The Substitution of the Shield Hero

A carriage on the way back to Libertas from Siltvelt. Maybe due to the shenanigans that had unfolded, maybe because they were paranoid something equally ridiculous would happen... or maybe because they didn't want Bahamut, Nina, or Mina to be influenced by me and think it was a good idea to incite wars...

Lia, Sylvia, and Mein were sitting in the carriage with me while S'yne, Rishia, and the kids were sitting in another.

And as if I was on tribunal, all three were sitting on one side of the carriage while I was on the other.

"Look." I held up my hands and said, "It's not my fault that everyone in Libertas decided it was a good idea to leeroy jenkins charge Four Bray. Or that I forgot I was passively redirecting all attacks to me."

Lia looked amused and said, "Naofumi-dono... you say that, but the smirk on your face says you loved that it happened."

Mein gave me a blank look and said, "...You keep rejecting titles. Not a king, not a god, not a hero, not a demon lord..." She crossed her legs and leaned back against the side of the carriage. "I thought it was because you were being humble at first. Then I thought it was because you hated responsibility... But you're just doing it for plausible deniability, aren't you?"

Sylvia sighed and said, "Master is very cunning..."

"Well." I paused. "...I won't deny it. But I won't confirm it either."

One of the first rules my mom taught me when I was small was to never let people label you one thing or another unless it was useful, because it was MORE useful to be able to deny everything with a sincere heart.

...Which was probably why she never agreed to be Dad's wife until I was grown up and could keep myself safe. And also why she still refused to tell me her real name.

I mean, I had a Chinese passport saying I was her son called 'Fa K. Wong' but other than that bit that let her claim me legally for tax purposes as a dependent and stuff...

But anyway.

I looked back at Mein and said, "So... I take it the meeting with the tiger, turtle, bird, and dragon leaders went well?"

Mein blinked and said, "Wow. I did NOT take you for a racist."

I blinked back and said, "How is that racist? Aren't they a white tiger, black turtle, red bird, and blue dragon tribe?"

Mein rolled her eyes. "You could at least use their names."

"...Wait, back up. Racism exists in this world? I thought it was speciesism."

Mein gave me a blank looked. "...What's a speciesism?"

"...Right. Science is like apparently not a thing here." I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "Stupid system making everyone over reliant on labels and predetermined messages... It's just like having search engines constantly feeding you information instead of thinking for yourself..."

Sylvia covered her mouth and chuckled.

Lia smiled.

Mein rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"...Anyway." I looked at them all and said, "So, Siltvelt definitely declared war on Four Bray..."

Sylvia nodded. "Undoubtedly, Master. And honestly, they looked like they were waiting for an excuse."

Lia nodded too and giggled. "They were already asking about if you had any intentions to ally with them against 'hostile countries'... so they were probably going to do it anyway."

Mein raised an eyebrow and said, "More like they probably wanted to charge into Melromarc... but this is better. Probably."

I hummed. "In that case..." I eyed Melromarc in the distance. Then I looked at all the open land between Siltvelt and Melromarc... as well as the fact that it would definitely connect to Libertas. "...They wouldn't mind if I 'borrowed' some land as a buffer region. Right?"

Mein gave me a blank stare.

Lia giggled. "I suppose they wouldn't, Naofumi-dono..."

Sylvia chuckled and said, "...Master. Are you going to do the same thing for the slaves in Siltvelt?"

"Ah, well..."

I thought about what I saw as we entered Siltvelt. Mainly how there were elitist groups of tribes that oppressed others, how there were human slaves there and more than a few half-demihuman slaves too...

"I wasn't going to. But I'm feeling... motivated."

The messages from those crazy guys blitzkrieging Four Bray had stopped, so it looked like they weren't being attacked anymore.

That meant that they had either won... which would be impressive, considering it was only a few hours.

Or they had decided on a strategic retreat after saving everyone.

If I had to guess, they probably retreated.

If they were THAT fanatic about attacking a whole country in my name and in the name of Libertas, they'd definitely want to regroup with me to do it properly.

But anyway.

Since they were devout enough to do that...

'Might as well feed the flames, right?'

Mein paused and looked at me. "Master Naofumi. That look in your eyes... I don't like it."

Sylvia sighed. "Master... you're going to do something riduculous again, aren't you?"

Lia let out a bright smile. "Ridiculously amazing, you mean, Sylvia! Go on, Naofumi-dono! Fix the world!"

I paused. "I should probably be concerned that you said 'fix' instead of 'save'... But honestly at this point I'm committing to the bit. Now..."

I tinkered with [My Body as a Shield] to add a setting where it would only just parry and deflect attacks to my allies, programmed a toggle list to set all the options... And then I cleared my throat and said, "This is an explicit declaration. All who are slaves and oppressed in Siltvelt are my allies."

Mein stared at me. Then she slowly turned her head to look back towards Siltvelt.

And just on cue, the sky there erupted in crimson as a wave formed.

...Which I totally didn't time since I peeked at the Dragon Hourglass while we were there.

"Master Naofumi..."

"Don’t care, didn’t ask, cry about it."

===

Siltvelt was in a full blown panic.

"This is divine retribution!"

"Oh Spirit, save us...!"

"Those damned humans...! They're the reason the Legendary Shield vanished!"

Those and other curses filled the air as every demi-human free to fight got ready for the sudden emergence of the wave.

Shadowy goblins and lizardmen fell from the sky, landing on the ground.

But overall, the threat wasn't too bad. The average level of the goblins only reached the 20s.

Because of that, a few demi-humans tried to force their human slaves or the half-breeds to fight.

But-

> The Divine Authority [Inviolable Freedom] declares that you are denying the inherent right to life!

> The Divine Authority [Inviolable Freedom] erases all bindings!

> The Divine Authority [Inviolable Freedom] guarantees safe passage for those choosing to leave Siltvelt!

-A trinity of system messages emerged across the sight of every person in Siltvelt.

One slave, a young man with faint blue scales across his face, a half-Aotatsu. He had been shoved in front of a shadowy goblin along with his human mother by their master. But at the moment he stared at the glowing messages. "We... can leave?"

The young man's blue-haired mother, a beautiful noblewoman captured from Melromarc long ago. She stared at the messages as well and said, "...We're free?"

The Aotatsu, a demi-human with blue dragon scales... his eyes widened in panic and he said, "No! This is an order, I command you to-"

The moment his words came out, blue lightning crackled and a status message floated in front of his face.

> Libertas rejects your worthless dominion.

> The Status Effect [Enslaved], [Bound by Magic], and other similar effects are forcibly purged from the Status Magic System.

> "There is always a choice. The world belongs to the people, not those with stolen power."

The young man laughed, running his hand through his dark blue hair. "Mother..." He walked over and picked up his haggard mother. "...Let's leave."

The former noblewoman's eyes trembled. But she nodded and leaned against the young man. "...Yes. Let's go." As she did, she glanced back at the Aotatsu demi-human, her blue eyes burning with hatred. "...May your soul never rest in peace and burn in Grima's hellfire."

"You-!"

"Let's go, Morgan." The noblewoman leaned against her son and followed him out.

The shadowy goblin rushed forward to attack the young man and his mother...

But as if an invisible hand had brushed it aside, the attack was redirected towards the Aotatsu instead.

"Grk?!"

Morgan pursed his lips as the goblin pierced through the Aotatsu's neck. But he quickly draped his mother's arms around his neck and held her on his back. "It's okay, Mother. Everything will be fine now." He scanned his blue eyes across the surroundings, a mark vaguely remniscent of a dragon with outstretched wings glistening in his right eye. "...I'm big now. You don't need to protect us anymore."

The noblewoman kept leaning against her son and murmured, "I'm sorry, Morgan. I wasn't strong enough..."

"It's fine." Morgan slowly looked around to get a sense of the situation. As he did, he saw the devastation all around Siltvelt, almost as if the heavens themselves had erupted to rain down retribution. A dark smile crossed his face as a six-eyed sigil flashed on his left hand. "...I don't know about the Hero King. But something answered your prayers, Mother." He clenched his fist, making the mark on his left hand shine darker. Then he said, "...Let's go." After that, he took off running.

===

I paused in the middle of setting up some apartment buildings in the territory between Melromarc and Siltvelt. It was obviously for hostile takeover- I mean, adverse possession...

...Diplomatic relations.

Since Siltvelt had a thing against Melromarc already and since they still clearly thought I was the Shield Hero despite me losing it, I was taking advantage of that fact (and the fact that I never confirmed nor denied it) to set up shop and extend Libertas before anyone could stop me.

But as I did, I had a weird feeling.

Bahamut paused in the middle of using Flare to smooth a few mountains for me. Then he said, "Father." He slowly looked towards Siltvelt and said, "...Divine Dragon and Fell Blood."

I blinked and looked at Bahamut. "...What's that, Boy?"

Bahamut furrowed his brow. Then he slowly said, "...Outrealm pollution."

"...Okay." I lowered Laevatein and said, "Whoever's behind these waves REALLY don't understand multiverse theory, do they...?"