"As a reward for his efforts during the Wave and for fulfilling my request, Motoyasu, the Spear Hero, will receive four-thousand silvers," The king of Melromarc, or in my opinion, the Trash King's servants gave the Spear Prick his payment for the Waves. "And for the young Heroes, Itsuki and Ren, they will receive three thousand-eight hundred silvers," His servants gave Itsuki and Ren them their bags that were filled with their payment. "And Shield… you will be receiving only five hundred silvers…"

As expected.

The Spear Prick, Ituski, and Ren are allowed to get the most because they stopped the Wave of Calamity. I couldn't tell if the boss was a problem, but there was always something that I did know: I SAVED their damn people in that village. Oh, but of course, they wouldn't decide to bring that up because it's always about the other Heroes. This shield was unnecessary to them. Yes, because the Legendary Shield was the weakest 'weapon', I was always looked down upon. Their disappointment led to betrayal. And betrayal led to my own disappointment and rage.

This was all because I was the Shield Hero, Naofumi Iwatani.

As I was about to grab the bag that anyone could easily tell was less than the others, the Trash King's servant stopped. "However… since we had to use the same amount to save his slave free from her curse, he will not be receiving his funds at this time." Yeah... 'slave', that's what you could call her…

...Because of me, the Shield Hero, was accused of raping a bitch, I had been betrayed by the very people who had summoned me here. "Protect our world, brave Heroes!" Yeah, they can go to hell for that. Manipulating me in the beginning so I could drop my guard while you could do whatever you want with my name? Yeah, get fucking lost. I won't fight for any of you assholes. I only fight the Waves of Calamity for my freedom to go back home.

As for my slave? Her name's Raphtalia. Since I'm the Shield Hero, the only one who can't fight without a proper weapon, I have to rely on my teammates for fighting while I'm there for defending and support. That was supposed to happen, but because I'm known as a criminal, I have no one to join my party. All I have was Raphtalia… a Demi-Human slave. I don't know how long she's been a slave, but when I first got her, she was sick. Who knew that this world supports slavery? Heh, another part of the list that makes this world shitty.

"Hey, I don't think that's fair to Naofumi, don't you think?" Hearing Itsuki, I looked at him with a confused expression. Why the hell was he trying to defend me? Wasn't he, along with Ren the ones who looked at me with disappointed looks with my false charges? What the hell is he planning, right now?

"First, it isn't exactly fair to not pay him because you dispelled the… ahem, slave crest. And second, you refuse to pay him for what he's done during the Wave of Calamity? And lastly, Motoyasu clearly cheated in that one-on-one match." The Trash King could only raise his eyebrow at him. Motoyaus was almost looking at the two with a shocked expression. What, don't tell me he thought I fell in front of him because I felt like it. Because of that bitch, I lost that fight because she casted a magic spell that pushed me towards him!

"He's right, you know. Motoyasu, Naofumi clearly won that duel, but you resorted to cheating… do you really think you deserve to win that match?" Ren said as he looked at Motoyasu.1

"What? I clearly won that duel fairly! I didn't see any chances of me losing!" Yeah, yeah, keep saying irrelevant things, Spear Prick.

"Sir Itsuki, Sir Ren, I believe that you're both wrong. The match was said to be a duel between the two, and the Shield Hero cheated by hiding monsters inside of his cape. Now, why would you think that the Shield Hero deserves to be the winner of that duel?" There she goes again to run that damn slutty mouth of hers. I don't care if she's a damn princess or not, she's not needed in this damn world! Who the hell would support that bitch on the throne?!

"That is true… however, could we even consider the monsters to be a threat to Motoyasu? They were clearly weak monsters, so Motoyasu shouldn't have had difficulty cutting them down. Instead, he chose not to. But even if he cheated or not like that, you cheated by casting a magic spell at him," And the words that everyone would refuse to hear has finally come to the light. Of course, I said this during my duel with Motoyasu, but no one chose to believe me because I was the Shield Hero. "As I said, Motoyasu wouldn't have any problems handling those monsters even if was considered cheating, but for you, you clearly gave Motoyasu the advantage." Itsuki finished by hardening his look at the bitch.

"Itsuki's right. Motoyasu, did you really think that Naofumi would just randomly fall down out of nowhere? Even you couldn't be that naive. Anyway, Naofumi did protect that village while we were out to fight the boss, so it would be best if you compensate him." Ren closed his eyes as he was disappointed at Motoyasu. Of course, he wanted to retort, but I don't think he can come up with anything. Everything was seen by the other Heroes, so what's not to believe anymore?

"...Fine, I'll give him the agreed amount," Snatching the bag away from his servant's hand, I looked at him with rage. "However, there will be nothing else being given. Do you hear me, Shield? No matter what you do, you will always remain unwelcomed here! Now, get out of my sight!" Gritting my teeth, I took a step forward. I've had enough of his damn mouth, already!

"So what, not going to hide the facts with your pathetic name? Because she's the princess and your the king, you think you can do whatever the hell you want with me?! Well, I'll tell you something you damn Trash King-" Before I could say anything, a hand was wrapped around mine. Looking at Raphtalia, she only smiled.

"Master Naofumi, don't you think we should be heading out now? We have what we wanted, right? That's great to hear, right?" Realizing what she was trying to do, I felt my lips curve upwards a bit. As much as I want to stay and give him a piece of my mind, I shouldn't. If Raphtalia wasn't here, would I still decide on doing so?

"...Yeah, let's go, Raphtalia. There's no point in wasting my time in this shitty place." Walking away, I could hear Raphtalia laugh a bit as she rushed to my side. Anyway, I had no reason to stay here because everything would just go out the other ear. Because I'm the Shield Hero, they wouldn't care about anything I say…

...I wish I wasn't summoned in this damn world…

"Are you sure you want another crest? You don't need to, you know." After acquiring the Slave User Shield, I asked if it was all right for her to put the crest back on. Well, it's a bit too late for me to say that since the creepy merchant already put on another crest.

"Yes, I'm sure. I just… wanted it to be a symbol of your faith in me, Master Naofumi." She smiled at me, reassuring me that she was fine with the slave crest being put back on her. I don't know why she would want to keep it on, but if she wants it, then she wants it.

"All right, suit yourself." As we waited for the slave merchant, I noticed that Raphtalia seemed to be acting a bit too nervous as she started to move uncomfortably. Now, why was she acting like this?

"...Hey, something wrong?" Asking her that had made her cheeks reddened a bit.

"W-well… I was just wondering if you could tell me how it looks…" What, the crest? Why would she want to know something so irrelevant as that? As I looked at the crest, I couldn't think of anything to say. What, did the slave merchant give her some type of special crest this time?

"...What's the difference? Is there something that I'm not seeing, Raphtalia? Was this crest something that boots your stats?" Rubbing my chin, I could only wonder what the difference was with the new crest. It looked the same as the one he first gave her, so what was the difference? Noticing that Raphtalia was pouting her cheeks a bit, I could only raise my eyebrow.

"Nevermind, Master Naofumi. Please forget that I said anything…" Was she angry at me? What for? I'm sure there was nothing different about the crest that was on her chest, so why was she angry? As the slave merchant came back from whatever he was doing, he walked towards Raphtalia to get a closer inspection on her.

"Well, well, my boy, I'm amazed that you've helped this scrawny bag of bones grow so much in a short span of time! You could get twenty gold pieces if she was a virgin!" Twenty gold pieces, huh?

"But I am a virgin!" Raphtalia retorted.

"Then thirty-five gold pieces!"

"Wow, thirty-five gold pieces, huh?" I intended on saying that as a joke.

"Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia stood up from her seat and looked at me with an angry-looking face. Hmm, maybe I should joke around with that kind of stuff about Raphtalia, then? As I looked over to the left, I noticed that there was a bunch of eggs inside an opened case. Not only that, but they have some sort of weird-looking crest on the front of them.

"What's that?" I pointed at the case for him to know what I was talking about.

"That's a monster egg lottery, my boy. For one hundred silvers, you're guaranteed at least a Filolial." That word seemed a bit alien to me. Filolial. Something that I've never heard before, is part of a lottery.

"...A Filolial?"

"I'm sure we've been seeing them around, right, Master Naofumi? They're those gigantic birds that pull carriages around town." Remembering back to the instances where I walked around the town, I do remember those gigantic birds pulling those carriages. So, those things were Filolial? Hmm, if I ever get a carriage, then getting a Filolial would be very useful since they'll be able to push them around.

"And better yet, if you hit the jackpot, then you'll win a dragon!" I don't know why he seems so happy when he said that, but when he did, it reminds me of those greedy gacha game companies. Oh boy, even this world has things that are similar to gacha games…

"Is that like a gacha game?"

"What's a gacha game?" Raphtalia tilted her head as she asked that. I'm sure she won't be able to get to play them, but it's better that she doesn't know about them. One gacha game I remember well is this popular game called... F/GU or something like that. I was interested in it for a bit, only to figure out that it was a waste of my time.

"Nevermind, don't worry about it. Slave merchant, I'll be getting one of those eggs." I'm sure that with the cost of the slave crest, it'll be a lot to pay for…

"Splendid! However… there's something I will like to ask of you." As he walked out of the room to get a book, he gave it to me. Looking at it, I don't think this was like any normal book. First, there was a purple gem in the middle and there was some wing-like design around the purple gem.

"So… what do you want me to do with this?" I asked as it was the obvious question. For what reason, did he have to give me this book?

"This is a book that's been given to me by an associate of mine, but I haven't been able to open this book for whatever reason. I could easily sell this to someone who's interested, but since you're here, I'm sure you'll be happy to take this off my hands, will you not? It might contain some valuable information if you open it, so why not try and figure a way to open it?" Whatever book this was, it felt… off. I don't know why, but it just felt off to me. Was this some kind of magic book? It didn't feel normal. Maybe… I should take it, then?

"How much?"

A few days had passed since taking the Filolial egg and the strange book the slave merchant offered me. I hadn't touched the book at all because I can't really understand what that feeling was. It was a book that couldn't be opened by the slave merchant, so it must be something out of the ordinary, right? Maybe I should just try to open it and read it. The sooner I figure out what this kind of book is, then the better. We had some time to look at it since we're in Lute Village where it's safe to just relax, but how long will that last?

"Master Naofumi, don't you think Filo is growing up… a bit too quickly? And aren't you going to name her with a… different name?"

"Gwah!" Looking up at Filo, yes, looking UP at Filo, it did seem strange that she was growing this much. A few days ago, she was just born and now, all of a sudden, she's grown into a normal-sized Filolial. It might be because she's a part of my party? The growth boost skill must've been a part of her random changes. Even then, I found it strange that Filo was in the party as she was a Filolial, but I guess it just makes sense.

"...Well, I'm not complaining. She'll be very helpful if we have some stuff to carry, so why not just go with it? And what's wrong with Filo? She likes it." Petting Filo, she "gwah!" again. That might be some Filolial language, but I guess that means she's happy.

"...Is that so? Anyway, Master Naofumi... are you going to open the book that you bought? Even though you bought it, I don't think you should just spend your money like that. Especially spending on stuff that shady merchant."

"When is the world never shady, Raphtalia? Now that you mentioned it, I was just thinking about opening it. But… don't you find it strange? The slave merchant said he couldn't open it, so what might make us any different?" I didn't want to explain the part where I felt something off about the book to Raphtalia because I didn't want her to be too concerned about me. It's not like the book was some sort of evil thing, so what's to worry about?

"...If you say so, Master Naofumi. You still have it on you, right?" Taking the book out of the pouch I had, I held it out in front of her. Luckily, the slave merchant had the thought of giving us a pouch just in case we decide on taking it with us.

"That purple gem in the middle looks weird, doesn't it?" Taking a closer look at the book, Raphtalia touched the gem. As it was a design for the book, nothing happened when she touched it. It was probably some old book about the past of this shitty world, so what really was the point of buying this?

"The Spear Hero!"

"And the knights as well?!"

"What's going on here?"

Hearing some commotion outside, I decided to take a look and see what was going on. From where we were, we could see… oh god, the Spear Prick and the bitch again. When will I ever catch a break from these assholes? And what are they even here for? Knowing them, they'll probably just start some stupid crap that'll make the people hate them. Let's just stay hidden for now...

"Master Naofumi, don't you think we should check out what's going on?" Raphtalia suggested that we go there and see what was going on, but I don't feel like I need to. I REALLY don't feel like dealing with their shit.

"Nah, let's just read the book. I don't feel like wasting my time dealing with those idiots." I automatically rejected.

"What? Master Naofumi, what if it was something that could be bad for the people here? Don't you think we should at least see what's going on before deciding on not dealing with them?" Raphtalia put her hands on her waist as if she was disappointed.

"Why, though? Whatever's going to happen there is going to happen, no matter if I'm there or not." Raphtalia pouted her cheeks a bit before smiling a bit as if she had some sort of idea.

"But… wouldn't it be nice to get a reward from them after helping them out? I'm sure those two are planning something wrong for the village, but if you happen to help them…"

...

"...All right, let's go." Raphtalia only smiled. I'm not doing this for the people, I'm only doing this for the reward. No matter what it is, it has to be valuable to them. And if it's valuable, then it could be worth a lot. As we walked towards them, I decided to look down at the book again. Okay, but before I decide on seeing what they're doing, I should probably try to open this book. If I'm able to open it, then I'd like to see what's inside for a bit. As I tried to open the book…

It opened…

To reveal nothing on the pages...

"Huh? I didn't expect the book to open so easily. The slave merchant wasn't able to open it, but I was? Something tells me that he lied to me, damn it! And besides, it's nothing but an empty book. Raphtalia, we should just get rid of it." Because it was useless, I threw it away. Based on the price of it, which was thirty silver, it wasn't supposed to be worth anything at all! I just got tricked, damn it! Damn that creepy slave merchant!

"Master Naofumi!" Hearing the urgency in Raphtalia's voice, I looked to see what was wrong, only to see that Raphtalia and Filo were standing in front of a man. Why did everything go quiet? Was the bitch finally done with her speech?

"What's wrong, Raphtalia?" Walking towards Raphtalia and Filo, Raphtalia could only point at the man's face. I was behind the man, so I couldn't tell what was wrong with him, so I guess I should just see then. Wait… why wasn't the man reacting to Raphtalia and Filo being in front of his face? Walking in front of him...

Frozen. Standing in front of the man, I could see that his face was frozen. He didn't blink, he didn't breathe… he was just frozen. What the hell is going on?

"Master Naofumi, not only this man, but everyone and everything was frozen, too!" Looking around, I could see leaves that had been falling off a tree had been frozen as well. Not only that, but the bitch was frozen as well. If I punched her, then would she feel it? No, not the time right now.

"Raphtalia, I don't know what's going on, but I think it's the book! I just opened it and-" Before I could say anything else, I could see the wind blowing towards the opposite direction of me. For each second, the wind was getting stronger and stronger. As it grew stronger, objects started to fly in that direction, while the frozen people weren't. Because of how strong it was, I started to feel myself slipping towards that direction. It was as if…

...Something was sucking me in! Turning around, I could see… wait is that some sort of vertex? It was blue and... did that just come from the area that I threw the book at? Shit!

"Raphtalia! Filo!" Looking back at Raphtalia, she was trying to hold onto a fence that was near her, while Filo had her mouth on the fence as well. Damn it, I don't have anything that can stop myself from getting sucked into that vertex! What the hell was going on!

"Master Naofumi!" As I didn't have the chance to grab onto anything, I was getting closer and closer to the vertex.

"Damn it, don't worry about me! Just hang on and don't let go!" I didn't know what was beyond this vertex. It could be death… or something worse. Damn, I'm getting close to the vertex! If it's just me getting sucked in, then Raphtalia and Filo would be safe... but… will the vertex still close even if I'm sucked in?

"Master Naofumi!" As my body was starting to get sucked inside, I couldn't feel it anymore. Everything just felt numb in my body as it continued to go deeper and deeper into the vertex. However… with my head still out of the vertex, I could see… Raphtalia and Filo letting go? I… can't… my head is starting to get sucked in as well… this… was it.

However… it wasn't it. Whatever happened to me, I found myself… on a building of some sort. With this flooring, there's no way this wasn't a building. Looking up, I could see… wait, is that the Waves of Calamity?! What the hell?! Did I just get sucked into a portal where I'm in the Waves of Calamity without warning?! Wait… isn't the sky supposed to be red, though? Looking up towards the sky, I could tell that this Wave was different than the others. One: the sky was purple, and two: there's that blue vertex that sucked me here moments ago. Based on how far I'm away from the vertex, did I just land here?

"Master… Naofumi?" Hearing Raphtalia's voice, I looked to my side to see Raphtalia laying under Filo's wings. Did… Filo protect her as they got here? No, how did they even get here?! Wait, I remember seeing them let go of the fence, so that's probably how they got here with me.

"Raphtalia! Filo! Are you two all right?!" As Filo moved over so I could see Raphtalia, I didn't see anything on Raphtalia's body. That's… that's good. Looking over to Filo, I didn't see anything on her that would show if she's hurt. Good… this is good, for now.

"Master… Naofumi? Master Naofumi! Are you all right?!" After sitting up straight, Raphtalia grabbed my shoulders to see if I'm all right. Shaking me a bit, I didn't think Raphtalia had this kind of strength within her…

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, Raphtalia! You don't have to keep shaking me!" Yelling that had caused her to let go of my shoulders. After letting go, she smiled.

"That's… good! I… thought I was going to lose you, Master Naofumi, so I… I let go." As her ears drooped to tell that she was sad; I only laid my hand on her head. This was… strange to me. I don't know where we're at, but I can tell that this isn't good.

"...It's fine. But don't get any ideas after doing this, all right? If it's just my life being taken away, then you should make yours a priority. Understand?" Raphtalia looked like she wanted to say something, but she chose not to. She only nodded her head as she looked to the floor.

"...Yes, I understand." Why does she have to look so sad while saying that? Does she not care about her life at all?! She shouldn't be risking her life like that for me in the first place! What if this didn't lead to another place?! What if this was only death?! Would she even consider doing that if she knew it?!

"Gwah!" Hearing Filo, I turned to see her just looking down from the railing. Wait, now that I see it, there's a skyscraper-like building where the vertex is…

…And Melromarc doesn't have skyscraper-like buildings. If this was a Wave, then we should've been summoned somewhere around Melromarc. But even then, there's nothing but the forest and plain land around there, so how the hell is there a skyscraper here? Even if they randomly have skyscrapers, it wouldn't be as modern as the one I'm looking at!

"Master Naofumi… where are we?" As we both went to the railing, I could see different types of buildings surrounding us, but unlike this one, they were torn down to the ground. I'm able to see some roads from here, but some of it had been blocked off. This… this was a city!

There's no way… there's no way this could've happened!

"Master Naofumi… what is that?" As Raphtalia pointed to something behind us, I turned around and all I could see… wait, what the hell was that thing?! That's… that's not something we would see in the Wave of Calamity!

"I… I don't know, Raphtalia. But… I know one thing is for sure, Raphtalia…" It was a titan. Yeah, a titan that was covered in purple and black as it was destroying parts of the city we weren't currently at.

"...This isn't Melromarc."