Chapter 10

The heroes all gathered in the throne room at about 10.

Let's see how I get f*cked over this time.

"Now then, I will distribute this wave's bounty reward and support funding for each of the heroes."

"For completing requests and in expectation of the great deeds of Motoyasu-dono, we award 4,000 coins."

Motoyasu's bag was huge. Lyn saw that the one giving the bags was holding three more bags, two big ones and one tiny.

Both Ren and Itsuki looked slightly annoyed that Motoyasu got the biggest bag. Itsuki even muttered, "All because the princess favors you…"

"Itsuki-dono… Your heroism echoes throughout the country. For your great work in times of strife, we award 3,800 coins."

Ren also got 3800 coins.

"And for the shield hero, I set aside 500 coins."

"Ha! What can Shield do?"

"Be thankful for even receiving this much!"

"It's not like you helped out at all."

"Right. I didn't see you during the wave at all, what were you even doing?"

"You're an embarrassment to us heroes. Completely useless."

Lyn inwardly sighed. But before he could say anything, Ren took a step forward.

"Actually both Lyn and I were protecting the nearby village."

"You should have just left that stuff to the knights!" Motoyasu exclaimed.

"The same knights that came too late and set several houses on fire without even killing a single monster? While also almost killing me and Lyn?"

Motoyasu and Itsuki, as well as everyone else, glanced at the captain.

"W-what are you talking about sword hero? It was just an unfortunate accident that you got slightly caught in the crossfire."

The captain tried to defend himself.

"When the wave started, Lyn set up a protective dome around the village, stopping the monsters from reaching it. Then as we finally arrived, Lyn and I took care of all of the monsters before they could arrive. However, when we were finished and took a second to regroup, several fire attacks tried to kill us. If it wasn't for Lyn's shields, the damage would have been much worse, and who knows what would have happened to me. For that, I ask that Lyn is rewarded accordingly for his efforts."

Ren finished talking, looking at the king.

Itsuki also spoke out, "I agree, I may not like Lyn but he deserves his share for all the work he had done."

Everyone in the room was shocked that someone was defending the Shield Demon, but they couldn't do anything against their heroes.

Lyn inwardly smiled.

Looks like the bow hero isn't a complete moron.

"F-fine. He will receive 1000 coins, but nothing more!"

Lyn took the bag and the extra 500 silver from another bag.

"Actually, there is still the winnings of the duel I have yet to collect."

The king and Motoyasu paled.

"W-what are you talking about. I didn't offer you anything if you had won!"

"You didn't. But Motoyasu did. Shall I remind you?"

Lyn raised his shield and turned it into a wooden slab with a big blue orb in the middle, mimicking a recorder ball used at the duel. He got one from the magic shop a long time ago.

"But if I win, I get all of your items, 50% of your reward for this wave, and all of Myne's exp. Do we have a deal?"

"Deal!"

"You won't go back on your word, right Motoyasu?"

Motoyasu didn't make eye contact with Lyn and continued to stare at the ground in shame, shivering at last night's memory. He pulled out 2000 silver coins and gave them to Lyn.

"You scum! That was Motoyasu's reward that he earned through his efforts." Myne came over, yelling her head off.

But Motoyasu wasn't listening to her, instead, he dropped every item from his spear onto the ground.

"Sir Motoyasu!"

She tried to stop him but Motoyasu didn't react. Currently, his trauma from yesterday was much greater than his lust.

Lyn sucked everything into his shield.

"That's one and two. Now on to number three."

Lyn turned to Myne.

"Lyn... please..." Motoyasu tried to say. But he quickly turned away when Lyn looked at him. The King wanted to say something as well, but he held his tongue. He couldn't cheat his way out of this one. A deal was a deal.

"You wouldn't dare lay a hand on me!" She yelled, backing up.

"Sorry to burst your bubble princess, but your knight in shining armor just lost all of your exp, so you don't really have a choice."

Lyn turned his levels into bonuses, now gaining a 70% bonus to exp and stats, and turned his weapon into a giant gem.

Usually, the [Drain] skill would only allow him to drain 2000 exp a day, but its higher-level ability had a 200000 exp drain skill with a cool-down of 30 days. Since [Overdrive] was currently at Level 5, Lyn could drain 1,200,000 exp every month.

"[Overdrive], [Second Drain]."

As Lyn said that Myne felt her strength leave her body.

"Aaaaaagh!" she yelled, but no one came to her rescue. After just three seconds, all her exp was gone and now Lyn was at level 53. She dropped to the ground, unable to get up. Lyn noticed that he still had around 200,000 exp he could still drain. He'll save it for later.

"Get her medical attention now!"

The king yelled. Several people picked up the princess and carried her away.

"Get out! Begone from my castle demon! And never return to this castle again!"

The King yelled and several guards pointed their weapons at Lyn.

"Okay see ya."

Lyn walked out, hearing the king scream "SHIIIIIIIEEEEEEELD".

The whole time Motoyasu never made a move. All he could do was remember yesterday when Lyn looked down on him with bright red eyes, staring deep into his soul and as he drowned.

Lyn met up with Raphtalia at the inn they rented the other night.

"Lyn-sama! How did it go?"

"Pretty well and bad at the same time. Got the prizes but we also won't be getting any support from the king. Not like we ever had. Let's go stop by the slave trader and get some new stuff. Also, we need you to class up."

"Oh, if it isn't Hero-sama. How may I be of service today?"

The genteel owner of the slave shop appeared flourishingly to welcome the duo.

"Oh? What a surprising change. I did not think you would grow so well. I thought you would be more like us, how unfortunate."

What the hell is he talking about?

"Real slave traders would raise high-quality slaves by keeping them half dead. But, looking at her condition... she's grown quite well. For a non-virgin... how about 20 gold coins?"

"But I am a virgin!"

"Oh my! Then how about 35 gold coins? May I confirm if she is a virgin?"

"Lyn-sama!"

Lyn put a hand on Raphtalia's head and glared at the store owner.

"Like hell, I'm selling her. Never bring that up again."

"I see... that's too bad. So how may I help you?"

Lyn looked around the shop until a wooden box with some eggs catches his eyes.

"Monster eggs, correct?"

"How perceptive, of course. One try for 100 silver coins, a monster egg lottery! We have all types of eggs in there, with the best one being a dragon!"

"Hm."

Lyn looks around for a bit before picking a random egg.

"This one."

"Please mark this seal with your blood to remember which one you chose."

Lyn cut his finger and smeared a little blood onto the egg.

A bright red light shines as an icon representing the monster tamer appears.

"If for some reason it doesn't hatch, I'm going to ask for compensation."

"How admirable! For the Hero-sama who won't take a failure lying down."

"You better believe it. Around when will it hatch?"

"It is written on the incubator."

"Hmmm..."

21 hours. Early in the morning.

"We will await your next arrival."

Since Lyn protected everyone, he never got to use the healing potions. But it never hurt to have extra. He would need to pick up more herbs.

But for now, his main concern is mana and soul points. At the last wave, he ran out too quickly and couldn't keep his barrier up for long. His vambrace and bracelet were empty. He used several of the gems he got from the mine and cut them to size, filling five more slots, which brought him up to eight out of 20. Four on the top, four on the bottom.

"I call out to the ground and the sky, direct your energy and give this gem power. [Omega Enchant]."

Lyn muttered under his breath.

One of the gems glowed a bright blue and started to absorb the mana around Lyn. A few seconds later it stopped glowing and a message popped up in Lyn's HUD.

Enchanted Vambrace Gem 1/20

[37% MP Recovery Up]

[49% Fire Resistance Up]

[29% Water Resistance Up]

[95% SP Recovery Up]

[85% EP Recovery Up]

[86% Lightning Resistance Up]

"[Stat Transfer]"

Enchanted Vambrace Gem 1/20

[381% SP Recovery Up]

Lyn repeated this process for Enchanted Vambrace Gem 2, 3, and 4, giving him a total of [1528% SP Recovery].

"Let's go to the medicine shop. I want to sell some potions."

They arrived at the medicine shop, and to Lyn's surprise, the owner had a smile on, in contrast to the usual sour look.

"Shield hero! I wanted to thank you for your help in the village. You saved my relatives who lived in Lute."

"Oh, that. I was just doing my job."

"Well I can't exactly thank you by giving you a book about different medicine recipes since you seem to be pretty knowledgeable in that area, and you already bought the tools, so if there is something you need from me, you can ask me anytime."

"There actually is. If it's not too much trouble, could you bring anything you don't need, any items or materials that cannot be used? They could unlock a new shield and give small bonuses."

The man's eyes brightened and he quickly retreated into the back of the shop, coming out with a box filled with random junk.

"I was going to throw all this away, but you can take whatever you find useful."

"Thank you."

Lyn raised his shield and sucked everything into it. This unlocked him a few shields like the Small Box Shield and the Rag Shield. There was plenty of old medicine, each unlocking its shield and giving a few extra skill points.

"The old hag from the magic shop also tells you to drop by."

"I see. I'll do that right away. I would also like to sell some health potions that I didn't get to use."

Lyn took out a few Excellent Quality Health Potions.

After all was said and done, Lyn, now with almost 4000 silver in his shield, walked over to the magic shop.

"Oh, you're the Shield Hero. You've been a great help to my grandchild. How can I help you?"

"I want to have her affinity checked."

Lyn pointed at Raphtalia.

"Please wait a moment."

The old lady said and retrieved a crystal ball from behind the counter, then she began to chant a spell. It would check the affinity of a person.

"Okay, now then Shield Hero-sama. Can your companion take a look at the crystal ball?"

"Ah, sure."

Raphtalia looks into the crystal ball.

"Hmm. As expected, the young lady of the Raccoon race is suited for light and dark magic."

"Thank you."

"Here, just something from this old lady at the magic shop."

The old lady then hands us three books.

"I actually wanted to give you a crystal ball, but this old lady's livelihood would be endangered if I did."

"What do you mean?"

"Doesn't Shield Hero-sama know that you can learn a spell by releasing compatible magic from a crystal ball? The country recently made a large order of crystal balls for the Heroes. A lot of them were delivered, does Shield Hero-sama not know?"

"The crystal balls teach you magic quickly, but it's better to learn it from a book in the long run. Besides the king hates my guts so he doesn't inform me of anything. So I appreciate the help."

They took the books and left the shop.

"Let's learn magic together."

Raphtalia says excitedly. Lyn nods and pets her head, which makes her blush.

"Anyways, when is the next wave?"

Lyn checks his status screen.

"45 and a half days. This should give us time to prepare. Let's eat and then get you a class up."

"Okay."

They went to a nearby tavern and ordered some food. After a few minutes of eating, Lyn saw Ren walk up to him.

"Hey. Glad to see you are doing good."

"You too Ren."

Ren pulled out 50 silver coins and handed them to Lyn. Lyn raised an eyebrow but then remembered what he and Ren said last time.

"I lost the bet. Anyhow, I thought you may want to know about the crystal balls that the king gave us."

"Ah, that useless junk. Yeah, don't worry bout it. Here."

Lyn pulled out the grimoire he had bought on the first day from his shield and pulled out a few papers with the Japanese and Melromarc languages on them.

"You should learn the alphabet of this world early on, while the waves are still manageable. I bet it will help you in the long run."

Ren looked in surprise, putting the book into his sword as well as the papers.

"Thanks. Anyways, I'm going to go to Lute to check on the people there. What about you and Raphtalia?"

"Same. I thought about staying there for a few days, maybe getting a carriage and some supplies. Wanna eat something and come with us?"

"Sure, especially since being near each other won't hurt our growth."

Lyn, Ren, and Raphtalia arrived at the village of Lute, observing the damage. There were monster corpses left in front of the village, but the village itself was almost perfectly fine.

"We should clean up. If we leave the corpses to rot, it could start a plague."

"Right."

"Ah, Sword Hero-sama, Shield Hero-sama! Welcome back. How can we help you?"

A random villager walked up to them.

"We are here to help you clean up, maybe stay here for a few days to recover. The inn didn't get destroyed right?"

"It did not. Would you like me to show you the way?"

Lyn handed Raphtalia the books they got and the incubator he's been holding on to, along with a few silver coins.

"Raphtalia, go book us some rooms, me and Ren will be busy here for a while."

"Okay."

"Ren, let's go get some weapons."

Ren nodded.

For the rest of the day, Lyn and Ren stuffed monster corpses inside their weapons, with Lyn using Synchronize to give Ren a few extra swords, while Raphtalia studied magic at the inn. Lyn left quite a lot of meat for the village to dry and some to sell to whoever would bother studying it.

At the end of the day, Lyn saw Ren use some crystal balls to learn magic. Though they didn't go on for long, Lyn taught Ren a bit of Melromark's language and the basic sword forms.