Rising of the Shield Hero Re-Rise

"Heroes, we have prepared a meal for you."

"Nice."

The other three woke me up, and I acted like I woke up just now. we opened the door, and the attendant guided us to the knight's dining hall for dinner.

It was like something out of a fantasy movie. The dining hall of a great castle! There was a large table in the center, laid out like a buffet with all sorts of food.

"Everyone, please eat whatever you like."

"What? I guess we are eating with the castle knights?" Ren mumbled to himself.

"You misunderstand. This food has been prepared for you. The knights will not be permitted to enter until you have had your fill," said the attendant.

"Thank you. Let's eat then."

"Yeah."

"Right on."

I just started eating without saying anything.

After eating, I went to sleep while they were still discussing.

Finally, the dawn arrived.

We finished eating breakfast and were waiting in anticipation for the king's summons. It was only natural to give us a little spare time in the morning. No one wants to feel rushed out of bed, except me, who was doing exercise early in the morning. Thankfully no one saw me, everyone else was busy in sleeping.

Finally, the king called for us.

"The Heroes enter."

The doors to the audience chamber swung open to reveal a group of twelve strangers, all dressed as though they were about to embark on an adventure of their own. There were knights among them.

We all bowed to the king, and settled in to listen to his proposal.

"As we discussed yesterday, I have called for others to assist you in your journey. Apparently my call did not go unheeded."

"Now then, gathered adventurers, please choose the Legendary Hero with whom you will travel with."

Wait, So THEY got to choose? That's what other heroes may have been thinking. The four of us lined up. The gathered adventures shuffled over in our direction, and formed little clumps before their intended partners.

Five people stood before Ren.

Four people stood before Motoyasu.

Three people stood before Itsuki.

And before me? Yeah—zero.

"Okay then, guess I'll be going Solo"- I said with a calm smile.

The king was unnerved. He spoke, "I did not anticipate anything like this."

"He's not very popular, is he?" The minister sighed, as if there was nothing he could do about it.

"Sorry to interfere, but I don't think I'll need a party to go for an adventure. I can go alone, right?"

"Are you sure?"

"I don't think it's a good idea"

"Above all, you've ended up with the worst weapon"

The other three said one by one.

"Sir, if it please you, I could serve with the Shield Hero." just like last time, bitch volunteered.

"Hm? Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are there any others among you that would throw your lot in with Mr. Naofumi?"

…No one moved a muscle. The king sighed heavily.

"I suppose there is no way around it. Mr. Naofumi, you'll have to recruit others to accompany you while you are traveling. Each month, I will supply all of you with the necessary funds for your journey, though in compensation for today's events, Naofumi's first payment will be higher than the others."

"Now then, Heroes, I have set aside these funds for you. Please accept them."

Attendants placed envelopes in front of each of us.

"I have set aside 800 pieces of silver for Mr. Naofumi, and 600 pieces for the rest of you. Please take these funds and begin your journey."

"Yes sir!" all three answered in unison.

Thank you so much, trash.

"By the way, your majesty" I took the initiative

"As you know that I'm the weakest of all the heroes, I want to become the strong as fast as possible, which is why I have thought that I would travel alone, so that other people won't die because of my carelessness"

"Are you sure about it?" Asked trash

"Shield hero, do you not want to travel with me?" Asked bitch, acting as nice as she can.

"Not that, it's just that you are the princess of this country, and I don't want to put your life in danger along with mine" I said sincerely

"Don't worry, I'm strong enough to protect myself. And probably you too" I wonder where she finds these type of lines.

"Okay, but I'll have to check whether you're as strong as you say, okay?" I asked

"No problem"

Each of us heroes made our obligatory bow of gratitude before backing out of the audience chamber. Once we were all out of the room, we made our introductions.

"Um, so it's nice to meet you, Mr. Shield Hero. My name is Myne Suphia."

"Pleasure."

Yeah yeah, I should probably leave her behind. But since I can't get her off with a good reason right now and my level is also low, I'm going to use her for leveling for today.

"What should we do?"

I think it would be wise to try and get some better equipment and armor.

"I think it would be wise to try and get some better equipment and armor."

Perfectly same

"Good idea."

After walking for a bit

"Well, I know a good store if you're ready to go."

"I am."

"Great."

I kept following her silently

"This is the shop I was talking about."

I have many good memories with this shop

I stole a glimpse of the interior through the open door. There were weapons of all sorts hanging on the stone walls. It looked like they also stocked armor and other goods necessary for adventuring.

"Welcome," the owner called out to us amiably.

"Hi, I'm shield hero, Naofumi Iwatani, we wanted to buy some equipments for our travel"- I told him

I am very indebted to him, but right now he's meeting me for the first time, so I should also behave just like that.

"You mean… you're one of the… the Heroes? Wow!"

The man began to look me over carefully.

"You don't really look that strong."

I couldn't believe my ears!

"How about doing some armwrestling, you'll know exactly how strong I am" I said with a mocking smile

Normally, I should lose to him right now. But there's a twist. After being shield hero for years and fighting many powerful monsters, I learned how to use the full power of my muscles.

"No thanks, I'll pass" He's smart.

"Listen up, mr Naofumi. If you don't get yourself some decent equipment, the other adventurers will wipe the floor with you."

"I suppose…"

Honest as always.

Myne walked over and spoke up. "Hey, sir, don't you have any good equipment for my friend here?"

"I'm sure that I do, but how's your budget looking?"

Maybe it should be around here... Found it! There was a bag in the corner of the room.

I looked inside the bag. It contained a sooty cape, and some cheap clothes.

"How much are these worth?"

"Somewhere around 5 bronze pieces. But, do you really want them? They're in pretty bad condition for a hero."

"Don't worry"

In these clothes, I started my journey to take revenge, I can never forget. I just felt something on my cheeks, am I crying?

There's no time to cry like this. Just buy the necessary items and get back to your journey.

"I also want a dagger"

"Price?"

"Around 10 silver coins, as sharp as possible"

After that, he showed me a dagger. I hold it's blade with only two fingers of my hand. Quite dusty, bad design, but definitely sharp. I put it in my pocket.

Now it was time to buy weapon and Armor for myne

"How much this Armor cost?" I asked while pointing towards quite a luxurious Armor with an attractive design. Maybe it also had gold plating.

"Oh, that costs 1200 silver coins" he said

Knew it.

"Sorry myne, I thought I would buy this Armor for you, but looks like I don't have enough silver coins at hand. I would earn the rest of money and buy this for you as soon as possible" maybe that much would be enough

"Thank you so much, sir hero"

Okay so, now I won't have to buy equipments for her for a while, but she doesn't know that I'm going to leave her party today.