The Shield's Weaponless Brother (The Rising Of The Shield Hero X Male Reader)

Chapter 4: To live/To be stronger

Erhart never considered this, but it's completely true. Besides the respect they're given, the 4 cardinal heroes were basically really strong slaves. Raphtalia and Rifana found themselves sympathizing with their masters. Their were also taken from her home.

Naofumi:"The rules for my crest?" he said while pointing to his shield "I have to fight in the waves of catastrophe. I can't use any other weapon, just this shield. I have to have the lowest attack possible and I can't have my brother do everything for me... And now because of some other stuff that happened, me and my brother are hated by everyone. We have to do this until the waves end or we die..." He paused making sure they were getting it.

Naofumi"we want to live, Raphtalia, Rifana. We want to live. To win. To be set free. I'm sure you both understand?" They nodded. They knew all too well.

Naofumi:"I know it's not fair for us to pull you two in to this, but I promise... If you kill our enemies, I'll defend you with everything I have. I mean, defending people is all I have so... ... ... I need you both to face and fight monsters with my brother. I'm sorry, but that won't change."

Raphtalia and Rifana thought about it. Here was the legendary shield hero. Someone even their parents looked up to... and he was begging for their help.

Raphtalia:"Sure, not really begging because he can order me, but..." They felt weird. "This man says he and his brother are also slaves and it sounds like they are. That he really gets it. And that we're the only ones who can help them. That he'll help us in turn. That we'll basically watch out for each other. Even if it's just for now... I'll trust this man".

Rifana:"my dream was always to be with the shield hero, but the man that calls himself his brother, his hand was so warm, I guess that I can trust him the same as the shield hero"

Raphtalia:"I-I'll try" Her voice was quiet and shaky, but they heard it.

Rifana:"M-Me too, I'll try too"

Over the next hour Naofumi, Luciel and Erhart had Raphtalia and Rifana try a few small weapons as well as 3 armor sets each. They eventually decided to get her a shortsword (which was like a longsword with her small frame), 3 throwing daggers (just in case), she was now wearing a black and gray shirt with red accents in the center and an armor set for her that was very light and as for Rifana, she was wearing a tan blouse with red overalls on top as she had twin daggers and some throwing darts at Luciel's request, both had had armor in a few places, but was kept to a minimum. Erhart insisted on these armor sets. He said that the modular armor at the joints plus the stretchable underclothes were a must. He said these 2 factors would help them, since they wouldn't need to be replaced as they grew. Naofumi said it was unnecessary and that Erhart was trying to get more coin out of it. So Erhart dropped the price to stop all the arguing. Final price 90 silver each for all of it.

Naofumi and Luciel planned on leaving town the following morning and stay out of town as much as possible. Doing so would limit how much others could interfere with their growth. Because of this, Erhart gave Naofumi a thick green cloak and Luciel a black one. Said it'd be great for the natural conditions and doubles as a light blanket. He also gave Naofumi a durable carving knife, saying it did too little damage to be worth anything. Naofumi was really thankful to have Erhart on his side. He wasn't afraid to give advice or offer tools. The brothers had another ally in this world.

Naofumi, Luciel, Raphtalia and Rifana had a few stops to make before they retired for the night. Naofumi needed to pick up pots, pans and other cooking utensils.

Naofumi:"Flint and steel, sleeping supplies" *cough* Naofumi looked down at them. "..." He decided to stop by an apothecary.

They seemed not to recognize them, as Naofumi's shield was hidden under his new cloak. A short conversation later had the brothers a little frustrated. Apparently medical supplies were becoming kind of rare right now, due to the waves causing people to panic-buy all available stock. Naofumi pushed the shop keep for more. The apothecary was about to turn him away, but noticed the small coughing demihuman children clinging to them. He offered to sell him the medical supplies to make his own medicine, telling him about the type of plants he'd need to find, Luciel decided to buy the supplies as well 'just in case' were his words.