The Monster Hero

Ch 7: Duel of Heroes

RYUJI POV

After the wave had ended many of the villagers returned to the village to remove the debris and to mourn for the dead.

I had most of my monsters help clear out the rubble and I'm currently treating the wounds of my Kestodon, Headsmash.

As I was wiping the blood with a cloth, Naofumi approached me.

Naofumi: How is your monster

I looked at him for a moment then focused on bandaging Headsmash.

Ryuji: he's fine. I should probably ask the village chief if he could rest here for a while

Naofumi: I see. I heard from one of the knights that the other heroes already left after looting the boss for parts

As I was finished bandaging Headsmash, the topic of looting the boss for parts got my attention.

I remembered that Naofumi mentioned to me that he gets new shields by feeding stuff to his shield.

Curious about something I handed Naofumi the cloth soaked in Headsmash's blood.

Ryuji: hey try feeding this to your shield

Naofumi: Huh!? what for?

Ryuji: just a little experiment

Naofumi with a confused expression took the cloth and squeezed the blood into his shield.

His eyes seemed to widen in surprise which got me curious.

Ryuji: hey did something happen?

Naofumi: yeah. I got a new shield and a new skill

Naofumi raised his arm forward.

Naofumi: Kestodon shield!

His shield transformed, becoming a long and narrow escutcheon shape with a large dome covering his fist, looking more like a gauntlet.

But what was surprising is that the shield looks like the head of a Kestodon.

Ryuji: cool

Raphtalia who was nearby looked at Naofumi in awe.

Raphtalia: master Naofumi, that shield looks impressive

I brought out a bunch of stuff I stored in my weapon.

Ryuji: I got a bunch of extra parts like shed scales or broken teeth in me. I wonder what kinds of shields you'd get

Raphtalia: yeah let's try it out

As we got curious about what kinds of shields Naofumi could unlock, the Mayor and many villagers approached us and bowed.

Mayor: thank you very much. please accept our gratitude, there's no way we could survive without your help and courage

Naofumi: no, we're just lucky that Ryuji can summon monsters to help

Villager 1: that's true, but we're still very grateful for your help sir shield hero

Villager 2: yeah, we will never forget what you've done for us

Naofumi turned around.

Naofumi: yeah, whatever

The mayor and the villagers bowed one more time before dispersing to continue repairing their town.

Raphtalia: they looked truly grateful

Ryuji: of course they are. we saved their lives

We looked on, satisfied by the grateful smiles of the villagers then left.