"Beheaded! Guilty as charged, I say!"
What a piece of trash. Sounds like my answer really riled him up.
"Oh, and don't think a guillotine blade can cut through me."
I shot those words at the knights and the Trash King as they clamored toward me, clanking with every step.
"Did you forget that I'm the one who defeated the enemy that took out the other Heroes during the Wave?"
I answered with a hand resting on my shield.
The knights didn't move a single step forward.
I'm a Hero, after all. Anyone who knew what I'd accomplished in this latest Wave wouldn't dare approach me carelessly.
Even if half of that was pure bluff.
"What are you doing?! Kill that insolent wretch immediately!"
"Hey..."
I glared at the Trash King with a menacing stare and spoke once more.
"Don't you get it? In my current state, I could storm straight through the front gate, kill you, and escape the same way. That's the kind of power I'm working with."
"Guh..."
The Trash King finally seemed to understand his position. His expression twisted with humiliation.
"Don't believe me? Want to test it yourself?"
I'd learned in this world that threats and bluffs were essential tools in negotiation. So I pushed them to the limit to keep the Trash King in check.
"Even the Hero you relied on so much—do you really think he could beat the guy who beat *him*?"
"Grrrrr..."
The Trash King ground his teeth in frustration.
"While you still can run your mouth—"
"If you lay a hand on my people, I'll kill you."
I preemptively shut down any possibility he might raise. I still hadn't fully figured out what the Iron Maiden skill did, so I couldn't say for certain whether I could kill the Trash King outright.
But I could definitely hurt him.
If I enveloped him in the flames of Self Curse Burning, I could inflict serious damage.
The Trash King's face turned pale. He finally understood his place.
"Don't ever cross me again, Trash. Once the Wave ends, I should be able to go home. Until then, I'll cooperate to the bare minimum. But don't get in my way."
Threats were meant to be strong, but I couldn't play my trump card too easily. A trump card, by definition, was a last resort kept hidden for as long as possible.
Killing him here and now wouldn't solve anything. Some other piece of trash would just take his place and put a bounty on my head.
Besides, even I wasn't sure I could win against the other Heroes in a straight fight.
And if all three of them came at me at once, I'd probably lose.
"See you later."
I turned on my heel and left the throne room.
"I won't forgive you! I won't forgive you, Shield!"
The Trash King's screams echoed through the throne room.
"Now *that's* my line!"
I pointed back at the Trash King as I walked away.
Just after leaving the throne room and descending the stairs, I passed by a woman who looked like some kind of noble.
She held a fan over the lower half of her face and wore an expensive-looking dress.
I couldn't see her face well, but it seemed well-proportioned. Her age was... hard to tell.
Probably late twenties...?
Her hair was purple... that was an unusual color.
As I passed, she murmured softly.
"A splendid display this time as well...it was, so it was."
*So it was?* Damn, I almost turned around.
Hmm?
A small girl was accompanying the woman—about the size of
The girl's hair had a bluish tint. Another unusual color.
Her clothes were fine too—was she a child?
For some reason, she looked familiar, though...
Her appearance was on par with Filo in humanoid form. For better or worse, Filo became a beautiful girl when she took human shape.
Hm...
I couldn't quite place who she resembled.
Well, even if she did look like someone, they'd probably be an unpleasant person. No point wasting time trying to remember.
So at the time, I thought nothing of this passing encounter and kept walking.
I never would have dreamed that the brat I'd passed at this moment would become the key to the chaos that followed.
By the way, Raphtalia and Filo were waiting for me in a separate room.
I'd been told they were making quiet preparations for an escape route, having predicted I might cause a scene. Whether that was accurate or not, it was probably a superfluous detail.
Either way, we regrouped quickly.
The next day.
I showed up at the Weapon Shop. I'd gone to ask whether the carriage I'd commissioned was ready.
"Oh, Master Naofumi. That carriage you ordered—it's done."
"Oh, that's fast. But hey, old man, you really can pull off anything as long as it's a metalwork request."
"I just reached out to some contacts and pulled some strings. I didn't make the damn thing myself!"
Well, it made sense that a place like a foundry would have built it.
"I figured you could make anything as long as there was money involved."
"Hearing that from you, Master Naofumi, makes it sound like I can do anything, and that's kind of depressing. I'm not some all-purpose wonder like you."
"I'm not all-purpose either, though..."
What did this old man think I was?
"I parked it out back. Go take a look."
"Yeah, let me check it out. Oh, by the way, old man, Raphtalia's—"
Before I could finish, Raphtalia grabbed my hand.
"What's wrong?"
"I think we can hold off on a new sword for now. Let's act based on what we currently have."
"Mm... if Raphtalia says so, I won't push it..."
Well, for the time being, Filo was serving as our main offensive force. As long as Raphtalia was playing a support role, a new sword wasn't urgently necessary.
Worst case, we might find something better than what the old man's shop carried somewhere along the way.
When I went around to the back of the Weapon Shop, there it was—a metal carriage.
Even the canopy was made of metal. It looked like the tin carriage figurine my parents had bought me as a kid, but scaled way up.
"Wow..."
Filo's eyes sparkled like never before. She tottered over to the spot where the carriage was hitched, then grabbed the handle.
"I get to pull the carriage, right?!"
"Yeah."
"Yay!"
Filo looked absolutely delighted, her feet tapping impatiently, clearly eager to set off at any moment.
"Let's load the luggage for now."
"Okay."
"Okaaay!"
We unloaded the cargo from the cart we'd been using just for the trip between the Wave site and
It took a while to load up all the merchandise, materials, and tools.
"How's it, Master Naofumi?"
The Weapon Shop owner showed his face when he had a moment. I gave him a thumbs-up to let him know he'd done good work.
"Yeah, just what I expected."
"Glad to hear. It's supposed to be pretty heavy though... but I guess that's no problem for a bird like her."
"Mm!"
"This one was happily pulling the carriage linked to three carts behind it, after all."
"That's incredible."
"She might even complain it's lighter than expected."
"You see, I like the tough ones!"
Was that just a Filolial thing? Like, a Filolial that pulls heavier loads is considered the best or something?
"Haha, well, do your best. So what's your plan from here?"
"My plan?"
"I heard about it. Apparently you stirred things up at the castle."
The old man said this with a slightly troubled expression.
"You hear things fast."
"Rumors are the spice that makes life fun."
"Well, yeah. That Trash was running his mouth, so I decided to put him in his place."
"...I knew you'd pull something eventually, Master Naofumi."
"I aim to please."
"I'd rather you didn't, honestly. So, about that question from earlier—right. I'm thinking of heading to either
There was always the option of threatening the Trash King into granting permission to use the Hourglass of the Dragon's Tempest, but trying to Class Up Raphtalia and Filo under the Trash King's jurisdiction felt like a recipe for trouble.
I didn't fully understand how the system worked, and the fact that the people managing it could potentially interfere just added more anxiety.
Better to go to one of the two countries that seemed to have the fewest problems and offered the kind of free pass that fit the bill.
"Ah, well, I figured you'd end up going to one of those countries sooner or later."
"Huh?"
The old man nodded with an expression of satisfaction.
What did that mean?
"Shieldfreeden's my recommendation. Siltvelt's a bit of an extreme country, after all..."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. It's the exact opposite of this country—this place where Demi-humans are absolutely superior and humans are slaves. Over there, humans rule and Demi-humans are the ones at the bottom."
I see... so it would be a poor fit for a human like me.
"But—"
"Good to know. I'll head to Shieldfreeden, then."
Once the loading was finished, we climbed aboard the carriage.
"Gotcha. I'll be waiting for you to stop by the shop again."
"Yeah, I might end up asking you to make me a weapon for fighting ghost or soul-type enemies."
"Alright, so you're planning ahead for those kinds of foes now. Guess I should start preparing."
"I'd like to have the materials lined up from the start and get it made cheap."
"You really know how to squeeze a deal, Master Naofumi. Just try not to show up at the last possible second, okay? I'll tell you where you can find the materials."
"Understood. I'll plan a route with some breathing room. Let's go."
"Okaaay!"
"See you later, old man."
"Later."
Filo pulled the carriage forward with a rattle.
Our immediate goal was Class Up. It would be a somewhat long journey, but it was worth doing for what lay ahead.
At Filo's pace, it would be a two-week trip.
"There!"
A loud voice came from outside.
Just before we left Castle Town, I heard a knocking sound on the metal carriage, accompanied by shouting.
"I found you!"
"...What the heck?"
I had Filo stop and poked my head out of the carriage. A young girl was pointing at me, her eyebrows raised high.
Looking behind her, there was a knight-like figure in tow.
The ones who'd spotted us first were probably the entourage in the back.
"You're the one who did something terrible to my father!"
"Huh?"
What was this? A blue-haired girl who looked vaguely familiar was storming up to me.
"What's this all about?"
"Don't play dumb! I know everything, even if you try to hide it! You're a terrible villain! You're the Shield Hero, after all!"
What an annoying brat. Was she from some noble family?
Come to think of it, I had sold some cheap accessories to nobles before.
More than once or twice, actually. Honestly, I'd done it so many times I couldn't even narrow it down.
"Right, right. Sounds like your old man just has bad taste. You've learned one valuable lesson today."
"What did you say!?"
But seriously, Shield Hero equals villain? Being condemned by some little kid like this was really getting on my nerves.
Though, at this point, it was pretty much par for the course.
"Tell your father to work on his eye for quality next time."
"Y-you... I'll never forgive you! Mother is wrong! The Shield Hero is a villain! I'll make you pay!"
The knight-like subordinate followed the girl's orders and stepped forward.
"Hmph. You think I've got time for this? Filo."
"What is it?"
"Let's go."
"Okay."
"Ah..."
The brat was staring at Filo intently, looking dazed.
"A Divine Bird?"
"Huh?"
Filo tilted her head in response, mirroring the girl's own gesture.
"Move it!"
"Okaaay!"
Filo nodded, faced forward, and took off at full speed.
"Ah, waaaaait! Don't run!"
The brat's voice faded rapidly into the distance.
Castle Town really was a cursed place. I never wanted to come here again unless it was for shopping.