Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (LN) - Volume 11 - Chapter 4

Chapter Four: A Shield to Protect the Shield 

Filo had gone to see Melty, and Rishia was in her own room trying to decipher the manuscripts we’d gotten from Kizuna and the others. I had the night to myself. Having some peace and quiet felt nice. I started compounding medicines to sell later, and after several moments there was a knock on my door. 
“What is it?” 
The door opened and standing there in the doorway was Atla. Yes, the same Atla that had just been practically dragged off by her brother to their residence. 
“I, umm . . . I want to sleep with you.” 
“What happened to your brother?” 
Knowing him, I’d never hear the end of it if he found Atla sleeping with me. That was not something I wanted to deal with. 
“Brother is out cold. So . . . I’d like someone to talk with while falling asleep. Please, Mr. Naofumi.” 
Out cold ? That spaz? Don’t tell me she had actually physically knocked him out . . . No, surely not. She seemed far too innocent to do something like that. It was nice that she seemed to like me, but I wasn’t sure I liked the thought of her sleeping in my bed. Having my blanket stolen once was more than enough. I knew I probably needed to let that go already, but I still didn’t feel like sharing my bed, regardless. 
 
“No.” 
“Fine. I’ll sleep in front of your house, then.” 
“Why would you do that?” 
“Because I don’t want to sleep anywhere else.” 
What was with this kid? Was she going to be Sadeena #2? She showed no sign of giving up. 
“Okay, fine. You can sleep in Raphtalia’s bed.” 
“Understood.” 
I decided to take advantage of the fact that Raphtalia wasn’t here and motioned for Atla to come in. I couldn’t help but wonder if Fohl was alright. I’d go check on him after Atla fell asleep. Once Atla came into the room, I showed her to Raphtalia’s bed and helped her get tucked in. 
“Are you not going to sleep, Mr. Naofumi?” 
“Not yet. I have to make medicines for us to sell.” 
Our medicine sales had been booming lately. I was using my shield to make the medicines, but production was still falling behind. Pretty soon I’d have to get serious about teaching the slaves how to make medicine. I wanted to get things set up so that the village had a steady flow of income, but we still needed more people to make that happen. I’d arranged for the medicines to be sold in the neighboring town as well, but our supplies couldn’t keep up with demand. We could always sell the medicinal herbs themselves, but none of them were worth that much. 

I’d managed to unlock most of the herb-related shields, since I’d been purchasing a wide variety of plants from all over the place. They’d enabled me to identify and analyze poisons, increase the effectiveness of those poisons, and increase my resistances to them, but not much else. 

“I can see that you’re a hard worker, Mr. Naofumi.” 
“Only because I want money.” 
“But . . . I can walk now thanks to that.” 
“. . .” 
Something didn’t feel right about having my selfish motivations spun around and interpreted as good intentions. The room fell silent. 
I wasn’t quite sure how to interact with this kid. She didn’t try to push her ideals off on me like Raphtalia. Instead, it was like she just openly accepted anything and everything I said. It frightened me to think what might happen if I said something like, “Alright! Spread your legs!” I had a feeling she’d happily comply, and probably even try to jump on top of me. 
Just like Sadeena. Just like Sadeena! Except the scary thing about that woman was that she’d probably try to do the same thing without me even saying anything. She hadn’t tried yet, but considering the way she acted, it could happen at any time. Shit . . . I hadn’t realized how dangerous being alone with Sadeena was until just now. I felt shivers going down my spine. 
“Mr. Naofumi.” 
“Huh? What?” 
“I was talking to Raphtalia. She told me that she serves as your sword to defeat your enemies for you.” 
“Pretty much.” 
I couldn’t do anything except defend myself and others. That was the shield’s limitation, and it had been that way ever since I set foot in this world. 
 
“Raphtalia goes to great lengths for me, and I know I can depend on her.” 
Raphtalia was working hard to put an end to the waves, for the sake of this world. Seeing how hard she tried made me want to try, too. All else aside, there was no one I trusted more than Raphtalia in this world. 
“When I look around the village, I can sense that everyone here is protected under your wing.” 
“My wing, huh?” 
Was that like a baby chick being protected by its mother’s wing? That would make the village . . . a bird’s nest. Filo suddenly sprung to mind. 
“The villagers are all under your protection, waiting for their time to leave the nest.” 
“Leaving the nest is all well and good, but ultimately the villagers are the ones that need to protect the village. There will be consequences otherwise.” 

This village was Raphtalia’s home. Once we rebuilt it, Raphtalia would have a place in this world even when I was gone. Even if I went back to my own world, she would still have Keel and Sadeena. I planned on leaving Filo in Melty’s care. Everyone loved Raph-chan, so she would probably end up sticking around as the village mascot or something. I was confident the village would last for a long time to come. If anyone—organization, country, or otherwise—were reckless enough to try to destroy the village built by the hero that saved the world, they were as good as dead. 
 
“In my time here at the village, I’ve heard about all of the amazing things you’ve accomplished. It truly is . . . impressive, what you’re doing. You should be proud. Despite all of the hardships you’ve faced, you’ve persevered and overcome them all. I admire you, Mr. Naofumi.” 
“Oh, umm . . . thanks. I’m not one to be modest, but I guess I have come a long way.” 
“That said, who is it that protects you, Mr. Naofumi?” 
“Huh?” 
What was she talking about? Protect me? Why? Why would she be talking about protecting me, of all things? Didn’t she realize she was talking to the Shield Hero? How dense could someone be? Although, it was true I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the help of plenty of others. I couldn’t forget that. 
“Plenty of people do.” 
Raphtalia, Filo, Melty, the queen . . . All of them had given me a hand at times when my position or my life had been in danger. 
“Here’s what I think. If Raphtalia is your sword, then I want to be the shield that protects you.” 
“Shield, huh? It’s really not as great as it sounds.” 
Being someone’s shield and always defending that person really didn’t feel all that great. Why do I have to defend this person? The thought had crossed my mind time and again. It was painful at times, too. But if I worried about that, I’d only end up losing and creating friction. Even so . . . Knowing that I was protecting Raphtalia, Filo, and all the people I cared about outweighed the unpleasantness of it all. 
 
But still . . . Be my shield? She’d sure come up with a lofty goal. I guess it was because she had spent her whole life being the one protected by someone else. She’d probably idealized the role of protector. It was like saying if Raphtalia was my right arm then she would be my left. Still . . . I did appreciate the thought. 
“How about you save that line for when you’re actually strong enough to pull it off.” 
“Understood. I will become strong enough, no matter what. I will begin tomorrow. I’ll do my best!” 
“Good. I’m counting on it.” 
Before I knew it, Atla had begun snoring. Sheesh . . . So that was what she wanted to talk about? 
“Now then . . .” 
I picked Atla up and carried her to the house where Fohl was sleeping. And he really was sleeping. 
“Hey!” 
“Zzz . . .” 
“Seriously? Zzz? This isn’t a manga! Wake up!” 
“Wha?!” 
I laid Atla on the bed and took the freshly woken Fohl outside to talk. 
“You need to look after your sister better. She showed up at my place saying she wanted to sleep with me.” 
“She . . . she what?! That means . . . Atla already . . . Noo!” 
 
Fohl was glaring at me like I’d murdered his parents or something. I activated his slave curse and scolded him. 
“You think I’d do that?!” 
“You bastard! Are you trying to say that Atla isn’t attractive?!” 
“Oh, hell! Stop being difficult! I have no interest in that kind of thing!” 
“Liar! Nadia was hanging all over you, and you’re surrounded by women!” 
Ugh . . . I couldn’t deny either of those things! I’d given up on any fantasies that included surrounding myself with women long ago! I was getting the feeling it was time to start being more careful about whom I ran around with. But then I remembered I’d never cared whether my companions were male or female. 
“They could all be men for all I care. Gender makes no difference to me.” 
“Wh . . . what?! Are you saying that you’re . . .” 
Fohl turned pale and started backing away. He had obviously misunderstood. I’m sure he probably thought I was gay, now. 
“I’m not into that kind of thing! Stay away from me!” he shouted. 
“Neither am I!” 
These siblings sure were a pain in the neck! Still . . . be my shield? She was a strange one, for sure.