(MHW X Rising of the Shield Hero) The Hunter, the Handler, and the Hero

Hunting Heroes

With almost inhuman reactions, the knight-like figure in red intercepted the charging hero with his shield and drew their lance in one fluid movement. The Legendary Weapon glanced off of the golden shield and left Motoyasu surprised and open to the inevitable counter attack. The knight smacked the spear aside with his shield and thrust his lance directly into Motoyasu's hip.

"We have to help him," Myne grabbed hold of Naofumi's hand and attempted to drag him along, but he remained rooted to the spot. He genuinely wanted to help his fellow hero, but something didn't sit right with him. "Shield Hero!" she pleaded and tugged again. "They're going to kill him if we don't do something."

"She's right," Ren, the Sword Hero, got into a stance that indicated him being ready to charge. The knight in blue emerged from behind their comrade and began to fend off their assailants by bashing them with their shield, only using their sword to fend off any incoming strikes. They're not trying to kill anyone he thought.

"Wait!" Naofumi cried out. Before he knew it, he found himself running over to the two knights with the others directly behind them. "Stop attacking, please," he pleaded to the others, but none of them listened and continued charging.

"Enough!" a man's voice shouted as the knight in red held his lance over his shield before performing a sweeping motion with it and knocking the attackers' legs from under them. Naofumi dared to inch closer to the group to help up one of the adventurers and received a warning jab from the knight's lance. "Did you tell them to stand down?" the man asked.

"Y-yes," he stammered, not entirely sure what to make of the pair. Myne approached from behind Naofumi and attempted to help up Motoyasu only to receive the same warning prod Naofumi just had.

"Why? You aren't the ruler. Are you the leader of the party of heroes?" Although the statement wasn't entirely accurate, Naofumi still felt a sense of glee that an individual who had fended off fourteen adventurers considered him to be leader-material.

"As if," Motoyasu rubbed the back of his head and slowly rose but winced when he realized his hip had been impaled less than a minute ago.

"There must be some misunderstanding," a woman's voice emerged from the blue knight as they removed their helmet, revealing a young woman maybe a few years older than Naofumi with shoulder-length black hair held in place by a green head band and facial features that were very similar to being Japanese, but part of her structure made it foreign to anything he'd ever seen. She turned her back to the adventurers and addressed the King. "Am I correct in presuming that you are the ruler?"

"You are correct," King Melromarc replied calmly, but never made any gesture for the room's inhabitants to stand down. "I am King Aultcray Melromarc the thirty-second. You have invaded our throne room and attacked our heroes, the only ones capable of stopping the Waves of Destruction. Explain yourselves."

"King Melromarc," she bowed, her partner still facing them. "We apologize for causing harm to your heroes. We were only acting in self-defense and had no intention of harming anyone."

"Self-defense?!" Melromarc looked taken aback. "Need I remind you who it was that entered the throne room without invitation. Through a portal, no less. There is no way for us to assess whether or not you pose a threat to us."

"We sincerely apologize for that, good King," she held her head down. Naofumi couldn't help but wonder why the strange woman addressed the King with such respect even after being attacked and proving more than capable of defeating swarms of trained adventurers. "We are hunters from another world," she explained. "Another Leshen from your world has invaded ours. It controlled the beasts of our world and cornered my partner and I. We saw no other option and jumped through a portal it created in order to escape and prevent it from doing the same. We had hoped that Geralt of Rivia would have told of his time in our world to those in his land. If you could please send word to him and tell him that the Sapphire Star of Astera is here, he should be able to explain everything you need to know." Being new to this world himself, Naofumi had no idea what any of those names meant.