Who is Raphtalia in love with?

This Article is based on the Official Translations of the Light Novel series!
The Light Novel series is the source material for the adaptation of the Anime and Manga series. The information and terminology on the article will be based on the source material rather than the adaptions.

Legendary Heroes

Motoyasu Kitamura

Naofumi initially believed Motoyasu played a part in framing him for raping Malty for his own personal gains, but over time, Naofumi came to realize that Motoyasu is very naive, delusional, stupid and evidently doesn't know that he's being manipulated by Malty.

Motoyasu would continually believe Malty's words and cause Naofumi and his party trouble. These troubling events lead to Naofumi awakening the curse series.

Motoyasu tries to behave in a friendly manner towards Naofumi, despite the charges on him, but becomes something of a rival or more rather an annoyance, especially with Malty's continued influence upon him. Once Naofumi's name is cleared, he begins to show more of his decent side towards him but refuses to believe Naofumi when he's told that Malty is the one who set him up.

After Malty eventually betrays him, Motoyasu falls into depression, which leads to Filo cheering him up and causing him to fall completely in love with Filo and start calling Naofumi "father-in-law." Naofumi finds his new personality troubling, but easier to cooperate or manipulate since he has sworn his loyalty to him.

Ren Amaki

Like the other three Legendary Heroes, Ren was led to believe Naofumi was guilty of the charges of "raping" Malty. However, he was also, alongside Itsuki, one of the only few people to defend and stand up for Naofumi, albeit a couple of times, only for personal gains.

He is grateful and apologetic towards Naofumi after he is told directly by him that he had to clean up the messes that Ren caused because of his careless actions. Naofumi originally believes Ren was cold and heartless, but after seeing him apologize and regret his actions, his views on him have improved. He is the only one of the other three legendary heroes who had doubts about Naofumi kidnapping Princess Melty.

After the events of the Spirit Tortoise incident, Naofumi meets Ren again, this time their roles reversed, Naofumi is now loved and adored by the public while the three other Heroes are hated and despised. As Ren explains how his party was murdered during the Spirit Tortoise Incident, he calls them weak and blames his now deceased party members for their deaths and not himself, causing Naofumi to call him out for this. Ren refuses to face the reality that he was easily manipulated by Malty, who later betrays him, causing Ren to unlock his Curse Series and going rogue.

Eventually, after tracking down him down, Naofumi, with the help of Eclair, suppresses him and knocks some sense into him. After his rampage, Ren finally admits it was his fault that his party died and starts to atone for his sins as he begins training with Eclair while living in Naofumi's village.

He gets rid of the cold, lonely, and cool persona he was trying so hard to maintain for a genuine hard-working attitude. He also holds Naofumi in high regard and follows his requests, such as implementing the Power-Up systems and learning a new language.

The current relationship between the two is very good, both consider each other as a good friend. Naofumi also usually gives Ren some advice so that he can solve his personal problems, such as what he should do with his infatuation with Eclair, how to deal with Wyndia, or his mistrust when forging weapons.

Itsuki Kawasumi

Naofumi's relationship with Itsuki is very strained, to put it politely. He dislikes how Hero of the Bow's actions are driven with the sole purpose of flaunting his pride and showing off for applause. He also begrudges the latter, along with the other Heroes, for believing Malty's false accusations and their subsequent treatment towards him afterwards.

Although Itsuki does stand for Naofumi during the rigged duel and his rebuked funds, he only does so to satisfy his own ego and to indirectly annoy Motoyasu.

Later on, Naofumi defends Itsuki from Raphtalia's criticisms by stating that Bow Hero is stuck up, but will never let harm befall his allies. However, Naofumi's attitude changes when he loses what little respect he had for Itsuki after finding out that he kicked Rishia out of his party under the pretense of a crime that he and other party members orchestrated against her.

After finally tracking the whereabouts of Itsuki after the events of the Spirit Tortoise Incident, this leads to a fight between Rishia and Itsuki who was under the influence of numerous Curse Series and was being manipulated by Bitch (who later betrayed him.)

Following his defeat, Itsuki completely breaks apart, losing his pride, sense of justice, and becoming near-emotionless. He follows any orders given to him and is unable to lie. Naofumi, seeing Itsuki in his current condition, brings him to his village where Rishia continues to look after him.

After Itsuki's curse is lifted, the two heroes have a heart-to-heart conversation. Itsuki admits that he was wrong as a hero and he regrets his actions, especially what he did to Rishia. From now on, he desires to truly help people in trouble and to make everything right again. This greatly improves Naofumi's perception of Itsuki and he recognizes the drastic change in attitude.

Kizuna Kazayama

Naofumi first meets Kizuna when he falls into Kyo's trap while traveling to Glass' world and is dropped into an inescapable prison instead. She quickly decides to trust him after hearing he has been working with Glass. He feels sympathy for her and they pool their knowledge together and Naofumi is able to engineer their escape, earning him her eternal gratitude. They decide to keep travelling together because it is safer, especially for Naofumi because his levels have been reset. He remains cautious of her because Glass and the others have tried to kill him before. But Kizuna completely takes his side and lectures her friends on what they had done, diffusing that threat.

They come to admire each other’s talents and sympathize with each other. They have both suffered injustice after being summoned to a new world and have the same kind of limitation placed on them by their holy weapons.  The fact they were both serious otaku in Japan means they sometimes get into serious discussions their other friends cannot follow at all. They share many other personality traits and seem to develop a close friendship.

While the two heroes are both authentically trying to save their respective worlds, they have two different styles. Kizuna tends to be more diplomatic and friendly to her enemies while Naofumi would rather show a strong hand. Naofumi respects Kizuna attempting to be diplomatic but doesn't hesitate to point out the flaws in her efforts.

Shildina

She met Naofumi accidentally while trying to get information on Raphtalia and introduces herself as Zodia, a simple civilian. Like her sister, she was impressed by Naofumi's inability to get drunk and, like her sister, she ended up falling in love with Naofumi, even handing him a card that contained a part of her soul.

Naofumi openly shows his dislike for Shildina's constant sexual harassment, as well as Sadeena's, but still respects her and considers her a powerful asset, entrusting her and her sister with Adeans training.

Naofumi also began to pamper her a little more since in the world of Glass she took a form according to her age for a while, when Naofumi saw that she was not older than Raphtalia when she met her so when considering everything she went through being so Young, Naofumi decided to pamper her a bit.

Vassal Weapon Holders

Raphtalia

Naofumi's first slave, a Tanuki demi-human child, that he purchased from Beloukas. Naofumi was forced to purchase her as a slave early on in order to compensate for his lack of offensive abilities, along with the stigma of the false charges against him that prevented him from forming a party with anyone else. Naofumi initially chose Raphtalia for her low price, and because he wanted to imagine enslaving Malty, who trumped up the false charges against him. Despite his questionable motives for obtaining her, Naofumi becomes a naturally benevolent master and treats Raphtalia very well after acquiring her. He provides her with medicine when she is ill, food when she is hungry, and protects her from harm during battles. Although she is a slave to him, the only times he would ever activate the Slave Crest to force her compliance was when she was too frightened to fight on her own. He also provides her with adequate shelter and comforts her during her various night terrors. 

Raphtalia matures rapidly from a child to a young adult within a week or two due to the effects of her level grinding and her being a demi-human. Raphtalia becomes significantly more outgoing towards Naofumi and even has a decent handle on him, carefully finding ways to get him to comply with her choices despite their master-slave relationship. She becomes a much-needed pillar of support for him throughout their time together. When the three other Legendary Heroes, along with the King and Malty, attempt to sabotage Naofumi's ability to excel by forcibly removing the master-slave relationship between him and Raphtalia, she rebels against her new status as a free woman and willingly chooses to restore her Slave Crest at Beloukas' tent in order to remain beside Naofumi.

She's the first person, after Erhard, to take his side after what Malty did to him, and the one who ultimately succeeds in bringing him out of his despair. She wants Naofumi to look at her as an adult woman and has stripped completely naked in front of him to get his opinion of her nude figure. Unfortunately for Raphtalia, Naofumi misses her point completely, as he still sees her as the young girl he started with despite her maturity.

Naofumi constantly expresses a father-daughter relationship with her, but Raphtalia very much begs to differ. Naofumi trusts her implicitly. In fact, among his companions, she is one about who he cares the most. Raphtalia is also the only reliable restraint against Naofumi's more villainous tendencies and she expresses to him her preference that he acts as a proper hero, despite his belief that he is not. Whenever Naofumi takes pleasure in the suffering of those who've caused him grief, especially Malty and Trash, Raphtalia tries to reign him in and cautions against expressing this joy.

For Naofumi, Raphtalia is a reliable and loyal friend who he shares his joys and sorrows together with and is one of few he is willing to wholeheartedly trust with a sense of no doubt. Naofumi notably defines Raphtalia as "very charming" when he sees her dressed in a traditional Japanese miko (shrine maiden) outfit.

After Naofumi unlocked the blessed series which suppresses the effects of the wrath series shield, he is able to feel proper feelings and empathize with others for the first time since he first found Raphtalia. He struggles with these newfound emotion and tries to sort out his feelings - including the ones with Raphtalia.

At this point, Naofumi and Raphtalia are constantly bombarded by onlookers who are anticipating their relationship to get more intimate, but the two take their own pace. Eventually Naofumi shows his first signs of affection by stroking Raphtalia's head with her permission. In private, she also allows him to stroke her tail which seems akin to holding hands in demi-human culture.[1]

Eventually, the two have a heart-to-heart conversation which briefly touches on the subject of marriage. While they don't directly talk about getting married, Naofumi gives her an exclusive bracelet which contains objects relating to their time together which Raphtalia emotionally accepts.

Rishia Ivyred

She joined Naofumi's party after being kicked out of Itsuki's party. She was framed for breaking one of Itsuki's accessories by another member of the Bow Hero's party, with Itsuki himself being a willing participant of it after Rishia inadvertently stole the spotlights that he wanted for himself during a clash with Glass and the Heroes from another world.

Naofumi empathizes with Rishia and feels a mutual connection with due to his similar situation of being framed on false charges. After Filo saves Rishia, Naofumi swears to her that he will help make her stronger so that Itsuki will beg to have her back on his team.

As she spends time within Naofumi's village, she gains confidence and immense fighting skills. Rishia doesn't share the negative view of the Church of Three Heroes because of her education at Faubley and expresses fear at Naofumi's demeanor until Raphtalia is able to remove her doubts. Since then, she greatly respects and aids Naofumi with whatever he needs to.

While Itsuki was under the Pride curse and began accusing Naofumi of being evil, Rishia defends Naofumi from Itsuki's baseless accusations. She points out how Naofumi has saved many demi-humans from slavery, gave them a home, and has worked tirelessly to help them. She further describes Naofumi as being like a parental figure to all his slaves - much to Naofumi's annoyance, as he denies being a slave master.

Glass

Glass seems to consider Naofumi and his party to be worthy opponents, even asking for his name after he manages to force her to retreat during their battle (for reference, she had moments before effortlessly defeating the other three Heroes and their respective parties - all of them being groups larger than Naofumi's party - simultaneously). Like many others, she finds some clear fault with Naofumi's personality. She later warns her comrades of Naofumi.

When they meet again in the Spirit Tortoise, which was rampaging because of a man named Kyo from Glass's world, they display their respective hostility towards one another but are willing to become allies against Kyo as their common enemy.

When Naofumi enters Glass's world and rescues Glass's most important friend, Kizuna Kazayama, Glass starts showing her softer side, which he didn't really expect and sees as "out of character" to him. Because of Kizuna, Glass starts to become more mellow towards Naofumi. In their final battle against Kyo, the two eventually develop a bond of deep mutual trust. A significant sign of this new friendship is when Naofumi gives Glass the recipe for soul-healing water, a concoction that didn't exist in Glass's world, which helps cover her SP weakness in battle.

By the time Naofumi return to her world for a second time, Glass sees him as a valuable ally to fight alongside.

L'Arc Berg Sickle

L'Arc and his comrade were tasked to killing the four Holy Heroes of the other world, especially the Shield Hero, whom Glass considered as a threat. L'Arc heard about Naofumi from Glass, and also other rumors of the Shield Hero from Melromarc commoners, completely believing such rumors. He even encountered a number of fake heroes and got fed up in his search.

When he came face to face with Naofumi, he was too friendly with him and refused to believe him to be the Shield Hero, as he claimed to be. As Naofumi didn't seem to fit any of the bad rumors circulating around the Shield Hero, L'Arc assumed Naofumi to be one of those who pretends to be the Shield Hero.

After confirming that Naofumi was indeed the Shield Hero, he tried to kill him in a fair fight. He was thrilled to fight Naofumi and enjoyed the resourcefulness of the Shield Hero. He refuses to believe all the rumors of Naofumi's "evil deeds" and claims that there must be a reason for his doings.

When they meet again in the Spirit Tortoise, which was under control of Kyo Ethnina - whom they both saw as an enemy, they entered a temporary alliance. When Naofumi enters L'Arc's world and ends up befriending Kizuna, they eventually rekindle the old relationship they had before L'Arc tried to kill him. This bond eventually developed into a deep and true friendship after they finally defeated Kyo, where they're willing to trust each other in battle. After seeing L'Arc's home and influence, it inspired Naofumi to create his own territory to fight the Waves. Since their first meeting, L'Arc calls him 'Kiddo' to a point where he finds it uncomfortable to call him by his real name while Naofumi, after visiting L'Arc's homeworld, calls him 'Boy'.

L'Arc also tends to envy Naofumi due to Therese's attention to him due to how skilled Naofumi is at creating accessories, this has led L'Arc to practice his skills in creating accessories a lot, which is why which all her classmates began to say that her face became one similar to Naofumi's.

Ethnobalt

Unlike most people of Glass' World, Ethnobalt didn't fear Naofumi since he came from another world. Instead, he helped the Shield Hero (at Kizuna's request) in making a shikigami to find Raphtalia. Naofumi considers Ethnobalt to be an incredible intellectual resource. When his world was under attack for a second time, Ethnobalt came to Naofumi for help.

Naofumi also finds Ethnobalt to be quite an effective intellectual asset and has thought about replacing Filo with Ethnobalt several times, which upsets her when she realizes Naofumi is thinking of it.

Sadeena

An Orca demi-human who was Raphtalia's family guardian before the Waves destroyed Raphtalia's village. The two first met when Sadeena, under the alias Nadia, gives Naofumi advice on how the Zeltoble colosseum works. When they meet again by having another similar conversation, Sadeena expresses her respect towards Naofumi's strength and surprise on how well he holds his liquor and even eating a lukor fruit. When they finally face each other, Raphtalia ends up revealing their respective true identities. This makes them realize their shared goal in saving the villagers who were slaves in Zeltoble, leading the two to work together.

When Sadeena returns to the rebuilt village with Naofumi and his allies, Naofumi expresses both his shock and displeasure on how Sadeena ostensibly wants to make him her life companion because of how well he can hold his liquor better than her. While Naofumi doesn't realize this, it is revealed that this flirting is partially Sadeena's way to push Raphtalia to pursue her relationship with Naofumi more aggressively. Naofumi thinks about how he would've originally liked this before being betrayed by Malty but now finds it annoying. As a result, he constantly rebuffs Sadeena's flirting. When Naofumi's emotions were released and he becomes confused with his newfound feelings, he attempted to accept Sadeena's repeated advances. However, for Naofumi and Raphtalia's sake, she declines.

Regardless, Naofumi deeply respects Sadeena for her strength and begins depending on her in the rebuilding of the village and training the villagers to fight the Waves. This reliance also expands towards becoming a party member, where she helps fight various adversaries for him and Raphtalia. He also considers doing the slave contract with her to further increase her strength through the slave bonus stat leveling even if she has to restart her level, although Sadeena doesn't mind.

S'yne Lokk

Naofumi and S'yne first met at the Zeltoble Coliseum, where they both fought and S'yne warned Naofumi that he must become stronger or he would die.

They met again shortly after, when S'yne suddenly appeared in Naofumi's village, where he asked if he could stay and work for him, a request that Naofumi initially refused, but after S'yne saved him and him rest of your group. from otherworldly invaders, she agreed to let her stay in her village and work for him.

Since then, S'yne has only proven to be extremely loyal to Naofumi by accompanying him almost everywhere as if he were his shadow.

After S'yne managed to speak again without any interference in his voice and S'yne's Sister revealed part of S'yne's past to Naofumi, he has tried to get her to tell him what he knows. which S'yne flatly rejects, as he believes that anyone he tells will die.

It has been hinted on a few occasions that S'yne may have romantic feelings for Naofumi.

Fohl Fayon

While Naofumi was ultimately Fohl's dear sister's savior, Fohl was ultimately antagonistic towards Naofumi. This was mainly driven by Fohl's sister-complex and Atla's repeated rampages and advances towards Naofumi. Since he saw his sister as perfect, he considered Naofumi an enemy who was trying to harm his dear sister. Anything Naofumi said towards Atla, positive or negative, was seen from the worst possible perspective. However, as Fohl slowly matured, he began to cooperate with Naofumi and started seeing him in a better light.

Ironically, the main event which help strengthen the bond between Naofumi and Fohl was Atla's death and sacrifice to save Naofumi. In his grief, Fohl promised to not blame Naofumi for her death which he continued to live up to. Instead, they both blamed Takt for her death and they worked together to get revenge.

After Atla's death, Naofumi's mental state was unstable. In his grief, he asked to Fohl sleep in bed with him since he resembled his sister, which was rejected. However, Naofumi has to live with the long-term consequences since Fohl has become wary and untrusting of Naofumi, though they do eventually mend their friendship.

Aultcray Melromarc XXXII

Naofumi hates the King, and with good reason, as he played a part, along with his daughter Malty, in setting Naofumi up with the criminal charge of rape and made certain to spread the word all throughout the kingdom. Although given the King's genuine display of stupidity in believing the claims that Naofumi could "brainwash" people, it's likely he may have just believed Malty's claims and acted upon them rashly. Ultimately, the King hates the Shield Hero in general, which just unfortunately transferred to Naofumi because of that relationship.

When the Queen returns and clears Naofumi's name, she allows him to mete out punishment to the King, Naofumi immediately asks for the death penalty, but is talked down to a less extreme punishment that results in changing the King's given name to "Trash." Naofumi at this point realizes the real threat of the Waves of Calamity (after witnessing Glass's strength) and avoids making any new enemies, so he agrees to just rename Aultcray to Trash. He is subsequently stripped of all his rights to the throne, along with any power he had already accrued within the kingdom.

Trash's unreasonable hatred for Naofumi continued after this until he meets Atla, who closely resembles his deceased sister, under Naofumi's care. After this, Trash resigns himself to remain silent in front of Naofumi, unlike previously when he would create a ruckus against him.

Volume 16 Spoilers This all changed after Takt's ambush where his wife Queen Mirellia was killed. To spur him into action, Naofumi pretended to be villain. This motivated Trash to wake up from his stupor and regain his title of the Wisest King of Wisdom and the Staff Hero. Trash soon prove to a humble yet incredibly talented ally which drastically improves Naofumi's impression of him despite the months of oppression.

Companions

Filo

Naofumi's second real comrade and slave. He purchased her as an egg from the same slave trader that he obtained Raphtalia from. Although she was purchased more along the lines of a beast, he raises her with compassion alongside Raphtalia. Like the phenomenon of level grinding that Naofumi experiences with Raphtalia, Filo quickly grows beyond a normal Filolial and is later revealed to be an extremely rare Filolial Queen, manifesting in her ability to assume the form of a youthful human girl. 

Filo is far more direct with expressing her impulsive nature, which in some instances has been encouraged by Naofumi when he finds it amusing to him and negatively impacting those he views have wronged him. For example, when she kicks Motoyasu in the crotch during her first encounter with him, Naofumi immediately feels she was a brilliant investment and tells her to do it every time henceforth. Generally speaking, Naofumi has found Filo's expression of selfishness, gluttony, and childish-tantrum behavior to be annoying. However, despite these misgivings, he still cares for her greatly as a companion. This reflects a relationship similar to a parent and daughter.

Overall, the two truly do care for each other so much that the second time he invoked his Wrath Shield, his belief that Filo had died fueled that manifestation. Like Raphtalia, Filo displays great affections (including romantically) towards Naofumi. She even sometimes competes with Raphtalia as a love rival. Naofumi sees himself more as Filo's owner like how he views Raphtalia as his own daughter, thus not seeing Filo as a love interest. She constantly seeks Naofumi's attention and approval and expresses great joy when she pleases him but displays great worry that he may possibly leave her.

Eventually, as more people joined Naofumi's village, Filo's romantic advances towards Naofumi dies away. When Naofumi hatches Gaelion the dragon, Filo and Gaelion compete for Naofumi's affection, much to his annoyance.

Melty Q Melromarc

The Second Princess, and younger sister to Malty, she first got along with Naofumi for befriending Filo until her status as the Second Princess and Malty's younger sister was revealed, making Naofumi immediately distrust her. Whenever Melty tried to speak to Naofumi or when she didn't understand why he was so cynical and cold towards her, Naofumi expressed disdain, as he believed she was no different than the other nobles and royalty who looked down on and ridiculed him. She attempted to force Naofumi into apologizing for dishonoring her father and amend the relationship between them but was treated by him as an annoyance in return.

After the Three Heroes Church attempted to kill her due to a trumped-up conspiracy, Naofumi became the only person that Melty could actually rely on to save her life, as the other Heroes, her sister, and her Knights were all either being deceived by the Church or were willing participants in the conspiracy. It was through this journey that Naofumi begins to see she is very different from the other nobles and royalty but still finds her rather naive.

She has become something of a tsundere towards Naofumi due to these events, and it's implied that her feelings for him extend beyond what she wants him to hear about. She dislikes being treated as a child or being called "second princess" by him and eventually convinces him to call her by her name instead. Their relationship improves to the point that he allows Melty to play with Filo again when he originally warned Filo not to befriend her and would entrust Filo to Melty when he returned to his world.

After the death of her mother and the victory of war against Faubrey, she succeeds in the position as the new queen. Naofumi teased her about her new responsibilities, which causes her in a fit of rage to promote Naofumi to archduke to make him share some new responsibilities, which is a position only second to the queen. In addition, without realizing at first, she accidentally makes Naofumi her fiance in name.

Keel

Besides Raphtalia, Keel became the first villager of Lurolona Village which Naofumi saved. Due to their early history, Keel becomes the voice of the villager slaves but also acts casually and familiarly which annoys Naofumi. Naofumi puts Keel in charge of the peddling operation to generate revenue for the village and ends up being extremely good despite Keel despising being dressed up as a girl. Keel is also obsessed with Naofumi's cooking and will even eat it off the floor if it drops.

Raph-chan

Immediately upon creation, Raph-chan is very affectionate of Naofumi. She constantly watches out for him such as enemies Naofumi cannot sense or see. She also acts according to Naofumi's darker actions such as torture. In return, Naofumi is fond of Raph-chan. He enjoys petting her that it's how he spends some of his free time. As a result, Raph-chan becomes a source for relieving Naofumi's stress.

Atla

A Hakuko-human hybrid slave that Naofumi purchased from Beloukas, along with her brother to help Raphtalia's village. Naofumi bought the siblings because of the potential he saw in their bloodline and saw her as a means to ensure her brother's loyalty. Despite being blind, Atla felt Naofumi's presence, which she described as being "both strong and kind, though with deep sadness hidden within." This made Atla trust Naofumi and request him to take care of her brother because of how she originally wouldn't live much longer. When Naofumi cured her with an Elixir of Yggdrasil, which was created by his Shield, Atla became very attached, if not affectionate, towards him and wished to be of great use to him.

While Naofumi found these actions rather bothersome, he continued to care for Atla like the other slaves he purchased for the village. He didn't think much of Atla's goal to be his "shield," not realizing Atla was very serious about it. He began to see how Atla had more potential in combat than her brother and reconsidered her usefulness that he sparred with her along with Raphtalia. This level of trust developed to where Naofumi was able to entrust Atla in a strategy and battle against the Demon Dragon.

Volume 15 Spoilers During the battle against the Phoenix, Atla was able to fulfill her promise to be Naofumi's shield and sacrificed her life to protect him. Her death devastated Naofumi as he desperately tried to save her. However, due to her compassion, Naofumi was able to unlock the shield of compassion which suppressed his shield of wrath and allowed him to feel proper emotion again. Thanks to this and his last promise to her to consider other people's feelings, Naofumi's life was forever changed as he became a kinder and more compassionate person.

Ruftmila

Despite their first interaction with each other, they get along very well with together and enjoy each other's company since they both have a fondness for the Raph species. Ruft currently sees Naofumi as basically an older brother.

Naofumi is also surprised at how quickly Ruft has matured, and how skilled he has become in both the combat and diplomatic arenas.

Acquaintances

Mirellia Q Melromarc

The Queen and Naofumi were on fairly good terms as business acquaintances. While he knew he was being used by her, he also knew that she needed him, so he was willing to put up with it. The fact that she cleared his name and punished her husband and daughter for their mistreatment of him seemed to be the crux of their relationship. Both of them treated each other as equals, but she acknowledged his worth both politically and as a Holy Hero.

Erhard

He runs a weapons shop in Melromarc and is the only person who believed in Naofumi after he was falsely accused by Bitch - ironically, it was Bitch herself who had introduced Naofumi to Erhard. He makes most, if not all, of the equipment worn by Naofumi along with his carriage, especially his Bandit-themed Barbarian Armor, and is also responsible for teaching Raphtalia the basics of swordsmanship. His skills come from a blacksmith from the East. He wants Naofumi to find another blacksmith, as he believes his own skills to be sub-par, but Naofumi places a higher value on his skill and his friendship.

Beloukas

While Naofumi considers the slave merchant to be a useful person due to his role in providing him with various slaves for his growing army, he does not indicate any real trust for the man. The merchant has noted that Naofumi has good business sense, referring to him as his favorite customer and a man who cannot be easily deceived. Naofumi, on the other hand, creeps out on him. Regardless, Naofumi continues to do various forms of business with him, whether it involves purchasing more slaves, establishing slave contracts, or obtaining valuable information.

Ost Horai

At first Naofumi was suspicious of Ost since she claimed to be a familiar of the Spirit Tortoise. However, she proved to be a valuable ally in defeating the corrupted Guardian Beast. Through her unique magic, she was able to provide assistance in battle and even prevent Naofumi from being overcome by his Shield of Wrath. She also taught him about the hero-exclusive magic: Liberation-class. Naofumi deeply respected her and her sacrifice needed to defeat her own body.

Eclair Seaetto

Eclair was first introduced as one of the mentors Queen Mirellia had called in order to train the heroes how to properly fight. Unfortunately, Naofumi was the only hero that didn't try to skip out on training and she eventually joined his party for a small while.

Eclair was also the governor of the land which Naofumi eventually took over. While she was a proficient fighter and eventually helped contain the rampaging Ren, she was a terrible governor and preferred to train instead of managing a territory. Naofumi eventually stripped her of her responsibilities and gave them to Melty instead.

Elrasla Ragnarok

Elrasla was an old lady which Naofumi helped deliver medicine to while he was a peddling trader. It turns out that she was the last remaining practitioner of the art of Hengen Muso. Due to his help, she was inspired to come out of retirement to help fight Melromarc's enemies and teach others about Hengen Muso. She was one of the experts which Queen Mirellia found to help teach the heroes how to properly fight. Naofumi's party where the only ones who properly trained under her. Eventually, she came to Naofumi's village to help train the villagers in Hengen Muso to fight against the waves. Due to her training, Naofumi's combat potential greatly increased and he started to be able to see life force.

Imiya Leuthurn Reethela Teleti Kuwariz

The first time Naofumi met Imiya he had mistaken her for a boy due to her inexperience with beastmen, then Raphtalia explained that Imiya was actually a girl.

Currently both get along very well, both usually work together making accessories. Naofumi likes Imiya largely because she reminds him of Raphtalia when they first met. Naofumi is also aware that Imiya probably has feelings for him, but she decided that she would figure out what to do with it when the waves were over.

Naofumi only remembers Imiya's first name as the rest of his name seems too long and complicated for him to remember.

Queen's Shadow

The two met when Shadow helped Naofumi and his group escape after the battle with the other heroes over Melty's alleged kidnapping. After that, they met again on several other occasions, mainly to exchange information. In each of those encounters, Naofumi recognized Shadow from the rest of the shadows only by the particular way of speaking about her.

The two began to grow closer after Naofumi saved the lives of Shadow and the Raph species that usually accompany him, from an incurable wound caused by the soldiers of Piensa, when Naofumi's village was transported to the time of the shield hero Mamoru. Shadow tends to exasperate Naofumi mainly because of the teasing attitude she often takes towards him and her belief that if Naofumi takes someone to level up it is because she wants to make him her lover. Even with all of the above, Naofumi considers Shadow a very useful asset due to his information gathering abilities, and is very grateful for all the help he has given him and the rest of his teammates.

Enemies

Malty S Melromarc

Malty is ultimately the cause of Naofumi's darkened and cynical personality due to the fact that she betrayed him, stole from him and falsely accused him for the attempt of raping her for no visible reason. Naofumi's originally kind personality snapped violently, he became distrustful of anyone who is not a slave, and for a very long time held contempt for women in general. She continued to make him suffer by any means necessary, like trying to take his slave away from him and interfering in the duel for ownership of her, calling him a criminal at every given opportunity, going so far as to cheating during a race for protectorate ship of a recently destroyed town and framing him for any/every crime she can think of in general. When Naofumi's name was cleared, the queen gave the choice of punishment for Malty and Aultcray to Naofumi. Bitch attempts to use her cunning to try and appeal to the Shield Hero's sense of chivalry despite her antagonizing him once too often, with the intention of nullifying her punishment. But her accuser would have none of that, seeing right through her and demanding the death penalty for it. This was the first and only time for Malty to call Naofumi by his name. After been talked down, her punishment was having her completely stripped of her royal status and her civilian name changed to "Bitch." Comparatively; her adventurer name was changed to "Whore" while she traveled with her heroes party.

Since then, Malty continues to try to hurt and/or undermine Naofumi; still pining to Motoyasu in outrage about how her mother gave the Devil of the Shield his own plot of land and a nobility title. Whore hypocritically still blaming him for her past comeuppance after citing how vengeance breeds vengeance during her punishment only to turn around and give him death threats for her well earned fall from grace. Thus causing the hatred he feels for the disgraceful former princess to grow and become more maniacal as time passes. Bitch going so far as to direct Ren and Itsuki; under the effects of their own curse series holy weapons, into attacking the Shield Demon and manipulating a great many of the kingdoms subjects into assailing him & his during a staged populist uprising. Even still colluding and directing multiple vanguards of the waves to come after the Shield numerous times after secondary punishment in the form of a political marriage. A tragedy which resulted in a few of Naofumi's companions dying off. It is Naofumi's main dream to be able to one day capture Witch and reciprocate all of the evil which has be done to him.

Biscas T. Balmus

Despite coming off as friendly and charitable when they initially met, Naofumi could see straightaway just how much of a condescendingly self-righteous individual Pope Balmus was behind his pretense of altruistic sanctimony. Often talking grandiose speeches of gods mercy while the former simply came to them for a purchase of holy water. But when the veil upon the church's conspiracies had been dropped and he made his intentions clear for all to see. Naofumi realizes his suspicions of the man and his movement had been more right than not. The churchman portraying the true character of a fascist megalomaniac with a god complex, backed by narrowminded delusions pertaining to holy justifications for all the great deal of many horrendous actions committed by his Church/Cult. Later likening said pope as a hypocritical tyrant whom threw others in his sect under the buss while spouting blatant sanctimony as absolvent and martyrdom despite such loyalties having clearly been begotten through mind control charms and abuse of charisma. Such findings being based upon the falsehoods by the church that the Devil of the Shield had in fact been using those very same methods to turn the public to his favor when that was not at all the case.

Idol Rabier

Finding the portly looking man to be little more than a rather disgusting individual with a fanaticism issue. Naofumi likened Mr. Rabier to be a rather revolting slob of a noble with inflated self-worth. Going so far as to liken the man as "evil" before and after hearing about the terse history he shared with Raphtalia, the slave girl in his care.

1. ↑ Light Novel Volume 21 Chapter 3

Who does Raphtalia end up with?

Who married Filo?

Does Naofumi and Raphtalia kiss?

Who is Naofumi partner?