21 – Judgment Day

Time continued to pass. During the mornings, I trained Lia and Sylvia in swordsmanship using a stick, teaching them common errors and refining their techniques while leveraging the fact that I could never do more than 1 damage to them due to the damned shield restriction... which worked in my favor this time.

In the afternoon, I slept while Lia and Sylvia took turns hunting monsters around us in the forest to level up. Then in the evening we went as a group to advance further into the forest, fighting and accumulating experience together. Finally, around midnight, we set up camp for the girls to sleep while I kept watch until morning.

And that was the cycle we repeated for a week, steadily growing in strength.

By the end of it...

===

[Party]

Naofumi Iwatani(?) - Lv. 10 => Lv. 20 (Capacity - 1000 => 1100)

Lia - Lv. 18 => Lv. 25

Sylvia - Lv. 18 => Lv. 25

===

...We'd leveled up a good chunk.

While I would have preferred to abuse the leveling exploit a bit more to squeeze every point of capacity I could, with the wave teleportation due any day, I didn't risk it.

Instead, I assigned all of that gained capacity to Solaris, reducing it from 2000 days to 200 days.

...I wasn't quite sure if that math was right, but it DID say it was an estimated completion anyway.

If I was lucky, it might suddenly speed up the installation process just like a normal computer could randomly jump 50% to finish installing or something.

A guy could hope, right?

But overall, I didn't get 'too' much stronger.

No.

The ones who got stronger were Sylvia and Lia.

Because of <Potential Amplification Shield Mk II>, their growth rates were increased twenty-fold.

That meant that, although they only gained seven levels, it was the equivalent of 140 levels. Especially since the early level boosts were the greatest.

...At least, in theory.

Since it was multiplicative instead of additive... which would be INSANE if it was additive, by the way... something to look into.

But anyway, since it was multiplicative, it was still pretty ridiculous.

And the result of that...

Sylvia looked up at the forest canopy and closed her eyes. Then, with a single step forward, she unsheathed and slashed her sword.

A gust of wind, scattering green fragments...

And then every single tree in the area had their leaves slashed in half.

But that wasn't all.

As if to not be shown up, Lia stood in front of a tree and rested her hand on her sword hilt. Then, with a single slash... or so it appeared to be, three cuts emerged on the tree trunk.

Light magic, applied to hide her follow up strikes by refracting the light to conceal the slashes in the shadow of the first.

...Somehow.

I was envious. Just a little.

After all, what guy WOULDN'T want to do cool things with a sword like that?

But at the same time, I was happy. Because...

"I did it, Master!"

"Goshujin-sama! I'm strong now!"

...The two smiling girls- No, smiling women in front of me weren't the defenseless 'slaves' that I had bought.

In the span of a week, they had become seasoned warriors. As for the how...

Well.

I glanced at the <Potential Amplification Shield Mk II> description once again.

===

[Potential Amplification Shield Mk II]

A shield that focuses on improving the abilities of the user’s allies. Latent growth is increased by twenty fold. 200 capacity.

===

Right.

Since I'd specified 'latent growth' and not 'growth rate' then the twenty fold multiplier applied to NORMAL growth too. As in, beyond the status.

And so, although it had only been a week in real time... effectively, the training they had was the equivalent of twenty weeks. And twenty weeks of progressively compounding skill training too.

...Which, kind of sadly, meant they were better at a blade than I ever was by now.

Though, the fact that I got them to this point made me happy too.

Seeing Lia and Sylvia stand in front of me, both of them wagging their tails like a dog for praise, I laughed and patted their heads. "You've done well. Both of you. Lia and Sylvia."

Lia giggled and leaned into my hand.

Sylvia let out a content sigh and then moved out from under it to nuzzle against me properly.

...It was a bit odd. Especially since she was a proper mature beauty at this point.

But it was definitely not unwelcome.

...I would think about the moral implications of that at a later point when the fact that we would be putting our lives on the line soon for a world that didn't care about any of us wasn't so pressing.

But for now...

"Alright." I nodded and said, "I think it's about time. I've taught you both all that I can in regards to swordsmanship. And we've all gained plenty of experience fighting monsters too. More than we could have hoped for, really."

Lia nodded, her face shifting to a stern expression. "Yes, Goshujin-sama." She rested her hand on her sword and said, "...We aren't defenseless children anymore."

Sylvia's expression shifted to an icy veneer, her beauty turning into a frosty wall as she said, "Is it time then, Master?"

"Yeah." I looked up at the blue sky through the forest canopy. "We've hidden and trained in silence. We've avoided observation and potential spies hunting us down. But we can't avoid the wave. As a hero, I, along with my party will be teleported to the source of the invasion to fight no matter how far we run."

Lia pursed her lips.

Sylvia narrowed her eyes. "Master..."

"It's fine." I looked at them both and smiled, though my eyes were cold. "This is data. We'll see what happens on this first invasion. But if we aren't treated well... if we risk our lives and still get treated as villains despite working as heroes..."

Lia looked at me and said, "Then we fight?"

Sylvia's blue eyes turned icy. "No, Lia. Then we kill. Because if they still try to harm Master even though he fights as a hero, they don't deserve to be saved."

Lia hesitated. Just for a moment. But then, as if remembering something, she nodded, firm and decisive. "That's right. If we help them but they still try to hurt us... then they aren't worth saving."

"Right." I nodded. "This world dragged me here against my will. And it treated both of you harshly despite being innocent children. So... this is the last chance for it. At least, from us."

A world that allowed nobles to abuse children like Lia and Sylvia.

A kingdom that wrote me off as a villain despite how outrageous the circumstances were and the witnesses that could attest to the story being false.

A legendary shield that summoned me as a hero and yet forcibly bound my abilities instead of aiding me properly while trying to mold me into what its idea of a 'hero of the shield' should be and saying that such a hero doesn't attack...

Well.

I looked at Lia and Sylvia one more time.

I felt it. A shift in the air. Was it teleportation magic? Either way, I felt that it was happening soon.

So, looking at the beautiful tanuki woman with hair the color of autumn leaves as well as the ethereal fox woman with snowy white hair and violet eyes...

"Let's go judge this world, Lia, Sylvia."

...I said those words.

And then it happened in an instant.

A sudden distortion in my vision. A shift in the air, going from the humid forest to an open breezy grassland. Warm sunlight, followed by a sky that was cracked and laced with crimson lines.

Lia and Sylvia were to my left and to my right.

Three shadows rushed past me, followed by a dozen others. Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki, along with their parties.

Screams filled the air in the distance as a village just within our view began to be swarmed by monsters. Giant spiders, zombies, and other creatures.

...Monsters which the heroes blatantly ignored, running somewhere off in the distance instead.

"Well." I slammed my hand on my shield, drawing the attention of the monsters. Then I used <Intimidate> which I had added back after I gained the 100 capacity from leveling, glaring at the crowd of monsters.

The moment I did, <Ominous Aura> activated, slowing all the monsters down.

...Good. It worked.

Then...

"Let's go, Lia. Sylvia."

I started walking forward, shifting my shield from my left arm to my right. Because...

===

Shattered Veil: A shield born from the broken covenant. Although this shield is desperately suppressed by the Shield Spirit, it represents a crack in what should have been inviolable. Damage calculations now apply the defense stat for damage when attacking with your shield. When equipped, the artificial limitations placed upon you as the Shield Hero are removed. Cannot currently be equipped. Once equipped, cannot be removed. Two strikes remain.

===

...The others were wrong.

Who said that you couldn't fight with a shield?

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