A hero is noble and has a persona that radiates strength. A hero is always ready to face danger and protect innocent lives at the cost of their own. The word "hero" itself is strong, but in practice... meh.

That's the only way I can describe the situation of six knights heaving a sleeping bald man into a carriage. A hero comes in all shapes and sizes, with all kinds of quirks or uniqueness. Despite that, it's still kinda hard to pin the Caped Baldy down as a hero.

The knights hucked him into the carriage, one of them staring at their hand because he touched a sausage in the process. "Is this really the guy?" One of them asked the others. "I wouldn't expect someone like that to do something like this." The others agreed. "What do you think Tom? Tom?" He looked at his comrade. "I touched it... oh god."

They slowly lost interest in the mad mumbling of their ally. The carriage was slow and awkward. A few of them stole peeks of the bald hero during the ride. It was a relief when they made it to the castle.

They picked up the Caped Baldy and heaved him into the castle. When they found out that it was extremely tiring. They settled for dragging him by his legs. They stopped batting an eye when his head bobbed and broke a few stairs.

Everyone in the throne room tensed when they saw the doors open. They thought the doors would open wide and the reason they're there would be kicked into the room. It would've been cool. It would've been amazing. It also would've been, so incredibly unlikely in comparison to who they were waiting for actually.

The doors were nudged open a little bit as one very tired knight trudged in dragging the bald guy by the boots. Behind him followed five other knights, sweaty and lazily carrying themselves, who struggled to close the door behind them.

It'd be an understatement to say that the intense mood was killed. Hell, it was raped and massacred. The knight dragged him a few more feet before dropping the hero and himself. Two more knights came and pulled him away.

All the nobles and all the knights started questioning themselves and any neighbor if this is the right guy. Eventually the king grew annoyed. "Wake him up!" He ordered his knights. Two guys came in.

The first one dumped a water bucket on him. Nothing. The other guy poked him in the face repeatedly. Eventually he poked faster as he grew impatient. He ended up kicking him in the arm and hurting his foot. It was rather comical. Finally another knight walked up to them.

"Back off guys, I got this." He pushed his allies back. He crouched down to Saitama's level and whispered, "You have hair." in his ear. It worked. Saitama shot up and his hands and eyes went straight to his scalp. He had such a pure joy, which was instantly diminished in seconds as his hand grazed his bare skin.

Just when he got up, he was surrounded by spears. "Eh? What's happening?" He asked, looking around frantically. He saw everyone staring at him. He was sure he was wearing clothes. "Listen up you!" The king shouted, grabbing Saitama's attention.

"Myne, you poor adventurer, could you please testify once more for us?" He asked the girl. Her voice was shaky. Strained in a way that shows pain, but it sounded so... perfect. Too perfect to be natural, as if it was practiced.

"Th-The Shield Hero barged into my room drunk and pinned me down..." She tensed her body. "Eh?Huh?!" Saitama processed what she said. That's not right. She kept her act up. "He said, the night is still young, and tore my clothes off!" I gotta cut in real quick. If you fall head over heels for someone with THAT kind of red hair, you've got issues.

"I somehow escaped and ran to Sir Motoyasu, who happened to be staying in the same inn, for help!" Sounds a little too perfect. She finished her recollection of some events. "Wha? That's not right!" Saitama's veins started to bulge.

"If she hadn't asked me to wait till dawn and call the knights, I would've cut you down myself!" Motoyasu exclaimed with a sort of anger. A little too cool for this situation. The anger was getting to Saitama. He couldn't make up any words, he had to restrain himself.

He was too angry to notice the room. The snarky grin that Motoyasu would've made it worse if he hadn't been too blind to see it. Blinded by the facial features being formed by his anger that is.

"To think the Shield Hero would commit the greatest sin in this country. In Melromarc, even attempting to sexually assault a woman is punishable by death! If you weren't a hero, you would be executed immediately!" Not many of the king's words were making it to Saitama. He had to calm himself in some way, he knows that his anger doesn't bring the best of choices.

Saitama was wordless as his head hung low and his face was shadowed. Nothing came from anyone. No one dared do anything. The reason? Menacing aura. The wave of menacing aura that came from Saitama. Only the other heroes, Myne, and the king were too dense to feel it.

"If no one here believes these claims, then here is proof!" A knight came after the king spoke. He kneeled before talking "Wh-When we searched the Shield Hero's room," He gulped and peered at Saitama. He saw the darkness that seemed to envelop him. He quickly turned and continued. "U-Um... we found this on his bed." He finished and brought up some undergarments

Myne squealed like a... like a pig if I'm honest. "You animal!" Motoyasu covered Myne from view. The king took everyone's attention "There you have it. Undeniable proof." Holy shit the nobles are gullible.

The nobles soon looked at Saitama to hear what sounds like the faint grinding of metal. People were less shocked by the news and more scared of Saitama. Even the knights that doubted Saitama due to his lack of competence were scared.

"Know your place!" Motoyasu said. Know your place... those words rolled around Saitama's mind for a while. Then something rare happened. Saitama was becoming a bit philosophical. 'My place? I know my place. I'm a hero. I've always been a hero for as long as it matters. I'm a hero for fun, for profit, for innocent lives to stand behind.'

Saitama couldn't help but calm himself. He looked at his shield for a second. 'Is that why I have a shield? Because I'm a hero? But these guys act like the heroes back home. They're not a shield, something for people to defend themselves. They're weapons, for people to provoke. So are these guys not heroes, is anyone in the hero association really a hero?' Saitama thought. There are good people within the ranks of the hero association. Bang, Genos, Mumen Rider, maybe Puri Puri Prisoner... scratch that.

This was a type of revelation for Saitama. He couldn't help but be a little happy. He is a hero, he has a title as a hero, he has a job as a hero, he acts like a hero. Just like that, all his menacing aura dispersed. It was actually more tension after that. 'These guys aren't real heroes. Guess working a little harder for this world won't be too bad.'

Saitama raised his head up in time to see the taunting face Myne made. A little bit of his aura was back. He was annoyed, but he didn't show it. His realization and look on the situation made him feel good. Maybe even renewed.

With a completely neutral face he said, "This was a setup wasn't it?" Only then could people see the fire in his eyes. The faint flash of defining features happen, like a flashback intercepting reality. The king saw it, so did Myne. Her face tightened a little, but stayed stiff to keep up a facade.

"Refusing to admit his guilt and making nonsensical accusations?" Ren said, his voice barely attaining any emotion. "I know, right? I don't think he deserves any mercy, either." Itsuki spoke his mind.

The king too spoke his thoughts. "It really was a mistake to summon all four together." Others soon followed. "Exactly. They never should've summoned the Shield Hero." Saitama noticed how much they hate the shield. He couldn't make much of it since he was still mulling over everything.

He thought about the other heroes. Motoyasu, Ren, Itsuki. All three of them were like the guys back with the association. Like Motoyasu doesn't care as long as he looks good. Rookie crushing. Saitama was a little appalled with this view, but he couldn't help but see it.

But... people change. Humans have the ability to change themselves. That's why they're so strong. He helped knock Fubuki out of her little broken reality, can he do it here too? Not at the moment of course. That's how the greatest heroes came to be, they changed themselves as a human.

Saitama cast his thoughts away for now. Actually, Saitama felt a little guilty, wanting to go home for something like a hotpot, on the other hand... I won't explore that for now. He wanted to go home while this world still needed heroes. It's fine if he stays for a bit longer, he can trust Genos to keep everyone safe, or Bang. King isn't an option, he can trust Mumen Rider to get more medical bills.

Motoyasu spoke up. "Why don't we just get rid of this filth and get a new shield hero?" The king sat down. "Well, I'd love to do as you wish and kick you out, but legend says new heroes can only be summoned once all Four Cardinal Heroes die." As a god of this story, that can be arranged. But it won't because that'd be a real short story.

The king's words got all the hero's attention, Saitama quickly cast that aside though. "What..." Ren turned with alert present on his face, so did Motoyasu. "No way..." The king removed a hand from his face to look at the heroes, mainly the Caped Baldy.

"Well, you can certainly go home after you fight off all the incoming Waves." Ren soon took the light. "Are you saying we'll have to fight alongside a guy like him?" Saitama started getting bored. "In that case, I can handle all the Waves my way."

Saitama got up slowly, all spears in his path were pushed aside or dropped by the sudden intense density that touched them. "Don't move!" The knights reformed around Saitama. As they got close Saitama flicked his body a little.

"Stop that already." He lazily ordered. Hell, it was barely an order. With that one sudden movement, a bunch of guards were thrown back as Saitama's cape blew from the sudden shift in the air. There was no evidence of struggle from Saitama. That scared everyone a bit.

"This guy..." The knights backed off a bit with nothing in their hands, the spears had bent like a pipe cleaner. Some people were scared, others were startled, the minority had already fled. Myne was uneasy. She was astonished at how easy it was for Saitama to pop balloons as a beginner, but this was a show of power. Even if it's not much, to do it so effortlessly is scary.

The king was finding it hard to hold himself. "There's hardly any time until the next Wave. Scum or not, you're still a hero, one of the only beings who can fight the Waves. But news of your crime is already spreading among the people. That is your punishment. Don't ever think you'll get to lead a decent life in this country." He finished. Saitama shrugged.

"Wasn't really planning on it." This isn't the first time people used lies to throw Saitama down. He turned with a slight wave before starting to leave. Before he could leave, Motoyasu grabbed his arm. "Hey, wait!" They stared at one another for a bit.

"Why? You've made yourself clear already." Saitama kept walking. Leaving the partially emptied throne room. The guards were afraid, the nobles were terrified, and the heroes were shocked. Hell, I'm the only one who knows how this will turn out, mystery is a scary thing.

As Saitama walked out of the castle gates, all the respect and trustworthiness he had was gone. It's not like being alone is hard though, he was doing that for a couple of years. He walked forward as the grey sky loomed above.

People backed away at his presence and whispered far from his side. "Hey, buddy. With the shield." Saitama turned to the blacksmith from the other day. He grabbed Saitama's collar and lifted his other hand. "I heard what you did to that girl." His fist went even higher. Saitama stared at him.

"You too?" That surprised the blacksmith. "You..." He stared into Saitama's eyes. One wouldn't see those eyes on someone with malicious intent. He still had the hollow poker face, but you could see a small fiber of light in them. A flash of a black-haired man with brown eyes looked back with a larger fire in his eyes.

The blacksmith shook a little before letting Saitama go. "I thought you were gonna hit me?" Saitama's thin eyebrows rose a little. The blacksmith couldn't hurt the guy who showed concern for him after deciding not to punch him. "I-uh... changed my mind." He was still processing what he saw.

"Okay, bye." Before Saitama could walk off, the blacksmith called for him one more time. "Here, you'll never make it looking like that." He held out a white cloak with a tall collar. "Oh. Okay. How much?" Saitama pulled a coin sack out of his pocket. "Let's just say it's at a clearance of five copper." Saitama gave him the five copper and walked off.

He stared at the cloak for a bit. Maybe if he's really gonna be a hero for these people, he might as well try and blend in. He put it over his usual cape, which was longer. The new cloak was able to cover his body, it left his ankles and head exposed though.

Saitama walked through the fields and into the forest, popping or splattering anything in his way. Sometimes he'd find a balloon hiding in his cloak, they were too weak to notice. He hadn't even hit level 2 yet. Saitama wondered how much of a chore leveling up might be.

To say Saitama wasn't intrigued by the shield would be foolish. He does want to see what happens when materials enter the little orb, he doesn't care much about the exp part though. "Might as well sell what I can't use." He decided cash was more important than training.

He found a chop shop. The last customer ran away when he saw Saitama. The shopkeeper was a little shocked but kept going. Saitama puts down a stack of balloon scraps the size of a child. That shocked the shopkeeper some more.

"O-Oh, orange balloons and uh..." He stumbled across his words for a second. "How does 5 copper sound?" Saitama knew that he was about to get scammed. "You gave that guy one copper for a pair." The shopkeeper tried shrugging it off. "I did, huh? You must understand I have a business to run." Saitama grumbled. Then he remembered all the other things he had.

"One sec." He said opening his cloak wide enough to grab all his other things and show seven orange balloons, glaring at the shopkeeper with red eyes. Red eyes aren't right. That put the shopkeeper on high alert. Before Saitama could grab anything the shopkeeper grabbed his attention. "A-Actually, I remember now! I-It's only fair trade, how does 68 copper sound?" He stuttered.

"Oh, okay." The shopkeeper forked over the money to Saitama. Saitama turned to leave much to the shopkeeper's relief. "You think the other shops are gonna try and scam me?" The shopkeeper opened his eyes wide, sensing the intense aura of malice coming from the bald hero. "N-No! Of course not!" He waved his hands.

Saitama walked away wordlessly, leaving the shopkeeper. He took some breaths in and out before closing up shop. 'I better go tell the other guys not to try swindling off him!' The shopkeeper screamed in his mind.

Saitama decided to end the night off in the wilds around the capital. The starry night shined light down on his bald head.

He yawned as he marched down a path shrouded by trees and darkened in their shadow. As he walked he noticed a slight glimmer beyond the treeline. A fire was nearby. Deciding to check it out, he walked through the shrubbery to get over to the light source, any sturdy branches being snapped in two as they gave way under Saitama's lack of acknowledgment to their existence.

He widened his eyes slightly when he saw the area the fire came from. Saitama had never seen cages so dirty and grimy, but more importantly, he was surprised by the people locked inside of them. He was cut off from his stupor when he heard, "Hey! Who the hell are you?!"

End- Chapter 3