Ake

Ake (エイク) is one of the Juvenile Knights of Melromarc. He accompanied the Knight squads to the Village of Riyute during the Waves to assists the Heroes.

Appearance
Naofumi notes him to be in his early teens and estimates him to be around 15 or 16 years old.

Personality
Ake is a Knight of high morals. He cares for the citizens of Melromarc and fights to keep them safe. He is one of the very few people in Melromarc to not discriminate against the Shield Hero and the demi-humans. Despite seeming deeply religious, he doesn't seem to have much faith in the nation's official religion of The Church of Three Heroes and its teachings.

Abilities
Not much is shown, but being a Knight, he is at the very least skilled in using his sword.

Background
Nothing much of his background was mentioned.

Volume 1
He was shown to accompany the Knight's Captain in times of the first wave where his group indiscriminately fired at the village to clear off the monsters of the wave without any consideration for Shield Hero.

Ake and other Juvenile Knights were impressed with the Shield Hero's work in the Lute Village but was ordered by the Captain to accompany the other three Heroes. However, he was delighted when the vice-captain ordered other Juvenile Knights to assist the Shield Hero in saving the village.

Volume 3
Ake and his comrades decided to talk to the Shield Hero to aid him in fighting the next Wave if they run into him in the castle town.

Ake wanted to talk to Naofumi, but the latter ran off, misunderstanding the situation. Finally, Ake caught up to Naofumi when the latter was attacked by Motoyasu. Ake stopped the fight and reminded Motoyasu that he was in a public place and not to cause any damage.

When Malty used her authority to silence him, he disregarded her status as royal and vowed to keep the citizens safe by interfering in the so-called duel. He was also willing to fight Motoyasu in Naofumi's place, as the Shield Hero can't attack.

Later, he and his comrades followed Naofumi to the Weapon Shop and expressed their desire to help Naofumi in the Next Wave. Naofumi demanded that Ake should buy the accessory for 500 silvers, to which they asked for time to collect the money. He did return with the money but Naofumi handed the accessory and asked them to buy better gear with the money. Naofumi added them to his party with Ake as the party's head.

Ake and his group succeeded in aiding Naofumi to defeat the Wave monsters without any civilian casualties. The Knight Captain, who arrived a day late, fumed at the Shield Hero for taking his men. But, Ake and the group held that they followed Naofumi on their own accord and was willing to take any punishment for it. After hearing the story from Ake's group, the Captain demanded Naofumi to accompany him to the royal court, but Naofumi refused. Ake bowed and politely asked Naofumi to do it for him. Naofumi felt obligated to respond and did so.

Volume 4
Ake and his group were posted at the border to stop Naofumi from escaping Melromarc. Ake was able to spot Naofumi and warn him of the high number of Knights at the border and the presence of the Heroes intended to capture him.

When the soldiers attacked Naofumi along with the other Heroes, Ake and his friends asked his Knight Captain to stop the attack, which enraged the Captain to slaughter Ake with the sword for siding with the "Shield Devil," despite being Melromarc Knight. Seeing this enraged Naofumi, who made the Shield react and break the accessory given by Erhald, which forms a force field that repels the attack made on Naofumi, his party and Ake groups but rains those attack on his enemies.

After all the charges against Naofumi were cleared, Ake was invited to the banquet held for Naofumi, where he was delighted to know of Naofumi being acknowledged. Naofumi understood Ake's strong willpower to join the Shield Hero against the insane religious belief which prevailed for centuries and thanked him for it.

Relationships
Ake deeply admires and respects Naofumi. He fought alongside Naofumi against the Waves despite the many negative rumors about him at the time. Ake had a few unnamed companions who also shared his ideals and worked with him. At least one of his companions was a demi-human.
 * Legendary Heroes
 * Naofumi Iwatani
 * Companions

Trivia

 * His name was revealed in the anime only.