Chapter 10 The Trial
As they walked through the town Naofumi couldn't help but look around, as someone who had never left Japan at all travelling to a new country would have been a completely new experience for him and travelling to a new world that was something he never thought he would experience, looking all around him he felt like he had been transported to Europe during the medieval times.
''Not what your use to is it?'' Rishia asked, breaking Naofumi out of his thoughts.
''Oh, sorry about that'' he said sheepishly.
''No its fine we understand this is all new to you, so just take it in at your own pace'' said Eclair.
''Right'' Naofumi nodded ''so where are we going?''
''To an arms shop we know so we can get you some armour'' stated Eclair ''your not going to get far dressed like that''
Naofumi nodded seeing her logic, he was still dressed in the clothes from his world those obviously wouldn't offer much protection on a quest so it made sense to get him some armour, especially since he just had a shield as a weapon ''is the Princess going to meet us there?'' Naofumi asked.
After he and his party had formally introduced themselves Princess Malty gave some instructions to Eclair and Rishia before excused herself explaining that there was a problem that needed her attendance, in the light novels he read the Princesses were normally just as involved as the King and Queen, so it made sense to him that Princess Malty needed to deal with political problems as well.
''She'll meet us there or she'll meet us at the castle gate, but she'll likely meet us at the shop'' explained Eclair.
Naofumi gave a nod ''so how long have you known Princess Malty for Miss Eclair?'' he asked.
''Since we were ten'' said Eclair.
Naofumi nodded as he heard ''and how about you Miss Rishia?''
''Hmm, that's actually a bit complicated I attended a party that was held by Malty when we were twelve, but we didn't officially meet for the first time until we fourteen at school, I met Eclair there too'' explained Rishia, Naofumi again nodded as he heard that ''oh, we're here!''
Naofumi looked up to see a store with a crossed sword sign, when they entered the store he saw racks of swords, shields standing up on shelves, suits of armour lining a wall and spears standing in a barrel, Naofumi saw a man standing behind the counter, he had a scarred bald head and a small beard, he was dressed in a plain greyish white shirt and a brown apron with dark brown gloves.
''Ah, welcome back girls what can I do for you today?'' he asked.
Eclair led Naofumi to the counter ''Erhard this is Naofumi Iwatani the Shield Hero and as you can see, he needs some armour''
Erhard gave Naofumi a look over and nodded ''alright, do you have anything in mind?'' He asked.
''I don't really know anything about armour, so I'll leave it up to you'' said Naofumi.
''Alright then, we'll go over a few suit's see what your comfortable with'' said Erhard.
''Can I look at your swords too?'' Naofumi asked.
''Yeah, sure you can kid, but I don't see what good it would do ya'' said Erhard, confusing Naofumi.
''Oh right, we haven't told you yet'' said Rishia ''sorry, there are somethings you should know, but we wanted to wait until Malty got here to explain them''
''Sir Naofumi, as you know there four Cardinal Weapons and several Vassal Weapons, now your Cardinal Weapon is more powerful than any of the Vassal Weapons, but it comes with more limitations one of those limitations is that you can't use any other weapon besides your Cardinal Weapon'' Eclair explained.
''So I can only use this Shield'' said Naofumi, before looking down at the shield attached to his arm a grimace on his face 'this is going to be harder than I thought, I mean how am I going to fight with a Shield?'
After that they began to try on armour, eventually they settled on some chainmail as well as some leather armour, when they had picked out the armour Malty had arrived ''sorry if I'm a bit late'' she said as she entered ''oh is that the armour your going with it looks good''
''Thank you, have you taken care of that problem?'' Naofumi asked.
-FLASHBACK-
Malty walked through the halls of the palace making her way towards her room, after giving instructions to Eclair and Rishia to take Naofumi to Erhard's shop she had excused herself to deal with what she considered a problem, it wasn't a problem right now but it would become one in the future if she didn't deal with it now, entering her room she sat down on her bed and said ''Shadow to me'' and the last remaining Shadow appeared in front of her ''alright, I need you to observe that woman, Lesty A Lustra, I don't trust her and I need you to keep an eye on her, inform me if she makes any particular moves, I'm sure you know what I mean''
''Of course, I'll do that at once, Milady'' said the Shadow disappearing to do the task set for her.
Malty then got off the bed ''well then, time to catch up with the others''
-FLASHBACK END
''Yeah, we shouldn't have to worry about it now'' said Malty ''anyways, that looks nice, thank you Erhard, have we paid yet?'' Eclair shook her head so Malty paid the man ''alright then, come on its time to get started''
A few minutes later the party were stood in a field outside of the city walls, it was time to start training Naofumi's but first they needed to establish a few things to him.
''Alright before we start there are a few things you'll need to know'' said Malty.
''Yeah, Eclair and Rishia told me, I can't use any other weapons besides my Shield right'' said Naofumi.
''Yes, but that's not the only thing you need to know'' said Malty.
''Alright, I'm listening'' said Naofumi.
Malty smiled gently at Naofumi, it was nice to see him as this happy man brimming with positivity, but it was also sad to think that he could become a cold man full of ruthlessness because of the person she was before she regained her past memories ''alright, after this we'll need to find somewhere else to do some grinding'' said Malty nudging her head in a direction, Naofumi looked in that direction and saw Ren ''as you know your weapon comes with many benefits but there are also several limitations, one of those limitations is that your unable to gain EXP when in close proximity with another legendary weapon'' Naofumi nodded in understanding and they began to walk away to find somewhere else.
They eventually did find somewhere else, but they weren't the only ones in the area, there were some kind of orange sphere shaped monsters zooming around ''those are Balloons'' explained Malty ''don't worry, their pretty weak so we're going to leave this one to you and explain something once you've beat them'' Naofumi was going to protest but Malty quickly said ''just because you have a shield doesn't mean you can't attack, you can still punch them ok, just do this please''
Naofumi sighed and said ''ok'' before walking forwards, the Balloons then darted towards them and started biting, Naofumi was able to fight them off doing such things as punching and smashing them into things and occasionally each other, many of them bit him but when they did he didn't feel anything, it seemed like his defence was too high for them to hurt him, when he defeated on it popped and gave him 1 EXP, there were fifteen of them in total, so when he defeated all of them he had fifteen EXP.
Malty then walked up to Naofumi ''alright now we can show you something else, you see the Balloons remains, take some and place it on your Shields gem'' Malty ordered, Naofumi did as he was told and to his surprise the shield absorbed the material and some kind of tree diagram appeared in his vision ''by absorbing material your Shield will unlock new forms however your level will dictate if your capable of accessing those forms''
''Alright, so their might be a shield that can give me an attack?'' Naofumi asked.
''I'm really not sure, if there is that's fine but your purpose as the Shield Hero isn't to attack its to protect others including your comrades'' said Malty ''so you'll just have to leave the fighting to us, that said you've seen our levels right?''
''Y-yeah, there in the left corner of my sight, your all level 30 currently'' said Naofumi.
''Right, so lets get something straight, we are going to help you, I promise you that, we are not however going to carry you, if we catch you slacking off, we're going to have problems, understand?'' Malty asked fiercely.
''I understand, don't worry you won't catch me slacking'' said Naofumi.
''Good'' said Malty giving him a smile before drawing her sword ''now then, lets find something stronger and start griding''
Their grinding ended when the sun started to set, that was when they decided to start heading back to town, when they had finished Naofumi was at level ten, they decided to stop at a restaurant before finding an Inn to stay the night, Malty bought them food, but decided not to buy any alcohol for obvious reasons.
''You did really well today Sir Naofumi'' said Eclair.
''Thank you Eclair, but please call me Naofumi'' said the hero ''and that goes for all of you''
''In that case please feel free to call me Malty'' said Malty.
''You can call me Eclair'' said Eclair.
''Same, call me Rishia'' said Rishia.
''Oh, I almost forgot'' said Malty pulling a book out of a bag and handing it to Naofumi ''I bought this for you on my way to the Erhard's shops'' Naofumi took it from her and opened it ''this is a Grimoire it'll teach you how to use magic, but first we'd have to learn what your magic affinity is''
''T-Thank you, but I can't read this'' said Naofumi.
''Oh right, the Weapons translate spoken words, but they don't translate written words'' said Rishia.
''What?'' Naofumi asked.
''Naofumi haven't you found it strange that we're speaking the same language as you?'' Eclair asked, Naofumi hesitated for a moment then shook his head ''that's because we're not your weapon is translating what we're saying to your language and its also translating what your saying to our language''
''Now there are easier ways to learn magic than from a Grimoire, but while it is harder it can offer benefits, I also think it would be good for you to learn how to read our language'' Malty explained ''and don't worry about learning, Rishia can help you, she's a good tutor''
''Eclair can vouch for me, I had to tutor her all the way through the academy'' said Rishia.
''Rishia!'' Eclair exclaimed embarrassed, causing them all to laugh.
The party all laughed and had a good time before going to the Inn, where Malty noticed Motoyasu's party had also taken up residence, causing her to growl to herself, she knew what that bitch was planning, little did she know Malty had prepared for it, the party shared a room at the girls insistence, Naofumi offered the sleep on the floor since there were two beds but the girls offered him one and shared the other bed, ready and waiting for tomorrow.
Early the next mourning the party was woken up by a loud banging at the door, like the other Malty woke with a start by became annoyed when she realised what it was time for, she, Eclair and Rishia quickly got dressed as Naofumi went to the door, when he opened it and the scene started to play out the same way it did in the story, but this time she wasn't going to let him suffer for crimes he didn't commit ''hold on whats going on?'' she asked.
''The Shield Hero is to face trial on accusations of rape'' said one of the guards.
''W-what!'' Naofumi gasped in shock.
''That's ridiculous!'' Eclair exclaimed.
''Naofumi was with us the whole night there's no way he could do that!'' cried Rishia.
But the Guards ignored them and proceeded to grab the Shield Hero by the arms and drag him out of the Inn and towards the castle, with Malty, Eclair and Rishia following them closely ''Naofumi don't worry, I'll take care of everything'' said Mary as they strode towards the castle, when they got to the throne room Naofumi was thrown to the ground in front of the king, Malty, Eclair and Rishia quickly rushed over to help him up.
''You field! I wondered when you would show your true colours!'' The king bellowed ''I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you, you would-''
''Oh shut up!'' Malty snapped, getting up to glare at the idiot king, stood next to him was Thresher and off to the side of the throne were the Three Heroes, Lesty was sobbing or at least pretending to sob in Motoyasu's arms ''now what is this about, the guards who took us here informed us Naofumi has been charged with rape''
''I-I didn't do anything!'' Naofumi cried.
''Liar, don't pretend like you don't remember!'' Motoyasu cried.
''I had a feeling you were here for a different reason than we were'' sneered Itsuki.
''Same here, you probably just confused yourself for being a higher class than you are'' spat Ren.
''I never thought you would be the type to commit a crime!'' Motoyasu growled ''someone like you has no reason to be a hero!''
Malty looked towards Naofumi who was looking at the ground, he looked so hurt and venerable, Malty put a hand on his shoulder causing him to look up at her who was giving him a gentle smile, she then looked back up and glared at the others ''alright, that's enough be quite, I'd like to here the witnesses testimony'' she said.
Motoyasu then turned to Lesty who was being comforted by Ren and Itsuki ''go on Lesty, I'm sure the Princess will believe you'' said Motoyasu.
Lesty practically leapt into Motoyasu's arms and sobbed out ''I-I-I left the room to go to the lavatory, when I finished I came across him, he was drunk and forced me to the ground and tried to- tried to- tried to-'' Malty just rolled her eyes.
''Alright, I'm going to stop you right there, I've had enough of this'' said Malty.
''How can you act so nonchalantly to this!'' Motoyasu shouted.
''Because I know all of that, is a damn lie!'' spat Malty ''we were with Naofumi for the whole night, we had dinner together and we didn't have one drop of alcohol and we didn't have any in our room at the Inn either''
''W-well obviously he left the Inn to go out and get drunk!'' Motoyasu cried.
''Are you really that stupid?'' Malty asked, causing everyone to look at her shocked ''so really believe and you expect us to believe that Naofumi could leave our room, go somewhere to get alcohol, get drunk, go back to the Inn, attempt assault a woman, go back to our room and get into bed and sober up in four hours''
''I concur, additionally Naofumi show's no signs of being drunk or having a hungover''
''H-he obviously slept it off!'' Lesty cried starting to sweat.
''He slept it off in possibly two hours?'' Eclair asked with a brow raised.
''And even if he was drunk how could he force you to the ground, Naofumi's level five, your easily a higher level!'' Rishia cried.
''H-he obviously used some kind of shield ability!'' Lesty cried.
''Ok, you know what, I'm just going to end this'' said Malty snapping her fingers and in an instant all the Shadows appeared behind Malty kneeling before her, she could see her father and Lesty were both turning white ''everyone knows who these are right, mother let me borrow some because I knew you'' she pointed at her father ''would do something like this, now then please tell everyone what you saw, first Naofumi then Lesty''
''Evil Princess!'' Lesty spat under her breath.
''Of course, as you said the Shield Hero did not leave his room, he slept through the night'' stated one of the Shadows.
''And Lesty?'' Malty asked.
''She stayed in the room the Spear Hero was renting, then she left the room and spent a few minutes ensuring she had a disheveled appearance to make it look like someone attempted to rape her, before making the claim'' said another Shadow.
''Lies!'' Motoyasu cried.
''I have evidence'' said the Shadow pulling out a crystal ball, but before the throne room doors opened and Duke Seaetto walked in ''apologises for my late arrival, I was overseeing a problem in my domain and I just got the-'' he stopped as he saw the situation in front of him ''whats going on?''
''Father, this is a trial where Lesty A Lustra is accusing the Shield Hero of rape'' Eclair explained.
''Evidence of this claim?'' Duke Seaetto asked glaring the king who was now shifting in his throne very uncomfortable and to the looks of it Thresher was starting to sweat too.
''Err, actually sir we weren't able to find any in the Shield Heroes room'' said one of the guards.
''I see'' said Duke Seaetto.
''We have evidence that Naofumi is innocent though sir'' said Malty, she looked at her friends who seemed to know what she wanted to ask and nodded ''and we'd be happy to testify under Slave Pact''
''Very well, I'd like to see the evidence, then you may testify'' said Duke Seaetto, the Shadow then walked up showing him the Crystal Ball which showed images proving the story the Shadow told.
''I- I object, obviously that Ball has been tampered with'' said Lesty.
''I will admit that is possible, but if it come from the Queens Shadows I think I can trust that its legitimate'' said Duke Seaetto, then Malty, Eclair and Rishia were given slave marks by a palace mage, Malty had to admit it wasn't as bad an experience as she thought, it burned a little but otherwise fine, they gave the same testimony and then received Holy Water to wash the mark off ''well then I think that's everything, I hereby declare Naofumi Iwatani the Shield Hero to be innocent, Guards please escort Lesty A Lustra to the cells where she will await further interrogation, the rest of us should probably leave''
The guards quickly went up and grabbed Lesty by the arms dragging her away, to which she and Motoyasu protested, Naofumi ignored this as he was too focused on the last thing Duke Seaetto said ''wait your not going to punish the king?'' he asked, Duke Seaetto simply pointed to Malty who was seething in rage ''oh''
''I will be writing to the Queen to inform her of this, but otherwise I think Princess Malty will punish her father more than I could'' said Duke Seaetto leaving the throne room with the other Nobles and the guards who didn't want to get caught in this crossfire.
''Well I suppose the situation is sorted out here'' said Itsuki.
''Yeah, best go'' said Ren.
''Stay where you two are, because when I'm done with them you three are next!'' Malty snarled, Motoyasu, Ren and Itsuki froze while Motoyasu walked up to them with no idea what was happening to say something, but as he walked up to them Malty started to march towards her father, who was shrinking into his seat with fear.
''Malty my dear-''
SLAP!