Celestial Shield
3rd pov:
Naofumi had just entered his room after the meeting with the other heros.
He is very much excited to be in this new world with endless possibilities however he could not help but think back on how he was treated upon his arrival. It felt to him there was an air of tension surrounding himself and the King. He would need to tread more lightly on who to trust and not blindly just accept everyone from here. Sure it is exciting to be in another world however he can't ignore that feeling he felt when he was bypassed. Deciding to trust his gut he went to sleep having felt better about his decision.
The next day the Cardinal Heros were lined up to have people join their party. Naofumi closed his eyes in hopes he would have at least someone join his party. When the commotion died down he turned behind him and saw he had no one in his party. Turning to face the King he could see the smugness in his eyes. Rather than make a scene he just nodded once to himself realizing he was in fact correct the shield hero was not seen in a positive light here. So he would have to find allies on his own.
"Your Highness I-" he started but was interrupted.
"I'll join your party" said a female voice behind him.
Turning he looked to see a red headed woman standing behind him.
"No it's ok, I was just about to ask if I could have someone else I know join my party." He replied back. He could see the maliciousness in her eyes.
"Who might that be Shield Hero? As you already know, the Heros cannot be in a party together. I do not know who you know in this world." the King spoke in a firm voice.
"My friend will be joining me a bit later. I just wanted it to be noted that I had a party and wanted to know the procedures but seeing how it was done for the other Heros, I will just wait until My friend gets here." He responded then did a small bow and took his place back in line. He could feel the red headed female's eyes on him but ignored it.
"Very well, since the shield hero currently only has 1 member in his party I shall provide him with 800 silver coins with 600 coins going to the other heros." The King stated.
Naofumi looked back and saw the red headed female still behind him. He quickly came up with a plan to stick close to one of the other heros due to a feeling that he shouldn't trust this woman. Looking around he saw only Ren the sword hero still in the castle talking to his party. He walked over to him to ask about watching him train.
"Hey Ren you going to train? Do you mind if I just watch you train for now?" He requested.
"Sure I don't mind, don't you think you should be training with your party member?"
"No I don't have a party just yet, I am going to wait until tomorrow. This lady seems to just be following me. Perhaps she would like to join your party instead?" he asked Ren and then the woman behind him.
"My name is Myne and I already stated I would join your party Shield Hero. I don't mind showing you where to train and where to purchase equipment for yourself and myself." she stated in a cheerful voice.
"No thank you Myne, as I have stated I will be waiting on party members until tomorrow and I will be watching Ren train today. Perhaps you can catch up to Motoyasu since you were to join his party to begin with. I am ready when you are Ren." He stated towards Myne and then turned back to Ren who stood by watching the scene before nodding as Naofumi indicating he was ready to leave.
As they left to the training yard the woman Myne was still following him. He decided to ignore her for now and if he saw Motoyasu he would push her to join his party and then discreetly leave when she was not paying attention to him only letting Ren know where he would be for the rest of the evening and asking him to let no one know he would be in the room they had their meeting at for the rest of the day after he packed up his room and to meet him there when he was available tonight.
He saw Motoyasu training by killing balloon monsters and walked over to him with Myne trailing behind him.
"Hey Motoyasu, this is Myne and she was originally in your party. She would like back in and I do not need a party currently. Do you mind if she were to rejoin your party?" He asked and then pushed her into Motoyasu's arms just as insurance. Motoyasu had his arms around her and smiling down at her while Myne stampered. Quickly putting his plan to motion he walked over to Ren to let him know his plans then quickly left back to his room in the castle. After he packed up his room in the castle he waited for Ren to join him in the meeting room. At least 2 hours went by before Ren walked into the room.
"You know Myne is looking for you. I didn't tell her where you were of course as per your request, but why did you ask me to meet you here?" Ren asked Naofumi as he took his seat.
"To be honest I get a weird vibe from her and do not trust her or the King. The way they are treating me is different than just because I cannot wield a weapon as a Shield Hero. So I am going to act a bit more cautiously. Yes it may seem like a game because of our weapons but I get the feeling the monsters and people are nothing like the games you have played before. So I am going to treat this world as if it is very much real and trust my gut, which says not to trust the King and Myne." Noafumi informed him before standing up.
"If you are asked where I am, just say I went to an expensive inn in the town. In reality I will more than likely be at the cheapest inn they have just so I can save money for my real party that will arrive later tonight or in a few moments. You can greet one member shortly." Noafumi told Ren then turned when he felt a magic pulse around him before a bright yellow door appeared in front of him.
The door opened and out stepped a big busted blonde girl in a tight top and skirt that stopped mid thigh, right before her thigh high socks started and then ended in combat boots. On one side of her hips were a set of golden keys and on the other side was a whip with a little heart at the end.
"Naofumi I finally found you! It was hard at first. I couldn't sense your magical signature until all of a sudden I felt you use your magic. Why are you here and where exactly is here?" said the girl who stepped out of a shining doorway.
"Lucy we are currently in the kingdom of Melromarc, this is Ren Amaki the Sword Hero. I was summoned here along with him and two others, the Spear and Bow Heros. We were apparently summoned to fight waves of catastrophe that are plaguing this world. Here I am the Shield Hero. It would seem I cannot hold any weapons but the shield, I can however still use my magic as normal, just no weapons." He said to her with a smile.
"Oh hello Ren, I am Lucy Heartfilia, I'm Naofumi's little sister." she said and gave a small bow in respect.
"Naofumi it is good that you can still use your magic or I would never have found you. Everyone was so worried about you when you just disappeared mid sentence with master. I will help you fight these waves of catastrophe, is there anyone else you want to join us? I can port them over here but it will need to be all at once. My magic doesn't last forever. Also Virgo asked me to give you, your late night pick me up" She said after greeting Ren who has been observing the interaction with Naofumi and Lucy while also eyeing the doorway she still stood in. Behind her it looked like maybe her bedroom, the bed had black silk sheets with what looked like constellations stitched in white.
"Tell Virgo I said thank you. Yes I do want some members of the guild to come help out and we can port them in the morning since it seems you need to rest. I want Laxus, Gajeel, Levy, Wendy, Pantherlily, Cobra, Natsu only if he promises to behave and not destroy everything on site, I'll trust your judgment if you decide to not bring him, Cobra if he is available and Carla since I know Wendy won't leave her behind." He informed her.
"Ok you are in luck that Cobra just got back in town. I'm sure he is already on his way over here for a quicker portal. I will have to bring everyone in the morning or in a few hours since most if not all are asleep. As for Natsu, he is currently unavailable. He went out fishing with Happy and didn't say when he would be back. I will see you in a few hours after I have gotten everyone together and packed for what I am assuming will be an extended mission. Thank Mavis I have my own house now or I'd be broke paying the landlady still." She said before handing him a package and stepping back through her portal before it closed.
Turning back to face Ren, Naofumi said his good nights and left to find a less expensive inn, hoping Ren would not betray his trust. When he found an inn he paid for his room and tipped the innkeep to keep his silence on his whereabouts. He asked the innkeep where to get food and armor. The innkeep suggested a blacksmith named Erhard and that the inn served food in the dining area but it was already closed. He did offer Naofumi some bread they had in the kitchen and wine. Naofumi said no to the wine but would take the bread and water.
After getting his bread and water Naofumi went upstairs to his room. The room had two beds and a bathroom attached. He quickly showered, opened the package and swallowed the contents in the bottle his sister gave him, ate his bread and washed it down with water. He then set up a chair under the door knob as a precaution and made sure the window was securely locked, before going to bed.
When Naofumi woke in the morning everything was exactly how he left it with the chair still under the doorknob and the window still locked. He could hear commotion outside but ignored it. Getting up he took his morning shower, got dressed and left the room to get breakfast or lunch from the innkeep. When he got downstairs he saw there were guards outside the inn but still he ignored everything outside. Walking up to the innkeep Naofumi noticed people giving him hostile looks and whispering to one another. He decided to proceed with caution, arriving in front of the innkeep he asked when breakfast was. Only to be ignored by the innkeep, instead he heard footsteps behind him. Acting on instinct he stepped to his right and turned to see royal guards holding weapons and pointing them at him. Only to quickly grab him and as a unit they dragged him to the castle.
When they got to the castle they dragged him into the castle room where the other three heros were along with the King and nobles.
"What is going on?! Why am I being dragged like a common criminal?!" Naofumi said in an angry shout.
Naofumi looked around and saw Myne was crying into Motoyasu's chest who was glaring at him along with the bow hero. Ren was the only one looking at him knowingly and with slight guilt. Naofumi then knew Ren did not keep his secret on where he would really be. Naofumi listened as the King accused him of attemped rape which was punishable by death. After demanding proof as seeing a negligee brought in by a guard, Naofumi said he had his own proof that he had not seen nor been with Myne since he left her in Motoyatsu's arms at the training area yesterday.
Ren spoke up saying that Naofumi was in the castle during the training time and did not leave until well after midnight which is after the incident occured. Everyone was shocked into silence as the Sword Hero provided Naofumi his alibi for the time of the incident.
"As you can see and hear I was nowhere near the inn during the time of Myne's attempted rape, not to mention I had not seen her since I left her with Motoyatsu. Anything that happened to her after I left her was not my responsibility, since she never was a member of my party. I am innocent and I do not appreciate being framed! What is the punishment for lying to the King and spreading lies about a Hero?!" Naofumi shouted in anger at the attempted frame up.
"The Sword Hero speaking up cannot be your only proof he was not with you all night and the clothes were found in your room. That is stronger evidence that you were not alone. You could have met up with Myne after your meeting with the Sword Hero last night." Stated the King.
Naofumi decided to go for his only defense he had left but before he could a shining doorway appeared next to him.
"Hey Naofumi, I brought everyone we discussed last night except Levy is away on a job right now so I am bringing Freed instead hope that is o- hey what's going on why are you being held down?! Said by Lucy who was walking out of the gate the others trailing behind her. Cobra being the second to enter already knew what was going on as he could hear it.
"He is being accused of attempted rape by the lying red headed slut. It was hers and the King's plan to make the Shield Hero less trusted by everyone here." Cobra stated
"Excuse me, who are you people?! How dare you call me a slut!" Yelled Myne.
"It's the truth I can hear your souls, I can hear everyone's soul in this room and outside it. The guards planted the night ware that you gave them as soon as he left his room for breakfast. You found out what inn he would be at after you bribbed all the inns in town, you were upset he left you with the dumbass spear guy so you had to bribe the inns instead of tricking him into spending all his silver on you and then stealing what was left for the dumbass spear guy who trusted you because he wants in your pants. His only fault is falling for your manipulations and lies." Cobra said in a matter of fact voice.
"Before you go yelling how I am lying in your nasally voice I will demonstrate. The sword guy is feeling guilty because he told where Naofumi was in his exhaustion last night when you went to his room as a last resort. The bow guy is thinking about who he should believe and now he is shocked I'm reading his mind. I'm not its called soul listening by the way and yes I heard you think that too. The spear guy is thinking of- dude your not all there are you? The King is trying to hide his thoughts by thinking random things at once but his soul says he is still going to plot to get everyone to believe I'm lying by paying everyone off to say you are correct and I am not. Which now that I outed him will not work. Do I really need to go on?" Stated Cobra.
There was nothing but silence before the nobles were yelling how Myne could lie about a hero who was innocent and how the King could wish harm on an innocent man.
Naofumi was released by the good royal guards of course it could also have to do with Laxus giving them a glare. When he stood up with Lucy's and Wendy's help he thanked Lucy and Wendy for their help and Cobra for clearing his name before trouble really started for them. Deciding to stop all the pointless yelling Naofumi gave a nod to Laxus who sent a spark of his lightning to the middle of the room silencing everyone.
"I will still help with the waves since that is what I've been summoned for; however I will not trust Myne nor the King at all. If I have to do any dealings with any of them or if any tricks are attempting to be planned I will leave with my friends back home. As you can see my friend here can open a portal back to my realm." Naofumi stated and then turned with his friends to leave and search out his gear along with gear for them.
Before he fully left the silent courtroom he turned around, "Also the 500 silver pieces a month you can keep, I'm not interested in anything from you King." After saying his peace he finished walking out the door and let it shut behind him. It was time he met this Erhard person and got weapons for his comrades and armor for protection. Then they could go fight monsters and level up before the next wave came.
