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

What a weird dream.

My name is Iwatani Naofumi.

I'm a second-year student in college, and kind of an otaku.

Sunny day, huh?

I managed to save my brother from falling in with the wrong crowd,

and mom and dad thanked me by letting me live at home, allowance included.

With no need to work part-time, I got to enjoy an idyllic otaku life.

That said, I certainly wasn't one of your so-called shut-ins.

When I'd run out of money to spend,

I'd go to the library to browse through my light novels.

I was a completely run-of-the-mill otaku leading a completely ordinary life.

Ow!

What the hell, man?

But it all changed when I picked up this book.

The Records of the Four Cardinal Weapons

"The Records of the Four Cardinal Weapons"?

The Waves of Apocalyptic Catastrophe

"The Waves of Apocalyptic Catastrophe...

To save the world from the Waves, four heroes will be summoned from another world."

How very like a light novel.

"Each of the four heroes

wield a characteristic weapon: a sword, a spear, a bow, or a shield."

Uh, I'm pretty sure a shield is more like armor than a weapon.

And where's the heroine, anyway?

I don't think it's this princess. She seems kinda slutty.

Huh... Each of the heroes seems impressive and pretty damn cool.

I guess all four of them are the protagonists.

The sword, spear, and bow heroes all get spotlights,

and even the shield hero gets focus...

What the heck?

We did it! The summoning was a success!

Where am I?

O brave heroes, please save our world!

Excuse me?

Who are these guys?

And where am I, anyway?

The hell is this?

A shield?

The Rising of the Shield Hero

The Shield Hero

O brave heroes, please save our world!

Seriously?

What do you mean by that?

There is a long and complicated story behind this,

but we've summoned you Four Cardinal Heroes here using an ancient ritual.

"Four Cardinal"? So he thinks the four of us are heroes of legend?

Our world teeters on the brink of destruction.

We beg you, O brave heroes! Please help us!

I guess I could hear you out, at least.

I refuse.

Likewise.

We can go back to our world, right?

We'll talk about your problems after that.

Don't you guys feel any guilt at all for bringing us here without our consent?

And if you send us home as soon as peace is restored, we'd have worked for nothing.

How willing are you to accommodate us?

Depending on your answer, we might end up becoming your enemies instead.

Not only are these guys taking all this in stride,

they've already started to demand respect and rewards!

F-First, we'd like you to have an audience with the king of our country, Melromarc.

You can negotiate your reward after that, so please...

Fine, I guess.

I suppose we could consider their offer.

Not like our demands are gonna change, no matter who we talk to.

Yeesh! Could these guys be any more confident?

We really are in another world, huh?

We sure are.

Such a pleasant breeze...

It's like the typical sales pitch in all those tour brochures.

Wait, have you never traveled out of Japan before?

Going by the breeze outside,

this place probably has your standard Mediterranean climate.

Yeah, yeah. Excuse me for my lack of knowledge and vocabulary.

So these men are the Four Cardinal Heroes of ancient legend?

I am the king of Melromarc, Aultcray Melromarc XXXII.

Heroes,

name yourselves.

Amaki Ren, sixteen years old, high schooler.

I'm Kitamura Motoyasu. Twenty-one, and a college student.

I suppose I'm up next.

Kawasumi Itsuki, seventeen years old, and a high schooler.

And lastly, me. I'm...

I see.

Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki, huh?

Y-Yo, King, aren't you forgetting me?

Hmm? Oh, forgive me.

"Yo, King"? You mustn't be so disrespectful.

Should I call him His Highness, then?

That's too formal, no?

"King" is fine.

Well, whatever works.

My name is Iwatani Naofumi. I'm twenty, and a college student.

Now...

I suppose I owe you an explanation.

You're ignoring me?

My country, Melromarc, and the entire world is headed toward destruction.

I'm still pissed off at how the king's treating me, but here's the long story short.

This world has an apocalyptic prophecy,

which mentions "Waves" that will lead the world to ruin

and reportedly appear in, well, several waves.

Unless the calamities wrought by the Waves are thwarted,

the world will end.

Each country here has an ancient dragon hourglass

which can predict the arrival of the Waves.

The first Wave washed over this country before we were summoned.

Local knights and traveling adventurers managed to fend it off,

but the following Waves will be even more potent.

The hourglass's sands will keep trickling as long as the Waves keep coming...

Currently, less than a month remains until the second Wave.

We underestimated the Waves.

We realized once we actually experienced one

that only the Four Cardinal Heroes could counter them.

And so, we followed the legend and summoned you four.

We have no time to lose!

Wait a second.

The Records of the Four Cardinal Weapons

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

We get the gist of it now.

Anyway, surely you didn't summon us expecting us to save you for free.

Of course, once you repel all the Waves,

we shall reward you handsomely.

Will you, now? Well, as long as we have your word.

We'll work with you provided you don't turn on us.

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

Exactly. We can't have you looking down on us.

R-Right...

God, these guys are so high-and-mighty.

I trust we have an agreement.

Then, heroes, you should all check your statuses.

Wait, what's a status?

Uh...

What's wrong with you guys?

It should've been the first thing you noticed in this world.

Oh, get over yourself! Quit acting like you know everything!

Don't you see an icon in the corner of your field of vision?

Huh?

You're right. There it is.

Try focusing on it.

Like this?

Affinity Fire: 0 Water: 0 Ice: 0 Wind: 0 Earth: 0 Lightning: 0 Light: 0 Dark: 0

The Bow Hero

Status 17 13 10 14 15

Equipment Small Bow Otherworld Clothes

"Level 1"?

That's worrying.

Yeah. No telling if we can fight like this.

What's all this, anyway?

Status Magic, an ability exclusive to the heroes.

So what are we supposed to do?

You must leave on an adventure

to develop and upgrade the legendary weapons that you have equipped.

They aren't maxed out of the box?

Wait, mine isn't even a weapon.

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

We can figure that out as we go.

Anyway, it looks like we ought to train ourselves.

We'll have to level up as much as we can.

Then if the four of us form a party...

One moment, heroes.

You will each recruit and adventure separately.

And why is that?

It is said that the legendary weapons repel one another by nature.

When two more wielders of the legendary weapons operate together, it causes an adverse reaction in the weapons. Working separately is highly advised.

If you work together, it apparently hinders their development.

He's telling the truth, huh?

And the weapons are translating all verbal and visual information into Japanese for us.

The sun is about to set.

Rest up tonight, and set forth tomorrow.

In the meantime, we'll gather the best of the best to form your parties.

We've prepared rooms for you.

Please come this way.

I hear the Four Cardinal Heroes have been summoned.

All four of them, in this country?

Are they sure about this?

Wait, that means the Shield Hero is also...

I guess you get special treatment when you're heroes of legend.

The girl who showed us here was a cutie pie, too.

And our dinner was sumptuous, though it did taste unusual.

Small Shield

0 0 +6 +4 0

P.DEF +3

Fire: 0 Water: 0 Ice: 0 Wind: 0 Earth: 0 Lightning: 0 Light: 0 Dark: 0

Hey, isn't this kinda like a game?

Heat Unlock Requirements: None

You mean it is one.

It's exactly like Emerald Online.

Huh? What's that game?

Are you serious? It's super famous!

What are you talking about?

This isn't some online game. It's a world out of a console game.

It's called Dimension Web.

You're wrong. It's a VRMMO.

It's pretty much the exact same as Brave Star Online.

Let's sort out the information we have.

Ren, can we take "VRMMO" literally?

Yeah.

You guys get what means too, right?

I think a sci-fi game I'm familiar with explored the concept.

I've read about them in LNs, yeah.

Just to be sure, let's check our general knowledge.