Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (The Rising of the Shield Hero)

Fire!

Send word to the lords of every domain in Melromarc.

Ma'am.

As you wish.

That is no ordinary forest fire.

That woman probably started it.

She's trying to smoke us out.

Sister...

The fire will spread here soon.

We're leaving.

The checkpoint's been closed,

and there's an emergency security deployment along the border.

It's gonna be impossible to cross over to Siltvelt for a while.

It seems the Devil of the Shield has abducted Princess Melty,

and is hiding in this area.

Will this be enough?

Sure. Let me get your change.

Huh? Sir?

Have you seen this man around?

Oh, Master.

How'd it go, Naofumi-sama?

We should probably give up on going to Siltvelt.

Which means...

Shield Hero, you are requested to meet with Her Majesty the Queen, I daresay.

Is doing as that Shadow said our only option?

What's the plan, Naofumi?

We're going to meet the queen.

The Rising of the Shield Hero

Everlasting Memory

There are a lot of demi-humans in this region.

Yeah.

Are we in... I see!

What is it?

A nobleman I know is in charge of this domain.

He may be able to help us out.

A nobleman?

These days, humans treat demi-humans like slaves,

but in the past, some of the nobility tried to mediate

peaceful coexistence between the two races.

The leader of that group was a wonderful man.

He was the lord of the domain of Seyaette.

But he died in the first Wave,

and the nobles that sided with him

were all shuffled off to remote regions under Father's orders.

That guy's hatred of demi-humans is absurd.

What's wrong, Raphtalia?

The village I'm from is in Seyaette's jurisdiction.

I heard Seyaette was attacked by rioters after the Wave.

That's right.

My village was attacked by a mob of Melromarc's soldiers.

The more I hear about these people, the more they disgust me.

I'm so sorry.

It's not like it was your fault, Melty-chan.

As royalty, there must have been something we could have done.

But we did nothing to help.

Raphtalia-san, tell me everything you remember about those soldiers.

Once this all dies down, I'll make sure they're brought to justice.

Okay.

And? This nobleman you know lives here, right?

Yes.

The question is whether or not we can trust him.

You are indeed right.

It's been too long, Reichnott.

Welcome, Melty-sama.

Pleased to meet you.

I am Van Reichnott, the lord of this domain.

This feeble guy is the nobleman she mentioned?

But his stealthiness is off the charts. What's with him?

This is no place for a chat.

Would you like to join me at my mansion?

I see.

So you reached my domain after a long escape, is it?

Yeah.

The knights informed me that you started the wildfires

to cover your tracks, Shield Hero.

That's a complete lie.

The first princess probably made it all up.

Just as I thought.

I was patrolling the area out of concern for Melty-sama, too.

You must be exhausted from your travels.

Please rest up here for a while, if you wish.

May I eat, Master?

No, wait.

I don't trust this guy yet.

Ah, this is delicious.

Rest assured, the food isn't poisoned.

Time to eat!

Filo!

Where are your manners?

Ugh...

Let us eat too, Naofumi-sama.

Casting doubts on such gracious hospitality?

How rude can you be?

We shouldn't stay here too long.

We're leaving tomorrow morning.

That soon?

The longer we stay, the higher the odds of us being sniffed out.

Well, yes...

But I was hoping to rest some more.

You've changed a little, Princess Melty.

You used to force yourself to act more mature,

but it seems traveling with the Shield Hero

has helped you grow in a good way.

I'm pretty sure you mean in a bad way.

Sh-Shut up!

Don't make a racket while we're eating.

Whose fault do you think it is?!

This bed feels amazing!

So soft and bouncy!

Why don't you sleep for a bit?

We don't know when this place will get attacked.

I make a point of not sleeping at times like these.

Naofumi-sama, I'll keep watch,

so you can go ahead and sleep.

All right.

Why do you listen to what Raphtalia-san says, but not me?

It's not like that.

Mel-chan, I wanna explore this place.

Sure. Let's go.

I wonder if they have any yummy snacks.

Couldn't you be a bit nicer to her?

What's wrong, Mel-chan?

I think I've been acting really spoiled since meeting Naofumi.

My speech has become cruder, too.

It's like I'm a different person.

Uh...

Sorry. You don't understand, do you?

I love the way you are now, Mel-chan.

I mean, you look so cheerful when you're talking to Master.

Th-That's not right...

Mel-chan, have him dote on you just like us!

D...

Dote on me?!

Yep!

That's n-not what I'm looking for!

You still haven't found her?!

Know that I'll have your heads if anything happens to Melty!

Yes, sir!

Please rest assured, Father.

I promise you that I shall rescue Melty.

Please.

Not my family again.

How much will you make me suffer?

Accursed Shield!

You're up?

Yeah. I'll take over now.

It's fine.

I'm not very sleepy.

Really?

Say, Naofumi...

What?

Should I really keep running like this?

As crown princess, there are so many other things I should be doing.

But I haven't been able to do any of them.

Your life comes first.

You can worry about your duties after you're safe.

But I feel so pathetic.

Don't beat yourself up too much. Get some rest.