Imagination Is My Weapon(Rising of the Shield Hero Fanfic)

Chapter 26: 5 Cardinal Heroes United. . . For Real This Time

Mirai Iwatani  Level: 42

Kenta  Level: 44

"Hold it," I comment, "Including you, brother." I peer over at him, and he glances over his shoulder before returning his attention to his party. I look between the parties, 'and no one's listening. Well, I'll just wait, I mean it's not like we're about to go up against a madman with a plethora of Mana,'

"Melty will provide Magic Support," Naofumi delegates.

"You got it," Melty responds as Naofumi hands a potion to Rapthalia.

"Naofumi, what're you doing?" Ren asks.

"I'm not going to play along with you idoits," Naofumi responds.

"Hey, this isn't the time for the lone wolf act." Motoyasu steps forward, "Miria," Motoyasu gestures from me to Naofumi, "Talk some sense into him." I cross my arms, "Mirai, say something."

"Let him talk," I respond, and Motoyasu looks at me with a "Are you kidding?" expression.

"I'm not helping the guy who tried to kill me when I just wanted to talk," Naofumi states.

"Come, on our backs are against the wall here. Surely, you realize how selfish it is for you to try to fight all by yourself." Itsuki says.

"He's right," Ren adds, and Nafoumi stands up. "The only way we can win this is together."

"We can survive just fine without your help," Naofumi argues.

"No, you can't," Motoyasu chimes in. You don't stand a chance. You'll die taking the blame for a crime you didn't commit. Is that really what you want?" Motoyasu says and turns to me again. "Mirai?" I look to Naofumi.

"You of all people have no right to say that," Raphtalia says in defence of Naofumi. Melty nods, and I resist the urge to agree.

"Spear Guy is really annoying," Filo comments.

"Mirai, help a guy out here," he pleads.

"Hang in there," I say.

"You're the ones who let the Three Heroes Church do whatever they wanted." Naofumi states, "It's your fault it came to this. Myne takes most of the blame because she fell for their schemes and fed into them with her own conspiracies, but honestly, you're just as guilty, Motoyasu." he continues, "She played you for a fool."

"What?!" Myne defends, "No, how dare you accuse me of deceiving Sir Motoyasu! I would never do such a thing!"

"You did, dear sister, but the Spear Hero has no idea you were manipulating him." Melty chimes.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Motoyasu defends, "There's nothing wrong with me trusting a member of my party, you can't blame me for wanting-" Naofumi grumbles.

"Trusting someone doesn't mean you accept everything they say blindly without thinking things through for yourself. None of this would've happened if you just used a bit of brain power." Naofumi states.

"Naofumi's got a point, you know," Ren steps in, placing a hand on Motoyasu's shoulder.

"Take it easy," Itsuki says, walking up from behind. "Motoyasu's sorry for what he did, so let's put all this behind us and get to work."

"You two are no better than he is," Naofumi says to Itsuki and Ren. In case you forgot Ren after you killed that dragon, its rotten carcass poisoned the air and nearly wiped out an entire village."

"That was an accident," Ren admits hesitantly.

"In video games, when you kill a monster, it just disappears; its corpse doesn't stay around to rot." Naofumi says, Ren peers over at me, "This isn't a game, you should've been smart enough to figure that out! And, Itsuki, your vigilante adventure left that town an economic ruin, forcing the people into abject poverty."