The Super Hero (Rise of the Shield Hero)

Next morning

Akio woke up and headed towards the dining hall to grab some breakfast before the king wanted to speak to them.

Akio's jaw dropped as he walked into a room with a big dining table that spanner almost the entire room. The room was meticulously decorated and had a ceiling-to-floor window that looked into the city.

"Good morning, sir." A maid popped out of nowhere, causing Akio to jump. "Are you ready for breakfast?" Akio nodded, causing the maid to bow slightly and walk into the kitchen.

Akio sat down in a random chair. Relaxing his entire weight into the seat, he stares out the window. The city was beautiful. Even though it was still a bit early, the streets were speckled with people setting up their shops for the day.

A few moments later, the maid came out with a cart and a tray on it. She placed the tray onto the table and lifted the cover, revealing an assortment of fruits and morning pastries. She also took a glass from cart and poured Akio a drink that vaguely looked and smelled like apple juice.

"Are you going to keep that all for yourself, or are you going to share?" Akio looked up to see Naofumi smirking at him. Akio motioned for Naofumi to join him, which he promptly did.

"So, what do you think of this place?" Akio asked.

"What, this world or the castle?"

"Both, I guess."

Naofumi gave this a bit of thought before answering. "I guess this world is okay. Same goes for the castle. Most of the people that we've talked to have been nice, so that's good. I don't particularly like the other heroes, but there's nothing we can do about that." Naofumi lowered his voice and leaned in, "And something bugs me about the king, but I don't know what yet."

Akio just nodded, understanding all of what Naofumi just said. He had agreed with all of it, too. The other heroes we're extremely arrogant and a bit too greedy from the start, especially Motoyasu.

The king though...that was an entirely different matter. He just seemed to have a prejudice against the shield hero from the start, which is weird because how would he know how the shield hero acts?

Over the course of breakfast, the two continued to chat until they were summons into the throne room by the king. There, they met up with Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu. The king explained that he had gathered the top adventurers, and that they would pick who they wanted to be in a party with.

Akio glanced over and saw Naofumi closing his eyes with a smile. Akio did the same. After a second, Akio opened his eyes and turned around to see...no one behind him. He saw that no one was behind Naofumi as well.

"Hmm, well, this is unexpected." Said the king, "But it makes sense due to the rumors that have been spreading around."

What? Rumors? Rumors about us?

"Apparently, it is said that the Shield Hero is ignorant of our lands, and does not know anything about our world. As for the Super Hero, since they do not appear to hold any legendary weapon, I do not find it surprising that no one wants to venture out with him."

Akio stood frozen in place. Well, this sucks. It puts a big hamper in my plan to grow quickly, but with my system and powers, I should be fine on my own. As for Naofumi...

While in thought, a red haired girl left Motoyasu's party and joined Naofumi's. As Akio watched her interact with Naofumi though, something felt off about her. He got the same feeling from her as he did the king when he's talking to Naofumi.

"Now, we will distribute money for the heroes." The king ordered.
A couple of maids stepped forwards and handed each of the heroes silver coins, with Motoyasu getting 500, Ren and Itsuki getting 600, Naofumi getting 800, and Akio getting 1,000 since he doesn't have any party members.

"Now go out, Heroes, and get stronger to save our world."

Akio walked over to Naofumi to wish him luck, but the girl, Myne, pulled him away before Akio could say anything.

With a sigh, Akio walked out of the castle and into the city for the first time since arriving to this new world.

A/N
Sorry that this one was a bit shorter, but I wanted to add character development between Akio and Naofumi so future actions make sense between the two.
Anyways, I hope you all liked this chapter. I promise next chapter will be kicked up a notch in terms of action and world building.
As for now, later skaters.