The Substitution of the Shield Hero

At a tavern in Cal Mira's adventurer outpost, three people had gathered together for a strategy session.

The first was a beautiful woman with crimson eyes who wore what looked like a kimono. Her long black hair and pale skin made her look almost like a spirit... which she was.

Glass, the Fan Hero from the world connected in this latest wave, pursed her lips as she looked at her allies.

The first that she looked at was the man seated across from her.

He was tall, muscular, handsome, and had spiked red hair. Wearing adventurer armor as well as having a tattoo of a scythe on his upper left arm, he gave off the impression of royalty undercover as a mercenary.

This was L'Arc Berg Sickle, king of the small country that summoned Kizuna the Hunting Hero in his world.

Next to him, there was a beautiful woman with white skin that looked like polished ivory. Her cyan hair sparkled in the sunlight and was pulled into a braid with three thick strands, each a different color that glittered like gemstones.

Therese Alexanderite, a member of the Jewel race, people that received powers from special stones they called Jewels that served as a kind of magical core. And also a companion to L'Arc and Glass.

The three sat with each other at a table in the corner of the tavern, quietly listening to the gossip echoing around them.

There was obviously the usual chatter about the phenomenon of monsters with increased experience points appearing. But there was more too. More concerning news for Glass, L'Arc, and Therese considering they had come into the world to try and save their own world by slaying the Legendary Heroes.

"Did you see the moon turn green last night?"

"Yeah! Heard rumors from some friends in Libertas say the former Shield Hero turned the moon into his private garden!"

"That's Lord Naofumi to you, not the former Shield Hero!"

"Is it true that he turned Siltvelt to ash and then routed Four Bray?"

"Damned straight he did! And he made a country for all the freed slaves and oppressed people too! Gave'em land, food, healing... And he turned down being king! Just up and left telling everyone to be good!"

"Whoa! Really?"

Glass sipped a goblet of wine and murmured, "...So they say."

L'Arc frowned and said, "...It can't be real. Can it? One man... Even if a former Legendary Hero. To do all of that..."

Therese frowned and said, "I'm concerned about them saying he's a 'former' Legendary Hero. I thought the only way to stop being one was to die?"

That was the reason why they had entered this world, after all. After killing the Legendary Heroes, the waves would naturally end as the world was destroyed.

But now they were hearing that one of the heroes just... quit?

A nearby grizzled adventurer overheard Therese and laughed. "You must've been out exploring, huh? Everyone in Melromarc got the message at the time. Apparently, Melromarc's daft king fucked up so bad the world destroyed the Legendary Shield!"

An adventurer from across the tavern raised his mug and said, "Cheers to that! Fuck Aultcray!"

"FUCK AULTCRAY!"

"Hope yer burning in hell, you damned cunt!"

"Oi, even if it's true, shouldn't you respect the dead?"

"Fuck'em! What's he gonna do, haunt me? He couldn't even kill the Shield Hero properly!"

Cheers and laughter echoed around the tavern again.

Glass frowned, feeling put off by the atmosphere. But she also carefully considered their words. Then she glanced at L'Arc, a question in her eyes.

L'Arc glanced towards Therese.

Therese nodded and cast a spell to silence the nearby area, preventing them from being overheard again. And after that, she said, "L'Arc. Is it possible for that to happen? For a Legendary Hero to be so wronged the weapon itself is destroyed?"

L'Arc rubbed his chin and said, "I don't know. If it is, you'd think that the Legendary Heroes we summoned would have been released from their duties with how those nobles treated them in our world."

Glass nodded, her eyes dark. "...Kizuna should have been freed if that was the case."

"Right. But she wasn't. So..." L'Arc leaned out of the invisible barrier that Therese was using to stop people from listening in. Then he called out to the adventurer who spoke up earlier and said, "What exactly did they do to the Shield Hero? My friends and I were deep in a dungeon, so we missed it."

The grizzled adventurer laughed and said, "You missed the shitshow of the century! But here!" He pulled out a crumpled piece of paper with writing on it. "The various guilds have been passing it out everywhere since Melromarc was being purged."

L'Arc took the piece of paper with a nod. "Do you mind if we-"

"Keep it! I'm sure you'd find another just by looking around anyway." The grizzled adventurer laughed and turned back to chatting with his comrades. "Alright! Bets on if Lord Naofumi fucks the Queen of Melromarc after all!"

"Sucker bet!"

"Easy money!"

"I bet she's all over him by the new moon!"

L'Arc leaned back into the privacy barrier and slid the paper into the center of the table for them to all look at.

===

[The Covenant was shattered.]

[The Hero was betrayed.]

[The World has been judged.]

[From this point forward, the Legendary Shield will no longer exist in this world.]

===

After the three read it, a tense silence filled the air.

L'Arc spoke first, as serious as the king he truly was. And he said, "This doesn't sound like an ordinary betrayal caused this."

Glass frowned, reading it again. "...Yes. If that was sufficient, Kizuna... she would have been removed as the Hunting Hero after Kyo betrayed us."

Therese carefully read the parchment and tapped on the last two lines. "These lines here. The World has been judged... and the Legendary Shield will no longer exist in this world. It sounds like..."

"...A god." L'Arc murmured. "Or something like it. Is that possible?"

Glass shook her head. "The ancient texts never mentioned anything like that. Only that the waves signaled the merging of two or more worlds and that the Legendary Heroes of the other side must be killed to save our world..."

L'Arc tapped his fingers on the table. "...We don't know much about the waves. But from what we do know, there appears to be 'something' causing it by reaching out to various worlds."

Therese glanced at L'Arc and said, "Do you think that this Shield Hero was summoned from a world with a god?"

"Considering the rumors about this Lord Naofumi... Perhaps even the Champion of a God. A true 'yuusha' like Kizuna mentioned from her stories. The sort summoned by a goddess to defeat a demon lord."

Silence filled the air.

Glass looked concerned and whispered, "We have to defeat someone like that? To save our world?"

Therese looked worried. "...They said he claimed the moon. And last night, the moon did change. It turned from white to green..."

L'Arc ran his hand through his hair. "...This is bad. But maybe not a dead end. If this Naofumi is really a man who doesn't care about power or ruling, he might be willing to help us."

Glass frowned. "...Or he might decide to conquer our world."

L'Arc was quiet. Then he murmured, "Would that be a bad thing? We've all heard how this world was like before that Lord Naofumi moved, right? If he resents slavery and nobles oppressing others... And since he didn't erase the country that betrayed him, but even allied with it." He stood up straight and said, "...If I approach him as King, request his aid to find our Legendary Hero, and an alliance to save both our worlds... won't he listen?"

Glass's eyes widened. "...Would he?"

"Worth a try. Besides..." L'Arc let out a helpless laugh. "...He can clearly kill us if he finds out what we intended anyway. If that man can reach the moon and claim it, wouldn't it be a simple matter to toss us into the void beyond the skies?"

Therese fiddled with her sleeve and murmured, "I don't like this plan. It's risky."

"It's less risky than trying to kill four Legendary Heroes with just us, isn't it?" L'Arc drained the mug of ale he'd left unattended until now, wiping the foam off his mouth after he finished. "...Tomorrow. We'll go looking for this Lord Naofumi and formally request aid. If things break down... well, we can always try fighting anyway." He laughed.

Therese sighed, but gave L'Arc a warm smile. "You're reckless as always. But... I suppose this is the best hope we've had."

Glass picked up her wine goblet, staring into its depths. "Kizuna... be well."