We arrived at the
As always, the building had a quiet yet solemn atmosphere.
"You must be the Shield Hero."
A sister approached us with the same suspicious look she'd given us last time.
"Yeah..."
"What brings you here today?"
"I want to do a Class Up."
"Then... please submit fifteen Gold Coins per person."
Fifteen Gold Coins each!? No matter how you slice it, that's way too expensive!
The sister's expression didn't change, but her eyes were smiling.
Was she planning to mock us when we couldn't pay?
"Fifteen Gold Coins, huh."
Reluctantly, I held out the bag containing thirty Gold Coins' worth of gold for
The sister's face immediately changed, and she retrieved some documents from reception.
"...The Shield Hero is prohibited."
"What!? What does that mean!?"
"By the King's direct orders, Class Up permission for the Shield Hero's party has been denied."
That bastard King! He actually went and pulled this kind of bullshit on me!
So he demands an outrageous Class Up fee, and then when we scrape together the money, he denies us the permission? Give me a break!
If I can't level up, what am I supposed to do!
I'm supposed to be able to change jobs—what kind of hardcore playthrough is this where you can't even do that!
"Don't screw with me!"
"It's the rules. Besides, from the very beginning, the Shield Hero was already... no, never mind."
"From the very beginning, what!?"
When I flew into a rage, several knights emerged from behind the reception area.
"Tch! Fine, I get it!"
Striding hard and making a loud show of it, we left the Dragon Hourglass.
Unbelievable. How far is this country going to go to make my life miserable!
"Now then, what do we do?"
Raphtalia murmured with a troubled look. She was right—this was a big problem.
"Hey, hey, what was that hourglass thingy?
"Deal with it."
Still fuming, I pulled up my help menu.
...I found the Class Up entry.
Class Up is a ceremony that expands the potential of members who have become the Hero's companions.
Please go to a Dragon Hourglass in the country.
It is recommended to raise your level until you have ★s before doing so.
Heroes have no growth limit.
So that's it—Heroes don't have a growth limit restriction...
Which means I'm the only one who'll go above level forty.
But this is seriously frustrating!
If I can't get Raphtalia and the others to Class Up, there's going to be a problem with our offensive capabilities.
"What should we do..."
"Forget it, let's put this on hold for now."
Fortunately, we hadn't planned to do any grinding before the Wave anyway, so we could think about it after that.
I even considered the option of entrusting Raphtalia and the others to an adventurer who might have a Class Up introduction letter, and having them do it.
Money talks—surely we could make something work.
But right now, we didn't have time.
Besides, it'd be a pain to search for one anyway.
Come to think of it, the Slave Merchant had a slave over level forty. I'd been planning to stop by when we went to buy Filo's weapon, so I might as well go.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
What the heck?
When I turned around, Motoyasu and his party were pointing at me and closing in.
"You! What the hell are you thinking!?"
"What are you talking about? Don't try to drag up some weird grudge."
"Don't play dumb! You know exactly what I'm talking about. That fat bird—you're the one who owns it, aren't you?"
Fat bird... He means Filo.
"Now that you mention it, how's your crotch doing? Still intact?"
"I thought it was gonna be destroyed, you son of a bitch!"
"Wh-what...!? You mean it wasn't destroyed!? How the hell!?"
He wasn't destroyed!? What a joke!
Getting kicked with that much power and still being functional—how is that even possible?
"You betrayed our expectations."
"You damn—"
"I have nothing to do with this! What do you mean his crotch was going to be destroyed!?"
Raphtalia asked with exasperation.
Come to think of it, Raphtalia hadn't witnessed the glorious moment when Motoyasu got sent flying.
"Why are you looking at me with such pity in your eyes?"
"It was actually a pretty satisfying moment, you know?"
"I'm glad I didn't see it!"
"Enough! Just bring out that fat bird! I'm gonna kill it!"
"I can't just bring it out on demand. What happened anyway? That time was your own fault for getting too close."
"Don't you play coy with me!? That fat bird knocks me flying every time it sees me!"
Hmm? What is he talking about?
Some kind of grudge, maybe?
"What exactly are you talking about?"
"Your ugly fat bird—it keeps plowing into me every time we run into each other!"
I looked at Filo.
And Filo said: "Yep. I kicked him every time I saw him."
"Well, well. Good job."
"Hee hee!"
"Why are you praising her!?"
I patted Filo's head.
Then I looked at Motoyasu and noticed his equipment was getting flashier, but more importantly, he was wearing a protective cup on his crotch.
That's hilarious! He's traumatized!
I burst out laughing.
"AHAHAHA!"
"Cut it out, you bastard!"
"That's right! A lowly Shield Hero like you harassing Motoyasu-sama is just wrong!"
What are these lackeys even saying?
That damn woman was also red in the face, condemning me.
This felt great.
"Master Naofumi has the freshest smile I've ever seen..."
"You—!"
Motoyasu clenched his fist and grabbed my collar, but just then— "Master—Filo's hungry—"
That bird had no sense of timing at all.
Motoyasu's gaze snapped to her.
Click.
He froze, locking eyes with Filo.
...What's wrong?
"Thiiiis is the one!"
The moment he looked at me, he threw a telegraphed punch straight at my face, but I saw it coming, caught his fist, and held it.
"What do you think you're doing? If you want to fight me, use your spear."
"Young lady, you have to run! This man is incredibly dangerous!"
That Motoyasu was desperately trying to play the dashing hero in front of Filo.
The same fat bird he'd been screaming about killing just moments ago.
Oh, right—she was in human form now.
I guess because by default she's a beautiful girl? That's so Motoyasu.
"Ehh? Master isn't dangerous at all?"
"Master!?"
Motoyasu's face flushed with rage.
"Another slave, are you!?"
"No, forget that—what's with you? Are you really interested in any girl, no matter what?"
"Of course not!"
He made some grand declaration.
"I've never seen such a perfect woman..."
"...Huh?"
"I never thought a girl like Freon-chan from the Demon Continent in Makai Daichi actually existed!"
Who the hell is that.
...A game character, no doubt.
Come to think of it, Filo's appearance was exactly the typical pure angel girl you'd find in games from my world.
"I'm totally an angel otaku..."
"Shut up! I don't want to know about your sexual preferences!"
"Best isekai ever!"
Motoyasu was at peak excitement.
His lackeys, on the other hand, looked more sour by the second.
He was completely unrecognizable from the furious man he'd been just moments ago.
Then his expression suddenly turned sharp as he looked at Filo.
"Young lady, what's your name?"
"I'm Filo!"
"Don't answer him so honestly!"
That Motoyasu was putting on his most affected charm, gently reaching for Filo's hand.
"She's making you pull a carriage like a draft horse, isn't she? Let me rescue you from that."
"Well, I do make her pull the carriage like a draft horse."
I had to admit that much. It was her race, after all.
"I've been making you pull a heavy carriage practically every day for over a month."
I mean, she gets loud if I don't, so...
"You—!"
Motoyasu was being annoying.
I didn't have time for this either. I wanted to move on already.
"Let Filo-chan go!"
"Not again, you!"
So Raphtalia didn't work out, and now it's Filo?
Are you that desperate to steal my subordinates!?
Motoyasu unleashed killing intent and pointed his spear at me.
That was when— "Stop it, Master!"
Filo furrowed her brows and confronted him.
"It's okay, Filo-chan! I'll save you!"
He's not listening to a word anyone says.
He's completely off the rails.
"You called Filo ugly. You called her a fat bird."
"Naofumi! How dare you say that to a young lady!"
"You're the one who said it. Those are the words you kept screaming at Filo. You even said you'd kill her."
"Huh?"
He made a face like he had no idea what I was talking about.
Even though he'd actually said it.
"Just stop making excuses and—"
"Filo will protect Master!"
With a heavy thud, Filo transformed back into her true form.
"Huh? W-what?"
Filo drove her powerful leg straight into Motoyasu's crotch.
"Ahhhhhhhh—"
I saw it clearly. Motoyasu, frozen in confusion, went into a corkscrew spin and flew over ten meters through the air.
The protective cup shattered into pieces on top of that.
"Oof!"
So was it destroyed this time?
Nah, probably fine. The cup was there to absorb the blow.
"Now then, enough with the idiot. Let's get moving."
Raphtalia was pale-faced and muttering to herself, but oh well.
Even his own lackeys were too disgusted to try to help him.
Man... that unpleasant feeling from earlier has lifted a bit.
I should give Filo a reward for that.
"Alright, let's head to the Slave Merchant's place now."
Filo, back in human form, looked nervous.
"You're going to sell Filo?"
"I'm not selling you—relax. It's a reward."
She'd been kicking that Motoyasu every time she saw him, and she'd just landed a knockout blow. I had to give her something.
"I'll buy you that equipment you wanted."
"Yay! And food too!"
"Absolutely. I'll definitely feed you."
"Then I want Master's cooking!"
"Deal. That's a special treat."
"Yay!"
Filo cheerfully started skipping along.