The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 01 by Aneko Yusagi Page A

action that entailed the refutation of my will, would be punished immediately with pain.
    Also, a party member icon appeared outside of the slave menu, so I looked into that.
    Slave A. I didn’t know her name, so that’s what it said.
    “Now this slave is yours, Hero. Your payment, please.”
    “Sure.”
    I gave the slave trader 31 pieces of silver.
    “You’ve overpaid, sir.”
    “For the ceremony. You were going to wring more money out of me somehow, weren’t you?”
    “…You are very wise.”
    If I paid up-front, it made it hard for him to say anything about it afterwards. I’d like to see him try to get more out of me now.
    “Very well then. You’ve helped me clear out my stock.”
    “By the way, how much do you actually charge for this processing?”
    “Haha, it’s included in the cost.”
    “Sure it is.”
    He laughed, so I laughed along with him.
    “You’re really something. I’ve got goose bumps.”
    “Whatever.”
    “I look forward to your future visits.”
    “Sure.”
    I started to walk off, and called for the slave to come with me. I turned my back on the circus tent.
    The slave followed behind me, wearing a miserable look on her face.
    “Now then, let’s hear your name.”
    “… Guh...”
    She turned her face away and didn’t answer.
    But that was a stupid thing to do. If the slave disobeyed my orders, she would have to pay. And so the slave punishment curse activated.
    “Gu… guhhhh…”
    She put her hands on her chest and seemed to be in pain.
    “Come on, what’s your name?”
    “Ra… Raphtalia…” Cough! Cough!
    “Raphtalia it is then. Let’s go.”
    She coughed out her name, and the pain faded. She took a moment to recover her breath.
    I took her by the hand, and we continued to walk down the back alley.
    “…”
    Raphtalia looked up at me, her hand in mine. She looked terrified, but we kept on walking…

Chapter Ten: Kids’ Menu

    “Oh geez…”
    We’d gone to the weapon shop, and the owner leaned on the counter and sighed when he saw me come in with Raphtalia.
    That’s right. I want attack power, that’s it. If I didn’t get some weapons, there would be no point to any of this.
    “Give me a weapon that this girl can use. Keep it under 6 pieces of silver.”
    “… Hmph,” the owner sighed again. “I don’t know if the country is wrong, or if you’ve just gone rotten. Whatever. 6 pieces of silver, right?”
    “Yes. And do you have any other clothes or capes back there?”
    “… Sure. You can have ‘em for free.”
    The owner muttered quietly to himself as he laid some knives out on the counter.
    “At your budget, this is about it.”
    From the right side moving left, there was a bronze, steel, and an iron knife.
    Apparently the price changed based on the type of handle.
    I made Raphtalia hold them all and then chose the one I thought fit her best.
    “This one.”
    Raphtalia, with the knife in her hand, looked pale. She stared at the owner, then at me.
    “And here’s your clothes and cape.” The owner threw them roughly in my direction before leading us to the fitting room.
    I gave Raphtalia the knife and clothes and sent her in. She ducked inside, and coughed the whole time she was changing.
    “We should probably get you a bath.”
    There was a river that flowed through the fields. The river running through the country split into three rivers upstream, and I’d moved my hunting over in that direction recently. There were fish in the water, and if I could manage to catch one, I’d save that much on dinner.
    There were fish you could grab with your bare hands, which I did once, and in doing so unlocked the Fish Shield, and its ability: Fishing plus 1.
    She finished changing in silence and then ran over to me. Surely she knew that disobeying me would only result in further suffering? I kept my eyes on her, took a seat, and started talking.
    “Okay, Raphtalia, this is your weapon. I expect you to use it to fight monsters. Do you