Tate No Yuusha No Nariagari (LN)

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen: Preparing for the Wave

PikyuPikyu Shield: conditions met

Wood Shield: conditions met

Butterfly Shield: conditions met

Pipe Shield: conditions met

etc…

PikyuPikyu Shield: abilities locked:

equip bonus: simple weapon restoration 1

Wood Shield: abilities locked:

equip bonus: collection skill 1

Butterfly Shield: abilities locked:

equip bonus: paralysis resistance 1 (small)

Pipe Shield: abilities locked:

equip bonus: skill: Shield Prison

etc…

It had been a week and a day .

I’d learned a great number of skills by hunting the monsters, collecting medicines and ore, and allowing the shield to absorb them all in turn . There were so many new things appearing on my status screen that it was hard to keep up with it all .

“Wait!”

Noticing us, a prickled, needle-covered thing, which looked like a porcupine of some kind, ran off . Raphtalia and I ran after it .

The both of us had been leveling up steadily . Raphtalia had reached level 25, and I was at level 20 .

Raphtalia had grown up very quickly .

… And I was still fighting in tattered rags .

I was amazed that I was able to come this far without taking any damage . Was I that strong, or were they all that weak?

But I had been hurt .

I’d been overconfident in my abilities . I was fighting against the porcupine with a weak shield and suddenly felt a sharp pain . Due to my carelessness, he’d gotten a hit on me, and it had damaged me a little .

Even though I’d been using the Alert Shield, he still managed to stick me .

Oh, by the way, the Alert Shield would send out an alarm if an enemy came within twenty meters of me . So it would warn me if anything came near .

It was not actually all that useful .

It would tell you if there was a monster nearby, but it wouldn’t tell you where that monster was .

“Geez, that kind of hurt . ”

I painted some medicine over the spurting wound .

Of course it would hurt to get stuck with a needle . That’s normal .

I’d gotten so used to not feeling any pain since I’d come to this place that I had started to forget what it was like .

“That’s what I was saying, Mr . Naofumi . It’s really about time you got some better equipment for yourself . ”

“Nah, it’s because I was using a weak shield . ”

Somehow, my shield managed to protect my entire body, despite appearing as a normal shield . So I didn’t really need to change the rest of my equipment . I mean, the center of the shield still seemed to be the strongest, but the rest of my body was protected too, so I hadn’t been hurt yet .

The Sharpening Shield really was proving useful . Just like we’d thought, it would keep Raphtalia’s weapon sharp automatically .

It would sharpen for eight hours . If you took the sword out beforehand, it wouldn’t do anything . But the major problem was that it ate up my SP the whole time .

Whatever . Time to practice some of the other skills I’d learned .

“Air Strike Shield!”

The skill formed a giant shield in the air, with a range of about five meters .

It was mostly good for getting some distance from your opponent . The longer you left it deployed, the weaker it got .

But it got stronger if you screamed for it .

The porcupine reacted with surprise to the Air Strike Shield . But it immediately jumped to its feet and kept running .

Damn… If it had stayed within five meters, I could have chased it down, but the little bugger was fast .

Oh well .

“Shield Prison!”

The skill formed a large cage around the battlefield, with a diameter of about six meters .

This time, I called for it, keeping the porcupine set as my target .

The skill could be used to protect a target, or to restrain a target .

But they were both defensive, so it couldn’t be used to deal damage directly .

“Yipe!”

The porcupine had nowhere to run and started to spin in circles within the cage .

The cage would remain on the battlefield for fifteen seconds .

As we waited, Raphtalia ran over to the cage, and waited for it to disappear . When it did, she stabbed the porcupine .

“Yipe!”

“Got him!”

Raphtalia picked up the porcupine and came back over to where I was standing .

“Nice!”

EXP 48

Raphtalia EXP 48

Those numbers weren’t bad .

The monsters could be absorbed into the shield directly, and that would unlock new forms, but it was better to divide up the haul . I hadn’t known that before, but I figured it out during the last week . Balloons, Mush, and Eggugs could all be used as materials . I was lucky to figure it out as fast as I did .

We broke down the Porcupine into needles, meat, skin, and bones . Any of them could be used for materials, so it was pretty useful . I let the shield absorb them separately .

The bones could be used for all kinds of things . The skins gave you a status boost, but only if the skill tree and level were appropriate .

The meat was for cooking . Eventually, it all started to come naturally .

I was excited about the needles, because I already had a Porcupine Shield .

Animal Needle Shield: conditions met

Animal Needle Shield… A Needle Shield would probably have cool abilities .

Animal Needle Shield: abilities locked:

equip bonus: attack 1

Special Effect: Needle Shield (small)

Finally! Now I could ataaaaaaaaaaaack!

But yes, I realize that it was only level one .

The special effect, Needle Shield (small), could have been anything, but I didn’t care because I’d stumbled on the shield tree for the attack statistic .

Now all I really needed to find were some items that had a connection to the statistic, and I could finally start working on my attack level .

The defense level was slightly lower than that of the Ore Shield, but I’m sure I could survive .

“What do you think?

“It looks like it will raise my attack stats . ”

“Excellent! But what about its defense rating?”

Raphtalia looked concerned about the possibility of my injury .

“It’s all right . ”

“Well, that’s good . Um… About my sword… It’s getting a little dull, and I…”

“Fine . Let’s take a break from hunting and head back to town,”

“Yay!”

I changed to the Sharpening Shield and stuck Raphtalia’s sword into it .

Sharpening…

We’d been working hard, so our levels were rising quickly, and we’d made a good amount of money . Would you believe it… 230 pieces of silver! It was thanks to the Light Metals .

Also the medicine was selling well, and the various collecting and fabrications skills that the shields gave me were definitely helping us make a decent profit .

The main issue was that my life here was taking on the very same character that I used when I played online games . I guess that is only to be expected, considering that I was devoting so much of my time to making money .

Not that money would make me any stronger… But I still needed it to survive .

“All right, let’s head back to town and get you some new equipment . ”

“… Mr . Naofumi?”

Huh? She was smiling at me, somehow tense, kind of worried .

“I really do appreciate your offer to buy me new equipment, but before you do, shouldn’t you think a bit more about your own appearance?”

“What, do I look weird?”

“Aside from your Shield, you look just like a normal villager . ”

“Yeah well… I don’t really need much else . Can’t I get by with just a change of clothes?”

She grabbed my shoulders and smiled at me .

“Didn’t that porcupine hurt you?”

“I told you, I was using a weak shield… It’s not a big deal . If we use our funds on your equipment, it’s better in the long run . ”

“But, Mr . Naofumi… If you don’t take care of yourself, you’ll end up dead . ”

“Dead?!”

She had a grip on her sword, and she was getting forceful . I mean, the slave spell should keep her from actually hurting me…

“It’s time . It’s time that you took another look at yourself . You’ve taken this as far as you can . ”

“Well…”

She was right . And come to think of it, the wave of destruction would probably come sometime in the next few days . I needed to be as strong as I could when it arrived .

So, I guess that dressing like a villager would not inspire confidence in the public .

The goal and the means were flipped around backwards .

“Geez…”

I had wanted to raise my attack level more…

“Forget about me for now . Let’s focus on getting you some better equipment, Mr . Naofumi . ”

“Fine . We’ll buy some stuff and then use the leftover money on you . ”

“Okay . ”

She was more comfortable with me than she had been, but she was getting cheeky .

I wanted to remind her that she worked for ME, but she had learned the limits of her slave spell, and was now careful not to cross any lines .

To put it simply, she was becoming a pain . But if she was capable of pointing out my shortfalls, that was something I needed too . If I thought about the future, I’d need someone like her around .