Chapter Text
The young girl had lost track of just how long she had been in this cage, withering away as sickness destroyed her body. The slave trader was at least generous enough to give her foods she could better digest in her current state, even if his grin sickened her with fear.
She heard voices. He must have a customer. The man sounded annoyed. Likely to be a cruel owner.
She was overtaken by a coughing fit. A loud one. There were seconds of silence before heavy footsteps began to move in her direction.
Oh no.
Nonononono!
She hadn’t meant to draw attention to herself!
The large sheet that had been covering her cage was pulled aside. He was a young man. Probably in his early twenties, glowering down at her.
“Ah! This one is likely to be within your budget, only three silvers!” The man, Beloukas, grinned.
“Three silvers? In that condition? I’ll give you two.”
“Ooh! You drive a hard bargain good sir! Very well! Two silvers it is!”
The man turned back to her. The young girl withered under his glare.
“Hey, what’s your name?” He asked impatiently.
She began to cough once more.
“Answer me now. What’s your name?” He was getting frustrated.
“R… R…”
“Speak up!”
“…Rifana. My name… Is Rifana.”
X
“Ah! You gave me three silvers dear customer.” Beloukas didn’t look at all distressed by that.
“Don’t pretend you weren’t about to charge me a commission for the slave crest.”
“Ohohoho! You are the kind of customer I most adore!”
With that, Rifana’s new owner had dragged her out of the tent. When they got far enough away though, he let go of her arm and allowed her to walk on her own. To her surprise, he first took her to a clothing store and got her something to replace the tattered rags she had been wearing She ended up with a dark blue dress. Cheap, but far more comfortable than the itchy rags.
“Are you hungry?” He suddenly asked. He didn’t seem nearly as cruel as when they were in the slave tent, just more… Bitter. Even so, Rifana didn’t want to push her luck by coming off as greedy.
“N-no!” Rifana yelped.
And then her stomach growled.
Traitor.
Master Naofumi didn’t seem upset though.
“Come on.” He sighed. Soon, they were at a tavern, and Master Naofumi had ignored her attempts to point out the sign that very clearly said they wouldn’t serve Demi-Humans.
Didn’t seem to matter though. For some reason, everyone seemed on edge around Master, and the server didn’t even say anything when Master ordered her a kid’s meal.
The server set the meal down, and Rifana froze at the sight of the little flag sticking out of it.
“What’s wrong with you?” Master huffed.
“N-nothing Master!” Rifana yelped as she began eating.
‘Raphtalia…’
Master shrugged and took a bite of his food, then grimaced. Did he not like it? Rifana thought her food was delicious. It almost made her cry. She barely remembered the last time she had a nice, hot meal.
Regardless, Master finished his plate. That night, he gave her medicine for her sickness, and she downed the whole thing despite the disgusting taste. Mostly out of fear that he would get violent if she wasted medicine.
The next morning, she was brought to a blacksmith. The bald man looked at Rifana with pity as Master asked for her to be given some armor and a weapon.
He… He wanted to have Rifana fight for him.
But the way he phrased it drew her childish curiosity, and she spoke against her better judgement.
“M-Master?”
“What is it?”
“The way you speak… You make it sound like you can’t attack at all…” She shouldn’t have said that. He would get angry at her for insinuating he was weak. He-
He sighed.
“Because I can’t.” He held up the shield attacked to his arm. “This damn Legendary Shield won’t let me attack at all, so I need someone to fight for me so we can be strong enough to fend off the Waves.”
Legendary Shield?
Waves!?
It… It couldn’t be!
“Master… Are you… The Shield Hero?”
“Yeah. I am.”
There was silence.
Then, all at once, Rifana’s fears and anxieties were washed away. Her eyes lit up, and she felt joy she hadn’t felt in so long.
“AAAAAAAAAHHH!” She squealed, startling the two men.
“What the he- Where did THAT come from!? What’s gotten into you!?” Naofumi-Sama questioned.
“Er… Well kiddo, you see, most Demi-Humans actually worship the Shield Hero…” The blacksmith explained.
“It’s fate that drew us together! It just has to be! For me to be united with my dear Shield Hero! It’s like something out of my dreams!” Rifana rushed forward and clasped his hand in her own. “Now we can finally be married!”
Naofumi’s reaction was… Understandable.
“What the FUCK!?”