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

What a weird dream.

My name is Naofumi Iwatani.

I'm a college sophomore with slight otaku tendencies.

Bright one today.

I'd brought my kid brother back in line

when he started breaking bad,

so I had earned the privilege of living at home,

allowance included.

With no need for a part-time job,

I got to indulge my otaku side.

Oh, hi!

Hey, did you see that guy over there?

I did. He was so cute.

That said, I certainly wasn't

one of those so-called shut-ins.

When my spending money ran out,

I went to the library to browse through light novels.

I was a completely normal nerd

leading a completely normal life.

Damn. What the hell?

Until I picked up this book.

The Four Cardinal Weapons ?

Huh... Let's see...

"In order to save the world

from the Waves of Apocalyptic Catastrophe,

four heroes will be summoned from another world."

Seems like pretty standard light novel stuff.

"Each hero wields a distinctive weapon:

A sword, a spear, a bow, or a shield."

Yeah, but a shield's not really a weapon,

it's more like armor.

Anyway, where's the heroine in this thing?

I doubt it's this princess. She seems kinda bitchy.

Yeah, well...

At least these hero guys

look pretty damn cool and impressive.

I guess all four of them are the main protagonists.

Spotlights on sword, spear, and bow.

Even the shield hero gets--

Where's the rest of the...?

Fantastic! The summoning was a success!

What the--?!

Brave heroes, won't you please save our world from pure evil?

What?!

Who are these guys?

And, uh, where am I?

What the hell's this?

A shield?

Please, O brave heroes,

our world is in dire need of saving.

Is this for real?

What do you mean it's in need of saving?

The story behind it all is long and complicated,

but suffice it to say that you are the Four Cardinal Heroes,

and you were summoned here using an ancient ritual.

"Cardinal," huh?

So he thinks the four of us are what, heroes of legend?

Our world is in a most fragile state,

and teeters on the brink of destruction.

So we beg you, O brave heroes, please lend us your aid.

I guess I could at least hear you guys out.

Forget it.

I also refuse.

You can send us back to our homeworld, right?

Do that and maybe we'll talk.

You brought the four of us here without our consent.

Don't you feel the least bit guilty about it?

Not to mention, if you throw us out as soon as we restore peace,

we'd have done all that work for nothing.

How willing are you to accommodate our requests?

Depending on your answer,

we may end up as your enemies instead of your allies.

What's with these guys?

They're not only taking all this in stride,

they've already started demanding respect and rewards.

Good sirs, before I say any more, we'd like you to have

an audience with the king of Melromarc.

You can negotiate your rewards with him directly, so please.

All right, fine.

I suppose we'll consider their offer.

Sure.

Doesn't matter who we talk to, our demands won't change.

Yeesh! Could these guys be any more smug?

Wow, look. This really is another world, huh?

Sure is.

Even the air feels different.

It's like how you'd expect to see it described

in some kind of travel brochure.

Does that mean you've never traveled

outside of Japan before?

Judging by the breeze, I'd say this place has

a fairly standard Mediterranean climate.

Uh. Uh, yeah, sure. That's what I meant.

I just couldn't remember the word for it.

So you young men

are the Four Cardinal Heroes of ancient legend?

This is the land of Melromarc, and I am her king,

Aultcray Melromarc the 32nd.

Welcome, brave heroes. Please identify yourselves.

Ren Amaki.

I'm a high-school student, and I'm 16 years old.

I'm Motoyasu Kitamura. College student, 21.

I suppose I'm up next.

Itsuki Kawasumi, still in high school, and I'm 17.

Guess that leaves me. My name is--

Good. Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki.

Yo, King! Aren't you forgetting someone?

Uh... Oh, yes, forgive me.

Hey, you can't just say "Yo, King."

You have to address him with a little respect.

So what then? "His Majesty"?

That might be too formal...

"King" is fine.

All right, whatever you prefer.

I'm Naofumi Iwatani, college student, 20 years old.

Now then, I suppose I need to explain

why we've brought you here.

Is he ignoring me?

My beloved country of Melromarc

and the entire world surrounding it

are heading down a path to certain ruin.

I'm still kinda pissed about how crappy

the king's treating me, but here's the story in a nutshell.

There's an old apocalyptic prophecy on this world.

It speaks of a series of incursions of destructive force.

These have come to be known as "Waves."

If the calamities wrought by the Waves are not stopped,

the world will meet its end.

Every country here has in its possession

an ancient dragon hourglass.

These devices can predict each Wave's arrival.

The first Wave washed over this country

not long before we were summoned.

Between the local knights and traveling adventurers,

they somehow managed to fend it off.

However, the subsequent Waves will become

increasingly powerful.

The sands in the hourglasses will trickle

as long as the Waves keep coming.

The second will arrive in less than a month.

We underestimated the potency of the Waves.

Once we actually experienced the first one and barely survived,

we realized that only the Four Cardinal Heroes

could counter them.

So we followed the legend and summoned you four.

But now, we have no time to lose!

Wait a sec.

Isn't this the exact same story as in that book?

Okay, I think we get the gist of it.

Anyway, I'm sure you didn't bring us here

thinking we'd save you for free.

Of course not.

Once you repel all the Waves,

I can assure you we shall reward you most handsomely.

Yeah?

Well, it would seem we have no choice

but to take you at your word.

Long as you don't renege, we'll work with you.

But don't think for a moment that you can tame us.

Exactly.

We won't put up with you looking down on us.

Right. What these guys said.

Good lord, are they full of themselves.

If I can trust that we have reached

an agreeable arrangement, I would ask you brave heroes

to now check your statuses.

Wait, what's a status?

Um, yeah...

Are you guys dense?

It should've been the very first thing you noticed

when you got here.

Oh, put a sock in it.

Stop acting like you know everything.

Don't you see the icon in the lower right corner

of your vision?

Huh?

Oh, hey. Now I do.

Try focusing your attention on it.

Uh. Like this?

Only "Level 1"?

Well, that's really disconcerting, isn't it?

Yeah, no kidding.

Who can tell if we can even fight like this?

What is all this, exactly?

It's called Status Magic,

an ability exclusive to the heroes.

So where do we go? What's the first step?

You must set out on an adventure

to develop and upgrade these legendary weapons

you have been equipped with.

You mean they weren't already maxed out when we got them?

Also, mine's not even technically a weapon.

Can't we just wield other weapons until these are usable?

Suppose we'll have to figure that out as we go.

Regardless, it looks like we've all got

a lot of training ahead of us.

We'll have to level up hard and fast.

Then once the four of us feel like we're ready,

we can form a party and--

One moment, brave heroes.