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Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter 8




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Chapter Eight: Karma 

The next morning, we left to go leveling once the sun had climbed over the horizon. 

We’d agreed to go out hunting with L’Arc and Therese the day after that. 

It’s not like I felt like we needed to be prepared for leveling with them, just that I wanted to work on leveling anyway—while we had the time. 

Besides, leveling was fun. 

Oh yeah, that’s right. When I’d been trying out the weapon copy system at the old guy’s shop, I’d learned a pretty neat skill. 

It was called Hate Reaction. 

“Hate Reaction!” 

Nothing seemed to happen. I turned my head in confusion. Filo blinked. 

“Master! There’s some kind of nastiness coming from you. It’s flying out in all directions.” 

That was Filo’s assessment. At first I hadn’t understood what was happening, but now I was starting to get it. 

All the monsters in the area had turned their eyes on me and were creeping in my direction. 

Even the ones that other adventurers had been battling with. 

The skill seemed to affect an area extending about 15 meters in all directions. 

 

Even the monsters that had learned to stay away from us on the previous day were now creeping in my direction. 

It was the sort of skill that would be a burden on everyone if I used it in a populated area. But what if we were deeper inland . . . ? 

If we went into an area that was off-limits to all but the most advanced adventurers, I could probably put the skill to better use. 

I doubt that any normal adventurers would bother to brave the interior of the island. 

Normal people had their level capped at 40. Unless you were a hero, areas like that were likely to be too dangerous. 

It wasn’t like we were sure we could be alone there, but I think that the further inland we went, the less likely we were to run into anyone else. 

I came across something like . . . like skin stretched taught over bones, dried till it was stiff. The further inland we went, the more it felt like a Darwinian battle to survive. I wondered how many adventurers had met their ends there. 

To think that L’Arc and Therese had come looking for us in an environment like this. That must have been a real risk for a normal adventurer. 

So we went on cutting our way through the forest, until we were very deep in the center of the island, when we ran into a new monster, the Karma Dog Familia. It was a very large, black dog. 

It reminded me of the large, two-headed black dog that Raphtalia and I had fought a while back. The dog looked like a Doberman. 

 

This one only had one head, but its fur was rough and kind of intimidating. As you might expect, Raphtalia looked a little uncomfortable. 

“You alright?” 

“Yes. There’s no problem.” 

She arranged her fingers and gripped her sword tightly, readying it for battle. 

Slowly, inch by inch, Filo moved in closer to the Karma Dog Familia. 

There was nothing left to do but fight. 

I stood at the front of the group, readied my shield, and dashed at the dog. 

“Gah!” 

The dog opened its mouth wide and clamped its jaws down on my shoulder. 

But I’d powered up recently, and my stats were too high for the dog to deal any damage. 

I ducked my head down and threw my weight forward, pushing the dog back. 

“Ha!” 

“Take that!” 

Raphtalia and Filo didn’t miss the opportunity. They rushed in and attacked. 

“This thing is tough!” 

Raphtalia sunk her sword deep into the dog’s belly, and Filo delivered a brutal kick, tearing the dog’s hind leg clean off. 

 

“ . . . ?!” 

The dog let out an ear-splitting squeal. 

But it didn’t give up. It kept coming at us—at me. Screaming until its last breath, it bit at me. 

I had to admire its tenacity. It was fighting as if it didn’t care for its own life at all. 

It was strong, but it probably had to be to survive deep in the island’s interior. 

“That was one persistent dog.” 

“Yes, it was.” 

“And its bite was really something to contend with.” 

Filo tottered over to the corpse and started snacking on it. 

“Stop that.” 

“Fiiiine.” 

Stupid bird . . . . I knelt down by the dog and absorbed it into my shield. 

Karma Dog Familia Shield conditions met. 

Karma Dog Familia Shield: ability locked: equip bonus: sense of smell up (low): inult status adjustment (small) 

There were a number of other items that appeared in the menu, but I was most drawn to the unlock conditions and the equip bonus. 

Sense of smell up seemed self-explanatory enough. 

 

If I kept increasing my sense stats like this, I wondered if I would turn into a feral creature like Filo. 

Inult . . . . Wasn’t that the name of the monster that had pioneered civilization in the islands? Where was I going to find one of those?! 

The drop item was actually bad luck. There wasn’t one. 

If we met another one I would break it down a bit before absorbing its parts. 

As for experience points, we’d gotten quite a lot when we won. I think it had been worth about 800 points. 

The monsters on the perimeter of the island had been giving us around 90, so this was a big step up. 

“Gah!” 

Huh? Another one appeared. We defeated it, then came across another. And on and on we moved deeper into the island’s interior. 

“Is this the end of the line?” 

“Who knows?” 

We kept on going in the same direction, and the monster’s strength, as well as the points they were worth, continued to rise. 

But our own levels were rising rapidly too. 

I’d reached level 57, Raphtalia was at 59, and Filo was at level 61. 

We were leveling so fast that all our time up until then felt like it had been a waste. Raphtalia and Filo’s stats were also rising quickly. 

“Ugh . . . .” 

Raphtalia was closely inspecting her sword. Then she started moaning. 

 

“What is it?” 

“Nothing. It feels like my sword has lost its core . . . .” 

Raphtalia forcefully swung her sword a few times to check. I couldn’t really tell, but it looked like the blade was bending. The sword itself wasn’t very old. What did it mean? 

“You’ve probably outgrown it.” 

If she kept using it like she was, it looked like it might bend or break. 

I looked over to Filo, only to find that her metal claws were chipped too —the points had nearly broken off completely. 

“What’s happening master?” 

“I don’t know.” 

I had a hunch that Raphtalia and Filo’s power levels had outgrown the durability of their equipment. 

If we were preparing for the next wave, I’d have to give priority to their weapons. If I didn’t we might end up in real trouble. 

For the time being, I had a couple iron swords that had been item drops, so we could use those if there was an emergency—not that they would really be much help. 

It was probably time for us to start relying on custom equipment. We were going to need powerful weapons from this point on. 

“Should I switch to the magic sword?” 

Raphtalia sheathed her sword and switched to the magic sword. 

The sword worked against disembodied enemies, but against normal enemies it only cut through their magic power. It couldn't actually kill a normal enemy, but it could cause them to lose consciousness. 

 

And there was little chance of it breaking. Raphtalia summoned the magic blade, and it appeared there now, extending from the hilt. 

It seemed to be outputting more power than it had before. It was a large blade, and it was crackling with energy. 

“Ah . . . .” 

Raphtalia hurried to switch it off. 

“What happened?” 

“I can’t use it. There’s too much power. The hilt gets too hot to hold. 

“If you’re not careful, you might break it.” 

“Understood.” 

We moved on, deeper into the woods. When we finally arrived at what seemed to be the center, we found a large structure there, a temple of some kind. It reminded me of Stonehenge. It appeared to be ruins. 

In the center of the circle was some kind of sphere. It was like a magic lens. 

“What is this thing?” 

“Who knows?” 

It reminded me of the rifts that appeared in the sky during the waves. I could tell that it wasn’t quite the same thing though. 

“Filo, will you try attacking it for me?” 

“Sure!” 

She jumped forward and kicked the black sphere. 

For a moment, it looked like the whole object warped and bent—but a second later it was back to its original shape. 

 

What could it mean? If it functioned anything like objects in the games that I had played, it would probably only become functional if certain conditions were met. 

Suddenly, a very large dog appeared—and it was covered in black feathers. It was huge, probably five meters from head to tail. 

It was shaped something like a golden retriever. It was large and clumsy looking, but it was still a vicious monster. 

I checked the beast’s name in the menu. It was called a Karma Dog. 

Was it the boss monster of the island? 

It seemed like a reasonable assumption. The Karma Dog Familias that we’d met up until now were probably its underlings. 

“Raphtalia, Filo, let’s go! First Aura!” 

I cast the support magic on them and the battle began in earnest. 

The huge dog lunged at me, its fangs bared. 

“Hya!” 

It opened its mouth wider to bite me, but I threw out my arm and grabbed it by the teeth, pushing the beast back. 

There was a loud, clanging sound, but I’d managed to stop the monster in its tracks. 

Slowly, the fangs sunk into my skin, and peels of pain shot up my arm. 

This beast was clearly much stronger than the other dogs had been. If it could get through my defenses then it must have been pretty damn powerful. 

Granted, I hadn’t finished powering up. Still, I thought that my stats had really improved—and they had—but it still wasn’t enough. 

 

“Hya!” 

“Whoop!” 

Raphtalia’s sword and Filo’s claws bit into the underbelly of the beast. But it wasn’t enough to stop the monster. I couldn’t control its claws, and it turned them on the girls. 

“You won’t get me that easily!” 

“Ha!” 

I hadn’t been able to stop the monster, but I’d apparently slowed it down enough. They dodged its attack easily. 

“WAOOOOOOOOO!” 

The dog howled. As the beast’s voice died down, two Karma Dog Famlilas suddenly appeared from the mysterious sphere! 

Damn. This wasn’t looking good. 

“Raphtalia, Filo! Can you keep this up?!” 

“Yeah!” 

“Not a problem!” 

“Great! Let’s use a combination skill. Filo, watch me!” 

“Okay!” 

I’d seen Motoyasu and the others use combination skills before. It was when you combined magic and a skill to form a stronger attack. 

They normally had better secondary effects than other skills. 

“Filo, are you watching? I’m going to use air strike shield, so you need   to use some wind attack magic at the same time!” 

 

“Okay!” 

Filo closed her eyes and started to concentrate. 

“I’m the source of all power. Hear my words and heed them! Wrap them in a fierce tornado!” 

“Zweite Tornado!” 

As she cast the spell, a list of compatible skills appeared before me. 

“Tornado Shield!” 

A Karma Dog Familia was rushing to attack us, but before it could a massive shield formed of wind appeared in the air before the beast. 

The dog slammed into the shield and was forced to stop. When it did, a huge tornado, one bigger than Filo’s magic could normally produce, shot from the center of the shield and carried the two Karma Dog Familias up into the air. 

Hey now, that was a pretty useful combination! If we could coordinate our attacks like this, we were even stronger than I had thought. 

As for Raphtalia, her magic was normally illusion-based, so it wouldn't work so well as an attack medium. 

We wouldn’t be able to do the same thing, but we might be able to trick the monsters. It would depend on how the combination skill worked. 

“Raphtalia!” 

“I’m on it!” 

“I am the source of all power. Hear my words and heed them! Confuse the enemy!” 

“First Mirage!” 

 

“Mirage Shield!” I used second shield and was able to use another skill while the first was still deployed. 

The tornado disappeared, and the two dogs plummeted to the ground. Before they hit though, another shield appeared beneath them, and they slammed into that shield instead. 

This shield was flexible though. The minute they connected with it, it expanded in a quick puff, completely enclosing them. “Kyan!” The shield disappeared, and the two dogs fell to the ground again, but this time they were upside down, and they landed on their backs. They tottered around, unable to regain their bearings. And then . . . . “Gah!” The two of them barked and growled and started to fight one another! Both of them had probably become confused as to who the enemy was, so they just attacked whatever creature was nearest to them. It looked like the Mirage Shield had an interesting effect on the enemy. “Great! Now’s our chance! Finish them!” “I’m on it!” We tightened our grip on our weapons and turned to face the Karma Dog. 

“Whew.” 

 

We defeated the monster. It kept calling for reinforcements, which caused the fight to drag on a little. 

Luckily we were always able to get the reinforcements to fight among themselves. Raphtalia and Filo had become really powerful in the last few days as well, so eventually we were able to win the battle without too much trouble. 

When the main beast was gone, we took out the remaining reinforcements. Once I was sure that the coast was clear, I absorbed the Karma Dog into the shield and received its drop item. 

I used to be a pretty avid gamer, and those gamer instincts were still alive and kicking inside me. I figured that the Karma Dog had been a boss monster, and boss monsters were sure to leave behind really good drop items. 

For gamers, few things were more coveted than the drop items from bosses. There was a chance it would leave behind a unique, rare, or powerful weapon. 

So I was excited to check out the Karma Dog’s drop. 

Oreikul Ore? I assumed it was something you could use to power up. I felt like I’d seen it somewhere before. 

Huh? 

“Karma Dog Claw?” 

Judging by the name, maybe it was some sort of weapon? I quickly opened the menu to check it out. 

There was a heavy clang, and two black claws jutted out of my shield. 

“What’s that?” 

 

“I already explained it, remember? It’s something the legendary shield can do.” 

“I understand that, but I’ve never seen the shield grow claws like that. I was just surprised.” 

I couldn't fault her for that. 

I examined the claws closer. They were about the size of my palm, so I don’t think they would fit onto Filo’s feet. Again, I opened a menu to read about the item. 

Karma Dog Claw: quality: excellent: additional effects: agility up, magic down, attack up, defense down. 

The stat increases were nothing to turn your nose up at. 

But unfortunately they didn’t seem to have a blood clean coating on them. So if we used them, we’d have to make sure they stayed sharpened. 

Besides, I was concerned about the stat decreases too. 

“Claws?” 

Filo cocked her head to the side. She was intrigued. 

“That’s what it looks like, but . . . .” 

They wouldn’t fit on Filo’s feet. 

“I want to try them out!” 

“I think you’ll have to be in human form.” 

Filo had made a point of staying in filolial form when we were fighting monsters. Fitoria had made a point of telling her that battles went smoothly when you matched the size of your enemy. 

 

“Okay! Them I’m going to try fighting as a human!” 

She turned into her human form and slipped the claws over her hands. 

“Well, if that’s what you want to do, then I don’t have a problem with it. Let’s see if we can find a monster to try them out on.” 

So we walked around in the woods for a short while until we found a monster to fight. 

“Tornado Claw!” 

The second we spotted a monster Filo shouted the attack and started spinning in tight circles in the direction of the Karma Dog Familia. 

“Gah?!” 

The second she made contact, the beast went flying through the air. A moment later, it fell to the ground, shredded into ribbons. 

“Wow Master! These things are SHARP!” 

But the shredded beast didn’t just lie there. Large scars appeared on the body, a black curse of some kind. 

The corpse started to smell, and Filo scrunched her nose up. 

“If I kill the monster with these, then I can’t eat it.” 

“You’re right.” 

They must have been dark-elemental weapons. Either that or they had been cursed. 

“Filo? Can you take those claws off? Do they feel normal?” 

“Huh? What do you mean?” 

She slipped the claws off of her hands like any other weapon. 

 

Apparently they weren’t cursed. 

And the status decreases didn’t seem to bother Filo much at all. 

They seemed safe enough to use, at least until we were able to meet with the old guy at the weapon shop again. 

“Should we have Filo act as the main attacker from now on?” 

“Sure, why not?” 

We finished our little meeting about the claws and spent another two hours in the area. The mysterious sphere in the center of the stone ruins continued to warp and release Karma Dogs. 

It seemed like the monsters were being emitted from the sphere on a set interval. They were reappearing approximately every 30 minutes or so. 

But now that Filo had such a powerful weapon equipped, the fights were even easier than they had been. We were defeating the dogs without much effort. 

We were also getting plenty of experience points, so I’d say we were having a pretty successful day leveling. 

By the way, as we continued to defeat the Karma Dogs I noticed that they were leaving behind claws of all different sizes. With some simple crafting, I was able to make a pair large enough for Filo to wear when she was in filolial form. 

Now she could use the Karma Dog Gloves in whatever form she was in. 

The sun was slanting down in the sky when we made it back to the main island. 

 

I had reached level 63. Raphtalia was at level 65, and Filo was at 67. 

How much further could we level up in the islands? 

Not that you could ever be over-leveled . . . . 

“Hey! How are you all doing?” 

I was mulling over our leveling progress when L’Arc and Therese came walking over. 

“We’re doing well. Leveling really fast. What about you two?” 

“Same. I feel like we’re really sinking our teeth into the monsters out there.” 

“Great to hear.” 

“You know what I heard? I heard that the four heroes are in the islands right now! Everyone is gossiping about it.” 

“ . . . .” 

I didn’t feel like I needed to rehash all this with him. I didn’t want to reiterate that he was standing in front of one of those heroes. 

And besides, L’Arc had already made up his mind that I was pretending to be a hero. He wasn’t going to listen to me no matter what I said. 

“Oh really?” 

I just wanted him to change the subject, so I tried to make it clear that I wasn’t really listening. 

“What sort of gossip?” 

Raphtalia jumped in and took over the conversation. I wasn’t too excited about talking it over with him, so I decided to leave it up to her. 

“Well I heard that the Sword Hero was leveling by himself, and that the Spear Hero was walking around the marketplace trying to pick up girls in the street.” 

Well at least he was talking about the same people that I knew. 

“What about the Bow Hero?” 

Raphtalia chimed, but L’Arc and Therese suddenly looked uncomfortable. They averted their eyes when they answered. 

“Everyone is pissed off, because apparently he’s claimed ownership of some hunting grounds.” 

I figured as much. I shouldn’t have expected him to listen to us. Everything was turning out pretty much as I imagined it would. 

Regardless, none of the gossip was particularly positive. I wondered what a normal adventurer would think when they heard it. 

We were talking it over, when—speak of the devil—the other heroes came walking up. 

“Alright! Let’s head back to the room, shall we?” 

“I guess.” 

“Yes! Let’s rest up and get ready for tomorrow!” 

All three of them were walking together in the direction of the inn. 

“I wonder where the heroes are?” 

“Right? If they’re as crazy as everyone says they are, I’d like to meet them at least once.” 

Didn’t he realize that they were walking right under his nose at that very moment? There was no saving these two—they were as dull as rocks. 

Still, they were friendly enough to hang around with, and peaceful too. I could ignore their faults on account of their strengths. I had sort of started to like them. 

They really were dull as rocks though. 

“Is that so? And what sort of gossip have you heard about the Shield Hero?” 

“I hear he’s a real lush.” 

“Like he’s fancy?” 

“No, like he drinks a lot, Therese. Get with the program, will ya?” 

“One of us needs to get with the program. But which one?” 

“Oh please . . . .” 

A drinker, am I? Was this all because of those little fruits I ate? 

“Besides, the Shield Hero isn’t known for the deeds in the islands. They’ve been talking about him everywhere else!” 

“What have they been saying?” 

“I think we talking about it on the boat ride over here, didn’t we? That he’s a liar, a thief, a conman, a rapist, a demon . . . . I heard he kills anyone that gets in his way.” 

Is that what I looked like to the rest of the world? 

Well, I guess I couldn’t say they were wrong. 

Still, at least half of that stuff was lies the church had spread about me. The rest were probably from Bitch and Trash. 

Raphtalia slapped her hand to her head and sighed. 

“It’s a shame we can’t make the rumors stop.” 

“Raphtalia, sticking up for me are you? I haven’t given up on my more notorious pursuits yet!” 

 

“What are you bragging about?!” 

“Haha!” 

“This is not a joke. This is your reputation we’re talking about here.” 

People had been talking about me that way from the minute I stepped foot in this world. I was getting used to it. 

Still, little by little the rumors were being addressed. Eventually they would die down. 

Only a week or so had passed since our battle with the high priest. I couldn’t expect the whole country to have a change of heart overnight. 

“Ha! Kiddo, are you still pretending to be the Shield Hero? You’d better cut that out.” 

“Oh, right. Sure thing.” 

These two sure were an optimistic bunch, weren’t they? 

“So what are you kiddos going to do next?” 

“I’ll tell you this—we’re not leveling through the night this time. We’ll head back to the inn and try to rest up. I was thinking I might get to work on Therese’s item if I have the time.” 

“Really?” 

“Good thinking, kiddo. So do you want to meet on the docks tomorrow morning?” 

“Sounds good. See you then.” 

“Right on. Later.” 

Raphtalia and Filo waved to them as we parted ways. 

 

“Alright, let’s get some rest. You two head out on the town and enjoy yourselves.” 

“What about you?” 

“I’m just going to rest in the room. I still have that curse to deal with, after all.” 

“Oh? Well then I guess I’ll come with you.” 

“Imma go swimming!” 

“Good idea. Have fun. Raphtalia, are you sure? This is the last vacation we’ll have for a while.” 

“I’m a little worn out from all the battling we did today.” 

That made sense. We had been fighting for two days straight. It was important to get rest. 

Filo went swimming in the ocean and didn’t come back until pretty late. When she got back she was ebullient. The ocean, she said, was super pretty. 

“So I guess this is the day we level up with L’Arc.” 

I had to think about what island we should head for—I didn’t want to overlap with one of the other heroes. 

I didn’t know if it was a real strategy or not, but it sounded like they were moving through the islands in order. Apparently the shadows and envoys from Melromarc were following them and suggesting when it was time to move on. 

That was better for them anyway—they would probably level up faster fighting a variety of monsters. 

 

We walked to the docks and found L’Arc and Therese waiting for us there. 

“Hey, kiddo! How are you all feeling today?” 

“What does it matter, the day hasn’t even started? Oh, Therese—I had a little free time last night, so I went ahead and made the item you requested.” 

I took out the item and tossed it to Therese. 

There had been a mysterious, rough jewel in the pouch they had given me. It was called a starfire, and I couldn’t suppress my curiosity. 

I polished up the raw material and imbued it with magic, but it took me a little while to think of what sort of ore I should mount it to. 

Eventually I settled on the ore I’d gotten yesterday, the Oreikul ore. I brought it to the island blacksmith and had him work it into a band. 

So even though I had just sort of fumbled some materials together, it ended up being a pretty impressive piece.

 

Oreikul Starfire Bracelet: magic power up (max) quality: very good 

“This . . . .” 

Therese looked down at the item and appeared to be at a loss for words. 

“Wow! The stone is overflowing with joy. I never expected so much.” 

Tears welled up in her eyes. 

I didn’t see what the big deal was—it was certainly nothing to cry over. 

Maybe Therese was a little overemotional. 

 

“H . . . hey!” 

“It’s amazing . . . I . . . I really never thought . . . .” 

“Therese! Get a hold of yourself!” 

“L’Arc, can’t you tell? The jewel is overflowing with joy. Overflowing! This is like the door to a whole new world.” 

“Now you’re exaggerating.” 

“This is very impressive work, Mr. Naofumi. You mustn’t hide your talent! Please continue your crafting work.” 

She didn’t realize I already had a job as the Shield Hero. I certainly was no item maker. 

“So . . . about the payment I was promised . . . .” 

Before I could finish the sentence Therese produced a bad of gold and tossed it to me. 

“Hey! Therese! You can’t . . . .” 

“That doesn’t even begin to cover it. L’Arc, give me your wallet.” 

“Therese! Get a hold of yourself!” 

But she wouldn’t be deterred. She started pulling his clothes off to get at the wallet. Pedestrians began to stop and take notice. 

“Calm down! You can just pay me in installments.” 

“Excellent.” 

Therese backed away from L’Arc and nodded her approval. 

I hated women that just took what they wanted from men. 

Still, if she was that impressed with what I’d made I couldn’t help but feel a little proud. Once again, I started to understand how the old guy at the weapon shop must feel. 

 

“Shall we make our way to the hunting grounds?” 

“You know, to get Therese that excited, kiddo, you must be a really impressive item-maker.” 

“I don’t know about all that.” 

I think I’d just had access to good materials. 

“Alright, should we get going?” 

“Oh hey, I almost forgot to mention it—but guess what? We found the Shield Hero.” 

“Oh yeah?” 

L’Arc nodded a few times and went on. 

“Yeah, I knew him the second I saw him. I thought it was pretty much obvious. He looked like the kind of guy that would do anything, if you know what I mean.” 

“You don’t say? Where is he?” 

What kind of person would measure up to the gossip that was out there? Depending on who the guy was, I might have to teach him a lesson. 

“Look, he’s over there.” 

L’Arc pointed over to some people preparing for the hunt. It was Itsuki’s party and L’Arc was pointing to flashy Armor. 

“See what I mean, kiddo? There’s no mistaking him. See how he just oozes self-satisfaction? His face says he wouldn’t mind killing anyone that got in his way. It’s the kind of face that never doubts itself.” 

Give me a break! There WAS a hero there, but it was the wrong one. 

 

“That guy is going to cause trouble at some point or another. Stay on your toes around him.” 

“Can’t disagree with you there.” 

Come to think of it, Itsuki and his party had been causing trouble pretty much since we left the harbor in Melromarc. 

The shadows and soldiers that had come with us all from the castle looked like they were exhausted from dealing with it all. 

“To think you’d be confused with someone like that . . . .” 

Raphtalia looked almost sickened by the suggestion. 

I wanted to tell him how disappointing it was to be put in the same category as Armor, but I was pretty sure L’Arc wasn’t going to be convinced that easily. 

“Well that’s enough chitchat, isn’t it? Should we get going?” 

“Good thinking.” 

I sent them an invitation to join the party, and they accepted. 

“We’ve already picked the island we want to head for, but did you have any other suggestions before we leave?” 

I really hoped they were going to agree with my choice—if they didn’t we might end up running into other heroes. 

“No problem, Shield Kiddo. If you have a place picked out, then that should do fine. We can probably handle ourselves pretty much anywhere.” 

“Yes, I agree. The item you made me can’t wait to get into battle.” 

The item wanted to fight? Uh . . . okay. 

I was a little perturbed by how overly excited Therese was about the bracelet, but I didn’t say anything about it. Instead, I pointed to the island I’d picked out. 

“By the way, L’Arc, what level are you guys?” 

If they had made it up to level 40 then there shouldn’t be any problems. Actually we’d gone ahead and leveled up pretty far on our own, so even if they were lower than that, we should be able to make up for it.” 

But still, no matter how you looked at it, if he was a normal adventurer, then I don’t see how they could have leveled past 40. 

“I’m 56 and she’s 52.” 

Huh? I guess they’d been through the class-up ceremony. If so, there shouldn’t be any problem. 

But they were pretty high level. In a good way, I sort of felt like I’d been betrayed. But it was the sort of betrayal I was happy to accept. 

“What about you kiddos?” 

“I’m at 63, Raphtalia is 65, Filo is 67.” 

“Ha! You guys don’t mess around, do you?” 

“Well we leveled a lot over the last two days.” 

Filo had shot up 27 levels in that time. 

The leveling had been so fast it made my head spin. Sure, the shield helped by keeping the enemies at bay—but still. 

“Let’s talk strategy. What kind of fighting style do you use, kiddo?” 

“A shield is only good for one thing. I stand at the front and block the monster’s attacks. I keep them at bay. Then my friends jump in when they show their weak points.” 

 

“Ha! You’re really into the Shield Hero thing, aren’t ya? But that’s okay, I like the simple folk.” 

“What about you?” 

He had an absurdly large scythe hanging at his waist, but did he really fight with it? 

What a strange weapon to use. I’d seen scythes in games before. They were normally used by death-type characters. I didn’t really know why though. In the real world they were used for harvesting grain, or something like that. 

“Who, me? I use this bad boy right here,” he said, touching the scythe. “Therese mostly sticks to magic.” 

“That’s right. I have to say that I’m really excited to see how this new item works in battle.” 

So I guess L’Arc was the offensive player while Therese backed him up with magic. We’d work together well—my party was pretty skewed towards offense, so I could use help with supporting the others. 

There might be too many people at the front though. Maybe we needed more support in the center. 

The center was basically a space between the frontline and the support group. It was populated by characters that could handle both offense and defense when the need arose. 

The niche could also be filled by people with ranged weapons, so they could stay in the back line and still deal damage. 

Among the four heroes, Motoyasu probably fit the bill most clearly. 

 

If the four of us were fighting together, then Ren and I would be in the front, Motoyasu in the center, and Itsuki would be in the back. 

The center was basically there to protect the back row from any enemies that made it through the first line of defense. Either that or it was there to help support the front when the back wasn’t able to. 

They could really do anything, which was both a blessing and a curse. Motoyasu’s personality, however, pretty much put him at the front. 

“Fine. I’ll stand at the front to stop the enemy attacks. L’Arc and Therese, you help Raphtalia and Filo.” 

That pretty much summed it up. 

If they came at me with weapons or magic though, it wasn’t going to be pretty. 

“Sounds good!” 

L’Arc seemed to be in full support. 

We climbed out of the boat and stepped out onto the shore before pushing for the interior of the island. 

The monsters that we met along the way were not very strong at all, so Filo basically took them out with a single kick the moment that we encountered them. 

For the moment, Filo was fighting in human form. 

I got the feeling that she was practicing her human fighting tactics on purpose, to make sure that she was always prepared. 

“Alright . . . .” 

“What should we do with this monster?” 

 

L’Arc was pointing to the corpse at our feet. “Huh? We could break it down for materials.” Honestly, most of the monsters we’d run into on the islands were not great for materials. And that went double for all the weaklings we ran into on the path deeper into the island. “I was actually wondering if I could take it.” “Hmm . . . .” The drop would be some usable potion of something, which I guess might be a little useful. I was considering it, when L’Arc lowered his weapon and pointed it at the corpse. “We’ll split it then.” And then, just like I did with my shield, he absorbed it into his scythe. “What?” “What’s the matter, kiddo?” He’d absorbed the corpse so naturally—I was speechless for a minute. What was going on? I was pretty sure that was an ability only possible with one of the heroes’ legendary weapons. But L’Arc wasn’t a hero. I knew that he wasn’t, because when we killed the monster I got experience points out of it. What on earth was going on?” “Alright, I’m next.” I held out my shield and absorbed the corpse. I could barely believe it. The queen hadn’t said anything about this either. This world was full of mysteries. 

 

L’Arc had a weapon that processed abilities I’d thought were only available to the heroes and their legendary weapons. 

Actually, now that I thought about it, I didn’t really know very much about normal adventurers. 

There was that transformation ability, I guess. I didn’t know very much about it. Melty had said something about it before, something about the reappearance of the heroes’ skills or something . . . . 

I’d have to make a point to discuss it with the old guy at the weapon shop the next time I saw him. 

If there were weapons that could do THAT, why hadn’t he sold me one? 

Anyway, it was clear that I didn’t have enough information to figure out what was going on. 

“I think we just met someone very interesting, don’t you think?” 

“Maybe so . . . .” 

Raphtalia and I whispered. She was motioning towards L’Arc with her eyes. 

“Filo, you sure are a tough girl!” 

“Hehe! I know I am!” 

L’Arc and Therese were talking to Filo, who had her chest puffed up with pride at her victory. 

I wanted to find out just how powerful these two really were. 

We pushed on further into the interior of the island and encountered a monster called the Karma Rabbit Familia. It was basically a giant black rabbit. If this island was anything like the last one, there would probably be a boss waiting at the end, the Karma Rabbit. 

Should we bring L’Arc and Therese all the way back there? 

Regardless, I needed to focus on the battles that were happening along the way. 

I couldn’t let myself be tricked by the appearance of the cute rabbit. 

Rabbit-type enemies always appeared in games in a tricky way—they always sort of betrayed your expectations of them. 

The first time you ran into them, they’d be one of the lower level monsters that you ran into at the start of the game—like the usapils back in Melromarc. 

But once you got further along in the game, rabbit-type monsters would appear again, but they would normally be way stronger than you would expect from your previous experience. 

I’d run into that in games before. They trick you by looking cute, and then when your guard is down they rush in with a killing move. 

You’d let your guard down, and they’d kick your head from your shoulders. 

The rabbit tensed its powerful hind legs and shot through the air at us. 

I anticipated the attack and raised my shield to block my neck. The rabbit connected and produced a shower of sparks. 

I figured it would do something like that. 

I jumped back and caught the Karma Rabbit Familia as it tried to escape. 

“Everyone watch out! These things are way stronger than they look! 

 

They’re fast too!” 

“Got it!” 

“Understood.” 

L’Arc and Raphtalia signaled that they understood. 

“I’m going in!” 

Filo shot forward and ran for the rabbit. 

Therese was still hanging back. What was she doing? 

“All-encompassing power of the jewel, hear my plea and show yourself. My name is Therese Alexanderite. I am your friend. Lend me the power to destroy them!” 

She was chanting a spell. 

But it was a phrasing I’d never heard before. As she chanted, her hair began to turn red. 

The bracelet on her wrist began to glow, and then a giant ball of flame appeared, hovering before her. 

“Shining stone, ball of flame!” 

Of all the magic attacks I’d seen before this one was the most beautiful. It shot toward the Karma Rabbit Familia. 

But it sucked me into its path of destruction on the way. 

“Mr. Naofumi!” 

Hey! I’m standing here! Why did they have to hit ME with their magic? 

Or so I was thinking, but then something mysterious happened. 

The spell didn’t hurt me. It only affected the rabbit, which burst into flames. 

And when it passed me by unscathed, I heard a voice. 

It was a voice I’d never heard before. I think it said “thank you.” 

By the time I realized what was happening, the rabbit was engulfed in flames. 

I didn’t even feel any heat. And it wasn’t because of my defense level either. The flames didn’t seem to have any effect on me at all. 

To take it one step further, it was almost as if the flames had protected me. The parts of my body that had felt sluggish since the curse suddenly felt lighter, as if they had been purified. 

 

What a strange spell. 

The flames finally burned out, and then L’Arc held his scythe aloft before bringing it down hard. 

“Flying Circle!” 

His scythe transformed into energy and spun rapidly, producing a circle of light that fell on the rabbit, slicing it in two. 

The Karma Rabbit Familia was now definitely dead. 

“Are you alright?” 

“What was that spell you used?” 

“Therese’s magic doesn’t hurt her allies!” 

“Yeah . . . I’d figured that much out.” 

It was a form of magic I had never seen before. 

“The bracelet you made me is very powerful, Mr. Naofumi.” 

“She’s right. I could tell from the minute the spell activated. We could give you all the money we have and it wouldn’t be enough. Thanks a bunch, kiddo.” 

“That’s not really what I meant.” 

L’Arc finally seemed to understand what I was trying to ask. He rubbed his chin and answered. 

“Therese’s magic works by combining her magic with the power of the jewels she wears.” 

“Hm . . . .” 

“I’ve never heard of such a thing.” 

“Oh well, it’s a pretty common type of magic where I’m from.” 

 

“What are you saying Therese? Your magic is . . . .” 

But before he could finish, Therese rushed over and clapped her hand down over L’Arc’s mouth. Then she whispered something in his ear, and he nodded along. 

What were they talking about? 

“Oh . . . .” 

To be fair, I guess we hadn’t been completely upfront with them either, so I couldn't really blame them. 

And besides, we were only going to be sticking around for the duration of the activation event. But if they were as powerful as they seemed to be, then it might be worth keeping them around. 

“These things give tons of experience!” 

“Yeah, they do.” 

For such a short battle, the rewards were great. Each time we defeated a monster, L’Arc and I split the drop items and the corpse. 

I unlocked a few skills, but only one looked interesting. 

Karma Rabbit Familia Shield: abilities locked: equip bonus: alert range (small): usauni status adjustment (small) 

Alert range (small), huh? It was probably something similar to the ability I got from the dogs, the sense of smell up (small). Maybe this ability was even better? 

“You kiddos sure are powerful.” 

 

“Well . . . .” 

If the Shield Hero wasn’t able to block the attacks of enemies, then he really wasn’t good for anything, was he? 

“Actually, L’Arc, I’m pretty surprised by how powerful you guys are.” 

L’Arc seemed to have just about as much attack power as Raphtalia. He was defeating enemies with one hit. 

It seemed like the scythe was normally more portable, but it grew to be really large when it was time for battle. 

It wasn’t a hero weapon. And it wasn’t a replica of a legendary weapon like the high priest had used. It must have just been something I’d never heard of, but what? 

I recalled something the queen had said. She’d said that the heroes were weaker than she had been expecting. 

Maybe this is just what powerful adventurers were like? If so, then what she’d said made sense. 

Anyway, I never got an answer to my questions, and we all moved on deeper into the island. 

As expected, we found a strange Stonehenge-like structure, and in the center was another mysterious sphere, just like the one we’d seen that was protected by the Karma Dog. 

We approached the sphere, and it suddenly warped—just like last time —and a monster appeared. This time it was a Karma Rabbit. 

Its ears were very long, and they moved almost as if they were hands. 

From the look of it, I had an idea of how the battle was going to go. Just like we’d done when fighting the underlings, I’d have to block the sneak attack that it had—only this time I’d have to find some way to deal with those hand-like ears too. 

 

“Boo!” 

In my world, rabbits weren’t known for their voices. But the Karma Rabbit opened its mouth and exhaled sharply, and it certainly seemed to be shouting at us. 

At the same time, huge spikes shot up from the ground all around the Karma Rabbit. 

So it had earth attacks. That wasn’t good. 

“Alright! I’m going to stop that thing in its tracks. Everyone, attack when you get the chance! Got it?!” 

“Yes.” 

“Yeah!” 

“Okay!” 

“Let’s do it!” 

And so the battle with the Karma Rabbit began. 

Throughout the battle, familias kept appearing. They weren’t a significant threat though, and we cut through them pretty quickly. 

The Karma Rabbit had a lot of different attacks at its disposal, and it was a violent and crazy thing. But I was able to restrict its movement enough that its agility didn’t do it much good. We were able to defeat it easily compared to the boss we’d taken on the day before. 

“Whew.” 

 

“I guess that’s that.” 

Raphtalia flicked her sword to knock the blood off of it, but then she stopped to inspect the blade more carefully. 

The blade itself was definitely starting to bend. It probably wouldn’t be long before it broke. 

“You kiddos are . . . .” 

“Huh? What?” 

I felt like he looked at me for a second, considering something carefully. 

“Never mind, it’s nothing. You kiddos sure are tough!” 

“Well I’m pretty impressed with you two as well.” 

They were stronger than I’d expected. Suspiciously so. 

If they hadn’t been with us, that battle definitely would have been a little tougher. 

“Well I’m glad we didn’t disappoint you.” 

“Yeah, yeah . . . . Anyway, what should we do with this thing? Want me to take it?” 

I wanted to see what sort of drop item the Karma Rabbit had been carrying. The Karma Dog’s drop item had significantly increased Filo’s attack power. And because of that, she had probably done the most damage out of anyone in the fight against the Karma Rabbit. 

“Sure, it’s all yours. You guys did most of the work anyway.” 

“Thanks.” 

I absorbed the corpse into my shield. 

Then I checked the drop item. 

 

“Karma Rabbit Sword?” 

I pulled the sword out of my shield. The hilt was black, and it was engraved with a rabbit pattern. It looked like it was part of the same weapon series as Filo’s claws had been. 

Karma Rabbit Sword quality: excellent special effects: agility up, magic down, attack up, defense down 

It seemed to be a very powerful weapon. It must have been just like Filo’s new claws. 

“Raphtalia, try this thing out.” 

“Oh, okay.” 

“What’s up? You got a new weapon?’ 

“Yeah.” 

Raphtalia gripped the hilt and gave the sword a few light swings. 

“It seems to be an excellent sword. I think I can use it for the time being.” 

We spent a little more time leveling up with L’Arc and Therese in the interior of the island. 

By the time we thought about finishing up, we had all gained quite a few levels. 

I had grown to level 70, Raphtalia was at 72, and Filo was at 73. 

We’d leveled up, but it was definitely less efficient than it had been yesterday. I wonder why? Did it mean that we were approaching the appropriate level for where we were? 

There was still so much I didn’t understand about this world. 

It seemed like you could power level if you wanted, but it also sort of seemed like there were level caps on areas. 

Those sorts of systems were different depending on the game you were playing. 

There were MMOs that made it so that you couldn’t level past a certain point if you were battling weaker enemies. 

They called it appropriate leveling, and basically you were only awarded experience points for the battle if your level and the enemy’s level were within a certain range of one another. 

If the system was set up that way, then you couldn’t put characters in your party that were substantially weaker than you were and still expect to be able to level them in difficult areas. 

But when we were raising Filo after she hatched, I never got the feeling that there was a system like that in place here. Just what was going on? 

“Raphtalia, how’s that new sword working out for you?” 

“It’s very light and easy to wield, but I haven’t gotten used to its nuances yet.” 

So apparently it was powerful, but nuanced, and easy to use. 

I wondered if the old guy at the weapon shop could make something like it, if I mentioned that it was part of the “karma series” of weapons. I’m sure he’d need the materials though. 

 

It seemed like I could count on the series for serious attack power though—which was great. 

Still, they didn’t have a blood clean coating, so we wouldn't be able to use them for very long, which was not so great. 

I could always use the whetstone shield on them at night when we were back at the inn. But I had so many shield abilities that I still needed to unlock. I’d have to prioritize that over the sharpening. Maybe I could bring the weapons to the old guy in Melromarc and he could apply a coating to them. Regardless, I’d have to pay him a visit before the next wave. 

Anyway, we leveled up so much so quickly that I hadn’t really figured it all out yet. 

It had all happened so fast that it almost made me anxious. 

I was working to unlock the new shields the whole time, but there were still so many monsters that I hadn’t collected yet, it made me anxious to think that I was going to miss out on something important. 

I had to ignore that feeling. I would just have to wait until the next wave was over, then I could go out in search of new leveling grounds. 

I could probably count on the queen for her assistance too, so I didn’t think that money was going to be an issue. 

But first things first, I’d have to power up as much as I could in the meantime—Raphtalia and Filo too. 

“Had about enough for today?” 

The sun had started to sink low when L’Arc suggested we head back. 

“Huh? Yeah, I guess so. I think it was a pretty good day, all in all. What are you doing tomorrow?” 

 

The Karma Rabbits were not offering us much in the way of a challenge anymore. 

It would have been an easy enough area with just Raphtalia and Filo, never mind L’Arc and Therese. 

I wanted to make sure that we weren’t wasting their time. 

“Oh boy, I think we’ve done just about enough, but it was a great time. I think you guys can handle yourselves tomorrow.” 

“Oh . . . .” 

That was kind of a disappointment. But then again, adventurers typically valued their freedom. 

When it was time to leave the island, I would have to think about inviting them to join the party. 

“Let’s head back then.” 

“Alright.” 

And so we left and went back to the main island. We arrived before sunset was over. 

While we were still in the boat, there were moments of silence where L’Arc and Therese seemed to be ruminating over something. 

What was it all about? Had they realized that I really was the Shield Hero, but they didn’t want to say it? 

I didn’t think so. L’Arc didn’t seem like the kind of guy to hold back from saying whatever he wants. 

“Later, Shield Kiddo. Hope to fight with you again someday.” 

 

“Yeah. And if you run into any spare cash before you leave the islands, come pay me!” We parted ways. It had been an enjoyable time we’d spent together. “That’s the first time we’ve fought on the same side with anyone since we were traveling with Melty.” “You’re right.” “They were very experienced and powerful.” They were. I nodded. They had been surprisingly strong. They were just as strong as we were. If I got the chance, I wanted them in my party. 





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