"I asked who the hell you are?!" A man adorned in the darkest shades of black wielding a sword shouted. His blade was currently pointed at the depilated head of the Shield Hero. He inched closer every time a sliver of his patience shead. "I asked you a question!"

At this point, the tip of his blade was a mere inch away from the hero's nape. "...Oi, what's happening over there?" Saitama's voice was low, somewhat threatening even. A shade covered his eyes as his brows furrowed.

The other man looked at him strangely. "What does it look like? It's a slave camp." He answered without a hitch.

"Are you a slaver?" Saitama asked, this time an aura slipped out with every word. An aura that promised pain.

Suddenly, the man adorned in black felt a pang in his chest. Fear began to creep into his body. He's fought monsters before, even survived fights with top-tier mercs and adventurers. The similarity between the three groups was terror. The terror that they brought down upon their enemies. Whether it was meant as a deterrent or a warning. Anyone with some amount of strength, of decent instinct, can sense these warnings. It's a survival instinct buried under years of evolution. A skill to be unlocked again. He was proud to be one of those men. To know that he was strong enough to protect himself.

But at this moment, he wished that he wasn't. He wished he wasn't strong enough to sense danger. Wasn't strong enough to join a mercenary group. Wasn't strong enough to patrol the border of the camp. If he were weak, he wouldn't have felt this overwhelming sense of dread. Of undeniable power. Every time he felt that aura emanate from the man in front of him it felt like the world was placed on his shoulders, and it was burning.

This aura that the man gave off. It had no warnings, it was no deterrent, it was just an assurance. It assured that he would face agony. It made sure that it gave the idea of pure death to anything that could feel the titanic weight it brought down on others. He had never felt anything like this before. No monster or man had brought this much terror into his heart. Enough terror to stun him completely.

He felt his eye sting from a sweat drop entering it. He didn't even bother to blink the pain away, fearing that it may give the single small amount of time needed for the man in front of him to make true on the promise his aura gave.

He sucked the gathered saliva in his mouth and prepared to speak again. He smothered all the thoughts of screaming, of running away, or even attacking right there. The only thought he had right now was the hope of giving a satisfactory answer. Hope to be spared from ever feeling this aura again.

"N-Not really. I'm just a guard." He swallowed again. "I-I was just hired to guard the merchandise!" He had hoped that he had given the satisfactory answer.

It wasn't.

This time the aura came on full force. Not even a word was uttered from the person in front of him and yet he felt like he was being crushed. He stepped back without even willing it. At the same time, the years of training under his belt forced him to position his sword in front of himself, entering a defensive pose.

For some reason, he couldn't see clearly. A dark-grey tint covered the area the man was standing. Then he noticed it. The shaking. The uncontrollable shiver that wreaked havoc on his body. The grey tint was from the quick motion of his sword moving sporadically in his unsteady hands.

Before he was able to steady himself, Saitama had thrown him into the trees. A blur faster than the shaking sword, Saitama moved directly in front of him and slammed his knuckles into their face. The force was enough for the man that was thrown back to tear down two trees that had gotten in the way. At the same time, the other trees around them bent and shattered under immense air pressure. It was strong enough to elicit the attention of the other people in the camp.

Saitama walked out of the treeline and into the small clearing that was being used by the slavers. Guards had already gathered around the area of the punch, their blades pointed at him. Swords, spears, and axes were directed towards him as he stood there.

"What was that? Who are you?!" The largest of the armed men questioned Saitama. At first, he was alert and angry, but now that he's gotten a good look at the source of the noise, he wasn't so concerned anymore. More confused by how this bored-looking man, outfitted in a strange outfit, managed to get into the camp. Dammit, when he gets his hands on Steven he'll kill him.

"Y'know slavery isn't good, right?" Saitama asked them back. At the same time, they adopted an incredulous look. Then they adopted an amused look.

'This guy... ' The largest guard scowled while holding back a snicker. "Well, it's legal. And it's good money." He stepped forward and pointed his ax at Saitama. His scowl was replaced with a dirty grin. "And I think I know what you are. A vigilante." His grin turned into a sharp-edged smile. "Some hero you'll be when they find you a pile of meat!" He swung his ax down at Saitama.

The largest guard grinned ear to ear as he saw a satisfying amount of blood splatter around the camp. At least, that's what he imagined. Nothing happened. He swung his ax at the yellow-wearing hero and hit soft dirt.

"You shouldn't swing axes around. You could hurt someone." The largest guard spun his head around to look at the voice. He felt his eyes bulge out of his head as he saw the guy he just crushed standing behind him. He wasn't going crazy either. He saw the other guards gathered around him also staring at the bald man. Their faces were also displaying their shocked expressions.

"W-What're you all looking at?! Kill that bastard!" The largest of the guards yelled at his comrades while trying to pull his ax out. 'Dammit. This thing if stuck.' He heard heavy thumps behind him. He turned back to his comrades. "Did you lot get him?" He asked, looking for one of his allies.

He stood there, looking around in confused silence at the sudden lack of people around him. It was as if everyone had just vanished as quickly as a breeze. "Hey! Where'd you all go!" He was answered by nerve-racking silence. He was starting to become nervous now.

His head snapped towards a sudden thump coming from in front of him. There on the floor, next to his stuck ax, was the nigh-still body of one of the other guards. "Johnny? The hell happened?" He put all his strength into getting to Johnny, kicking his ax down in the process.

Johnny strained to tilt his head towards his large companion. "I-I don't know..." He shut his eyes. "I lunged and then..." Johnny passed out before he could finish. He didn't need to though, the large ax-wielding guard had figured it out.

'That guy...' He heard footsteps behind him. He quickly scrambled to get his ax. Spinning around with it in his hands and holding it as far away from himself as possible. An effort to fend off whatever was behind him.

There Saitama was, behind him was an array of fallen bodies, either lumped in a crater or pressed against fallen cages and laying on shrubbery. He saw something shine on the unknown assailant's arm. Sparing a glance, he saw a peculiar shield with a green gemstone on it. He nearly choked at the realization. 'This guy wasn't just any vigilante. He was The Shield Hero!' He screamed in his mind. 'I thought this guy was supposed to be a pushover! A damn loser!' He stood, his ax still held in front of him.

"You.. how the hell did you get so strong!" The heroes weren't summoned too long ago, so the Shield Hero being able to put down several strong and experienced mercenaries was impossible.

Saitama raised a brow before pointing at himself. "Oh, I just trained my muscles."

"Trained your muscles my ass!" He shouted without thinking. "Dammit, this wasn't supposed to happen! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" He started screaming to himself.

Saitama started to become slightly concerned at the mad screaming displayed by the guard. "Hey, are you alright?" He stepped closer.

"Fuck! Fucking die!" Stuck at the moment. The guard jumped at Saitama without even realizing it. He felt like a caged animal. He hated the feeling and he hated himself even more for letting himself go mad.

He felt the world around him suddenly shift. Finally, the world went dark.

"What a weird guy." Saitama idly commented to himself as the big guard's body uprooted a nearby tree.

He turned around to look at the cages. The empty ones were scattered around, a result of his battle. The only cages that had anything in them were stuffed into the darkest areas of the camp.

The slaves inside were watching the entire thing. Not even with their enhanced senses could they see Saitama's movements. To them, people started flying away from him and he was teleporting everywhere.

When they saw him approach some of them cowered, others leaned closer to their cage doors, and the last few were slumped against the bars trying to see or just trying to breathe. He approached the first cage and nearly tore the door off its hinges before throwing it away. The slaves hesitated, expecting him to hurt them, but when they saw him walk over the other cages they started to file out.

As more cages were busted open, more slaves ran out, either reuniting with their loved ones or running off into the forest. Saitama had stopped to look at the people standing around, they were either looting supplies or warming up near the campfire. He noticed a small child walking up to him.

"Thank you." The boy was timid when he said that. "I knew the Shield Hero would come and save us." He bowed to Saitama before running back to his parents.

Saitama was somewhat stunned. He had never seen this before. Never had he experienced this. But he wasn't thinking about the gratitude the child displayed, instead, he was thinking about the strange animal parts that were on his head. Completely ignoring the thanks he just received, he noticed that nearly every slave had similar features. Differences being what type of animal part they had.

'Wow. This place is stranger than I thought.' Saitama tilted his head at the sight. The number of people there began to dwindle. Soon, he heard coughing behind him. He turned to see that he had missed a cage. This cage, instead of being packed full of people, only had one little girl. She too adorned animal features on her body.

She wasn't even looking at him. She was staring at the floor, slumped onto her knees, and barely moving. The only notion that she was alive was the sudden movements her body made when she coughed.

Saitama walked up to the cage and effortlessly tore the steel cage off. He thought she would make her way out of the cold cage, instead, she remained sitting there despite the chance of freedom in front of her. Saitama scratched his head in confusion.

He turned to the others slaves that were nearby. "Hey, does anyone know..." Only to see that they had all ran away from the area. He and the slave girl were the only ones there.

What does he do now?

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Saitama opened the door to a building. Inside were rows of weapons and armors. "Welcome! Oh, it's you, Saitama." He glanced at Raphtalia before looking back to Saitama. "Hey, hey... what's with the girl?" Saitama scratched his head thinking about how to answer. "Well I... uh. There was a campsite out in the woods with a bunch of people in cages." Erhard listened, waiting for the rest of the explanation. "So I stopped it." He hadn't expected such a blunt explanation, but the idea of it was in the back of his head.

Erhard stared at him. "Alright, but why did you bring her here. A blacksmith's shop." Saitama held the back of his head as he averted his gaze from Erhard's.

"I don't know what to do with her and you're the only other person I know." He admitted. Truthfully, he was hoping to dump her with Erhard. She shouldn't be with him in the dangerous wilds was the idea that crossed his mind.

He looked back at Saitama with a serious look, as if trying to gauge something from Saitama's nigh-unchanging face, only to sigh. "A slave camp, huh?" His expression hardened for a second. "Those bastards!" He muttered a silent fury before returning to the matter at hand. "I don't know what to do with her either. My best guess would be to escort her to Siltvelt." Erhard crossed his arms. "It's not an easy task."

Saitama let his shoulders fall and felt the weight of the situation push him down. This really wouldn't be an easy task. Not only did he not know what a Siltvelt was, but he also had to take care of a small, malnourished, ill, feeble, probably PTSD-ridden child. He's never even taken care of a healthy child.

"What if we hire someone to escort her to Siltvelt?" Saitama suggested, hoping for an alternative.

Erhard shook his head. "No one trustworthy would do that. Probably take the money and sell the girl." Erhard grunted. "Also, what's this 'we' business." He muttered.

All the stress of having to take care of the girl was starting to set in and Erhard could see it. "The only option would be making you her caretaker until things change for the better." Erhard wasn't particularly excited with the idea either. He grew a grim smile. "Might as well make things better for you two." He said, reaching behind the counter and pulling out two items.

Saitama stopped internally crying to see what Erhard had placed on the table. It was a simple dress and an even simpler-looking dagger. "On the house." Erhard gave the two items to the girl at Saitama's legs that had, up until then, only stared at the counter she was too short to peer over.

After the girl walked out of view, Erhard pulled Saitama closer. "You better protect that girl with your life. I'd hate to see something bad happen." Erhard whispered a warning into Saitama's ear. It wasn't needed though, he had already planned on keeping her safe until he finds somewhere to drop her off.

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Saitama walked with Raphtalia following close behind. Saitama was counting his money. Good thing he didn't throw his money away like an idiot. Saitama started coughing. "Did I insult someone just now?" He brushed those thoughts away. Raphtalia was walking close behind. Some people were giving the two dirty looks, but it looks like most of them were directed towards Raphtalia.

"Get a move on!" Saitama heard someone shout. He stopped and looked for the voice. Raphtalia bumped into him as he watched a balding man order, two demi-human children, around with a riding crop. "We don't have all day, you little shits!" Saitama felt his hand clench while watching. The smallest of the two fell over, dropping his bag making their overseer or whatever he was rather pissed. "What's wrong with you, you moron!?!" The small one pleaded and apologized.

Saitama felt his heart churn. 'Something like this is legal?' He was horrified by the thought of slavery being allowed, even more so by the fact that it's supposedly common. Maybe they should get out of the city. Keep the poor girl away from any racism.

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He had led the two of them out of the city and into one of the further forested areas farther away from the city. By the time they arrived, he noticed that the sun had drawn closer to the horizon.

He began smashing flint together, deciding to set up camp as the moon came closer. When he had gotten sparks to grow on the dry wood, he noticed that Raphtalia was toying with her blade.

Deciding to let the fire grow itself, in the meantime, he would let Raphtalia get better with her small knife. Or in other words, training.

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"Oh! Nice!" Saitama praised Raphtalia when she sliced a balloon apart. They were training in a field just outside the capital walls. If they're gonna be together, she might as well learn to protect herself. "Over here!" Saitama held out three mushroom-looking things. Raphtalia swung her dagger, cutting them all in halves.

After training, they camped out. Starting a fire in the evening and cooking some fish Saitama caught. Raphtalia had reached level 3 while Saitama was still level 1. He wondered why he's still level one after fighting all those monsters, but not too much since he's not looking to get stronger. He was interested in evolving his shield however, he thought it was pretty cool looking. 'Blue Mush Shield? Blending ability?' Saitama was slightly giddy at how quickly he's evolving his shield.

"Master?" He heard a soft young voice call out to hi. His mind flashed to Genos for a second. He flushed those thoughts out with a small pang in his chest. "Who are you?" Saitama raised a brow. "Uhm. My name is Saitama and I'm a professional hero. Also one of those Carnival Heroes or whatever they're called." Raphtalia's eyes widened while Saitama rested his head on his hand. "You mean... One of the Four Cardinal Heroes?" Saitama snapped his fingers, "Yeah, that one." Raphtalia looked at him with awe.

'Raphtalia.' She remembered it clearly and painfully. 'Do you know of the four legendary heroes?' A fire sat nearby in a chimney. 'Yep! The ones with the sword, the bow, the spear... And then, the one with the shield!' She was so happy, so childish, a yellow-wearing, and warm to be with back then. 'Correct' She was staring into the kind eyes of another demi-human, her father. 'The shield hero, in particular, treated us demi-humans very well.' She gave a smile full of awe and joy 'Really? I'd like to meet him.' A sentence that came true, despite her forgetting it and losing hope.

Her mother smiled at her and answered. 'If you're a good girl, I'm sure you'll meet him one day.' She laughed and her father pats her head while her mother smiled kindly. She wanted nothing more than to have this moment last forever. But that could only happen in the afterlife, where they wait for their daughter to join in the far future.

As her memory died down, Saitama was smashing some herbs together, practicing his new blending skill. "The Shield Hero..." Raphtalia muttered while Saitama carefully mashed herbs together. As she stared at Saitama, her coughing fit caught up with her. As she began coughing, Saitama finished making his thing, herbs turned into medicine. He held it out to Raphtalia as she stared at it.

As she sipped it, she spat it back out. "Bleh... so bitter." Saitama had a small smile. "I've learned that the best medicine tastes terrible, kind of wish I didn't sometimes." Saitama stared into the fire as the area became quiet.

This marks the first time he's saved someone in this world.

End-Chapter 4