Me and Cole were on our way to the capital. I decided to ask Cole something.

Y/n: Cole, who was that woman that we saw during the wave?

Cole: She called herself Glass, she took down the wave boss with a single attack, she was much stronger than anyone who was there.

I was relieved that I wasn't noticed by her, if she had noticed me, I would've died.

Y/n: I suppose we should train if we want to beat her.

Cole: I mean, we already beat her once, I'm not sure if she survived that attack of yours. I think it's very likely that she doesn't come back.

Y/n: True, but you can never be too careful.

Cole: I guess that's true.

We continued to walk in silence. Eventually, we were at the gates of the capital. As we walked through the city, I noticed Naofumi on his own.

Y/n: Hey Cole, I'll leave you to yourself for a while, I'm going to go see Naofumi.

Cole nodded and went the other way.

I decided to walk up to Naofumi.

Y/n: Hey, Naofumi!

The shield hero quickly noticed me approaching.

Naofumi: Hi there, thanks for the help during the wave, by the way. I'm not sure if we would've made it if you hadn't come.

Y/n: I'm sure you would've been fine.

I remembered something I said to Naofumi long ago.

Y/n: I said I'd give you an answer whether I'd travel with you or not the next time we met.

This got Naofumi's attention.

Naofumi: So, what's it going to be?

Y/n: I'd be happy to travel alongside you, I think I'm strong enough now.

Naofumi: What's your level then?

I quickly checked my menu.

Assassin level 41

Y/n: Currently, I'm level 41.

Naofumi: You're definitely strong enough then.

Suddenly, a group of guards started walking towards us, Naofumi didn't seem to notice.

Y/n: Naofumi, do you have an idea why the guards are approaching us?

Naofumi: Huh?

He looked in the direction I was looking, he immediately had an annoyed look on his face.

Naofumi: Oh, great.

Guard: Attention! You two are requested to come to the king!

Naofumi was about to say something, but I stopped him.

Y/n: The faster we get this over with, the earlier we can leave. Let's just go with them.

Naofumi sighed and nodded, we started following the knights.

Y/n: By the way, where is your party?

Naofumi: I gave them some money and told them to do whatever they want today, how about you?

Y/n: My case is similar to yours.

After a while, we were in front of what looked like the doors to the throne room.

The doors were opened, Naofumi was pushed inside, while I simply walked in without interference.

I noticed the king sitting on his throne, he looked rather old, he had a white beard as well.

King: I saw everything through the crystal ball, you did well to quell the wave, as much as I hate to admit it. You too, what kind of weapons are those?

He said the latter part while looking at me.

I was glad that I had my face concealed, I didn't want the king to see my annoyed face.

Y/n: These weapons are one of a kind, they cannot be created, therefore explaining what they are would be pointless.

The king seemed somewhat satisfied with my answer and started talking to Naofumi.

King: I have a question for you Shield Hero, how did you obtain such strength? You possess power unbecoming of the shield hero.

It is your duty to reveal the secret behind it.

Back when I was summoned, the queen mentioned that Naofumi was framed by the king. The king's question made me visibly angry, although that wasn't noticeable because I kept my face hidden.

King: Now, spit it out and don't you dare lie to me.

Naofumi pointed to the floor.

Naofumi: If you want to know so badly, kneel before me.

I was surprised, to say the least. Although this made me cheer up a little. I had to hold back my laugh.

Naofumi: In my world, one grovels before the person they're asking for something. And they say: "Please enlighten my ignorant self".

If I said that the king was angry, that would be an understatement.

King: You cur!

A group of knights surrounded Naofumi.

Naofumi: As I am now, I could kill all of you and walk out through the front door if I wanted.

King: You're bluffing.

Naofumi changed the form of his shield. Looking at it, I assumed it had a venomous ability.

Naofumi: Do any of you want to fight me? The man who defeated the boss monster of the wave?

The knights were a little scared by his sentence.

King: You weren't the one who stopped the wave, it was this man right here!

The king pointed at me.

King: You're clearly weak compared to him, my knights would defeat you easily.

I sighed loudly and started walking towards Naofumi. I had enough of this foolery. I stood next to Naofumi and decided to speak:

Y/n: Do any of you want to fight us both, who stopped the wave on our own?

Naofumi grinned widely, I could hear him hold back his laugh. The king was completely surprised by this.

King: What is the meaning of this!? Explain yourself!

Y/n: I can already see you're not the greatest of kings, and I've been here a few minutes. Would the queen like to hear about what you're doing here?

The king looked scared, I assumed it was because I mentioned the queen. I noticed by now that women were more respected in this country. I assumed the queen had a bigger say than the king.

Naofumi: I'm willing to cooperate with you until the waves go down andI can go home. So don't bother me or him again.

Naofumi started walking towards the door, he stopped when he heard the king's voice.

King: You cannot disrespect me this way shield! I know. I'll have your wretched slaves pay for your crimes and-

He immediately stopped talking when Naofumi turned around and looked at him with as much hate as a human can have.

Naofumi: Use all the dirty underhanded tricks you want. I will protect my party through it all. You'll never take anything from me again. I dare you to lay a finger on them. I'll chase you to the ends of the Earth and make you regret being born.

I was a little taken aback by Naofumi's response, but I completely understood why he said that. His response was completely justified.

Naofumi started walking outside once again, I followed behind him. As we were leaving I heard the king shout:

King: Cursed Shield!

As the door closed behind us, I sighed.

Y/n: I'm guessing most people in this country treat you like that?

Naofumi: Yeah, mainly nobles though.

A smile appeared on Naofumi's face.

Naofumi: When you stood up for me and pretty much insulted the king like it was nothing I really wanted to laugh. What was the deal with the queen though?

Y/n: I was summoned to this world by the queen and just so you know, she's much better than this excuse of a king.

Naofumi: I'll keep that in mind.

After a minute or so of walking we were outside the castle.

Y/n: Cole is probably worried why I haven't come back yet.

Naofumi: I guess the same goes for Raphtalia and Filo.

Y/n: Let's go find everyone then.

Naofumi nodded, we started walking around the capital with the intention of finding our party members.

After some time I noticed Cole looking around, he was clearly nervous.

Y/n: Hey Cole!

This immediately got his attention. He quickly ran up to me.

Cole: Where have you been?! I was worried!

I laughed a little, this clearly annoyed Cole even more.

Y/n: The king wanted something, it's not that important?

Cole looked at me, shocked.

Cole: The king? What did you do exactly??

Naofumi stepped in.

Naofumi: He wanted to know how we were so strong during the wave, that's all.

Cole: Oh, I see.

Y/n: We're looking for Naofumi's party, have you seen them around here?

Cole: Oh, yeah I did. They're right over there.

Cole pointed towards an alley to our right.

Y/n: Thanks, can you come with us too?

Cole nodded and started walking with us. Shortly, we saw Raphtalia and Filo.

Naofumi called out to them:

Naofumi: Hey, Raphtalia! Filo!

They quickly heard Naofumi and came over to us.

Raphtalia: Where were you master Naofumi? You were gone for long.

Naofumi: The king wanted to meet me, that's all. By the way, I have something important to say.

Everyone in the group was now paying attention to Naofumi.

Naofumi: Y/n and Cole are going to travel with us from now on.

Cole was a little surprised.

Cole: Why didn't you tell me about this?

Y/n: You know about it now, so what's the difference?

Cole sighed and responded:

Cole: Well, I suppose it would be nice to travel, especially after our failed attempt before.

Naofumi: Well then everyone, prepare yourselves, we're leaving tomorrow.

Me and Cole went towards the inn, while Naofumi and his party went some other way.

Y/n: It would be the best to rest now, I don't think we'll get a chance to do so later.

Cole: Yeah, I agree.

We both entered the inn, I paid the owner for our rooms. Me and Cole went to our separate rooms.

I didn't bother to do anything and simply laid down on my bed, I really needed some rest after today's events.