were put out.

So...

'Rest.'

...Yeah. Just for a bit, it was time to rest.