#Also the “he's holding back. he's hiding” can be Naofumi not telling the he's the Shield Hero because he doesn't want them to

[shieldherostuffs]

*TheRuFumi on a date*

Raphtalia, spying on them: I can see what's happening.

Filo, spying with her: What?

Raphtalia: And they don't have a clue.

Filo: Who?

Raphtalia: They'll fall in love and here's the bottom line,

Raphtalia: Our trios down to two.

Filo: Oh.

[eli-elien]

My brains mushy and also I have have-to-tell-my-oc/character-ideas disease 

Also this is unpolished and unfinished but its placed right after the fight with l'arc and therese in which Elijah used his "eternal frost" skill. Yes I know its shoddy but I just I NEED it out of my head and to here

Quick explanation: Enternal Frost basically freezes anything he touches with his axe or himself for as long as he wants it depending on how much sp he wants to spend and with the con of maybe getting hyperthermia and other ice related health issues.

The Banshee Skill is basically Naofumi's hate reaction but with fear and is a high level only monster skill but it doesn't effect heroes mostly just stuns them bc oof loud noises 

@shieldherostuffs @crytid-witch-called-ash 

A piercing screech sounds throughout the halls as Rishia recounts what happened to her. After a second it stops just as abruptly as it started and everyone goes still.

Naofumi's eyes widen; he knows exactly where that came from and knows that's one of the skills that Elijah used during L'arc and Therese's fight. 

Naofumi holds up his hand by the door, "You stay here Finnely, he'd kill me if anything happened to you. All I'm doing is checking on him."

The dark blue haired tomboy frowns but just nods her head.

He goes out into the hall and meets with the three other heroes.

"What do you think it is?" Motoyasu asks.

"Probably a monster that was smart to hide and wait." Ren replies.

They arrive at the foot of Elijah's door, Isuki turns the knob, "I've unlocked it but it won't budge!"

"Let me see!" Motoyasu brandishes his spear.

Naofumi bonks him on the head, "Moron! We don't want to break the door down!"

Naofumi runs to the far side of the wall opposite of the door and dashes, holding his shield up.

"There." He says with a satisfied smirk.

The smile fades however with the sight he's faced. The furniture is torn to unrecognizability and the walls have long gashes of what seemed like talons. He feels a chill run his spine, now he knows why the door wouldn't budge, it was frozen. Frost hangs in the air along with a…smell of rot and decay.

He and the three heroes step in, quick to put whatever cloth they have to their faces. His hair is standing on end, what exactly happened here? Naofumi recognizes this stench, the foul odor of death from his encounter with that zombie dragon.

However, something is definitely alive in here with them and it cackles and they all stand still. His mouth agape, he stares, and the void or what looks like the void stares back.

He's seen many monstrosities in his time in this world but…this is different. The stature of the thing almost reaches the ceiling, the joints look contorted and blood pools at the figure's taloned feet. 

It looks human but warped, it steps forward, bobbing its head back and forth with matted blood soaked hair. Naofumi can only suppress a rising anxiety when the creature dashes forward, too fast even for him, and stares into his emerald green eyes.

"Scared?" It laughs and is more terrifyingly human this time. Naofumi's eyes widen, he looks at this raven-like monster and sees Elijah. Now that he got a closer look, the axe hero's iconic cloak of black feathers hangs over the creature's form.

Isuki yells, "Snap out of it Naofumi!" And fires three golden arrows.

"Gah!" The monster shrieks.

"Wait guys don-" Naofumi tries to relay what he found out but is drowned by another Banshee's Scream and the monstrosity takes that moment to dash past the three heroes.

They hold their heads and Ren makes the first move, "It's getting away!"

"Something tells me this isn't any ordinary monster." Motoyasu comments.

Isuki agrees ,"Yeah, it even spoke."

Naofumi opens his mouth as he catches them but is ignored as soon as does so.

"Augh!" Ren is flown to their direction.

The creature before them now is engulfed by a dark smoke and as if it teleported appears right in front of Ren, “You’re underestimating me boy.”

Naofumi’s brows crease with worry seeing the human-like smile on its face, he gets between it and Ren.

    Both sides don’t move. Until Ren, the most competitive of the four, attacks.

    “What are you?” He swings and swiftly the raven dodges it. 

    The creature cackles, “Not one for mysteries? Fine.” The smoke of rot grows, “I’m a monster of many names; The Raven, Fowl of the abyss, and Angel of Death.”

    The three heroes ready their weapons to attack.

    “I’m surprised, Shield hero.” 

    Motoyasu stands there dumbfounded, “Hey! You’re on that freak’s side now?”

    Naofumi doesn’t budge, “You don’t see the scars and that cloak? That’s Elijah dumbass!” He changes his shield to the cerberus shield which nearly bites at Motoyasu’s shoulders.

    Isuki and Ren look at eachother then at Naofumi, Isuki asks, “What if that’s not him? Ok yeah it has his cloak…but are we just going let a monster that strong roam around?”

    “I just Know that’s him! Besides, if he was killed there’d be a body.” He thinks of what his reaction would’ve been if he had seen the man’s body.

    The Raven laughs, “I heard the sword hero was the smartest out of the heroes but it seems to be untrue.”

    Ren’s calm facade cracks slightly, “What did you say?”

    “What? Did I hurt your ego?! All three of you are fools, pretending to be heroes, oh come now! I’ve been here for centuries and know what great heroes look like!”

    It coughs, spewing up blood and feathers, and croaks, “Would love to stay and humiliate you…but seems my time’s up.” One last cackle from The Raven and the creature's feathers decrease in mass. The once giant stature of it decreases and the beak disappears to reveal a human face.

    Naofumi and the rest of the heroes grow tense with the gruesome sounds of bone and flesh bending to now fit a human form. He forms a little smile, relieved that that was really him, but still terrified for the red head’s safety he rushes over.

    “Wh…what happened?” Elijah says in a shaky hoarse voice. He sees Naofumi coming closer and grabs his cape and looks up with sclera dyed black and icy blue pupils. Naofumi is taken aback, he’s never seen him this shaken up over something.

     “I’m not so sure myself.”

    Naofumi holds him close and looks at the three heroes, “Leave.”

    Ren and Isuki are the first to leave this to him and one more glare from Naofumi and Motoyasu nervously laughs and turns away.

    As he holds him, Elijah hisses with pain, “No seriously what happened?” Naofumi uses Fast Heal and carries him with as much care as possible. “I’ll tell you once we get to my room…you kind of destroyed yours.”

“DAD!!” Finnely exclaims with worry, gripping Naofumi’s leg.

“I thought I told you to stay there, “Naofumi sighs, “Since you’re already here then could you get a change of clothes for Eli here?”

“Righty oh!” She salutes and runs off.

“Thanks for not letting em’ kill me.”

“Tch, if they had I,” He stops for a moment, what would have he done if they did?

Elijah croaks a mirthful laugh, “It’s alright if you couldn’t choose from your friend or the world, there’s still others you love dearly besides me, right?”

Naofumi’s silence speaks volumes, until, “I’m just glad I stopped them time. Honestly not surprised that moron Motoyasu couldn’t tell just by the lack of a body and the cloak but Ren and Isuki?!”

The red-head leans his head into Naofumi’s chest, “I’m not trying to demean the harm they did to me or anything but they did hear what sounded like a monster cry and lo and behold a monster that looks like something outta any old dudgeon.” Elijah stops to cough again, “Let’s just focus on getting these arrows outta me and let the smoke settle.”

“Fine.”

This didn’t mean that Elijah has let bygones-be-bygones but was already planning a scheme to get back at them; specifically Isuki.

They get back to Naofumi and the party's room, Naofumi being quick to give orders to the girls.

“Someone give me bandages, towels and medicine!”

The girls gasp and follow Naofumi’s directions. Finnely just lays her head in her adoptive father’s lap as he pats her comfortingly.

He puts him gently on a bed, “Could you sit up?”

Elijah smiles a little, “I’ll try.” He gets up, “Ugh.” He takes the blood soaked mantel and crosses his arms, his back facing Naofumi, “How does it look Nao.” He hisses.

“It looks bad, really deep, “ He gulps, “This’ll be painful.”

Elijah’s back not only had those stretched out lightenburg and old battle scars but two pairs of where obsidian wings grew, Naofumi could only think of how excruciating that felt. As he worked putting medicine and ignoring the pained sounds coming from Eli he thought about what he parced from Fitoria and the axe hero’s conversation.

Something about a monster within him. Was that the monster? He takes the arrows out and notices something odd, the arrows are called “Holy Arrows”, and the wound has an ashy texture of burnt rotten flesh. He sets them aside with shaky hands, oh that lil snobby brat’ll pay for this one.

“Are those…” Naofumi almost forgot that Rishia was here in the conflict.

“Yes. These are Isuki’s arrows.”

She looks at Elijah’s wound and grimaces but stays silent as Naofumi washes and dabs medicine on his shoulder. 

“Ok, that’s all I need. Can we have some space?”

“Finnely can stay though, right?”

“We’ve gotta talk. Alone.”

Finn frowns and goes to the other side of the room, which is thankfully large enough so the two men won’t be bothered.

“What do ya wanna talk about?” Elijah asks after a moment of prolonged silence.

“There’s alot you’ve been hiding from me, I know it. Back at the mining town, when I was a fugitive, the meeting.” He pauses, clear discontentment ringing through, “And now.”

Elijah sighs, “Alright, what do ya wanna know?” He says as he unbuttons what’s left of his tattered white ruffled shirt to Naofumi’s request.

With careful hands he wraps the bandages around his chest, clearly flustered with touching it and making the other feel uncomfortable, “Uh…” He thinks about his first question, “Who is The Raven? What is he?”

"I don't quite know, he keeps saying the most cryptic things! Look all he says-'' and mimicking The Raven he whispers, "I'm nothing and everything at the same time ooo I'm so spooky and I'll eat your souuul! " Naofumi snips the loose ends of the bandages and Elijah turns around.

He stares at him sternly, "This isn't something to joke about. This is something serious, so serious in fact that Fitoria talked about this with you!" 

"How…why did you eavesdrop on us?" 

He shakes his head, "I was just walking around after she dismissed me and heard something that made me worry."

Naofumi holds his hands and leans his head into Elijah's chest, "She said we could lose you to-to that bastard!" He lets go and Elijah hugs him.

[???End???]

Some characters kinda don't seem right or anything but ugh I just wanted to like just tell ya abt some more of the raven and stuff lmao 

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Demon Slayer 12 - 13 | OPM 23 - 24 (FINAL) | BSD 36 - 37 (FINAL) | Shield Hero 25 (FINAL) | Fruits Basket 12 - 13 | To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts 1 | Astra 1 | Maou-sama, Retry! 1 | UchiMusume 1 | Dr Stone 1 | Fire Force 1 | Granbelm 1

Summer debuts aplenty!

Demon Slayer 12

I assume the creature on the episode titlecard is a boar…?

I see…! So Kyogai uses the drums like a game controller! Y’know, like A = attack and directional keys to move.

I almost expected Inosuke to appear from behind the screen door, but it was just Tanjiro…

Huh? For some reason, I find Zenitsu funny now…but only the tiniest bit. Not enough to laugh out loud, but enough to give tiny “heh”s.

Well…that episode title didn’t lie, at least…

Ah-hah! I knew it! Knewwwwwwwww it! It’s the double-personality trope I liked 5 years ago (you see it embodied in Martin/Alter-Az). The only thing I didn’t know was how Zenitsu would become badass…well, now we know. He sleep fights…I still think ingesting blood to invoke a second personality is still way cooler though.

Shoichi? Is that the kid’s name?

“Marechi” doesn’t seem to mean anything…

“Show me your wounds.” Then again, there are some wounds that you can’t present to others…not unless you show the side effects.

As much as I was scared by Exposition Crow, I have to be thankful the little feathered buddy is around. I wouldn’t understand “marechi” otherwise. But seriously, where does that crow hide in his spare time…?

Oh…the duty of filial piety…I know your feel, Tanjiro.

Tanjiro’s brain!Zenitsu is so accurate, I LOLled…a tiny bit.

Tanjiro, you gotta remember: be proud of where you’ve gotten today! Don’t be the man you were yesterday! Keep evolving with the times like water itself, because that is what water is about – change! (triumphant music plays in the background to accompany this declaration)

The only problem I have with filial piety is…what happens when your family has only daughters???

OPM S2 Ep 11 (Ep 23)

Garou’s got a point in that villains are meant to be sympathetic in order to get a good story. However, I’d still root for the heroes all the same.

Naruto running…why’s it so popular???

“Mentsuyu” (on Saitama’s blue shirt) means “noodle soup base” = a mixture of dashi (soup stock), soy sauce, mirin and sugar.

It took me a replay to realise that Garou turned red when the tree fell down.

BSD 36

Uh, dude? Who calls their kid “Eruisu-chan”…? It’s Elise, isn’t it?

Katai – yet again, can I just say he is the husbando we need and not the husbando we want? (LOL) There’s even what appears to be a sake bottle in the bottom left corner…  

Is there such thing as a bullet-proof futon???

Come to think of it, this scene with all the rubble about halfway through the episode looks like it comes from the Dead Apple first key visual –the one that came out when the movie was announced. Not the Shin Soukoku one, the other one with Soukoku in a rubble-filled place looking at the horizon.

Looking at Natsume-sensei from the back reveals his hair is calico-coloured too…

I wonder how much of Dazai’s scheming is actually just Natsume-sensei…?

“What did you have for dinner last night?” “Yeah.” – Just imagining this with a monotone instead of Akutagawa’s usual anger is hilarious!

Snakes don’t run…?

Oh, I get why he was calling Akutagawa “bro”! When you’re married, you call your brother in law “brother” as well!

Bungou Stray Dogs 37 (FINAL)

I discovered something – the kanji under ECHO, 回向, are read ekou. What do they mean? The verb form means “to hold a memorial service for [someone]”, so I’d assume it’s “memorial service”.

For some reason, when Atsushi said “you’re not paying for this ride!”, I thought, “It’s your Ubr driver here”…LOL.

I seem to remember that Goncharov controls rock and his power is The Precipice…but I don’t remember reading past ch. 52…

“How can you be so sure?” I thought it was something like “Because that’s what I would do.” Turns out I was right…maybe I have read chapter 53??? Or is this a previous chapter that’s been movd forward???

Hmm…come to think of it, why is Akutagawa’s power to control fabric anyway? (Because he can control other things, it’s just that he chooses to use his coat as a default.) Does the Rashomon story have to do with that…?

Oh, that’s cute. Shin Soukoku are on the same thinking wavelength now. (somewhat sarcastic)

Come to think of it – season 1 anime!Atsushi was about as whiny as Zenitsu…hmm. Now there’s a cross-anime comparison I never thought I’d make.

“…what appears to be a hiker…” (or maybe it was multiple hikers…?)

Did you notice Akutagawa was missing his coat?

“Fancy hat boy” – That’s why the fandom calls Chuuya “Mr Fancy Hat”, LOL.

One thing’s for sure – whether you like BSD or not, you gotta admit they have a great sense of closure.

Shield Hero 25 (FINAL)

See? There is a Meteor move for Naofumi!

Raphtalia’s mostly been saying nothing but “Naofumi-sama” over and over again…it kind of irks me. It’s too bad I’m almost finished with this show.

I’m gussing the reward has to do with Raphtalia’s village.

Is Naofumi leaving???

LOL, before Naofumi faced the Waves, he was wavering…geddit??? (Oh, that joke’s terrible…)

Fruits Basket 12

I think Shigure attended the ceremony to procrastinate on his writing…LOL.

Okay…I started this episode a few days back and now I hav a bowl of piping hot pho to go with it! Let’s get back to business!

Momiji is a scheming little brat, ain’t he?

The “Yuki wearing a girls’ uniform” was funny…because reactions.

Hmm…even though I know what’s going to happen, I only just realised Akito and Yuki only seem to wear traditional Japanese dress when tied down to their curse or their main house. Westrn cloths thereby symbolise progress for them…but you can’t say the same for Shigure, though, so there goes that hypothesis…

I thought for a second they were going to play baseball…that’s what they did in Star Driver.

Fruits Basket 13

Snake attack!!!

Hmm…Ayame clearly used a convo diversionary tactic there (avoiding the topic).

“Aya says he sells men’s dreams.” – LOL.

Demon Slayer 13

I find it interesting Tanjiro also has respect for his opponent, not just empathy.

Aww…this message of recognising your skills and having them be recognised by others is cute. I needd that, really – ever since about a year ago, sometimes I’m so negative I just want to be erased from the face of the earth. That’s why I love Rokuhoudou so much – it was my solace from such thoughts.

Seeing the eyecatch’s strip go vertical for Zenitsu was interesting – I didn’t think it would change orientation midway through the show.

Okay, in this book I read recently – Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin – the protagonist admits to having “an overdeveloped sense of theatricality”…or dramaticism or something like that. I now realised Zenitsu has that too…although now he’s back to bugging me as a result.

Oh! So Inosuke was the 5th survivor! I had a feeling that would be the answer, but now I’ve confirmed it.

WHOA! I’ve never seen Tanjiro go all Papa Bear like this!

…and you can tell with that pre-OP shot that Ufotable ran out of budget for once.

The Legend of the Eight Samurai is also known as…wait for it…Hakkenden! There’s an anime called that, y’know? Update: It’s Satomi Nansou Hakkenden vs Hakkenden (with some subtitle on it).

To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts 1

First anime of summer! Now if only my CR would stop buffering so much…I’d be a happy person.

Oh…great. Fantasy information dump right here…just like Fairy Gone.

Is this weird that I recognise Patria to be…Korea? (At least in history. Its people seem to be generic Europeans.)

Is this a “dudes in war are scarred for life” thing again??? Please, please don’t let this be another Spec-Ops Asuka.

…and now here come the furries. (sarcastic)

Aren’t the white coats really impractical for battle???

If Cain isn’t a vampire or based on a bat…I dunno what I’d do, but I’m pretty sure he is, based on those pretty boy features.

I thought her name was Nancy…? Her name is Nancy Schaal Bancroft, after all.

Ooh! It’s the Abominable Walrus! I’m so scared~! (mocking tone)

This is basically an AI story, but fantasy-based, isn’t it…?

90s fire in the background…LOL.

“I’m going to ask Elaine to be with me.” – Now there’s something I didn’t think Hank would say.

LOL, Cain Madhouse really is mad! (in the Joker-style “insane” sort of way)

Well…uh, it was a bit predictable, but had its perks. I mean, there’s no CGI in it at all for one thing…I guess we wait for more (of this show and the debut of other shows) to see if it stays.

OPM S2 Ep 12 (Ep 24) (FINAL)

Shouldn’t that be “whale on an opponent”…?

What’s up with the montage, though???

*dead Centichoro* - Now that’s what I call “legs for miles”…! (LOL)

Astra 1

I’ve read some of the manga for this, so it’s my most anticipated anime this season! I can only hope it lives up to its own hype.

Double-length 1st episode! Ooh! Just like the manga’s double-length debut.

Okay, who decided on using CGI for Aries? Put it on the ship, not on her!

Oh, foreshadowing! Me likey.

I can’t really tell what Aries is meant to be screaming because she’s screaming over the woman, but it’s definitely not “beef” Aries is yelling.

Is it just me, or is there a frame around this scene at the Spaceport…?

I guess Aries is what they call a space case! (Wahaha!...Okay, I think that’s one stupid joke too many, now.)

Boob shot??? Why??? Also, according to the manga’s supplemental material found between chapters, Yun-Hua’s suit is newer than Aries’s (IIRC).

I definitely do not remember seeing a picture of Kanata’s sensei in the manga at all. I know Kanata refers to his sensei quite a bit, but…hmm…maybe the fact he looks like Charce means something. Update: For some reason, I remembered Charce as “Charles”…?

This scenery, with the ground making platforms in the air, looks like Dr Stone!!!

I just noticed the frame expanded after Kanata entered the sphere.

Did we need the flashback again???

Zetsubou is “despair”, at least from the way I learnt it – from Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei, of course. It can be translated as “hopeless” in context, though.

Second recap from earlier in the episode. Well, at least it’s not Detective Conan or Demon Slayer bad…

Wow, they’re really trying to sell a potential Kanata x Aries ship here. That wasn’t in the manga either.

This is the 3rd time for the same recap…geesh. The things you notice when the episodes are compiled and online for you to watch…they can get kind of annoying.

I think the star = planet thing makes more sense when in Japanese, since “hoshi” can mean both. In English, it makes Aries sound like more of a space case…

Maou-sama, Retry! 1

…and the award for Most Boring Opening in a While goes to…this show!

I almost expected blonde!Rem to be called Rem…I knew that her name wasn’t Rem, but still…

Seriously? The face game of this show should be higher for it to pull off a gag involving funny faces…

The run cycle of this show’s…kinda suckish. Like Dororo’s one scene where he’s Naruto running.

“It’s you who is the root of all evil.”

UchiMusume 1

Aka “If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord”.

The language on the title card seems to be a substitute for English. If you just take that thing that looks like brackets as one symbol, that seems to be a Y. How can you tell? Because “little” matches the 3rd last word.

The devil language seems to be based on Japanese, though…at least from what I’m picking up. Update: Oh! So when she says “toilet”, it’s just the syllables backwards! Just like in Hataraku Maou-sama.

I swear, if this guy isn’t voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, I’m going to have to swallow my hydralyte drink properly! (I’ve been struggling to drink it all day today.) Update: Nope, it’s Nobuhiko Okamoto.

I thought I just read something on the devil list that said “Bobble Space” in English…wuh?

Dr Stone 1

This is my 2nd most anticipated debut of the summer 2019 season. Let’s go!

Ooh, I see Crunchyroll even got themselves a fancy new intro card…which makes them more like what Funimation used to be on that front…

I know people have been comparing Senku’s hair to green onions…and now I can’t unsee it. Dang it, you guys! That’s the first real thought I’m having for this anime?!

*raises arms like Christ the Redeemer*…and Boichi and Riichiro Inagaki said, “Let there be light!”…and for some reason, it was green light…

Hmm…I thought in the manga Yuzuriha was shoved to the tree, which made Taiju look more like a hero to her. Turns out she ran to the tree then got petrified, if the anime is anything to go by.

I heard a really accurate “what’s happening?” in the scene which is meant to have English speakers in it…it’s almost creepy, to be honest with you.

Shuei…LOL. It’s clearly a play on Shueisha.

I didn’t think of this when reading the manga, but this anime’s very much a Holmes and Watson scenario…although Watson here is a little bit too dumb for some people’s liking…

I swear TMS used pictures of the real thing when looking at those grapes…

I love seeing Senku being pissed off. He’s so smug all the time, I needed that change of pace.

Maybe one day Senku will make vodka…LOL. I’m kidding.

Fire Force 1

Oh geesh…so Ohkubo grabbed the Aria from Ao no Exorcist to make his nuns work???

Why is there Naruto running???

“I’m a newly-assigned…”

Kyoukai means church. Does it really mean “cathedral” as well???

“Is that the scent of a damp woman?” – Uh, duuuuuuuude? Excuse-moi? That is not how you treat a lady you’ve just met…!

Can I insert a “Twinkletoes” comment from Toph (Avatar) yet…?

Okay, scrap that. Can I do that Overwatch “Molten CORE!” thing instead…?

Granbelm 1

I started watching this because it’s being promoted as “magical girls drive mechs”.

One of the mech ladies reminds me of…what’s her name…from the Re:Zero LNs…I believe her name is Beatrice, but that’s the name of one of the library loli, isn’t it…? *Googles* Okay, her name is Priscilla. AFAIK, “Priscilla” is NOT the name of the orange-haired lady in Granbelm, though… Update: Her name is Anna, actually.

These mechs remind me of Kim from Twinkle Star Sprites.

Wow…ripoff purple iPhone, much…?

Shingetsu = new moon, mangetsu = full moon.

I feel like Mangetsu is a relatable protagonist, but also annoying as a result of being relatable.

“Pennies from heaven” is a phrase you say to declare your good fortune, much like you say “speak of the devil” for bad luck when it comes to a certain person who arrives at the wrong time.

[aros001]

Read through light novel vol. 10. Random thoughts.

GS crew is back, baby! I just got done reading though most of the Re:Zero LNs. Loved it but it's still emotional gutpunch after gutpunch and the series about murdering cruel rapist goblins is surprisingly uplifting so I could use this right now. Would not have call that before starting either of them.

It’s been three years since then...

So what you're saying is she's almost 18... Yeah, I don't care if 15 is considered adult in their world, there's a reason it's not here.

This time, it was just the two of them. He complained that his intuition was worse than before, but it was probably just because the others worked with them so well. Normally a single arrow from their elven archer would have felled that warg, and the party would have advanced carefully into the nest. Their dwarven shaman would have appraised the construction of the place immediately and been able to tell them if there were any back doors— or if the goblins might be digging through the walls. And if it came to a fight, their lizardman would leap in with a great howl, his arms and legs and fangs and tail tearing open a path for them.

I've always liked how clear of a positive effect having a party has had on his mental health but it is neat this little detail that he's maybe been relying on them a little too and thus some of his own solo skills have dulled a little. No idea if anyone's seen CW's Arrow but I remember a big complaint about that show was that Oliver used to be able to do a lot of stuff on his own and as his team got bigger it felt like his competence shrank. The big speculated reason for this is that the writers needed to give the other characters stuff to do so that they wouldn't feel useless and thus Oliver had to be written less capable than he'd already been shown to be. If they'd given the reason that his skills had dulled a little because he'd gotten so comfortable having people he trusted watching his back and thus he didn't have to do everything by himself anymore, maybe the fans would have been a little more lenient.

Cow Girl’s was the face of a girl whose village had been destroyed by goblins, yet shadows no longer clung to any part of it. Every time he saw that, Goblin Slayer would let out a relieved breath.

Aww. That's sweet.

Cow Girl looked up, confused, but her uncle, still looking less than thrilled, continued brusquely: “Let him borrow it.”

“Are you sure?”

“He’s more or less selling his own body, isn’t he?”

Somewhere Sword Maiden just jumped out of her chair, felt the urge to grab her wallet, and doesn't know why.

For her to show up sharing a raincoat with a man, even a man from her party...

And that’s just the way it is. Nothing more to say about it!

She had already worried them when she went off to become an adventurer. She didn’t want to give them any strange ideas to boot.

This book is just shamelessly pandering to the shipper side of me.

It was shortly thereafter that the rumors began to spread that Sister Grape was the daughter of a goblin.

Well, that escalated quickly. You'd think in a world with literal monsters and demons, humans wouldn't have the time to be racist towards each other but here we are. Not even just because she has dark skin but also I believe she's the only character so far who has a name that's actually pretty close to being a name instead of just a description. She's not called Vineyard Nun or anything like that. Sister Grape sounds like an actual name.

“Wight,” Goblin Slayer echoed. “...I don’t know that word. Is it some kind of monster?”

“You don’t know any word except goblin.” High Elf Archer frowned, reaching for her quiver and pulling out a bud-tipped arrow.

Now, that's not true. He knows about vampires (surprisingly) and dragons I'm pretty sure. I'd like to think because both are legendary monsters that he, as a little boy, dreamed about slaying someday when he became an adventurer. You know, before he was traumatized for life.

“Ah,” Goblin Slayer replied. “Not a gargoyle, then.”

High Elf Archer’s ears twitched, and Priestess forgot her pain for a moment and blinked. “You... You know about those...?”

“Of course I do.”

Oh yeah, and gargoyles. He knows what those are too.

The goblin fell with a thump, but then, soundlessly, its body floated up, rising slowly in the mist.

“These are not goblins,” Goblin Slayer spat in frustration.

“They’re obviously undead...!” High Elf Archer shouted back, firing off a literal hail of arrows.

Goblin zombies?! Gombies! Zoblins! I knew this would happen someday! Ever since they talked about the vampire goblins I've been waiting for some kind of mixed goblin monster to show up. The Vamblins show up that's going to be terrifying. The Zoblins at least don't have any ability to think.

Also, Lizard Priest f**ked that demon up. That was awesome!

And goblin slaying alone, at worst, would claim only his own life. When acting as the leader of a group, the lives of his friends (another soft grunt accompanied this thought) were riding on him, but solo, it was different.

In this case, though, everything was different. This was not about him. It was not about goblins. If he got it wrong, it was not he who would bear the consequences.

He had never once been under the illusion that he had become a master of all trades. There were a great many things he couldn’t do. But to realize just how few cards he really held—it was unpleasant.

He registered all this, but still he was just a single, impotent man. No different from when he was hiding under the floorboards...

Something I've always liked about this series is that Goblin Slayer is a complete badass...but the story never lets that completely overwhelm the rest of his character. He's allowed to be vulnerable, he's allowed to completely acknowledge and accept his shortcomings, and most important is that he very clearly cares about people. He doesn't hide that he cares but rather he just doesn't really know how to show it. His trauma isn't used to make him a hardass or just say that he's tough but rather that he was badly damaged at a young age and it stuck with him in more ways than just wanting to murder all goblins.

She went from the Guild to the Temple and back virtually every day, and today her footsteps felt even heavier than usual. Once again, it wasn’t as if anything specific had happened. It was just that the unyielding accumulation of the days had begun to weigh upon Priestess’s narrow shoulders.

Yeah, I think we're all knowing that feeling these days, sadly.

“You don’t trust others; you force others,” Heavy Warrior said, deflating her at the very climax of her speech. “When someone’s got power, whether it’s a god or a devil, it’s their power. They can use it how they like.”

“But as they say, with great power comes great responsibility...!”

Naofumi: "Oh, I just didn't know you'd been bitten by a spider, pal."

I tend to love good parallels in stories (you should see me fanboy over the parallels in My Hero Academia) and I like the parallel that's being brought up in this book between Priestess and Goblin Slayer, namely the dependency they've noticed they're having on the other members of their party. Priestess worried that maybe nothing's changed and she hasn't grown since GS first saved her from that cave and Goblin Slayer remarking not just on his dulled instincts but just how different his life has become because of them. While the farm might be getting involved, he probably never would have paid much attention to the Sister Grape rumor and never likely have gotten involved in the situation if it wasn't for his connection to Priestess.

I liked the whole bit with the wine merchants son asking GS and Priestess for help. I don't mind when a character has darker thoughts or impulses to do something they know they shouldn't (depending on what it is, obviously) so long as they still choose not to do it or hold onto those thoughts for too long. It's completely understandable why Priestess is so angry over what's been happening to her friend and wanting to take that out of those she has reason to believe are responsible. She still doesn't do it and she does at least consciously force herself to acknowledge what the right thing is.

Rookie Warrior and Apprentice Cleric—no, one hesitated to use those names for them anymore—were among the parties present.

So do we call them Warrior and Cleric now or would that be in bad taste, given the uh...other Warrior we had early on?

They didn’t erase their footprints. That suggests their leader is a goblin as well.

If they were really serving as foot soldiers for the forces of Chaos, they would have been given some kind of equipment. There was always the possibility they would attempt some trickery; he had to be prepared.

If I ever were to make a Top Ten list of my favorite villains in fiction, the goblins would at least get an honorable mention. The fact that they're rapists holds them back a lot but I really like that, since the series is primarily about fight them, the goblins are very well defined in what they are, what they do, why they do it, how they do it, how they think, and they consistently feel dangerous even though we're seeing them be killed all the time. They're like the Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise, only maybe even a little scarier because there is such an active malice behind them. There's just always this sense of dread whenever they're involved, like you can't feel safe until you know for sure that they're all dead.

Adventures are fun, but...

It pained him to have to sit and wait to see what would happen, not knowing if the plan he had put into motion would work. In his mind, it was ideal to take a situation in hand, to change things oneself, to know what was going on. None of that should be ceded to others.

...One should not do what one is unused to, Goblin Slayer thought, and underneath his helmet, his lips twisted upward ever so slightly. Maybe it was simply that he had done one thing for so long that he had become accustomed to it. Gracious...

But this is what I’m suited to. Not city adventures.

..........................

When one became a party leader or the commander of an army, it behooved him to consider how to give his comrades peace of mind. Thus, he must not become frantic or show panic. Not fear, either. Nor excitement or agitation.

Goblin Slayer had never been so thankful for his helmet as he was this day. He had no confidence that he could present such a front. How must he look to Priestess? And his other companions? Guild Girl kept pointing out that he was a Silver-ranked adventurer. But what was that?

But I am Goblin Slayer.

That was how he, keenly aware of the rank tag dangling at his neck, defined himself: just a few short words. He was Goblin Slayer, and this was a goblin hunt. He had only to do exactly that. It was what he was good at.

I've always liked how Goblin Slayer has never had much trouble admitting when others are better than him, like when he fully admitted Heavy Warrior is a much better leader than him. And now this book is kind of pushing him a little out of his usual comfort zones. He's still slaying goblins but he realizes he's been needing to step up, that people are looking to him as a leader, and he's doing a lot more than just the simplicity of goblin hunting. I'm kind of being reminded of my favorite scene from Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. I like the idea that the little 10 year old boy training with Burgler never thought he'd have anything in his life other than killing goblins. He never thought he'd be happy or have connections to other people, and because of how emotionally stunted he is he's not sure how to deal with it or how to feel. It's obviously a good thing he has so many people he cares about and who care about him. Priestess and the others have helped him heal more from his trauma in the past two, going on three, years than the five years prior of killing goblins alone ever did. But his life isn't as simple as it once was and that worries him a little. It's like when he told Spearman the only thing he couldn't give him was his life, not with Cow Girl waiting at home for him. It's not just his life that's on the line anymore. If he dies, others will be sad, and if he fails, others will get hurt.

He had hoped he might never hear that sound again in his lifetime.

“It’s a chariot...!”

They have goblin gladiators now?!

Well, they did until GS sent them smashing into the the goblin pirates (or would these ones be more like goblin vikings? The sewers ones were more like pirates). It's when we eventually get to the goblin ninjas that we're well and truly f**ked. Goblins are not a creature you want to learn the secrets of stealth.

So this book had both Priestess and Goblin Slayer doubting themselves in similar but very different ways. Both worried they can't step up when they're needed. One worried about how little she's changed and the other about how much things around him have changed. In the end the moral seems to be that it's okay to rely on others, as everyone including them has their place. They've both grown but Priestess was feeling impatient, wanting to be even better than she is, and Goblin Slayer was feeling things had changed too fast.

Now, what's all this talk about Cow Girl and marriages? Are we gonna eventually get a scene like in Shrek where Priestess, filling the role of Donkey, has to explain to Goblin Slayer the proper, most romantic way of breaking up a wedding? Thankfully her uncle doesn't seem to have any interest in just giving her away but they brought it up and just dropped it enough times in this volume to make me paranoid something's gonna happen.....and that we'll be getting some fanservice-y images of Cow Girl in a wedding dress.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/GoblinSlayer/comments/ikrfg4/read_through_light_novel_vol_10_random_thoughts/

[shieldherostuffs]

TheRuFumi - Whipped!Naofumi HCs

(A lot more under the Cut)

----- SFW HCs: 

- Naofumi is like so so so so in love with the Therese and L’Arc. 

- No questioning it. Naofumi knows he’s is Love, but he still tries to hide it (he’s not very good at it though) and keep up his ‘image’. 

- But like, look at them. Naofumi cannot stop staring when either or both of them smile or do anything. They’re so pretty and beautiful and amazing and—

- Whenever Naofumi looks at either or both of them, he finds himself calming down and something inside him screaming in joy. 

- One time, Naofumi could feel the Dragon wanting to go wild because of Motoyasu and Bitch(again), but when he looked at Therese and L’Arc who’d come over, the dragon went quiet in a second, and Naofumi felt relieved. 

- Therese and L’Arc are also not oblivious to Naofumi’s feelings; he’s not the best at hiding it. 

- Everyone knows as soon as they see the way they all look at each other.  

- Raphtalia doesn’t mind as long as her Master is happy, but she does get jealous when Naofumi continues to stare at the two for a long time. 

- Filo is just happy. If her Master likes Therese and L’Arc, that means she can have a mommy, a dad, and a papa who lets her drink that weird and fuzzy stuff at parties!

- The first couple of months of their relationship, Naofumi is so weak against L’Arc and Therese. And he can’t even bring himself to hate it, he just loves them so much. 

- Either of the two can so something as simple as giving Naofumi a side hug and he will absolutely melt against them. When they move away again, Naofumi will miss their warmth with a small pout on his face. 

- Neither L’Arc nor Therese will be able to resist Naofumi’s pouting face, and will go back to hugging him. 

- And when the two start giving him kisses on the lips, Naofumi will melt even more, and he will not be able to think straight for at least 10 minutes after while having a lovesick smile on his face. 

- Naofumi figures out pretty quickly that Therese and L’Arc can’t resist him when he pouts, but he doesn’t do it much because it’s embarrassing. 

- Naofumi also can’t help but smile to himself whenever L’Arc, Therese, or both hold his hand(s) at any time. 

- Naofumi, who (quite obviously) is not that used to affection, physical or not, cannot work properly when Therese and L’Arc start a cuddle fest. His brain just short-circuits and he becomes a smiling bubbly mess in the other two’s arms. 

- Therese and L’Arc love to see Naofumi smile, so when they see how bubbly  he becomes when they all cuddle, they make a silent shared goal to give him as many cuddles as possible. 

- And as much as Kizuna wants to tease Naofumi about it, she just can’t. There’s something about watching the normally cold and indifferent Shield Hero melt against her friends. 

- Only God knows what will happens if their close ones let the relationship fail or break. 

- Motoyasu wants to think that it’s disgusting, three people being together like that, and especially a beautiful lady like Therese, but he just can’t. It’s weird, but also one of the best things to happen to Naofumi and his party. 

- Itsuki doesn’t really have an opinion on it, love is love after all, who’s he to tell them otherwise, while Ren silently supports the three. 

- When L’Arc and Therese starts complimenting Naofumi, they notice how much of an effect it had on him: He blushes red up to his ears. 

- Naofumi doesn’t complain when they start complimenting him more, but he’s a bit confused as to why they do it so much. 

- The effect does not dwindle over time. Naofumi will blush at even the smallest thing from Therese and L’Arc. 

- For Naofumi, this is it. He will never be able to love anyone ever again like he loves Therese and L’Arc. They’re it for him. 

----- NSFW HCs: 

- When Naofumi is with just one of them, he’s a power bottom, but when it’s both L’Arc and Therese, he’s the bottomest bottom. 

- He will submit to everything they do and say. 

- And he will not mind. It feels too good. Being touched by the two people he loves, it’s almost too much, but also not enough. He wants more, always more. More of Therese. More of L’Arc. 

[shieldherostuffs]

Hunger Games AU

---*★°*:.☆.:*°★*--- Before the Games

So, Naofumi comes from a poor family from District 12, where the government abuses the people there for the workforce. Naofumi's family consists of him, his mother and father, and his 10-year-old little brother.

Naofumi and his father, together with all the other men and miners in the village, go to the mines every day, while his mother and brother would manage the little medicine shop of the village, though all they really had to work with were basic herbs and such. Sometimes though, Naofumi would go outside of the border, into the nearby forest, and check a few traps he'd set up to get maybe just a little extra food, like a rabbit or squirrel to sell.

When the Hunger Games come around, Naofumi's brother ends up chosen, together with a 12-year-old orphan girl, Raphtalia. Naofumi, in fear of his young brother's life, volunteers as tribute in his stead. But, fearing for their own lives, no one volunteers instead of the young girl, and the two are sent away to fight in the Games. But, not before Naofumi has a tearful last meeting with his family.

During the Train Ride to the Capitol, they meet their Mentor, a guy named Erhard. Erhard, as neither Naofumi nor Raphtalia has ever really used any weapons before, reached them a bit in their free time, and coaches them. Raphtalia seems to have an affinity for using blades like swords and machetes, while Naofumi more for hand-to-hand combat and smaller knives or daggers.

During the Tribute Parade, Naofumi and Raphtalia get a lot of cheers when they ride down with their clothes on blue fire, holding their hands up together. The idea for their clothes came from the lady who also made them, a nice Lady who calls herself Tailor.

During the Interviews, Naofumi is wearing what is basically a black-blue suit, and a corset with a crimson waist-cape attached. Raphtalia wears a cute black dress with blue glitter and a crimson sash around her waist, holding a crimson overskirt. Both of them show off that the crimson parts of their outfits are set on fire when they spin.

(Naofumi also notes that the guy from 1, L'Arc Berg, apparently has a girlfriend at home. L'Arc couldn't promise her he would come back alive, but he promised he would try. L'Arc also praised Naofumi and Raphtalia's outfits during the Parade with a grin.)

---*★°*:.☆.:*°★*--- During the Games

During the Games, Naofumi just runs in at gets the two things closest to him, a backpack and some rope. While running around, sleeping in trees, and hunting small animals with traps, Naofumi finds a group of other players banding together. The guy and girl from 1, L'Arc and Malty, Motoyasu from 2, Itsuki from 3, Ren from 5, and Elena from 8.

Naofumi notices that while the others are cheering and talking loudly about how they're going to win and kill the others, L'Arc and Ren mostly keep quiet. Ren just looks indifferent, while L'Arc looks almost downcast, or sad. Itsuki is talking about needing to take down the people outside their group who killed each other just for the things at the start point, playing a justice-filling teen.

While hiding from them in a tree, Naofumi notices Filo, an 11-year-old girl from District 6 a couple of trees away, together with Raphtalia. Naofumi sigh in relief that Raphtalia is alright before they signal for him to cut down a wasp nest nearby. Naofumi does so, while getting stung a bit, and the nest falls. While the others run, Ren ends up falling, having to carry both a sword and a shield.

Seeing Filo walking around with a Machete, Naofumi gives Raphtalia the sword to protect herself, and puts the Shield on his arm, before promptly passing out from the wasp stings a bit away.

From then on, the three of them work together to survive.

Suddenly, an announcement is made. The Rule for a single victor has been changed, and now two people are able to win together if they're not from the same district. Naofumi plans to sacrifice himself so Raphtalia and Filo can win the Games, and live their lives.

(The reason for the announcement, is because the Game Master, Aultcray, decided that he wanted his daughter, Malty back, and for her to chose anyone to live with, preferably someone good enough to marry and have a nice life with)

But, after a plan to make the group from before (—L'Arc is missing, Naofumi notes), Filo is killed, and Raphtalia is taken, hostage. Dying in Naofumi's arms, Naofumi remembers Filo telling him and Raphtalia that she didn't want to play in the Games, she just wanted to go home and play with her friend, Mel-Chan.

Determination in his eyes, Naofumi takes the Machete and goes to confront the group. Malty holds a dagger to Raphtalia's throat. After some trying for negotiation, Raphtalia shouts out that Naofumi should just let her die, since she has no one at home anyway. When Malty tells her to shut up, she continues, saying Naofumi should go back to his family.

Fed up with the shouting and useless words, Malty slits Raphtalia's throat, before pushing her off the small cliff they were on, into a field of landmines separating them and Naofumi.

Seeing this, Naofumi is furious but starts running, trying to stuff the blurriness his tears bring. The group follows after Naofumi into the forest, planning another kill.

While running, Naofumi is suddenly tugged into a small, hidden cave, a hand over his mouth and an arms holding his arms against his torso. He's now sitting between someone's legs, pressed against a fit torso.

After some time, about 10 minutes, of both of them sitting completely still to not get noticed, Naofumi starts struggling to get free. The other person holds him tight, and whispers in his ear.

"I'll let you go if you agree to cooperate. Right now, our only chance to survive that group is if we work together. Malty is slowly manipulating the other players to do her bidding, so if we want to survive her little gang, we have to team up." The voice, male, says. Naofumi recognizes the voice.

Seizing his struggling, but still tense, Naofumi stiffly nods, and the arms let him to. Scurrying, Naofumi scrambles to the other side of the cave, tense and ready for a fight. Seeing the other person, they're ready for a fight too.

L'Arc Berg, from district 1. Looking him over, Naofumi notes that he too has a backpack with unknown contents, and a sickle at each hip.

Staring each other down, after a bit, Naofumi speaks, having thought the offer over.

"Fine. I'll agree to a team-up for now. But do anything suspicious and you're dead." Naofumi says sternly

L'Arc agrees, and they quickly get to set up some traps around to catch some dinner, as it's getting late. After eating, they're each sitting in front of a side of the cave again, staring at each other. They'd already put the fire out, a bit far away.

Deciding to at least try to be a little friendly, or just start a conversation, Naofumi asks why L'Arc isn't with the group anymore.

L'Arc then explains that after he slipped up and said he didn't want to be in the games of his own will, they deemed that he wasn't 'trustworthy', and shot an arrow to his side before pushing him off a cliff, into a river. Somehow, luckily for him, he only ended up with blue and yellow bruises and some minor injuries from the river, and it cleaned his arrow wound. After getting some bandages and salve from a sponsor(His girlfriend, signed T.A), it's nearly healed.

Naofumi tells of how he'd betrayed too once. Some guy with a lot of power in his district had seen Naofumi 7 years ago almost die from hunger in the rain and had helped. The guy continuously came back with some food for Naofumi and his family, saying he just wanted to help. But, when he one day asked Naofumi to come with him somewhere, there's been others there too, and the guy had tried getting Naofumi to—... getting him into an uncomfortable situation.

Naofumi, luckily, had been able to run back to his house and never saw the guy again. But it still scars.

Suddenly, L'Arc had gone over to sit beside Naofumi, saying nothing. Naofumi appreciates the gesture.

After some days of hunting and traveling around together, they've already gotten closer. Naofumi even caught L'Arc when the redhead almost fell off a cliff, to the first ground far below.

Now, one evening, sometime after they've eaten, they're hiding under a very low and small cliff, hiding them in the darkness. They suddenly hear footsteps and voices.

It's Malty's group, with two new members, talking about how someone must be nearby, with the put-out fire. Naofumi and L'Arc stay close, tense, and unmoving. After a while of the footsteps disappearing, and relax a little.

Huddling closer, Naofumi lays his head on L'Arc's shoulder and intertwines their pinkies. L'Arc smiled softly to himself before moving his hand away and moving it around Naofumi to pull Naofumi closer.

"Just for the warmth. It's cold." Naofumi mutters, not bothering with hiding his faint blush in the dark

"Just for the warmth," L'Arc repeats, before feeling Naofumi falls asleep against him

---

Some days later, it's only Naofumi, L'Arc, Malty, Itsuki, Motoyasu, and Wyndia from 5 left. But, Naofumi has been coughing a lot for a while now and threw up a few days ago. He's sick.

(Unknown to them, the Wasps Naofumi was stung by in the beginning also has a long-lasting poison, that can kill someone from the inside out, if not treated. Inside the arena, only the medicine which has now been wasted and thrown away was able to help. Naofumi can either win and get treatment, or die.)

When the announcement comes that the Game Hosts are feeling generous, by putting out bags with what each district now need by the Cornucopia. L'Arc hurries off while Naofumi is out after throwing up. He ends up seeing Malty kill off Wyndia while Motoyasu runs for the bags.

But, with Itsuki on the lookout with his bow ready, L'Arc is unable to get the medicine for Naofumi. So, he can only hurry back.

But, during the night two days later, Itsuki is dead, and the Finale has started.

Walking around the forest in the morning to find some more clean water, Naofumi and L'Arc hear growling around them.

Naofumi protects himself with the Shield just in time, and L'Arc attacks. A wolf. And the rest of the pack is coming closer.

Naofumi and L'Arc start running, being forced in the direction of the Cornucopia. While running, L'Arc had to throw the sickles to get two wolves away from Naofumi. Getting on top, they find a Scythe that's been thrown up at the start of the game, which L'Arc grabs. Then, they're faced with Motoyasu and Malty.

As they start fighting, Naofumi protects himself from Malty's daggers with the shield, while L'Arc fights Motoyasu's spear with his new scythe.

Naofumi ends up pushing Malty to the furiously hungry Wolves, and L'Arc cuts Motoyasu across the torso, making the blonde stagger before falling to the Wolves too.

But, during their fight, Motoyasu managed to stab L'Arc's stomach.

As L'Arc falls down, pressing on the wound, Naofumi hurries over, worrying for his partner.

Gently, L'Arc whispers that he's glad that at least Naofumi is going to live, with a soft smile.

But, Naofumi starts violently coughing, and as he moves his hands away from his mouth, they're coated in blood, and it's running down his lips.

With a sad smile, Naofumi whispers.

"No. I'm not going to live either, L'Arc. I'm gonna die too. We live or die together, L'Arc." Naofumi speaks, before collapsing beside L'Arc

"It's... It's not that bad, I guess... Dying beside you, I mean," L'Arc rasps

"You sure, about that? After we played a game, of killing each other?" Naofumi asks sarcastically, but with a smile on his lips

"Don't ruin it," L'Arc jokes, before they each close their eyes

Suddenly, an announcement is made.

"AND THERE YOU HAVE IT, FOLK! THE TWO VICTORS OF THE 67TH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES! NAOFUMI IWATANI OF DISTRICT 12, AND L'ARC BERG OF DRISTRICT 1!"

As the announcement sinks in, Naofumi intertwines his hand with L'Arc's and raises it high, before both of them pass out, still holding hands, as an aircraft appears above them.

---*★°*:.☆.:*°★*--- After the Games

After the end of the game, Naofumi and L'Arc are quickly taken to the hospital to be treated in time for the Victory Parade.

After healing up, while staying in the penthouse for the next week, Naofumi gets visitors. It's L'Arc, and he brought a very beautiful blue-haired lady along.

L'Arc introduces her as Therese Alexandrite, his girlfriend.

Therese, without warning, pulling Naofumi into a tight hug, thanking him over and over for bringing L'Arc home to her, and helping him during the games, and telling Naofumi that he really inspired her.

Inviting them in, the three end up spending the whole day, until late at night, chatting.

After showing the two the guest rooms, Naofumi goes to his room to try and get some proper sleep since the games.

It doesn't happen. His dreams— Nightmares, more like, are filled with trauma and memories from the games. Naofumi ends up waking up screaming, and Therese rushing in very little later. Halting, she finds Naofumi curled up on the bed, shaking and gripping his head with tears in his eyes.

Gently, she coaxes him to come with her to the living room. There, Naofumi finds L'Ac sitting criss-cross on the couch, a thick blanket wrapped tightly around him.

Therese sits Naofumi on the couch beside L'Arc, who seemed to also have had nightmares, only for L'Arc to quickly pull Naofumi under the blanket with him. Gripping L'Arc's pajama shirt, Naofumi almost doesn't notice when Therese goes to the kitchen area.

Some clanking and other sounds later, Therese comes over with three cups of hot chocolate, and hands the two one each, before sitting on the sofa chair moved in front of them, with her own cup.

For mostly the rest of the night, they spend with Therese gently calming the two down and just talking to them.

(Also, when L'Arc came back to the place he was staying at in the Capitol, he found Therese inside, waiting for him. After a reunion, L'Arc had taken Therese to the privacy of his room and talked to her. He explained that, despite their circumstances, he held some feelings for Naofumi, and that on TV, he wasn't really acting. His feelings were real.)

[aros001]

First time read through light novel vol. 17. Random thoughts.

Alright, from Shield Hero to Goblin Slayer to Re:Zero and now back again.

“As of this day, you shall lead our nation as the queen of Melromarc. You shall henceforth be known as Melty Q. Melromarc.”

Wait, that's what the Q stands for? I always just thought Mirelia had a weird middle name. So what was Melty's middle initial before this? The wiki says Malty's is S but what does that stand for? Second-in-line? Spare?

Right off the bat I love Naofumi and Melty's back and forth. He really does feel like the older sibling she never got to have. It's a reason I don't think they should be married (beyond the fact that she's a literal child and he's a grown man). She can act her age around him because Naofumi genuinely makes her feel safe enough to.

“If you don’t desire to marry Hero Iwatani, I have someone else I might like to suggest to you, Queen Melty.” The old man was looking at Fohl as he spoke.

Wait, Fohl? What?

“Huh?!” Fohl froze as though his spine had turned to ice with Trash’s eye upon him, and then he visibly recoiled. So he wasn’t up for it. I could understand that.

Wait...hasn't the implication been that Fohl and Atla might be the children of Trash's sister? I mean, I get that incest wasn't exactly uncommon in old royal families but he jumped on trying to set up his daughter with her cousin pretty quickly. You'd think he'd be a lot more protective over his youngest daughter but I suppose maybe his mentality is that a husband could help ease some of the burden off Melty and give her someone who could definitely protect her like Fohl or Naofumi. ...Doesn't make it that much less creepy. Again, Melty's, like, 12.

“No need to worry about that,” Trash responded. “Melty is quite capable of carrying a child.” So she was quite an early bloomer . . . Trash, hold on!

“Why do you know that?!” I retorted.

“There was much about Melty written in my wife’s diaries,” he explained. He almost made it sound like a good thing, whimsical and sweet. The queen had known about Witch’s virginity, after all, so I guess she would know about Melty too.

Mirellia: "Dear diary, I had a bit of false excitement today. My shadows informed me they witnessed Melty disrobing while she and the Shield Hero's party slept around the campfire. I thought my dear little girl had finally awoken an attraction for the opposite sex and was about to make her move. But alas, it was merely to sleep inside the feathers of his pet Filolial (Note to self: Once I clear Mr. Iwatani's name, find a way to bring up casually that I would like to try sleeping inside the Filolial also). Oh well. I suppose there is still plenty of time for that later. Still, it is the one and only area I feel she could stand to take note from her sister. The shadow I have assigned to the Spear Hero's party is very descriptive. I think I should consider switching in another shadow to replace her for a bit. She may be a little too into her job."

Back to reality, while I get why she would do that and why Trash would check, that was still more than I needed to know about any of that family. NOBODY GO HAVING SEX WITH MELTY!

I was now basically engaged to Melty. That might look like a Lolita complex from the outside. There were lots of women around me with adult bodies but who were actually quite young too—Raphtalia, Filo, Shildina, Keel, even Atla. From that perspective, it did start to make me feel a bit strange.

Wait, when did Filo get an adult body?! I thought part of Motoyasu's obsession was because she was going to be a near eternal loli. Or does adult body to Naofumi just mean Fitoria-sized?

“What? I mean, Naofumi, don’t you play for both—” Ren started.

“That’s enough. Say no more!” I cut him off. I really needed to nip this in the bud. It was true I tried to sleep with Fohl—just once—but there were all sorts of context to that encounter.

Raphtalia: "Was I the only one he didn't try and sleep with?!?"

“Ren,” I said.

“What?” he eventually replied.

“She’s not the sharpest when it comes to matters of the heart. If such a situation actually came about, she might change her mind. If you get lucky, the one you confess to may then start to take notice of you. It’s too soon to give up,” I told him.

“Okay, okay. I get it,” he said.

“But you also need to read the room a little. If you confess to her right now, I don’t think she’ll give you the nod. You need to get closer to her first and then let her know how you feel. Maybe even get the elation right after we save the world to give things a push,” I advised.

Raphtalia: "...F**k you, Mr. Naofumi. I love you but f**k you, you observant yet oblivious walking paradox."

In all seriousness, I like that Naofumi and Ren have been becoming good friends. I don't think Naofumi would have asked Motoyasu or Itsuki in the same way what they planned on doing after the waves.

Is it weird that of all the demi-human characters, Ruft is the one I don't want to grow up too fast? I want him to stay Naofumi's raccoon son.

A weird thought occurs to me. When Naofumi and the other three first arrived in Melromarc, would their clothes have had any stats? In most games even the very basic starting clothes will give you a +1 in something. I'm just curious because, as we see in the trips to and back from Kizuna's world, certain equipment doesn't function outside of its original universe and shows up as just scrambled text in the menu. The four would have just come from a different universe with their clothes/"equipment" still on so did the same effect apply but they never noticed because there's so little protection a shirt and jeans gives?

“Up you go! Up you go!” I said, lifting her up in the air.

“Little Naofumi?” Sadeena looked at me in bemusement. Wasn’t that what you did with a child? I’d done the same thing with Raphtalia when she’d been smaller too.

When?! When the hell did broody, depressed, recently framed for attempted rape Naofumi play "Up you go!" with child Raphtalia?!

I complained in my vol. 16 post about Naofumi and Raphtalia being separated again. Again, I knew even then it was a nitpick but I am still glad how quickly they were reunited after he returned to Kizuna's world. You never want to feel like a story is playing keepaway with you.

“Actually, about that,” I said. “When I was on the verge of death, I met Atla inside something like . . . I guess you’d call it the world inside the shield. She was still very much herself, anyway.” I showed Raphtalia the shield, and the gemstone glowed. Was that Atla taunting Raphtalia from inside the shield? The light did look a bit mocking, if light could be said to do that. Raphtalia seemed to have noticed the same thing, and her brow furrowed.

Atla: "I was his first kiss AND got to be inside Lord Naofumi first. Take that, Raphtalia."

Naofumi: "I don't know what she's saying but I feel very uncomfortable all of a sudden."

“I see. That’s quite incredible. I can see the curse fading even as I watch,” Raphtalia replied.

“Even so, it seems to be rooted pretty deep. It’s going to need multiple treatments to fully heal up,” I said. After we worked out it had curse-healing properties, I had tried it on Motoyasu too, but it had done nothing at all to him. I wondered what was going on there.

Either the curse is rooted too deep because he was under its effects for so much longer than everyone else had been under theirs or Motoyasu might be resisting the curse heals because he doesn't want to change back to how he was. That or he's genuinely had a mental breakdown after all his experiences and even magic can't cure true insanity.

Takt hadn’t been worried about the waves either, I recalled. A common characteristic of these lunatics. Even Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki had only really considered the waves events to make them stronger for the future. I felt like I was getting to the heart of things. Now we knew that the waves weren’t a natural phenomenon. That cast suspicions on the knowledge of the heroes. When I followed that line of thought, the summoning of someone like me—someone with no knowledge of a game that played like this world—had allowed for the sharing of power-up methods to go much more smoothly. And yet they continued to summon people with game knowledge. That knowledge had proven a barrier to becoming stronger.

It was as though game knowledge itself was some kind of impediment.

Well, Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki were the third options for their weapons, so I suppose one theory is that they were the ones most likely to accept the situation because of their exposure to the games but would also be held back by it, so it was something of a double-edged sword. Unless the force behind the waves or at least the vanguards is throwing in some interference or influence.

Itsuki being a bit down on his musical talent or not seeing it as much special makes sense, I suppose, given he comes from a world that basically has superpowers. It's one of the (many) reason Lex Luthor hates Superman and tries to convince others they should too.. Natural talent, intelligence, body-built muscle and so on don't feel like they mean much in comparison to bulletproof skin and the ability to fly. What does it matter how good you are with an instrument when others can play music just as good with no instrument at all? It can be hard to appreciate how good you are when you're surrounded by impossible standards.

“Eight, huh? Can you tell me all of them? Just in case. You’d better tell me about the four holy heroes too,” I said. We had the seven star weapons in the other world, meaning they had one extra here. I couldn’t quite explain it, but something felt off about all this. Like, maybe there was a secret eighth seven star weapon in our world too. When I was in the shield world, I had counted the lights and seen eight, if I recalled correctly, so the possibility seemed pretty high.

Now that's curious. Perhaps the eighth has some kind of ability to hide its existence from the world or erase any traces of itself, physical or in memory. I mean, it's certainly possible Raphtalia's world has genuinely just never discovered the eighth even though it resides somewhere in their world. The vassal weapons are strong and important but there's clearly more weight to the four Holy Weapons, so those would have been the priority, and it's not like they ever had any reason to suspect there were more than seven. Naofumi only suspects there's more because he's been to another world and interacted with the Shield's spirit world; two very unique experiences.

The hunting tool, the jewels, the blunt instrument, and the ofuda (cards?) are the Holy Weapons of Kizuna's world. I'm trying to think if there's any similarity to the Shield, Bow, Spear, and Sword. Maybe it's just a difference in culture, since Kizuna's world is more Japanese themed while Raphtalia is more old England, but KW's weapons feel a lot more random than RW's. RW's are a very basic collection of standard weapons you'd find in any old battlefield. But three out of four of KW's weapons seem very indirect in terms of fighting. The best theme I could guess that they have going for them is that maybe there's a wider variety of things they can turn into, while the Shield, Bow, Spear, and Sword can only be...well, those specific things. Then again the bow can turn into a gun so that theory is shaky at best. Maybe that KW's have a more openly spiritual side to them.

Kizuna's world has more labyrinths and Raphtalia's world has more dungeons. Maybe that's a factor in the weapon spread. Objects that'd help more in puzzle solving and exploration vs. more beat-em-up focus.

This

freakin' d-bag looks like a Batman villain. Like a New 52 "hip and edgy" Music Meister; not as memorable as the original. On topic, I really like Naofumi's words to Miyaji. Diplomatic but still with strength to them. It's good to show that Naofumi isn't just completely lacking in patience when it comes to people he doesn't like (which is a consistently growing list).

“They were trash, so I killed them!” he replied. That didn’t sound good.

“But why were they trash? Were they trying to take over the world or something?” I tried anyway.

“They were getting all full of themselves, thinking they were so strong. So I had to put them right.” He wasn’t making a convincing case.

...I kind of miss when Glass was the antagonist. The Demon Dragon Emperor too.

Oh well, at least there's a chance we'll see Witch finally get killed, since she's here too for some reason.

“Mald, that person standing at your side is the very one who took in that megalomaniac Takt and attempted to use him for her own ends. There’s no justice on your side,” Itsuki said.

“Takt? He was just a sacrifice to form the foundation of our justice. His violence was purely intended to prove that we are just. We had every intention of swinging that justice hammer, but then you stepped in,” Mald replied.

Those are some impressive mental gymnastics right there. "We aided and abetted this monster of a man to murder, torture, and take over a country in order to prove how just we are and it's okay because we were eventually going to betray him and take him down once we no longer had use for him." I mean, a thing that's been made all too clear in recent years is about the two types of people who support bad causes. One type genuinely believes the bullsh*t justifications they give or that have been fed to them, while the other type knows it's bullsh*t, they just don't care so long as they get what they want. Witch is definitely the latter. Mald I could see being either but I'm leaning towards the latter again.

Also, Shield Demon King. You'd think rule #1 of fighting an enemy you despise would be to not give them an awesome title like that, even if you are trying to make yourself look like an even bigger bigshot by taking them down.

“Seriously . . . you could have just let that excitable womanizer kill you. You made things so inconvenient for me. You are so persistent, so annoyingly persistent! Just seeing you makes me want to throw up,” Witch said.

“Right back at you . . . In fact, due to my hatred of your very existence, I can comfortably claim to dislike you more than you dislike me. We have to stop meeting like this—and I intend to make this the last time. So be ready to die,” I told her. Her very existence disgusted me to the extent I could be sure my hatred for her face exceeded any malice she bore toward me. I was going to eradicate her from this world as painfully and horribly as possible . . . No, I was going to shred her very soul.

That was the only way to avenge the queen.

“Do you know these two?” Glass asked.

WHAT THE F**K DO YOU THINK, GLASS? I guess that old saying about couples starting to resemble each other holds some truth because that feels like something Kizuna would say.

“You must have grasped that we have suppressed your holy weapons. But you don’t understand how, do you? To put it plainly, we have captured all of the holy weapons in this world and used a technique to suppress the power of any opposing holy weapons—nullifying the holy weapons and techniques from other worlds,” she patronizingly explained. She had distinctively said “our.” That suggested this wasn’t something Miyaji had come to on his own, but something he had been provided with in order to contain us.

“The medium is the dragon hourglass. It suppresses the holy weapons. This was apparently a defensive mechanism for this world, created by the spirits of the holy weapons. It was to be activated if holy weapons were ever used in an invasion. Of course, it only works on holy weapons, magic, and techniques. It wouldn’t be worth using if it stopped us as well,” she continued.

I've noted it a few times throughout the series but I like how this was kind of set-up prior, so it doesn't feel like a Deus ex Machina that the villains can just shut down the Shield and Bow. We already knew that the Holy Weapons typically couldn't cross over into other worlds and that the worlds had precautions taken against each others' weapons. Witch and crew are merely exploiting a system that was already in place. While it doesn't do it as often as Goblin Slayer, I really like how often RoTSH sets things up and has them come back in major ways, like the Rucolu Fruits or defense rating attacks, making it feel more stratifying.

“Curse you, Shield Demon King! Only a coward would resort to illusions!” Miyaji bellowed.

But voodoo and curses are perfectly fine.

“I’m getting a handle on this now. Things aren’t going to go your way again! Jason Murder IV!” Armor put on a hockey mask that suddenly appeared in the air and started to swing his axe wildly.

What? What? What? What? WHAT? What? ...You know, if that's a reference to Friday the 13th part 4 being "The Final Chapter", then that's actually kind of a clever name for a finishing move (especially for one Armor kept on repeating and didn't actually finish off anyone).

I'm glad Itsuki was granted the Musical Instrument weapon. It how I feel about a lot of series where I don't mind the MC being special, but they shouldn't be the only one allowed to be special. Naofumi is important because he's the Legendary Shield Hero but the other three are still supposed to be his equals. So it's good that the Book weapon passed over him while Naofumi got the Mirror, not because Itsuki was unworthy, but because the Instrument was a much better fit for him. Naofumi shouldn't be the only one who can use the vassal weapons in an emergency situation.

A statue of Kizuna, standing like some temple effigy, with a fishing rod out in front of her. Was this really Kizuna? Not just some carving? The fishing rod looked accurate, but I didn’t really like the design overall.

You think they did that because she wouldn't stop pestering to them about wanting to go fishing? I'm sure it was probably the best way for the villains to keep Kizuna from being teleported to the waves but I like to imagine her just annoying the sh*t out of Witch and Miyaji.

This was all coming from the mirror’s power-up method. I still didn’t really understand why, but eating food now increased a new level that was separate from regular levels—it might be called the “food level.” It felt a bit like the system that Itsuki had described once. Eating food I had prepared caused experience to be earned and a separate level and status to increase. It looked like the type of food that was eaten changed the status that increased, but I still wasn’t sure how that all worked either.

I think Konosuba had a similar level-up method too. I'm not a huge gamer but those I've played tended to only give EXP for cooking food, while eating it only gave health and temporary bonus effects. I can believe it does exist in other games, I've just never personally experienced it.

“To be honest . . . I didn’t have the bravery to say that I was wrong and you were right, Naofumi,” he finally told me. His pride wouldn’t let him accept me, even though inside he knew the truth.

...

“I did something really horrible to Rishia. She was struggling with her low status and wanted to become a hero . . . but I looked down on her, just like so many had looked down on me. I thought it was only natural that I be praised and respected. I saw my past weaknesses in Rishia and so I discarded her,” he muttered, his voice full of regret, eyes downcast. “I have to spend my life to make amends to Rishia and stop Mald and the others. That’s the punishment for my sin.”

...

“In the past, I would have thought anyone opposing me was evil to be defeated. I don’t know how many times I’ve judged people simply based on one-sided opinions,”

Like with Ren, and with Trash last volume, this is definitely what I needed with Itsuki to be more on his side. Not just being able to understand his situation and why he did the things he did (which is still important, don't get me wrong) but have him actually acknowledge his wrongdoings and make efforts to atone for them. It's more meaningful now that he's in his right mind as opposed to the fried, near mindless state his curse had left him in where he'd do whatever anyone told him. I've harped on it before but that's what holds Motoyasu back for me somewhat. Yes, he's funny and yes, he's helping now, but he's also out of his mind. His redemption isn't really redemption because there has been not reflect and deliberate atonement for his actions like Ren, Trash, and now Itsuki have. He's just doing better than he was because of the curses' lingering effects on his mind and because he wants to get in Filo's pants.

But back to Itsuki, I'm glad I was wrong earlier about Naofumi only being able to have the post-waves conversation with Ren. Staying in the world and travelling feels like it fits Itsuki. He's not completely different from how he was before but he is on the track that'll help him grow as a person. Having him face Armor, his former party member, and have this growth be somewhat as a result of that is a really nice touch. Just like Atla sacrificing herself showed Naofumi the pain that'd be cause to those he'd leave behind if he did the same, sometimes a person really needs to see how they look from the outside. It especially works for Itsuki since Armor was someone he'd once considered an ally and a true believer of justice, so he was having to face off against basically what he had been to others.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/shieldbro/comments/kbxwzk/first_time_read_through_light_novel_vol_17_random/