I woke up that day with the sun already beaming down on my face. Morning already. I sat up in bed, shivering slightly. It was surprisingly cold in the room, colder than I remembered it being when I went to bed the previous night. I stood up, shaking off the bedsheets and moving over to the window. Must've overslept. The sun was already high. Could be about ten? I didn't have the ability to tell the time from the position of the sun, so I was really just guessing.

Wait, where were my clothes? I glanced down at myself to find I was wearing only my underclothes. Where had my tracksuit gone? I didn't really remember disrobing before bed last night… Whatever. I would worry about it in a moment. For now, I was enjoying the view.

What an amazing place this was. Carriages drawn by huge birds and scaled creatures moved through the street, kicking up dust before them. Oddly, the few horse drawn carriages out in the street seemed to be higher class than the others. What was up with that? If I was some super rich nobleman, I'd want my carriage pulled by something cool. A unicorn or a dragon or something like that. Whatever. Obviously, I was not a noble, so it wasn't my job to understand their customs.

I turned away from the window. I should probably get dressed and head out for the day. After all, we had been intending to travel to that village today, and if we wanted to spend some time in the forest to level grind as well, we'd need all the daylight we could get.

I glanced around the room, trying to figure out where I'd left my clothes. As I looked around, though, I started to get worried. Weirdly enough, I couldn't figure out where I'd left them. I looked over to the chair where I'd left my chainmail shirt, only to find that missing too. Now I was actively freaking out. Did I get robbed? My eyes darted over to the side table, only to find that my satchel of coins was missing as well. The Ofuda that had been underneath it had dissolved, meaning my trap had been triggered. Some thief had tried to rob me last night!

I hurried over to the other side of the bed. Sure enough, my pouch was sitting on the ground, silver coins scattered on the ground around it. Whoever tried to rob us probably dropped it after catching an air blast to the face. From what I could tell, it seemed like they'd grabbed a big handful of coins and had left the rest. I was probably down at least 50. Given I'd spent three hundred at the armor shop, and had given Myne an additional hundred, that left me with 350 silver. Still, at least my trap had actually worked.

Still, I'd been robbed! My clothes, my armor, and a good chunk of my money were all missing. I rushed out of the room, running across the hall to Myne's and pounding on the door. "Myne!" I shouted, slamming my fist into the door, "Myne, get up! We've been robbed! Myne!"

My head snapped to the side as I heard heavy footsteps stomping towards me, only to see a few armored castle guards rushing towards me. "Thank god," I said, "You're here to help! There's been a theft!"

I felt a great wash of relief as I saw them coming up the stairs towards me. They'd catch the robber and get my stuff back, and everything would be fine. "You are the Ofuda Hero, correct?"

I nodded. I was a bit confused, though. The looks on their faces, the tone of his voice when he said that… they all seemed very aggressive as they looked at me. "You've been summoned by the king. Come with us."

What? Now was not the time for a royal summons, not when there was a criminal on the loose! "Okay, I'll come with you, but we should catch this criminal first! Some robber is at large, don't you think that should take precedence?"

The soldier grabbed me, gripping my arm hard. I winced, trying to pull away but getting yanked back with ease. I was only level one, at this point, and my stats were still very mediocre. "I said come with us, now."

I tried yanking my hand away once more, shoving at his chest with the other hand. "Hey, get off me! Did you not hear what I just said? I've been robbed in the night! Don't you want to solve that problem first?"

The royal guard didn't say anything to that. Instead, he just continued yanking me along, pulling me down the hallway and towards the stairs. I was confused, and more than a bit angry, as he continued to ignore me, shoving me down the stairs. Basically left in my underwear, I was humiliated to stumble through the inn's restaurant, everybody's eyes on me as I was led outside. Why were they treating me this way? "Myne!" I called up the stairs, yet again receiving no response.

The knights continued ignoring me, pulling me outside. A horse-drawn cart was already waiting for them outside. One of the knights pressed me towards it with his hand on my back, forcing my head down and pushing me into the carriage like I was a criminal in one of those cop shows.

"What have I done wrong? Why are you treating me like this?" I asked that, and once more got total silence for a response. These guys wouldn't even make eye contact with me, no matter how much I tried. One of the knights sat up front, while the other three got into the carriage with me, and we were off.

We rode in the carriage up to the gate of the castle in total silence, the knights giving me stony looks all the way. Then, once we reached the gate, I was pulled from the cart and once more the guards began shoving me down the path, this time into the castle.

I followed along without too much resistance, figuring it was pretty much pointless right now. Whatever was going on should be settled soon enough, and then I could get far away from these knights and whatever their problem was. If I put up too much resistance, I'd probably start looking guilty.

I had to stop and think, when that idea came to my head. Guilty of what, exactly? I wasn't a criminal. I had committed no crimes that I knew of, and I'd spent much of yesterday out in a field, far away from anyone other than those Orange Balloons and Myne.

Myne. Her face flashed through my mind for a moment. Where was she, anyways? I'd been pounding on her door and screaming my lungs out, and she hadn't responded at all. One of the knights prodded me with the butt of a spear. "Walk, scum."
I did as I was told, brows furrowed and deep in thought even as I walked. I stumbled more than once, as the knights insisted on prodding the back of my legs with their spears if I slowed even slightly. I was forced into the throne room in this manner, shoved down to my knees by the knights who had led me here.

The King was staring down at me with a grave look. The attendant next to him had much the same look on his face. They weren't the only people present, though. Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu were all present, and their parties were with them. And…

"Myne!" I called, spotting her in the group of adventurers. When I called her name, she darted behind Motoyasu, shooting me an evil look. I noticed something. One of her eyes was swollen and purple, as if she'd been punched in the face. Did she go out adventuring on her own, and get hurt? Or did something else happen? Intent on ignoring the obvious nature of that black eye, I asked, "What the hell is going on, Myne? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

One of the knights hit me on the back of the head with his spear when I said that. Forced into a bowing position from the pain in the back of my head, I watched a pair of feet move towards me. I glanced up, and saw Motoyasu standing over me. "Don't play dumb, Naofumi." His voice was spiteful, and his face even more so. He was obviously spitting mad, I just didn't know what he was mad about!

"What do you mean? I haven't-," My voice trailed off as I noticed yet another oddity. He was wearing my missing chainmail shirt. "Why are you wearing that? You thief! Did you really go and steal that out of my room? What the hell is wrong with you, asshole?"

The soldier hit me on the back of the head again, forcing another yelp from me as I bent forward. "Thief? You really think you can call me a thief? I thought more of you, Naofumi, but it seems like you really are scum!"

Scum? This thieving bastard had the balls to call me scum? I wanted to leap to my feet and attack him right there, but I knew the guards would be on me for a second if I tried. "What are you talking about? I bought that with my money, what makes you think you have the right to steal it out of my room? Why am I the scum here?"

It was really starting to feel like I was on trial. The problem was, in a trial, the defendant would know what they were being accused of. Here, I was just getting yelled at without a clue of what was going on. Motoyasu looked like he wanted to attack me, but he just stepped away. Then, the king said, "We will hear the charges against the Ofuda Hero."

Charges? "Wh-what? What charges are you talking about? I haven't done anything wrong!" My voice was desperate. My eyes scanned around the room, trying to find sympathy in anyone's eyes. There was none to be found. Myne stepped forward, clutching her hands to her chest, her eyes watery. She hadn't been crying just a moment before, why was she crying now?

With her voice a whimper, she let out a few sobs. Tears began rolling down her cheeks, which, when added to her black eye, made her strike a pretty pathetic figure. She seemed like a totally different person, especially when compared to the competent adventurer I had met yesterday. "Yes," She said, trying to compose herself, "The Ofuda Hero got drunk last night… he barged into my room and tried to force himself on me, but when I said no, he got angry. He punched me in the face." She gestured to her black eye as proof. I was gaping at her, wide eyed, unable to believe what my ears were telling me. How could she be saying all this? She continued, "After he hit me, he pushed me down on the bed. He attempted to tear my clothes off, but I managed to escape. I fled the room and found Mr. Motoyasu."

Why was she telling these bold-faced lies about me? Last night, we'd parted ways before night had even fallen. Not only that, but I hadn't drunk a single drop!

"Lies!" I shouted, pointing at her, "She's lying! I turned in early last night! I didn't drink at all, and I certainly didn't attempt to force myself on her! I don't know why, but she's trying to destroy my reputation!"
Motoyasu scoffed. "You dare to call her a liar? The evidence of your crimes is clear as day. Look at her face! What, do you think she gave herself that bruise? Besides, why would she have any reason to lie about you?"

I got the feeling he was partially right. It seemed likely that I had been the cause of that bruise on her face, just indirectly. If she was willing to lie about me now, why wouldn't she have been willing to attempt to steal my money? "Don't speak for her!" I shouted, trying to defend myself. "Besides, if all that was true, why did you end up with my chainmail?"

Motoyasu shook his head, his face becoming disappointed. "You keep sinking lower. Myne gave this to me as a gift last night, after we had a few drinks together. I'm no thief."

They must have been in it together, then. I knew that was my chainmail, there was no mistaking it. Sure, there might have been a slim chance she had gotten another piece of identical chainmail and given it to him, but I highly doubted that. What was the likelihood, really, that my chainmail would go missing on the same night that he received an identical piece as a gift? These two had to be working together, they just had to be. Trying to reason with either would be pointless.

I turned my eyes to the king. "Your highness," I began, "I've been robbed! My clothes and armor were stolen! The thief attempted to take my money, as well, but was thwarted by a trap I set! The thief needs to be brought to justice!"
The king looked even angrier than Motoyasu had. "Silence, you scum." My mouth shut. So he really believed these two? Then again, he'd never seemed to particularly like me. Maybe this was his way of getting rid of his least favorite hero? He continued, "Any act of unwanted sexual aggression against a citizen of Melromarc, regardless of who perpetrates it, is punishable by immediate execution.

My eyes widened. I didn't even know how to respond. "But… I didn't do it!" That was all I could bring myself to day. The thought of dying for a crime I hadn't even committed was turning my stomach. I didn't want to die. I didn't want to die! That was all I could think about, as my eyes darted from face to face, with the feeling only growing worse every time I saw a look of distrust.

"I always thought it was a coward's class, but to stoop so low?" Itsuki seemed disgusted with me. I felt like I was going to be sick.

"Seriously. What kind of person would assault their party members?" Ren, too? Could everyone in this room really have been against me? Why? I'd never done anything to any of them! Why would they just assume I was guilty? I wanted to be angry, to scream at them, to plead my innocence, but I couldn't. My heart was racing. I was being punished for something I never did. Something I never would do, not in a million years!

I turned my eyes to Myne, in desperation, hoping she'd set the record straight and admit that I did nothing wrong. Instead, she just smirked at me, apparently thinking nobody would see it.

I felt my nausea turning into pure, red-hot hate. I felt like I could choke the life out of everyone in this room without hesitation. I turned my eyes to Motoyasu and shot him a glare, cold and filled with disgust. I jabbed my finger at him and said, "You did this. You wanted my money, so you worked with her to frame me."

He scoffed at the accusation. "As if we'll believe the accusations of a rapist," He said, pointing right back at me. "Your excuses will get you nowhere." As he said that, he stepped in front of Myne, shielding her with his body. It was like he was trying to play the stereotypical hero, and shield some helpless damsel from danger. What a piece of shit.

"You're a liar." I accused coldly, continuing to stare him down. "You probably told her to join up with me, so you could steal my extra money. It's as clear as day. You planned this whole thing out, didn't you?"
She'd been in his party originally, after all. It wasn't implausible that he could have come up with a plan like that, and have sent her to execute it. It looked like their plan had worked, too. After all, I was on my knees, getting put on trial for something I didn't do, while he was over there, wearing my chainmail. And they'd called me the coward.

As if he wanted to rub it in, Motoyasu squatted down so he could make eye contact. "You were summoned to another world," He said, "And all you used your power for was to abuse your party member. You're more of a coward than I ever could have expected, Naofumi."

Itsuki and Ren seemed to be eating their story up. So they'd throw their lots in with him, rather than me. It wasn't surprising. They'd all apparently had the belief that I was a coward right from the start, and they didn't want to fight alongside a coward. It wouldn't have surprised me if they were all in cahoots, trying to get rid of the guy they thought was the weakest link. "Fine," I growled, eyes downcast, "Fine. Think what you want. Obviously, I can't change your mind. Just send me back home, then."

Motoyasu turned back to the other heroes. "See? As soon as he gets caught in the act, he turns tail and flees. He's finally been revealed for the coward he really is." I wasn't even surprised by his words, anymore. It seemed like he'd say anything to get rid of me.

Ren shook his head, club held in one hand. "He keeps getting worse. He's not even attempting to prove his innocence anymore."
Of course I wasn't, you idiot. You didn't listen when I tried to. Who was I supposed to prove my innocence to, when nobody was listening? If looks could kill, I would have all three of them in the morgue by now.

The king crossed his arms and frowned. "Sadly," He said, "Such a thing is impossible. New heroes can only be summoned once the original four have died." My eyes widened. It seemed like that announcement got the other three heroes' attention away from me, for a moment, as they seemed just as surprised as me.

"Wait, are you serious?" Motoyasu asked. "So there's no way for us to go home?"

The other two asked similar questions of the king. I shook my head, standing up and shaking off the spears that had been pointed at me. "H-He's going to run!" One of the knights called.

"I'm not going anywhere." The other knight hit me with his spear, attempting to get me back down. It hurt like hell, and I stumbled forward a few steps, but I wasn't going down. I leveled my glare at them and they paused, for a moment. Long enough for me to call out, "Well, king? What will my punishment be?"

The king raised his hand, stopping the guards from pressing the attack. "As of right now, you are our only protection from the waves. You will receive no official punishment. However, the public knows of your crimes. That is punishment enough. You will find no friendly faces in the upstanding citizenry of this country."
Great. So, not only would I be forced to fight for a country that hated me, I wouldn't be receiving any aid from the people of that country while I did it. Things just kept getting better. The king continued, announcing, "We will summon you in a month, when the wave arrives. You are the Ofuda Hero, so you will fight this wave, criminal or no."

I gritted my teeth. "Of course." I said, shaking my head. "I suppose you'll just be waiting for me to die in a wave, right? You're all thieving, lying bastards."
I turned, ignoring the people in the room. They wouldn't believe anything I said, so I had no reason to worry about their thoughts or feelings. "If I end up dead, make sure to put silver coins over my eyes. I just want to know that those two thieving bastards will show up to my funeral, even if it's just to steal the coins off my cold, dead body."

I spat on the stone floor. "See you in a month." With that, I exited the room, without looking back. Despite what I'd said, I had no intention of dying. I intended to become the strongest of the heroes. I'd humiliate every last one of those bastards for what they'd done to me.