Y/n's pov

I woke up in the morning with an unknown feeling on my back and around my stomach. I opened my eyes and looked down to see 2 arms wrapped around my stomach. I looked behind me and saw Rifana asleep against my back. I looked back in front of me and confirmed that I was still in the bed I fell asleep in. I turned my body around and poked Rifana's cheek, causing her to whine and squirm, letting go of me as she opened her eyes. She stared at me for a few seconds before rolling off the bed and making a strange sound. I sat up and looked down at her "are you okay?" she was laying on the floor curled into a ball, nodding "sorry master....It was cold and I had a bad dream...." I stood up and helped her up off the ground "It's fine, I'm not angry about it. I was surprised but it seems like you were even more surprised" She nodded and looked down "s-sorry.." I pat her head "get on your mask, we need to go pick up our equipment" She nodded and grabbed her mask, putting it on. I grabbed my mask as well and we headed out, going to the blacksmith.

When we got there there was already 2 people there getting equipment, a male with black hair wearing a green cloak with a shield on his forearm and a demihuman female with orange hair wearing a red-brown outfit and a sword at her hip. That meant that the demihuman was Raphtalia, the one Rifana wanted to look for, and the male was the shield hero. However we couldn't reveal ourselves yet. I looked at Rifana who was focusing on Raphtalia "Fana, we are here to pick up our equipment, not stare at others" She looked at me and nodded. The blacksmith noticed us and smiled "ah, there you 2 are, I have your equipment ready for you. go ahead and try it on." The shield hero and Raphtalia looked back at us. The shield hero noticed the bracelet and chain on my arm while Raphtalia stared at Rifana. I frowned and looked at Rifana "Fana, you try yours on first." Rifana nodded and quickly got her stuff before going into the dressing room. I sat against a barrel and waited. The shield hero walked up to me "What's with the masks" I looked at him "I don't trust anyone to see my face just yet" He nodded and looked towards the dressing room "what about her?" "I was tired of guys eyeing her while we traveled so I had her put on a mask. She is only 11 even if she does look 18 now" He nodded "that's understandable. what's that chain on your arm for?" I looked at him "It's my weapon. that much should be obvious" Rifana walked out of the dressing room wearing the cloak armor, it looked pretty good on her even though it hid her features. I stood up and grabbed my cloak, patting the top of Rifana's head as I passed her going into the dressing room. I put on the armor, which was surprisingly easy, and looked at myself in the mirror. "hmm, not bad." I stepped out of the dressing room and saw Rifana sitting on the barrel waiting, trying not to look at Raphtalia who was staring at her intensely. I sighed "Fana, let's go, we have to finish preparing" She nodded and went over to me quickly. I looked back at the shield hero before I stepped out the door "Good luck in the wave today shield hero" Before he could respond, we were gone.

We walked down the street, looking at some shops for potions and medicine before the wave can start. Rifana tugs on my sleeve after a while and I look at her "when will I be able to show myself to Raphtalia...." I sigh and stare at her "Rifana, after I know for sure that we can trust him. The wave will be a perfect test for that. So after all the official hero nonsense is over we can talk to him if he has proven trust worthy. Then you can show yourself to her, okay?" She nodded and looked down "Don't worry Rifana, I'm sure it will be fine." She nodded and sighed "I guess you're right master." I sighed and pat her head "do you know the plan for the wave?" She nodded "Secure the safety of civilians then go after the boss. The people's lives come first" I chuckle "exactly, don't hesitate to fight any monsters no matter how big they are but don't try and win if you can't. Fear is your greatest enemy, but stupidity and arrogance will be your downfall" she nodded "understood master, If I can't beat it alone I will distract it until backup arrives or until I find a weakness." "good, now lets go check on the gathering of the adventures and heroes" She nodded and we headed out to the place where the hero's parties and the adventurers were gathering to prepare. We sat away from the majority of the group and observed the people there. Most were equipped with the best things money could buy, but only a few looked like they could use it properly. Everyone seemed to be avoiding the shield hero, other than Raphtalia who was talking to him while they prepared. I watched as the counter slowly approached 0, looking over at Rifana "alright, This is only the second wave Rifana. we are more than prepared to take this on. So do your best, and show me the result of all our training together" She nodded and grabbed the hilt of her sword as we started glowing.

We suddenly appeared in a forest as a fissure opened up in the sky nearby. I looked around until I saw a village nearby and motioned Rifana to follow me as I ran towards the village. We ran quickly as monsters began appearing from the fissure, heading towards the village as well. A flare was shot up into the sky nearby the village, a signal for the knights to go there. It made me angry that they would just set off a flare instead of staying to fight, however it didn't matter as long as we made it there in time to help the villagers evacuate. By the time we got there, the village was already being attacked by bug monsters and undead. "Rifana, you help the villagers evacuate, I will fight off the monsters attacking" "right!" We split off and began our given tasks. I used my chains to grab, crush, and skewer monsters. After a while, the shield hero had shown up to help evacuate the village. He used his shield to protect civilians while Raphtalia took out the monsters. He had Raphtalia go and evacuate the people that are left while he distracted the monsters. I watched as he climbed into a tower and rang the bell to attract the attention of all of the monsters. He didn't have a way to escape so I used my chains and helped him, destroying all of the monsters at the base of the tower, allowing him to get out of there. Soon Raphtalia and Rifana arrived, having finished the evacuation. We were about to finish off the monsters when a volley of fireballs headed towards the village. The shield hero protected Raphtalia with his shield and I grabbed onto Rifana, holding her close to protect her from the attack.

The fire settled down and I looked at my health. I only lost a small portion of my health, but my cloak was singed from the fire. I let go of Rifana and looked at her, she wasn't damaged but a little bit of her cloak was dirtied. I sighed and looked over as knights walking into the village laughing. Raphtalia charged at the guard and yelled at him for attacking despite knowing the shield hero was there. They threatened her but the shield hero told her to stand back and let to monsters deal with them.

Before the monster could take out the knights, the shield hero blocked the attack and Raphtalia attacked. "Get into your formations, I will give you time" most of the knights left instead, but a few stayed behind and got into formation, fighting off the monsters. Soon, the fissure in the sky closed, meaning the boss had been defeated. We took out the rest of the monsters and the villagers had returned to the village. Rifana walked up to me and hugged me "did I do good?" I pat the top of her head "yep, you were amazing today." she hugged me tightly "I'm sorry that I couldn't defend myself against the fire..." "it's fine, I don't expect you to be perfect all around." She nodded and looked over at Raphtalia and the shield hero. I placed my hand on top of her head "We will talk to them after they leave that capital, I have a feeling something is going to be happening at the capital" She nodded and we walked away from the village, going to the capital.

Me and Rifana were sitting in the corner of the room where a party was being thrown for those that took part in fighting off the wave. Rifana had gotten a bunch of food for us to eat so we wouldn't have to deal with other people. Rifana had her mask moved so that she could eat but it still covered most of her face and I had taken my mask off but kept my hood over to keep me from being seen. We ate silently until a commotion had started by the spear hero challenging the shield hero to a duel. The knights had practically kidnapped Raphtalia in order to force the shield hero into a duel. Rifana was angry but I held her back from causing any trouble. Soon we were in the stands of an arena with the shield and spear hero down in the arena ready to start. The duel was started and it was immediately apparent that the shield hero would win, until a woman with red hair used wind magic to knock the shield hero over. Soon the duel had been turned around and the spear hero beat the shield hero. The shield hero had pointed out that the spear hero had cheated, however no one spoke up about the lady using wind magic. I held Rifana from saying anything as I watched Raphtalia having her slave crest removed. I smirked as She had slapped the spear hero and yelled at him, then went over to the shield hero on the ground. Then I felt a strange feeling coming from the shield heroes shield. I watched a black mist coming out of his shield and frowned, a popup appeared in front of me [Cursed shield] detected. Raphtalia had hugged the shield hero and slowly the black mist disappeared. I sighed as the popup disappeared and uncovered Rifana's mouth "let's get out of here. We will wait for them at the exit of the capital tomorrow morning." she nodded and we both left.

Even though we did fight in the wave, since we weren't adventurers or part of one of the 4 hero's parties, we didn't receive any money as a reward. We went to the Inn that we had gotten a room at and paid for another night. After getting into the room we locked the door and went to our own beds. I took off my mask and looked out the window, sighing. After a while I laid down and closed my eyes, not going asleep but just relaxing. Soon I felt pressure on the bed and a warmth next to me. I opened my eyes and saw Rifana cuddling up to me with her eyes closed. I smiled and closed my eyes, I didn't mind this at all, but I was definitely gonna have fun teasing her in the morning. She fell asleep after a bit and turned towards her, wrapping my arms around her and holding her close. I closed my eyes and fell asleep slowly.

I woke up early in the morning and looked down to see Rifana still cuddled into me, asleep. I smiled and pet her ears gently. She squirmed and woke up, looking at me and turning red. She hid her face in my chest and let out a strange sound again before pushing off me and falling to the floor. I chuckled and sat up slowly, getting out of the bed and looking down at her. "you seemed to enjoy your sleep last night" She hid her face in her hands "s-sorry master" I chuckled and pet the top of her head "it's okay, you looked so peaceful that I couldn't get mad at you" She let out another sound before hiding her head with her hood. I grabbed my mask and put it on, looking down at the little weasel girl on the ground. "come on Rifana, if we don't get out there now we might miss them on their way out" She nodded slowly and grabbed her mask, putting in on and standing up. "I-I'm ready to go" I nodded and started walking out. I returned the key to the front desk and we made our way out to the gate that left town. We stood there and waited, watching people leave and enter. After a while we saw the shield hero walking with Raphtalia. The shield hero noticed us and walked over, looking at me "you were the ones that helped us during the wave" I nodded "yeah, and you are the shield hero. I've been hearing a lot of things about you" He frowns and stares at me "really..." I stuck out my hand "It's a good thing that I don't care about rumors and came to judge you myself" He stared at my hand before slowly shaking it "who are you?" I chuckled "Normally you introduce yourself before you ask another for their name" He nodded and sighed "I'm Naofumi Iwatani, the shield hero. and this is-" I put my hand up "I know who she is, Raphtalia, your slave." he looked at me, a could see a bit of suspicion on his face "how do you know that" I chuckled "allow me to introduce myself. I'm Y/n L/n, The chained one." I motioned for Rifana and she stood next to me "And this is my slave that I had rescued from a not so nice place" Rifana took off her hood and mask and stared at Raphtalia, smiling. They stared at each other for a while "Her name is Rifana" Raphtalia suddenly hugged Rifana tightly, knocking her over. Naofumi looked at them before looking at me "didn't you call her Fana earlier?" I nodded "I needed to know that I could trust you before we could reveal our names or faces. Rifana is supposed to be dead so I can't trust anyone immediately." He nodded and looked at the 2 girls hugging on the ground. "I doubt they are going to want to leave each other again" I nodded and sighed "would you mind if we traveled with you then?" He looked at me and frowned "are you sure about traveling with us?" I shrugged "I'm gonna be fighting against the waves so it would be best to stick with a hero. I know I can trust you and Rifana wouldn't want to separate from Raphtalia. Besides, there is no way I could put up with any of those other heroes." He nodded and looked at me "okay then, would you like to join my party?" I nodded "that would be best"

After joining his party the 4 of us headed off to the village that was attacked during the wave. Apparently Naofumi had been staying there for a while and figured it would be the best place to stay for a while. When we got there people were focusing on rebuilding the town. Naofumi had gotten a room at the Inn for him and Raphtalia and I got one for me and Rifana. I noticed that Naofumi had been carrying around an egg for a while and questioned him about it. He told me it was a monster egg, he was planning on training a monster to help him in combat. We headed into our separate rooms and got ready to head to sleep. Since Rifana was going to be climbing into my bed anyways I got a room that only had one bed, Rifana was embarrassed but didn't complain about it. The day hadn't been very eventful, but it was a good day in the end.