Shield Hero With Barrier Magic

(Twenty-sixth day morning. Four days till the Wave.)

(Hiro's POV)

Finally, it's time for my show. I wonder what the church would do today. Everything went according to the plan yesterday and I even got a bonus. I told them the story of how the poor shield hero couldn't find any companions, so a slave trader found him offering companions. And after looking at a beautiful girl, he fell in love at first sight and married her. After leveling up a little, they adopted another slave as their daughter. And how I don't want to consider them as my slaves.

I didn't tell them about how we got to Rino or that she is previous Motoyasu's teammate. I just told them that I took her into the family as we did with Raphtalia. The reason I did this is that I don't want the public to know about Rino already. I want the impact to be huge when I hit Motoyasu with this surprise. And I don't want it to look like Shield Hero is deliberately trying to make Spear Hero look bad.

And I also got a bonus that is Ren told me about the Portal weapon. This thing helps me teleport me and my allies to wherever I previously registered. Well, there are a lot of restrictions to it like, there is a cooldown period of one hour after every use though and it doesn't let us teleport into caves and any building except the summoning room which is an exception due to it being our first point in this world. There are some limits like we can't teleport someone hostile along with us and we can't teleport big objects like a carriage. Well, it's still useful in some way like we can teleport our allies even if they are caught by the enemy as long as we are in their surroundings.

I never thought that Ren would openly tell about it. I acted like I didn't know about this information but I already read this from Shield Hero web novel version chapter 171 'Portal Shield'. Well, I remembered it because I have a good memory. But I didn't care about it as I won't be using it much in the near future.

Anyway, Ren's group and our group started for the church after we ate breakfast and once we reached the church, it's a complete panic out there. The moment they looked at the Shield and Sword together, some of the nuns ran inside while some came towards us.

???: "Hahaha... It's an honor to meet the Sword and Shield Hero at once."

I looked at the person who spoke. What the hell is he doing here? Bicas T. Balmus, the high priest of the church. The mastermind behind all of the church's actions. We have to be real careful around him. It looks like the three girls are able to keep their normal expression. Good, as long as you girls keep maintaining that, I will manage everything else. In fact, our job became easier now that he is here. I kept my joyful expression as he came forward and introduced himself.

Bicas: "It's my honor to meet you, Ren-sama and Hiro-sama. I am Bicas T. Balmus, the high priest of the church of three heroes. May I know the reason you are here?"

Ren: "I am here to check the time and also get some of the dragon hour glass's sand."

Hiro: "Ren, you should learn to at least greet others."

I looked at Bicas and said...

Hiro: "Ah, nice to meet you, High Priest Bicas, I am here to check the time and also make a class upgrade for my wife. And if possible, I want to get that sand too."

Bicas: "Wife?"

Hiro: "This is Claire Iwatani, my wife. Well, to be honest, I just put a ring on her finger and we said our vows and considered it as marriage. You know my situation, right? I didn't like to stand out. Do you not consider us husband and wife?"

Bicas started smiling.

Bicas: "Not at all. Even it didn't take place in a church, God will know it all. He will be the witness to your vows. And if others are not satisfied, I will give a blessing myself. As the representative of the God, I hereby officially declare you as husband and wife."

Who the hell needs your blessing? I wanted to say it but I kept my smiling face.

Hiro: "Thank you, High Priest Bicas. Now, about my wife's class upgrade..."

That guy is still smiling but he is clearly pissed on the inside. Let's add some fuel to fire.

Hiro: "Ah, don't worry about the fee. I have known that the fee for common people to have a class upgrade is 5 gold. As I am not considered a hero, I will definitely pay for it."

With this, I played my card. Now it's your turn. Before Bicas could say something, a nun on the side started speaking.

Nun: "Forgive me, Shield Hero-sama but recently, the price was raised to 20 gold."

Hahaha... Your religious fanatic struck back at you, Bicas. The Nun is proudly looking at Balmus like she wants to be praised. The Nun must be internally smiling but she didn't understand the grave mistake she did. She fixed the price of class up and they don't know how much money I have at hand.

Hiro: "Really? I see... Well, that's not a problem, I can pay."

And with that, Bicas got one strike. He can't say anything else about the money and he can't restrict me as Ren is right beside me. Right now, he could do nothing but keep that fake smile on his face. Bicas turned to the Nun and showed his anger.

Bicas: "What are you saying ?!! What do you mean that it is 20 gold?"

The nun's expression immediately turned pale. Bicas apologized to me.

Bicas: "I am sorry, Hiro-sama but it's 5 gold. There are some of the church's believers who really hate the shield. You already know, right?"

Oh, the good priest persona. Of course, that would be your card. If you let this happen, then that would mean you are publicly hostile to me as I can easily know that the price is 5 gold. Bicas turned towards the Nun to start preaching.

Bicas: "God is fair to all. You can't just be hostile to him just because he has the Shield"

And with that, he would think that I will have a good impression of him. Bicas can't tell me to come again because Ren is beside me. Bicas knows the Queen is involved in my case. He knows that she is protecting me. He knows about the Queen and he must be sure that she would try to manipulate me to register in the Wave. So, Bicas won't be sure if the Queen directly contacted me or told me the truth about the Dragon hourglass.

Bicas: "May I ask what the heroes know about the Dragon Hourglass? If I find that you are missing some important information, I will convey it to you."

Ren: "I don't need to as I already know everything."

Hahaha... Excellent Ren. I salute to your overconfidence.

Hiro: "Then, why won't you tell me those important things ?!!"

Ren: "Those are basic things. You need to know them yourself."

I acted like I am pissed at Ren and said sarcastically.

Hiro: "Yeah, like I am supposed to know that there will be a level cap every time and I have to do some ceremony after that to become stronger! And I didn't even know about that sand thing until you told me yesterday. Haa... I will be transferred to the Wave and I can't run away from that. Why won't you share important info like this."

Ren: "Like I said, the game knowledge must be gained by yourself. I don't want to teach you every little thing."

I sighed at Ren's words. Alright, with this, Bicas will understand that the Queen didn't let me know the truth about the hourglass. If he rejected me now, that would mean that I won't be appearing for the Wave and in his point of view, for someone who wants to not fight in the Wave, once I find out that I won't appear in the Waves, I will definitely go into hiding. And this person knows that he can't find me if I start hiding.

So, his only choice is...

Bicas: "Hahaha... It seems that the Sword and Shield Hero get along with each other well. Very Well, Shield Hero and Sword Hero, I have no problem with letting you check the time and I will personally see the class upgrade happen but about the sand. It's considered precious and should only be given to the heroes. So, I am afraid that I can't give you that as you quit as a hero, Hiro-sama."

As expected, he restricted the sand. Well, that's not a problem for me as I won't really be using it much.

Ren: "But I think that Hiro should get some of it. He will be transferred to Wave after all."

Thanks for the push but that is useless, Ren.

Bicas: "I understand that but Ren-sama should also know that the sand is considered really precious."

Hiro: "Haa... Well, that's okay. At least we get the class upgrade. Thanks, High Priest Balmus, if you aren't there, we would be giving 20 gold for that or worse we might not even be allowed."

Bicas: "Hahaha... I am just following God's will."

We went inside the Church.

Ren: "Bring me some sand."

One of the followers brought a sack of sand and Ren absorbed half of it and stopped. He threw the sack to me.

Ren: "Mine is unlocked. You can use it however you want."

He looked at Bicas.

Ren: "You gave the sand to me. I can use it as I wish, right?"

That's an excellent strike to Bicas. Hahaha... That guy must be raging in the inside but he kept his smile and said...

Bicas: "Of course."

And I absorbed the remaining sand in front of them. Bicas personally led us to the Dragon Hourglass for us to check the timer and made sure that Eclair's class got upgraded. We thanked Bicas once again and went back to the inn. With that, I got the Portal Shield and registered in the hourglass.

And most importantly, Bicas made the ceremony happen himself. He doesn't even know that it's Eclair whom he is helping. And you just helped her get stronger without knowing. Eclair went through a lot because of you, Bicas. You killed her father. She doesn't know but I know it. So, I will make sure that Eclair will take her revenge.

I swear, Bicas T. Balmus, that I will make Eclair show you a living hell.