The Substitution of the Shield Hero

Since it seemed like it would be a while until everyone else showed up, I synthesized some fishing rods and took the boys down to the nearby shore to fish.

Bahamut's blue eyes were glittering with excitement even as he didn't say anything, playing up a cool persona.

Morgan, however, was visibly excited, his own blue eyes wide in joy as he held the fishing rod. "Do I just toss it out then, Mister Naofumi? What do I do if a fish bites?"

I started setting up a grill just in case we actually caught anything. As I did, I said, "Tug up once to set the hook, then start reeling it in. Slowly. The line can snap."

Bahamut paused and then looked at me. "Father? Could we not just use an unbreakable line?"

"We could. But the fun's in the challenge of reeling the fish in. If we just wanted food, we could just grab them, you know?"

Bahamut's eyes widened in understanding before a smile crossed his face. "I see! I understand, Father." After that, he stuck his tongue out to focus and then cast his bait into the water.

A soft whiz, a plop, and then a colorful yellow bobber started floating in the water.

Morgan watched Bahamut cast his line and then tried to do it as well, but he fumbled it. Still, he didn't give up, reeling it back in before casting it out again.

I could have corrected him... but he seemed like he was having fun.

And it was also therapeutic.

I didn't get the whole story from Miss Lucina, but apparently, uh... she got a bad ending from an 18+ RPG Maker game. Something similar, at least.

Morgan was the result of that. And while he'd done his best to protect his mother...

Yeah.

More reasons to start devising anti-divine weaponry and probe more deeply into if this world had a god or not that was allowing it since things like that needed to be purged with divine retribution.

But if not... well, the people responsible had already been turned into resources, so it was just therapy now.

'Hopefully Miss Lucina is having a good time with the girls.'

Dad hadn't mentioned too much about her when I asked after finding her picture in some old files, but he did say that she went through a rough life.

Spending time around girls her age would-

Wait.

I stopped in the middle of designing a grill in <Parallel System> and said, "Hey, Morgan. How old are you?"

Morgan looked back, his ears red. "O-Oh! I'm five... but I'm level 20 and grown up! Don't worry about me, Mister Naofumi! I'm an adult!"

I paused and did some quick math. Then my eyes widened. "Wait. Miss Lucina is still only in her twenties?"

With how haggard she looked and everything I thought she was in her thirties, but considering that she must have landed in this world after the incident back in my world, and with Dad saying she had been 17 or so...

"...Man. If I didn't already remove those people from the cycle of life and death, I'd do it again."

Honestly, just how the fuck did this world get so twisted anyway?

It's almost like some sick hentai JRPG setting-

Wait.

Constantly summoned heroes who were probably worse than the Three Stooges were. Otakus and NEETs being treated like royalty. Beauties and power being tossed their way left and right. Natural class stratification...

"...Am I in the natural conclusion of generations of Otakus and NEETs living out their power fantasies and wet dreams with no consequence?"

Bahamut paused in the middle of reeling in his line for another cast. Then he tilted his head, thinking. And after that, he gave a solemn nod. "It would make sense, Father. If the scum of society was constantly compounded onto each other, this world's situation is a natural conclusion."

Morgan glanced between me and Bahamut and said, "...Otaku? NEET? Power fantasy?"

"Don't worry about it, Morgan. It's a moot point at this rate."

Mostly because I was ABSOLUTELY installing filters on who the hell gets summoned into this world if at all, and also because my <Parallel System> had basically become the world's antivirus and firewall.

"O-Oh. If you say so, Mister Naofumi." Morgan nodded and went back to fishing.

I continued designing the grill while also making some charcoal. And while I was at it, I made a cooler to store any catches.

Now to unwind and have some relaxing fishing time-

*splash*

I glanced over to see Bahamut tugging something up on his rod. Seeing that, I smiled and said, "Got something already, Boy- Huh?" I blinked and said, "...That's not a fish."

It was a sword with a corroded leather wrapping around its hilt. Its blade, once a pure white, was yellowed and corroded as well. And its guard, a strange circular design with a teardrop hole in the middle, was where Bahamut had hooked it.

Bahamut looked confused too.

But Morgan gasped. "THAT'S MOTHER'S SWORD!"

I blinked. "It is?"

Morgan nodded and took the blade. "Yes! Mother said she lost it when she landed in the water of this world!"

I paused. "Wait. You're telling me." I gestured towards the sword. "That this is a Royal Blade. That my son, a dragon, hooked up. From fishing. By a cliff. And one that's only accessible because I brought us here."

Morgan paused. "...Yes?"

"...This world has SO many random Breath of Fire references-"

I paused again, things clicking in my head.

The Army of the Waves. A world that crashed worlds together to level them up and gain powers. A race of powerful beings that could potentially include the goddess that was the final boss in the web novel.

The fact that Skywings existed...

"The final boss in Breath of Fire was a Goddess of Destruction from an extra-dimensional race known as Endless that had mastered magic enough to appear immortal and treated as gods..."

I ran my hand through my hair and groaned. "Dammit. Are we in a situation where the Army of the Waves is an independent party? Or is this a situation where literally every fictional mention of an organization attempting to breach interdimensional walls is a branch of a giant overarching extradimensional organization?"

If Mirellia's thoughts were right about the 'fiction' in our worlds being means of communication and warnings to other members of the Army of the Waves...

Then that meant that there was a high chance any sort of 'fiction' I knew was actually just a mission report of a real world by the agents of that Army of the Waves.

Bahamut paused. Then his eyes narrowed in concentration. After that, he slowly said, "...It is possible, Father. Extradimensional entities seeking to invade other worlds and dimensions is too common of a trope to simply be coincidence."

I let out a long and suffering sigh. "Of course. Of course the people behind the wave phenomenon in this world would just be a branch of some like uber extradimensional syndicate that decided to play god... or include gods."

Bahamut stared at me and then slowly said, "...At least you don't have to fight Chaos?"

"PLEASE do not imply that I'm going to have to fight Lunarians or something too, Boy. Or that Final Fantasy is real. Like Spira, Midgar, and all that."

"..."

"...Forget it. Problem for future me." I grabbed my fishing rod and hooked a synthetic worm before tossing it into the ocean. After that, I looked at Morgan and said, "So... Baseball, huh?"

Morgan blinked. "...What?"

"Yeah. That tracks."

"???"

===

21XX. Earth, but one where a Dr. Light rocketed robotics technology into what would have been considered science fiction in Naofumi's world.

The Maverick Hunters headquarters.

Leon sighed and said, "Sorry for the trouble, X. But out of everyone from that incident, you and Zero are the ones that I figured could help me find my son."

X let out a warm smile and said, "It's my pleasure, Leon. And it's good to see you again." His smile dimmed a bit and he said, "I wish that Zero could be here as well, but..." X sighed. "...It's a long story."

Leon shook his head. "It's fine. I'm just glad I managed to get here. The Portal Stone was a bit iffy. Almost ended up a zero myself." He smirked.

X chuckled and said, "Still doing the one-liners?"

"Gotta do something to stay young at my old age."

"I wouldn't know. Reploids don't age, you see."

"Lucky." Leon cracked his back and said, "I wake up with aches and pains every day."

X laughed.

At that time, a nearby terminal dinged.

Leon glanced at it and said, "Is it done?"

X nodded and walked over to take a look. "Looks like it." He did some typing and said, "We've managed to triangulate the location based on some star maps and cross referencing energy emanations. It's quite interesting." He rubbed his chin and said, "This data could be of help in resolving the Sigma virus and energy crises... Ah. But for now." He waved his hand.

A holographic map emerged, with a blue dot showing their current location.

Then the map zoomed out, showing a swirling galaxy symbolizing one universe. After that, it zoomed out again, showing swirling universes around a core. And after that, it zoomed out again, showing multiple swirling multiverses.

A crimson line bounced around the different universes and multiverses before pinpointing a section of space that seemed to be completely twisted and jagged.

Leon frowned. "...What the hell is that?"

X hummed. "It seems similar to the X Zone incident. Perhaps there is an organization trying to harness interdimensional fractures there as well?"

Leon narrowed his eyes. "...Is that so?"

X handed Leon a USB with the data and said, "Do you need help? Axl is pretty free. And I'm sure some of the Maverick Hunters would be glad to lend a hand."

Leon took the USB and let out a thin smile. "I'm grateful. But I think that my wife and I can handle this." He stared at the map again and said, "...She's pretty versed in fighting ridiculous things like giant robots too. We've got it."

X nodded. "In that case... at least bring some weapons with you. We're scaling down our military efforts, so we have excess supplies like laser pistols."

Leon looked amused and said, "I thought Zero said Hunters didn't need guns."

X chuckled and said, "Times change. Most Reploids don't have busters anymore."

"I see. Well, don't mind if I do. It'll beat having to rip a dragon apart to make stuff from its bones."

"...What?"

"Long story."