Naofumi Iwatani/Chronology

Volume 1
Naofumi would occasionally visit the bookstore or the library when he wanted to save money. On that fateful day, Naofumi found an old-looking book called The Record of the Four Holy Weapons in the library. The book contains a fantasy world where heroes summoned from another world would fend off waves of calamity. When the book went to describe the Shield Hero all the pages were blank and it was then where Naofumi started to lose consciousness.

When Naofumi awoke he found himself in a different room, below him laid an alter which glowed. Besides him stood 3 other people who each possessed a different weapon sword, spear and bow. Naofumi noticed on his right arm laid a shield which he couldn't remove. He would later learn he was summoned with the three other people as Legendary Heroes from another world.

The robe figures before them asked and begged for the heroes to save them. The three other heroes ignored their question and asked their own questions like asking why they were summoned. One of the heroes wielding the sword even threaten them by pointing his weapon towards them. However, Naofumi knew that the three other heroes were actually leaping of joy on the inside from being summoned to another world.

The heroes were lead to the throne room where they would meet the ruler of the country. On the throne sat an old man, who later introduced himself as Aultcray Melromarc XXXII king of Melromarc. He talked about the prophecy of the waves and reason behind the heroes summoning. Shortly after that, he asked for the heroes to introduce themselves.

The order of the introduction was as follow: Ren Amaki the Sword Hero, Motoyasu Kitamura the Spear Hero, Itsuki Kawasumi the Bow Hero and lastly Naofumi Iwatani, the Shield Hero. The King later acknowledges the heroes names except that of Naofumi's which he later corrected and apologized about when pointed out.

The King later went on about the fundamentals of Status Magic and Legendary Weapons each of the heroes possessed. The King ensured them that he'll secure adventurers to join the Legendary Hero's cause. The heroes were later escorted to their chambers.

When the heroes arrived at their chambers, they started discussing how the world they were summoned to seemed like a game. Each hero besides Naofumi had a personal idea on which game, from their old world, this new world was based on. Motoyasu said it was based on a famous online game called Emerald Online, while Itsuki disagreed and said it was based on a console game called Dimension Waves, Ren later interjected saying they were both wrong and that it was based on a VRMMO called Brave Star Online.

Each of the heroes considered themselves massive Otaku, however, none of them had heard of the games the others named. On a hunch, they all agreed to name the current president of Japan which ended up with them all saying different names. Not convinced, they started shouting other random questions and in the end, they all concluded that they all came from Alternative Japans.

After their discovery, the other heroes were quick to point out comments about Naofumi's legendary weapon and his class. Motoyasu explained how the Shielder class in his game was the weakest class which later became obsolete, Ren's and Itsuki's answer were also more or less the same. This came to a shock to Naofumi, but despite all that, he still had held a positive outlook of being summoned to another world. They later all went to sleep in different chambers after dinner was prepared for them.

The next day the king said that he had prepared many adventures to join the heroes and their cause. Though instead of the heroes choosing the adventurers, the adventurers had to choose the heroes they wanted to team up with by standing behind their chosen hero.

After all the adventurers had chosen, Ren ended up with 5 people, Motoyasu with 4 people, Itsuki with 3 people and Naofumi with no one. Shocked and surprised by the results Naofumi asked in this order for Ren, Motoyasu and Itsuki if they could spare him some adventures to join his party but no one from the ranks of adventurers in each of the heroes parties wanted to swap over.

The reason as to why no adventurers joined Naofumi's party was later discovered and explained by the King. Rumors about Naofumi had spread throughout the kingdom that the Shield Hero was weak and had no knowledge of the world. Motoyasu later whispered to Naofumi that someone probably had eased dropped on their conversation last night.

Thinking all hope was lost, someone from Motoyasu's party decided to join Naofumi party, a red-headed female adventures. She was asked by Motoyasu whether she was sure about her decision and she replied with a simple "yes". Since Naofumi had the least amount of members compared to the other three heroes the King provided Naofumi with 800 pieces of silvers while the other heroes only started with 600 silvers.

Naofumi gladly accepted the money and started his very first journey with his very first companion in another world. The female adventures later introduced herself as Myne Suphia. While Naofumi would refer to her first name, Myne would only refer to Naofumi as Mr. Hero.

After having exited the castle, Myne brought Naofumi to a Weapon Shop that was well known throughout Melromarc. When the Weapon Shop Owner saw Myne entering the shop he asked her if he had seen her somewhere before. Myne, however, shook off the question by answering she was a returning customer.

Naofumi's first objective was to get himself a weapon so that he could have a way of attacking. While trying to pick up a weapon in the store her discovers that his Legendary Weapon restricted him from equipping other weapons except for his assigned weapon, his shield. He ends up deciding to buy a set of Chainmail for himself which he got a discount for at the price of 120 silver.

Upon exiting the castle walls, they came up a valley that was full of grass. While walking through the valley Naofumi encountered a Monster called an Orange Balloon, when the Balloon bit Naofumi he felt no pain due to the Legendary Shield emitting a defensive barrier around him. It took Naofumi 5 minutes to defeat a single balloon by himself which only earned him 1exp. He later looks over in the distance to see Ren swiftly defeating 3 Balloons in one swing.

Naofumi ends up discovering that he can use the monster loot from the Orange Balloon to absorb into the shield. And for the rest of the day, Myne helped Naofumi defeat monsters out in the valley.

When evening hit both Naofumi and Myne returned to the Weapon Shop to obtain Myne new gear. While Myne was searching for new gear, Naofumi and the Weapon Shop started haggling with each other. When Myne returned with her chosen set of equipment that she wanted, Naofumi asked whether she could downgrade since it was a bit too experience but Myne used her feminine charms to manipulate Naofumi into purchasing the equipment. However, the Weapon Shop Owners kindly gave Naofumi a discount.

Naofumi made his way to an Inn and purchased two rooms for himself and Myne. Before heading to bed both Naofumi and Myne stayed downstairs planning for their next day. During their conversation, Myne asked of Naofumi to join her in drinking. Naofumi naturally refused to due to his dislike of alcohol since he had a high tolerance. Myne tried to push on the topic but Naofumi refused to drink and after letting it go Naofumi went to his room to sleep. Before going to sleep Naofumi slips off his chainmail and laid it on the back of the chair and slipped 30 silvers into his shield. While at it he reckons that he saw Itsuki and Motoyasu enter the tavern outside his window.

While in his sleep, Naofumi could hear someone whispering "Heh, heh, men are fools. So easily tricked.... Can't wait until tomorrow." Naofumi woke up in the morning to see all of his possessions that he had left inside of his room stolen, he went to the Inn hallway and headed to Myne's room to tell her the bad news but there was no reply on the other side of the door.

Knights eventually filled the hallways and surrounded Naofumi, they ignored Naofumi's plead for help and asked whether he was the Shield Hero and after confirming it, the knights forcibly grabbed and dragged Naofumi out of the inn all the way to the castle in nothing but his undergarments.

After Naofumi arrives at the castle dragged, he is surrounded by the castle knights holding him in a lock with their spears. When he saw Myne he instinctively called out her name but she hid behind Motoyasu while glaring daggers at Naofumi. Motoyasu was wearing the chainmail which belonged to Naofumi and when he called out Motoyasu for it he brushed it off.

Naofumi and Motoyasu quarrel were interrupted by an announcement which stated that they were now going to hear the charges against the Shield Hero. Myne started falsely accusing Naofumi of sexually assaulting her and how she had escaped from Naofumi and ran to Motoyasu afterward.

While watching her Naofumi couldn't make sense of what she was talking about, he even felt bad towards Myne while watching her cry. Naofumi tried to plead that he was innocent, but he was interrupted by Motoyasu calling Naofumi a liar. Naofumi asked him why he was speaking for Myne and asked where Motoyasu had gotten his chainmail from, Motoyasu replied that it was a present he had gotten from Myne.

Naofumi decided that talking to Motoyasu was getting him nowhere so he started pleading to the king about his missing money, clothes and equipment but was interrupted by the King and silenced after being called a scoundrel. In a desperate attempt for help, he looked towards the direction where Myne was standing and it was at that moment that he saw Myne sticking her tongue out to mock Naofumi.

It was then that Naofumi fully understood the situation he was in and how he was played like a fool and used by Myne. And at that very moment, Naofumi's personality transformed bitter. Naofumi concluded that Myne and Motoyasu had planned this from the beginning to not only take his equipment and money but to better their standings in society and look better. Naofumi showed no sign of holding his anger and called out the two of them for tricking him, after ignoring Naofumi outburst Ren and Itsuki came to the conclusion that Naofumi was guilty.

Fed up from being treated like a criminal by everyone around him, he couldn't find the strength in him to care anymore and asked the King to send him back home and summon a new Shield Hero. The King stated that he wanted nothing more but to send Naofumi home but he explained that the waves didn't allow the heroes to return home and that all four of the heroes will need to die in order to summon new heroes.

Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu did not hide their shock to the King's explanation. In a fit of anger, Naofumi broke out of the lock that the Castle Knights had him in. Naofumi then asked the King what his punishment was going to be. The King replied that Naofumi had a job of defending the waves and that his crimes would become well known around his kingdom.

After sarcastically thanking the King Naofumi headed towards the exit. Before walking out he removed the last 30 pieces of silver he had and forcefully threw them towards Motoyasu. Naofumi had lost respect, trust and money before his adventure had begun. Naofumi mentions upon exiting the castle that the whole world looked awful and hideous to him.

A week passed since Naofumi's false rape charges and while passing by the Weapon Store he was hostility greeted by the Weapon Shop Owner believing that charges and rumors about him were true. He asked him if he could punch Naofumi in the face but he quickly realized that Naofumi was innocent of his crimes.

Before Naofumi could exit the town gate he was stopped by the Weapon Shop Owner who tossed him a small bag containing cheap clothing and a cape, Naofumi accepts the bag and promises to pay him back in full.

Naofumi ends up spending most of the day fighting balloons until he reached level 2 where he unlocked two new shields the Orange Shield and Yellow Shield. He heads back into town to sell the monster loot he obtained from defeating Balloons all day, he was offered  1 bronze piece for every 10 balloon skins by the shop owner despite the fact that a previous customer was offered 1 bronze piece for every 2 balloon skins. The shop owner pretended that he had forgotten and brushed the topic away when Naofumi brought it up. Naofumi then grabbed him by the collar and revealed an Orange Balloon that he had hidden under his cape and threatened the shop owner to give him a fair price which he finally agreed to. After receiving his payment Naofumi went back to the Weapon Shop and paid back the owner for the clothes.

It was later discovered that Naofumi had lost his ability to taste anything.

The next day Naofumi unlocked the Leaf Shield that was later discovered to increase the quality of herbs he then spent the rest of the day collecting herbs and selling them to the Medicinal Shop Owner for a higher price than what he could get from Balloon Skins.

While eating at the tavern he was later greeted by a group of adventurers that made fun and pretending to be interested in joining his party asking him to buy equipment for them. Naofumi made quick work of them by scaring them off with Orange Balloons he still had hidden under his cape. Naofumi kept repeating the pattern of collecting materials and selling them until he manages to save a little money.

In the span of two weeks, Naofumi manages to save up to 40 pieces and level up to level 4. During that time span, Naofumi went deeper in the forest where he encounters a Red Balloon he spent around 30 minutes trying to kill it but no matter how long he pummeled the Balloon it wouldn't die. The Red Balloon at the meantime was chewing Naofumi's arm while he walks down an alleyway.

Naofumi was greeted by a strange man who would be later referred as the Slave Trader he asked if Naofumi was interested in purchasing a slave which were put under a powerful curse where they cannot lie and betray their masters. Naofumi interested by his offer was lead by the Slave Trader to a Circus Tent where the Slave Trader stored all his slaves, he explained to Naofumi the how Demi-humans and Beast-man were discriminated in Melromarc because of their animal features and often are sold in slavery.

The Slave Trader demonstrated the Slave Curse Seal on a beast-man where at a snap of a finger he could cause the Werewolf to grovel in pain, he purposely showed Naofumi his best slave which cost 15 gold afterward they continued on what slave Naofumi was interested in, the Slave Trader thought Naofumi was interested in sex slaves when Naofumi instantly denied his offer by saying he didn't do it while the Slave Trader laughed and replied I guess the rumors weren't true.

The Slave Trader offered Naofumi three of his cheapest slaves each individually in their own cage. On the right side a rabbit demi-human with a disorder, the left a mixed breed lizardman and in the middle a raccoon demi-human suffering from panic attacks.

Naofumi chose the raccoon demi-human because of his distorted thoughts at the time, he wanted to control her thinking that if it'll grant him some satisfaction even if it was very little. The Slave Trader and his assistants applied the Curse Slave Seal with Naofumi's blood which he paid the Slave Trader 30 silver and extra so he wouldn't charged for the Curse Seal payment. Upon exiting the Tent he asked for the slave's name which the slave replied after being shocked by the Slave Seal after ignoring his question, she answered Raphtalia.

After purchasing Raphtalia, Naofumi made his way to the Weapon Store where he bought Raphtalia a knife around 6 pieces of silver while the Weapon Shop Owner generously threw in some clothing for Raphtalia for free. After Raphtalia was finished changing and equipped the new knife, Naofumi ordered her to kill the Orange and Red Balloons both which granted Naofumi and herself 1exp each.

Feeling hungry and hearing Raphtalia's rumbling stomach he visited a nearby Tavern to eat. While Naofumi entered the tavern he saw Raphtalia eyeing a kid with kids' meals which he later proceeded to buy Raphtalia one. Raphtalia questioned why Naofumi was treating her after asking permission to eat her meal she starting eating the meal with her hands due to the lack of table manners, Naofumi asked if the meal was good which she proceeded with answering, it's great.

Naofumi and Raphtalia spent the rest of the day hunting in the forest, they encountered Red Balloons and different variety of Loomush after calling it a day Raphtalia was level 5 while Naofumi was level 3. When evening fell Naofumi set up camp along the river, he tried his luck with compounding which he ended up making different varieties of medicine one of which was effective against colds that he gave to Raphtalia.

Naofumi stayed up late to compound medicine while Raphtalia reluctantly went to sleep. Naofumi was startled by Raphtalia panic attack she was having a nightmare while calling out her mother and father. Naofumi calmed her down by holding her close while repeatedly telling her that everything was going to be okay, during the night she had multiple panic attacks causing Naofumi to barely get any sleep.

In the morning Naofumi went into town to sell the medicine he worked on compounding last night, the Medicinal Shop Owner also threw in old compounding tools when Naofumi requested them. He later sold more Balloons Skins and bought Raphtalia a ball made from the Balloons Skins after watching her look envious of other kids playing with the same type of ball. They later went back into the forest to go hunting and leveling encountering a new type of monster called an Eggug which their materials helped Naofumi unlock more shields and also sold for a good price.

Because of the lack of sleep last night, Naofumi rented a room in town and went to have a nap and gave Raphtalia permission to play with her Ball outside, while Raphtalia was playing outside she was picked on by kids in the neighborhood and was being forced to give them her ball hearing the commotion Naofumi scared off the kids with the Orange Balloons underneath his cape, Raphtalia later thanked Naofumi for helping her.

Naofumi decided to treat Raphtalia by ordering them both meals which cost more than the usual. Before going to sleep Naofumi gave Raphtalia a haircut after noticing that her hair was out of control which made Raphtalia extremely happy, without her noticing Naofumi absorbed Raphtalia's hair into his shield. Raphtalia went to sleep while Naofumi stayed up compounding medicine later joining Raphtalia after calling it a night.

In the morning Naofumi found Raphtalia curled up in a ball in the corner of the room constantly saying she was sorry because she wet the bed, Naofumi later comforts Raphtalia that it was okay. He later explained the situation to the inn managers, paid for the sheet and kept the blanket for himself which he later washed, dried and tuck away into his bag.

While walking through the forest they encountered a Usapil the first animal looking monster they have encountered so far. Naofumi blocked and held onto the Usapil after it tried to attack Raphtalia. When Naofumi ordered Raphtalia to attack she explained to him that she was afraid of blood but eventually reluctantly killing the Usapil looking pale after seeing all the blood. Another Usapil appears which Naofumi deflected before it reached Raphtalia. Naofumi apologized to Raphtalia explaining that he needed to be stronger to fend off the waves and if she couldn't fight he would have to let her go. Raphtalia's pale expression faded away and washed over with determination after listening to Naofumi and cleanly stabbed the Usapil.

After Raphtalia killed the Usapil she was about to dissect it but Naofumi stopped her from doing so telling her that was his job. They later set up camp for the night and cooked the Usapil for dinner, Naofumi describes the Usapil flavor as eating tasteless rubber but he noticed Raphtalia was eating the Usapil like it was the most delicious thing in the world.

In the morning they made their way to the Weapon Store after Raphtalia's knife broke while hunting. Naofumi bought Raphtalia an iron sword and a beat up breastplate. The Weapon Shop Owner happily agreed to teach Raphtalia the basic of swordsmanship in the Weapon Store while Naofumi went out of the store to buy Raphtalia food after hearing her stomach rumble before leaving the Weapon Shop Owner explained to Naofumi that demi-humans grows differently to how Humans do and they require more food.

Upon returning to the Weapon Store the Weapon Shop Owner was almost finish teaching Raphtalia all the basics. After finishing up the Weapon Shop Owner gave Naofumi a block of whetstone which is used to sharpening and maintain swords but after noticing the shield was reacting to the whetstone Naofumi let the shield absorb the whetstone unlocking a new shield called Sharpening shield. At first, the Weapon Shop Owner was shocked to see Naofumi's shield absorb the whetstone and change his shield into a different form. After Naofumi finished reading the special effects of the shield he explained that it automatically sharpened weapons upon hearing this the Weapon Shop Owner slit a rusty sword into one of the shield' sharpening holes and told him he could have it for free.

They later visited a village called Riyute Village to sell his wares. Naofumi later found that everything sold for less here than at Castle Town which annoyed him he asked one of the merchants which he was selling his wares to where he could make some quick money. The merchant told Naofumi about the coal mine where he could obtain valuable ores but warned him that they're dangerous monster were inhabiting the place after the events of the First Wave

The coal mine was near the mountain upon the entrance of the coal mine they looted an old rest station there he found a map of the layout of the coal mine and old mining tools a pickaxe and rope which he absorbed into the shield which one the shield unlocked an ability called Air Strike Shield.

They later entered the cave which leads to a naturally made open cave. Following the map detailing where the ores can be found they headed for the top of the waterfall inside of the cave.

Reaching the top they were attacked by a Two-Headed Black Dog. After noticing that Raphtalia was too scared to attack he threw himself and Raphtalia off the waterfall landing in the water below. Upon reaching the shore, Raphtalia started talking about her past where her village was attacked by the first wave, her parents were killed by Cerberus a Three-Headed Dog before they could attack Raphtalia her parents pushed her off of the cliff into the ocean. When Raphtalia reached shore she returned to the cliff to see massive blood of blood with leftover bones, she was later sold into slavery.

The Two-Head Dog had returned and attacked them both but Naofumi blocked the Two-Headed Dog's attacks. Raphtalia still too scared to attack, Naofumi apologized to Raphtalia telling her that he needed to be stronger but all he could do is defend and that he needs someone to attack for him, he told her that he couldn't bring her parents back but can stop other children suffering from the same fate Raphtalia did in the past.

Naofumi decided to sacrifice himself in order to let Raphalia escape. But Raphtalia refused to let Naofumi die allowing her to overcome her past Turma and stabbed the Two-Headed Dog with her knife. She eventually killed the dog with a final strike to the heart after being defended by one of Naofumi's skills Air Strike Shield.

She later cried to Naofumi not to die and asked for his name which he then replied with Naofumi Iwatani. he later absorbed the Two-Headed Dog into his shield, collected some ores called Light Metal which he also absorbed into his shield.

A week and one day had passed by since the events of the coal mine. Naofumi had unlocked numerous amounts of shields and abilities by absorbing various amounts of material. He was caught off guard by a porcupine and received a brutal attack from it, after trapping he porcupine in a Sheild Prison, Raphtalia killed it swiftly and let Naofumi absorb it into his shield. Raphtalia complained that Naofumi defense was lacking and that he needed to buy new equipment, Naofumi reluctantly agrees after finally being persuaded by Raphtalia.

Upon entering the weapon store the Weapon Shop Owner was surprised by Raphtalia's growth and complimented her on how she looked like a fine lady while Naofumi stared at them at confusion. Raphtalia told the Weapon Shop Owner that they were after new armor for new Naofumi. The Weapon Shop Owner first recommended a chainmail set but later retracted it after seeing Naofumi's even bitter attitude towards because of his past experience.

They later agreed on making a custom order where the name of the armor he was making was called Barbarian Armor. Raphtalia handed in the material needed for the order and later the iron and bronze after collecting it from other stores. While collecting the iron and bronze he thought the Weapon Shop Owner's friend were lolicons after they started complimented on Raphtalia's appearance, when he brought the topic up to the Weapon Shop Owner, the Shop Owner asked if he seriously didn't notice about Raphtalia's change in appearance but to Naofumi she still looked like a 10-year-old.

Before exiting the weapon and making their way to a tavern to eat, Naofumi bought Raphtalia a new sword made of magic iron and later said thank you to the Weapon Shop Owner after all he has done for him. In the tavern, he ordered a cheap set for himself and a kid set for Raphtalia which made Raphtalia burst out on him and asked the waitress to also order her a cheap set and told Naofumi that she wasn't a kid anymore while Naofumi looked at her with confusion.

The next day Naofumi visited the weapon store to collect his custom order. He wasn't too fond of the Armor but Raphtalia, on the other hand, thought it suited him well. Naofumi next stop was the Clock Tower which resembled a church after hearing from the Weapon Shop Owner that the Dragon Hourglass counted down the arrival of the next wave.

Arriving at the Clock Tower they were greeted by a nun and escorted to the Dragon Hourglass after confirming Naofumi was the Shield Hero. Naofumi's shield reacted to the Dragon Hourglass and displayed the remaining time until the next wave in his vision counting down by minutes. At the same time Motoyasu and his party arrived at the Dragon Hourglass and a short time later Itsuki and Ren showed up as well. Motoyasu made fun of Naofumi's armor and even flirted with Raphtalia by flirtatiously introducing himself as one of the heroes. He was surprised when Raphtalia mentioned that she was in a with Naofumi's party. Naofumi left the clock tower bitterly with Raphtalia.

Upon exiting the tower Naofumi headed straight for the field where he would lash out his anger towards one of the balloons. After calming down he settled down rooms in the inn. Raphtalia was concerned about Naofumi and asked what was his relationship with the other heroes, Naofumi said he didn't want to talk about because he believed that if he told her the truth she wouldn't believe him like everyone else. Raphtalia decided to drop the subject and sleep instead.

Minutes before the waves started, castle knight and adventures were preparing themselves for the waves. Before the waves started Raphtalia wanted to express to Naofumi her gratitude for saving her life and the opportunity to fight the wave, she told Naofumi that she was his sword and she'll always stay by his side.

Once the countdown reached zero, Naofumi and Raphtalia were transported by Naofumi's legendary weapon to where the waves will occur. Above them, deep red cracks formed in the sky and monster poured out near Riyute Village. Naofumi noticed the other three heroes went for the source of the waves instead of the village and shot a flare in the sky. Instead of heading the same direction Naofumi and Raphtalia headed for the village to protect them from the incoming wave.

Upon reaching the village Raphtalia and Naofumi agreed to split up. Raphtalia would help the villagers evacuate while Naofumi would distract the monsters away from the villagers. Naofumi would defend and leave an opening for villagers to escape from the monster using various skills such as Air Strike Shield and Shield Prison. While drawing the monster to chase after him he started questioning why he was defending them from the waves.

After seeing Naofumi heroic effort a number of villagers returned to help Naofumi fight against the monsters. While Naofumi calls them idiots he let them help him push back the mob of monsters back. While pushing back a giant zombie appeared which started causing problems for Naofumi but he was quickly back on his feet when Raphtalia returned in the nick of time to help defeat the giant zombie. Having Raphtalia returned he didn't have any use for the villagers and told them to evacuate.

After the villagers evacuated from the site. The knight around them started raining down fire around Naofumi and Raphtalia. Naofumi defended and protected Raphtalia by covering her up with his cape. The fire set ablaze to all the monster around them killing them. The leader of the knights intrigued that Naofumi was still alive after taking a direct hit with the skill this caused Raphtalia to lash out at him with her sword trying to even kill him. The knights were later forced to cooperate with Naofumi after a pack of monsters appears behind them.

Once the wave ended the villagers returned to Naofumi to thank him for saving their lives even bowing to him. Raphtalia was also grateful towards Naofumi expressing that she stopped children from becoming orphans and killed a lot of monsters, Naofumi praised her by rubbing her head.

Evening came around and the king was holding a feast for the heroes succession against the waves. The only reason Naofumi came to the party was because of the rewards he would receive after the party. He sat in the corner checking the help system while Raphtalia was indulging herself in the food.

Motoyasu made his way to Naofumi with an annoyed expression and challenged Naofumi to a duel by throwing his glove after hearing that Raphtalia was actually a slave. Naofumi didn't have anything to gain from this one on one duel and refused to accept his duel but overhearing the conversation the King forced Naofumi to accept the duel while retraining and gagging Raphtalia from having any say in the duel. The king announces to everyone that the duel between the Shield Hero and the Spear Hero will be held in the castle garden.

Naofumi was forced into a duel with Motoyasu. During the first half of the duel, all Naofumi could do against Motoyasu was defend and dodge his attacks but Naofumi quickly took control of the battle using Balloons and Eggugs to attack Motoyasu and whenever Motoyasu attacked Naofumi he would use the Dog Shield to launch a counter-attack on him.

Naofumi used a combination of Air Strike Shield and Shield Prison while launching Balloons and Eggug to attack him in a tight space. Once the Shield Prison disappeared he told Motoyasu to give up and let him win but it was then Myne illegal interrupted the duel by launching wind-based magic toward Naofumi making him lose his footing. Motoyasu used this to his advantage to pinned Noafumi to the ground thus winning the duel.

No one believed Naofumi when he told that someone had interrupted their duel and the King announced Motoyasu as the victor. After the duel he learned that Myne was actually the daughter of the King and her true name was Malty Melromarc. Learning this new piece of information everything clicked inside of Naofumi's mind he finally understood that Malty used himself as a stepping stone to get closer with Motoyasu and used the King to her advantage. Naofumi had nothing but hatred toward Malty and unlocked the condition of the Curse Series.

When they removed Raphtalia's curse mark in front of everyone, everything in Naofumi vision seems dark and repulsive. After Raphtalia was freed from the slave mark she slapped Motoyasu in the face. She told Motoyasu off and said she never wanted his help and defended Naofumi when Motoyasu was spewing negative thing about him.

After finishing her argument with Motoyasu she walked over to Naofumi to return and comfort him. After her curse mark disappeared Naofumi couldn't bring himself to believe Raphtalia and pushed her away but Raphtalia kept pushing toward Naofumi and caressed him and told him the words he finally wanted to hear "I believe you."

All the darkness that was shrouded Naofumi vision disappeared to revealing Raphtalia. In Naofumi eyes Raphtalia was always a young girl but there in front of him stood a young-adult that resembled Raphtalia in the confusion he asked who she was which she replied Raphtalia. She explained to Naofumi that demi-human grew different and promised that it was Raphatalia.

Naofumi couldn't help but start crying while Raphtalia held him close. Ren and Itsuki appeared to tell that Motoyasu had lost the duel because of Malty's interference. Motoyasu said he wasn't fair and that Raphtalia was obviously brainwashed but Ren and Itsuki were not convinced and said how could he say that after witnessing them. Naofumi cried himself to sleep on Raphtalia's lap after everyone left the garden.

Awaking up Naofumi found himself in one of the servant rooms inside of the castle. The first thing he did was give the King and Malty nicknames which were Trash and Bitch. Naofumi also regains his sense of taste after Raphtalia given him a sandwich as a token of his gratitude he leaned over and kissed Raphtalia on the cheeks which caused her to fluster which Naofumi apologized after seeing her reaction but she said she didn't actually mind it. But instead, they decided to hold each other hands to comfort one another.

Volumes 2-5
Before he was even summoned, the country Melromarc considered the other three heroes to be saviors and the shield hero to be evil, this is because of the constant war with the nation which worshiped the shield hero and because the main religion shared this view of the heroes.

Later, he learned that the Church of Three Heroes hired many fake heroes of the shield to commit crimes and to ruin his reputation further. This was brought to light by the queen when she banished the Church of three Heroes while proving Naofumi's innocence. However his bad reputation remained. Naofumi was described in public as a vile demon who had committed fraud, extortion, abduction, and who will execute anyone who stands in his way, some of these accusations were literally correct, but not actually true. The information given by the Church and guild to the other Heroes was fake and meant to manipulate them, while Naofumi was able to gather information as a merchant from the common people, enabling him to understand the dire situation of the nation. However, even Naofumi also discarded any details which he felt were trivial, this eclipsed him from learning the root cause for his situation. Example, Naofumi refuses to listen to Melty and also missed times when Erhard brought the subject regarding Nation's religion. Raphtalia also though he knew about the Nation's religion, since he went to Church of three heroes for holy water and class up as if it was normal without regards.

The crown gave the other three heroes trained adventurers, crystal balls to learn magic, funds, guild jobs, information on how to use their legendary weapon. While Naofumi was framed for rape, all his possessions were stolen, denied any jobs and crystal balls, adventurers faking joining his party for money, He was even denied his promised living expenses. He was also denied class-up under various pretenses. The other heroes had already reached higher power and had their party class up before the first wave. Most of the guards and the general public gave him scorn and felt discomfort seeing him in their nation. The Knights who should be on his side tried to set him up, didn't respect him and tried to set him on fire. He was turned away, when he appeared for breakfast or dinner in the castle, during the celebration of the first wave subjugation, stating that the other heroes, knights are eating. During the same celebration, he and Raphtalia were not provided with any rooms, they themselves find some old dusty, uncleaned, store room or servant room in a remote corner to stay with no furniture or cloth. The cold treatment of the shield hero prevailed by almost all of the castle staff.

He has no attack features and no one joined his party due to his bad reputation and also because of fear of those in authority. He himself avoided everyone, due to his distrust of everyone and many adventurers tried to deceive him while other heroes had more than 3 members, with at least one new member joining their party. This forced him to look for alternatives, so he bought slaves to fight for him, He learned magic by studying books instead of using a crystal ball, He peddled for funds to survive & to buy equipment for him and his party. Knowing his own weaknesses and limitations, he chose to defend the villages and save them from the monsters of the wave rather than fight the wave itself.

All this turns out to be a blessing in disguise for Naofumi. By saving the villagers from monsters from the wave, many came to help and respect him. They gave him materials, let him stay in the inn for free, gave him books so he could learn magic(and the language), built him a carriage for peddling, and made clothes & armor for him & his comrades at a reasonable discount. They even asked their relatives and friends in other towns to help Naofumi, if possible.

By peddling he not only earned money but also the trust of commoners throughout the nation. People began to doubt the teachings of the Church of the three heroes which states the shield hero is evil. Naofumi also started making crafts, jewelries, etc. after receiving some teaching from accessory Merchant. The travelling also enabled him to encounter many types of monster that raised his levels and absorbing it.

He also started making medicine, thanks to the book given by the Medicine shop owner. Naofumi offered paid services to travelers and also for delivery of parcel through his cart. He also used efficacy skill booster on medicines while administering medicine to the sick, thereby saving them. People witnessing this called him the Holy saint with a bird god, thereby he earned the trust of many which led him to make more customers and profit. People who learnt who he really was, made his hero status firm and begins to doubt the rumor spread by the crown & three heroes religion.

Naofumi's party was only able to class-up after the third wave, by which time Fitoria had gifted Filo an item which doubled all of his party member's stats during the class up. This doubling status was said to be impossibly rare. By actually learning magic from books he was able to read magical words something which you cannot learn to do if you use crystal balls. Despite the fact that learning from books consumes more time, it is more powerful than the magic obtained from crystal balls. Naofumi chooses to use slaves as his comrades, which gives the slave to turn a new leaf and another chance at life. Because of that, they became more reliable and trustworthy in comparison to the adventures assigned to other heroes. The slaves also were treated as family by Naofumi and they treat him likewise.

Initially, Naofumi also committed some crimes, like throwing balloon monsters on anyone trying to trick him(the adventurers who deceived him to be in his party, sales person who gave him less money for his drop items and the children who tried to steal the ball from Raphtalia), He charged high prices for services & goods he sold. He also extorted the bandits who tried to do the same, as he was neither funded by the crown nor given any guild jobs and also because he can't hand them over to the guards, since the guards may choose the bandit's side over his.

The crown prevented Naofumi from crossing the border to travel to other nations, fearing the idea of him joining hands with Siltvelt (During the time loop series of the spear hero, Naofumi was killed for crossing borders with Siltvelt envoys). Despite all these setbacks, Naofumi made himself strong enough to face the third wave and the High Priest. But the other heroes failed, despite all the benefits they received. When Naofumi unlocked slave shield, it increased the power of his slaves to the point where they rivaled the power of the other heroes, this allowed Naofumi and his party to handle most incidents where the other heroes failed, despite the refusal by the king to allow him or his party to do a class up.

To make up for all the trouble in Naofumi's progress, the queen proposed an information exchange between the heroes to strengthen their weapons and offered a free trip to Cal Mira Island during its activation time. The cap of the leveling in the activation time was nearly 80, which was solely for Naofumi's benefit since the others had already reached that level.

During their first information exchange, the queen clarified that the other heroes had less chance of survival than Naofumi, pointing out their failure in the previous wave and in the fight against the High Priest. Other Heroes pointed out that it wasn't that they were weak it was Naofumi and his party who were stronger than their levels should indicate which Naofumi himself mentally agrees with and is puzzled by. They even go so far as to label his power that surpasses that of his level a cheat power. Naofumi learned all the weapon strengthening methods from them and after some trouble managed to implement it in his own weapon. During the activation event on the island, despite being a lower level than that of the other heroes, Naofumi's party took down three Karma series of animals while the rest struggled to fight a single one of the Karma animal, since these were more like the boss monsters.

As the story progress, while every other hero lost all of their party members, Naofumi had collected a village of party members. The adventurers assigned to the other heroes either left or tried to kick others out of the party, some even betrayed the hero. The game knowledge of other heroes betrayed them, as the viewpoint that their individual game gave them showed each of them that they were stronger than the other heroes, boosting their confidence to confront the wave alone, instead of working together. Hence they had only one success against the wave and the rest went down the hill. Even though the game foretasted the events that were going to happen, it exaggerated their own power. But Naofumi who was cautious of his limitations always takes careful steps and doesn't charge in without any hope.

He also cleaned up the messes which were created or worsened by the other heroes. Without his own knowledge, his reputation among the people rose and shook the very core of the national religion which teaches that the shield hero is evil. This forced the Church of three heroes to act desperately which led to their downfall. They tried to assassinate the second princess and then accused Naofumi of kidnapping her when he saved her and told the other heroes that the reason for his rise in public support was because he had obtained a brainwashing shield which at least one of them believed (Motoyasu), finally the Church of three heroes revealed their true intention and tried to kill all the heroes and their comrades, since all of them had contributed in one way or another to the people decline in faith in the religion. Despite the disadvantage, Naofumi pushed himself and destroyed the enemy saving himself along with other hero and their party.

The queen who just returned from trying to save her nation from war cleared all of the fake charges made against Naofumi and punished those involved in a conspiracy against Naofumi. She promised to prevent any repetition of his past trouble and give preferential treatment in return for his co-operation in the fight against the wave. The queen requested that Naofumi stay, as it may lead to war because of the ill treatment towards him by Melromarc. After considering all possibilities, he decided to give the nation one more chance in exchange for better treatment. He was somewhat treated with well-deserved respect in comparison to the past.

Later, Naofumi also learned that he chased away all the envoys from the countries who worship shield, due to his suspicious nature and lack of trust for anyone after a few day of his summoning. It was revealed that Naofumi too had believers in this nation as well, like the volunteer soldiers who joined with him to fight the third wave, demi-human adventures and the noble that support the demi-humans. It was also mentioned by the queen that the adventures who tried to fake to be with Naofumi by joining his party during the first three days of summoning were brutally murdered without able to recognize, the Knight leader who tried to torch Naofumi along with the monsters was also murdered, the dress which Naofumi signed for a voluntary Knight was stolen and sold at the highest prize in auction at Siltvelt.

On the other hand, the other three heroes acted foolish, thinking this reality to be a game. They took everything lightly, even believing them-self to be immortal and that their defeat is leading to a special event. This self-proclamation of immortality disturbed both Naofumi and queen. Despite, Naofumi being much lower in level, the other heroes begin to feel inferior to him. During the information exchange they tried to extract his information for getting stronger, but he used it against them to get info from them. Naofumi realized that this reality resembles similar to the game which convinced other heroes that they were living inside a game. For the first time Naofumi, who always angered for the unjust done by the other three heroes toward him, felt pity for them.

Volumes 5-7
He realized that the trust among the heroes is essential to use the weapon strengthening method of the others to work and shared this information with other the heroes, who never believed him. He realized that they might die with this attitude. Fearing that the wave might increase in strength because of the death of heroes, he forced them to work hard and train. Feeling bossed around, they decide to increase their level above Naofumi. Trying to gain more strength the other heroes released (in web novel) the spirit turtle in hopes of defeating it. Soon the reality slapped them hard with their brutal defeat. Naofumi under the queen's orders lead the coalition force and succeeded in defeating the spirit turtle.

After the three heroes became MIA, and with how Naofumi became the only hero that succeeded in slaying the Spirit Turtle, people had then begun the belief that the heroes, other than the Shield, were false heroes. Thus, most of the countries, besides Melromarc, had decided to place restrictions on the movements of the heroes. Melromarc the only one that would accept them while also making the attempt to have rumors die down. Though gossip did not stop which became evident as a role reversal began where Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki had begun to experience similar conditions that Naofumi had went through, initially because of Bitch, while Naofumi himself was greatly praised as a great hero and received praise and all other positive treatment from the public. They were subjected to the scorn of the public with random people throwing stones, denied jobs from the guild, unable to approach the crown fearing of punishment for crimes, also betrayal by their comrades, individually used and betrayed by Bitch, awoken their own curse series which pushed them into doing crimes such as extortion (Ren), brainwashing (Itsuki), and becoming completely broken (Motoyatsu). On the other hand, Naofumi became the lord of a land which happens to be the former village of Raphtiala, in hopes of rebuilding the village for the demi-humans. Mirellia then depended on Naofumi to monitor the three heroes so that they can make amends for their mistakes.

Volume 13
Naofumi objective was to stop the assassination attempt on Raphtalia from Q'ten Lo. Due to Silvelt a country that worships the Shield Hero and has ties with Q'ten Lo, Naofumi decided to visit Silvelt to see if they'll help Naofumi on his mission. They decided to travel on Gaelion to Silvelt, S'yne shorten the arrival time by teleporting Naofumi and his party to a nearby place closer to Silvelt.

Upon travelling to Silvelt his path cross with Melty and Filo. Melty fired her magic at Naofumi at a fit of rage due to forcing her to level up with Filo against her will. Afterwards Melty and Filo explained that Fitoria requested for Naofumi help and already given him a reward in advance by giving Melty, Filo and Raph-chan status buff increasing their overall stats, Naofumi refused and said that he needed to prioritize Q'ten Lo and it needed to wait, Fitoria hesitantly agreed. Naofumi told Melty to informed the queen about his visit to Silvelt.

Because of Filo increase stats Naofumi chose for Filo to travel the rest of the way to Silvelt. He was provided a new carriage by Silvelt albeit being of low quality compare to Filo's previous carriage whom was stolen by Motoyasu. He chose Raphtalia, Raph-chan, Filo, Fohl, Atla and Seedena to company him to Silvelt.