shield hero's samurai | TROTSH

chapter 4. FALSE CHARGES ii

𖤣𖥧.𖤣𖥧𓆏𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
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He didn't utter a word, but the look in his emerald green eyes says it all. All that (Name) needed to know, simply a mirror to his soul, and that was enough answer to satisfy her current question.

Putting the katana back on its sheath before facing front, "I stand by Iwatani Naofumi, your Majesty." that simple yet bold statement shocked the others and clearly the King was displeased at her immediate decision, a frown of disappointment was seen on his bearded face.

Turning around to leave the throne room without hearing what they have to comment on her words. It was dumb of them to believe Mein's accusations without a shred of solid evidence. And it is a relief that they're not in the Land of East, if they were, the Emperor could've made the young man commit Seppuku or beheaded publicly.

And I missed breakfast for this.

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"Come back safe, 'ya hear?!"

As soon as the Shield Hero and the local blacksmith finished their short interaction, now finally bidding goodbye to each other. (Name) then appeared beside Iwatani when the coast was all clear for her to land.

He stopped walking when he felt the familiar cold presence, turning to where it is coming from as his eyes widened a fraction and his heart started beating faster from the slight scare, "Y-You!" he exclaimed, shakily pointing a finger at her face.

She dully blinked at Iwatani before replying blandly, "Yes, it's me. . ." (𝕸ONS: DIO!) trailing off as she didn't really know how to respond to that one-word exclamation.

"You could have killed me on the spot. . . So why?" he asked in a low tone, eyebrows knitted in confusion, but she still managed to hear it clearly.

"I know the face of a dishonest person, and besides you were telling the truth. Who am I to ignore that?" she answered, looking straight into his eyes, telling him something he couldn't grasp yet before (Name) continued, she started to walk towards the gates.

The Shield Hero reluctantly followed behind, not missing the judging looks of the townspeople passing by, mostly on Iwatani's form. Probably about something unpleasant based on their sour expressions.

"Where are you heading to?" he asked after a moment as he felt the tension awkwardly building, but slowly dissipating when she glanced past her shoulder at him with a small friendly smile.

"You're going out of the kingdom, are you not?" she asked instead, but already knowing the answer to that. The rumors spread quickly after all and she had already assumed this conclusion to the unfortunate occurrence earlier.

"Yeah," he answered, "I never got your name. . ." he claimed in embarrassment when he didn't know the mysterious woman's name at least. The only person that stood by him despite not knowing much about each other. And in his eyes, her actions earlier were quite a risk but admirable, too.

"Gushiken (Name)," she informed, head-turning towards the cobblestoned path once again. Quietly admiring the intricate patterns in each of her steps. It was contrary to where she stayed on the humble villages found in the East, where the only beautiful and carefully designed place was the Emperor's kingdom. She's been there a few times.

"I'm Iwatani Naofumi." he introduced.

"I know." she curtly replied, then came the silence once again, briefly looking at the clear blue sky as she thought of her next words carefully, "I have a proposal for you, Shield Hero. . ."

"So, would you mind listening for a bit?"

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(Name) glanced at Iwatani as he continued to punch and kick a few Orange Balloons closing up on where he stood, panting every now and then as he continues to level up his [ Experience! ], until he reaches the next level. She then decided to also slay some of those little demons around the forest as she walked not too far from him and starts her own routine. Now, focusing on calming her heartbeat.

Some time has passed, Iwatani's thoughts were cut off when he now heard the continuous clean slicing sound of a sword nearby to where he is, seeming to echo throughout the forest. The repeating slash slightly brought a shiver running down his spine. He decided to follow it as he also questions where (Name) is, he stood still at the scene in front of him as he watched in awe.

There she gracefully moves with the occasional breeze, slashing Orange Balloons and blocking their attacks with ease of every flick of her katana. She finally stopped, looking at the creature's skins that lay on the ground. She started to pick them up when she sensed no more danger coming her way. Looking at Iwatani's form as she spoke, "I see, you're done. You must be hungry, Iwatani."

The latter blinked a few times, getting out of his trance, before nodding in agreement. He looked away with flushed cheeks—either from earlier leveling up or the embarrassment that he just got caught staring. Hopefully, he didn't creep her out.

His eyes then skimmed at anything, refusing to make eye contact with the female until he saw familiar leaves protruding at the base of a tree, he took a sample and inspected it, "They're just like the ones in the bag I got from that old man." he murmured. (Name) also went beside the Shield hero after taking care of the Orange Balloons' skins, looking at the green leaves. "Are they edible?" Iwatani asked, glancing at her.

"It depends if it's in a family of herbs. Usually, it is either poisonous, the healing ones, or some kind of spice. There's also a possibility that they're just ordinary leaves though. Why don't you try eating some, so we'll know?" the Shield hero deadpanned at her suggestion but took note of what she informed.

Then he felt the shield reacting to it, so he tried to drop a sample on the glowing emblem. [ Due to the usage of the medicinal herbs, the restrictions on the Leaf Shield have been lifted. ], "It seems like you've gained an ability." (Name) commented, amused.

"A medical herb?" he murmurs to himself, "Huh, I get it. I'm starting to get how much of a game this world is like." thumb and pointer finger thoughtfully rest on his chin.

"A game. . ?" She questioned the Shield hero, face contorting into a curious expression. She only knew that the four saints came from another world. A world is much more different from theirs.

(Name) didn't want to admit but that piqued her interest, she was told stories of the past heroes that came to their country when she was young. So, she hoped of seeing them even for once in her life. "What's a 'game' in your world like?"

Iwatani looks at her with raised eyebrows, he didn't expect the Rōnin to ask about the world he came from. "You. . . want to know about my world?" he asked, to which she nodded in response. "Well, where do I start," he said to himself with slightly knitted eyebrows, then he began to explain a few games he played in the past, from his favorite ones to the least, before he gets warped to this new world he was summoned to on the past few days.

✅ EDITED