Naofumi Iwatani/Relationships

Raphtalia
Naofumi's first slave, a Tanuki demi-human child, that he purchased from Beloukas. Naofumi was forced to purchase her as a slave early on in order to compensate for his lack of offensive abilities, along with the stigma of the false charges against him that prevented him from forming a party with anyone else. Naofumi initially chose Raphtalia for her low price, and because he wanted to imagine enslaving Malty, who trumped up the false charges against him. Despite his questionable motives for obtaining her, Naofumi becomes a naturally benevolent master and treats Raphtalia well after acquiring her. He provides her with medicine when she is ill, food when she is hungry and protects her from harm during battles. Although she is a slave to him, the only times he would ever activate the Slave Crest to force her compliance was when she was too frightened to fight on her own. He also provides her with adequate shelter and comforts her during her various night terrors.

Raphtalia physically matures rapidly from a child to a young adult within a week or two due to the effects of her level grinding. Raphtalia becomes significantly more outgoing towards Naofumi and even has a decent handle on him, carefully finding ways to get him to comply with her choices despite their master-slave relationship. She becomes a much-needed pillar of support for him throughout their time together. When the 3 Heroes, along with the King and Malty, attempt to sabotage Naofumi's ability to accel by forcibly removing the master-slave relationship between him and Raphtalia, she rebels against her new status as a free woman and willingly chooses to restore her Slave Crest at Beloukas' tent in order to remain aside Naofumi.

She's the first person, after Erhard, to take his side after what Malty did to him, and the one who ultimately succeeds in bringing him out of his despair. She wants Naofumi to look at her as an adult woman and has on at least one occasion stripped completely naked in front of him to get his opinion of her nude figure. Unfortunately for Raphtalia, Naofumi misses her point completely, as he knows that she is really only a ten-year-old, despite the physical appearance of a twenty-year-old, and thus has no romantic eyes towards her.

Naofumi constantly expresses a father-daughter relationship with her, but Raphtalia would very much beg to differ. Naofumi trusts her implicitly. In fact, amongst his companions, she represents the one about whom he cares the most. Raphtalia is also the only reliable restraint against Naofumi's more villainous tendencies, and she expresses to him her preference that he acts as a proper hero, despite his belief that he is not. Whenever Naofumi takes pleasure in the suffering of those who've caused him grief, especially Malty and Trash, Raphtalia tries to reign him in and cautions against expressing this joy.

For Naofumi, Raphtalia is a reliable partner, she saved him from his hatred from being betrayed by Malty and is his most loyal follower. She is the loyal friend whom they shared their joys and sorrows together with.

Filo
Naofumi's second real comrade and slave. He purchased her as an egg from the same slave trader that he obtained Raphtalia from. Although she was purchased more along the lines of a beast, he raises her with compassion alongside Raphtalia. Like the phenomenon of level grinding that Naofumi experienced with Raphtalia, Filo quickly grows beyond a normal Filolial and is later revealed to be an extremely rare Filolial Queen, manifesting in her ability to assume the form of a youthful human girl.

Filo is far more direct with expressing her impulsive nature, which at some instances has been encouraged by Naofumi when he finds it amusing to him and negatively impacting those he views have wronged him. For example, when she kicks Motoyasu in the crotch during her first encounter with him, Naofumi immediately feels she was a brilliant investment and tells her to do it every time henceforth. Generally speaking, Naofumi has found Filo's expression of selfishness, gluttony, and childish-tantrum behavior to be annoying; however, despite these misgivings, he still cares for her greatly as a companion.

Overall, the two truly do care for each other so much so that the second time he invoked his Wrath Shield, his belief that Filo had died fueled that manifestation. Like Raphtalia, Filo displays great affections (including romantically) towards Naofumi; she even sometimes competes with Raphtalia as a love rival. Naofumi seems himself more as Filo's owner like how he views Raphtalia as his own daughter, thus not seeing Filo as a love interest. She constantly seeks Naofumi's attention and approval and expresses great joy when she pleases him but displays great worry that he may possibly leave her.

Melty Q Melromarc
The Second Princess, and younger sister to Malty, who initially believed her sister's lies about Naofumi and expressed disgust for him (Web Novel); in the Light Novel and Anime, she first got along with Naofumi for befriending Filo until her status as the Second Princess and Malty's younger sister was revealed, making Naofumi immediately distrust her. Whenever Melty tried to speak to Naofumi or when she didn't understand why he was so cynical and cold towards her, Naofumi expressed disdain, as he believed she was no different than the other nobles and royalty who looked down on and ridiculed him. She attempted to force Naofumi into apologizing for dishonoring her father and amend the relationship between them but was treated by him as an annoyance in return.

After the Three Heroes Church attempted to kill her due to a trumped-up conspiracy, Naofumi became the only person that Melty can actually rely on to save her life, as the other Heroes, her sister, and her Knights were all either being deceived by the Church or were willing participants in the conspiracy. It was through this journey that Naofumi begins to see she is very different from the other nobles and royalty but still finds her rather naive. She has become something of a tsundere towards Naofumi, due to these events, and it's implied that her feelings for him extend beyond what she wants him to hear about. She dislikes being treated by him as a child or being called "second princess" by him, eventually convincing him to call her by her name instead. Their relationship improves to the point that he allows Melty to play with Filo again when he originally warned Filo not to befriend her and would entrust Filo to Melty when he returned to his world.

Rishia Ivyred
Recruited into Naofumi's party after being kicked out of Itsuki's party. She was framed for breaking one of Itsuki's accessories by another member of the Bow Hero's party, with Itsuki himself being a willing participant of it after Rishia inadvertently stole the spotlights that he wanted for himself during a clash with Glass and the Heroes from another world. Naofumi empathized with Rishia and felt a mutual connection due to his similar situation for being framed of false charges. After Filo saved Rishia, Naofumi swore to her that he would help to make her stronger so that Itsuki would beg to have her back on his team. As she spent time within Naofumi's village, she had gained confidence and immense fighting skills. Rishia doesn't share the negative view of the Church of Three Heroes because of her education at Faubley and expresses fear at Naofumi's demeanor until Raphtalia was able to remove her doubts. Since then, she greatly respects and aids Naofumi with whatever he needs to.

While Itsuki was under the Pride curse and began accusing Naofumi of being evil, Rishia defends Naofumi from Itsuki's baseless accusations. She pointed out how Naofumi saved many demi-humans who fell into slavery, gave them a home and worked tirelessly to help them. She further described Naofumi as being like a parent to all his slaves, much to Naofumi's annoyance as he denies being a slave master.

Atla
A Hakuko-human hybrid slave that Naofumi purchased from Beloukas, along with her brother, to help Raphtalia's village. Naofumi bought the siblings because of the potential he saw in their bloodline and ensuring her brother's loyalty. Despite being blind, Atla felt Naofumi's presence, which she described as being "both strong and kind, though with deep sadness hidden within". This made Atla trust Naofumi that it led her to request him to take care of her brother, since she originally wouldn't live much longer. When Naofumi cures her with an Elixir of Yggdrasil, which was created by his Shield, Atla becomes very attached, if not affectionate, towards him and wishes to be of great use to him.

While Naofumi finds these actions rather bothersome, he continues to care for Atla like the other slaves he purchased for the village. He doesn't think much of Atla's goal to be his "shield", not realizing Atla was very serious about it. He begins to see how Atla has more potential in combat than her brother and considers how more useful she can be, and spars with her along with Raphtalia. This level of trust develops to where Naofumi is able to entrust Atla in a strategy and battle against the Demon Dragon.

Motoyasu Kitamura
Initially, Naofumi believed Motoyasu played a part in framing him for raping Malty, but over time has come to realize that Motoyasu is very naive, delusional, stupid and evidently doesn't know he's being manipulated by Malty. It was Motoyasu nearly taking Raphtalia away from him through a rigged duel in which he lost to him in, which finally set Naofumi off enough to awaken the Wrath Shield. Motoyasu tries to behave in a friendly manner towards Naofumi, despite the charges placed on him, but becomes something of a rival to him, especially with Malty's continued influence upon him.

Once Naofumi's name is cleared, he begins to show more of his decent side towards him but refuses to accept it when he's told that Malty is the one who set him up. After Malty finally betrays him as well, Motoyasu completely breaks, falls completely in love (or lust) with Filo, and starts calling Naofumi "father-in-law" (since he had raised Filo "like a daughter"). He becomes even easier for Naofumi to manipulate, and all but swears loyalty to him.

Ren Amaki
Like the other Heroes, Ren was initially led to believe Naofumi was guilty of the charge of "raping" Malty; however, he was also, alongside Itsuki, one of the only people to defend Naofumi when Malty cheated to allow Motoyasu to beat him in their Sacred Duel. He was grateful for clearing up the epidemics in a village which was caused because of his actions. He is also the only one of the Heroes to actually believe Naofumi after he is charged later with the kidnapping of Princess Melty. While it can be said Naofumi does not find him as unbearable as Motoyasu or Itsuki, he still displays a petty dislike of him and even tried to kill him when he succumbed to the influence of his Legendary Sword's Curse Series (Web Novel). He does, however, see Ren's good side as a Hero, defending him when criticized by Raphtalia's high standards. Sometime after the Spirit Tortoise was released, Naofumi met Ren again, this time the roles were reversed now that he was now loved by everyone, while Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki were the ones being hated. As Ren explained how he survived the Spirit Tortoise's attack at the cost of his own party members' death, Naofumi called him out for calling them weak, but Ren refused to accepted it causing him to be manipulated by Bitch, unlocked his Curse Series and turned into a bandit. Eventually after Naofumi, along with Eclair defeated him, Ren finally started to atone for his sins and started to train with Eclair while living in Naofumi's village. He was the only person he can actually have a normal conversation with seeing that both Motoyasu and Itsuki were deeply affected by their Curse Series.

Itsuki Kawasumi
Naofumi's relationship with Itsuki is very strained, to put it politely. He dislikes how Itsuki's actions are driven with the sole purpose of flaunting his pride and showing off for applause. He begrudges Itsuki, along with the other Heroes, for believing Malty's frame-up of Naofumi, and their subsequent treatment of him afterward. Although Itsuki did stand for Naofumi during the rigged Sacred Duel and rebuked funds, Naofumi felt that the Bow Hero actually did it more to satisfy his own ego instead of a genuine attempt, unlike Ren's sincere defense of him. Later on, Naofumi defended Itsuki from Raphtalia's criticisms by stating that Itsuki was stuck up, but would never let harm befall his allies; however, Naofumi's attitude changes when he loses what little respect he had for Itsuki after he finds out that the Bow Hero kicked Rishia out of his party under the pretense of a crime which he and other party members orchestrated against her. The next time they meet was sometime after the Spirit Tortoise incident, where Naofumi saw him in a Colosseum fighting, even though neither of them actually spoked to one another until Itsuki unlocked the Pride Series and being manipulated by Bitch, he viewed him as even more "villainous". Following his defeat, Itsuki lost his pride and sense of justice, turning him into a total yes man, who is unable to lie, leading him to stay in Naofumi's village with Rishia. Following that his curse series started to lessen, he apologized to Naofumi about not believing him about his innocence, while Naofumi became supportive towards his relationship with Rishia.

Aultcray Melromarc XXXII
Naofumi hates the King, and with good reason; as he played a part along with his daughter Malty, of setting Naofumi up with the criminal charge of rape, and made certain to spread the word all throughout the kingdom. Although given the King's genuine display of stupidity in believing the claims that Naofumi could "brainwash" people, it's likely he may have just believed Malty's claims and acted upon them rashly. Ultimately, the King hates the Hero of the Shield, and that just unfortunately transferred to Naofumi because of that relationship.

When the Queen returned and cleared Naofumi's name, she allowed him to mete out punishment to the King, Naofumi immediately asked for the death penalty, but was talked down to a less extreme punishment that resulted in changing the King's given name to "Trash". Naofumi at this point realize the real threat of the Waves of Calamity (after witnessing Glass' strength) and avoided making any new enemies, so agreed for just renaming Aultcray to Trash.

Trash was subsequently stripped of all his rights to the throne along with any power he had already accrued within the kingdom. Trash's unreasonable hatred for Naofumi continued after this until he witnessed Atlas, who closely resembled his long-lost sister, under Naofumi's care. After this, Trash resigned himself to remain silent in front of Naofumi, unlike previously when he would create a ruckus against him. Later on his wife, in her dying breath, requested that he bury his petty hatreds and join hands with Naofumi to fight for the future, but he was unable to do anything at the time other than dwell within his remorse. After receiving advice from the spirit of cane, Naofumi began to act out like a bad character in order to awaken the dormant wisdom within Trash. They were finally able to make amends between the two of them and were able to work together to fight off the threat of their enemies. While Naofumi didn't forgive Trash, he accepted to move forward while Trash would beg for his forgiveness and began to treat Naofumi in the same manner as his late wife would.

Malty S Melromarc
Naofumi hates Malty for setting him up for the crime of raping her when he first appeared as the Shield Hero. This hatred grows exponentially over the series as Malty continually antagonizes him and actively tries to add to the misery she'd already brought into his life. Because of Malty's actions, Naofumi's ability to trust anyone that is not bound by a slave to him is extremely limited to a few individuals. After Malty's mother, the Queen, returns and clears Naofumi's name, she stripped Malty of her right to inherit the throne as punishment for her actions. Naofumi immediately stated that Malty should be executed, but was convinced to merely renaming her "Bitch" which would later turn into "Witch" instead. Malty remains utterly unrepentant for her past actions and aims to do whatever she can to get back at Naofumi.

Glass
Glass seems to consider Naofumi and his party to be worthy opponents, even asking for his name after he manages to force her to retreat during their battle (for reference, she had moments before effortlessly defeated the other three Heroes and their respective parties - all of which are groups larger than Naofumi's party - simultaneously). Like many others, she finds some clear fault with Naofumi's personality. She later warned her comrades of Naofumi.

When they met again in the Spirit Tortoise, which was rampaging because of a man named Kyo from Glass's world, they display their respective hostility towards one another but were willing to become allies against Kyo as their common enemy. When Naofumi enters Glass's world and rescues Glass's most important friend, Kizuna Kazayama, Glass started showing her softer sides that he didn't really expect that seemed "out of character" to him. Because of Kizuna, Glass starts to become more mellow towards Naofumi. In their final battle against Kyo, the two eventually develop a bond of deep mutual trusts. A significant sign of this new friendship is when Naofumi gave Glass the recipe for soul-healing water, a concoction that didn't exist in Glass's world, which helped cover her SP weakness in battle.

Mirellia Q Melromarc
The Queen and Naofumi are on fairly good terms as business acquaintances. While he knows he's being used by her, he also knows that she needs him, so he's willing to put up with it. The fact that she cleared his name and punished her husband and daughter for their mistreatment of him seems to be the crux of their relationship. Both of them treat each other as equals, but she does acknowledge his worth both politically and as a Cardinal Hero. She tries to push her second daughter into a marriage with him at every possible occasion.

Erhard
He runs a weapons shop in Melromarc and is the only person who believed in Naofumi after he was falsely accused by Bitch - ironically, it was Bitch herself who had introduced Naofumi to Erhard. He made most, if not all, of the equipment worn by Naofumi along with his carriage, especially his Bandit-themed Barbarian Armor, and is also responsible for teaching Raphtalia the basics of swordsmanship. His skills come from a blacksmith from the East. He wants Naofumi to find another blacksmith, as he believes his own skills to be sub-par, but Naofumi places a higher value on his skill and his friendship.

Beloukas
While Naofumi considers the slave merchant to be a useful person due to his role in providing him with various slaves for his growing army, he does not indicate any real trust for the man. The merchant has noted that Naofumi has good business sense, refering to him as his favourite customer and a man who cannot be easily deceived; Naofumi, on the other hand, creeps out on him.

Naofumi Iwatani/Relacje