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Wandering of a Sword Hero by A Dyslexic Writer
 Fate/stay night & Rising of the Shield Hero/盾の勇者の成り上がり Xover Rated: M, English, Shirō E., Firo, Words: 221k+, Favs: 7k+, Follows: 8k+, Published: Jan 27, 2019 Updated: Sep 22, 2019 8,517Chapter 21
"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Your Highness." Shirou said as he kneeled before the King.
"Rise, Hero of the Sword." The King said, letting Shirou stand at ease. "Tell me, why is it that you chose to disappear after leaving the castle?"
"Would you think ill of me if I told you I thought it was amusing?" Shirou said with a slightly guilty smile. "I am a grown man who wields legendary power and skill. I neither need, nor desire babysitters. I'm sure you can relate, not being allowed to leave the castle without a dozen bodyguards around."
The King's mouth twitched slightly. "Perhaps. However, you are one of the only hopes for our world. You should understand that having you disappear leaves us uneasy. But tell me, how has your progress been?"
"I am currently level 57, almost 58." Shirou said calmly.
"Level 57, you say?" He said, stroking his chin with approval. His advisers gasped at hearing how fast Shirou had grown. "Well, with results like this, I suppose we have no right to complain. Have you had any luck with finding companions to assist you on your journey?"
"It has been difficult to find people with skill. It seems that many adventurers believe you don't need to know which side of the sword is the pointy end, so long as your level is high enough. I've ended up taking a few fresh youngsters with some good talent and have started training them up from scratch." Shirou reported as he left the King's party. "However Your Highness, I haven't come here today merely to give a status report. I wish to discuss a matter that needs to be dealt with before the next Wave of Calamity hits."
"I see. Speak then, what is so important that you would interrupt your journey to come and report it?" The King asked, his face returning to a serious line.
"It involves how the pervious Wave was handled. Are you aware of how long it took for the Wave to be dealt with?" Shirou asked the King.
"Yes. It took twelve hours for the previous wave to be resolved." The King said in a regretful tone of voice.
"That is correct, but do you know why it took twelve hours?" Shirou said. "From what I have gathered, rather than eliminating the threat immediately, the Knight Commander ordered his troops to stand down so that the monsters would ravage the lands populated by the Demihumans. This gave the monsters time to spread and cause a much wider scale problem. While I am not in the position to judge the conflicts between humans and demihumans of this world, in those twelve hours that the gateway remained open, nearly two million monsters were allowed entry into this world, resulting in the deaths of thousands. Even now, the remains of the Wave still haven't been fully dealt with. Such behavior would be incompetence at the criminal level."
"…Is this true?" The King asked, looking to one of his advisers.
"I do not know, your Majesty." The man said.
"An investigation is likely in order. However, I don't think we can risk another such act occurring. I wish to suggest that the Knight Commander be suspended from his duties pending the completion of the investigation and another leader be placed in charge of the armed forces." Shirou suggested.
"Let it be done." The King commanded and one of his men left the room to give the orders. "As you've said, this could take time. The Knight Commander is a member of high nobility with many connections. Even with proper evidence, bringing the man to trial will be difficult and time consuming. However, he will be replaced in time for the next Wave, even if he has yet to see justice."
"I understand, Your Highness. I am personally more concerned with dealing with the Waves than dishing out justice." Shirou confessed. "So long as the army is under more professional leadership, I care not what happens to the man."
"Hm… speaking of criminals getting their due, I assume you've heard about what happened with the Shield Hero." The King said, changing the subject.
"…Yes. Though the news has only recently reached me, I have heard about it." Shirou said. The King was testing him, seeing how he would respond to the allegations, to see if he would believe Naofumi's guilt. While Shirou knew the man was innocent, nothing good would come of fighting the King about it. Right now they were willing to leave Naofumi alive. If Shirou started to kick the hornets' nest on it and question Naofumi's guilt, they might change their minds about that. In just a little while longer, between levels and improvements to his shield, Naofumi will become exceedingly difficult to kill. Shirou would help the Shield Hero, but he couldn't do it here. "Personally, I'm not all that surprised. Many figures in my world that were worshipped as heroes were really just self-centered monsters whose actions just so happened to benefit their country. There was once a famous man in my world called Vlad the Impaler, who killed anyone who opposed him, and sometimes even the innocent. He would impale their bodies on pikes and prostrate them outside of his castle to frighten his enemies. While the man was an absolute psychopath, he did defend his lands from invaders."
Some of the people gasped at the description of the famous figure. "So, you aren't surprised that one of your fellows was scum?" The King summarized.
"The only thing that I consider surprising is that it was Naofumi. I had thought that it would have been Motoyasu or Itsuki. They just seemed more like the type to me. I suppose I am still a poor judge of character." Shirou said with a shake of the head. "That said, even scum has its uses. Would it have not been wiser to simply cover up what happened rather than letting everyone know what the Shield Hero did? As dishonorable as it is to say it, when compared to the lives saved by the Heroes putting a stop to the Waves of Calamity, what is a single raped adventurer?"
Shirou would pretend not to know that the Princess was involved. That wasn't supposed to be common knowledge, as far as Shirou could tell. Shirou would put forward the front of being a pragmatist, willing to sacrifice truth and honor to get the job done.
"Cover it up, you say? Tell me, would you think to cover it up if it that adventurer was your family. What would you have done if it was your sister who had been raped?" The King asked, narrowing his eyes at Shirou.
Shirou paused for a moment before slowly releasing his MP and Od so that his magical aura caused the air to vibrate with energy and the torches to flicker. "Then nothing in this world or any other would had saved him from me."
A slight smile played at the King's lips. Shirou had once again gained the man's approval. "Then he should be glad that I am more merciful than you are."
Shirou was back in the castle library, a book of intermediate level magic to one side and a blank journal in front of him. He was pretending to take notes about what he was reading in Japanese for later use, when in reality he was writing what he would call 'an idiot's guide to legendary weapon ownership'. Written by an idiot, for an idiot. Once he was done, he would use his magecraft to speed up the yellowing of the pages to make it look older than it actually was and then had it over to Naofumi.
It was a pity that this would be a one-way exchange of information. He'd be depending on Rita to fill him in on what methods he had figured out to improve the power of the Legendary Weapons. Though her ability to do so would be limited to what could be seen on the surface.
Still, it was best not to let people know that the Sword Hero was helping the criminal Shield Hero. It would only lead to politics, and politics tended to get good people killed.
Shirou had basically finished his twenty-page guide containing everything he had figured out about Jian, excluding the fact that she was conscious, which he felt Naofumi would have a hard time swallowing. Best not to give him any reason to doubt when the weapon required faith to use. The only reason Shirou was even still there was because he was waiting for them, and as soon as he sensed the presence of blades attempting to hid themselves from him, he got up and started to move out.
In the ancient Greek philosophy, which many forms of Magecraft have their roots, there is the concept of 'effluvium' which had been the old Greeks attempt to explain how sensation existed. It was said that each object gave off information which was picked up and processed by the human sensory organs. Each organ merely recognizing that information in a different way and requiring a different threshold in order to properly detect it.
For Shirou however, his entire being was a sensory organ when it came to the detection of weapons. Anything from sight, to smell, to even the more hypothetical forms of effluvium, such as intent, could allow Shirou to detect and process information about a blade. While not as effective as touch or line of sight, the desire to remain hidden from Shirou itself gave off information waves that gave away the Shadows' positions.
It seemed as though three of them had been sent to follow after Shirou this time.
Shirou grinned and stretched. "Time to go shopping for some equipment." He closed the books and took them with him. He'd already received permission to take the magic book anyways. He had just been waiting for his secret escort.
The Shadows followed him as he left the castle and through the streets of the city. He took his time going from one shop to another, buying a few things that he would need for his cooking and for dealing with Naofumi before he finally got to the city square.
This spot would do. He wanted to make as big of a spectacle out of it as possible, and everyone's eyes were on him.
Without warning, Shirou spun around and with all the speed he possessed, he dashed straight into what to most people looked like an elderly woman, pushing them hard in the stomach. People gasped as Shirou pulled away the Shadow's belt, revealing them in their black robes as Jian transformed into a copy of Rider's nails and chains.
Even as Shirou bound the first Shadow he was moving towards the other two, a pair disguised as a young couple. The Shadow's saw him coming, but from their relaxed states, they could do little more than try to jump backwards before Shirou was on them.
Within the span of five seconds, Shirou had the three Shadows tied together in the middle of the town square, with everyone watching. None of them had been as skilled as the Queen's Shadow that Shirou had seen in the forest.
"Nice try, but you are going to have to be a bit more sneaky than this if you want to follow me without me noticing." Shirou said with a chuckle, as if it had all been just a game.
"He…Hero-sama. We meant no offense." One of the Shadows said, as everyone around them gasped and pointed.
"And I take no offense. I merely don't enjoy being followed around." Shirou said before looking at one of the other Shadows. "You, you were one of the two Shadows from before, that followed me to the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era, correct? Yes, I recognize you, though these other two are new."
"H…How can you tell!?" The indicated Shadow shouted in surprise.
"I wouldn't be much of a Legendary Hero if I could be outdone by a couple of Shadows, now would I?" Shirou said, adding some smugness to his voice.
"Truly, the Hero of the Sword-sama is a man of legends!" Another Shadow said with awe in his voice.
Shirou chuckled and shook his head before turning to walk away. He allowed the chains that bond the Shadows to disappear as he went. "Tell his Holiness he doesn't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself." Shirou said as he activated [Transport Sword] and teleported away, the magic ninja belts still in hand.
Oh yes, those would come in handy.
…What the hell?
Naofumi could only stare in disbelief as he returned to the place where they had left Shirou that morning to find a long table with a white tablecloth and several chairs sitting in the middle of the forest. One the table was a massive spread of food that surpassed what the Shield Hero had seen presented at the feast provided for the summoned heroes on their first day, all of it sitting on glittering silver platters.
He blinked and rubbed at his eyes, before finally accepting that he was actually seeing this.
"Yeah, food!" Firo cheered before diving towards the table with no restraint at all. She nearly landed right on top of it, if only Shirou didn't grab her out of midair with one hand.
"No climbing on the table, or I won't cook you special meals anymore." Shirou said before putting the girl down. She still stood on her chair to reach as much as possible and didn't wait for everyone else to be seated, or even to have gotten out of the carriage. "It seems like everything went well. The Shield Hero is now level 26. Not bad at all for just a day's work."
Naofumi frowned, wondering how the man could know such a thing after just a glance.
"Yes, though I'm afraid there weren't as many monsters in the dungeon as we had hoped." Rita said.
These people had weird expectations.
Perhaps they were disappointed because after the entire day they had only grown two levels. The EXP requirement scaling was steeper than Naofumi had at first anticipated. He would have had to kill thirty thousand balloons just to grow to his current level, and that is with the experience bonus from being a hero. Without the bonus from his Shield, he'd only be a level 8, pushing level 9. How did anyone manage to reach the higher levels in this world?
He'd need more power, more knowledge if he wanted to survive.
"I did as you asked. So, when are you going to tell me what you know about the Legendary Weapons?" Those were the first words out of Naofumi's mouth when he exited the carriage.
"Naofumi-sama…" Raphtalia mumbled with a sigh. He knew she didn't like it when he was direct like that, but this was too important to beat around the bush.
"So impatient. Can't even wait until after we eat." Shirou said with a shake of his head and that annoying smile. "I'll tell you, but there is one last thing I want to show you first. Something that might take that stick out of your butt." Shirou then went down on one knee and beckoned to Raphtalia. "Raphtalia, could you come here for a moment?"
Raphtalia looked at Naofumi for permission, or perhaps assurance, that it was okay, to which the Shield Hero nodded. Then, when the girl was standing in front of Shirou, he raised his hand and a knife appeared in it.
The mere sight of that twisted blade made Naofumi's body go rigid. It's odd discolorations, its red handle, its cruel aura. Naofumi felt as if he was looking at that the soul of that traitorous cunt who had stabbed him in the back, only in the form of an actual knife. Just looking at the thing was filling him with disgust and hate.
"What's that?" Raphtalia asked.
"This knife is a powerful magic item called 'Rule Breaker'. It has the power to cancel and destroy any form of magical contract." Shirou told the girl. Naofumi felt his heart drop and his eyes widened in horror. "If you wish, I will release you from your slave contract."
Naofumi's breaths were becoming more labored, and his mind screamed. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening! Even with the levels he gained, he still didn't have any damn offensive power! Without Raphtalia… without her…
"But if you do this, with Naofumi's current state of mind, he will never be able to trust you. He will force you away." Shirou said, his voice calm and gentle. "The choice is yours. Remain a slave and stay with Naofumi or be freed and leave his side."
Choice? What kind of fucking choice was that!? The answer was obvious. Raphtalia would leave him. No one would choose to remain a slave. And he couldn't trust anyone who wasn't force to never betray him. The only reason he had ever bought Raphtalia was because something like this was never supposed to happen.
Hate. He hated Shirou. That bastard had been playing him this entire time. Setting him up just so that he could…
"I don't want it." Raphtalia said, stepping away from Shirou and the evil knife. "Naofumi-sama has done so much for me. He's allowed me eat whatever I wanted. He gave me precious medicine when I was sick. Whenever I'm tired, he lets me rest, and he tries to cheer me up when I'm sad. I… I want to stay with Naofumi-sama."
Shirou didn't seem at all surprised or try to stop the girl when she pulled away. "Are you sure? Do you know what crime he stands accused of?" Shirou said, his eye going to Naofumi. "Some say that he raped his former companion."
Naofumi's face contorted in anger as he heard those words. He was about to deny it when Raphtalia beat him to it. "Naofumi-sama would never do that!" She shouted angrily at the accusation of Naofumi's character. "I know Naofumi-sama, and he would never do that! He has never tried to take advantage of me even once!" Naofumi didn't know what to say when Raphtalia ran away from Shirou and grabbed onto his cloak. "Please Naofumi-sama, let me stay with you."
"I… I…" Tears were forming in Naofumi's eyes as he reached down and patted the girl's head. "Thank you. Thank you."
"Now that is a smile." Shirou said as he let the dagger disappear, a look on his face saying that he had known this would happen. Naofumi blinked, he hadn't even realized he was smiling. "Come now, hurry up and eat, before Firo finishes everything."
"Ah… right." Naofumi said before going and taking a seat.
He at his first meal in weeks that had an actual taste… and it was amazing.
Though for some reason, Shirou constantly looked at Naofumi's hands as he was eating. Was there something weird about the way he was holding his silverware?
"Here. This is a piece of old text left behind by one of the Legendary Heroes of the past." Shirou said as he brought out a noticeably old and worn journal. "It's written in the language of the Hero so it is a pain to translate, but I doubt that would be a problem for you."
Naofumi took the thing and went through the pages, his eyes widening. "It's in Japanese." Naofumi said, as if it confirmed its authenticity. He began to read until he hit something that made him stiffen. "It says here that some of the functions of the Legendary Weapons are locked unless the user actually knows about them. So reading the help menu wasn't going to do me any damn good." He grumbled.
Damn Motoyasu and Itsuki. Those bastards had left him out for dry before the allegations of rape ever even came up, telling him to just read the help menu. Honestly, fuck those guys!
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered how Issei was fairing. The paranoid Sword Hero had been smarter and more skilled than the rest of them, more skilled with a sword than anyone should reasonably be, coming from modern times, but he hadn't known anymore about the games that the world was based on than Naofumi had, beyond being aware that his sister played one of them.
Maybe if they ran into each other after the Wave, they could share notes. If the both of them were still alive. Maybe he could even talk the guy into torturing the info out of the other two bastards.
"Before you get lost in your own little world, try going to page four. If my translation was right, it would be called weapon doppelganger." Shirou said, pulling back Naofumi from his fantasy of tying the bastards down and ripping out their toenails.
Naofumi turned to the related page and read it. "Weapon Copy. The Legendary Weapons can copy weapons of the same category for the hero's use, so long as they meet level requirements. Wait, can I seriously do that!"
"Want to try and find out?" Shirou said before lifting up a free hand. Just like with the knife an item appeared, only this time it was a shield.
"How do you do that?" Naofumi asked as he looked at the shield.
"It's nothing fancy. I just create objects out of raw magical energy." Shirou said with a shrug. "This shield, the table, the plates and silverware, even that chair you are sitting on." As he said it, Naofumi's chair dissolved and he fell on his ass. "All of it is made by magic."
Naofumi got back up and glared at Shirou who gave an apologetic smile. "You set this entire place up just so you could pull that prank, didn't you?" Naofumi grumbled, though in the back of his mind he was in shock about the utterly BS magic skill. What, did the guy have access to the level editor or something?
"Sorry, I couldn't resist." Shirou said.
"I've never heard of a magic like that before." Raphtalia said in amazement.
"That's because I made it myself. Now, try it." Shirou said, handing Naofumi the shield he had just conjured up.
"Are you sure it will even work with a fake object?" Naofumi asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No but have a little faith." Shirou said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Don't worry so much, my fakes are pretty real." Naofumi scold but then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
[Weapon Copy – Complete: Basic Iron Shield – Rarity: Very Common – Base Defense: 3 – Equip Bonus: [Shield Bash] (unmastered) – Level Requirement: 3]
Naofumi opened his eyes and the Legendary Shield transformed into a copy of the shield Shirou had given him. "It worked!" Naofumi explained in amazement.
"Alright. Now let's try something a little different." Shirou dismissed the shield he had given Naofumi, though the copy still remained. He then summoned another shield, this time having it on his own arm. "Tell me, would you say this is a shield?"
"Huh? Well yeah, it looks like one to me." Naofumi said, looking the thing up and down. He didn't understand what the guy was getting at. It looked like an ordinary… Shirou twisted his wrist and the blade of a sword shot out from within the shield.
…Oh fuck yes!
Naofumi had gone off to finish reading the notes Shirou had given him, while Raphtalia and Rita went back to sword practice and Firo and Azu had gotten back into their pajamas and gone to sleep.
Meanwhile, Shirou had filled a plate with whatever leftovers there were from the meal and walked over to the trees. Resting his back to the tree, he lifted the plate about his head. "Want any?"
A moment later the weight disappeared from his hands as the Shadow took it. "You are a resourceful bastard, I'll give you that much, degojaru." The Shadow said as she started to eat, pulling up on her mask just enough to expose her mouth.
"I've been told." Shirou said with a shrug. "Are you alright now? You're not going to try to hurt yourself again, are you? I'd rather not have to take that knife away."
"I don't need your concern, degojaru." The Shadow answered a little bitterly as she ate. "With this, the Shield Hero has become much stronger, degojaru. He will no doubt leave the area around the castle soon, after which my job here will be done, degojaru."
"Are you allowed to tell me the conditions of your job?" Shirou asked.
"In light of your assistance and in order to ensure that there is no repeat of that… incident, Her Majesty has granted her permission to speak more freely with you, degojaru. Be grateful, degojaru." The Shadow said.
"Be grateful, huh? You're acting like a 'Tsundere'." Shirou chuckled, though his mind went to how the Shadow could contact the Queen in another country in just a few hours. They must have magic items that could be used for sending messages.
"A 'Tsundere'? Is this a type of monster, degojaru?" The Shadow asked. Apparently, Jian refused to translate that word. It must have been too close to her forbidden word.
"Yes. Yes, it is." Shirou said, a smile spreading across his face as he thought of Rin and how she would react to this.
"I've never heard of it, degojaru. Is it dangerous, degojaru?" The Shadow pressed.
"Yes. Yes, it is." Shirou repeated, barely containing his laughter.
"Then you should know that I am not to be played around with, degojaru. Just because you got the drop on me before, don't think that it will happen again, degojaru." The Shadow said before disappeared.
Yep. That's a Tsundere.
Shield Bash is actually a stupidly OP (for 1v1) skill from the canon. Involving a 5 second stun with a 6 second cooldown for almost no SP cost. Meaning Naofumi could basically lock someone down, so long as they can't pass the endurance check. He just stands their smacking them in the face with his shield all day until they eventually collapse.
"He won't truly get the RPG spirit until he takes everything on his path, regardless if it is nailed or not."
...You know, considering the way Jian can absorb things...
Added Note: I didn't realize it had been so long that people wouldn't understand the joke about Naofumi and the silverware thing. It is because whenever Shirou tries to eat with silverware that isn't just Jian in disguise, he gets punished for it, because he can't convince himself that it isn't a weapon.
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