It had been a week since Raphtalia joined the party. She had grown from a small child into a young woman during that time, which confused Sora in particular, as she now looked older than he did after such a short time. Still, her admiration for the others shone through in her enthusiastic chirping.

  "Naofumi, watch what I can do!" She exclaimed, dribbling a ball as Naofumi taught her to, whilst also aiming for baskets. It didn't matter which basket it was; it didn't even have to be empty. All she knew was that she could show off the skills that Naofumi taught her.

  "You said it's called Basketball, right? It's so much fun!" She said with a smile to Naofumi, who was watching the other people around them. Naofumi wasn't one for sports; they were too tiring, and he was an otaku, which was an oxymoron when he thought about it.

  After what felt like an eternity of him not answering her, she turned toward Donald and Goofy, looking them over, and tilted her head.

  "Are you demi-humans, too?" She questioned the duo.

  "No!" Donald quacked. Goofy just scratched his head with his index finger.

  After asking what she felt was a strong question to Donald and Goofy, but receiving no answer, Raphtalia turned her head toward Sora.

  "And are you like Naofumi?" She asked.

  "Kinda, I guess, but we're both from different worlds ourselves."

  Sora, who was still getting over how diametric this world is compared to the others he's been to. Though most of the worlds he had been to were filled with challenges, this one was just hostile, almost as if it were gritting its teeth and trying to gnaw on anyone from the outside. He put his hands behind his head and just thought for a moment.

  "What are you thinking about, Sora?" Naofumi asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

  "Uh, I was just thinking how much different this world was from all of the other worlds I've been to. Sorry if I worried you, hehehe." Sora replied with what seemed like a forced chuckle. It was after Sora's feigned laughter that a carriage came blitzing by. Its tires came to a screeching halt right in front of the party.

  "Shield Hero?" The man in the driver's seat of the carriage asked.

  "What is it?" Naofumi questioned back, unamused by the driver's apparent callousness.

  "The king would like to see you." The driver said, a faint smirk spread on the curvature of his lips.

  "We'll go there soon."

  "You'll come with me, here and now." The callous driver said in a grimacing tone.

  "Fine, dammit!" Naofumi yelled, causing everyone in the vicinity to look at him and nod their head disapprovingly. Sora jumped, Goofy took off his hat, and looked at it. Donald was feeling a whole bunch of emotions. On the one hand, he was glad that there was someone who could understand his predisposition to anger. On the other hand, Naofumi's anger felt much more real and more visceral than anything that Donald had expressed before. Donald realized that most of his anger stemmed from annoyance, but it felt as if it were trying to hide sadness—hide pain.

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  Raphtalia started to cry. Her tears running down her face, much like Naofumi's had not long after he arrived in this world. Naofumi saw the way that Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Raphtalia reacted to his outburst and turned away. Partially out of shame for what he made them witness, and partially for the contempt he felt for this world.

  Minutes felt like hours, but after thinking it over, Naofumi took his party into the King's court to meet the royal majesty himself.

  "What!?" The king bellowed in his usual raspy, baritone voice.

  "You four would accompany the Shield Hero after what he did!?"

  Sora was the first to retaliate.

  "I don't think that he did what you all accused him of!"

  The King, who was glowing red with anger, let out a menacing yell.

  "You filthy apologist scum!"

  Sora stepped back, the tears stinging his eyes. How was he supposed to talk to a king who wouldn't even listen to what it was that he had to say? The villainization that he received from those words hurt more than any physical pain that he had received.

  "You shut your mouth!" Naofumi yelled at the king.

  "If you ever talk to him like that, or anyone else in my party, in that manner again, I'll end you! I will hunt you down to the ends of this earth and shove those words right down your throat. I'll give you a reason to hate me. I'll make it worth my while, too… I—"

  Just then, three characters and their parties walked into the atrium. Naofumi was about to explode with resentment for one crimson-haired woman in particular. In front of her was one of the heroes. He has blonde hair, red eyes, and a spear in his hand.

  "Naofumi, why are you giving the king such a hard time? You're lucky he let you live, you jerk!" The man said in a condescending tone.

  "Motoyasu…" Naofumi glared at the hero who helped ruin his name. Sora caught the look that Naofumi was giving off and looked toward the white knightlike figure that stood near him.

  "I see you got yourself a party with you. I'm glad you're not alone, truly. The pretty face to cheer you on is a good choice, but a guy with the spikiest hair I had ever seen, a duck, and a— what exactly are you?" Motoyasu looked over to Goofy inquisitively.

  "Well, whatever you are. You're never going to be able to help Naofumi catch up to me, the great and mighty Motoyasu!" He said, spinning his spear around his head and knocking over some pottery with a downward strike, which made everyone in the room sigh with exasperation.

  "Whatever…" Sora said, not liking this guy's arrogance in the slightest. It was strange, though; he didn't want to like this guy, but something about it seemed off, like this Motoyasu character really didn't have a clue about Naofumi being framed.

  "Oh, Motoyasu." The red-haired woman said in a sweetly delicate voice. Naofumi thought it was the most repugnant thing he had ever heard in his life.

  A curly-haired youth, clutching a bow, stepped forward, clothed in a green outfit that eerily matched his hair.

  "My liege, I have done what it is that you have sent me out to do. I have protected a kingdom from a group of bandits with Ren. No evil shall ever trouble those poor villagers again." The bow wielder said, an air of self-righteousness hanging on his every word,

  "Whatever, Itsuki…" Ren, the swordsman in blue, said with an aloofness that made it seem like he was more pleased with his abilities than with the fact that the village was safe.

  How are they heroes? Sora thought.

  Naofumi caught on to what Sora was thinking. He looked toward him and said.

  "They think they're in some kind of game. Motoyasu said it was like an MMORPG that he played. Ren thinks it's like a VR game, and Itsuki sees it as a single-player RPG."

  All of these terms were lost on Sora, who had never played a game before in his life, unless you count Space Paranoids and The Grid, but those weren't games… He thought they were life-and-death situations, much like this world that he found himself in. Yet these heroes treated it as if it meant nothing.

  "There's lives on the line!" His voice cracked with anger. The three heroes looked at each other, dumbfounded. Naofumi was all too eager to get out of there. He left the area, but not before looking down at his H.U.D. There were two days to go until the wave of calamity hit the world. He wasn't sure if he was strong enough to take it on yet. If Sora and his company were having a tough time figuring it out, then how would he explain the H.U.D. system? Would they even understand the slightest bit of it all?

  "Naofumi!" Motoyasu shouted.

  Naofumi let it go; he no longer cared about this world. All he knew was that he wanted to protect the little bit that he did have. The part of the world that believed in him: Raphtalia, Sora, Donald, and Goofy.