The Substitution of the Shield Hero

The strategy session with Mirellia went well. Though she was definitely very concerned about my mental state of being after seeing me process that corpse so readily... it couldn't be helped.

It wasn't like it would be pleasant leaving it around, right? Plus, resources were resources.

...Hm. Maybe being in this world for an extended period of time wasn't very good for my mental health.

Eh. I could just make a therapist rich when I got back to Earth.

More important things at hand.

As I walked out of the palace, I went over a quick checklist of what the next plans were.

First off, getting to properly know my party members now, including Mein.

...Specifically, reaffirming to Lia and Sylvia that we were definitely keeping it platonic.

I thought about it, and as tempting as it might be, it was a no-go.

Too many weird vibes there. Not to mention future conversations...

Nope. We're sticking to fatherly vibes. Not going to Usagi Drop this.

ESPECIALLY since that would absolutely be used as a political weakness and attack on my character.

Saving two demi-human girls from slavery and terrible conditions? Good.

Doing it and then having them be lovers?

That's definitely bad optics. Also like, 1000% sure it's been used as an excuse by demi-human slave owners to abuse naive girls who didn't know better.

Yeah, cutting that out from the root.

Plus, I was sure that Lia and Sylvia were still just mistaking their feelings for love and affection due to the rapid physical growth.

...Now, I just had to draw clearer boundaries so they didn't get it twisted. And probably sort it out.

But that was a later issue.

Had to prevent Melromarc from blowing up first.

Anyway...

I walked through the streets and took a look around, listening in on the people.

"I can't believe the Wise King did that..."

"It was a setup! The Shield Hero did nothing wrong!"

"You all saw those messages! That bastard betrayed ALL of us!"

"The Church said the Shield Hero was the devil..."

"Well, that devil was the only one who saved Riyute village and my family!"

"Are we going to get invaded? Melromarc is done for, isn't it?"

I hummed and made my way towards the inn.

'Yeah, this is pretty bad... but not my problem.'

The internal strife was something for Mirellia and the Three Heroes to resolve.

My role here was, ironically, being the shield for Melromarc against foreign forces.

Well. I guess a 'sword' is more accurate considering I was planning to invade Zeltoble as soon as I got intel from the Slave Trader.

...Nah, guillotine is more accurate. A sword implies they could fight back. I'm just going to lop off their heads and rip the floor out from underneath them.

===

The moment I entered the inn, I was met with Lia, Sylvia, Mein, and Rishia all tense and ready to attack.

"Huh. Guess I made the right call." I changed my tunic back to my usual black hoodie and said, "I'm guessing the idiot who crashed into the room where I was chatting with Mirellia attacked you guys?"

Lia let out a sigh of relief and sheathed her sword. "...Goshujin-sama thought ahead. That's good."

Sylvia sheathed her sword too and then sat back down at the table, relaxing. "I was wondering why that man suddenly flew off into the sky." She giggled and said, "So Master planned for it. I knew you would not leave us alone unprotected."

Mein plopped herself down into a chair and poured herself a glass of wine. "Still could have mentioned something, Master Naofumi... I almost had a heartattack. And Rishia too."

Rishia shook her head. "I-I was fine, Sir Naofumi!" She flexed her arm and said, "I'm tough! It will take more than that to scare me!"

"Well, either way..." I swept my gaze across everyone and made sure they were fine. Since they were, I smiled and said, "I'm glad you're safe. Now, future plan discussion time." I dragged over a chair and sat at the table.

Sensing the shift in mood, Lia, Sylvia, Mein, and Rishia focused, moving around the table towards me as well.

Sylvia spoke up first and said, "Did something happen at the discussion with the queen, Master?"

Mein nodded and said, "Yeah. Did Mother demand something? Or order something?"

I glanced at Mein, amused, and said, "You still think pretty highly of Melromarc, huh? Because of what you and your dad did, this country's pretty much on its last legs."

Mein froze.

Rishia gasped and said, "S-Sir Naofumi...? D-Do you mean that Melromarc is going to fall?"

Lia's eyes flashed, faint amusement crossing her face for a moment.

...Wow. Deep grudge there. Deeep grudge.

Sylvia noticed and frowned at Lia. But she looked back at me and said, "Then... what are you thinking, Master? Should we leave?"

Mixed emotions crossed Mein's face. It looked like she wanted to say something, but she simply sighed. Probably because she knew she didn't have a right to speak on it considering she was a major factor leading to this situation.

But I ignored it for now and looked at Sylvia. "We definitely aren't staying in Melromarc. The longer we're here, the more choatic the situation will get. I don't know how many people exactly know I was the Shield Hero since I wasn't around very long in the beginning, but things WILL get out of hand pretty quickly when people are certain of that."

The Church sympathizers moving to try and eliminate me, pinning the blame on the Shield Devil...

The demi-human sympathizers rallying behind me to go against Melromarc's citizens in general...

Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden hidden operatives trying to manipulate events so that I would be forced to side with them...

Then the moderate faction of mostly normal civilians who were caught in the crossfire and would rise up to flip the board entirely if pushed too far...

Yeah. The sooner we were out of here, the faster Melromarc as a whole could find a situation.

While I was here though, people would be vying for my favor or to try and use me as a lynchpin in their political intrigue.

And that would just end with me slaughtering everyone, and when that happened NO ONE won.

My final objective was to set up a proper base here and try and make it back to Earth, after all. And that couldn't be done in a ruined world.

...Well, it could, but I'd rather not show up to Earth with a legacy of a ruined world behind me. That was VERY much how you got marked as an invading Demon Lord and get the world rallied up to fight you and/or have them resorting to nuclear weapons from the get go.

Or giant mechs.

Still wasn't sure if Earth ACTUALLY had those or if those were just rumors, but you never knew for sure.

Oh right, Sylvia's question.

I realized I'd trailed off in thought, inadvertantly making the situation seem more dire than it was to the girls...

But I guess it played in my favor, so I didn't correct anything. Instead, I continued and said, "I have come to an agreement with the Queen of Melromarc. She's given me the territory between Zeltoble and Four Bray. Not as a noble or land deed, but as a complete severance. Forfeiture instead of granting."

Lia tilted her head, looking confused.

Sylvia looked like she didn't quite understand it either.

But Rishia and Mein both gasped.

Rishia responded first and said, "Her Majesty surrendered the land to you?!"

Mein sat up straight and said, "Mother is treating you as an invader."

"Well." I shrugged. "It's technically true. I basically have her at gunpoint- I mean, with a knife to her neck. And I AM a foreign party now. By surrendering it to me, she legitimizes my claim as a political entity and sovereign nation, gains an ally against the four powerhouses surrounding Melromarc, and has a place for disgruntled Melromarc citizens to leave. You can think of it as a bloodless revolution."

Mein let out a helpless laugh and said, "A bloodless revolution... That's a nice way of saying you chose to let Melromarc survive."

"Mercy's value is infinitely higher when granted to those who have no right to have it. Also a great bargaining chip. But enough of that. Now for immediate action steps. First..." I looked at Rishia and said, "Do you know how to fight, Rishia? Or want to?"

"M-Me?" Rishia blinked. "A-Ah. Well... I am a noble, technically, so I do a little? And I *did* study in Four Bray-"

"RIGHT!" I snapped my fingers and pointed at her. "You were actually IN Four Bray. Perfect. I'm training you up and you're helping with intel when we invade it."

Mein stood up and said, "YOU'RE PLANNING TO INVADE FOUR BRAY?!"

I paused and looked at Mein, my eyes widening in realization. "I forgot... You know a lot about it too, huh?"

Mein nodded, concern clear on her face. "Yeah! And enough to know they have flying machines, tools that fire pieces of metal faster than any bow could, as well as forces over level 200 and all with powerful skills inherited from ancient summoned hero bloodlines!"

"Perfect." I nodded. "Then I won't need to hold back what I use against them."

Was it the way I said it?

Mein froze and looked into my eyes.

I stared back, confused. "What?"

"...'Hold back what you use...?'"

I blinked. Then I laughed. "Oh, Mein. You silly princess. Did you think I only knew how to use a sword and shield?" I smiled at her and said, "I've been making contingency plans to take over my world since I was a teenager. Most of them weren't possible due to lacking resources and the absence of a convenient energy source like mana as well as durable materials. But in a world like this?"

Lia's eyes sparkled with awe and she clasped her hands together. "Goshujin-sama...!"

Sylvia, meanwhile, gave me a side-eye and said, "You seem awfully prepared for this, Master. I thought you said you were not from a world where the apocalypse occurred and the undead roamed..."

I nodded. "I'm not. The zombie apocalypse never happened because it was contained. Now, the first order of business here is getting what we need from Melromarc and then heading off to lay the foundation for the new country before Four Bray and Zeltoble get any ideas. Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden are definitely going to be out for blood too, but if we're set up first, they'll avoid invading Melromarc and come to negotiate with us first."

Mein pursed her lips and said, "Will that work? Those two countries REALLY hate us. I mean, Melromarc. And their religion revolves around the Shield Hero too, so since the Legendary Shield is gone..."

"Well, if I was running those countries, I would definitely confirm it first. That buys us time since it's such an unbelievable turn of events." I paused. "...Though they might also just decide to use it as an excuse to invade Melromarc..."

I didn't have a good read on those two countries since the web novel didn't go into too much detail on them. Maybe the Light Novel and Anime did...

No, even if I DID, I couldn't be sure.

"...Either way, we'll deal with it when that happens. It'll still be a little bit until those forces arrive. For now though..."

There were a few more things I needed to confirm from the main story.

First, Filo. I wasn't sure if she'd hatch the same for me since I was pretty sure that it depended on who raised the eggs... but either way, it was something to check.

And after that, Atlas... or Atla?

Either way, she and her brother should be either in Zeltoble at this time or about to be sent there due to dire straits from finances.

If things were the same, they should be demi-human nobles, or at least from a demi-human noble bloodline, and also technically descendants of Four Bray royalty through that trashy king, and in turn partially related to Melromarc.

In short, we had a Skywalker situation on our hands that could be good or bad depending on who got to them first, and I had every intention of removing that variable from the board by making sure they had a nice and happy place to retire to.

And to confirm that...

"...We're going to make a visit to the Slave Trader."