Motoyasu remembers how the day started out yesterday. How they lined up as the companions the king summoned would be partying up with each of them, only for none of them to join Ben's party just because of some rumor about him.
He was worried since that meant Nanoha and Fate would have to fight and get their hands dirty. He didn't know what to do, or how to convince some of the other male adventurers to join Ben's party. It especially didn't help that everyone that joined him were girls, and he didn't want them to be forced to fight either. Finally, Itsuki also brought up a good point about how morale would suffer if they forced some of them to follow the hero they didn't initially want.
Suddenly one of the girls in his party offered to join Ben's group. She was a red-hair beauty, though not as pretty as Fate of course, who went by the name Myne Sophia. He was still hesitant to let another pretty girl get their pretty hands dirty in fights, but she was very insistent on it.
However Ben declined her offer almost immediately. Apparently, Ben, Nanoha, and Fate decided last night to not have any of the companions the king got them to join their party and would go out by themselves.
Myne insisted she should join his party, but Ben didn't budge from his group's decision, much to the girl's displeasure.
After getting their money the four groups went their separate ways in order to grind for experience for the day. It was kind of exciting, he spent the day killing low leveled monsters as he flirted with the girls in his party, and they seemed like they were having fun too. Though he wished Fate and Nanoha were with him as well.
It was around afternoon when he and his party went back into town. As he made his way to one of the inns, he bumped into Nanoha. When he asked how her progress for the day had been he was surprised that she didn't gain any XP. Ben, Fate, and Nanoha decided to split up and go around town and try to learn more about the world they were in.
He was confused as to why the three would waste their time learning about the world's lore when they could have spent it grinding XP. After all, everyone knows that levels and stats were the most important thing in MMOs. Learning the lore of the world may be fun and all, but it wasn't important, and wouldn't help in the long run. Though Motoyasu chalked it up to both Nanoha and Fate trying to procrastinate on having to fight.
Also, he was pretty sure it was just his imagination, but at the time Nanoha gave a strange look, almost like a glare, towards Myne when she saw her. He shrugged it off as just girl stuff.
Then last night Myne came banging on his door, tears flowing down her face. When he asked her what was wrong, she told him everything. How that bastard Ben broke into her room, all drunk, and violated her. Even went as far as to rip her sleepwear off. She was barely able to escape that bastard before she came to him for help. If it wasn't for her insistence, he would have skewered Ben before the morning sun came up.
When morning came, they went to the castle to report what happened. Even Ren and Itsuki came to the castle and were told what happened. Sufficient to say, Everyone was angry and disgusted and rightfully so.
Right now they were waiting for the knights to arrest Ben and bring him to the castle where he will pay for what he has done.
The doors to the throne room opened and came in the knights, but Ben was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is the accursed shield hero!?" the king bellowed, demanding where the criminal was, his voice causing the commander to flinch a bit.
"We don't know your majesty, we can't find him anywhere," The commander said with a frown.
Motoyasu gripped his spear in frustration.
'Don't tell me that bastard got away,' he thought angrily. If that bastard thinks he could get away he was wrong. Motoyasu would hunt him to the ends of the planet and kill him with his own hands if that's what it took. He will not let Ben escape justice.
Though what worried Motoyasu was the fact that neither Nanoha nor Fate were brought in as well. Did that mean Ben took them with him? The idea the both of them being in that rapist's hands made his blood boil.
"You fools, are you telling me you allowed the vile shield hero to escape!?" Aultcray roared.
"Oh, I didn't escape," someone said calmly from behind Aultcray, the tone of the voice causing a chill to run down the king's spine, "In fact, I'm right here."
Looking over his shoulder, the king saw the shield hero looming over him, looking down towards him with a cold glare.
Frightened, the king stumbled out of his throne and collapsed on the ground, hitting his head in the process. He grimaced in pain as he massaged the bump on his head, before looking back towards the one who startled him. Sure enough, the shield hero, as well as his companions, were standing next to his throne. All three of them were glaring coldly towards him. The sight before him made him sweat nervously.
"Well that's one way to say hello," the Shield hero quipped. However, he didn't smile a single bit as he simply crossed his arms over his chest.
'H-how did they get in here without the guards noticing,' Aultcray thought fearfully, wondering how these three managed to sneak up behind him.
"Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, thank god the both of you are alright," Motoyasu cried out in relief, "Quick, get away from Ben, I'll protect you from him!"
Both of the girls simply ignored the spear hero's cries and continued to glare at the king in disgust.
Aultcray growled before he barked out an order to the knights, "Guards, seize them!"
The knights began converging toward the three. However before they even got close to the trio, Nanoha nonchalantly swung her arm and unleashed a wave of pink energy that blown away half of the knights. The shield on Ben's arm changed shape and now resembled a round disk made up of dark green vines with what looked like seeds growing from them. The seeds shot out and embedded themselves into the ground at the knights' feet. The guards looked down toward the ground in confusion when suddenly large vines erupted from the ground like tentacles, before grabbing and lifting most of the remaining knights off of the ground. A few of the knights that didn't get grabbed tried to help their comrades down, only to get smacked aside by the vines.
Everyone was in complete disbelief, that two individuals were able to easily subdue such a large number of knights. Even more so considering that one of them was the shield hero, who was considered to be the weakest of the cardinal heroes.
Motoyasu, being the first to recover from his shock, gripped his spear and glared at the brown-haired man.
"You have a lot of nerves coming here after what you've done," Motoyasu yelled, pointing the head of his spear towards Ben. Ben, Nanoha, and Fate shifted their attention from the king and directed their glare towards the spear hero. Motoyasu glare faltered almost immediately. He felt like he was being stared down by three apex predators. He felt his legs shake uncontrollably, and his bowel movements were starting to become irregular.
"And what exactly did I do?" Ben asked calmly, his glare never leaving his face.
"Y-you know what you did!"
"You mean supposedly Ben-kun broke into "Myne's" room completely drunk, before forcing himself onto her?" Nanoha asked with a tone similar to Ben's as she glared hatefully towards the red-haired woman hiding behind Motoyasu, "We heard her so-called "testimony"."
"Then if you know that then…"
"We also know that whole story is a complete and total lie!" Nanoha said calmly, interrupting the spear hero's pleas.
"W-what!?" Motoyasu sputtered in shock. Why would Nanoha think Myne was lying, and why was she taking her cousin's side. He's a rapist for crying out loud!
"She said that I was completely drunk when I barged into her room right," Ben asked as he glared at both the spear hero and Myne.
"Y-yeah, that's r-right," Motoyasu growled, doing his best to try to not be intimidated, "right before you assaulted her!"
"However, here I am, completely alert and wide awake even this early in the morning," Ben continued ignoring the spear hero's barking, "If I was actually drunk, I would smell like alcohol and look hungover, just like you Motoyasu, who by the way is still having a bit of trouble standing on your own feet."
It was at this point that Fate decided to speak up.
"Last night, after we ate dinner we immediately went to the room we were staying for the night. Ben didn't so much as drink a single drop of alcohol," she explained, "You can confirm this with the innkeeper if you want to. Not only that but "Myne" looks completely fine."
"What!" Motoyasu exclaimed in shock, "How could you say that Fate-chan!? Can't you see she's crying!"
"But she doesn't have so much as a hair out of place. I can't see any bruises or marks on her as well, even her armor doesn't have so much as a scratch on it," Fate countered simply, "I have seen my older brother tend to many rape victims as a part of his job as a police officer, both alive and dead, as well as during and after the fact. "Myne" isn't showing any signs of behavioral patterns involved with a mentally and physically traumatized victim, as she has no issue clinging onto a man she only just met yesterday."
"T-That's because I'm protecting her," Motoyasu countered, but no one was remotely convinced by that explanation, "Why would she be uncomfortable with me!?"
"She's right," Ren said as he grabbed his chin in thought, "I did see the three of them leave the bar, that much I can attest to. Not only that but there are no visible marks on her body as well, at least from the parts we can see. There's also the fact that she's been hanging onto you ever since we got here this morning"
"That doesn't mean anything!" Motoyasu protested, trying to defend Myne. All of this was just ridiculous, why were they even having this discussion?
"W-wait miss…" Myne squeaked, garnering the trio's attention. She had her hands covering her face, like she was sobbing into them. "W-When he pounced on me last night… the Shield Hero muttered something into my ear… 'After I'm done with you, the appetizer, I'm taking those little bimbos as the main course' he said! He was clearly referencing both you and your friend miss!" Myne revealed her face, looking like a sobbing wreck.
Ben, Fate, and Nanoha's eyes widen slightly before narrowing very dangerously. The room's temperature seemed to drop significantly at the moment as everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
Faster than the eye could blink, Fate became a yellow blur and speeds towards Myne. Before anyone knew it, everyone heard a loud SMACK, and Myne was sent flying to the other side of the room before crashing headfirst onto the floor. After she landed, the red-haired woman then curled up into a ball as she had both of her hands over her mouth and her eyes were squeezed shut. Sounds of pained whimpers were heard from her feeble position.
"I suggest you be quiet, your majesty," Fate said coldly as she glared at the woman in disgust, her arm and hand positioned as if she just slapped someone and seemed to be emitting a small amount of electricity across her body. Myne's eyes opened wide in shock when Fate said the last parts of her demand.
'Does she know!?' the red head thought.
All who witnessed the blond's act of aggression towards Myne stood agape.
"H-how did she...," Ren muttered wide-eyed in disbelief.
"T-That kind of speed…it's not humanly possible…" said a nervous Itsuki. She must be cheating somehow. That was the only explanation he and Ren could draw.
"M-Myne-chan!" Motoyasu exclaimed in shock, before looking at the other blond in disbelief at both her violent act and the speed at which she moved, "F-Fate-chan why did you do that!? She was trying to warn you about what that bast…"
Motoyasu's words died in his throat when Fate glared at him.
"I've known Ben for years, ever since we were kids," Fate explained as she narrowed her eyes, "He would never do something like that!"
Aultcray could only stare in complete shock, when he recovered his face contorted in rage.
'How dare that wretched whore lay a finger on my precious Malty!' the king thought in rage, before bellowing to his knights, "Guards seize her this instant!"
However, none of them did as he commanded. The knights that Nanoha blasted were rendered unconscious from her attack, with only a few now recovering, and most of the other half of the knights were still restrained by the vines created by that accursed shield. The remaining few knights that were available could only stand in fear, clearly frightened by the prospect of having to engage someone who can move as fast as lightning.
"Useless cowards, all of you!" Aultcray Bellowed in rage, as he slammed a fist on the floor he laid on.
"Wait, Fate what did you mean when you called Myne-san your majesty," the sword hero asked in confusion.
"Because "Myne's" real identity is Malty Melromarc, the first princess of Melromarc," Fate explained, the revelation shocking the Heroes.
"What!?" Itsuki exclaimed in disbelief.
"Wait, you mean Ben raped a princess!?" Motoyasu asked in surprise, receiving another glare from Fate to which the spear hero wilted under.
"You filthy whore! How dare you strike me, the first princess!" Malty exclaimed, confirming her status as royalty, glaring furiously at the red-eyed beauty, "I'll have you executed you damned filthy bimb-EEEK!"
Her barking was cut off when a pink bolt of energy grazed her face and instead struck the floor behind her. The impact caused a small explosion and sent small debris everywhere, some of which covered the princess.
Looking toward the source of the attack, everyone saw Nanoha's hand stretched out and pointing toward Malty.
"Don't talk about Fate-chan that way," Nanoha demanded with a low growl, as she glared with pure hatred toward the first princess.
"If I were you, I take Fate's advice and keep quiet," Ben added darkly as he narrowed his eyes in disgust, "Or else we'll make you."
Malty said nothing, all she could do was stare in complete and genuine fear at the three before her, as she placed a hand over her burned cheek.
"Not only that but she is also a disgraced princess" Nanoha explained lowering her arm, "She was originally was supposed to be the one to inherit the throne, but due to misbehaving so many times, as well as being highly irresponsible with the coins from the royal treasury, the Queen of Melromarc instead gave the title of crown princess to her youngest daughter."
"Wait, why does the Queen get to decide who becomes the heir, isn't the king the ruler of the kingdom?" Itsuki asked as he tried to process this information.
"That's because the Queen is the true ruler of this country, not the king," Ben explained much to both the king and princess's shock, "Melromarc is a matriarchal society, and Altcray here is a consort who married into the family. You can actually tell by the size of the thrones."
Neither Ren nor Itsuki didn't think about it till now, but Ben was right. The throne that the queen would be seated on was noticeably larger than that of the king's.
"H-how did you find all that out!?" Aultcray yelled out loudly confirming Fate's, Nanoha's, and Ben's words.
"Ah, give us some credit, your highness. Our family does this for a living where we come from." He responded with a small brief smirk, apparently enjoying the expressions of those surrounding him.
The princess looked humiliated, with everyone giving her new looks of ire and outrage. Even Motoyasu felt a bit betrayed and confused, but thankfully he kept his mouth shut. While both Ren and Itsuki were poleaxed to the point their brains were broken.
She clenched her fist in frustration. This wasn't how things were supposed to go! The shield hero was supposed to be completely powerless and unable to do anything as she ran his reputation into the dirt. As for those bimbos, they should have been captured by the knights to prevent them from assisting the shield hero in any way. Malty even considered selling them off into slavery, especially the blond one.
Malty prided herself on her beauty and robust figure, and then those little bimbos came along. Not only was that bitch that dared to strike her was almost as pretty as her, but she even had a better figure than her, and the other girl's youthful face and honest personality also reminded her too much of her brat of a little sister. The spear hero couldn't stop mentioning how he wished the both of them were in his party all day yesterday, and it annoyed her to hell. As if she would allow any woman to outrank her in charm and beauty, no matter who they were.
Yet somehow the three manage to escape capture, sneak into the castle, and subdue all of the knights with ease. They were also more observant than she thought as to figure out not only her true identity but also who was the true ruler of the country. These three were definitely more clever than the three cardinal heroes.
She glanced over toward the knight commander standing by the doorway into the throne room. He gave her a nod as he walked up toward the center of the room.
"Your majesty… when we searched through the Shield Hero's room, we found this… spread across his bed…" the knight said, kneeling down and holding up a purple negligee, with a noticeably large tear in its fabric in the chest area.
"Kyaa!" Malty cried out like a traumatized victim, running behind Motoyasu, as if to cover her shame and seek protection.
"You animal!" Motoyasu scowled at Ben, getting into a defensive position of Myne. Just as he was about to be convinced otherwise, the Spear Hero's belief in Ben's guilt increased tenfold.
"Now do you see?! The proof seems undeniable that the shield hero is-!" Aultcray began to declare as he finally got up off the floor but was cut off by Nanoha herself.
"You mean mine and Fate-chan's bed," She said simply, not at all fazed by this new piece of "evidence".
Everyone was taken aback by this, unsure as to what she meant. The commander was completely flabbergasted by this.
"W-what!?" the commander sputtered.
"How many beds were there in the room I was staying at when you tried to arrest me?" the shield hero asked as he glared down at the commander, making him squirm uncomfortably.
The commander tries to think about what to say, he remembers bursting into the shield hero's room at the inn in order to capture him and recalls only seeing one bed made for two. He then realized he might have made a mistake, which may have allowed the three to escape capture. If the shield hero's companion can confidently claim that it was found on her or the blond's bed and not the shield hero's then it's possible that they shared the same room and had separate beds.
"T-There were three beds." he finally answered.
"There was only one bed," Nanoha corrected, much to the commander's shock, "Ben-kun, Fate-chan, and I shared a room with a single bed in the inn in order to save money. Me and Fate-chan slept on the same bed, while Ben-kun slept on the couch. You can also confirm this with the innkeeper as well."
"W-wait, really!?" Motoyasu exclaimed in surprise. He couldn't help but imagine lewd images of Nanoha and Fate sleeping together.
"Wait, are you saying that underwear is either yours or Fate-san's?" Itsuki asked, still trying to process everything he been told. He was getting more and more overwhelmed by every new piece of information, it was almost too much. He never remembered Dimensional web ever having this complicated plot before, especially in what is essentially still a tutorial part of the game.
"Not necessarily, It is likely that it does indeed belong to Malty, but considering that she is a princess…"
"It's likely that it was never even in Ben's room to begin with, and likely just picked up from her room within the castle," Ren finished Nanoha's explanation, getting what she was saying, to which she nodded in confirmation.
"Exactly, but let's humor this piece of "evidence" for now," Ben said before looking towards Motoyasu, "Motoyasu what condition was the princess in when she came to you last night?"
"You know what state you left her in!" Motoyasu yelled out. What kind of sick game was Ben playing, did he really want to be able to torment Myne that much?
"Just answer the question Motoyasu," Ben demanded in a stern tone, which combined with his glare, made the spear hero wilt and shudder.
"She was a mess, she was crying," Motoyasu explained through gritted teeth.
"What about the clothes she was wearing at the time?" Nanoha added, much to Motoyasu's shock that she would ask such a question.
"Nanoha-chan why are yo-."
"Answer. The. Question Motoyasu-kun," she interrupted, the look in her eye causing him to swallow his saliva. It was obvious to everyone in the room that Nanoha didn't have the patience to deal with the spear hero's antics.
"S-she came to me in the same outfit she's wearing right now," he said finally, not really understanding why that piece of information was so important, "So what? It doesn't change the fact that Ben forced himself onto Myne-chan and ripped her clothes off.
Malty was getting more and more nervous as more and more holes in her story were being brought up, all but tearing it apart.
"According to Malty's testimony, she was only barely able to escape Ben, but yet she was able to find time to change into her current attire before coming to you, Motoyasu. Unless she was sleeping within her armor, which would be impractical to do so especially in an inn within the capitol, or she knows about magic that can allow her to quickly change what clothing she wears, I find it very hard to believe that she would be able to change into it so quickly. Especially considering how many pieces there are to it," Fate explained as she glared at the princess and spear hero, causing the both of them to squirm, "there's also the fact that she decided to wait until morning before calling the guards."
"T-That's because I was there to protect her!"
"And allowing Ben more than enough time to escape long before the guards would even become aware of the so-called crime," Fate said simply as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"ENOUGH! I have heard enough of these inane ramblings!" Aultcray bellowed in fury as he stomped towards Ben, before grabbing and clenching the front of his shirt in his fist. Nanoha and Fate both got into a stance when Ben simply brought a hand up, not at all fazed by the king's actions. A moment passed before Nanoha and Fate relaxed their posture, "Don't think your blatant lies about my daughter will spare you of the charges for what you have done."
"Yeah take your punishment like a man you coward!" Motoyasu exclaimed in fury, bringing a fist into the air. However, when both Nanoha and Fate glared at him, the spear hero shuddered and brought his fist down meekly.
Ben simply glared coldly, merely wiping away the spit that came from the king's mouth off of his face.
"Actually Aultcray you don't even have substantial evidence that I did any crime in the first place," Ben argued calmly, his words angering both the king and Motoyasu immensely, "The three of us on the other hand do have evidence of your daughter planning to frame me and that I didn't so much as lay a finger on her."
"Preposterous," Aultcray scoffed.
"Wait, you do?" Itsuki asked, surprised at which Fate nodded her head. She reached up to grab the triangle-shaped pendant that hung from her neck. She held the pendant out in front of her and it then emitted a holographic projection for all to see. The projection showed Malty talking to the knight commander in an alleyway, much to both Malty and the commander's shock.
"Y-You recorded us!?" Malty exclaimed before covering her mouth.
"This was taken during the day yesterday I believe around noon," Fate explained before playing the video.
"I expect you to do your part commander in dragging the shield hero's name into the dirt," the Malty in the projection said with a smirk on her face.
"Of course, your highness," the commander said with a smirk of his own as he bowed.
"Oh, and make sure you arrest those bimbos that came with the shield hero as well. We don't want them to be able to help the shield hero after all," the princess added with a cruel smirk on her face, "And after we frame the shield hero, we can simply tell him that they didn't want anything to do with a loser like him and they simply left. That would definitely break his spirits. HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"It will be done, your highness," the commander said with an equally cruel grin on his face, as the princess laughed.
"By this time tomorrow, the shield hero's name will be mud like the pathetic loser he is, and he'll be completely alone and penniless," Malty bragged out loud, "In fact, I think I'll sell those bimbos off to Faubrey. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
With that statement, the video ended. The three other cardinal heroes stared in complete disbelief. Both Ren and Itsuki were completely shocked at the cruelty that the first princess possessed, the both of them glared at the princess in disgust. Motoyasu was in complete denial, there was no way Myne would ever do this. His only conclusion was that Ben was forcing Fate to fabricate this video in order to save his own skin.
"We also have footage of Malty last night, standing in front of the room we rented for the night" Fate added as the projection then shows Malty standing in front of a door within the inn last night.
'Wait Fate-chan is not actually considering showing us Ben raping Myne,' Motoyasu thought in shock.
The video feed however simply showed Malty trying to open the door, but for some reason was unable to.
"We made sure to secure the door in order to ensure that no one broke in to steal our belongings," Nanoha explained, "We also decided to take turns in keeping watch just in case someone did get in. So we instantly knew when you were trying to get in Malty, and then recorded you."
After a moment of failing to open the door, Malty gave up and stomped in frustration. After taking a deep breath she simply smirked.
"It doesn't matter, it won't change what's going to happen," Malty said with a grin as she walked down the hall, "though it's a shame really, I was so looking forward to giving the spear hero some of the shield hero's possessions as gifts."
The video continued on with Malty casually walking down the hall. Eventually, the princess stopped in front of one of the doors. Her smile broadened before her expression turned into one of despair as she knocked on the door.
"Oh, sir Motoyasu! Sir Motoyasu, please open up!" she cried out repeatedly knocking on the door. Eventually, the door opened up showing a surprised Motoyasu.
"Myne, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly, as she ran into his arms. The video ended right there.
"As you can see, princess Malty was never assaulted in any way whatsoever, and even planned to frame Ben with false charges, as well as considered selling both me and Nanoha off into slavery." Fate said simply as she placed the pendant back around her neck.
The princess in question was shocked that they managed to record all of that without her knowing. How did they manage to do that in the first place, especially in the inn of all places!?
"You can show all the fake evidence you want, it will not change the outcome," the king roared, completely denying the video evidence that was presented. However the same could not be said for the rest of the occupants. Many of the nobles were muttering to themselves. A good majority even considered that the shield hero was indeed innocent. However, a few simply refuse to even consider such a thought and wanted to believe the videos presented were just fake.
"I'm not surprised that you would deny this, your majesty, considering you might also be a part of this attempt to frame me," Ben said simply much to everyone's confusion, "or at the very least too blinded by your bias to think otherwise."
"What makes you say that?" Ren asked, wondering what he was talking about.
"Simple, it comes down to both this nation's religion as well as its relationship with one of its neighbors," Ben answered.
"This nation's primary religion is referred to as the Three heroes church, which basically reveres the sword, the bow, and the spear as deities," Fate explained, "however it demonizes the shield."
That surprised the three cardinal heroes a bit.
"Wait, why would they do that?" Motoyasu asked, confused, "I mean I know the shield is pretty much useless and all, but isn't it going a little too far to refer to it as a devil."
"That's because the nation Siltvelt, which is primarily ruled by demi-humans, worships the shield as a god due to how previous shield heroes treated the demi-humans well. The Three heroes church on the other hand holds a strong belief in human supremacy and therefore decided to demonize the shield for that same reason. Multiple wars would break out between the two nations over generations because of this, and the king participated in some of the more recent wars."
"Wait you're saying all of this was because of this country's religious belief about the shield," Ren asked in disbelief, to which Fate gave him a nod. The sword hero narrowed his eyes as he clenched his hand into a fist. Seriously these people summoned them to defend their world and this is what they do? Try and sabotage one of them because of what their religion says!? Ren let out a scoff before making his way toward the door, "You know what forget this, I'm out of here!"
This surprised everyone. Aultcray, Malty, Itsuki, and Motoyasu stared in shock as the sword hero was leaving, while Ben, Nanoha, and Fate looked at him curiously.
"W-Wait Sir Ren where are you going," Aultcray stuttered in surprise at this.
"I'm leaving, I'm not going to waste any more time in this farce of a trial. If you want to make a fuss go right ahead! Don't call me for such pointless crap."
With that, the sword hero left the room. what followed was an awkward, but still somewhat tense, silence. The king and princess gritted their teeth in irritation. Motoyasu was shocked by Ren's actions and was appalled by his dismissal of the trial. How could he just consider Myne being raped pointless?
As for Itsuki, he could only clench his head in confusion. All of this was too confusing, he didn't know which side to believe. On one hand, Malty's story did have a lot of holes in it. On the other hand, Fate, and probably Ben and Nanoha as well, were most likely cheating in some way, so they probably messed the scripting up to make those holes appear for their convenience.
"No matter," Aultcray growled before glaring back toward the shield hero, "I would be more than happy to be able to toss you into the dungeons and let you rot for eternity, however I can not due to the fact that you are a hero."
"Wait can't you just kill him and summon another guy for the shield?" Motoyasu suggested nonchalantly as he places his spear on his shoulder.
"How can you suggest something like that so casually Motoyasu!?" Nanoha yelled out loud, clearly appalled at the spear hero's apparent casual disregard for human life, especially that of her cousin's. Motoyasu was both shocked and completely terrified of the furious glares Nanoha and Fate were giving him. He was also still so confused as to why the both of them were so keen on defending Ben. It just didn't make sense to him at all.
"Unfortunately the ritual doesn't allow us to summon new heroes until all four of them are killed off," the king answered.
"W-What?" Itsuki stuttered in shock.
"T-That's insane," Motoyasu muttered wide-eyed.
"There's also the fact you can't kill me in the first place, especially considering how much thin ice Melromarc is on right now due to you summoning all four of the cardinal heroes," Ben added as he glared straight into Aultcray's eyes, with resolve and strength equivalent to the heat of the sun, forcing even the king to flinch for a moment, "What would the world say if they hear about you murdering a summoned hero? What would your big brother at Faubley say about you murdering a hero? What would your wife, the true ruler of this nation, say about you murdering a hero? " Ben's voice sounded more taunting than ever as he mercilessly pressed further. The silence seemed deafening and heavy. However, the answer was as clear as crystal.
"W-what would happen?" Itsuki asked uncertainty.
"The rest of the world would declare war on Melromarc," Fate said simply, "In fact, I'm fairly certain that if it isn't the threat of the waves preventing them from declaring war, then it would no doubt be the queen who is trying to prevent that from happening. Something I'm certain the king is counting on."
Motoyasu and Itsuki could only stare at Fate in shock at that revelation, while the king flinched when Fate mentioned the latter part of that information.
Aultcray let out a menacing growl. However that didn't seem to have any effect on Ben at all, "I may not be able to do any sort of punishment that could hinder your growth, however words of your crimes are already spreading shield devil, everyone will know of what you have done. You'll never be able to live a decent life in this country!"
Both the king and shield hero glared at one another, the tension so thick you can cut it with a knife. It went on like this for a moment before Ben spoke.
"I. Don't. Care," the shield hero said simply, confusing the king.
"What?" Aultcray muttered before Ben smacks away the hand clenching his shirt, and causing the king to release him and to take a few steps backward in surprise.
"I personally don't care that you're slandering my name. I'm more disgusted that you would focus more on your own personal agendas than prioritize protecting the citizens of this nation. You may not be the true ruler of this nation, but it is still your duty to protect its people and not let your personal desires get in the way. Do you think the queen would agree with what you're doing?"
"My wife's desires are my desires!" Aultcray roared.
"Do you truly believe that your queen would desire something that could risk a war with the whole world?" Nanoha asked simply. Aultcray glared at the brunette but didn't say anything. Nanoha was hardly fazed by the king's glare and simply glared back, only hers actually made the king flinch and shiver. As much as the king hated to admit it, the girl's glare reminded him too much of the ones his wife gave him when she was angry.
"In any case, we already did what we came here to do," Ben said as he walked past the king, he stopped before glaring back at the king, "I don't care if you try to run my name through the mud, it's not going to stop me from doing the right thing. I'm going to protect the people of this world, but I'm not doing it for you. Never planned on that. I'm doing it for every single person on the planet, regardless if they're human or demi-human."
With that declaration, Ben continued walking.
Motoyasu gripped his spear as he gritted his teeth. How dare that bastard try to sound as if he's so noble, especially after what he has done to Myne.
The king however didn't seem to be done though.
"Hold it shield hero, even though you can't be properly punished for your crimes, the same can't be said about your allies," Aultcray declared, his words causing Ben to stop in his tracks, "In defending you they have become associates to the crime and will be imprisoned and then promptly execut-ACK!"
Ben immediately spun around and wrapped one of his hands tightly around the king's throat, cutting off his oxygen supply. Aultcray gasped for air as he clawed at the fingers at his throat, but no matter how much he tried he just couldn't pry them off. However, what was most terrifying was the murderous look on the shield hero's face, it was more terrifying than the times his wife was furious with him.
Everyone, except for Nanoha and Fate, was completely shocked by this, even Malty looked concerned for Aultcray. The few available knights were about to come to their king's aid, but one look from Nanoha dissuaded them. Itsuki tried to ready an arrow to fire but he found his arms bound by a pink mana ring that wrapped around his torso.
"W-What!?" He exclaimed in surprise.
Motoyasu was about to charge towards Ben and skewer him with his spear, but he suddenly found himself held in place with his wrist and ankles encased in yellow mana cubes.
"Hey, what's the big idea!?" the spear hero yelled out in frustration as he tried to free himself but to no avail.
Malty was completely baffled as to what was going on. Right now, the shield hero had her father at his mercy, the knights were too scared to stop the shield hero, and both of the cardinal heroes were bound in some kind of magic.
"Let me tell you something Aultcray," Ben said in a dangerously low voice, his tone sending shivers down the king's spine as he continued to claw at the hand at his throat, "the three of us are being very patient with you, and I mean very patient. Even right now, each of us are far more than capable of leveling this entire castle to the ground in an instant. The only reason we are sparing you and your daughter's lives is because we possess something the both of you clearly lack, compassion. If you do anything, and I mean anything at all, to try and hurt the people close to me, or hinder our ability to help those in need. What the queen would have planned for the both of you when she returns, would be nothing compared to what I would do to you."
With that Ben tossed the king onto the ground, before walking toward the exit, with both Nanoha and Fate walking beside him. Aultcray let out a number of coughs as his lungs took in precious oxygen. He glared toward the shield's group as they made their way toward the door, but did nothing as he clenched a fist in fury.
The trio continued toward the door, however as they passed Motoyasu, the spear hero yelled.
"Ben, you damn bastard, don't think you can get away with what you've done," Motoyasu barked as he thrashed within his bindings, "How the hell were you summoned as a hero!? When I get my hands on you, I'll make you pay for what you did to Myne-chan, you hear me pay!"
Ben, Nanoha, and Fate simply ignored his ranting and continued walking.
"Wait Fate-chan, Nanoha-chan you don't have to go with him," Motoyasu pleaded as he looked over his shoulder toward the two women as they walked away with the shield hero, "Just leave that bastard, I can protect you from him!"
The women stopped and turned to glare at him, much to his shock and confusion, after all, he was trying to help them.
"Do you honestly believe that both me and Nanoha would just abandon Ben, just because of the words of people we hardly even knew for no more than a day?" Fate asked the spear hero, apparently in disbelief that he would even suggest a thing.
"I'm just looking out for you and Nanoha-chan," Motoyasu explained, "Ben violated Myne-chan, he cou-"
"Has it ever once occurred to you that Malty lied to you?" Nanoha asked before glaring at the red-haired woman in question. Malty gulped in fear as she shook in place.
"Of course not, Myne-chan would never lie to me!" Motoyasu argued, completely shocked that Nanoha would even suggest such a thing.
"She lied about her identity didn't she," Nanoha countered, to which Motoyasu couldn't say anything, "How are you so certain she wouldn't lie to you at all? You only knew her for a day."
"Why would she lie to me!? Of course she told the truth! Women would never lie to me!" Motoyasu stated he wasn't sure why she would ask that in the first place. After all, women can't lie at all, it's not in their nature.
Nanoha's, Fate's, and Ben's stared at him in complete disbelief, their jaws dropping. Itsuki was taken aback by this, he would have had to resist the urge to facepalmed if it weren't for the fact his arms were restrained. He knew Motoyasu liked girls, but he didn't know it could go this far.
Aultcray, a number of the nobles and knights, and even Malty stared incredulously toward the spear hero wondering if he truly was that gullible.
"Unbelievable," Ben muttered under his breath as he facepalms, "Motoyasu if you keep that idiotic mentality you're going to be taken advantage of like you are right now, or worse killed because of it. If I were you, I would get that fixed."
With that, the three continued toward the door.
"W-Wait hold on we're not done here Ben, get back over here you bastard!" the spear hero cried out again, "Fate-chan, Nanoha-chan don't go with him, please!"
But his cries fell on deaf ears as the trio walked through the door. A moment passed after they left, the magical restraints binding both Itsuki and Motoyasu suddenly vanished. Seeing that he was now free from his bindings, Motoyasu ran through the doorway but found the hallway empty.
He tightens his grip on his spear once again. Justice was supposed to be delivered onto Ben for what he did to Myne. Instead, what happened was Ben basically just came in, attacked the guards as well as the king, and made up a bunch of horrible lies about how he was innocent and that Myne was trying to frame him. What made it worse is that Ben no doubt manipulated Fate and Nanoha into helping him. To top it all off Ben just brushed aside the punishment the king placed on him like it was no big deal.
Sure he was glad both Nanoha and Fate weren't being imprisoned, but even if they were Motoyasu would have pleaded to the king to spare them. Heck, he would have been more than happy to have them added to his party, that way he could get rid of any bad influence Ben placed on them. Instead, they just left with him.
'I don't know why Fate-chan and Nanoha-chan are so insistent on siding with you Ben, but I'll prove to them that you're nothing but scum. Not only that, but I'll also avenge Myne-chan's honor,' Motoyasu thought darkly, 'I guess that makes you my nemesis Ben Tennyson.'
He looked over to Myne and saw her shaking in rage. He couldn't blame her at all considering what happened. He walked over to her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Are you alright Myne-chan?" He asked with concern.
She gave him a smile, though unknown to him, the smile was completely forced. She was absolutely furious with the result of the trial, as it barely went the way she wanted it. What made her more furious was how those bimbos dare make a mockery of her. If it was the last thing she did she would see all three of them be tormented in the worst way possible. She needed something to alleviate her rage at the moment, and she knew exactly what can help with that.
"Of course sir Motoyasu, I am thanks to you being here for me," she said with a blush as she looked at her "savior", rubbing her hand down the man's arm, talking to him in a rather amorous tone as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, "But I do need a bit of comforting sir Motoyasu."
"Of course Myne-chan, anything for you," he said with an eager smile, as he put his arm around her waist, as they began to walk out the door.
Itsuki was still trying to process a lot of what he learned. He didn't know who to believe. This was just supposed to be a fantasy game like Dimensional web after all, and he never remembers his game ever having a conspiracy such as this before.
"Are you alright master Itsuki?" one of his companions, Mald, asked in concern.
"I'm alright, I'm just trying to process everything that happened," the bow hero replied with reassurance.
"Ah, do not think so much on such manners," the armored individual stated with a dismissive wave of his hand, "The shield hero and his pathetic group were just spouting nonsense to evade justice. Fortunately, our glorious king managed to see through their blatant lies, unlike that pathetic sword hero!"
Itsuki thought about his words for a moment before smiling.
"Yeah, your right Mald. I can't believe I almost thought Ben was innocent. I don't know what I was thinking." he said as he scratched his head. After all, the AI only do what their scripting tells them to do, and said scripting doesn't activate unless something triggers it. It doesn't allow them to truly do their own things. The fact that this whole event started in the first place only meant that Ben did what he was accused of.
Sure he and his friends did show admittedly compelling pieces of evidence but considering that they were using cheat abilities, he was certain they easily forged said evidence. Not only that but had Itsuki defended Ben, the king would no doubt consider him an associate to ben's crime and would lose the support of the crown. So in the end it was best not to side with the shield hero.
"Welp, I think it's time we head out," Itsuki proclaimed with an eager smile as he placed his fist on his hips and puffed out his chest, "After all this world is in need of a true hero after."
Suddenly a rainbow-colored bird with a beard twice as long as its body landed on Itsuki's head, much to his and his party's surprise.
"Wha-"
"Not you, not you, not you," the bird chirped with what sounded like a mocking tone to Itsuki, "Not you, not you, not you."
Annoyed, the bow hero swatted his hand at it, causing it to fly away.
"Not you, not you, not you," the bird continued to chirp in the same mocking tone, before suddenly it just popped like a balloon, releasing confetti all over Itsuki and his party.
"M-Master Itsuki," one of the bow hero's party members stutter in shock, "W-what just happened?"
"I-I don't know," Itsuki answered honestly, completely baffled.
AN:...Yeah, I got nothing witty...in fact, the only thing I have to say at the moment is why there are so few Ben 10 x rising of the shield hero crossovers? And by a few why is there only really one(this one obviously doesn't really count)!? Seriously you would think that a series that has egotistical children who treat the hero thing as nothing more than a game, more writers would be more encouraged to have Ben 10 come into the rising of the shield hero world and show everyone what a true hero is.
Also, those that can correctly guess how the three were able to record Malty within the inn without her noticing will get a cookie.
And if anyone can guess which alien gave ben the shield he used in this chapter will get a pudding...Neptune's pudding to be precise.