Hickwaal

Hickwaal (ヒークヴァール) is the accessory merchant protected by the Shield Hero from Bandits. He is also the founder and first president of the Hickwaal Company.

Appearance
Hickwaal is a short and rotund man dressed in merchant's clothes and jewels.

Personality
Hickwaal is a generally excitable man with a devilish twinkle in his eye. He places his merchant business above all else - including ethics - and welcomes any and all business opportunities.

Volume 2
A merchant who supported the Shield Hero from the shadows. Hickwaal was the first one to teach Naofumi how to use magic properly. During their first travel together, they were attacked by bandits. Naofumi protected him and Hickwaal was impressed by his enterprising spirit. Hickwaal then allowed Naofumi to mine ore from one of his mines for free. From this ore, Naofumi started creating accessories for the first time. Before he left, Hickwaal also hinted about a business opportunity at Lerno Village since it was overrun with the BioPlant.

Volume 6
At Cal Mira, Naofumi encounter a crooked accessory dealer. Naofumi showed Hickwaal's popularity and accessory dealer certificate and intimidated the man into running proper business practices.

Later, Naofumi bought life-force water from the Apothecary which turned out to be a friend of the Hickwaal.

Volume 10
While Naofumi was in Zeltoble, he met Hickwaal in his shop. The two caught up on their latest enterprises and Naofumi invites Hickwaal to come to his territory some time. With the recent waves, Hickwaal's accessory business has been booming and Naofumi's influence in Cal Mira with the crooked merchant has also given Hickwaal some business opportunities. Naofumi also hinted at accessories made of materials from Glass' world which got Hickwaal excited.

Due to Beloukas' Uncle and Hickwaal's influence, Naofumi's first fights in the Zeltoble coliseum were against easy mercenaries. When Naofumi went to confront the crooked weapons merchant who was emceeing the fights, Beloukas' Uncle and Hickwaal went to back Naofumi up.

Volume 15
After Naofumi formed the Chivalrous Thief Guild, he negotiated with Hickwaal for his support. Hickwaal was thrilled at the opportunity and said that he'd name Naofumi as his successor.

While Naofumi was on his way to Q'ten Lo, Hickwaal stopped by Lurolona village for a visit and gave Imiya some tips on how to create accessories. Also, apparently Naofumi gave Hickwaal an accessory from Glass' World to reverse-engineer. Before the fight with the Phoenix, significant progress has been made on mass-producing an accessory which obtained drop items like Legendary Weapons.

Volume 16
Apparently Melty had contact Hickwaal after Filo started gaining popularity with her singing. Together, they made official merchandise featuring images of Filo. The prices were set high but with Filo's popularity, Naofumi was sure that they would sell out for the Phoenix Victory Festival.

Relationships

 * Naofumi Iwatani: Hickwaal thoroughly enjoys Naofumi's enterprising merchant's spirit and taught the Shield Hero how to craft accessories. Hickwaal desires Naofumi to be his eventual successor but Naofumi has declined and is a bit wary of the merchant.

Abilities
Hickwaal has not been shown to have combat abilities but is world-renowned and well-connected in his mercantile and accessory selling business.

Trivia

 * Hickwaal's name has not been revealed during the light novel. The name comes from the conclusion of the web novel. Naofumi refers to Hickwaal in the light novels as the "accessory dealer."