It's been a few since the attempt to assassinate the second princess - Melty. Rumors were spread about the shield hero and his party, the first princess was trying to make everyone believe that our group kidnapped Melty. That wasn't easy, since she had no direct proof. I later connected the dots and realized that if I hadn't broken that crystal ball, she would indeed have proof to back up her words. Nevertheless, the knights wanted to capture us anyway.

I was currently walking near the city, I was tasked with scouting the nearby area for any danger. My presence concealment skill made this very easy, I found out that if I focus on staying hidden, the skill works even more effectively.

I've been walking for about an hour and so, I haven't spotted any sort of danger and was ready to walk back to the little camp that all of us set up. Sadly, we had to leave the carriage behind for now, as it would surely attract unwanted attention and that would be the last thing all of us wanted.

Eventually, I reached the camp. I noticed that Naofumi and Cole were sitting next to each other in silence, while Filo and Melty were asleep.

I also noticed the absence of Raphtalia. I started talking.

Y/n: I didn't see anything unusual, it appears that the area east from here is all clear for now.

Naofumi: That's good, sorry I had to make you walk so far.

Y/n: No need to apologise, I needed some alone time to collect my thoughts either way.

Cole: Did you encounter any monsters on the way? I know you're strong and all, but we can't afford to get injured in our situation.

Y/n: Surprisingly, there were only a few monsters that I noticed, overall there were about ten or so.

I sat down on the ground, it had gotten cold and I tried to get some heat from the campfire.

Y/n: By the way, where's Raphtalia?

Naofumi: She's scouting the villages west from here, she should be back soon.

Y/n: I see.

We continued to sit in silence, while not many people besides the nobles believed the rumors that the first princess was spreading, the situation was still dangerous. We couldn't afford to make any mistake at all.

I decided to ask Naofumi something.

Y/n: Naofumi, do you think the other heroes will get involved in this as well?

He thought for a second before responding.

Naofumi: That's possible, especially when it comes to Itsuki, he's obsessed with justice.

I realized that I didn't know the identities of the other heroes.

Y/n: What are the names of the other heroes if I may ask?

Naofumi: The sword hero is called Ren, the bow hero Itsuki and as you probably know, the spear hero is called Motoyasu.

Y/n: I see, who do you think is the smartest out of the three?

Naofumi: Probably Ren, at least he acknowledges it when he makes a mistake and doesn't get angry about it. He's fairly edgy though.

Y/n: How old is he?

Naofumi: I'm pretty sure he's 16.

Y/n: I suppose that makes sense.

Naofumi looked at me before asking.

Naofumi: How old are you, by the way?

Y/n: I'm currently 26, although I lost track of time since I arrived here, I might as well be 27.

Naofumi: Oh, you're older than everyone else then. I honestly thought that you were younger.

Y/n: I'll take that as a compliment.

We didn't talk anymore afterwards. Eventually, we heard sounds coming from our left, this resulted in us being on guard. The source of the sound though, was Raphtalia. She had just come back from her short trip.

Raphtalia: I have good news, only a few villagers believe Myne's words because of her lack of proof.

I let out a sigh of relief, everyone else was also visibly relieved.

Y/n: I hate to ruin the mood, but that doesn't change the fact that most nobles are still against us.

Naofumi: True, we can't do anything about that.

Everyone was silent for a moment, until Naofumi spoke again.

Naofumi: If we stay here any longer, they might find us, we should get going. I'll wake Filo and Melty up and all of you start getting ready.

To be fair, we didn't really have to prepare ourselves much, as we already were quite ready from the start.

I decided to speak to Cole.

Y/n: Cole, we'll have to be as silent as possible, so try to not make noise with your armor alright?

Cole: Don't worry, I already thought ahead, I figured out a way to walk as quietly as possible.

After a moment, everyone was ready to depart.

Naofumi: Everyone follow me, we're leaving this place.

Our group quickly left with Naofumi leading us forward. Eventually, we had to get through a rocky area, the path wasn't necessarily wide and we had to lean on the rock wall to stop ourselves from losing balance and falling down.

Everything was going smoothly until a rock broke under Melty's foot, resulting in her falling down. She didn't fall to her death since Naofumi grabbed her before it was too late. Unfortunately, this got the attention of the guards in the forest above us.

Naofumi: They found us? Can you walk?

Naofumi asked Melty.

Melty: Yes!

Naofumi: We're making a break for it past that big rock!

We were quickly moving ahead, until we came to a dead end.

I could hear multiple knights approaching.

A teen with a bow started approaching us, I assumed he was the bow hero - Itsuki.

Itsuki: There's nowhere left to run. You're surrounded. Cease your resistance and release princess Melty at once.

By now all the heroes were in my view.

Naofumi: "Release"? It's not like I have her tied up.

Motoyasu: Quit lying. We have all the proof we need.

Melty: "Heroes, I'm prefectly fine, as you can see. The shield hero and his companions kept me safe.

The sword hero - Ren, decided to speak next.

Ren: Hang on. Didn't Naofumi abduct you?

Melty: A dastardly plot was behind all this. I asked him to take me and protect my life.

Ren: "Protect?"

Melty: What could the shield hero possibly gain by abducting me?

Naofumi nodded in agreement.

Melty: The queen told me this is the time for all of us together to get rid of the catastrophes. Our world cannot withstand any further pointless conflict! Please put your weapons away.

Naofumi: As she says, this is a setup. I'll tell you everything I know. So-

Suddenly a woman's voice was heard.

???: You mustn't listen to him!

The voice came from the first princess, who I was pretty sure was called Malty.

Malty: That devil possesses a brainwashing shield. That accursed shield let's him take over one's mind just by talking to them.

Raphtalia: What? Who would believe such a lie.

I was a patient person and I was already getting angry.

Y/n: How come you know so much about brainwashing? I'm guessing you're an expert when it comes to that.

Everyone once again was unaware of my existence, I have already gotten used to it.

Malty looked at me with anger on her face.

Malty: Don't you dare insult me you-

A bullet flew next to her head, she jumped from the surprise.

With the coldest tone I could muster I responded:

Y/n: I don't miss twice.

I didn't bother to reload as my skill would do it for me.

Everyone was a little shaken from what just happened.

Motoyasu: How dare you threaten Myne!

He attempted to charge with his spear but was stopped by Ren.

Ren: Cut it off Motoyasu, if you got shot in the head you would die, he took out that woman who took us out with a single skill, remember?

Motoyasu looked down in defeat.

The annoying princess decided to proceed.

Malty: The three heroes church has found that heretics who worship the Shield have started appearing in the past month.

Naofumi was clearly angry by now.

Naofumi: The three heroes church again?

Malty: The devil of the shield called himself "the Savior of the Heavenly Fowl" and went around brainwashing innocent people!

I decided not to do anything as it would make our situation worse.

Melty: Sister?

Malty: Melty, you poor thing! I see the devil of the shield has already brainwashed you.

Motoyasu: I see! Then Raphtalia and Filo were really brainwashed by Naofumi too.

I walked closer to Naofumi and whispered to him.

Y/n: Listen, we won't be leaving this place peacefully, all of you escape on Filo while I stop them.

Naofumi: Are you mad? You can't possibly take them all on yourself.

Y/n: Please, believe in me just this once.

Naofumi thought for a moment.

Naofumi: Fine, but don't you dare die.

Y/n: When I fire my gun in the air then begin immediately.

Naofumi nodded, surprisingly, our conversation wasn't noticed by anyone. By now though, the conversation of everyone else had progressed.

Naofumi: If my shield had the ability to brainwash then we wouldn't be here in the first place!

Ren: But there's no guarantee that it doesn't. Do you have any proof that can convince us?

I started planning my fight while ignoring everything around me, I started paying attention again when I heard those words:

Melty: No, if I go back, I'll be killed.

Malty: Come to me, now.

Malty: Please. Help me!

She said in a tone that only us could hear it.

Naofumi: Ren, I appreciate your offer, but I don't trust that woman with the second princess.

I mentioned to Naofumi to tell the plan to Raphtalia and Filo.

Ren: What do you mean?

Malty: What are you talking about? Melty is my dear sister I-

Naofumi cut her off.

Naofumi: You want to be crown princess so badly that you're willing to kill your sister? You'll say you're undoing the "brainwashing" and kill her when nobody's looking. I bet that's what you're planning!

Naofumi now directed his words towards Melty.

Naofumi: I did promise to keep you safe.

I quickly raised my arm and fired bullets from my submachine gun into the air. Startling everyone besides my party.

Naofumi: Filo!

Filo: Okay!

She quickly changed into her bird form and took everyone besides me with her.

Cole: Hey! Why aren't you taking Y/n!?

Y/n: Cole! Prioritize your safety first!

Cole: Bu-

Y/n: That's an order as your party leader!

He didn't speak anymore after all and soon enough Filo was jumping away.

Motoyasu threw a chain at her, but I simply made it fall somewhere else after shooting it multiple times. For some reason, this angered Motoyasu.

The only people now were me and the heroes, their parties and multiple knights.

Ren: Do you really intend to fight all of us on your own?

Y/n: I'm simply delaying you, I don't intend to win.

They all started heading towards me, except the bow hero, obviously.

Motoyasu: Meteor Thrust!

Ren: Meteor Slash!

Itsuki: Meteor Shot!

From my perspective, their attacks were rather slow, even the golem who was a pile of rocks was faster than them.

I simply dodged their attacks without using time alter.

After the dust cleared out, they were surprised to see me without any injury.

Ren: He's tough...

Y/n:

Since there weren't any of my allies nearby, I could freely use this skill.

I was covered with a shining light before getting a 30% damage buff in my menu.

I decided to take this the easy way.

I quickly reloaded my submachine gun and proceeded to fire in their direction.

They did their best to deflect or dodge my attacks, although ultimately they were all hit multiple times. They ended getting hit more often the more injuries they sustained, I was happy that my firearm had such a large magazine.

After firing my entire ammo magazine, they were barely standing.

By now I noticed that I had heavily overestimated them.

Y/n: I'll give you a one time deal, retreat and I'll spare your lives.

Normally, they would tell something about being a hero and not giving up, but considering their current condition, they didn't dare try to do that.

Ren: Everyone... Let's go...

Motoyasu: But-

Ren: Do you want to die so badly?

Motoyasu didn't say anything after that.

Itsuki: This isn't the last you hear of us!

After a minute their whole group had retreated.

It was about time to find Naofumi, I started heading in the direction that they went to.