Fanfic / Family of the Shield

Game knowledge is to be acquired and used by those who learned it, not handed out to noobs.

Family Of The Shield is a The Rising of the Shield Hero fanfic written by creator Javetts.

While Naofumi still ends up transported into Melomnarc and becomes Shield Hero, holding still the book he read back from his world let him learn of the Shield's skill to create new shields by absorbing items and of Malty's true nature. While he still ended up accused as a rapist, he has anticipated it and already make preparations for the incoming fallout by the time he was "trialed".

As he purchases and trains Rapthalia, he realizes how fulfilling he feels when he raises her. So when he loots an egg from Wave monsters, he decides to try to hatch it and raise it to chase that feeling again. This led him to raise a baby manticore, a filolial, a sentient plant, and a baby dragon, forming a family with Rapthalia as the mother.

Can be found on FanFiction.net and AO3

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This work of fanfiction contains examples of:

• Adaptational Badass: Thanks to Fitoria, Naofumi and his Family actually found a Dragon Hourglass before the battle with the Three Heroes Church, allowing them to class up before their big fight.
  • Take a good look at the Point of Divergence and Off the Rails sections, this began to pay dividends for Naofumi and his Family long before the Three Heroes Church Coup even began...
  • Also applies to Naofumi's first Wagon. Instead of it being a damaged hand-me-down he would fix up, Naofumi would use Item Crafting Shield abilities alongside help from the residents of Lute Village to create the Wagon entirely from scratch that is both stronger and more durable than it's canon counterpart, along with being larger to allow for Naofumi's entire family to ride comfortably in; even when in full monster form.
  • His "Savior of The Heavenly Fowl" persona is also more badass due to Naofumi's family making him seem like The Beastmaster, and that due to his actions up-and-down Melromarc in the month between the Waves that by the time he returns to Castletown: the Nobles and even King Aultcray himself were all wanting to award "The Savior" with his own Lordship.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: In canon, Naofumi meets Belokas at the slave tent a month after the trial, at which point he's so broken down barely hesitates to take a slave. In the fanfic, he meets him the day before his trial and is quickly driven away as his moral compass is still sturdy. Raphtalia then is met a month early as well, as he buys her as a slave directly after the trial.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Fitoria's dislike of wave monsters and dragons causes her to treat Naofumi's sons very disrespectfully.
• Adaptational Karma:
  • While Malty didn't exactly get off scot-free in the original series for her crimes, this story creates a fate far more punishing for her than simply being renamed Bitch and losing her royal privileges. Naofumi recommends she receive a permanent slave crest that forces her to serve the public to learn what it truly means to be Queen.
  • Due to both their crimes against Naofumi and his family as well as their roles in the attempted coup against Queen Mirellia, the other three heroes are given a trial to answer for what they’d done. Downplayed as Queen Mirellia can’t afford to fully punish them, but their crimes are told to the public.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Naofumi, compared to his canon self, starts off far more patient and kind to Raphtalia when he first gets her, along with treating both his customers even-handedly and being on a first-name basis with his business partners.
  • Most of this stems from Naofumi being aware of the potential danger that Malty would have given him were he to Party with her, having unlocked several shields that alerted him to a hidden danger along with him remembering how there was an Evil Red Head in his Book, and having other shields that helped him store away his clothes, armor, and money. So while the accusation happened to Naofumi; he wasn't directly betrayed.
• Adaptational Villainy: The three heroes, due to seeing the world as a game, self-centered attitudes, and listening to the Three Heroes Church, end up coming to blows with Naofumi and the Iwatani Family far longer than in canon.
• Adaptation Expansion: The story creates many more lords and ladies that rule over Melromarc and expand upon each one, with one in particular being the King's advisor.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
  • In the original story, Raphtalia and Filo were very much like siblings bickering over the attention of their "dad", Naofumi, with Raphtalia feeling something more for him. In this story, much like with Hope of the Shield Hero, Raphtalia and Naofumi act as parents for Filo, as well as their new kids in the story.
  • In the original story, Melty knew Naofumi was the Shield Hero from the start, which made her friendship with him a bit more manipulative (though not in the same way as with Malty) and causes Naofumi and Melty to have a slightly volatile relationship after the reveal with him often referring to Malty as "Second Princess". Here, Melty doesn't know that Naofumi is the Shield Hero to start with; having only heard of him as "The Savior" who travels the countryside helping out towns and villages with the help of his Monsters, While Naofumi initially believes that Melty was just the daughter of an ordinary Noble and that she got along well with his kids, thus, the two develop a more genuine friendship as she travels with them. Even after he learns that she's the princess, he still holds high respect for her due to her kindness and savvy as a future Queen after taking some time to process his feelings that he genuinely calls her "Princess Melty". For her part, Melty learns far earlier that Naofumi has every reason to dislike her father and sister due to their actions, which lets her be more respectful of his feelings than in canon.
• Advancing Wall of Doom: The Cursed Series ability Eventual Victory takes the form of a massive wall laden with the many shields that Naofumi "Sacrifices" to empower it further that will relentlessly chase down it's designated target for 30 days and 30 nights without rest until the Skill itself dies. Naofumi uses it in Chapters 49 and 50 to deal with Pope Balmus. Word of God is that it's based off of the "Demon Wall" that appears in Final Fantasy.
• Bad Powers, Good People: Due to being a wave beast that eventually Class Upgraded into a Wave Boss, Monti has the ability to create an artificial Wave of Catastrophe and exert command over the Wave Monsters that come out of it. This same ability also allows for Monti to actually usurp control over a natural Wave of Catastrophe from it's Wave Boss to automatically cancel it: provided that the Wave Boss in-question has lower health and Stats compared to Monti. Fitoria is quick to note how much of a Game Changer Monti brings to the table with this ability.
  • Lord Liviccic is a necromancer who powers dead bodies (namely the bodies of monsters from the waves) to fight for him. Despite this, he is loyal, empathetic, and does his best to only kill when absolutely necessary. His powers actually get the other three heroes incredibly suspicious of him from their first meeting, fueling their belief that he’s a villain because of ''course'' the guy who wears bones and makes corpses fight for him is evil.
• Boring, but Practical: The best way to learn magic is... by picking up a grimoire and read it. You can also learn through special crystal balls, but magic learned that way is more inefficient.
• Casual Kink: Sophie has said that she ties up Liviccic occasionally and while he insists that he doesn't enjoying it, Filo was able to figure out that this was a lie and he actually does.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Teal is often teasing the others in their family with sexual jokes, namely Naofumi by pushing him to spend time with Raphtalia and Monti with his crush on the Melromarc Seamstress. They also can sense pheromones from others. Despite this, they are still a sweet and loving member of the family and expresses intense disgust at Motoyasu's "interest" in Filo.
  • Sophie frequently teases and flirts with Liviccic, even groping him in front of others. Despite this, she is a loyal and good-natured ally to him and will tone down her antics to help him command more respect.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: Malty is given a slave crest and given the orders to be forced to walk through the land serving the public in order to “learn what it means to be Queen”.
• Covert Pervert: Played with for Teal. While, at first, they seem like a shy and graceful flower, turns out they have quite a raunchy sense of humor, not helped by their ability to sense pheromones.
  • Liviccic denies it fervently, but he likes to get tied up in Sophie's webs.
• Common Law Marriage Naofumi and Raphtalia tend to act like a married couple to a point where Melty got them confused for one. Granted, they are raising four kids...
• Dark Is Not Evil: Lord Liviccic looks exactly how one would expect an evil necromancer to look, with clothing covered in bones and a giant spider/spider-like woman at his beck and call. Despite this, he is truly a kind ruler and a loyal friend. Partly justified due to him actually using the strength of the bones in his magic.
• Death Seeker: Downplayed, but Monti has consistently shown a willingness to die for his family. During their encounter with the Voice Gengars, despite Monti believing his family hates him and might try to kill him, he only attempts to scare them away and when Raphtalia gets close enough to hug him, she sees that he’s so opposed to hurting her that he seems to accept the possibility of dying at her hands. Later, during their first encounter with Fitoria, she attempts to kill him but is stopped by the rest of his family. Despite being afraid of dying, he is fully willing to in order to ensure Fitoria doesn’t hurt them to get rid of him, much to their dismay and Fitoria’s shock.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the original story, Pope Balmus was killed by Naofumi’s Blood Sacrifice magic. Here, he is NEARLY killed due to Naofumi’s “Eventual Victory” ability, but after it’s forcibly stopped, he’s left barely alive, allowing them to stab him with a cursed sword that finally kills him. This allows his body to later be used by Lord Liviccic.
• Dirty Old Man: Gender flipped with the witch running the magic shop in Melromarc. She is a terrifying font of knowledge regarding sex and several times teaches Raphtalia about the subject as a way to torment Naofumi.
• Empty Shell: The combination of Teal helping Motoyasu realize how little he thinks for himself, how it caused him to do all manner of horrible things, and learning that Malty never liked or respected him to begin with leaves Motoyasu like this during his trial, barely justifying his actions or even reacting to anything going on around him.
• Fantastic Racism: Due to her prior experience with the waves, Raphtalia initially hates the idea of Naofumi adopting an egg from a wave beast. After the creature (Monti) is born, she frequently displays visible reluctance to be around him and would even demand that Naofumi be the one to handle him. However, after Monti gains a human form and is able to verbalize his feelings, Raphtalia realizes how damaging this is and promises Monti that she will be a better mother.
  • Due to the instinctual hatred between dragons and filolials, both Filo and Fitoria display this towards Leon. Filo starts off actually trying to get rid of Leon’s egg and, once he’s born, would pick on her baby brother with insulting nicknames and mockery. She does get better as time goes on, but the two still bicker quite often. Fitoria outright attempts to kill a grown-up Leon on sight and, after the Iwatani Family make it clear they won’t tolerate her trying to do that, goes on to often insult and look down upon him.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: For the “girls” of the Iwatani family, Filo is the foolish sibling (driven by her desires, not as thoughtful or forward-thinking) while Teal is the responsible sibling (clever, helps Motoyasu think for himself). For the boys, it’s the reverse age-wise as Monti is the responsible sibling (serious, often focusing on keeping his siblings in line) and Leon is the foolish sibling (greedy, bickers with Filo based on his instincts).
• The Gadfly: Teal loves to mess around with their family, finding all manner of ways to tease them gently.
• Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: Naofumi and Raphtalia do this in Chapter 53 following the end of The Three Heroes Church Coup against Melromarc, also doubles as Their First Time.
• Great Big Book of Everything: The Four Cardinal Weapons Book that had brought Naofumi to the other world, and that he kept hold of before arriving. Reading over the book that same evening, Naofumi was able to learn more about the nature of the Waves of Catastrophe, the existence of other kingdoms and nations outside of Melromarc, the Dragon Hourglasses, the abilities provided by the Cardinal Weapons to copy shared weapon types and absorb materials to gain new forms and how to master their powers, along with how Melromarc was a Matriarchy and that there was an Evil Red Head that was said to betray the Cardinal Heroes at some point. After absorbing the Book into his shield after memorizing its contents back-to-front, Naofumi unlocked both the Book Shield and Prophecy Shield.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Monti has a lot of insecurities, namely stemming from him being a chimera (specifically a manticore) hatched from a wave boss. His biggest fear is that he'll hurt innocent people or, worse, his own family, causing him to hold back his strength.
• History Repeats: Just like what happened with Naofumi during the Sacred Duel, Itsuki Kawasumi nearly succumbs to a Despair Event Horizon after realizing that his entire worldview was false, nearly unlocking his Cursed Series in that moment; only for Rishia Ivyred to pull him out of his funk just as he was about to cross over the threshold. This results in him seeing Rishia in a new light as his Only Friend like how Naofumi does with Raphtalia.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: In the case of the Cardinal Heroes, all that they should be focusing on is getting stronger and fighting against The Waves of Catastrophe. However, due to politics, conspiracies, and manipulations; Naofumi is having to face a much higher uphill battle fighting against the machinations of Human groups such as King Aultcray, Malty, Melromarc's Greater Lords, and The Three Heroes Church that ALL want to keep him from doing the damn job that they had summoned him for.
• Hypocrite: Lampshaded during Itsuki’s part of the three heroes' trial. When he’s questioned on attacking Monti, he first argues that he shouldn’t be punished because there isn’t a law against doing so. Then when he’s confronted on having broken into Lord Liviccic’s house and then attempted to kill him, Itsuki argues that despite the law, it shouldn’t count since Lord Liviccic is a necromancer, making him justified. Queen Mirellia quickly points out that he has attempted to use arguments both for the letter of the law AND the spirit of the law, telling him he can only use one of them to defend himself.
• Idiot Ball: After the war against the Three Heroes Church and several Greater Lords, Naofumi talks about trying to get several of his staunchest allies to be named as replacements for the lords that were killed in order to stack the deck in his favor. Unfortunately, he does so, as Queen Melromarc points out, “aloud, in the open, roughly 100 feet from me, right after we [had] a conversation about me suddenly having more spies available”. He’s left so stunned at his blatant stupidity that he compares his blunder to something Motoyasu would do.
• I Have No Son!: Initially, Raphtalia refuses to acknowledge Monti as being a son to her and Naofumi and does everything she can to avoid him due to him being born from a wave monster. However, upon Monti gaining a human form and expressing his grief over her dislike of him, she promises to be better.
• Ironic Echo: In Chapter 1, when Naofumi asks the other heroes for tips, they ignore his request and Ren states that "Game knowledge is to be acquired and used by those who learned it, not handed out to noobs." When the next day the others see that Naofumi already has a new shield and demand to know how he did it, Naofumi fires back by using the exact same statement Ren made. Ren almost laughs at getting his own words thrown back at him.
  • Downplayed as Naofumi himself never hears it, but he thinks to himself when Monti first thinks of him and Raphtalia as parents that they can “pretend to be a family”. The two eventually come to genuinely think of themselves as parents to the various kids they adopt, but the Queen now believes he is simply pretending, using the exact same phrase he did.
• It's Not You, It's My Enemies: After learning that Melty was related to Malty and King Aultcray, Naofumi is terrified of what might happen to him and the rest of his family now that he revealed to Melty that "The Savior" she had been traveling with was the Shield Hero that Aultcray unjustifiably hates and Malty continuously torments. Despite having spent enough time around Melty to know that she's nothing at all like her sister and father, he's still afraid of what might happen to his family now and what half-baked lie Aultcray will come up with next to emotionally torture Naofumi with.
• Like Parent, Like Child: The Iwatani sons and daughters each carry a small aspect of their parents' personality within them.
  • Monti is quiet and reserved, based on his father's sense of self-doubt and mother's self-worth. Also, he tends to wag his tail much like Raphtalia does with headrubs.
  • Filo is introspective and is able to read others emotions as a Living Lie Detector similar to how Raphtalia's able to tell when Naofumi is thinking of something rude or evil.
  • Teal is calculative and uses her intelligence to work through problems that the family faces, similar to how Naofumi often uses similar methods and misdirection. To her chagrin later, Teal laments that she also inherited Naofumi's own naming conventions whenever she creates new Bioplant-derived plants.
  • Leon is loud and bombastic similar to how Naofumi presents himself as The Gadfly or using his way with words as a merchant peddling his wares.
• Likes Clark Kent, Hates Superman: King Aultcray is this when it came to "The Savior"; wanting to award him with a Title and a Lordship in Melromarc for all the hard work he did during the month in-between the first and second Waves, along with granting a bag of gold when hearing the possibility that he might have slighted "The Savior" in the past as an apology. Largely unaware at the time that "The Savior" was actually Naofumi Iwatani, The Shield Hero.
• Money Multiplier: The Chest of Triumph: a formerly-cursed Treasure Chest found in the pirate ship during the Second Wave that gradually fills with Plunder whenever Naofumi or a member of his family kills something, it is owned by Leon.
• Moral Event Horizon: In-Universe example. One of the Greater Lords that sided with the Church, Lord Veramir, was able to empower his Evil Weapon (which grows stronger by killing humans and demihumans) even though he hasn't actually fought anyone in years. He has been raping female demihuman slaves to get them pregnant and then murdering the babies. Everyone who hears this considers him having gone beyond any morality that could exist.
• Morality Chain: Raphtalia and the rest of the family serves as this for Naofumi; serving to anchor his sanity and keep him from falling into a Despair Event Horizon due to the horrible situation he was brought into as The Shield Hero.
• Multipurpose Monocultured Crop: The Bioplant Seeds that Naofumi and his party had recovered from The Bioplant Monster had been modified in various ways by him and the Iwatani Family: from creating minor alterations to basic Bioplants for the purpose of easy Mob Grinding in-between towns for Naofumi to unlock more Shields with, to creating newer types of fast-growing crops to feed ailing villages, and even using one of his most heavily-modified Bioplants to become his third child: Teal Iwatani; who often creates her own modified Bioplants that can serve as makeshift weapons in the middle of a fight with razor-sharp leaves as hard as steel that she refers as her [Iron Garden].
  • Telling in that this was the intended purpose of "The Miracle Seed" by the ancient Alchemists that had originally created it, only for it to be deemed a failure and sealed away by them until Motoyasu uncovered it and later both Naofumi and Teal managing to perfect it.
• My God, What Have I Done?: When Naofumi first adopted Monti into the family, Raphtalia started off treating him with hostility due to him being a wave beast. She ends up having a minor moment when he points out how hard he has tried to be a good son and, despite that, she still treated him poorly. Later, when the Shield Family first encounters the Voice Gengars, Monti ends up being affected so badly that he's left in a panicked state and demands that his family stay away from him. But when Raphtalia approaches him, he intentionally attacks wide, wanting her to stay away rather than hurt her. This causes her to have a full moment of realizing how cruel she'd been to him and she finally declares him to be her son.
  • All of the three heroes have this reaction at some point. Motoyasu has his when he starts thinking for himself and realizes how despicable his actions against Naofumi and his family have been. Itsuki has it when he is told of the disastrous effects his assassination of an overtaxing ruler had on the city. Ren has it upon realizing the world really isn’t a game after having killed a sentient dragon and allowed his adopted daughter to be enslaved.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Monti is the spawn of the Chimera Wave Boss, and as a result should be driven solely towards causing chaos in the world by his instincts. Fitoria is amazed that he could actually be orderly instead, having been raised as the loving and dutiful eldest son of Naofumi's family.
• Not Me This Time: When asked if he had anything to do with the enslavement of Lurolona's survivors, Aultcray answers in the negative - it was all the initiative of a joint group of knights and bandits (the former now being imprisoned for stealing the equipment the latter used to fake being Melromarc knights).
• Oh, Crap!: Naofumi and his family are noticeably worried when a Spirit Tortoise familiar copies Monti, and the next chapter shows that everyone else is shocked and unnerved by how powerful it is.
• Off the Rails: Oh boy...:
  • The moment when things for Naofumi began to change was when he had the thought of holding tightly to The Four Cardinal Weapons library book that brought him to the other world. With the book in hand, Naofumi was able to actually learn more about the world he was just summoned into before turning in for the night. After reading the book over and memorizing its contents; he absorbs it into his shield which unlocks two Shields, including the Book Shield his Canon Self got following the First Wave and used as part of his disguise as The Savior.
  • After absorbing both the Book and his Cellphone into his Shield, Naofumi unlocks 8 different shields that offered utilitarian abilities for him: such as inspecting targets, taking pictures, recording video and audio, a Level-Map Display, being able to communicate with people in his party even across vast distances, and a Spider-Sense ability. Abilities that Naofumi's canon self doesn't possess.
    • Among these Shields are the Computer Shield which allows for Naofumi to intuit more about the nature of his Shield and unlocked abilities; including unique ways that similar shields could combine their powers (E.G.: using both the Mini Map and Enemy Scan to create Enemy-Detecting Radar, that when enhanced with other detection-based Shields would allow for Naofumi to also track down resource nodes)
  • Due to being made aware of the threat posed by the Evil Red Head in the Book paired with the benefits of both his Prophecy Shield and Glass Lens Shield that he unlocked, Naofumi was able to deduce that "Myne" was likely going to try screwing him over should she party with him, resulting in him quietly revealing that Myne was King Aultcray's daughter to the other Heroes; meaning that he is immediately wary of Princess Malty and decides to go about his first day alone.
  • Because of Naofumi knowing that he can copy other Shields using The Weapon Copy System from reading the Book, Naofumi is upfront with Elhart when he first enters the shop; giving the blacksmith a friendly warning about the other Heroes that might attempt to copy the Bows, Swords, and Spears he has on display. In-exchange for giving him a chance to purchase some shields that he can copy the abilities of for himself, with the first shield he copies being the Meteor Shield that his canon self wouldn't get until he learnt about the Weapon Copy System two months later.
  • Because of the issue of not having any Party Members at the time, Naofumi briefly heads for the Guild Hall for help; which results in him being directed into meeting Beloukas weeks earlier and while in the Guild Hall allow for Naofumi to briefly encounter Liviccic Blackcrown who would eventually become a future member of Naofumi's Party.
  • Due to Naofumi knowing of how the Legendary Weapons work being able to absorb materials to gain new forms and unique abilities, he eventually has his Shield absorb his coins to unlock the three Coin Series Shields: which act as both a Random Drop Booster and a Wallet of Holding, along with absorbing his rucksack that grants him a Storage Shield that would prevent him from being robbed the following evening. Because of this, Naofumi is able to keep his armor, original clothes and his money; only losing 20 of his original 800 Silvers that he was unable to convert to Gold or Copper to store inside of his shield.
  • Due to Naofumi being aware of the danger that would come from Myne should he have had her in his Party, he has not completely lost his sense of trust for people because he wasn't directly betrayed when the False Rape Accusation was made about him.
  • Because of the Coin Series Shields saving his money, Naofumi had plenty of cash left to purchase Raphtalia the day after he was summoned. Along with purchasing different kinds of Slave Ink to unlock 4 more Shields with; among them the Freedom Shield that serves as an Anti-Debuff towards movement-restricting abilities.
  • Because of Naofumi's more compassionate nature who wears his heart on his sleeve, this allows for Raphtalia to begin slowly trusting Naofumi much sooner than her Canon self; especially in-regards to learning that like Raphtalia Naofumi was also Made a Slave due to the Legendary Shield restricting his abilities and essentially kidnapping him.
  • Thanks to Naofumi warning him of the Weapon Copy System that the other Three Heroes might use, Elhart was able to keep trusting Naofumi; especially after using his own Appraisal on him to see if Naofumi indeed raped Malty like everyone else was claiming he did.
  • Raphtalia's fighting style is modified to not just prioritize Swordfighting, but to also use Throwing Daggers as a potential ranged option.
  • Naofumi commissions Elhart to craft him several shield designs that were available in his world's history, allowing him to gain more shield forms to unlock along with added abilities that make his high defense into an Hour of Power attack, being able to use his MP to tear through his opponent's armor and defenses, and deflecting incoming attacks back at the attacker.
  • Naofumi decides to store live Red Balloons inside of his shield instead of carrying around Orange Balloons attached to his body beneath the cloak. Using them as both a smoke screen and as a means for checking out traps or environmental hazards.
  • Before heading into the Lute Village, Naofumi absorbs more materials such as a set of apothecary equipment and assorted herbs; which unlocks him three more Random Drop Booster Shields that enhance whatever crafting materials he harvests or uses for Item Crafting along with a rock that triples his body-weight to make it harder for enemies to move him or easier for Naofumi to trap them. After arriving at the Mine to clear out the monsters and finding more materials, Naofumi also absorbs a Door in addition to the rope and pickaxe which grants him the Door Shield with the ability to automatically bring Party members to his side across vast distances.
  • Encountering the Orthrus Dog in the Mines, Naofumi learns more about Raphtalia's past, along with how she came about as a Slave; earning Naofumi an even bigger dislike of the kingdom of Melromarc for their scummy practices and betrayal of Luroluna.
  • Instead of primarily defeating the Orthrus using Raphtalia and Air Strike Shield, Naofumi winds up unleashing a hoard of Red Balloons as a smoke screen having Raphtalia stab one of its heads, followed by cutting into its stomach.
  • Thanks to Naofumi having unlocked the abilities of several Random Drop Booster Shields, the monsters he fights are now able to drop random equipment or extra higher-grade materials for him and his party, meaning that when he commissions Elhart to create the Barbarian Armor for him; the higher-quality materials he also got from the Orthrus Dog allows for the armors stats to be far better and the armor looks more darker than in Canon. Including granting the armor an Intimidate ability. He also picks up a pair of Dusters from the Orthrus Dog as well that Elhart holds onto.
  • Similar to what happened in Hope of the Shield Hero, Naofumi is stumbling over himself whether he should treat Raphtalia as a kid or as an adult now that she had leveled up, coupled with feeling guilt at himself for having apparently sacrificed her childhood for his own benefit.
  • The Wave of Catastrophe that hit Lute Village saw Naofumi using his suite of new abilities to their fullest: keeping in constant contact with Raphtalia thanks to his Satellite Shield, using Minimap to keep an eye on the town for trouble, using Knock Knock to bring Raphtalia to his side after she finished evacuating the Villagers to the mines. While in-battle, Naofumi uses Record to playback loud noise to lure in the remaining monsters, Bedrock to pin the larger zombies long enough for Raphtalia to kill them, and using Attack Reflector Abilities like Reflect, Hazard and Parry to deliver incoming damage back to groups of Wave Monsters tenfold.
  • The Knight-Captain and the rest of his squad is forced to remain in the village after being intimidated by Naofumi; allowing for more manpower and coordination in saving the villagers following the conclusion of the Wave; resulting in much fewer casualties for Lute and even larger public support for Naofumi than what there already was in Canon.
  • Naofumi's suite of information-gathering skills granted by his various Cellphone-derived Shields allowed for him to quickly detect that the Chimera Wave Boss had been carrying an egg. And after safely removing the egg told Raphtalia that he planned on raising the creature inside as a member of their Party when it hatches.
  • Because of Naofumi acquiring Summon Magic, Raphtalia isn't tied and gagged during the party, due to Naofumi using Knock-Knock to bring her to his side again along with telling her to reveal to everyone she was from Luroluna, forcing Aultcray to silence her to save face.
  • While the duel between Naofumi and Motoyasu happens as in Canon, because of Naofumi's additional abilities he earned from other Shields, this allows for Naofumi to technically win the Sacred Duel; especially with how Naofumi tried to break through Motoyasu's self-delusions that they were nothing more than slaves posing as Heroes, and that Naofumi had little other choice but to purchase Raphtalia to fight for him. Along with providing physical evidence to Malty's blatant cheating during the match by creating a poison cloud that she wound up blowing away accidentally.
  • After being assured that Raphtalia would always stand with him through thick-and-thin, it prevented Naofumi from immediately unlocking the Curse Series, along with unlocking the first of eleven conditions for an entirely new Series of Shields.
  • After returning to Lute, the Chimera Egg hatches first, as Naofumi dotes on the newly-hatched Manticore he names Monti, followed afterwards by Filo hatching the next day: both of whom he treats as though they were his own kids rather than simple Monsters.
  • During the race between Naofumi and Motoyasu for rulership over Lute, Monti went around the track using his poison tail to paralyze and eventually kill two of Malty's Mages that she sent around to try and cheat in the race with.
  • Having heard of how foolish King Aultcray was and that Naofumi was staying in Lute Village, Queen Mirellia attempted to send a letter to make him the new Lord of the village; only for Naofumi to turn it down saying that the village needs an experienced leader like the actual Lord to govern the village.
  • Instead of purchasing a hand-me-down cart for Filo to pull, Naofumi simply goes about creating one from scratch, along with not only using his suite of Item Crafting Shields but also unlocking the three Carpenter Series Shields that upgrade the quality of the wood he would make the new cart from to be far more durable and stronger than its canon counterpart, along with being large-enough to have Monti ride in it with the others.
  • The Chain of Deals that Naofumi needed to go through in order to get transforming clothes never happens as the Shop Witch leads them to the cave herself to get the replacement gem for her spindle; having once considered putting in a commission for the Merchants Guild until she first met Filo and Monti in her shop. Beyond this, the Nue that they end up fighting against in the cave isn't defeated using the Gengar Shields and is instead beaten by the family all working together. This results in two more tiers of the new Shield Series being unlocked.
  • Thanks to the inclusion of Monti to the Party and the Tele-Communicate Skill Naofumi possesses, Monti is able to scout ahead of the cart to find the Bandit Ambush meant for capturing Hikwaal; which later results in the Class-Upped Bandit Leader Zeke after seeing how outclassed he really is to the Cardinal Heroes and that the Shield Hero only robbed them instead of killing them: decided to step away from Banditry and go legit as a Mercenary.
  • Naofumi is able to do more with his newfound reputation as "Savior Of The Heavenly Fowl", with his legend expanding further to make the people see him not just as a Doctor that wanders the countryside with a talking Filolial pulling his carriage like in Canon, but also as The Beastmaster due to the number of various beasts and creatures that Naofumi accrues on his journies throughout Melromarc that he views as his own sons and daughters.
    • Having unlocked a large variety of Item Crafting Shields, Naofumi is able to make even higher-quality medicines than his Canon self is capable of; where the Castletown Apothecary analyzed one of Naofumi's earliest Healing Potions and while it was still made with the Beginner Recipe actually had the potency of an Intermediate-Grade Healing Potion. While the Potions are sold much cheaper than his Canon self, that higher-grade potency manages to skyrocket Naofumi's reputation as The Savior.
    • Also, Naofumi's Item Amplifier Shields that enhance medicines he applies to others are benefitted further from the ability unlocked from the Interdimensional Locust Shield he got from the Lute Village wave: Swarm Stomach, which grants Naofumi an AoE to any Consumable Goods that he uses; allowing for Naofumi to heal a large group of people gathered around him with just one bottle of medicine.
    • The aftermath of the Bioplant Monster attack in Lerno Village ends differently: with Naofumi experimenting further with the recovered Bioplant Seeds through both plant modification and cross-pollination of the breeds those various modifications made to create a much-higher yield crop than originally and asking the Lord for the unmodified Bioplant Seeds as his payment for helping their village out: knowing how potent the original Seeds could be when adapting them to create more Shield Forms, along with using both the Cane and Band he got from the Bioplant Monster through his Random Drop Boosters to create an even more modified and intelligent Bioplant that he would keep for his party, whom would grow into his third child: Teal Iwatani.
    • During his stay in Opaltown where he was harassed by Lord Wagner who wanted to steal Filo Iwatani by any means necessary, Naofumi vows to never return: and that because of his status as "The Savior", this causes Opaltown's economy to collapse as The Merchants Guild and several villages throughout Melromarc who had benefitted from the Savior's actions followed suit in denying Opaltown economic opportunities. On top of this, Kurtis and five other City Guards also left Opaltown in disgust at what Lord Wagner tried doing to Naofumi out of petty entitlement.
    • The aftermath of Gaelion at Mirso Village ends differently thanks to Filo's Empath abilities: letting Naofumi learn of why exactly Gaelion was killed by the Sword Hero, along with uncovering the existence of Wyndia much earlier than in Canon. Along the way, Naofumi unlocks the fourth condition for the new series of Shields along with uncovering a Dragon Egg found inside of Gaelion's cave who would later hatch into Naofumi's fourth child: Leon Iwatani.
    • Gaelion's aftermath doesn't end in Mirso Village. Following curing the villagers in Mirso, Naofumi learns that some of Gaelion's poison was carried downstream through rainfall: leading to them heading into the river town of Windingbrook to heal the sick there, including two of the Lord's three sons, but because of how advanced the sickness was; he was unable to save the youngest son and was left crying and begging as he calmly cradled Frederick. The aftermath of which earned Naofumi the fifth condition.
    • Due to the heroic actions of "The Savior" Lord Aldreick Wymarc, a Greater Lord and the Chancellor to the King along with being the Lord of Windingbrook admits that the Nobles were considering to grant "The Savior" with a Lordship of his own for his actions in helping the citizenry of Melromarc. Only after learning of who exactly the Savior was all along, and of the immense guilt Naofumi felt at failing to save Aldreick's youngest son Frederick, did the Chancellor finally realize just how much King Aultcray had screwed over an earnest and true-hearted Hero for absolute petty reasons. This results in Aldreick to Resign in Protest because of what happened and in order to spend more time with his remaining sons.
    • The Iwatani Family's encounter with the displaced refugees from Itsuki's Full-Circle Revolution in the North ends on a better note for the survivors thanks to both Naofumi and Teal Iwatani modifying some of their collection of Bioplant Seeds in order to eventually create and cultivate a new fast-growing Potato-like crop called "Netting Roots" for the refugees that they could use to help feed their populace and to slowly rebuild their economy once again. While there, Naofumi overhears stories that the Cerberus responsible for devastating Luroluna Village managed to survive and is off in the wilderness.
  • Having heard of the three Nobles who were said to have been assassinated, Naofumi meets Fitts in Opaltown and learns that he was framed for the Lord's deaths by The Three Heroes Church; which causes Naofumi to learn about the possible threat that the Church poses for him and his family, since The Three Heroes Church views The Shield Hero as The Antichrist.
  • Having heard of stories of Skeletons attacking Monsters but avoiding Humans all across Melromarc throughout their journey, Naofumi and his party encounters Liviccic Blackcrown; the young Adventurer whom Naofumi briefly met on his first day within the Guild Hall who was a Necromancer and the son of one of the three Nobles who was assassinated, along with his partner Sophia a Royal White Widow whom was raised a century ago by the Vassal Whip Hero. This allows Naofumi to learn more about the nature of Vassal Weapons along with the fact that King Aultcray was actually a Vassal Hero himself: The Vassal Staff Hero. Afterwards, the two would informally join with Naofumi's Party hoping to finally gain enough levels so Liviccic could eventually reclaim his family's position as the Greater Lord of Briarhaven. Along the way, Naofumi also absorbs a cursed Door which upgrades Door Shield and unlocks a new ability for the Cursed Series.
  • Princess Melty is never told who the Shield Hero is, so when they run into one another and Naofumi offers her a ride back to Castletown, Melty simply believes she's talking to "The Savior of the Heavenly Fowl" and not "The Shield Hero", while Naofumi is himself left in the dark about Melty being a Princess and thinks she was just the daughter of some other Noble. This causes Naofumi to be open and slowly build more trust with her knowing that his kids had enjoyed spending time playing with her, and Melty to become more willing to listen to his criticisms of her father's rulership.
  • Having learnt about the nature of the Three Heroes Church from Fitts, when Naofumi and Raphtalia go to purchase some Holy Water, Naofumi makes sure to thank the Pope in order to remain in good graces. Along with purchasing an additional Holy Water that he used to unlock two more Shields with: Holy Shield and Paladin's Shield which allow for Naofumi to break minor curses or to cast status buffs on his allies.
  • The confrontation between Itsuki and Ren with Naofumi in the Inn plays out completely differently with the Sword and Bow Heroes looking on confused as Naofumi plays the role of a patient father keeping his kids in-line at dinner. Followed by Naofumi learning that the pair didn't think that the world around them was at all real when they constantly talk about NPCs and Random Encounters, and that while Naofumi was left in the dark about Itsuki's role in the North; he all but yells at Ren for what happened after the Sword Hero had killed Gaelion. And it is here that Melty learns that Naofumi was indeed the Shield Hero; having been sitting at the table with the others for dinner, giving her a chance to see into the inner turmoil that Naofumi and Raphtalia have been suffering from because of her own father and older sister's actions.
  • The Third Wave of Catastrophe ends up not only with Naofumi saving more lives than in Canon, but due to his actions all across Melromarc in the weeks following Lute Village, it results in Naofumi having a party strong and determined enough to result in Melromarc's first ever 0 Casualty Wave!
    • After learning that Melty was the daughter of King Aultcray and the younger sister to Malty, Naofumi doesn't lose that much of his trust in the younger Princess due to how earnest and kind Melty is by-comparison, because of this Naofumi is willing to let her into his inner circle; working alongside the Princess to help plan around the upcoming Wave of Catastrophe in order to prioritize minimizing the number of lives that could be lost during it. Following the Wave's success thanks to Melty's strategy, she has definitively earned Naofumi's respect that he calls her by her name and title instead of simply calling her "Second Princess" like his Canon self does.
    • Naofumi's Party at the time of the Wave doesn't just consist of him, Raphtalia, Filo, Ake, and his four-man Squad of Knights and Mages; but also having five additional Party Members: a Necromancer Lord and four other Royal-Type Monsters like Filo. Because of this setup, the Party was organized as thus:
    • Naofumi and Raphtalia work closely as combat support with Ake's Squad to protect the villagers from Wave Monsters.
    • Sophia and Teal hold the line with Liviccic to secure the village square as a safe zone to evacuate the villagers to, with Teal using her Green Thumb abilities to plant defenses and Liviccic using his Skeleton Army as cannon fodder.
    • Filo and Monti serving as advance scouts to bring back villagers that are outside of Naofumi's reach to the safe zone more quickly.
    • Leon being on overwatch to keep track of incoming swarms of Wave Monsters and relay that info to the rest of the Party through Tele-Communicate to prepare them.
    • Afterwards they are also supplemented by Kurtis' Party and because of it; it results in the Wave of Catastrophe being reduced by a whole hour shorter than what happened in Canon.
    • Because of Naofumi calling out Lord Wagner's corruption in Opaltown which led to Kurtis and several of the town's Guards resigning, they eventually form a Party of Adventurers which coincidentally were doing a job in the farms outside of the village during The Wave which allowed for the Farmers to be protected long enough for Monti to evacuate them to the center of town. After joining Naofumi's active Party: this let Naofumi to unlock the Commander Shield and enable him to organize parties even further and expand the network of his Tele-Communicate and Knock-Knock abilities.
    • After evacuating the villagers to the center of town, Teal plants both a line of super-strong trees along with planting several of her Iron Gardens: plants with super-dense leaves that are as hard as steel that can supplement anyone's heavily-damaged weapons in battle. This combined with Granny working alongside Liviccic, Sophia, Ake's Squad and Kurtis' Party manages to have them all effectively hold the line against the onslaught of Wave Monsters long enough for the Wave Bosses to finally be defeated: ensuring that 0 Casualty Rate for the Wave.
    • Monti due to his nature as a Wave Monster is able to detect that the Wave Boss hasn't been damaged, while Teal is able to notice that the shadows of the Kraken and Skeleton Captain don't conform to natural light patterns, along with Naofumi having three other Royal-Type Monsters in his party; they are able to wear down the first Dimension Soul Eater with Naofumi only pulling out the Curse Series Iron Maiden ability to use on the second Soul Eater after it emerges. The sixth and seventh conditions are also unlocked with this.
  • Following the aftermath of the Second Wave, Naofumi learns about the Portal Series of the Cardinal Weapons from Ren along with the requirements to unlock it being reaching Level 50. Afterwards, Leon discovers the Chest of Triumph within the ship that the Family takes for themselves while Naofumi takes the Skeleton Captain, Kraken and both Soul Eater corpses to give them to Liviccic for him to use in reclaiming his place as the new Greater Lord of Briarhaven.
  • Naofumi and King Aultcray's powwow following the Second Wave goes down much differently due to Naofumi tolerating Aultcray's beratement of him for the sake of hoping for a chance to speak with Melty. Answering Aultcray's questions honestly at first and asking for the restrictions preventing Naofumi's Party from Classing Up to be revoked in-exchange for Aultcray not seeing Naofumi in the castle grounds. Only for Aultcray to be unreasonable and hostile at what was essentially a win-win to continue spiting the ONLY HERO that was honestly doing his job as asked of. And when Aultcray decided to threaten Naofumi's Party; largely unaware they were now his family, the King bore witness to the unbridaled fury of a father. Followed afterwards by Naofumi washing his hands of the Kingdom of Melromarc altogether in order to protect his family.
  • After having heard of the many feats that Naofumi managed to perform for the Kingdom of Melromarc despite the problems that King Aultcray had levied against the Shield Hero out of pettiness, a number of the Royal Guards decide to stage a Military Coup to release Princess Melty from house arrest; which also includes killing a number of guards, including the Knight Captain. Followed by this, Melty publicly announces her allegiance to The Shield Hero, which makes it all the harder for The Three Heroes Church to sneak in or keep any of their loyalist Knights within the Castle, and forces Pope Balmus and his Archbishops to briefly leave Castletown to try a different approach.
  • After assuming the throne as temporary ruler, Princess Melty puts the Castle on high-alert and to detain suspicious guards along with releasing Dame Eclair Saeatto from prison, allowing for her and Naofumi to meet much earlier than in Canon.
  • When Melty manages to track down Naofumi; she is accompanied by more knights including Ake and Eclair, and because of her putting the castle on lockdown: it forces Knights from The Three Heroes Church to try attacking their group in the open instead of having a slew of Knights sneak into Melty's entourage with Crystals to make fake recordings, resulting in there being less public support for the Church.
  • Eclair shares with Naofumi information about King Aultcray's past as the Vassal Staff Hero during the war against Siltvelt; how his only sister was taken from him. This lets Naofumi realize just how similar the two of them really are in what lengths they would go to protect their families.
  • After Naofumi and the others managed to escape from the ambush launched by The Three Heroes Church and figuring out about the planned coup by both the Church and Greater Nobles; instead of heading towards the border out of Melromarc, they instead head in the direction of Briarhaven knowing that Liviccic's position as a new Greater Lord would grant Naofumi and his Family amnesty especially with Princess Melty by his side. This causes the Coup's forces to be slow to respond as they are forced to send in the other Three Heroes to chase after a more-elusive and highly-organized Shield Hero.
  • The destruction of the Iwatani Family Cart.
  • After escaping from the Ambush by the Three Heroes, instead of Naofumi using Magic to disable the shackle on Filo's leg, he instead absorbs the shackle with his Shield: which unlocks Stagnation Shield that allows him to temporarily lock the forms of Morph Weapon: including that of other Cardinal Weapons.
  • Because of the many problems that Ren had caused to Naofumi and his family; the Shield Hero does not see him as a Token Good Teammate and someone trustworthy enough to question the Church, meaning that the Three Heroes are firmly on the side of the Church. And after they had burned down his family's cart and had tried to kill or kidnap his kids, Naofumi no longer wants anything to do with the other Three Heroes and vows to kill them when next they meet. This also unlocks the eighth and ninth conditions.
  • Instead of Idol Rabier kidnapping Melty and forcing Naofumi to chase after like what had happened in Canon, Naofumi's evasion tactics leaves The Church and their followers from being able to effectively chase after Naofumi along with attempting to track down Fitts, this results in Naofumi pursuing Idol due to Raphtalia's revenge and to keep the Church and Coup from gaining anymore reinforcements through Idol that they would use to conquer Melromarc and destroy every town and village that Naofumi had helped out in the last month.
  • Since Naofumi has been on the run and constantly evading all means for the Church to pinpoint his location, Idol Rabier doesn't kidnap Melty and is instead caught flat-footed to Naofumi's plan of infiltrating his estate: where instead of using stealth to enter the grounds, they cause havoc at the periphery of the territory in order to divide the Greater Lords' active forces and drawing out Idol in the confusion.
  • Unlike Canon where Idol is crushed underfoot by the Tyrant Rex he unleashed, here Raphtalia stabs him in the head with one of her throwing knives minutes before the beast even emerged.
  • The overall fight between Naofumi's Party and the Tyrant Dragon Rex winds up different due to Naofumi having mastered more Shield abilities and having more adept Party Members at his side; letting them slowly chip away 28% of the dragon's health before Fitoria stepped in when Naofumi had attempted to use The Curse Series as a last resort.
  • Because of Naofumi's desperation to protect his family and repeat attempts to brute-force the Curse Series to activate, Fitoria had to do her fight against the Tyrant Rex completely out-of-normal order; leaving the feral Dragon barely clinging to life long enough for Leon to finish it off while Fitoria had her back turned: enabling the Party to level up. He also swallows the Dragon Emperor Shard the Tyrant had for himself.
  • Fitoria hints at the nature of Cardinal and Vassal Weapons operating by stating to Naofumi that he doesn't have a limited Inventory, coupled with how he had learnt of The Vassal Whip Hero resetting Sophia's Levels to increase her overall power leads to him making strides to learning that their Weapons' powers are entirely based on the Heroes' own preconceptions. Along with pointing out that as a Cardinal Hero, he can forcibly strip any Vassal Hero of their weapon.
  • After coming to understand the nature of the sort of problem that Naofumi is facing, Fitoria takes The Shield Hero and his party to one of her Dragon Hourglasses in order to give them their Class Upgrades. Along with providing Naofumi and his Party the chance to cut their newfound teeth into a Wave of Catastrophe that was outside of Melromarc and nowhere near any settlement. This would allow for Naofumi to become even more powerful when he would go to fight against the Three Heroes Church.
  • Having learnt that the Cerberus responsible for creating the Wave in Luroluna Village was still alive, Naofumi brings his Party to go kill it; giving both Eclair and Raphtalia some closure to the hell they were put through because of the Wave Boss and allowing for them both to start moving forward.
  • The Coup of The Three Heroes Church.
    • Due to having Class Upgraded thanks to Fitoria and grinding out more Levels thanks to fighting both a Wave of Catastrophe and the Cerebus Wave Boss from Luroluna Village on their own; The Iwatani Family are now strong-enough that the Three Heroes have to put in much more effort to properly fight against, since the Three Heroes hadn't registered to any other Dragon Hourglasses.
    • Because of Ren and Itsuki still trusting the Three Heroes Church, they and Motoyasu are still on Pope Balmus' side when Naofumi arrives. Meaning that it's just Naofumi and Raphtalia trapped inside of Pope Balmus' Cathedral Skill and forced to fight the Pope and his Archbishops, while the Kids are outside dealing with The other Three Heroes and several Greater Lords.
    • Monti Iwatani uses Wave of Catastrophe to create his own Artificial Wave to bring in Wave Monsters as reinforcements to fight against the Church Followers and the Greater Lords' soldiers as a distraction. Unfortunately, this also allows for Merodach, The Parade to enter into the World.
    • Mald attempts to behead Itsuki after Sophia had restrained the Bow Hero; letting Itsuki realize just how vile and opportunistic Mald is much earlier.
    • Naofumi finally admits to himself how much he cares about Raphtalia and the kids which earns him the final condition of what turns out to be The Family Crest Series of Shields: which completely turns the tide of battle in favor of The Iwatani Family.
    • Instead of Naofumi using Blood Sacrifice to summon a Dragon Jaw/Bear Trap that kills Pope Balmus, he instead uses Eventual Victory that only leaves him barely alive. Resulting in Raphtalia taking a cursed sword powered up by the deaths of countless Demi-Humans to stab Balmus with.
    • The Replica Weapon that The Pope uses was removed from him in the fighting by Monti; who transformed the Replica into Shield Form to block the Judgement cast by the Church. Afterwards, Monti retains possession of the Replica while Naofumi copies it to unlock Ancient Shield which can negate Magic attacks more effectively.
  • Following the end of the Coup, The Iwatani Family returns to Castle Town where they help clear out the remainder of The Three Heroes Church, afterwards, Naofumi and Raphtalia confirm the feelings they've been holding back from each-other and in Chapter 53, "confirms" their relationship.
  • As a result of the trials the name changes never happen however: Malty is made to be a permanent indentured servant, Aultcray is stripped of his Vassal Weapon, Motoyasu is a shell of himself, Ren receives Humble Pie, and Itsuki nearly crosses the Despair Event Horizon to trigger his Cursed Series. The latter narrowly avoids this thanks to Rishia calming him down; allowing him to realize that she was earnest in her Hero's conviction to do good.
  • Due to the aid Naofumi provided to Melromarc as "The Savior" when he is made the new Lord over the Saeatto Region, he is now offered additional assistance and resources from the other new Lords and Greater Lords, along with a new Legion of Knights led by Ake to help in protecting the township.
  • Having heard about the problems that he had caused to Mirso Village along with finally confronting Wyndia does Ren Amaki finally realize that this wasn't Brave Star Online like he thought it was. Wyndia then joins as part of Ren's Party as a means of keeping The Sword Hero in-line and to keep him from repeating the same mistakes.
    • Also, due to Leon having learnt how to communicate with the soul of Gaelion within him; he channels his Sire to have him talk with Ren, chastising The Sword Hero for his regret in killing him, and asking for Ren to take this lesson going forward and become a better Hero.
  • The Meeting between The Heroes happens differently; where due to Ren no longer thinking that it was a Game is more open with sharing his secrets to Naofumi, along with Naofumi recalling how the Vassal Whip's power-up method is so radically different from the others goes a way for them all to finally realize that the only thing keeping them from realizing the full potential of their Cardinal Weapons were themselves, allowing for them to become powerful together once they accept the possibility that their Power-Up Methods aren't the only method.
  • Departing for Cal Mira Archipelago:
    • Naofumi brings along Keel as one of his Party Members to level up at Cal Mira with them due to receiving a Class Upgrade. Alongside this, many of the other new Lords and Greater Lords that had fought alongside Naofumi also join in the trip to Cal Mira.
    • Because of the large family Naofumi has he doesn't really encounter L'Arc and Therese aboard the boat or forms a party with them after arriving. Instead, they share a board with Motoyasu and form a party with him.
    • The Cardinal Heroes all come up with a rotational schedule for hitting the various islands in the Archipelago in order to maximize leveling without crossing each-others paths and negating leveling gains: with each Hero taking one Major Island and two nearby lesser Isles every day before switching to the next one the following day.
• Plant Person: Teal was created by Naofumi from the Bioplant seeds, making them a walking and sapient plant.
• Point of Divergence:
  • The moment that Naofumi was about to be brought over into Melromarc; he held onto The Four Cardinal Weapons book tightly; bringing it with him into the other world, and with it he learnt more about the sociopolitical situations of Melromarc and its neighbors. After feeding the Book to his Shield Naofumi unlocked the Prophecy Shield, allowing him to detect incoming threats or hidden dangers. Along with minutes later feeding his Cellphone to the Shield and unlocking even more Shield Forms such as Glass Lens Shield, Camera Shield, Camera Shield II, and Map Shield.
  • Due to Naofumi having a shield that warns him of potential threats and another shield that can inspect people and reveal their abilities and name: Naofumi never comes to trust Malty and, thus, doesn't lose his ability to trust others.
  • Due to never trusting Malty, Naofumi ends up searching for other methods to get a party and meets Belokas early. Because he's still not desperate enough to take a slave yet, he initially refuses to get one, but after the trial immediately takes up the offer; giving him and Raphtalia an extra month of training as a result.
  • Princess Melty is never told who the Shield Hero is, so when they run into one another and Naofumi offers to take her back home, she simply believes she's talking to "the Savior of the Heavenly Fowl" and not "the Shield Hero", and due to how well-behaved his kids are thanks to Melty's influence; he thinks she's just the daughter of some other noble he hadn't met yet. This causes Naofumi to slowly build more trust with her and Melty to become more willing to listen to his criticisms of her father. Even after the reveal of her being the Princess and, thus, related to King Aultcray and Malty, Naofumi still places his trust in her and lets her help with a strategy meeting for the second wave, resulting in the next wave having no casualties.
  • Thanks to having three teammates with power similar to Filo, Naofumi didn't have to use the Curse Series against the Soul Eater.
  • When King Aultcray threatens Naofumi's party after the third wave, Naofumi's reaction is much stronger due to them being his family. He outright quits and leaves Melromarc for Siltvelt. This shatters all illusions Princess Melty has of her father's ability to rule and she orders his arrest before taking the throne herself.
  • Due to the manipulation of the Three Heroes Church and Malty, the three heroes end up staying on the side of the church once the civil war starts.
  • Because of knowing what it's like to be a father, Naofumi actually comes to find a modicum of respect for King Aultcray's reasoning for his hatred and gives the man a lighter punishment. This act of kindness, as well as realizing how similar the two are as fathers, makes Aultcray realize he misjudged Naofumi far earlier than in canon.
  • The Three Heroes are all confronted with their unheroic actions far earlier, also resulting in them improving themselves earlier as well.
  • Because Malty was given a punishment that forced her to leave Motoyasu’s party, she is no longer there to lie to and manipulate him, allowing him to think for himself.
• Poison and Cure Gambit: Teal lists this as a hypothetical situation as a means of the family to earn more money by using Monti to poison people while Teal sells the victim an Antivenom for it, Naofumi naturally shoots this down.
  Naofumi: You're already pushing it. (Beat) Though ransoming antivenom for profit isn't a bad idea... Monti I'll need some of your venom later.
• Random Drop Booster: Naofumi Iwatani has 17 different Shields that boosts his Random Drops:
  • The three Coin Series Shields^note which also doubles as his wallet and Lucky Charm Shield all grants Naofumi four Small Item Drop Chances.
  • The Druggist's Mortar Shield, Wood Shield, Leaf Shield, Flower Petal Shield, and Bountiful Shield are useful for any materials Naofumi collects: by increasing both the quantity he can harvest by 15%, and the harvested materials' overall quality by a total of 30%.
  • The Carrier Shield has a 10% chance of absorbing Venom and Poison attacks and transform them into Poison and Venom Vials in his inventory; which also stacks with various Item Amplifier Shields like the Crystal Ore Shield and Engraving Shield that "Slightly" and "Moderately" increases the quality of things Naofumi crafts respectively, the Beaker Shield that increases the quality of liquid compounds Naofumi makes by 10%, the Poison Newt Shield that causes Poisons made to be 5% better, the Black Scorpion Shield that makes any Poisons he makes last 10% longer, and the Wolfsbane Shield that causes Antidotes and Poisons made by Naofumi to be stronger based on his own Poison Resistance rating: which is currently at 105 by the latest chapter.
  • The Karma Rabbit Shield offers bonus items on Monsters when looting them, with the downside being that this is a Unique Ability: meaning that the shield needs to be equipped for Naofumi to properly benefit from it.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: While a number of the lords that side with the Three Heroes Church are known for this, the one who is considered the most evil is Lord Veramir, who repeatedly raped slaves in order to make them give birth, and then would kill every child they gave birth to in order to power a cursed sword he wielded.
• Right Through the Wall: Chapter 71 ends with Itsuki and Rishia red-in-the-face embarrassed at their Hotel Room at Cal Mira due to their room being between both Naofumi and Raphtalia's room and Liviccic and Sophia's Room.
• Sibling Rivalry: Due to Filo being a filolial and Leon being a dragon, the two of course bicker relentlessly. Initially the dislike was so bad that Filo had attempted to "lose" the egg so she wouldn't have to be sisters with a dragon. But as the two have spent time together and found things they both enjoy, their rivalry has become more friendly.
• Sole Survivor: During the Spirit Tortoise battle, Wyndia is the only member of Ren's party to survive.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Due to how Off the Rails the story gets, many characters manage to survive events that originally killed them, with the biggest example being the Second Wave: where nobody within the village died due to the effectiveness of Naofumi and Melty's planning. At the end of the Three Heroes Church Coup, this also extends to the Replica Weapon that the Pope used, with Monti taking possession of it.
• Super-Empowering: One of the abilities that the Family Crest Series gives Naofumi is that he can permanently empower each of his family members with the abilities and stat boosts of one of his shields, at the cost of not being able to use it anymore or unlock it again himself.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Naofumi impresses this mentality onto his children, namely Monti, as a way to avoid killing humans unless absolutely necessary after Monti kills two mages that were helping Malty cheat during the race for Lute. Specifically, he tells them to always try and talk first to see if they are a “person”.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Monti is desperate to gain the approval of his parents. This was especially prevalent when he was first born and Raphtalia was more hostile and uneasy around him, but still lingers later on as he still feels a need to be a good son and is hard on himself when something goes wrong.

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