The Rising of the Shield Hero (盾の勇者の成り上がり)

My name is Naofumi Iwatani.

Before I was summoned into this world,

I was like any other college student.

But here I am, one of the four Cardinal heroes.

The Shield Hero.

The four heroes have never gotten along.

But as of late, it seems like that might be changing.

Not that we can take advantage of it.

Because just when things were looking up for once,

Raphtalia's parents' homeland, Q'ten Lo,

sent assassins into my lands.

It all happened so fast.

The second Raphtalia put on the miko outfit

that resembled the clothes worn by their emperor,

they attacked.

Now I'm on my way to Siltvelt to try and catch a ship

to Q'ten Lo, where hopefully I can talk some sense

into these fools and get to the bottom of all this.

On top of all that, the Phoenix will revive soon.

But before it does,

I need to deal with Q'ten Lo for Raphtalia's sake.

Her future depends on it.

Yeah. All right.

I think it's time we take a break.

Thanks for checking on me, Gaelion, but I promise I'm-

Seeing as we'll be approaching the border soon,

it's probably best I head back to my land

and regroup my forces.

Gaelion?

What is it?

¡Drifa Aqua Blast!

Did you miss me, Master?

¡Raphy!

Huh?

What the hell?

Why are you here?

At least pretend to be happy to see us.

How did you expect me to react?

You three are supposed to be off training right now.

Why, yes, and that's exactly what we were doing.

So you're telling me it was just a coincidence

that you ran into me here?

Well, um.

So you see,

we were busy training

when we met Fitoria.

Wait. Fitoria?

She told us if we headed this way,

that we would eventually run into you.

She also mentioned she had a request for us

she wanted me to tell you about.

Tell me later.

I've got my hands full at the moment

dealing with something that can't be ignored.

Raphy?

Huh?

Can't you at least hear her out?

Not only did she already pay in advance,

but she also did a lot to help us.

Oh, really?

And how exactly did she do that?

Just look.

In exchange for lowering our levels a bit here and there,

she gave our stats a huge boost.

She isn't kidding.

From the looks of it,

all of their stats have more than doubled.

It doesn't matter.

Will you hold on a second?

She also helped us with acquiring a new class.

If you want to help her out, you're welcome to.

It's not something I can do!

Let's see.

It sounds like it has to be you and me to help Master.

Are you two talking right now?

Yep.

I see.

So you're off to Q'ten Lo.

Um, Master has a question.

He wants to know if you're going to kill off the Cardinal heroes

if he decides to ignore the request you have.

I suppose my request can wait.

But don't blame me if you end up regretting it later.

Whatever he says.

Siltvelt.

THE RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO

SILTVELT

My imitation of the Hangen Musou Secret Technique.

First dance, sun!

How in the world is someone like Atla

able to fight like that?

That's incredible, Atla!

I guess Claire was right then.

She really does have a talent for Hengen Musou.

I have to train harder from now on.

The Shield Hero and his party have returned, everyone!

The plan is for us to reach the Siltvelt border by tomorrow.

Once we're past it, we can travel by land.

Does that mean I get to pull the carriage again?

Sure does.

But we're not going to be able to take it through the portal.

Hey, Melty.

Can you contact the Queen and have her prepare

a carriage near the border checkpoint?

You make it sound like an easy thing to do.

I suppose it couldn't hurt to ask her.

Understood. I dare say.

So. I know that Filo's coming.

But who else?

Well, it's a demi-human country,

so taking a royal like Melty with us

probably wouldn't be wise.

I'm well aware of that.

Besides, someone has to stay here and watch your lands.

Appreciate it.

How about bringing Fohl and Atla?

The two of them have been training every day

and pushing each other to be stronger.

They've come a long way from when you picked them up

in the arena, haven't they?

No kidding.

And their rate of improvement has been quite unbelievable.

Seeing as they're from Siltvelt,

they might be useful in this scenario.

Now, for me.

What about the two of us?

I'd love for you to come along with us,

but not when your curses haven't fully healed yet.

But they've both gone out of their way

to bathe in the Carmina hot springs,

so shouldn't their curses be lifted?

Well, the hot springs are helping,

but it's still going to take some time.

Exactly.

Just focus on recovering

so you're ready to go when the Phoenix revives.

Understood.

I'll stay and help with the recovery process,

if that's okay.

So our party going will be me,

Raphtalia,

Filo,

Sadeena, Fohl, and Atla.

Ra.

And of course, you too, Raffy.

Raffy.

So,

did any Q'ten Lo assassins attack while I was away?

It's actually been rather quiet here.

There hasn't been any sign of them since

that first attack happened.

What?

The people--

The people from my master's world

should be after this village too,

but there is no sign of them either. Think what you want.

What the hell is going on here?

Are they being cautious since their scouts were eliminated?

I hope that's what this means.

I was looking forward to helping fend them off,

but things here have been peaceful.

I guess I'll have to be useful in other ways.

We just have to be ready when they attack.

Um, by the way.

Does anyone know where Motoyasu

could be or what he might be doing?

As weird as he is,

he'd be useful to have here right now.

You have some nerve

thinking you can invade my father's lands.

You're not the first, either.

There were also some dudes dressed like ninjas earlier.

For my father and

for my beloved Filo,

I will destroy you and obliterate your souls.

Please stop.

I don't want to die at the hands of some weirdo.

Bye, bye now.

Onward!

The next group of evil doers demands my retribution.

Well, how do you like the carriage, Filo?

It feels like they used a different wood.

Does it really make that big of a difference?

Mmm.

Maybe a little bit.

Not sure what that means.

It's the shield hero!

Looks like a crowd starting to gather here.

I'm guessing that when the Queen arranged this carriage for us,

rumor must have spread through town that we were coming.

Make sure to stay on your guard, everyone.

Right.

Why don't we take a break?

I think all of us

would be in better spirits with a little drink.