I headed to the church standing in a conspicuous part of the
"S-Shield Hero!?"
I was welcomed with an incredibly sour look on their faces.
Even so, did they really have to reject me that much?
Was it because the charges were suspicions of rape that even entering the church was off-limits?
"There's no need to panic."
A man who appeared to be the priest, with a calm demeanor, scolded the nun wearing that sour expression.
...Something felt off, but whatever.
"What business brings you to our church today?"
"Yeah, one of my companions has been hit by a nasty Curse. I'd like to obtain some powerful Holy Water capable of breaking it."
They hadn't done anything to me, so for now I'd deal with them normally.
There was something like a price list hanging on the wall.
"Then an offering, please."
I could read the price tags, but I'd ask just to check.
"How much?"
"For Holy Water, the cheapest starts at 5 Silver Coins, then 10, 50, and 1 Gold Coin — the price goes up depending on the effect."
Hmm... They weren't gouging me.
I'd been ready to punish them if they tried, but...
"Negotiating prices in front of God feels wrong, so I'll take the strong one for 1 Gold Coin."
"That won't do, Sir Naofumi. Such an expensive item—"
"It's fine. I told you before, didn't I? I value you. Compared to
"Ah, thank you very much!"
Ignoring Raphtalia who was expressing her gratitude, I pulled out a Gold Coin and handed it to the priest.
"I understand."
The priest instructed the nun to bring a bottle filled with Holy Water.
...Appraisal skill activated, checking the quality.
Low-Grade Holy Water.
Quality: Poor.
I narrowed my eyes and glared at the priest.
The priest looked at the Holy Water, and his expression changed.
"Why would you bring something of such poor quality?"
"But—"
"God is merciful. If this is an act of self-righteousness meant to satisfy your own sense of justice, repent immediately!"
"I—I am truly sorry!"
"I'm sorry about that. Our church members caused a discourtesy."
"As long as you bring something that matches the price in the end, I won't complain."
"We are grateful for your mercy."
The priest personally brought the Holy Water.
I checked it once more.
Curse-Breaking Holy Water.
Quality: High.
"That should do."
I accepted the bottle of Holy Water.
"Is that water really that tasty?
"Don't drink it. This is Raphtalia's medicine. You're not having any problems, right?"
"Yep! Filo's always healthy!"
"Then you don't need it."
"Huh?"
Ignoring Filo who was tilting her head in confusion, I addressed the priest.
"I appreciate it. Also, tell the nun at the
"I understand. That is most unbecoming of a believer."
"...Right. See you."
"May God guide you."
Personally, I thought the priest was a solid guy.
If there were more people like him, this country would be a better place.
With that thought, I left the church.
"Oh! There they are!"
The moment I stepped outside, for some reason Itsuki, Ren, and their entourage came running toward us.
What the hell do these guys want?
What were all of them doing in the Castle Town at the same time?
Itsuki wasn't wearing his usual low-quality gear — today he was dressed nicely.
When I looked at them with a displeased expression, Itsuki unusually took the lead and spoke first.
"It was you, wasn't it?! You impersonated me and stole the reward for the quest I completed!"
"Huh!?"
Why would I need to steal the reward from Itsuki's quest?
"Same here. You swooped in and took the reward from the quest that came to me."
Ren glared at me and declared with accusatory eyes.
This one I actually did have some involvement with — it must be about the time I had him deal with the plague village problem.
"The one with Ren, sure. But Itsuki, I don't know anything about yours."
"Are you playing dumb!?"
"I don't know what I don't know."
"Wait, wait. We should explain things first. Otherwise Naofumi won't confess."
"Don't talk to me like I'm already the culprit!"
"Did Master do something?"
"I didn't do anything! I have no idea what you're talking about!"
While trying to calm Filo and Raphtalia, I glared at Itsuki and Ren.
"Anyway, explain the situation."
"I'll go first."
Itsuki began recounting what happened.
He had taken on a quest to investigate and subjugate lords causing trouble in the region north of the capital. As usual, he sent one of his companions — a conspicuously armored one — to the guild that handles national quests to collect the reward.
However, when the companion went to claim the reward for the Bow Hero's completed quest, they were told it had already been paid out. Itsuki then concluded that I was the person capable of pulling something like this and came to confront me.
"Look, General... You seem to have a hobby of hiding behind someone's shadow, defeating villains, and then revealing your true identity to shock people. But do you realize that if you keep everything completely secret, rumors about the Hero's accomplishments never actually spread?"
"G-General?! What are you talking about?!"
"You walked around pretending to be an adventurer with a sword strapped to your waist. Right, General?"
Itsuki, seemingly guilty, was flustered and yelling at me. Yes — this was exactly the kind of problem that arose from Itsuki's approach to his quests.
No one could identify what the Bow Hero looked like or what kind of exploits he performed.
As a result, the Heroes getting positive attention in the country were the Sword and Spear Heroes.
"I'm actually really amazing, you know" — no matter how much you said that, it never translated into actual recognition.
Sure, secretly judging evil is cool, like something out of a hero story, but it gains zero public recognition.
I was still a college student, but I understood that once you entered the real world, you had to protect your own achievements. In Itsuki's case, even if something was his accomplishment, if someone else loudly declared they did it, no one would believe him because of his usual attitude.
Besides, that type of hero wasn't defeating evil in secret for money or fame, were they?
...Painful topic. In the sense of being a saint.
"The quest you solved — would it get attributed to the Bow Hero? From what I heard, the only one I can pin on you is the town with the high taxes. I was there at the time."
"That's because I keep it a secret."
"Then let me confirm. The Bow adventurer who aided the resistance in the eastern country — was that you?"
"Y-Yes! I overthrew the tyrannical king alongside the resistance."
"...Do you know what happened to that country after?"
"The bad king was defeated, so it must have prospered."
"It didn't! I snuck in to buy food through barter, and people were so starved they were practically dying!"
"How?! Why?!"
"Look, the king may have been bad, but the whole country was already in a famine. People couldn't sustain their lives. In a state like that, people just lose their minds."
"That has nothing to do with me. Don't change the subject!"
Ugh... Irresponsible... At least feel a little bad about it.
"Anyway, let's get back on track. Your subordinate handled the pickup, right? Can you verify that with your subordinate?"
"Y-Yes! Of course I can!"
"The guild, right? Does the receptionist or whoever have any proof that they're your subordinate?"
"Th-That... would be a certificate! A certificate stamped by the king's own seal!"
Itsuki declared with a face full of confidence.
What is he even talking about?
"It's a certificate made with special techniques! It can't be easily forged!"
"Then if I haven't received one, I couldn't forge it either."
"Guh!"
Itsuki, his weak point struck, clicked his tongue.
"Th-Then it's the weapons!"
Now it was a desperate excuse... He really wanted to pin this on me somehow.
"The ability to casually change shape is a privilege exclusive to Heroes! It transformed into a bow-like shield, and he used that to impersonate me without a certificate!"
"Is that so? Something like that might exist in this world too."
"Wh-Where's the proof for that?!"
"Filo."
"What is it?"
"Transform into your real form."
"Okay."
Filo transformed into her true form.
At that moment, the dress Filo had been wearing vanished, and the remaining ribbon became a collar. I pointed at the collar.
"See!?"
"Can you tell? In a world where you can create equipment like this, there might be items that change shape into a bow. Also, it's not just me — the other Heroes could probably do it too."
"B-But—"
"Itsuki, give it up. With the current evidence, you can't prove Naofumi is the culprit."
Ren stepped in front of Itsuki, who was still determined to blame me, and warned him.
"Did you even ask anyone what the impersonator looked like?"
"N-No... That's..."
Ren's question made Itsuki dodge the answer.
"Then you have no choice but to give it up. Try promoting the fact that you're a Hero a little more. Next is my turn."
"The plague in the eastern region, right?"
"If you know that, this'll be quick. Why did you take the quest?"
"Because I was on site. Didn't you know? The corpse of the dragon you killed was the cause of the plague spreading!"
"What!?"
Ren was standing there dumbfounded, at a loss for words.
What was that reaction? I'd thought he'd be colder about it.
"Apparently quite a few people died. There was a brand-new graveyard behind the shelter. If I hadn't been there, even more would have died."
"That's absurd..."
Ren staggered, turning to head east.
"Wait, wait! If you go now, it'll be too late. What about the Wave?"
"But, it was because of me—"
"I already removed the dragon corpse. I worked together with the local healer to resolve the plague for those who were infected. Even so, you're saying I stole the quest?"
"Is... Is that so... Then it can't be helped."
Ren's face had gone completely pale.
"You believe him!?"
Itsuki said to Ren with a bewildered expression.
"There's no reason for him to lie. And the quest was completed, so it was canceled. That means there's nothing wrong with what he said."
"When the dragon corpse became a Dragon Zombie, that was quite a surprise. Raphtalia got hit by a Curse during that fight."
I wasn't lying. It was because of me, but still.
"Oh, so that's why you were coming out of the church."
Ren shifted his gaze to the bandaged Raphtalia and replied.
"I hope you recover quickly."
...Surprising. I'd thought Ren was a colder person, but when it came to problems caused by his own actions, he seemed to have a weakness for them.
I used to think that weakness was a flaw.
"Why did you leave the dragon corpse there?"
"That was... One of my companions suggested leaving it so other adventurers could harvest materials, and I thought it was a good idea."
Come to think of it, that village had reportedly prospered for a time.
"They told me to leave the village and the adventurers to handle it..."
"This time, make sure you properly dispose of corpses. Corpses rot. When they rot, they risk attracting disease. At the very least, dispose of the organs and flesh."
"Right..."
I felt a little deflated.
But still, that village hadn't said a single word about any of this.
So they'd been hiding the part where they were at fault... Well, maybe that was their own karma.
"I don't believe him, by the way."
Itsuki was even more persistent than Ren.
"I will absolutely find proof."
"Yeah, go ahead. But don't fabricate anything. And if you find the real culprit, don't interrogate them with stuff like 'Did the Shield Hero ask you to do it?' They'll just agree because of my bad reputation."
"...What do you mean?"
"Bandits attacked, so I fought them off — and apparently they planned to spread the word in town that I was the one who attacked them."
"Th-That's..."
"Same as you, isn't it? General, you should learn to see through lies."
Even Itsuki seemed to feel some pity at the severity of my bad reputation, because he was looking at me with an irritatingly sympathetic gaze.
Why did I have to be looked at like that?
"For now, I'm putting this matter on hold."
"Do that. I'm not the culprit."
Honestly, I hated being falsely accused!
Don't just assume everything is my fault!
With irritated attitudes, Itsuki's group left, and Ren departed as well, looking somewhat uneasy.
"Well, let's get going."
Today was an unlucky day. All sorts of things happened to me.
As expected, I never caught a break in the Castle Town under that scummy king's jurisdiction.
Let's head to the inn quickly.