Raphtalia finished casting magic from her position in the rear and whispered to me.

“I made it look like you finished them off, just like you asked, Mr. Naofumi.”

“Nice work. Thanks.”

That should clear up any suspicions of me being the Shield Hero, up to a point. I waved my hand as a declaration of our victory and then nonchalantly picked up the morning star that the Topak Family mercenary had dropped and headed back to the waiting room.

“Umm . . . Mr. Naofumi? What are planning to do with that weapon?”

“Huh? I figured it was ours to keep.”

No one had said anything, and this was a coliseum where people fought to the death. There was no rule against stealing an opponent’s weapon. The merchant-looking guy that had provided the support for the other team did seem a bit bitter, but he obviously wasn’t hurting for weapons.

“Make good use of that weapon!”

He may have looked bitter, but that’s what he yelled out at me. He was probably thinking that if we used the weapon and won, it would be lucrative for his shop or the merchant guild he belonged to. But I could only use my shield, and Raphtalia couldn’t use anything other than her katana, either. That left Filo, but Filo was fond of her claws. I figured I’d ask her anyway.

“Filo. You want to use this weapon?”

“Umm . . .”

She didn’t seem to like the idea. Besides, even if Filo went swinging the thing around violently, there was no guarantee she could actually make good use of the weapon.

“Alight, Filo, how about this . . . From now on, when a match starts, you fling this weapon at our opponents.”

“Okaaay!”

With Filo’s superhuman strength, if she flung the weapon at the opponent it would probably intimidate them a bit, at least. After that, who cares? Then we could just use it at the village or maybe sell it off. As long as we used any weapons we grabbed at least once in a match, it would be free advertising for the merchant guild that we took it from, and they might even decide to provide us support later on. Oh! That was a good idea, even if I do say so myself.

Anyways, there wasn’t much point in sticking around at the venue. The teams that would be fighting in the next match were already standing by, so we could either watch their match or just leave as soon as possible and get some rest. Being our first match, the fight purse was pretty insignificant. Filo must have thought that the morning star I gave her was a new toy, because she was having fun swinging it around in the air.

“Jingle-jaaaangleee!”

It was an adorable sight, but then again, that was a weapon she had in her hand.

“Be careful. That thing is dangerous. Make sure the ball doesn’t hit anything, at least.”

“Okaaay!”