The Substitution of the Shield Hero

Mirso village, a place located not far from a dragon's lair.

After being tasked by the Queen to go around fulfilling quests to help quell the unrest in the people, Ren and his party had gone towards the village because of his memories of it being a place where you could fight a dragon and defeat it for powerful items.

But after heading to the dragon's lair, he immediately returned to the village.

The chief of Mirso village, a seemingly harmless middle-aged man with a brown beard, looked at Ren when he returned and smiled. "Did you defeat the dragon already, Sword Hero?"

Ren didn't respond. Instead, he swept his gaze around the village. And then he tilted his head and said, "...Welt." He called out to the mage in his party and said, "What do you think?"

Welt adjusted the book at his side and said, "I think your suspicion is correct, Sir Ren."

"Farrie?" Ren tilted his head to the remaining member in his party, a female martial artist.

Farrie, the female martial artist, adjusted her black ponytail and cracked her knuckles. "I think that her majesty's suspicions are accurate."

The chief's eyes widened. "S-Sir Sword Hero?"

Ren nodded. "...Naofumi was right. It would have been easy to fall into the trap." He drew his sword. "The important information was missing. Like the fact that the dragon had a daughter, and that you people are the ones trying to steal from the dragon."

"W-What?" The chief took a step back while subtly signalling off to the side. "That's ridiculous! We would never-"

"I'm done listening." Ren pointed his sword at the chief and said, "Surrender and explain it to the Queen. Or else-"

"NOW!" The chief shouted and a volley of arrows shot out at Ren and his party from the buildings.

But-

"For justice!"

-Another flurry of arrows shot out to intercept them.

Itsuki dropped down from above, landing with a soft thud. Wingflaps followed from behind him, and then a towering black dragon landed nearby, looming over the villagers.

"DRAGON!"

"WE'RE SORRY!"

"DON'T KILL US!"

Itsuki wrinkled his nose in disgust. "...You are all under arrest. Surrender."

Ren tilted his head towards Itsuki and said, "...Arrest?"

Itsuki's ears turned red and he coughed. "...I figured I would take a page from Aniki. He's American. That's what they say, right?"

Ren sighed.

At that time, a carriage pulled by a giant owl-like bird with white feathers emerged with a cloud of dust.

Motoyasu hopped off the top of it and said, "Great job, Yuki!"

The bird was wrapped in white light before turning into a beautiful young girl with a beige one-piece dress. Her long white hair and silver eyes glimmered before she flew over to Motoyasu with a bright smile and hugged him. "Yay! Thank you, Mister Motoyasu!"

Ren stared at Motoyasu.

Motoyasu looked back. "What?"

"...Lolicon."

"I AM NOT!" Motoyasu turned a bright red and hugged Yuki. "Yuki is my precious baby girl!"

Yuki nodded. "Yes! I'm Mister Motoyasu's!"

Itsuki stared at Motoyasu, slowly reaching for his bow.

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT I SWEAR!"

Yuki giggled and nuzzled against Motoyasu's side.

Ren pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "I don't have the time for this. We need to catch up to Bakta and Tersia to check up on the nobles in the northern region. A warrior and an archer can do surveillance, but if anything happens, it'll be messy."

Itsuki nodded. "That's a good point." He looked at Motoyasu and said, "Lolicon-"

"I'm not a lolicon!"

Itsuki rolled his eyes. "Fine. Creepy aniki."

"..." Motoyasu sighed. "Yeah?"

Itsuki gestured towards the villagers and the dragon before saying, "You're in charge of this. Don't flirt too much."

At that time, a young woman with orange hair cropped short peeked out from the wagon. "Relax, Bow Guy. We'll make sure this idiot does his job."

Motoyasu looked at the woman and said, "Elena?! What do you mean, idiot?!"

A pretty blue-eyed woman with curly blonde hair hopped out of the wagon. Wearing a blue adventurer's outfit and with a short sword and buckler as equipment, she laughed and said, "Don't worry, Lord Motoyasu! We all know you aren't as bad as those perverts in the capital."

"Thank you, Lyno! Finally, someone who believes me!" Motoyasu let out a relieved sigh.

As Ren swapped his sword to the Portal Sword, he looked amused and said, "And now you understand how bad false accusations are."

"That's... fair." Motoyasu sighed.

Itsuki waved and left with Ren and his party.

That left just Motoyasu, Yuki, Lyno, and Elena in the wagon.

Of course, also with the dragon looming over them... and a girl with dog ears hiding behind the dragon.

Motoyasu sighed and spun his spear around. "...Let's just get this over with. Surrender now or I'll beat you up." He paused. "Or do nothing and I beat you up anyway. Your choice."

===

In the northern territory, just after leaving the portal.

Itsuki massaged his neck and looked at Ren, thinking.

Ren noticed and said, "What?"

"...You know, I forgot. But you're the youngest here, aren't you?"

Ren blinked. "...Does that matter?"

"...I guess not." Itsuki laughed. "It's just weird relying on someone younger than you."

Welt walked over. After he adjusted his robes, the mage laughed and said, "Well, if you think that's strange, how do you think it feels for us?"

Farrie chuckled and said, "Sir Ren is competent and efficient. Since that's the case, it doesn't matter his age, right?"

Ren's ears turned red and said, "Enough. We have to finish up the quests before the next wave. Since Naofumi's right, we need to get as many things as we can in case something happens."

Itsuki walked beside Ren as they made their way towards the closest village in the north, Farrie and Welt following behind them.

Ren swept his gaze across the surroundings, still on high alert.

Itsuki noticed and said, "Worried about another ambush from those weird heroes?"

"Not just them. The church seemed suspicious too, before we left. The Queen said she was dealing with it, but..."

Welt spoke up and said, "It's good to be cautious, Sir Ren, Sir Itsuki. The Church of Three Heroes were not always so influential until recently."

Farrie nodded and said, "Yeah. Those weird priests were just like a small cult. Now they're a big cult. Her Majesty is cleaning them out, but you know how cornered rats are."

Itsuki sighed. "...You can never really trust people blindly, can you?"

"Unless you want blind justice, yeah." Ren nodded. "Speaking of which..." He looked towards Itsuki. "...Do you think the rumors are true?"

"Rumors?" Itsuki tilted his head.

"Oh!" Farrie spoke up. "You mean of Sir Naofumi making a whole country?"

Welt hummed, rubbing his chin. "...His depths ARE unfathomable. The display of lightning at the capital... even from out here, the mana was tangible."

Ren nodded. "Right." He shifted his gaze towards Zeltoble. "...I'm a bit worried. It's stereotyping... but American gamers tend to like sandbox games. And since he's not a hero anymore, he might decide to turn the board over for fun."

Itsuki paused. Then he said, "...But Aniki's probably saving people in doing that, right? He's not... a BAD bad guy. Just only kind of bad. Maybe?"

"Even so, I..." Ren suddenly trailed off. Not only that, but he came to a complete stop too.

Itsuki frowned and then waved a hand in front of Ren's face. "Hello? Earth to Ren?"

Ren blinked and said, "...Itsuki. Over there. Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Hm?" Itsuki turned around. "What are you talking about- HUH?!"

Welt looked over too and then dropped his spell book. "Impossible! That was just grassland!"

Farrie rubbed her eyes. Then when the sight didn't change, she looked back at Ren and Itsuki. "...Sir Ren. Sir Itsuki. ...You two SURE that Sir Naofumi's a human?"

Ren didn't respond. Because at that point, he wasn't sure either.

Just a second ago, it had been grassland, just like Welt said. Rolling green hills, tall grass, and a few dirt roads. But when Ren blinked, there was suddenly a sprawling suburbia, complete with buildings, roads, and fences.

Seeing that, Ren laughed and said, "We're playing an RPG and Naofumi's out here playing a civilization game..."

Itsuki shook his head and said, "That's an American for you. Always claiming their manifest destiny..."

Ren paused. Then he looked at Itsuki and said, "I just realized. But don't you and Motoyasu look more like Americans? You've got light brown hair and everything."

Itsuki blinked and said, "Huh? What are you talking about? I'm an Esper, so of course I have a weird hair color."

"...What?"

Itsuki tilted his head. "...Do you not have Espers in your Japan?"

"...No." Ren paused. "Wait. Back up. Esper as in psychic powers esper?"

"...Yes? Mine is <Perfect Accuracy>. Unless it's blocked, I can't miss."

Ren slowly blinked. Then he rubbed his face with both hands and murmured, "...I think I get how Naofumi feels about us now..."