The Substitution of the Shield Hero

After securing the perimeter... and after making sure that there weren't any more hidden invaders in the background somewhere...

"So." I sat down at the round table, Lia standing on my right and Sylvia on my left. "CLEARLY, we need to share information."

Ren nodded. "I agree." He glanced at Motoyasu and Itsuki, both still recovering from their wounds. "...You guys alright though?"

Motoyasu waved his hand. "I'm fine." He stuck a thumb up and said, "<Battle Continuation>! It'll take more than that to kill me!"

Itsuki nodded. "I had <Auto-potion> on, so I'm fine as well."

I gave Motoyasu and Itsuki a blank stare.

...I think I heard some blatant cheat codes being discussed right now-

Wait.

No, I'm getting sidetracked.

What they had didn't matter.

...Even if it was some cheap game mechanics that prevented them from dying-

No, I had some of my own so I shouldn't be saying anything about it.

...Okay, I might be a BIT salty I had to implement mine from scratch as well as balance the various and exhaustive conditional statements to make sure something stupid like heat-damage didn't kill me...

But anyway.

I clapped my hands together and said, "Alright. Let's start with this. First, you guys all said this world is a game to you. Did it have the ability for other players to do like a Dark Souls style invade?"

Ren blinked. "...Dark Souls?"

Itsuki tilted his head. "...What's that?"

I paused. "...Right. Of course. You guys wouldn't-"

Motoyasu's eyes lit up and he said, "Oh! You mean that hard game, right? The one where you have to light bonfires and stuff?"

I blinked. "...There's a lot to unpack there since YOU know about it but they don't- Wait." I rubbed my chin, thinking. "...Argh, there's too much to cross-reference here."

First of all, I didn't know if these were the same guys that the real Naofumi met. They had the same names, I remembered that much.

But they were also slightly different.

Maybe it was because of me, but Motoyasu wasn't completely delusional and BELIEVE ALL WOMEN. Itsuki also didn't seem all JUSTICE MUST PREVAIL. And Ren... well, he still gave off Kirito vibes. But he gave off too *many* Kirito vibes.

Because that had DEFINITELY been the light of a Sword Art from Aincrad earlier.

Ren frowned, shifting his gaze towards Lia and Sylvia. "...Before then, would you introduce your companions?"

"Oh. Right." I nodded. "That's-"

Sylvia smiled and said, "I am Sylvia. Master named me, and I serve as his beloved companion." She bowed her head slightly. "It is nice to meet you."

Lia straightened and said, "I'm Raphtalia! Goshujin-sama calls me Lia, but only he gets to! I'm his sword!"

I paused.

...Did those two practice greetings sometime when I wasn't looking?

No, come to think of it, those two spent a lot of time together when they weren't training with me since I had usually been tinkering with implementing my various shields and abilities...

Note to self: get to know Lia and Sylvia better now that we had some peace and free time.

Like the fact that they were definitely acting super similar to each other. Enough that I would mistake them for twins if I didn't know better... Well, and if they didn't look different.

Itsuki's eyes sparkled. "I see! Aniki seemed like a skilled swordsman... Did you pick them up as your disciples?"

"That's... Hold on-"

Motoyasu nodded. "Mm... Makes sense. Americans are pretty wild... You probably saved them from monsters and showed them how to survive, right? You were fighting those zombies pretty easy too..."

"Wait a minute-"

Ren's eyes widened. "...You said you were working to change the world and were programming before you died from overwork... Naofumi. Could it be? Do you come from a Zombie Apocalypse world?"

Itsuki gasped.

Motoyasu immediately looked towards me, impressed and also terrified at the same time. "No wonder... Such resourcefulness... And the ease in which you got rid of that corpse..."

Sylvia's eyes brightened, her fluffy tail swaying with happiness. "As expected! Master came from a world of the dead! No wonder you know so many things!"

Lia quickly nodded her head, satisfied with the explanation. "Yes! The shelters, the fighting, the complete lack of fear... Goshujin-sama! Amazing!"

...This was a lost cause.

I could tell that these three stooges had clearly set their minds on this interpretation of me.

As for Sylvia and Lia...

...I could clear things up with them later.

I guess I'd roll with it for now. Information gathering would be easier anyway.

But...

Out of curiosity, I said, "...What makes you think that?"

Ren blinked and said, "Didn't you shout that you knew how to kill zombies since 2012 when we were fighting in the wave?"

That guy heard that?! What kind of god-tier hearing and detection skills did he have?!

...But still, I see where the misunderstanding came from now.

Seems like I rolled a Nat20 on misdirection somehow.

But it works in my favor. So...

"Good. Then since you understand that, you know I value information. In a setting like this, it determines life or death." I laced my fingers together, putting on a serious demeanor.

Was it because I was older? The clear competence? Or the fact that they were concerned too?

Either way, the three stooges- No, the three heroes, I suppose.

Respect was a two-way street, after all. And they were currently respecting me again, so I'd pay it back.

The three heroes looked at me, all with serious expressions.

Ren spoke up first. "As I mentioned before, this world is like a VRMMORPG I played. Though... things have definitely gone off the rails." He frowned. "...The Shield might be useless, but it isn't supposed to disappear. We had to keep him alive in Brave Star Online."

Motoyasu nodded. "Right. This is similar to Emerald Online for me. A normal MMO. But the Shield... No, losing any of the main heroes is bad."

Itsuki nodded. "Same here. It's similar to Dimension Wave, a stand alone RPG... but the story is completely wrong now." He rubbed his chest, his clothes still scorched from the magical explosion that the shamshir-wielder caused. "...There weren't any random events like this in the game. Being attacked right after a boss fight... there were some trashy developments since it was a kusoge, but nothing like that."

Ren looked at me and said, "What about you, Naofumi? You said that this world was like a story to you, right? Do you know the ending then?"

I frowned. "...I thought I did. But now I'm not sure. I think all of our information is wrong." I unlaced my fingers and tapped the table, thinking. "...First off, let's confirm. Names, countries, and geography. All the same?"

Ren nodded. "Yes. Melromarc and the other countries like Siltvelt are the same."

Motoyasu frowned. "Yeah. Although the ruler of Melromarc changes every now and then, the main story quest always opens with the King. But..." He frowned. "...Emerald Online never revealed that it was a Queen who ruled the land."

Itsuki placed his hand on his chin. "...Dimension Wave is a roguelike, so the intro shuffles a bit. But the 'setting' is the same as the countries and everything here too."

At that time, Sylvia spoke up. "Um... Master?" She looked at me and said, "...O-Our world is a game?"

Lia looked at me with concern too. "G-Goshujin-sama? Are we... not real?"

The other heroes tensed, realizing they'd said too much. Or at least, thinking that.

But I shook my head. "No. That's the problem. This world ISN'T a game. Or fiction."

Was it intentional?

If a hero just went with the knowledge they had believing it was 'exactly' like what they knew, they would be hit with a curve ball like what we just experienced.

And considering that I gained capacity for killing those 'Vassal Heroes' whatever they were, then there must be something that could be gained from killing people summoned from other worlds.

'Is the organization... Is that Army of the Waves seeding out false intel to different worlds so that the heroes are easy to pick off when summoned here?'

...I didn't know for sure. But something here definitely reeked. Especially from the fact that the shield spirit had been actively suppressing me from the start. Especially since, if it had cooperated, I would have been the strongest ally this world had.

Something was off here.

I looked at the other heroes and said, "...I think it's safe to say that the knowledge we have about this world is a trap for us. It might be similar, but going like it's the stone cold truth will lead to our deaths."

"D-Death?!" Itsuki paled. "N-No way! Right? We... W-We can respawn, can't we?"

Ren pursed his lips. "So it's a Death Game after all... Tsk."

Motoyasu slammed his fist on the table and said, "Those bastards! You're telling me they summoned us here, expect us to fight, and do so even if we die?"

I looked amused and said, "Gee. You finally realize that? All of you were so macho from the start. Did you just think this was strictly a game?"

Itsuki, Ren, and Motoyasu all flinched.

Sylvia's ear twitched. She tilted her head and said, "Master. Some people are approaching. I hear armor, so probably knights?"

I clicked my tongue. "Damn." I looked at the heroes and said, "We'll talk more later. Stay sharp. Ignore the XP penalty you get from fighting together for now. You guys need to stay close to survive. I'll be blamed if I'm here, so I'm leaving first before this becomes an even worse shitshow."

"Wait." Ren spoke up. "Naofumi. You said you 'thought' you knew the ending. How does this end then?"

I raised my cracked shield and gave him a grim smile. "Like every JRPG. A battle against an omnipotent deity. Unfortunately, the win condition at the time was to have the Shield Hero reflect her certain kill move. But as you can see..." I waved at my cracked shield. "...The Legendary Shield is gone. So we'll need to workshop that."

Before they could respond, I warped back to Riyute Village with Lia and Sylvia.

Hah... what a mess.

===

The moment that Naofumi vanished with his two companions, the door slammed open to reveal members of the Church of the Three Heroes and knights.

"We're here, you damned Shield Devil! Don't think you can-!? Hm?" The leader of the group, a priest with the insignia of the Three Heroes, a bow, spear, and sword, looked at the destruction in the room, then at Ren. "Sir Sword Hero. What happened here?"

Ren glanced at Itsuki and Motoyasu.

They looked back, concern and understanding in their eyes.

Because from Naofumi's final words, it was clear.

A setup.

Like he said, Naofumi's intel might be incorrect. And theirs might be too.

But the fact that, even now, the king and his men were trying to paint Naofumi- No, the 'Shield Hero' as the villain...

Especially when the loss of a hero meant the waves got harder... Which meant more people would inevitably die...

And since this wasn't a game...

It was weird.

So Ren stepped forward and drew his sword. Pointing it at the knights, he decided to test a bluff. "You. Sending assassins here to kill us..." He tilted his head towards the debris from the clash against the scimitar-wielder earlier. "Were you trying to steal our weapons?"

Motoyasu and Itsuki instantly caught on and played along, just like at the beginning when they coordinated the threat against the people who summoned them.

Motoyasu casually stood up and leaned against his spear. "As expected... no matter the world, the church is corrupt, hm?"

Itsuki raised his bow, hand lowered to the string, faint wind stirring as he gathered mana arrows. "I told you all from the start, right? Depending on what you offer us, we might become this world's enemy instead. And you just sent an assassin to kill us."

A bluff.

A lie.

Just like at the start.

But this time, they were serious.

Because they'd all seen it.

The knights genuinely trying to murder Naofumi who had only kept to himself after the false accusation.

The king marginalizing Naofumi from the start and taking a clear loss in defense potential for the citizens.

The Queen's Shadows escorting them to the palace and explaining the true situation that Melromarc was in and how the King had lied...

A tense stand off.

The priest with the knights paused. Then he sighed. "A pity. We were hoping that these heroes were a naive batch. But that was hoping for too much."

An instant motion.

The priest lunged forward, pulling out a sword.

Ren reacted first, swinging his to clash against it. But then his eyes widened. "That's-!"

The priest laughed. "A replica of your legendary weapon, yes! <Parry>!"

Ren's sword was sent wide. He quickly recovered, but the knights started moving too, filing into the room. Or they tried to. But-

"For justice! <Orion's Bolt>!"

-Itsuki didn't hesitate, pulling and firing a dozen arrows in a single second that pinned the knights to the walls.

The priest's eyes widened. "You-?!"

"Argh! Screw it." Motoyasu spun his spear and took a low stance. The spear flickered and turned into an ominous crimson thorn. The moment it did, he said, "<Gae Bolg>."

And then in the next, blood stained the floor, all of the knights and the priest slain in an instant with a hole in their hearts.

Ren paused and looked over at Motoyasu. "...You had that the whole time?"

Motoyasu's ears turned a bright red and he said, "It was for in case of emergencies! Also-!"

The spear flickered before turning back to the base steel spear.

"...It's a one-time use weapon copy hidden beneath the castle. Dammit." Motoyasu sighed.

Itsuki paled a bit as he saw the corpses. But he took a deep breath and said, "...Aniki's right. This isn't a game... is it?"

The three were quiet, standing in the room filled with corpses.

At the same time, sounds echoed in the distance.

"Sword Hero!"

"Lord Motoyasu!"

"Lord Itsuki!"

The companions that the king had assigned them from the start. The party members they had traveled with for a month.

Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu shared a look.

Ren spoke up first. "We should check them."

Motoyasu nodded. "If that trashy king sent them..."

Itsuki fidgeted. "Th-They DID seem a bit too nice..."

Like that, for the first time since they met, the three heroes moved as one.