Shield Hero With Barrier Magic

(Next day morning.)

(Hiro's POV)

Well, I lost my cool due to Raphtalia's sudden growth yesterday. I was so depressed that I even offered gold for Motoyasu just to leave me alone. Wow, I almost made a huge blunder. Giving money to him means giving money to Bitch. What can I do though? My emotions got better of me. But still, my luck aka his buffoonery didn't allow him to accept that.

And also because of that, I was able to see one of the most beautiful scenes of my life. All of my family members being Yanderes in sync. Ah, that was heaven. Well, Motoyasu must have felt it like hell though. He will definitely stop trying to pick my girls. Come to think of it, instead of brainwashing shield, that idiot might think that I have Yandere shield. I don't want to purposefully make my girls as Yanderes though.

I am still adjusting to Raphtalia's sudden growth. Anyway, after that little incident, rumors already spread about the Shield Hero defeating the Spear Hero. It took a major effect on Motoyasu's reputation. We went back to the inn after the incident. Nobody stopped us. And we had a little problem with deciding the sleeping positions. Eclair decided to put me in a corner but Raphtalia didn't agree to it.

After some time, Eclair gave up let Raphtalia sleep beside me. And once we woke up today morning, I found Rino sleeping like a cat on me.

She woke up and declared that if she is going to be the person with the smallest stature, she is going to take full use of it. Well, at least she accepted her small stature. Anyway, I came back to the castle in the morning to receive our rewards. I left the girls behind for training.

Trash: "Welcome heroes."

Trash smirked at me when I came. *Sigh* What did you plan now? Whatever it is, you are going to regret it, Trash.

Hmm... Let's see. What would I do if I am in his place? I will be angry with Bicas. I won't go to him for advice. As for Bitch, I am pretty sure that she will be more worried about the money they lost. So, she won't ask for advice rather she will be begging to give her more gold unofficially which he definitely will. The first thing he would do is to reduce the amount that was supposed to be given to Ren and Itsuki and blame it on me.

Trash: "I would like to present the rewards to the heroes for fighting the Wave. Ren-sama and Itsuki-sama gets 35 gold."

So, the thing I need to do is to react before others did.

Hiro: "Umm... Isn't it supposed to be 40 gold going by what you owe me."

Trash: "The kingdom's treasury can't be used as we wish."

Says the person who gives it away to his daughter and puts the whole country in debt.

Trash: "I had to cut this due to the additional amount I need to give you."

Hiro: "Ah, then, give them 5 gold each. My problem is with Motoyasu only. Hmm... Where is he, by the way?"

Trash made an irritated face. Of course, I don't need that money, idiot. I already have a lot.

Trash: "Motoyasu-sama is not feeling well. So, he couldn't come."

He must have been terrified.

Hiro: "Ah, I see... Anyway, removing the 10 gold, You owe me 50 gold."

Trash just made a hand sign. Itsuki and Ren were given the remaining amount.

Ren/Itsuki: "Thanks, Hiro..."

Anyway, now let's go back to the reason behind Trash smirk. What's the way in which he could damage Shield Hero? I know. It's to accept the shield's strength.

Trash: "Hiro-sama, that day, I wasn't able to agree that the shield isn't weak. But after seeing the way you fought yesterday, I can definitely agree that the Shield isn't weak."

This is exactly going the way I expected. He wants to make me officially a hero again. Once I become a hero, I would be having no choice but to fight in the Waves. If I escape, I can be punished for neglecting my duties as a hero. Moreover, the requests from the Guild. He can make the Guild give me requests which can be his traps.

Trash: "You remember our discussion the previous time, Shield Hero? You quit being a hero because you thought you were weak and you didn't have companions. But those reasons are gone now, so I would like to reconsider your decision about being a hero."

Hiro: "No, I don't want to."

Straight out rejection. And he will give me some stupid reason and won't give me my reward.

Trash: "Then I am afraid I can't give you all of your reward, Hiro-sama."

Itsuki: "I am afraid that won't do."

Ren: "Hiro won it fair and square. Moreover, your daughter tried to cheat. Why won't you give him the amount he deserves."

Trash: "Because the gold is something that must be given to the heroes for their resources so that they would get stronger and fight better in the Waves. So, I am afraid that the maximum I could give is 20 gold. For his efforts in the Wave and compensation for what my daughter did."

Ren: "Seems reasonable."

Itsuki: "I agree.."

Jealous bastards. I know that I can't completely rely on you.

Trash: "I am not saying that I won't give him. My condition is that he must accept the title of hero and fulfill his duties as a hero. Of course, he will get more rewards in the future for his deeds as a hero."

Ren: "This looks like a good proposal, Hiro."

Nah, that's because you can't understand the meaning behind it.

Haa... Trash, I thought of going easy on you. But you are the one who forced me into this. I went forward and stood in front of Trash.

Hiro: "Duel me."

Immediately, there was silence with a shocked expression on everyone's face.

Trash: "Huh?"

Hiro: "I am challenging you into a duel. If I win, I get that 50 gold. If I lose, I will be a hero."

Trash: "How dare you challenge the king, Shield Hero ?! In this country, challenging the Royalty is a serious crime."

Immediately, the soldiers pointed their swords at me. I smiled.

Hiro: "Whoa... It looks like you misunderstood me. I asked the duel because I want to see you fight."

Trash: "Huh?"

Hiro: "After I quit being a hero, I was gathering information about the history of this country. And I came across your story a.k.a the Staff Hero."

Itsuki: "Hero? The king is a hero?"

Hiro: "It seems that there is something called seven-star weapons and he holds one of them."

Trash's face has panic.

Ren: "Is it true, King?"

Trash: "Ah, yes."

Hiro: "You must have heard that story, Ren. Damn, I became a fan of that story. The strategies this person used to kill his archenemy. Damn, he could make a great book."

Trash: "H... How much did you learn about my past, Shield Hero?"

Hiro: "Oh, I am a fan, so I tried to dig as much as I can. the way you stopped the Siltvelt from invading the world twenty years ago. I even know that you were an heir to the throne of Faubley. The current king of Faubrey is your cousin, right?"

Actually, this is not that much of a secret in this country. Everyone knows the heroic deeds of the Staff Hero and his past. But there are some secrets like his sister married his archenemy's son. But this guy was a damn genius in the past.

I guess that Trash might be thinking if his wife revealed the main thing to me.

Ren: "Seriously, I never saw him with a staff though."

That's because he can't use it anymore. Simply put, he was deemed him unworthy and his staff stopped responding to him just like Thor's hammer. But instead of Odin, the spirit of the Staff deemed him unworthy.

Hiro: "Ah, could you show us your staff with which you made your enemies shiver? Please... I am a fan of that Staff."

Trash: "Ah, I kept it somewhere else as I wouldn't need it."

Hiro: "Then, summon it! My shield will come back to me no matter how many times I throw it away!"

Trash: "T... That... The staff won't work like that. I have to go and bring it here. I don't want to do it now."

And you fell in the trap.

Hiro: "And that's the reason I challenged you for a duel! I know that you will easily win this duel as you must have really high level. But I want to see the Staff Hero fight. That's why duel me with that staff and defeat me, I will try to become a hero like you from then. Please..."

And with that, I changed my offense into fanaticism. From a common man's point of view, this would look like the Shield Hero just wants to have a friendly fight with the King since he is a fan of the king and using the acceptance of the hero title as a reason to it. Since the king just recognized the Shield Hero's strength and personally requested the Shield hero to accept his title, the King just needs to fight in the duel. But none of them knows that he can't use the staff.

Trash: "Why don't we put the duel some other time?"

Hiro: "Nope. Argh, fine! If you are that busy, we will even put a time-limit to the duel. The one who gets more hits wins!"

Trash: "I know! You are plotting something, aren't you ?!! You want to get that 60 gold and trying to say these stupid reasons for the duel so that you can win it. You! You aren't fit for being a hero! If you want it that much, just take that money and get lost!"

And he used his final card. I was given a pouch. I immediately became serious.

Hiro: "Coward."

Trash: "Huh?"

Hiro: "I said 'Coward'."

Trash: "How dare you..."

Hiro: "Shut up!"

Before he could say anything, I shouted and everyone became silent.

Hiro: "What are you if you aren't a coward ?! Are you afraid of losing that much? You are a hero, right? It's also your responsibility to fight the Waves! What the hell are you doing instead of that ?!! Where were you in the Wave yesterday? Maybe, you could have saved all those knights yesterday!"

Ren and Itsuki are looking at me with shock. Trash just doesn't know what to say in return.

Hiro: "I really liked your stories. The way you defeated your enemies was excellent! But where is the hero in those stories now ?!! Let me ask you, where were you in the Wave before the yesterday Wave? I heard it took three days to completely subjugate it. Where were you in those three days, huh? The person in those stories would just solve anything in seconds. Where is that person now ?!! You went to many wars even though you were a king. Why can't you go into Waves just like that? By the way, the heroes can select some people to transfer to the Wave along with them. So, you will be transferred straight to the Wave if one of us selected you."

Trash couldn't say a single line as my words are hitting him straight at his heart.

Hiro: "I thought I could at least motivate you by bringing you back to fighting. I challenged you for a duel because of that. And you are trying to avoid even that. So, tell me. What are you if you aren't a coward?"

In the public view, Trash is asked why he can't be like what he was in the past by his fan. Maybe, I am acting a little too much.

I snort and start walking to the door. And I stop once I am at the door and turn back.

Hiro: "The person in those stories is great. But what I see now is just a cowardly, foolish Trash."

And with that, I exited from there. Well, I can finally drop the act. I got the money. I showed the Trash in a bad view. I literally called him Trash. The result is good.