After Naofumi left the castle, he wandered into town with no clue as to where he was going. As he was walking, some people stopped to look at him and whisper to their companion. But Naofumi didn't care what they were talking about because he had only one thing on his mind; find a way to get home. Suddenly, one of the townspeople shoulder bumped with Naofumi and he said in a snarky tone, "Hey, watch it buddy!"

Naofumi looked at him with a sad look and he said while hugging his balloon monster friend, "Sorry. I'm just trying to get home." And he continued to walk down the road.

Before long, Naofumi left the capital and wandered into a field near it. He then stared at the forest and began looking left and right trying to find out where to go. He then said, "I want to go home. But I don't know which way to go. I don't even know how to get there."

Soon, Naofumi sat on a stone in the field and he looked down at the ground all forlorn. Just then, raindrops started to fall and when Naofumi looked up a few of them even fell on his face and ran down his cheeks like they were tears. Sensing his sorrow, the balloon monster rubbed itself against him and Naofumi gently petted it. Naofumi then whispered out, "What am I to do?"

Suddenly, Naofumi heard his name being called and he looked in the direction it was coming from. Almost right where he was, Naofumi saw Ren coming up a hill and immediately Ren noticed him. Naofumi then saw Ren turn around and call out, "He's over here! I found him!"

Behind Ren, Naofumi also saw Motoyasu and Itsuki and the three of them ran straight towards him. When they were close to him, Naofumi tilted his head curiously while looking at them and then he turned away. He then said quietly, "Why are you guys here?"

Motoyasu walked to the front of Naofumi, looked him in the eyes and said, "We were looking for you man. You disappeared from the castle and no one knew where you went."

Naofumi looked at all three of them and he saw their eyes had care and worry in them. Naofumi didn't know what to say as he was looking at them or what to think. However, Motoyasu, Ren and Itsuki had the same thought in their minds from what the king told them just as Naofumi walked away from the castle.

A few minutes earlier:

While Naofumi was walking away, the three heroes were in the throne room in front of Aultcray. For the past couple minutes, Aultcray told the three of them everything he found out about Naofumi and the "something special" that the shield hero has. Once he was done, the three heroes looked at him in silence with slacked jaws and wide eyes. It was then that Motoyasu shouted out loud that even the people out on the castle grounds heard him, "NAOFUMI HAS WHAT?!?!?!"

Ren just stood there in silence not knowing what to say and his hands started shaking openly at his sides and he asked, "It's a bluff, right Your Majesty? Tell me it's a bluff?!"

Aultcray shook his head and said, "I wish it was a bluff Sir Sword Hero, but it's not. Your comrade, Naofumi Iwatani, has a female sex organ along with a male one you gentlemen have. And if he could, he can also produce children given he has someone suitable to do it."

Motoyasu and Ren were both still baffled by the outcome and they both thought that they stepped into some crazy fanfic instead of a game like they originally thought. Motoyasu soon looked over at Itsuki and said, "What about you Itsuki? What do you think?"

Itsuki stood there frozen in place like a statue and Ren waved a hand in front of his face and asked, "Itsuki? Are you in there?"

Little do Ren and Motoyasu know is in Itsuki's mind he's conjuring up different fantasies of Naofumi. After hearing the news that Naofumi can produce children and he has a female sex organ, Itsuki began to imagine himself walking down the street in his high school uniform with pink Sakura petals falling down from the trees. When he turns the corner, he felt something bump into him and he looked down and saw Naofumi wearing the same uniform as him.

The two stare at each other and Itsuki begins to blush and his heart starts to beat uncontrollably as he stared at him. Fantasy Itsuki reached a hand to Fantasy Naofumi and Fantasy Itsuki asked, "Sorry, are you all right?"

Fantasy Naofumi accepted it and said, "I am. It's my first day and I'm running late."

Fantasy Itsuki smiled, picked Fantasy Naofumi and held him like a princess and said, "Then let's run together." And Itsuki imagined himself running to school with Naofumi in his arms.

Back in reality, Itsuki kept on imagining and he had hearts and fuzzies floating around him while smiling all giddily. Motoyasu and Ren continued to stare at Itsuki in concern and Motoyasu said, "I think the news sent Itsuki off to La La Land." And Ren highly agreed.

Aultcray then cleared his throat and the two heroes, minus Itsuki, turned their attention to him and he said, "Either way, I want the three of you to stick with the shield hero for the time being or until he gets party members of his own. I know it's been kind of rough for him since he got here but right now, he needs you three for moral, and also, mental support."

Ren and Motoyasu nodded and Ren said, "We'll tell him that Your Majesty."

Motoyasu added in, "Leave it to us, sir."

As they were turning to leave, Motoyasu looked over at Itsuki who was still daydreaming and he said, "Hey Itsuki, come on. We're gonna see Naofumi now."

Hearing Naofumi's name, snapped Itsuki out of it and he zoomed out of the throne shouting out, "I'm coming Fumi!"

Motoyasu and Ren just sweatdropped after seeing that and Ren said, "You think Itsuki was bitten by something?"

"He's been bitten all right. By the love bug," Motoyasu said and the two headed out to see Naofumi not even knowing that he left till they found out.

Present:

As soon as they found him on the hill sitting on the stone in the rain, Ren knelt down in front of the shield hero and asked, "Why did you leave the castle Naofumi?"

Naofumi was looking at the little balloon monster in his hands and he petted the top of it and said quietly, "I was trying to get home."

"You mean to your world where your little bro is?" Motoyasu asked and Naofumi silently nodded.

The three heroes looked at each other thinking about how they should tell their comrade the truth, but then they saw something shiny fall out of Naofumi's shield and they saw that it was some coins that Naofumi saved for himself before he was robbed. Itsuki picked them up and handed them to Naofumi. After Naofumi accepted them, Itsuki asked, "Is that all you have left?" And Naofumi nodded.

As the rain was letting up a little, Motoyasu got an idea and he said, "Hey, let's hunt around this field for a few minutes and get some supplies."

The other two agreed and when they split up, Naofumi was left sitting there and was about to leave, but then Itsuki showed up in front of him and said with a sweet smile, "Don't go anywhere now, okay Fumi? We'll really be back." And soon, Itsuki left to do a little hunting and grinding.

Naofumi looked at him in confusion and thought, why did he call me Fumi? Naofumi let out a deep sigh he was holding and he looked at the balloon monster he was holding and he continued to pet and it nuzzled in his hand. A little while later, all four of them were sitting at a table in a cafe and Naofumi had his hands folded on it. Meanwhile, the other three heroes were counting the monster skins they collected and when they were done, Motoyasu said, "I have about ten skins with me."

Ren then added in, "I have five."

"I have five too," Itsuki said.

Soon, they added both their piles together and they gave the big pile to Naofumi. The shield hero looked at the pile curiously and he asked, "What's this for?"

"So you can trade them in and get more money," Motoyasu said to him.

Itsuki, who was sitting next to Naofumi, said, "Yesterday, we saw a trader's stand and anything extra we had, we traded them in."

Ren crossed his arms and then said, "Of course, the guy running it looks like a total cheapskate. He'll probably cheat you when you least expect it."

Motoyasu smirked and he said, "Maybe so. But if he even tries to dupe our comrade, we'll show him what for!"

Pretty soon, a female server came by carrying three trays and she set each of them down in front of Motoyasu, Ren and Itsuki and she said, "Here you go gentlemen. Our cafe's specialty; the Three Heroes Special."

On the tray, the four of them saw that it had steaming hot steak, a scoop of potatoes with a dollar of butter melting on it and green peas on the side. However, the three of them saw Naofumi didn't get a tray and Ren looked at the server and said, "Hey, Naofumi didn't get what we got."

The server looked at Naofumi, saw his shield and she sneered a little bit. She then changed her demeanor and said to the other three, "I'm afraid this is called the Three Heroes Special for a reason because we only serve it to the top three cardinal heroes."

Itsuki stood up from his spot, gave the server a yandere look and said, "Is that so? Then maybe you should include our comrade as a hero too. You think it's fair that you leave out one hero and give food to the other three heroes. It's not healthy to be prejudiced and bias to the three of us and leave out our dear friend Fumi."

The server started to shake in fear as Itsuki approached her and he said in a dark voice, "Now you get back to that kitchen and give Fumi the same as us or else. Understood?"

The server nodded rapidly and she said in fear, "Y-Yes! Right away!" And she turned and made a beeline towards the back after that.

Once she was gone, Itsuki returned to normal, or what Motoyasu and Ren think is normal, and he looked at Naofumi with a smile and said, "There. Is that better Fumi?"

Naofumi has no idea what happened, so he decided to play along and said, "I guess."

Motoyasu and Ren both thought together, we better not piss off Itsuki. Soon, the same server girl came back with the same tray she gave the other three and set it in front of Naofumi and she said, "Here you go Sir Shield Hero. Enjoy."

She looked at Itsuki and he gave her the same yandere look again and he said, "You better include dessert for the four of us too. Okay?"

The server girl nodded and she told them she'll bring it out when they were done with their lunches. After Itsuki scared the server girl away a second time, the four of them dug in and each of them thought that the food tasted pretty good. However, when Naofumi took a bite from his steak and swallowed, he looked at his tray and pushed it away a little bit.

Getting concerned because it was the same attitude he gave when they were at the castle, Motoyasu asked, "What's wrong now Naofumi? Are you sick again?"

Ren and Itsuki also looked at him and Naofumi said, "No, I'm fine. But, the problem is...I can't taste anything."

Confused by what he said, Ren asked, "What do you mean "you can't taste anything"?

Naofumi shook his head and said, "That's exactly it. I can't taste. I mean, the food looks good, but when I put it in my mouth, I can't taste it. It's like what happened to me last night is stopping me from tasting my food."

The three heroes looked at each other and then to Naofumi and they thought, what did those guys do to him? Just then, the balloon monster Naofumi had with him popped up and started munching on Naofumi's tray. Ren noticed and he said, "Hey Naofumi. You're little friend is eating your lunch!"

Naofumi saw it and he said, "I'll let him have it."

It was then that Motoyasu saw had an idea as he was watching the balloon monster eating. A while later, the four heroes headed to the trader's stand when they saw one patron standing there and he gave the trader two monster skins. The trader then gave the man one copper coin for those two skins. As they were watching the man leave, Ren said, "Just one coin for two skins? That guy should've been give two or three. That's what would happen in Brave Star Online."

"If it was Emerald Online, I would've been given five," Itsuki said.

Motoyasu looked at them and said, "Well either way, let's go over there and give Naofumi his money."

As soon as they arrived at the stand and the trader saw them, he smiled and said while rubbing his hands greedily, "Why if it isn't the cardinal heroes and the shield hero. What can I do for you gentlemen today?"

In his mind, Motoyasu thought, why is everyone in this town so gung-ho on excluding Naofumi? Ren also thought, first that rape accusation, then not giving him food and now this? It's like people in this world WANT Naofumi ignored. Itsuki clenched his fist and thought to himself, if he cheats Fumi, I'll drive an arrow right through his thick headed skull!

Ignoring the other three, Naofumi stepped forward, showed the trader the monster skins he was given and he said, "I'd like to trade these for some coins, sir."

The trader counted the twenty skins and he rubbed his chin while counting and he said, "Since you have twenty fine monster skins here. I'll give you one copper."

When they heard that, the three heroes shouted, "What?!"

Motoyasu then said to the man, "But when that guy was here earlier, he had two skins for one copper! Why is Naofumi getting that kind of chump change for twenty?!"

The trader held up his hands in defense and said, "Please Sir Spear Hero, I'm just running a business here. And besides, I have a policy to give fair change for anything anyone gives me. In this case, the shield is getting the discount on one copper for twenty monster skins."

Motoyasu was about to retaliate something back, but Naofumi places a hand on his arm as if he was telling him to stop. Naofumi looked the trader in the eye and said, "If that's so, then if two skins is one copper coin, then twenty skins should be about ten. And if I gave you three skins and you give me two copper coins? If I give thirty, I should be getting twenty back. It's all basic multiplication, sir."

The trader and even the three heroes looked at Naofumi wide eyed and Ren said in amazement, "That's incredible Naofumi. How did you know that?"

"Math was one of my best subjects back when I was in high school. Plus, I'm studying business in college hoping I could get a career in running my own business someday," Naofumi told him.

It was then that Itsuki stepped forward and he said with the same yandere look he gave the female server back at the cafe, "You heard the man. Now pay up! Or else you'll be food for a very hungry balloon monster!" And Itsuki held up Naofumi's little balloon monster friend and it chomped and slobbered in front of the man's face.

The trader got scared and he said, "Okay! Okay! He'll get ten coppers just get that thing away from me!"

After Naofumi got his coins, he pocketed them in his pants pocket and he was walking with Motoyasu, Ren and Itsuki and he said to them, "Thanks for helping you guys."

Itsuki was walking with his hands behind his head and he said, "Well if there's one thing I hate. It's a cheapskate."

Ren then looked at Naofumi and said, "Your balloon friend helped out too. What do you plan to do with it?"

Naofumi looked at the little balloon monster on his shoulder, petted under its chin with his finger and he said, "I think I'll keep him. He seems to be a bit attached to me. And if this little balloon monster can do it, I wonder what other creatures will do."

It was then that Motoyasu handed Naofumi a monster skin he was holding onto and he said, "Why don't you use this. I was saving it, but I think you can use it for something."

Naofumi looked at the skin curiously and he placed it into the green gem of his shield. Suddenly, his HUD shows up and in bold letters it said, 'Balloon Shield acquired. Any balloon monster will aid you when summoned.' Naofumi stared at his HUD in amazement and he thought, that's incredible! I wonder what else I can acquire if I put it into this shield.

Naofumi noticed some stray rope on the ground and he asked Itsuki to give it to him which he happily obliged. When Naofumi placed the rope in the gem, his HUD glowed again and it said, 'Rope Shield acquired. The shield will change into a rope and be used for tying up, climbing or retrieval.' As Naofumi was staring at his HUD in amazement, he saw that some slots were empty and he thought, if I can gain shields from just those two items, maybe I can get more items and gain more shields.

While he was thinking all that, Naofumi didn't notice Motoyasu was calling him and on the third time Motoyasu called him, Naofumi snapped out of it. He then looked at the spear hero and asked, "What?"

Motoyasu blushed when he saw Naofumi looking at him with his kitten like gaze and he thought, damn it! Why does the cute spell always fall on me! He shook out of it, looked at Naofumi and said, "Listen Naofumi. As I was trying to tell you earlier, Ren, Itsuki and I can't keep taking care of you like this."

Realizing what their comrade meant, Ren added in, "He's right. As much as you want to go solo, you have to get a party of your own. Someone who'll help you when we fight the waves."

Itsuki agreed and said, "Like in our games, it's better to go at it together then solo."

Naofumi got curious and he asked, "But, who would team up with me? I don't think my shield is that useful as a weapon."

"It may not be a weapon per se, but it can be useful. You just got to train and find a way to make it, and you, stronger," Motoyasu pointed out.

Naofumi looked at the three of them, then looked at his shield and he smiled and said, "Okay. I think I'll try."

He then thanked the three of them and headed on his way. As they were watching Naofumi walk away, Itsuki let out a sigh, looked at the other two and said, "Well, I'm gonna go find my party members and do a bit more grinding before the day ends."

"I'm gonna check out the guildhall and see if there are any quests to be taken," Ren said.

Ren and Itsuki then looked at Motoyasu and Ren asked, "What about you Motoyasu? Are you gonna join up with your party?"

Motoyasu continued to stare at the road that Naofumi left on and then he looked at the other two and said, "I'll do it later. I'm gonna stick around for a bit and shadow Naofumi. See if he's okay after last night's escapade."

Ren and Itsuki nodded and Itsuki said, "Okay. If you must."

Ren wished him luck and the three of them went their separate ways with Ren and Itsuki leaving together and Motoyasu going down the road. A while later, Naofumi was walking around the market and he looked and heard people whispering around him as he walked by. He frowned a little and thought, I wonder what they could be talking about?

The balloon monster on his shoulder soon looked straight ahead and it began to growl and Naofumi stopped and asked, "What is it little buddy?"

When Naofumi looked in the direction the monster was looking, he saw group of thugs standing in front of him and they all were laughing and smirking evilly. One of the thugs the said, "Well look it here boys. We got ourselves a little girl in front of us!"

The thugs started to circle around Naofumi and Naofumi asked in confusion, "I don't know what you're saying."

Another thug then hooked his arms underneath Naofumi's and then another said, "Maybe we should show you what we mean since you're such an expert already."

The balloon monster soon bit the one holding Naofumi on his hand and the thug pulled away while clutching his bleeding hand, "Son of a bitch!"

The first thug then said to one of his friends, "Hey, remove that balloon from the shield's shoulder. We don't want anyone interrupting us while we have our fun with him."

One thug did as the leader asked and took the balloon monster from Naofumi and held it in his hands. Naofumi hand his arms taken around his back and he was held like that. The thug leader took out a knife, licked the blade and said to Naofumi as he placed the tip of it under his chin, "If you be good, we won't "accidentally" pop your little friend."

Images of last night started to run through Naofumi's mind and he started to shake in fear and he thought, oh god! Why?! Not far from the thugs, Motoyasu was watching it and he took out his spear and was about to go over there and help when he saw the knife blade reach Naofumi's pants. Just then, a voice shouted out, "Hey! What the hell are you doing?!"

The thug leader stopped and the rest of them looked and saw Erhard stomping over to them. The leader held the knife towards him and he said, "Stop where you at old man and I won't stab ya!"

But Erhard was someone who wouldn't take bullshit from nobody and he raised his fist and punched the thug in the face. The old blacksmith continued to punch the other thugs who wanted to fight him and he even punched the thug holding Naofumi's balloon monster, who rolled over to Naofumi once he was free. Not wanting to take anymore hits, the thugs decided to retreat and they ran away in fear.

Naofumi slumped down to his knees after they left and he took the monster in his hands and hugged it like he would a teddy bear. Erhard bent down, looked at Naofumi in concern and he said, "Hey kid, you okay?"

Naofumi stared at the old man with tears in his eyes and Erhard gently took him by the arm and stood him up. He then said to him, "Come on. Let's go to my shop." And the two of them headed to Erhard's shop with the blacksmith supporting Naofumi all the way.

Motoyasu also decided to follow them, but he kept his distance so Naofumi wouldn't know.

AN: What you all think of this one? I think I'm gonna have fun writing this one like I do with my other stories. I'm gonna enjoy having Naofumi paired with the other three heroes and I'm gonna make them a but smarter than they were in the anime. And don't worry Raphtalia and Filo fans, our favorite tanuki girl and girlie bird will be in this story.😊I'm gonna make it so Naofumi sees them as his little sisters and not his daughters like in the anime. Till then my little kittens😘😘😘