“I would never ask, though, and never take them,” I responded. This was bad. I thought I’d worked through the stuff with Atla, but my hands started to shake. I really wanted to say that the four holy beasts and the demi-human four benevolent animals were two different things.

“Yeah, of course,” the old guy said after an awkward pause. “I shouldn’t have said anything. Sorry, kid.”

“No need to worry about it. It’s just not something I’d do,” I responded. Maybe the one thing I definitely would never do. The old guy understood that and had apologized. We were good.

“If you need any work doing, I’m sure a blacksmith over there will be able to help you out. Once you’re all finished, come on back and bring something nice with you to show us, okay?” he said.

“That I can do,” I replied. We had him making armor for all of the heroes now. He was like our personal blacksmith.

“I wanted to have a shield from the Phoenix materials ready for you by now,” he mentioned. “Sorry about that.”

“I’m sure the Spirit Tortoise Shield can still get the job done,” I assured him. Based on what I’d seen from Ren’s sword, a shield made with Phoenix materials would probably be pretty similar to the Spirit Tortoise one anyway. Just from the numbers, the Phoenix would be better, but the modifier I received from Ost’s protection really muddied those waters.

“Kid, I know it won’t be easy, but do your best. The little lady is waiting for you,” he said.

“Raphtalia has always been there to support me. I have to do the same,” I responded. Then I waved goodbye to the old man and left the store behind.

Chapter Three: Party Selection

The eve of our departure to Kizuna’s world finally arrived. It was decided that the heroes would gather in the village mess hall and determine the plans for the trip. The main topic of conversation was who was going to join the party to visit Kizuna’s world tomorrow and who was going to stay behind in this world. Of course, I would be going.

“Basically, the shield has given me permission to do it, so I’m going to Kizuna’s world,” I stated. “Can you guys cross over too?” I asked Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki.

“Don’t ask me,” Ren replied.

“A different world from this one?” That was Motoyasu’s starting point.

“The only answer is, we don’t know,” intoned Itsuki. The issue was that the four holy heroes were part of the fundamental support system of this world. Would it be possible, then, for them all to leave at once? When I thought about it logically, without special permission—like what had happened with Ost—they probably weren’t going anywhere.

As the four of us bickered, the gemstone on my shield glowed a number of times.

“What was that?” I wondered. Then the gemstones on the other heroes’ weapons also glowed. This was one of the most annoying things about our situation—no way to talk directly with the Shield Spirit. Sometimes it was like I could hear Atla, but this wasn’t one of those times.