Lullaby at Dawn

Lullaby at Dawn (暁の子守唄) is the fourth episode of The Rising of the Shield Hero anime.

Synopsis
A celebration is being held to honor the success of the Heroes in subjugating the Waves. Motoyasu came to know of Raphtalia being a slave of Naofumi and challenges him to a duel for her freedom. Naofumi is forced to participate in the Duel.

How can the Shield Hero win with only defense alone? Will he be able to keep Raphtalia as his comrade? Or will Raphtalia part away from the Shield Hero?

Plot
Following the events of the Second Wave, the Kingdom of Melromarc celebrates. At the royal castle, The Heroes and their companions are being thrown an elaborate victory celebration, where the King personally congratulates them on a job well done. Or more accurately, he congratulates the Bow, Sword and Spear heroes. Naofumi (who is sitting on his own) curses being there but notes he has no choice if he wants to get his promised payment. With everyone ignoring him, the Shield Hero scrolls through his help menu and learns of a teleporting feature for registered members to the Wave, which he considers could be useful for the Next Wave. Naofumi also spots the Knight Captain bragging to some young noblewomen about defeating a huge monster, when in reality he deserted Naofumi and arrived too late to help any of the other heroes. The crowd of noble-people meanwhile discuss the Heroes' success for limiting the casualties to one digit.

Motoyasu, for his part, is surrounded by noble-women, some of whom inquire him about his love life, which is quickly interrupted by a jealous Myne. Motoyasu suddenly spots Raphtalia walking through the crowd and tries to talk to her, but Myne stops him. Unnoticed by Raphtalia or Naofumi, Myne proceeds to whisper something into Motoyasu's ear. Raphtalia, meanwhile, is trying to get Naofumi to eat some of the food but he claims he's not hungry, (not seeing much point in eating delicious food when he can't taste it), and focuses on reading the help menu to fight the next Wave.

Despite Naofumi's objection, Raphtalia brings over some cake and persuades him to try some. Upon seeing this, a seething Motoyasu takes off one of his gloves and throws it at Naofumi's feet - challenging him to a Duel. The entire room falls silent at this, but Naofumi is unprovoked. Motoyasu tells him he knows that Raphtalia is his slave, which he believes is morally wrong and demands Raphtalia's freedom if he wins. Naofumi calls the Spear Hero out on this, stating that it is only Motoyasu's opinion and that slavery is permitted in Melromarc. Motoyasu maintains that since they are people from another world, it is morally wrong for someone, especially a Hero, to take a slave. The other heroes, Ren and Itsuki, are also shocked to learn that Naofumi has a slave as a party member and are disgusted with him.

When Naofumi asks what he will get in return if he wins, Motoyasu answers (after a pause) that he could keep things as it is. Naofumi, however, isn't interested in taking part in a duel where he gets nothing in return for winning. He attempts to leave with Raphtalia, but a guard stops him. A 'disgusted' King Aultcary appears. Having overheard everything, he declares Naofumi is rotten to his very core and orders him to take part anyway. When Raphtalia tries to explain that she follows Naofumi of her own free will, she is seized, bound, gagged and dragged away by the Melromarc soldiers. The King reasons that Raphtalia has simply been forced to defend her master by the Slave Crest.

Outraged Naofumi tries to take Raphtalia back by force, only to be surrounded by numerous guards, who draw their swords on him. Left with no choice, Naofumi reluctantly accepts the duel but declares that they better hand Raphtalia back when he wins. Thus prompts Myne to taunt the Shield Hero, reminding Naofumi (and everyone else) that the Shield Hero can't attack, which makes the sneering crowd laugh at Naofumi's expense. With the crowd clearly favoring Motoyasu, and after getting another painful reminder that he can't use any other weapons, Naofumi is escorted to the courtyard where he meets the Spear Hero.

Motoyasu (who is twenty-two levels above Naofumi) proceeds to mock his adversary with the tale about the all-penetrating Spear and the unbreakable Shield and wonders which one is stronger. When Naofumi ignores Motoyasu's offer to surrender gracefully, the later charges. Despite the drawbacks from his weapon, Naofumi quickly proves his metal. He blocks all the incoming strikes with his relative ease using his Light Metal Shield and declares that Motoyasu lost the moment he couldn't penetrate his shield. When the Spear Hero uses his powerful attack, Chaos Spear, it has little effect and when it's cooldown time kicks in (which renders him helpless as he has to wait for the second attack skill) Naofumi takes advantage of the situation and attacks.

Using the Balloon monsters on his person as weapons, and the various Shields he unlocked, Naofumi beats Motoyasu into a corner. The Spear Hero calls him out for using the monster, ordering him to fight fairly, but when he retaliates is suddenly attacked by The Dog Demon Shield. Knocking the Spear Hero down with Air Strike Shield, Naofumi sics several more Balloons on his winded opponent and locks them within the confined space of a Shield Prison, so that the monsters can devour Motoyasu.

The King, Melromarc's Nobles, and Myne are clearly shocked by The Shield Heroes resilience and ability to hold his own. Although Ren and Itsuki seem genuinely surprised at this unexpected development, several of the nobles call out Naofumi's dirty, underhanded tactics. The atmosphere in the courtyard is suddenly very tense. Things are not going the way they were expecting, and everyone knows that if things carry on like this, then there is the distinct possibility that Motoyasu is going to lose!

Then, as Naofumi readies another attack, standing on the cusp of victory, he is suddenly blown away by Wind magic fired by Myne and Motoyasu (his cooldown time having ended) unleashes a savage attack, Lightning Spear, beating Naofumi down. Drained and clearly exhausted, Motoyasu scornfully declares that he has won. Naofumi tries to call out on the cheating and asked for the witness from the audience. No one answers to his claims. All he gets is Motoyasu calling him a sore loser, whilst Myne and King Aultcray reminding everyone that Naofumi is scum, and not to listen to him.

Declaring the fight in Motoyasu's favor, the King makes his way down to the arena. Myne meanwhile stands alongside the man she betrayed and framed. She gleefully taunts him that now he will have to fight alone again, before laughing cruelly at his misfortune. The King congratulates the Spear Hero on a job well done and declares that his daughter chose her companion wisely; revealing to Naofumi that Myne's real name is Princess Malty Melromarc.

Upon hearing this, everything falls into place, and Naofumi recognizes the truth behind his situation; he was set up from the very beginning! Malty never had any intention of being his companion. Instead, the Princess used him to get what she wanted, then framed him in order to get close (and win favor) with her favorite hero. The King was aware of this plot; and agreed to use his power to cover Malty's tracks, hence why there was no investigation or inquiry. Because the accusation came from the crown, nobody questioned it or did anything to help Naofumi. The duel itself was another set-up, rigged from the start. All Myne had to do was appeal to Motoyasu's ego claiming that Naofumi had enslaved Raphtalia against her will, was using his powers to abuse the girl and that Motoyasu should save her. This duel was never for Raphtalia's sake, it was a spiteful move from the King and Princess, meant to deprive Naofumi of his one true ally and make him suffer even more.

A dark mist emanates from the shield, as Naofumi sinks further into depression, reflecting on the unfairness of his situation. He did not come to this world willingly nor did he ask to be a hero, those were forced upon him. He did not do anything to warrant this unfair treatment, so why are the royal family, and by extension the people of Melromarc so determined to make him suffer?

With one of Aultcray's ministers declaring that Motoyasu has now freed Raphtalia, every noble in the audience begins to demean the Shield Hero, calling him a criminal and scum, saying they don't need or want him, with one person even demanding that Naofumi be executed. Hearing all of these insults, Naofumi snaps. A deep, intense, festering rage takes over him, as he drops to all fours, slamming the ground in frustration a thick black mist surrounding him. He watches on helpless as Raphtalia (seeing her in her child form) has her Slave Crest forcefully removed. Naofumi, under the Shield's influence, hallucinates the child Raphtalia abandoning him like everyone else, before walking away with Myne. Crying out in despair, Naofumi imagines himself trying to toss the Shield away but being unable to run away from it, the Shield automatically reattaching itself to his arm. Having reached his lowest point, The Shield Hero declares venomously that he has had enough and desires nothing more than to let this unjust world, and all of the foul people within it, die for all he cares.

As a result of his hallucinations, and negative emotion, something called the Curse Series begins to activate, Naofumi's Shield reacting in response to all of this. Blinded by his emotions, and the Shields power Naofumi remains oblivious to what is going on around him, and of the verbal confrontation that followed! Instead of singing Motoyasu's praises as anticipated, the newly-freed real Raphtalia immediately rewards her "savior" with a massive slap to the face. The citizens of Melromarc stare on in shock, as Raphtalia proceeds to yell at Motoyasu, calling him a cheater, and declaring that she never asked to be freed in the first place. A verbal confrontation breaks out between her and the Spear Hero, with Motoyasu trying to defend himself whilst Raphtalia counters each and every one of his feeble excuses.

Visibly shaken by Raphtalia's lack of gratitude, Motoyasu states that she was a slave, which meant Naofumi was clearly abusing and misusing her. This shows he took Raphtalia's status at face value, rather than get the facts. Raphtalia shouts that if that is what he thinks, then Motoyasu clearly doesn't know anything about Naofumi's character. Whilst she might be a slave, Naofumi has never made Raphtalia do anything she didn't want to do and had only activated the slave curse when she wouldn't fight. Slamming his spear on the ground, Motoyasu declares that nobody should be forced to fight. This is completely hypocritical on Motoyasu's part, as he was the one that forced Naofumi into what was supposed to be a one-sided duel, with the backing of the King. The demi-human immediately reminds him that because of the Shields setting, Naofumi cannot use any other weapons, and needs companions to fight with him. Motoyasu pathetically counters that it doesn't need to be Raphtalia and that Naofumi will continue to misuse her until she is of no further use. Once again this is hypocritical because it is thanks partially to Motoyasu's actions that Naofumi would not be able to find anyone to fight alongside him. Raphtalia once calls Motoyasu out on his lack of knowledge about their relationship. Naofumi did not misuse her, nor treat her like filth. He treats her like an equal, and together they defend one another. Motoyasu's resolve clearly starts to falter at this declaration, and all he can do is claim that Naofumi is not that type of person. Again he is basing this off of assumptions rather than solid evidence, as he immediately accepted Myne's accusations and never gave Naofumi a chance. Having cornered him, Raphtalia then demands to know whether the Spear Hero is capable of such kindness? Despite being poor, with limited finances and practically no support Naofumi took Raphtalia, a sickly demi-human on the verge of death, in. He fed her, gave her proper clothing and medicine to treat her illness when no one else would. When she demands to know if he is capable of that, Motoyasu timidly states that of course, he could... only for Raphtalia to declare that if that was true, why does he not have a slave, freed or not in his party?

With this Raphtalia completely trounces Motoyasu's argument. For all his boasting about slavery being wrong, The Spear Hero has done nothing since coming to Melromarc to help anyone in Raphtalia's position, despite his finances, claims of being a hero and close position to the crown. Now in front of all the aristocracy, a lowly demi-human has called out one of the countries most prestigious heroes, and effectively told him right to his face - You are nothing but a lying hypocrite who only took offense to this matter because I am Naofumi's slave!

Before Motoyasu can answer, Princess Malty, who has been standing idly by orders Raphtalia to be silent. Unable to stand things any further, she openly demeans Raphtalia for being a demi-human (thus proving that she cared nothing about Raphtalia's well-being) and raises a hand to strike the tanuki girl. Before she can, however, one of the nobles spots something happening at the corner of the arena and calls out. It is Ren and Itsuki. The Bow and Sword Heroes march onto the scene, much to the noble's confusion.

A clearly vexed Itsuki demands to know why Myne illegally interfered in the duel, but Myne feigns ignorance. The Spear Hero, however, is taken aback by this statement. Ren then bluntly tells Motoyaus that he lost the duel, and only won because one of his party members illegally interfered using Wind Magic.

Although he doesn't name names, the Spear Hero immediately knows who Ren is talking about, and turns towards Myne confused. With a fake, innocent smile on her face, The Princess tries to argue that can't possibly be the case since no one else in the room saw it or pointed it out. Itsuki promptly shoots this argument down, stating that they both saw it with their own eyes. The King's declaration at the end of the duel was an order to stay quiet about it. Ren angrily expresses his and Itsuki's mutual disgust that the royal family (and to a lesser extent the Melromarc nobility) would debase a Sacred Duel as they have. Caught out, King Aultcray looks away sheepishly, whilst up in the stands, representatives of the Church, including the High Priest whisper to one another.

Silence falls once again, as Raphtalia storms past Myne, Motoyasu, and the King without showing them any gratitude or respect. Instead, she turns and calls out to a barely responsive Naofumi, who has not heard any of this, continuing to rage against the world and his Shield. Naofumi initially refuses to listen to the "traitor," ordering her to go away. Cautiously, Raphtalia admits that she has heard the rumors concerning Naofumi and his supposed crime, which angers him. As Raphtalia tries to admit that she doesn't believe he would do such a thing, Naofumi rebuffs her, even pushing her away when she tries to touch him.

Still despairing at the unfairness of his situation, Naofumi reminds her that she is free, and asks if she is only there just to taunt him. Thanks to the effects of the Curse Series, Naofumi can still only see Raphtalia as a child and doesn't realize that she is trying to comfort or express her belief in him. Thinking that this is nothing more than a cruel trick, similar to the one Malty played on him, a despairing Naofumi demands to know what else the citizens of Melromarc are going to take from him?

Having had enough of his situation, Naofumi tries to rip the Shield from his body. Raphtalia, however, places her hand on the Shield and reminds him that the Shield had saved her life and that during the Wave, he did what no one else would - defended many others, despite not being able to fight. When he admits that he is not a nice guy and saw her as nothing more than a useful instrument to start off with, Raphtalia ignores this declaration, declaring he saved her!

When Naofumi tries to argue against this, the tanuki-girl reaches forward and embraces him. Raphtalia then declares it doesn't matter what anyone else says, she knows he is kind and better than anyone else in Melromarc. In a clear declaration of loyalty, Raphtalia tells Naofumi, (and everyone else) that no matter what happens or is said about the Shield Hero - she intends to stand by him, to take his side! She will stand by the man that saved her, and who helped her find meaning and purpose again.

Releasing him from her embrace, Raphtalia appears as a teenager and promises to be Naofumi's sword, who will follow him to the very end. Throughout all of this, the power of the Curse Series wanes, and as Raphtalia says the words that he always wanted to hear, Naofumi becomes emotional, realizing just how much he took his partner and her previous declaration for granted. Finally, the Curse Series gets neutralized and the mist that engulfed him clears off.

Naofumi is confused to see a now fully grown Raphtalia in front of him and asks who she is, as he always saw her as a child. After answering his question, the tanuki demi-human once again promises that even if she might be a burden, she wants to stay with him. Overcome, Naofumi breaks down in tears, and Raphtalia hugs him close in a gesture of comfort.

The other heroes, King Aultcray, Princess Malty and the citizens of Melromarc (Pope, Knights, Priests, Nobles, Adventurers, and Mages) silently watch all of this unfold in the background. King Aultcray stares on with a frown, Myne in disbelief. With the Slave Crest now removed, everybody knows that Raphtalia's pledge of loyalty to Naofumi was made entirely of her own free will. Knowing there is nothing they can do about it, and with their "efforts to save her" having been snubbed by the demi-Human, the King leaves the arena in a huff. He is followed out by an equally displeased Malty. Up in the stands, the nobles likewise leave the courtyard in silence, clearly dissatisfied with the results.

Motoyasu, however, lingers clutching his spear for support. He is clearly taken aback by how things turned out, and it is clear that his ego has taken a massive blow. Despite this Motoyasu still weakly tries to defend his "heroic" actions with his own principles. He still insists that Naofumi is in the wrong and that a Hero should not own slaves. He also believes that nobody would serve a criminal like Naofumi of their own accord, and tries to argue that Raphtalia must have been brainwashed to remain so loyal. Disgusted, Ren and Itsuki both call him out on this, stating that anyone who looks at the pair of them can clearly see that is not the case. Still weeping, Naofumi ultimately falls asleep on Raphtalia's lap in the empty courtyard.

The next morning, Naofumi wakes up and realizes that Raphtalia was indeed an adult and asks her about it. Raphtalia explains that Demi-humans share a unique biological quirk with monsters: Demi-human children rapidly age in proportion to their level, and this is one of the main reasons why they're considered the same as monsters and discriminated against in Melromarc. Raphtalia scrounges together the leftovers of the feast in the kitchen for the two of them, with Naofumi, visibly marveled, realizing that he can taste the food once again. Raphtalia once again reassures Naofumi that they will go through everything together.

Trivia

 * The levels of Naofumi, Motoyasu, and their party members were shown.
 * The causalities of the waves were revealed to be of in the single digit.
 * Naofumi uses Balloon monsters as his weapons in his fight against Motoyasu.
 * Magic exists in this world as Myne used a spell during the duel.
 * Myne's affinity for magic is revealed to be Wind magic.
 * Demi-humans age to their primes as they level, because of which they are seen as monsters by Humans.

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