Greetings everyone, I hope you are all doing well!

Before we delve into the story, I would just like to clarify that this story is AU and there will be a lot of differences from the very get go. If you spot any inconsistencies with the canon material, just know that it is all intended.

Also while this story will have its serious moments, it is also my intention to include it's fair share of fun and lighthearted moments so please keep that in mind. Furthermore, there will be romance. (Just a heads up.)

Without further ado, let us begin the first chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero. I only own my story.

Chapter 1 - Journey to a New World

"Phew, that's the last box done and dusted!"

Letting out a satisfied sigh, the young man stood up and performed a number of stretches, loosening his aching muscles which had worked non stop for the past few hours. He had always been the type to do every task and chore as soon as he could, preferring not to stall lest he forget to do them altogether. This was precisely why he simply had to unpack when his luggage arrived hours ago.

PC? Check

Desk? Check

Bookshelf all arranged? Check

He couldn't stop the grin that slowly surfaced as he scanned the room before him, feeling a small sense of pride at how his hard work had paid off. After all, he had managed to transform what was effectively a boring and generic dormitory room into something that would probably do fairly well in one of those fancy apartment magazines. Everything was neatly arranged to be easy on the eyes.

Of course, it wasn't the biggest room in the world like with any other dormitory but it still gave off a very homely feel, offering a perfect environment for him to relax at the end of a grueling day of studies.

Pulling open the blinds, the young man felt the sun's warmth seep into him, further invigorating his spirits and illuminating the entire space with it's natural rays. As his room was positioned on the tenth floor, he was able to get a clear view of the grounds below him, watching as many his age filled the area, a smile apparent on every one as they interacted with others.

That's right, starting today, Iwatani Naofumi was officially a student of the world famous college which has produced dozens and dozens of well-renowned artists over the past few decades. Needless to say, Naofumi was also aspiring to be the same as those successful handful.

So in order to get into this college, he had studied extremely hard over the past year, hence the reason why he needed to stop playing games.

"Those were the rough times..." But before Naofumi could lose himself in a stroll down memory lane, the sound of his phone rung out through his room, alerting him that he had a new notification.

Retrieving his smartphone, the young man quickly navigated through the device menus with practiced motions to find a huge announcement.

Despite quitting the popular online mobile game, Onslaught of the Waves, a full year ago in favor of studies, Naofumi still ultimately found himself unable to completely detach himself from what was essentially his once favorite pastime. To say that he had spent a lot of time and money on it was probably the understatement of the year for he clearly remembered how many sleepless nights he had endured for the sake of progress in that virtual world.

He had definitely earned the right to be called a veteran in that game especially since he had been around since beta. In fact, he was fairly proud of being around since that long ago because it meant he possessed many unique items that were only given out to the oldest players.

Furthermore, Naofumi was perhaps one of the most well-known players on the server to the point where his in-game name still circulated on various forums despite his rather long absence. There were actually several reasons behind this.

First of all, Naofumi's character is unique in the sense that it was a step above the rest of the players in terms of appearance and looks. With its player base growing at an exponential rate, the developers were eager to reach out and communicate with its community, and one of the best ways to do so was to host various events that would appeal to it's audience. Whether it be soundtrack creation contests, capturing the best screenshot competitions, pvp events, the variety was simply bottomless. Naturally the winners of these were granted exclusive rewards that suited the respective contests, so they were all extremely well received by the public. Over the years, Naofumi had participated in quite a few of them but one in particular drew his attention more than the rest.

A drawing competition.

For the young man, it was a splendid chance to get his work appraised and judged by professional eyes as well as the rest of the player base. The grand prize was even more intriguing as the game developers promised to create and provide the winner with their very own unique in game avatar based on the submitted art. Needless to say, the competition skyrocketed once they were aware of the award and many eagerly submitted their own works.

To this day, Naofumi still couldn't believe that he had won. To be fair, he did take a full 3 weeks off from playing the game in order to perfect every last detail on his masterpiece. Yet that didn't stop how surreal it felt when he saw his name and artwork posted on the official game website by the developers with bold letters labeling him as the grand champion. What was even more surprising was the amount of compliments he received from the rest of player base.

"I've never seen such a beautiful character before!"

"Absolutely stunning. One would be hard pressed to find something topping this in even a gallery."

"If only animes nowadays were drawn to this quality!"

"Hands off everyone! That's my 2D waifu from now on!"

"Do you take commissions?! Your art is gorgeous enough for me to want to hang on my bedroom wall!"

Of course, Naofumi had trouble sleeping the next few nights after that, worried it was all a dream that he would wake up from if he fell asleep. True to their word, the game developers released a unique in game avatar specifically for Naofumi that boasted quality far exceeding the rest of the community's characters. Heck, it even had unique animations and particle effects for every skill, something that he initially found confusing since he got so used to the old effects but eventually came to greatly admire, as it made even bothersome activities like grinding mobs feel very enjoyable and entertaining. In fact, Naofumi was shocked at how attractive his character turned out, feeling like the developers had taken his 2D drawing and taken it several steps beyond, creating an unrivaled masterpiece.

Everything from her long flowing black hair, alluring red eyes, smooth flawless pale skin and elegant figure, it was simply picture perfect. Coupled with her exclusive attire that consisted of a full-body jet black kimono with silver embroidery and intricately designed waist band, it created a perfect balance between beauty and mystery, producing an image of a bewitching yet powerful noble-class individual.

Apparently, his character had struck a chord in the hearts of many others as Naofumi eventually found a forum on the official website titled 'Pictures of our wonderful Glass-sama!', something that literally caused him to fall from his chair at the time in astonishment. Looking on the bright side though, he was just glad that he managed to secure a name that he personally thought was pretty cool. Can you imagine if his name was something dumb like xxKawaiiiiiNa0fumiiiiix333xx.

'Pictures of our wonderful xxKawaiiiiiNa0fumiiiiix333xx'...yeaaa that wouldn't do his unique character justice to say the least...

Did everyone even know he was a guy in real life though...? After all he had chosen a somewhat ambiguous in game name and even submitted his art with a rather feminine pen name...

Still though, he couldn't blame the members of his so-called fan club since Naofumi himself sometimes spent a few hours too long on his character selection screen, admiring his creation...for educational purposes of course. Naturally his smartphone background and his bedroom wallpaper of her were there for the same purpose too *Cough*.

A-A-Anyway long story short, this whole incident with his unique character appearance was what initially skyrocketed his fame in game, followed shortly by an influx of in game friend invites and party requests. However, Naofumi was never really the social type in real life and in fact preferred to spend quality time alone indulging in various hobbies. As a result, the attention that he received in game eventually caused him to shrink away and stick to solo play. Of course, he still maintained friendly public relations whenever he met others but other than that, the young man hunted and did mostly everything alone.

It went without saying that playing without the aid of other players made things a lot more difficult. Not only would you constantly be the sole target of aggro from monsters, but also, if you were hit by certain de-buffs such as petrification or stuns...well you could kiss your hp bar goodbye. So as cool as it sounded to play solo, it was a fairly unforgiving and sometimes a very frustrating experience.

"Especially that time when the boss survived on 1 hp...ARHGHGHGHG!" Of course, Naofumi would never do something as childish as stomping his feet and jumping up and down in anger like a kid from a game...probably.

To be completely fair, it was partially his own fault for making things even more difficult. You see, like with any other MMOs out there, an important aspect of your character is your stat build. You know the usual annoying numbers next to STR, DEX, AGI, DEF etc etc... Well lets just say that Naofumi absolutely loved DPS and dedicated all his equipment, accessory, enchants, weapons...towards basically focusing entirely on damage, attack speed and movement speed. What's more, his character specialized in using dual guns, a powerful class that required extreme hand-eye coordination and reaction speed in order to pull off successfully otherwise it would fall short when compared to other builds.

I guess you could say his character was literally a glass cannon...get it... cause his character's name is...never mind.

The point was, his character severely lacked defense which naturally made solo clearing much more dangerous especially when it came to brand new content due to the monster's abilities and attack patterns being completely unknown to him. Therefore it was essential for him to prepare various potions in order to counter anything that may come.

Although it was a soul-crushing experience when he first went solo with the number of failures he had endured being far too much to count, it was by no means a waste of time. Because the more he played, the more adept he became when it came to abusing his character's strengths and working around the weaknesses.

Eventually, Naofumi adopted an extremely tactical and sometimes a reactionary play style in order to come out on top almost all the time. Due to his unforgiving stats, he would prioritize information gathering when it came to new monsters, focusing entirely on evasion in order to grasp all the creatures tell-tale signs when it came to ability usage. After all, it was a lot easier to win the battles if you knew your enemy. Furthermore, Naofumi was extremely resourceful as well not just when it came to preparing the appropriate consumables beforehand, but also when it came to utilizing every single one of his character's skills to perfection. Unlike DPS parties who often could focus on dishing out damage by using only their most high level skills whilst constantly swapping aggro with each other, Naofumi didn't have that luxury. This meant battles with bosses in particular was more than just mashing his most damaging spells but prioritizing which skills to use first and which ones to save in order to abuse i-frames. In addition, Naofumi also needed to carefully manage his mobility and escape skills so as to not get caught in a fatal position with them on cool down, thus he developed an extraordinary sense of spatial awareness on top of his already overwhelming capabilities as a strategist.

But never did he anticipate that his habit of playing solo, which actually stemmed from his inability to interact well with others, to eventually pay off so well until the announcement of the second anniversary event.

Second Anniversary Celebration Event

We can't believe that it has been two years since the beginning of this project. Never would we have anticipated this game of ours to do so well so we would like to take the time to sincerely offer each and every one of you our thanks for the love and support so far! We hope you all have made as many pleasant memories as we have on the development team.

In light of this special day, we would like to host a very special event this coming Saturday. Upon logging in, you will each receive an special invitation ticket. Simply use the item to be teleported to the gladiator arena where each player will be given the opportunity to participate in a grueling battle against waves of enemies. There will be 100 waves in total with each spawning progressively harder monsters.

This can only be attempted solo.

You will receive a reward that corresponds with the highest wave you reach.

There will be no respawns allowed and each player will only get one attempt with no time limit.

The first player to beat level 100 will be rewarded with a unique skill that allows them so summon their very own AI controlled NPC. This NPC partner is capable of helping the player in combat as a front line warrior.

If you wish to find out more about the rewards, please navigate to the official website post for more details.

Hope to see you all at 10:00 PST when the event begins.

P.S. You might even be able to meet Glass-sama!

The young man could still remember face-palming when he first saw the event notification especially with that last line. He almost felt embarrassed logging in that day but the prizes were ultimately too enticing to pass. Of course, the grand prize was something Naofumi wanted. After all, getting to summon a AI controlled combat ally was something that had not been implemented in the game yet, and it was something that a solo player like him could definitely put to good use.

So he steeled his nerves and participated.

To be honest, Naofumi still couldn't believe he had won the event especially since he didn't really have any real expectations going into it. While he did breeze through the earlier waves, the later waves were of course difficult especially the later rounds which spawned not one but several boss-level monsters from what could essentially be considered end-game content at the time.

Needless to say, Naofumi had a ridiculously hard time, initially only managing to fire a single bullet or two whilst focusing most of his attention on dodging. The problem with these boss characters were that they barely left any window for retaliation on their own, so when you put a few of them together...yea it was bothersome to say the least.

Thanks to his constant hours of solo play however, Naofumi eventually managed to prevail through the last wave, using every ounce of concentration and energy he had in order to pull off a victory.

Apparently the player who came in second only managed to get to wave 90.

It wasn't until after he finally finished did Naofumi realize that his battles had been live streamed to the rest of the players, earning countless praise for his flawless display of skill, strategy and wits. This in turn, skyrocketed his already inflated reputation to astronomical levels.

And as you may have guessed, his fan-club had been present during the airing so he was bombarded with an endless amount of players both new and veterans alike who wanted to have a chat with him.

Shortly afterwards, Naofumi was awarded with his promised anniversary award, a unique and exclusive skill that allowed him to summon his very own AI controlled companion. In order to level up the NPC though, he needed to complete their respective story line first which served almost as additional lore for the character.

Naofumi was frankly quite surprised about the amount of effort that the developers put into designing the NPC's backstory. It was a heart wrenching tale about a young noble girl who strived to become a famous knight of the Kingdom in order to follow in her father's footsteps. However despite being someone who was unrivaled in the art of swordsmanship, her unyielding kindness to lend a hand towards the poorer citizens of the country as well as demi-humans coupled with the ambition to overturn the concept of slavery ultimately brought a frown upon the faces of the Kingdom's corrupt nobles. After all, they saw her as a threat who could potentially uproot their power and disrupt the status quo between them and those of the lower birth. Therefore they deemed her as an unsuitable candidate for 'knighthood' before proceeding to frame her family for various evil deeds.

Eventually her family fell from aristocracy with her father even dying at the hands of unknown killers. Left with nowhere to run, the female knight was captured and thrown into prison where she was sentenced to spend the remainder of her days.

Such was the life of the one known as Eclair Seaetto.

Thankfully the game developers shared a love for happy endings as the quest line basically describes the great deeds that the hero (aka Glass who is aka Naofumi irl) is willing to go to in order to save Eclair. Eventually succumbing to the overwhelming power of the hero who threatened to overturn the empire, the nobles, albeit reluctantly, released the young knight from imprisonment thus allowing Naofumi to unlock her initial imposed level cap of 1.

From that point onward, Naofumi continued to hone his skills whilst aided by his AI companion, rising through the player ranks before gradually settling comfortably among the top 10.

It was also around this time that the young man entered his final high school years which unfortunately caused him to turn his back on his gaming journey. After all, he was arriving at the age where reality was starting to hit him and he couldn't realistically game for a living, meaning he needed to focus on getting a career for the future.

Having said all that though, Naofumi still recalled those few years as the happiest he had been all his life, knowing full well that he had achieved the most then. The fact that he would still so easily lose himself in thought over it was more than enough evidence. Even now, he still stared fondly at a poster of Glass on his dormitory wall with a genuine smile on his face.

Precisely because of this attachment, Naofumi still kept his account linked to the notice boards in order to stay in the loop.

So when his phone had signaled that a new patch notes had arrived, he simply couldn't help himself but immediately read it out of habit.

New Patch Notes

Attention all players!

We would like to thank you all for your patience as we finally bring you the biggest update of this year. Many of you are probably already aware through various teasers that we have been focusing our attention on releasing a massive content overhaul with many of us on the development team spending many sleepless nights fixing bugs!

Whether it be new classes, items, gear, weapons, pets, towns, we have thrown in the whole lot into today's massive patch with many of the existing systems changing completely! If that isn't enough to satisfy your thirst, there's even two new continents for you all to explore!

As of today, we hereby officially announce 'The Advent of the Cardinal Heroes' update!

Of course, we would like to once again thank each and every one of you out there for your continued support. We would have never come this far if it weren't for you all.

What's more, one of you lucky players might even get to experience the new world in all it's glory...

"The new world in all it's glory? What is that supposed to mean?" Scratching his head in confusion, Naofumi proceeded to navigate to the full patch notes, curious to see all that had been changed. "Oh wow, they really put a lot of effort into this one huh?"

In fact, the list was so long that he didn't even know where to start reading from. Even the balance changes alone were enough to give the young man a headache, as he was never really one who enjoyed crunching the numbers when it came to stats.

"Still the advent of the cardinal heroes does sound pretty cool...so this is an expansion story of some kind? It almost seems like a light novel with the way it's written." Flicking his smartphone to the relevant section, the young man began to read with interest evident in his features. "So there's four cardinal heroes in total...each wielding their own weapon which consists of the sword, spear, bow and a shield."

The young man peered closer at his phone, making sure he hadn't misread the last one accidentally because it was enough to raise an eyebrow or two.

"Err...I'm pretty sure a shield is more like armor than anything. Besides, don't you usually use the shield alongside an actual weapon?"

Besides that one small point, Naofumi found the rest of the prologue fairly interesting. It was definitely written well enough to itch the gamer sense inside him, causing Naofumi to tap the 'update' button on his phone without so much as a second thought.

He wanted to play the game...pretty badly right now. If anything, seeing his character in action again would be worth it.

"Shield though huh..." He muttered as he rested his arms on the windowsill, enjoying the slightly cool breeze that brushed past his face. "I can't say I really like the concept of defending only. I'd much prefer my current build on Glass much more."

Ring!

A small sound echoed from his device to signal the end of the patch, immediately causing an excited grin to stir on Naofumi's face. This was going to be the first time logging on in a year! Of course, he was probably behind right now in terms of gear and everything but that was not an issue. Since college wasn't beginning in another couple of weeks, Naofumi knew he had plenty of time to catch up and grind.

Giving the app a tap with shaking hands, Naofumi watched in awe as the familiar company logo appeared on the screen before his character screen eventually booted up along with the nostalgic background music. But before he could proceed into the game itself, a large mail icon appeared on his screen causing the boy to return a puzzled glance in return.

"I thought unread mail only appears once you log into your character. Hmmm, maybe they changed it." Naofumi brushed it off with a shrug of his shoulders before tapping on the icon.

But something unexpected happened when he did as a ray of blinding white light erupted from his smartphone, engulfing him in a way that obscured his view completely.

The next thing he knew...the ground disappeared from beneath his feet.

"This is not good is it...AAHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! What's going on?!"

A young man of 18 years could be seen crying hysterically from the sky as gravity worked it's magic on him, causing Naofumi to free fall relentlessly as his heart lurched uncomfortably from the ground's natural pull.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHAHA! HELLLLLPPPPPP MEEEEE!"

How in the world did he even get into this situation to begin with! Wasn't he supposed to be having fun playing the game he had missed for a whole year?! Besides, last he checked, smartphones didn't have an app that allowed it's user to go skydiving without a parachute.

"This isn't real! It's can't be real! Nothing more than an illusion! I am totally...NOOOOOOTT FINEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" He yelled out in anguish once again as he could now very clearly see the ground closing in on him after having passed the thick layer of clouds. He wasn't exactly sure how fast he was falling or how he was still managing to breathe despite the ridiculously high altitude but one thing was for sure, he didn't want to become the next humpty dumpty.

"Anyone! HELP!" His vision was now completely blurred by tears caused by the cold air rushing past his face, and it wasn't something he could clear either as his limbs seemed to be frozen in shock.

Just when he was about to give in completely to despair however, a bright glow from his hoodie's kangaroo pocket erupted. Moving like his life depended on it...or rather it did, Naofumi reached inside only to find his smartphone which glowed a spectacular array of lights. Then all of a sudden, it disappeared from the palm of his hand.

"Naofumi-sama!"

"Huh?"

Even with his ears filled to the brim with the sound of passing air, Naofumi could hear the beautiful feminine voice as clear as day, as though she spoke directly into his mind. Forcing his eyes open, Naofumi eyes widened in shock at the person who filled his vision.

Whether it be her long flowing black hair, alluring red eyes, smooth flawless pale skin and elegant figure, she possessed the features that Naofumi could only label as ideal. It was as though she was breathed to life by the heavens themselves. It was her, the one he had spent countless hours designing and perfecting. But now that she was before his very eyes, she seemed even more perfect than ever before. The full body jet black kimono that danced around her seemed much more regal than any dress he had ever seen in his world.

Was he dreaming? Was this his mind trying to make his final moments more enjoyable?

But the same lovely voice once again radiated in his mind, dispelling the ridiculous thoughts before they could thrive.

"Naofumi-sama! Please grab my hand!" She yelled with panic filling those charming red eyes, a scene that somewhat contrasted the otherwise graceful appearance she normally gave off.

"Glass!" Struggling against the pressure, Naofumi conjured every last ounce of strength into his right hand, raising it desperately towards her.

After failing several attempts, Glass finally managed to grab a firm hold of Naofumi's hands before immediately pulling him towards her. Once they were somewhat level with each other, the young girl wrapped her arms around him in an embrace.

"Hold onto me Naofumi-sama."

"Uhhh oh okay." Feeling somewhat conscious of their close proximity, Naofumi slowly returned the hug, trying his best to direct his mind to more reasonable thoughts. 'The sky sure is blue!'

The ground was rapidly closing in to meet them but Glass managed to materialize one of her famous pistols before directing at the space directly below them.

Activate Skill - Portal Warp!

Instead of falling straight onto the ground, a portal opened right below their feet and another directly on the floor. The sensation was rather strange as Naofumi found himself phasing through the magic, which resembled a circle of dark abyss, before seemingly popping up from the ground right after, doing wonders to his sense of direction in the process. It felt like he passed through a body of cold water only to find himself completely dry moments after. Still they were at least safely on the ground now with all the momentum they had amassed from free falling disappearing like it was nothing.

He took several moments to come to terms that he was safe before settling his gaze on the black-haired beauty before him, still somewhat dazed at the fact that she was alive. After all, isn't she his in game character? How could she possibly be alive? In fact, all of this still felt unreal to him as a wave of fresh questions flooded his mind, threatening to take over him mentally.

Where am I?

Was this really real?

Is this a game?

Am I in a dream?

What is going on?

How did I get sent here?

And he would have continued to entertain these thoughts had his partner not quietly interjected, voicing their concern at his silence.

"Naofumi-sama, are you feeling alright?" Glass tilted her head and glanced worryingly at him, obviously concerned for his well being.

"Errr...I'm okay." He responded albeit still in some shock. As though attempting to seek physical confirmation on the scene before him, the young man gently reached for her cheeks.

"N-N-Naofumi-sama?" Flustered at the sudden contact, Glass's checks were immediately dyed in a rosy hue.

"Oh sorry, but are you really Glass? Are you really...real?" He muttered the last word with heavy unease. The reason was because a part of him desperately wanted the answer to be yes. You might think he was crazy for being able to leave his reality behind so willingly...but this felt really special to him...she felt really special to him. And for her, he was more than willing to part with reality.

"..." Glass's eyes widened at his question before surfacing a adoring smile, gently holding his hand with her own and lifting it so they could both see. "Does this feel real to you Naofumi-sama?"

"It...does." Naofumi stared fondly at Glass in return before offering a reassuring squeeze. "It does indeed feel very real."

"It does for me too." She smiled happily for a second but her features immediately stiffened when she glanced behind him. "Watch out!"

She pulled him forwards into her as they both fell towards the ground with Glass carefully cushioning Naofumi so that he would feel no impact from the fall. Naofumi watched in horror as an arrow flew right past them. If they had moved just a second later, he was sure he would have been hit in the head.

"What's going on?" He whispered trying to get up as he was currently on top of Glass, but she only pulled him back down. "You should stay down Naofumi-sama, we got this."

"We?"

But before he could get an answer, Glass raised her gun and fired a couple of shots into the darkness of the woods before the sound of two loud thumps could be heard.

"They've got us surrounded huh." She whispered more to herself than him, biting her lower lip in the process as the rustling of leaves could be heard from all around them. Eventually the figures of about 30 goblins could be seen entering the forest clearing, forming a ring around the pair as they cracked their knuckles menacingly. Their appearances honestly shocked Naofumi for they looked somewhat humanoid but wore such wicked expressions that sent a shiver down him spine. It was honestly nothing like in the games he played where they seemed so harmless.

"Forgive me for this Naofumi-sama." Glass said before flipping them over so that she was on top. "If you would so kind as to clear this up Eclair, I would appreciate it."

Having said that, Glass raised her pistol at the sky.

Unique Skill Activate: Summon Eclair!

A portal once again formed in the sky and Naofumi watched in awe as the figure of a female knight jumped out from it, her cape dancing in the wind as she soared majestically in the air.

"Understood, Glass-sama."

A rapier-like weapon materialized in her hands before glowing with a radiant blue aura causing the surrounding aura to drop dramatically in temperature.

Skill Activate: Rain of the Ice Blades!

As per her command, a multitude of ice swords rapidly manifested out of thin air, encircling Eclair with their icy transparent brilliance before hailing down upon it's targets. In the blink of an eye, the enemy was no more and the atmosphere returned to it's original warmth right as the female knight landed gracefully on the floor. All around them were the frozen impaled bodies of the goblins as they littered the battlefield of an extremely one-sided fight.

"Now that the coast is clear, here Naofumi-sama." Glass offered a hand to the young man, to which he accepted gratefully as the pair slowly arose. Twisting in her spot to face the approaching knight, Glass gave her a warm smile before extending her gratitude. "Thanks for the help Eclair, you are as impressive as always."

However what happened next shocked Naofumi.

Given the composure and aura of maturity that Eclair exuded as she made her way towards them, displaying mannerisms that would befit that of a role model knight, anyone would assume that she would reply in accordance to that image. But in reality, as soon as she heard those words of praise from Glass, Eclair's eyes immediately lit up with joy like a kid in a candy store, before quickly dashing towards the black-haired beauty.

"I'm not worthy of such kind words Glass-sama! But thank you very much, I'll gladly do anything for you!" She exclaimed happily whilst hugging Glass tightly, rubbing her cheeks lovingly against her master.

"Eclair, don't...hahahaa, that tickles! Sto...hahahahaha!"

"What was that my princess?"

"Stop tickl...hahahhahaha! Naofumi-sama...help! hahaha!"

Naofumi couldn't help but chuckle at the rather comedic scene occurring before him, feeling overjoyed simply by watching the interactions between Eclair and Glass. It was clear as day that the two were close, as the sound of angelic laughter tickled comfortably away at his ears.

Naofumi was still confused about the whole situation and he still wanted answers for the many questions that currently weighed on his mind. Perhaps he would find them tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow or maybe even two years from now. Who knows? But somehow, deep down, he felt like everything would be okay, and that he would eventually be able to resolve them.

After all, he wasn't alone in this world. Glass and Eclair were here as well and he knew without a doubt that he could trust them both.

With that thought in mind, the young man slowly made his way to the energetic pair in order to help save glass from her predicament...or perhaps he could join Eclair's side just to hear the beautiful laughter a little longer.

Author's Notes

With that we come to the end of the first chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it because I had a lot of fun writing it all!

Thank you for reading and take care everyone!