He had planned for it to be just another day to pass him by. Just another weekend, in which he would simply visit the library and kill a few hours to try and save a bit of cash. A few hours-just a few!-and then he would return home, help with dinner preparation, and go to bed to repeat the process the next day. It wasn't as if he had anything else really going on in his life at the moment. To simply show up and read a few books for the low, low price of nothing was as good of a way to spend his time as any.

He had planned for it to be just another day to pass him by. And then he had stumbled upon a book he had never seen before - it didn't show up in the library database or catalogs at all, and his curiosity had certainly gotten the better of him after damned near every librarian in the building merely asked if he had brought it with him instead. 'The Record of the Four Holy Weapons' sure was a title if there ever was to be one, and somewhat oddly, there was no author present upon the cover. So it was that he had decided to open the book and give it a read to find out just what it was.

It had been… surprisingly interesting. He got to read about a kingdom in the midst of a great crisis, as well as four honored heroes and their escapades, as well as the fates that befell them all. There was even mention of how one of the princesses turned traitor and betrayed the whole lot of them, and it was only after he had started to read about the 'Shield Hero' that things had started to feel odd.

He had planned for it to simply be another day in life. And now here he was, in the depths of some darkened, candle-lit room, with a shield very firmly stuck to his arm. The ground beneath him glowed a rather vivid green, though assigning an actual description to the color of it was proving difficult. It simply seemed beyond words. And this shield… it felt surprisingly light, as if it were merely an extension of himself, and yet it certainly felt like solid metal. Whether or not he had simply passed out in the library and was now dreaming still remained up for debate somewhat.

A test to that theory, then. There had always been the old adage of pinching one's self when dreaming to see if it was real. He had another idea, though. If this shield was as real as it seemed, then just a quick knock would…

Right, ow, okay. Lucky his knuckles weren't now bleeding, then, given how hard he had hit it. It was certainly the real deal, as was the rest of this experience, it would seem. Okay, not dreaming. Then what? A passing thought had him quietly laughing at the idea that he might have been isekai'd, followed shortly by the realization that when that was pulled off in media, it was usually because the person in question had died. He certainly hoped he had been the exception and not the norm.

"O Great Shield Hero, you honor us with your presence!"

The sound of another being had been enough to draw his focus away from his own temporary pain, and he was admittedly more than a little surprised to find that the source looked rather… well, furry. Though garbed in a robe, the cat-man?-still looked decidedly non-human. Was he gawking? He was probably gawking. "Um… hi?"

"Ah! Shield Hero! Thank you so very much for answering our summons!" The man had already dropped to his hands and knees, placing his forehead upon the floor in reverence of the being before him, as had several others around the room. "Oh this is truly a blessed day!"

"You're… talking about me, I'm guessing?" To say he was still confused would have been the understatement of the century, as- "Wait, did you call me 'Shield Hero'?"

"Yes! Yes, of course! You are the Shield Hero of prophecy! The Hero of legend! The one here to deliver us from the coming end!"

A thought crossed his mind. A question he could ask for clarification. "One of the… four heroes of legend?"

"F-Four?" The cat-man had very suddenly looked up in shock, the color from his face suddenly gone. "N-No, you… you must still be disoriented from your summons! There are no other heroes, O Great One!"

"Um. Hrm." Something about that statement seemed decidedly odd. Most of this seemed pulled straight out of the book he had been reading just moments before… and there had very clearly been four heroes of legend in that. If I'm one of them… where are the other three? A different question, then. "Where am I, right now?"

"You are in the great nation of Siltvelt, O Hero!"

Siltvelt? Was there a Siltvelt in that book? "And, where is this 'Siltvelt', exactly?"

"W...Where? It's... northeast of Melromarc, milord."

"I... see." Whoever these people were, they were placing a very heavy emphasis on the honorifics. Was the Shield Hero that important to them? "So, uh… why bring me here, exactly?"

"We require your aid, Shield Hero. A great threat looms, and we require your aid to save our nation from it."

With answers this vague, it was hard to be anything but skeptical. "...Uh. Alright."

The same man abruptly stood up, rushing forward to meet him. "O Great Hero, I know you desire more answers, but you must meet with the leaders of our people first!"

"Will they be able to give me something a little more concrete?"

"Oh, yes! Yes, of course! Anything you wish to ask, I'm sure they could answer for you!" A great paw-paw?-suddenly pressed upon his back, pushing him in a general direction as he began to walk. "All will be answered in due time, O Great One."

Whatever the hell this day had just become, it surely was going to be anything but simple.

He had been proven right, of course. The room he had been lead to looked like a great meeting hall more than anything else, and the previously mentioned 'leaders' seemed more akin to a council than anything else. There was something else he had picked up on rather quickly as well.

He was the only human.

Everyone else around him, from the moment he had arrived, had been… well, a little more human-looking, but only just. They all looked more akin to the beast races one might find in a video game, appearing somewhat 'normal' (whatever 'normal' was in this place) with a smattering of more animal-like features such as ears and tails, and more than enough variation to justify it as well - thus far, at least within these halls, he had seen four different types. There had been people who looked like turtles, as well as birds, and dragons. He had spotted a few tigers as well, though they were certainly less numerous than the others. It wouldn't have been terribly surprising if there were even more, but he had yet to see them.

Several fancier-looking individuals had inevitably shown up and seated themselves before him, all of them looking definitively not human in comparison to the others he had seen very recently, and all of them introducing themselves to him as the representatives of their various peoples. Genmu. Shusaku. Aotatsu. Hakuko. He finally had names to attach to appearances, at least, and though each of them had given their own names, he… admittedly hadn't been paying much attention at the time.

Instead, he had quietly wondered how angry his mother was liable to get over his sudden disappearance.

"Sir Shield Hero, may we ask for your name and occupation, please?"

"Uh." For the briefest of moments, he forgot how words worked. "Iwatani Naofumi. I'm a… student, I guess." The uncertainty had a purpose, at least - he really wasn't sure what would even qualify as his occupation, something he soon followed with, "I'm 20 years old, if it matters at all."

There was no real crowd to speak of in attendance. Merely himself, the representatives, and a slew of guards. Such small numbers did nothing to stop the quiet murmuring that suddenly started, however, and one of the individuals who identified themselves as an Aotatsu slowly spoke his name, as if trying to get a feel for the letters. "Naofuuuumiiii. Iwataniiii."

"And so young, too!" A bird-man-Shusaku, from what he could recall-leaned forward, pushing up a pair of glasses that somehow remained upon its face. "Merely twenty?"

The Genmu cleared its throat, squinting at him as it seemed to appraise him. "You said your occupation is that of a student. Would that mean you're a scholar? A researcher?"

Naofumi awkwardly shuffled a bit instead, chewing on his lip somewhat as he thought on an answer. "I… guess? I wasn't really studying anything specific at the time, though."

"Ah! A generalist, then!"

"Sure, yeah." Better than what I had in mind, at least. "Hey, uh, I… had a question, if it's alright for me to ask."

The Shusaku gestured broadly with a wing, grinning-could a beak even grin?-at him. "Of course, of course! What is it, Sir Shield Hero?"

"Well, one of the… erm, individuals who summoned me here mentioned a 'looming threat', but couldn't… or wouldn't tell me any more about it."

"Oh! That! Yes, yes, yes, of course!" Its behavior certainly reminded Naofumi a great deal of the birds from back home, given how overly animated they seemed to be with their own movements. "You see, Sir Hero, there is a great… sickness that plagues our fair kingdom."

"I'm sorry, a… sickness?"

"Not a literal one, mind you! It's more so a sickness of morals."

Such a statement simply earned a blank stare from him. "I… don't exactly follow."

At some point, he wasn't sure when, the Aotatsu had left its seat and descended down the steps, placing a great clawed-hand upon his shoulder. "Perhaps it would be better to simply show you, Heeero."

He wasn't sure how to respond, but then again, one hadn't been necessary - he had little say in the matter, and despite the complete and total lack of real answers given to him, he had no real choice but to follow along with what they told him.

Something about this situation was beginning to rub him the wrong way.

Naofumi saw his first other human later that day. The council had decided that the best way to show him the ills that troubled their kingdom was to give him a tour of the city, though it was perhaps more apt to think of it was a 'heavily guided tour'. There was never the option given to him to attempt to roam away and explore on his own, nor did the council seem terribly keen on him looking at particular things - if he did so, it was hastily covered up by one of the guards walking alongside the carriage, as they picked up their own pace to block his line of sight.

He had only gotten a fleeting glimpse of them, down some distant back alleyway, and he couldn't shake the look on their face - wild and skittish. Afraid. The moment their eyes had met, they had swiftly ducked away, and they were gone in a mere moment. If it hadn't been for that brief connection, he was liable to think he had been perhaps the only human in this world. But he knew he wasn't alone. There were other humans. They were simply incredibly rare in this region, it seemed, and the others were rather coy when asked about it. Most simply joked that he was simply seeing things when he claimed to have seen another human, and such a response raised more questions than it gave answers.

So much of this was beginning to seem terribly… artificial. Trumped up. Faked. A facade, thrown into place for him and only him. Every question he asked lead to a non-answer, or was quickly redirected to some matter of distraction. Every move he attempted to make outside of their control quickly resulted in a (gentle) chastising, instead telling him that the masses were fervent in their belief in him, and that their zealotry could be dangerous at times.

The moment the tour had concluded, he had been quickly shown to a room within the palace (he assumed it was a palace, at least), told it belonged to him, and instructed to merely wait there until summoned for dinner. A quick peek out the door had revealed that he had been under heavy guard, with one of the beast-men telling him rather sternly to remain inside. And so, he had accepted simply doing just that, and to instead spend the time taking stock of his situation.

He had somehow been transported to another realm, populated by animal-like people, as well as humans. He was a chosen hero of legend, with an equally legendary item physically connected to him. The world itself seemingly operated like a game, with almost everyone living in it aware of this fact. Levels and experience points all existed, as did stats such as health and mana. Perhaps most perplexing was that his wallet had been missing from his pockets the moment he had arrived, but his cell phone was not - it still remained exactly where it had been when he had been reading the book in the library. Meaningless as it might have been, he pulled it out and quickly unlocked it, and not surprisingly, no service was available. He well and truly was some place else, or at least not within the district he called home, and a look at the remaining battery told him that it likely wouldn't survive however long it might take for him to leave.

The phone was simply powered off and tucked away in his pocket once more, in an effort to preserve it for as long as possible. Whatever good that might do him.

And then there had been the discovery that information was being intentionally withheld from him. In a seeming fit of boredom, he had begun to toy with the shield, accidentally stumbling upon the menus within it… as well as the help section. What he found both intrigued him, as well as left him deeply suspicious of whatever else was going on. He read of status magic and upgrade paths, of item usage and party settings, and of the 'true' plight of the worlds. Whatever these 'Waves' were concerned him, surely, but there was something else that had proved more pivotal to him.

Several sections were dedicated, at length, to talking about the functionality of his shield, and three other legendary weapons - four, in total. The same three that they had tried so very hard to convince him simply didn't exist, and that he had been the only one. The sheer amount of information he had discovered within the past hour of simply dabbling with his shield had been absolutely staggering, and also was more than enough evidence that he was being mislead. But…

Finding his own stats screen had been a disheartening experience, to say the least. Being the shield hero had meant that, unsurprisingly, his defensive values were absurdly high for someone at his level… which was to say, level one. Health and defense alike stood miles above the others, though this had obviously come at a tradeoff, as his attack value was absolutely pathetic. There was simply no way he could fight his way out of this place on his own, especially not when they were all seemingly coordinating their efforts to keep him contained.

He'd have to find someone to help him, and right now, that help seemed so terribly far away. The best he could do was to instead merely play along with whatever it was they said to him or asked of him, and much like earlier, it felt as if he had little say in the matter. This same inaction was also his sole ace up the sleeve - if they merely thought that he didn't know any more than what they had told him and showed him, then...

His hand gently gripped the phone within his pocket, as if the mere idea of calling someone else for help would have been enough to solve matters. For now, it remained just that. An idea.

Something about what was happening aggravated him in some manner he couldn't describe, but the menus were quickly closed and willed away as a knock upon the door made it clear that the next meal was ready. With no windows, no visible clock, and no working phone, keeping track of time in this place was proving to be difficult.

He had been so distracted by what was going on that he never noticed the sudden presence of another resource bar beneath his name.

"Sir Hero, would you like to select this evening's entertainment?"

Lost for words, he had simply stared a bit, unsure of what was even being asked of him in the first place - the room he had been lead to after his meal contained several women, easily in excess of twenty, all standing neatly in rows. All of them wore veils to obscure their faces, and the outfits certainly left little to the imagination, which much of the emphasis being placed upon their bodies. His first thought was perhaps they were merely dancers of some sort. After all, it wasn't terribly uncommon for some fantasy settings to have such scenarios, or… at least, that was what he told himself.

He hadn't even been given the chance to think much on the subject before he had been forced to follow along, roaming the rows with the Genmu representative from earlier, who seemed to be in the middle of casting an appraising eye upon some of the women. The same man in question now also certainly looked much more human. Shapeshifters, then. "They're some of the finest we can offer, I assure you."

Naofumi paused mid-step, clearing his throat. "Can I ask you something?"

"But of course."

"What do you mean by 'entertainment'?"

"Ah." He chuckled a bit, his belly bouncing as he began to walk once more. "That's for you to decide, Sir Hero."

"Hrm."

All of the women present had animal-like features, much the same as any of the others he had seen previously - demihumans, he had learned. Each and every one of them kept their heads bowed, almost unwilling to even look at him as he walked past them, and the whole situation left him feeling…

Well.

Uncomfortable.

He wasn't an idiot. He knew full-well that they intended for him to sleep with whoever he chose for the evening. Why else would they lead him to a room positively filled with women wearing next-to-nothing, and simply offer them to him?

They walked past several more women, Naofumi quietly noting the features on each. He spotted some with rabbit-like ears, and others that looked a little more like dogs, complete with tails. There were even several that looked more akin to foxes than anything else. If there was anything remarkable at all about this, it was how visually varied and distinct demihumans could even seem to be, and-

There was a faint whimper as he walked past one of the women, causing him to stop in his tracks. He was doing his best not to stare, instead trying to simply look at her out of the corner of his eye, and what he saw caused his heart to drop - she stood at an angle, very clearly trying her best not to put weight upon one of her feet, and the shift in her body had caused the cloth on her outfit to drape just so, bringing several other ghastly marks to light. Bruises. Cuts. Scrapes. Very small, but noticeable. Very noticeable. Just… how many others were being treated like her?

"Sir Hero?"

He turned to the voice, finding that the Genmu representative had gone ahead by a fair bit, and now expectantly waited for him at the very end. "S-Sorry, I… um."

"There's still very many others I'm sure you'd wish to see."

"What if…" He swallowed hard, quietly reaffirming what it was he was about to ask. "What if I've decided?"

"Already?" The Genmu gave a quick lean, peeking at the woman Naofumi had stopped before. "No no, I assure you, we have better than her. Come along now."

"I… refuse."

"...I beg your pardon?"

He felt his hands ball into fists, but he couldn't recall when he decided to do that. "I said I refuse. I've made my decision."

"But we've scarcely shown you the full extent of what's available. All these women lay at your fingertips! You are the Shield Hero! You could have your pick of any of the finest women in the kingdom!" The representative had already waddled back over, squinting up at Naofumi and tapping a cane somewhat angrily upon the floor. "As I said, we have better than her, worry not."

A thought had crossed his mind earlier. He was supposed to be a hero of legend, a chosen individual tasked with saving the world. Heroes were meant to help others, were they not? And seeing this woman… His stats screen briefly flashed through his head, his apparent magic affinities coming to mind. If he was largely bound to the confines of this place, then this small act, this incredibly modest gesture, was his closest chance at rebellion. "As I said, I've made my decision."

The Genmu merely stared, unbelieving. "...Her? You're… you're certain?"

Naofumi's answer consisted of something he felt would be undeniable, gently taking the woman's hand into his - something that caused her to make a soft sound in surprise. "Positive."

"Hmph. Very well. She's all yours."

With little else to say, the Genmu had waddled off once more, waving a cane about and shooing away the rest of the women, some of whom made noises ranging from annoyed to upset. It suddenly occurred to Naofumi that he admittedly looked rather odd, standing about holding hands with a woman he didn't know, and he should simply… leave. Her injury meant he had to take an incredibly slow pace, but he didn't mind at all, and he quite honestly would have simply carried her if he didn't think it would bring about unwanted attention. With another guard leading him back to his room, they had drawn more than a few curious glances anyways, with several individuals leaning in to quietly say something or other about him and who he was with.

He didn't care anymore. His priorities had suddenly shifted. He had a goal now. That… that was good.

The return to his room ended rather unceremoniously, with both him and his new companion being hastily lead inside, and the doors promptly shut behind them. Now in sudden isolation, with no one else around aside from the woman he had chosen mere minutes ago, he was suddenly becoming quite aware of the fact that he… hadn't exactly talked to someone of the opposite sex in such a private setting in a very long time. There had been his mother, of course, and some of his classmates at his college, but those situations surely didn't hold a candle to this.

Things had rapidly descended into an awkward silence of sorts, and Naofumi quietly cursed his more recent existence as little more than a shut-in otaku. Maybe, just maybe, if he had gone out a bit more often when he was still in high school, he'd have an easier time navigating social situations like this. But… 'Go with your gut', right? That's what dad always said.

It also occurred to him that he had never really gotten a good look at her earlier - his focus had been on her injuries, and getting her out of a potentially bad situation. He was… admittedly having a hard time figuring out what she was, if he was being completely honest with himself. Her tail was long yet fluffy, with very faint striping, and it was difficult to say what kind of animal it might belong to. 'Dog' and 'cat' seemed in equal contention, though he… definitely wasn't sure. Then, of course, there were the ears, which were short and rounded. So what, then?

'Raccoon' came to mind, but didn't seem quite right. Her features were far too light in color for that, browns and reds compared to greys and blacks.

Wait. 'Tanuki'? Naofumi tapped a finger to his chin as he mulled it over, trying to think of the possibilities. Those are native to Japan, though. Would this place even have something like that? It was a bit too preposterous, really. She still had her head bowed to him, hands clasped in front of her, and he had never really noticed until now just how long her hair was, or how it appeared in the light, seemingly fluctuating between chestnut browns and strawberry blondes.

As if aware of his eyes upon her, she spoke up softly, with a hint of timidness to her voice. "I'm… honored to have been chosen, master, but how… how do you wish to have me?

Nearly blindsided by the question, he instead choked on his words somewhat. "Have… you?"

"Is that not why you chose me?"

"What?" Naofumi stared a bit, possibly even gawked. He had known exactly what they had been trying to get him into, so why was he so shocked by this? "That's… no! No, no, no, that's not-"

"Do you… find me dissatisfactory, master?" She bowed a tiny bit more, fighting back a whimper as she unintentionally put pressure upon her bad foot again, yet still just as quiet as earlier. "I'll do whatever it is you wish of me."

"No, that's not it either! I just…"

Raising her head up to look at him, her head tilted in confusion. "Then why?"

"I wanted to help you!"

A pause, as she seemed to simply stare at him, her voice suddenly a whisper. "...help me?"

"Yeah. You just… looked like you needed someone to help you. I… I saw what happened to you. I'm... supposed to be the Shield Hero, and… heroes are supposed to help others, aren't they?"

"Shield… Hero?"

A moment of hesitation struck him, as he briefly wondered if he was even worthy of the title, but… "...yeah. I'm the Shield Hero."

"Y...You?"

Something he had said had triggered an abrupt change in personality in this woman, but it was still clear that she was in need of aid, and he was damned if he was going to simply let that slip through his fingers now. Closing the gap between them, he had already placed both hands gently upon her shoulders, quietly noting the way she jumped the moment he touched her - she had likely been abused at some point, or perhaps even more recently. He wasn't sure which was worse. "Can you walk?"

"I…" Her voice seemed to break, and though she attempted to take a step, another quiet whimper made it evident enough that she had likely already been through her fair share. "I don't know if…"

"Hold on."

She seemed to flinch the moment he circled around behind her-another mental note for himself-and he had to repeatedly tell her that he wasn't going to hurt her as he carried her over to the lone bed within the room, gently setting her down upon it. He wasn't entirely sure when he had even gotten strong enough to carry an entire person like that, but she hadn't felt all that heavy to begin with. Maybe I've just always had it?

A thought for another time. With her safely down on a more comfortable surface, he had already pulled back portions of her outfit so as to see the full extent of her injuries, and what he saw admittedly sickened him more than he'd like to admit. It seemed more extensive than he had previously thought, and it was a bit of wonder she wasn't in more pain than she was now - if she was, she was hiding it very well. "Are you comfortable?"

"...Y-Yes."

There was something else he had completely forgotten about up until that point. "Could you… maybe take off your veil, please?"

"You're… certain? It's… it's okay?"

"Of course it's okay." He had already glanced back away, too busy sorting through menu after menu within his shield as he tried to pull up anything and everything healing-related that he could find. It seemed all he had were just the bare essentials, and he frowned a bit as he studied the screen.

-Novice Alchemy (Lv. 1)

-Novice First-Aid (Lv. 1)

-Healing Affinity

-Support Affinity

He wondered if his affinities could affect his other skills, despite them not being magic. He was also somewhat bothered by the fact that he had no healing magic at his disposal, yet had healing magic affinity. If he had no magic at the ready, how else was he supposed to help her recover?

An idea suddenly sprang into his head, dating back to his time playing in online games. He had never really been one for combat, but had instead enjoyed trading with others and plying his wares as a merchant. Being successful at that was often no different than combat itself in some ways, as the best and most shrewd individuals would make full use of deception to twist events to their advantage. If he were to simply topple over a piece of furniture to fake an injury, and then ask for some items to heal himself with… this could work. This could actually work.

"Master?"

He cringed a bit upon hearing the term. "Could you… please maybe not call me that? It's… kind of uncomfortable to hear."

"O-Oh. Um."

There was a pause in her speech, and out of the corner of his eye, he could spot her hand trying to reach for his. "What do you…"

Whatever it was he was going to say quickly trailed off as well, after he had brought his own gaze up to meet hers. She was… beautiful. Her features and expression looked so incredibly gentle, that he couldn't help but wonder what kind of person would even be willing to put her through the harm she had endured, but her eyes… it was a color he certainly hadn't been expecting, being a peculiar mixture of reds and pinks. 'Magenta' might be the closest match for it, and it was the only word he could think of that accurately described it.

She shyly giggled at him, and perhaps she was even blushing a bit. "...Hero? Is something wrong?"

"...What?" His thoughts sharply derailed, it was all he could do to watch helplessly as his train of thought crashed and burned. "N-No, I was just… um… trying to find something. Um."

"If 'master' makes you uncomfortable, then… what should I call you?"

"Oh, right! Well that's just… you can just use my name."

She seemed to sit up a bit more, eyes widening as her ears flicked a bit in seeming anticipation. "Your… your name? Is that… really okay with you?"

Part of that question seemed to strike him as being 'odd'. Perhaps it was. "Of course it's okay with me. My name is Iwatani Naofumi."

"...your name is 'Iwatani'?"

"No, that's… my family name, actually. It's a cultural thing, where I come from."

"So your... name is 'Naofumi', then."

"Yes."

"Naofumi…" Her lips curled into a smile, and it was only then that he saw just how akin to animals some demihumans seemed to be - her canine teeth were certainly longer than what any normal human might have, and the nails upon her fingers seemed a similar case. "Naofumi."

He simply chuckled a bit, nodding. "Yep."

"Naofumi!"

"Yes, that's me! Hello… um." The failure to draw a name simply showed him that their trade was only half-complete. "What should I call you then?"

She seemed to stare at him a bit, almost unsure of what was being asked of her. "You… want to know my name?"

"Well, sure." Reaching over, he slowly took one of her hands into his, so as to not spook her too badly, and simply gave her a smile. "If you know my name, it's only fair that I know yours."

"It's…" Hesitation tinged her voice, but the moment her eyes met his once more, she had decided. "Raphtalia."

"Raphtalia?" A faint laugh from him. "...I like it."

Her hand squeezed his.