Chapter 4  : Specially Arranged Gold

The next morning.

After breakfast, we were impatiently called upon by the king.

As expected, there wasn't much noise this early in the morning; it should be around 10 AM based on the position of the sun... We received the summons just as I was thinking that.

We quickened our steps, our chests filled with excitement while we made our way towards the audience chamber.

“The honored Heroes have arrived.”

The audience chamber doors swung open, and inside were twelve people clad in various styles of adventurer outfits.

There were also those dressed in knight-like garb.

Hoh... The king's influence sure is amazing.

We bowed down to the king and listened to what he had to say.

“As promised yesterday, I have recruited companions who will accompany you on your journey. Apparently, everyone gathered has already decided which hero they wish to follow.”

Each of us should be getting three people if we divided them up evenly.

“Now then, future champions[1]. Please set forth with the Hero to whom you shall swear your allegiance to.”

Eh? We didn’t get to choose?

It was a surprising development.

Oh well, if I think about it, this parallel world’s government would be more likely to place its citizens' wishes above some unknown person’s who came from another world.

We were lined up in a sequential order.

Our future allies then walked over and gathered in front of each of us.

Ren, 5 people

Motoyasu, 4 people

Itsuki, 3 people

Me, 0 Homo Sapiens

“OU-SAMA[2], PLEASE WAIT A MOMENT!”

What the hell! Isn't this clearly simple harassment?

Cold sweat ran down the king's face as I voiced my complaint.

“We-well. Dear me, I would never have thought such a situation could occur.”

“There's quite a difference in charisma amongst them.”

The minister painted his whole face with amazement.

A robed man then began to secretly whisper into the king’s ear.

“Fumu, did such a rumor spread..?”

“Did something happen?”

Motoyasu put up a sympathetic face and asked.

Like I thought, this reeked of extreme prejudice.

What the hell, this was like being the only kid left out when children were forming sport teams in elementary school. [3]

I wanted to ignore this feeling which existed even in a parallel world too.

“Fumu. To be honest... there seems to be a rumor spreading around the castle about you Heroes, or more specifically the Shield Hero.”

“Hah!?”[4]

"According to the legends, Heroes that come to this world must meet a certain condition. It appears that you alone didn't fulfill this condition, such is the rumor.”

Motoyasu poked me with his elbow.

“Did someone eavesdrop on our chat yesterday?”

Is it because I didn't know about the games? Was that the reason why everyone was repulsed by me?

I mean, what’s wrong with these legends?

Even though I’m unfamiliar with them, I’m still the Shield Hero, you know!

I might have a loser's weapon according to the other heroes, but that doesn't mean I'm playing around, okay!

“Hey, Ren! Give me someone since you have five people.”

The female adventurers, including one man, shrank behind Ren and looked at me like frightened lambs.

For some reason, Ren was roughly scratching his head before he shook it.

“I hate being tagged along by others. Anyone who doesn't have the resolve to follow me, please leave.”

And even after saying such a heartless statement, absolutely no one showed any signs of moving away from him.

“Motoyasu, my friend! Don’t you think that this is too cruel?”

“Well...”

By the way, there seemed to be an oddly high ratio of women in here.

This smelled like a Harem declaration of war.

“This is such a sh*t load of bias.”

And why were Motoyasu's companions all women? This guy seemed to be a chick magnet wherever he went.

Itsuki also wore a worried face, which revealed his reluctance of parting with any of his beloved companions.

“I guess you've got your fair share of 3 people... so it’s not good to take someone by force.”

Itsuki nodded his head, at a loss for words.

“So then, do I really have to depart alone?!”

It’s a shield, yo! A loser’s weapon according to the theories, yo! [5]

Just watch me grow stronger even without comrades!

“Ah, Yuusha-sama[6], I'd like to accompany the Shield Hero instead.”

One of Motoyasu's former female companions raised her hand and expressed her candidacy as my ally.

“Oh? Really?”

“Yes.”

A lovely girl with semi-long crimson hair.

Her face is pretty cute, isn't it? She has youthful facial features, yet she's slightly shorter than me.

“Is there anyone else that wishes to fall under Naofumi-dono’s protection?”

At this scene... no one showed any sign of moving.

The king let out a grieving sigh.

“So, there is no one else. Unfortunately Naofumi-dono, it appears you will need to scout for additional talent yourself. But fret not, for I shall be giving you a bonus on your monthly war fund which will soon be distributed.”

“Ye,yes!”

A wise decision.

Since I’m the one with the least amount of allies, I'll be the one with the largest financial budget.

“Now then, here are your monthly war funds. Brave Heroes, please use this with a clear goal in mind.”

Four pouches full of money were distributed to us. And a slightly larger moneybag was handed over to me.

I heard heavy chinking sounds coming from inside.

“Naofumi-dono will receive 800 silver coins, while the others will receive 600 each. Please use this money to buy equipment for yourselves.”

“ ” ” ”WOAH!” ” ” ”

Every one of us each gave a salute, and thus the king's audience was concluded.

Afterwards, our self introductions began.

“Errr Shield Hero, Mein Sophia is my name. Let us work together from now on.”

“Yo, Yoroshiku.”[7]

Mein is such a splendid person for talking to me without a hint of bias.

But after that unsightly incident from earlier, it’s kind of awkward to start a conversation. On the bright side, however, such a caring girl is now my ally.

I have to treasure this companion of mine. Therefore, I won't lose to the other heroes by upgrading my legendary weapon.

“Let’s go then, Mein,-san.” [8]

“Okay~”

Mein vigorously nodded and followed behind me.

Crossing the bridge connecting the castle to the town, a splendid city laid before me.

Even though I caught a curious glimpse of it yesterday, seeing it up close made me realize the vivid charm of this parallel world.

The streets were paved with stones and there were signs hanging on the buildings.

The place was shrouded with the savory fragrance of food. I was truly moved, both deeply and emotionally.

“What should we do now?”

“First, we should go to some Item Shops, and probably a Weapon Shop in order to gear ourselves up. This will consume most of our funds.”

Right, the first order of business should be me, who only has a shield, to acquire a weapon.

Without one, it'll be difficult for me to fight monsters and catch up with those guys.

After all, they have actual weapons that can evolve.

In order to get a head start[9], we definitely need to resolve this problem quickly.

“Alright. I know of a good shop, so allow me be your guide.”

“Are you really okay with that?”

“Most certainly.”

Mein was skipping about as she led me to the Weapon Shop.

After 10 minutes of walking from the castle, Mein stopped in front of a conspicuous store with an oversized sword printed on its sign.

“Here is my recommendation.”

“Oh...”

Stepping through the door, one could see weapons hanging from the walls, exactly as one would imagine when mentioning a Weapon Shop.

There were also other necessities for adventuring, such as complete suits of armor.

“Welcome!”

The shop owner cheerfully greeted as I entered the shop. He was just like I had imagined, someone ultra buff who stood behind the weapon store counter. It would have been rather revolting if the owner was a flappy fatty.

This really is a parallel world.

“Heh... so this is a weapon shop...”

“Oh, a first time customer. It seems that you came in without knowing what you're looking for.”

“Yeah, I was introduced to this shop by her.”

I said while pointing at Mein. She raised her hand and waved back lightly.

“Thanks a lot, Meinu-chan.”[10]

“No problem~ It's simply that Oyaji’s[11] shop is famous around here.”

“Oh ma'am, you’re flattering me. But isn't the outfit of your boyfriend over there a bit weird?”

Right, my current clothes are: "Parallel World's Clothing."

Can’t you see that this is a classy attire, weird dude?

“Oyaji thinks so too?”

“So that means you’re a Hero!? Wow!”

Oyaji took a long, hard look at me.

“He doesn't seem to be very reliable...”

So snide.

“How straightforward.”

Before he even said that, I already knew I was unreliable right now. That’s why I wanted to become stronger.

“You need better equipment.”

“I suppose...”

Hahaha... It’s not the personality but the appearance.

“Are you... that misfit?”

Piki, [12]

I felt like my cheeks were cramping.

Rumors about me seemed to be traveling unexpectedly fast.

Well whatever. Only losers would care.

“My name is Iwatani Naofumi, the Hero of the Shield. I'll be troubling you from this point onward, so please take care of me."

I gave my introduction to Oyaji just in case.

“So, Naofumi. It’s good to hear that I'll have your patronage from now on. Best regards!”

Again, he sure is an energetic one.

“Well, Oyaji. Do you have any good equipment?"

Mein leered at Oyaji as she asked. [13]

“Right... How much do you have to spend?”

“Let me see...”

Mein began appraising me.

“Around the range of 250 Silver Coins.”

We had 800 Silver Coins yet we'll only be using 250... I guess she considered the value of hiring our future comrades.

“Oh? If that’s what you’re looking for, then how about this here?”

Oyaji left the counter, picked up some of the weapons on display, and came back.

“So lad.[14] which one of these do you want?”

“Umm, I have no idea which is good.”

“I would suggest swords since they're good for beginners."

I looked at the swords aligned on the counter.

“These are my new recommendations since they all have blood-clean coating.”

“Blood-clean?”

“It’s a coating which prevents dullness due to gore.”

“Heh...”

I remembered that back in the old world, I once heard that if a knife was used to butcher meat, its sharpness will fade over time .

In other words, the edges of these swords will never dull.

I guess it’s like a “Sharp Sword”.[15]

“From the left we have: Iron, Magic Iron, Magic Steel, and finally Silver. Each of their performance is guaranteed to be top notched.”

Does the material used affect its durability?

These weapons seem to belong in the ore based category.

“There are better weapons around here, but these are the ones which fit your budget of 250 Silver Coins.”

I see.

Console games usually don't have better equipment in the first town. Despite that fact, this place has quite a good line-up.

This world once again resembled an online game. Usually, big countries had better stocks of weapons, this seemed to be the case for this parallel world too.

“Iron Sword, huh..?”

I slowly grasped the sword’s handle.

Ah, it truly was heavy.

I hadn’t thought about the weight since my shield was extremely light. But weapons seemed to be considerably heavy, huh?

So I'll be using this to defeat the monsters...

BACHIN!*[16]

“Ouch!”

A sudden, intense surge of electricity repelled the Iron Sword in my hand and sent it flying.

“Oh?”

Oyaji and Mein were staring alternately between me and the sword with mystified looks.

“What the..?”

I picked up the fallen sword.

No sign of that strange thing happening.

What was all that about?

My previous thoughts returned as I recalled them.

BACHI!*

“Ouchie!”

I glared at Oyaji, thinking he was playing a trick on me. Yet he shook his head repeatedly.

It shouldn't be Mein, but I turned toward her anyways.

“Did you see how it was suddenly repelled?”

Such bullsh*t.

I stared at my palm while thinking about such impossibility.

Then, words began to emerge into my view.

[Violation of Legendary Weapon’s Convention: you had touched another specialized weapon with the intent of possession.]

What the fuck?

I quickly located the help option to summon up the description.

Found it!

[Excluding their own Legendary Weapon, the Hero cannot equip any other weapon for combat purposes.]

What did you say!?

My benevolent self couldn't use anything else besides this shield!?

How in the world could I fight with only a shield? [17]

“Etto. Thanks, but it seems that my shield is the possessive type.”[18]

I laughed bitterly while looking up.

“How does it function? Can I take a look?”

Seemed Oyaji had taken an interest in my shield as he held it up with his hands.

It'll never come off because such a method doesn't exist.

The Weapon Shop’s Oyaji chanted something under his breath, then a small ball of light flew towards the shield.

“Fumu. Even though it looks like a Small Shield, there's something mysterious about it...”

“Ha, did you find out anything?”

I know that it’s a Small Shield.

It was also called by that name in my Status window, with the (Legendary Weapon) tag attached to it.

“Probably this jewel engraved in the middle? I can sense a strong source of power from there. While I could somewhat identify it through my Appraisal magic... I couldn't fully grasp it. It seems to be a type of curse.”

After finishing his appraisal, Oyaji faced me while playing with his trademark beard.

“You've shown me something interesting. Then do you want to buy some armor instead?”

“Yes please.”

“You’re buying armor instead of weapons within the 250 silver coin range, then I guess this armor will do.”

Since I already possess a shield, it doesn't seem like I have many other options.

Oyaji brought back several pieces of armor that were on display.

“The full plate armor isn't very popular with adventurers since it’s quite chunky, a chain mail would provide better movement.”

With that said, I reached out towards the chain mail.

Jing-a-ling...*[19]

Looks like cloth sewed with metal chains.

This seemed fine. But I wondered if it only increases the defense of the protected areas?

Huh? An icon opened.

[Chain Mail Defense Power Up Tolerance against enemy’s slash attack (small)]

Fumu fumu, the sword’s description didn't pop up before since I couldn't equip it.

“How much is this worth?”

Mein asked the shop owner.

“At a discount, it'll only be 120 Silver Coins.”

“Should I buy it?”

“Hm? I suppose... if it’s still relatively new, I guess I can resell for 100 Silver.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Since this is indispensable for Shield Hero-sama's [20] growth, I just want to reconfirm the price, that’s all.”

That makes sense... I’m only at Lvl 1, but I'll have to upgrade my equipment as I grow stronger after all.

This seemed like low-level gear, but it was also the best I can get in my current state.

“Okay then, I'll be buying this.”

“Thank you! I'll be sure to give you a bonus for next time!”

The shop owner expressed his thanks while sending me words of gratitude. 120 Silver Coins was handed over and the Chain Mail was obtained.

“Do you want to put it on now?”

“Yep.”

“Then please come this way.”

I was led to the changing room, and I donned the Chain Mail over my undergarments.

My old clothes were put inside a bag provided by the shop owner.

“Oh, don’t you look quite handsome now.”

“Thanks a lot.”

Keep the compliments coming.

“Then shall we go hunting now, Yuusha-sama?”

“Okay!”

Looking like a true adventurer, I loudly exited the shop while Mein accompanied me.

We then headed over to the gate, about to leave the castle walls.

On the way, the guard knight bowed to me and I happily returned it with a nod.

The start of my exciting adventure was about to begin.