At last, the morning arrived.

After getting out of bed, all four of us were called over to have breakfast. Once we finished eating, we were told to go to the audience room we had been in yesterday after being summoned.

It was probably around a couple of hours before midday when the king called for us to come into the room.

The huge doors swung open and we went in, only to find that there were already a bunch of people waiting there, probably around a dozen or so. Once we went in we bowed to the king and waited for him to begin speaking.

"Heroes, I have obtained the help of all of these adventurers who wish to join you all in your journeys." The king said while waving his hands, demonstrating the people he got.

"Now, adventurers! Choose the Hero you wish to travel with!"

Wait, THEY were the ones choosing!? As the king ordered them, they all flocked towards us and stood behind their chosen hero.

Once the crowd dispersed, I turned to look behind me, only to notice that there was no one behind me.

Meanwhile, Ren had five people with him, Itsuki had three, and Motoyasu had four

"Wait, what's the meaning of this!?" I shouted, questioning the adventurers who had all gone with the other heroes.

"Hmm, this is quite unexpected. It seems that no one wanted to side with you, Shield Hero." Responded the king, stating his surprise while making an annoyed face.

The people dressed in black robes next to him whispered to him.

"It seems that rumors have spread that the Hero of the Shield is not very knowledgeable about our world." Revealed the king.

What!? So someone was eavesdropping on our talk last night?

"The prophecy of the Four Holy Heroes said that all four of them would understand this world's systems. It seems like the people are doubting your usefulness because of your lack of knowledge." The king finished explaining to me.

So someone heard what we were talking about last night and decided to spread that information around!? Damn it! How the hell am I supposed to fight against the waves!?

"What am I supposed to do? I can't even attack effectively on my own!" I complained, trying to see if anyone would come to my side.

Sadly, it truly seemed like no one wanted to be on my side.

On top of that the other heroes were telling me I had the most useless class! There has to be a way to solve this!

"Ren, come on, you can give me some of your party members right? You have the most here!" I tried to persuade Ren, but to no avail.

He responded "If they want to follow me, they have to match my expectations. Although I'm more of a solo player, so if anyone isn't of use I won't hesitate to leave them behind." In response, all of his party members scooted closer to him, showing they were determined to go with Ren.

I turned to Motoyasu and Itsuki, but they said more or less the same thing.

"As much as it would be fair to split them into groups of three, we can't just leave out their own choices." Said Itsuki, providing a perfectly rational statement.

"Then just what can I do!?" I yelled, frustrated that I would end up having to travel alone.

"I wish to join the Shield Hero's party!" A woman from Motoyasu's party raised her hand and stepped up beside me.

"Are you sure?" Asked Motoyasu, looking concerned for her. It seems that despite only meeting her right now, he cared way more about her than about the rest of us.

"Yes I am." She replied, determined to come with me.

She was pretty attractive, she had short, shoulder length, curly, bright red hair. She was almost as tall as me too.

"Does anyone else here want to join the Shield Hero on his travels?" The king asked the adventurers with the other three heroes.

No one moved an inch. The king sighed and turned back to me.

"It seems this is it. You will have to recruit people whilst traveling. To compensate for this, you will receive a higher payment for the first month compared to the others who have more companions." The king compromised, clearly tired of dealing with this. Not that I'm complaining though, I am getting more money to spend because of it.

"Yes, your Majesty." We all said as we bowed to him.

"Now Heroes, please accept your funds for this first month."

As he said this, the men in robes presented us with one bag each. From it I could hear the rattling of metal moving around as the bag shook.

Looking inside, I found my bag to have a bunch of coins, made of some material akin to silver.

"The Shield Hero will receive 900 silver coins, the rest will get 600 each. Please, accept these funds and set out on your journey!" The king exclaimed.

"Understood, your Majesty." We all replied in unison as we bowed once more.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

We then walked out of the castle. Once outside, the girl that had decided to join me introduced herself.

"Um, it's an honor to meet you, Sir Shield Hero. My name is Myne Suphia." She said to me with a light bow to signal respect.

"Likewise. My name's Naofumi Iwatani, pleasure." I introduced myself to her.

This was lucky indeed, I got someone like her, who seems to be very open and friendly. Her protection would end up resting on my shoulders.

I'd have to take care of whatever companions I can get. Especially since I'd drawn a bad hand compared to everyone else.

"Alright, let's go into town, shall we? Ms. Myne"

She smiled and nodded before walking towards the town.

Once we left the castle's surroundings, we crossed a small bridge and officially entered the town.

Once we entered, I was once again made aware that this world was nothing like my original world, on top of that the smell of the freshly baked bread from the local bakery, along with the kids running around town really made me realize that this world is the real world, not just some kind of simulation.

Of all of the shops around town one of them caught my attention. It was fairly close to the bridge we just crossed, and the sign atop it read "Earl's Weapon and Armor Shop"

Of course it would, since I'm only equipped with a shield it's in my best interest to find some way to attack so I can stand a better chance of beating monsters, and since the other heroes were equipped with offensive weapons I was sure to get left behind if I wasn't able to match their level.

"Oh, Sir Shield Hero, do you want to check out that weapon shop? It's the very best this town has to offer, hence why it's so close to the castle." Myne, probably noticing me staring at the shop from afar, asked me

"Yeah, I was wondering if I could buy a weapon so I can level up easier."

We were now standing outside of the weapon shop, there was a sign on the door, it read "Open"

"Let's head inside, shall we?" Said Myne

I followed after her and headed into the shop.

"Welcome!" Once we went in we were greeted by a well built, middle-aged man, he was probably in his late 40's, and had an air of confidence about him. He seemed just like the type of guy you'd imagine running a shop like this.

"So this is what a weapon shop looks like…" As I looked around the room I spotted many different kinds of gear, anything from swords and bows to shields and armor, all made of a different material, some clearly more expensive than others.

"Oh, I take it it's your first time in a store like this. Well, you just walked into the very best weapon shop in this town." He said, proudly proclaiming that his shop was the best there is.

"I can tell this shop has very good equipment for sale. I don't imagine it to be cheap though." I responded to the shop owner.

"Well, you pay for what you get. Nothing more, nothing less." Once he finished talking to me he turned to Myne.

"Hey miss, have we met somewhere before?" He asked, making a face that showed he was trying his best to remember where he had seen her before now.

"I've been here before, there is no better weapon shop after all!" She responded while putting on a smile.

"Well thank you! By the way, who's your friend in the weird clothes?" He turned to look at me.

I responded. "I'm Naofumi Iwatani, I'm the Shield Hero."

He looked at me, seemingly coming to a conclusion.

"He doesn't really look strong at all." He said, seemingly disappointed that he met such a weak hero. Honestly, I kind of liked him, he didn't hesitate to voice his opinion despite knowing that I'm one of the heroes.

"It's only natural, I've only just arrived here." I responded and moved on. "We're here looking for some equipment to get us started on our journey."

"Oh, of course. Well, how big is your budget, Hero-Boy?" He asked me. It was true that I needed to know how much of my money I could use on equipment, but since I didn't know how much the 900 silvers the king gave me were worth I wasn't quite sure about it.

Probably guessing that, Myne spoke up. "We can probably afford to spend about 500 silver pieces."

I'm not sure how much that would be in modern currency, and if we'd have enough for our living expenses, but I decided to trust Myne for now.

"500 huh? Alright, wait here for a bit." He said as he moved away from the counter and over towards the right side of the shop. "Hey kid, do you have any preference for a specific weapon?" He asked picking up several swords from their spots on the wall.

"No, I haven't tried any of them out." I responded.

"I see, then you'd do well to take one of these." He said, laying down four different swords on the counter.

"These are all very good choices for novices like yourself. They're all imbued with a blood repellant spell, so you don't have to worry about it eroding or anything." Wow, so I guess the magic in this world could be used for practical things like these.

"From left to right they're: Iron, Magic Iron, Titanium, and Magic Steel." He talked about each of the weapons' advantages and disadvantages. Apart from the price, the only real difference was the durability and sharpness. They all seemed about the same size, so that wasn't a deciding factor.

"Huh, interesting. Let me tr-" As I was taking the Magic Iron sword some kind of spark sent the weapon flying through the air and into the wall. "What the hell just happened!?"

"I've never seen anything like that, but why did that happen?" Asked the shopkeeper, naturally confused as to why the sword just flew when I picked it up.

"Let me try again." This time I tried to grab the Iron sword, but to no avail. Once again there was a spark of light, and the sword was sent flying, this time into the floor. "Why does this happen!?" I was pissed, I couldn't even pick up a different weapon!

"Hey kid, I think that shield of yours is what's making the swords react like that." Concluded the shopkeeper.

"Why do you think it's the shield's fault?"

"From what I saw, the sparks were coming from the shield, not from the swords or anywhere else." Explained the shop owner.

Damn it! Apparently I couldn't even use any weapons because the shield prevented it! This has to be some sort of joke, how the hell am I supposed to level up without attacking!?

"That's unfortunate Sir Shield Hero, but if you really can't use any other weapons then how about we focus on getting you more defense? Then you can focus on defending me while I attack." Myne spoke up and gave her two cents on the matter.

It's true, if I really can't attack with other weapons then I'm better off just going for more defense and protect my party instead of trying to find a way to deal a little damage myself.

"You alright with that kid?" Asked the shop owner.

I nodded, and we made our way to the opposite side of the store, where the armor was.

"Try this one, kid. I think it's just enough for your current level." The shop owner handed me a set of leather armor, it seemed very beginner-like.

"I'll go look for a weapon for myself while you try that on, Sir Shield Hero." Said Myne.

"Alright, I'll put this on." I said and walked into the changing room.

This armor fit me pretty well, and once I checked my stats my Physical Defense had gone up a decent amount. I couldn't really expect much from beginner armor, but this'll have to do for now.

Once I walked out the shopkeeper and Myne were waiting for me at the counter. I noticed Myne had picked up a Magic Iron sword.

"Lookin' good kid!" Said the shop owner.

"It suits you really well, Sir Shield Hero!" Said Myne.

"That'll be 150 silver for the armor and 300 for the young lady's sword."

I walked up to the counter and gave the shop owner the 450 silver pieces he requested.

"Come back if you ever need to upgrade!" We waved goodbye to the shop owner.

"That seemed like a nice shop, all the equipment was very well made." I commented on the shop. It really did live up to what the shop owner said.

"Of course it is, it's the best in town!" Responded Myne.

"So, where do we go from here?" I asked Myne for her opinion on what to do next.

"How about we go level up for a bit out in the wild?" Suggested Myne. True, we needed to get our levels up for now.

I nodded, and we headed to the outskirts of the town.