Naofumi was awoken early in the morning by soldiers rushing to his room. He just sat up in his bed and waited for them to come get him. He had confirmed his things had been stolen when he had been speaking with Ren, so he just went to bed as soon as he had gotten back. Sadly because of how long he had been out, he hadn't been able to get a full night of sleep.

A soldier kicked open Naofumi's door. "Shield Hero! You will come with us!"

Naofumi just blinked tiredly at the soldiers. "You could have knocked. I would have opened the door."

"Shut it, Shield Hero! You are coming with us right now!" The soldier snapped as he grabbed Naofumi's arm to force him to his feet and drag him along.

"You're all going to look like idiots very soon. I hope you all know that." He looked back at the window of his room.

Ren had climbed in through the window right as Naofumi was being taken away, just as planned. He would make sure no evidence was planted. He had volunteered to do so, which was not something Naofumi had expected the previous night when he told Ren of how he was likely to be falsely charged with rape.

"Sword Hero! Do you want to be at the castle for when the Shield Hero is charged for his crime?" A soldier asked him.

"No. I am going to check for evidence personally. I feel like something fishy is happening here," Ren said coolly.

The captain of the soldiers got a little white in the face. He was supposed to be laying false evidence, but if the Sword Hero himself was there, nothing could be placed.

"I'll meet you all at the castle just in time for Naofumi's judgement. Go." Ren went to go look around.

"S-Sword Hero! I assure you we have professionals for this!" The captain told him.

"What are you going to do that I can't? Flip over a mattress? Open a closet?" Ren knew well enough that there wasn't much that could be done to search for evidence in this current era. He knew any evidence would have to be obvious, and he had a big assumption that there would be zero evidence against Naofumi.

The captain swallowed loudly. "Of course. We'll see you at the castle then." He then went with his soldiers to escort Naofumi to the castle.

"Could we stop for breakfast?" Naofumi asked sassily as he was pulled along. "I kept throwing up everything I ate last night, and I feel like I've repressed enough to eat again."

"Shut it, scum!" One of the soldiers told him.

"I'm just saying, you're all about to look real dumb…" Naofumi may have been enjoying this a bit much. How could he not? He was about to make an entire throne room of people look like idiots.

Of course, it didn't take long for them to get to the castle's throne room.

Naofumi was shoved in front of the king, and he just casually looked up at Trash with his normal blank expression. "So I was sleeping, I was up late last night so it takes me a while, and suddenly people are kicking down my door. What's up?"

"Silence!" Trash roared at him. "It's time you paid for your crime!"

"What crime?" Naofumi didn't look bothered at all, something that made the king uneasy.

"Myne, would you please recount for us?" Trash turned to Bitch.

"Last night the Shield Hero got drunk and pulled me into his room… He said the night was still young and started ripping off my clothes!" Bitch claimed. She was still in that god-awful bikini armor, unluckily for Naofumi's stomach.

"Myne, you poor adventurer… How do you wish to speak for yourself!?" Trash pointed accusingly at Naofumi.

Naofumi saw Itsuki and Motoyasu glaring at him, and that meant it was almost time to set things right.

"I can't believe you'd stoop so low…" Motoyasu pointed his spear at Naofumi.

Itsuki nodded in agreement. "You're the lowest of the low, Naofumi. You can't just do what you please."

"Because I didn't." Naofumi pointed up at Bitch. "Where's your proof, Myne?"

"Motoyasu! I'm scared-!" Bitch hid behind Motoyasu, something that no-doubt made Motoyasu very happy.

A soldier stepped up and held up some lingerie that no-doubt belonged to Bitch. "We found this in the Shield Hero's room-"

"No you didn't," Ren said as he came in. "You didn't even visit the crime scene. I entered right as Naofumi was being pulled away. I handled the investigation myself and found nothing."

Bitch glared at Ren. "You're siding with him-!?"

"Yes I am, because what time did you say this happened? Just give me an approximation."

"It happened around 10:00 PM-!"

Motoyasu blinked in surprise. "But you came to my room around 9:15 PM for help."

"And Naofumi and I were at the bar from 8:16-12:09," Ren added. "We even spoke to multiple people there while I was looking for party members."

Bitch started stuttering to herself, her face lighting up with a blush. "You're lying! Why would you be looking for new party members!? More importantly, why are you defending this rapist!?"

"Because I disbanded my party last night. You can ask all previous members of my party. None of them made the cut," Ren explained.

Things seemed to go silent.

"Now for the real question…why is Motoyasu wearing my armor?" Naofumi asked when the room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. "I left my things when I went out with Ren last night, and when I came back they were gone. I tried to report it, but no one would listen to me. It's almost like everyone is biased against me because I'm the Shield Hero…"

Motoyasu looked down at his armor. "Your armor? Myne gave this to me last night!"

Trash now needed to think of a way to get his awful daughter out of this mess. "Myne…did you steal from the Shield Hero?" He had to ask her. He had to appear unbiased even if he was.

Bitch had a smirk for a split second. She had found her way out.

Naofumi felt his stomach grow heavy again. Did I miss something!? What did I miss!?

Bitch suddenly pushed Motoyasu away. "I-I'm sorry! I had to lie-! The Spear Hero threatened me! He told me to steal the Shield Hero's things! I had to do all of this or he would hurt me!"

Motoyasu backed away suddenly. "What-!? Myne, what are you talking about-!?" He assumed this was some sort of sick joke or maybe one of her coping mechanisms. "You can tell the truth, Myne! I'll protect you from Naofumi!"

"I am telling the truth! What more to you plan to threaten me with!?" Bitch screamed as she acted like she was trying to run away.

Itsuki quickly moved between Motoyasu and Bitch. "Is that true, Motoyasu?"

Naofumi didn't know what to do about this. He hadn't planned for this. That was when he remembered his own words. This isn't a game… And as he remembered his words, he realized he had been setting things up like a complex game of chess. He had succumbed to the biggest folly in this world.

"It's not true! Why would I need to steal anything!?" Motoyasu had a look of sheer panic. He had no idea what any of this had to do with him.

"Naofumi had the most money, so of course you'd want his equipment… I need to make sure justice is served, Motoyasu!" Itsuki pointed his bow at Motoyasu.

"Myne! Myne! This isn't funny! What is happening!? I wouldn't do that!" Motoyasu turned to the rest of the girls in his party. "Right!? I wouldn't do that!"

The girls in Motoyasu's party all looked at each other, but they didn't say anything. They were afraid of what Bitch would do to them if they spoke against her.

"Itsuki-!" Ren stepped in to interject.

"No, Ren! It all aligns up perfectly! Motoyasu is our criminal! For the charges of theft and threatening a woman, he should be dealt with!" Itsuki changed his target to Ren.

IT DOESN'T ALIGN UP AT ALL! Naofumi screamed mentally. He would speak up, but he had no way of changing how this was going. Why couldn't he speak up? Because if he did, Bitch would have a chance to turn it back to him.

One hero was getting accused today, and Naofumi wasn't prepared to prevent it.

Soldiers surrounded Motoyasu and forced him down to his knees.

Motoyasu still had a panicked look in his eyes. Myne! Myne! Why!? Did I do something wrong!? He then saw her right behind Itsuki.

Bitch put on a grin and discretely poked out her tongue at him. She hadn't taken down the Shield, but she had still gotten off without anything negative. She just had to change the hero she was going to sleep with. It sounded like a simple-enough trade to her.

Motoyasu widened his eyes when he saw her. In that moment, a part of him died. He realized women could indeed lie. He realized they weren't the perfect creatures he thought they were. He thought he could find trust in them because they had always seemed to love him, but now…could he even trust anyone?

Naofumi was still standing in shock. Does…Motoyasu deserve this? I guess with all the trouble he gave me he might…

"All that you've done… I should execute you, Spear Hero!" Trash pointed his accusatory finger at Motoyasu now. "I can't execute a hero though, so the word will spread through the masses. That will be punishment enough for scum like you."

Motoyasu frantically looked around. How!? How did this happen!? He then remembered whose armor he was wearing, and he started trying to put things together. Naofumi… You did this! You and Myne planned this while you were together yesterday! Then why is Myne hiding behind Itsuki? Why is Ren supporting Naofumi? Unless… They are all in this together! He suddenly knocked away the soldiers around him with a twirl of his spear. "Fine. I get it, Myne. I can't trust you! I can't trust anyone!" He pulled off his chainmail right then and there, just leaving him in his underclothes. "Take it back!" He threw it to Naofumi.

Naofumi looked down at the armor. "Motoyasu, think this through."

"No! I'm done here!" Motoyasu then held up his bag of money and threw it at the feet of Itsuki and Bitch. "Here! It's exactly what you wanted!" He then stormed out.

The throne room was left in silence.

Naofumi slowly turned to Ren. "Ren…what have I done?"

Ren looked just as confused as he saw Itsuki trying to calm down Bitch's crocodile tears. "I don't know…"


And that was how Motoyasu ended up on his own, with no money and in his underwear.

"Something about this seems backwards…" Motoyasu grumbled to himself. He watched as people dodged him in the streets. He was fine watching them run. He couldn't trust any of them anyway.

They would lead him along, then they would use him to make themselves look better.

At least that's what Motoyasu thought.

He already had leveled up a few times, but he still wasn't ready to go to a new area. He needed to at least have the money to purchase food and armor, so he wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

"Hey!" Old Guy suddenly slammed Motoyasu into a wall. "I heard you threatened a young lady and made her steal from another hero. I think you deserve a good punch for that." He pulled his fist back.

Motoyasu just glared at him. "Do it. Go ahead."

Old Guy didn't deliver when he saw the look in Motoyasu's eyes. "…seeing you like this makes me think you don't even need it."

"I've been through enough already." Motoyasu brushed past him to leave.

"Now hold on!" He quickly stopped Motoyasu before going back into his shop, coming out with a set or armor. "You're no Shield Hero. You won't be surviving without armor."

Motoyasu felt a twinge of envy for a second there.

Right now he was here, and Naofumi was off being a hero.

He glared at Old Guy. "I can't pay for it."

"We'll consider it five copper. You can pay me back later," Old Guy told him.

Motoyasu bit his lip, not trusting this at all. He didn't know if the shop owner intended to add absurd interest to this loan. Still though, he needed armor. He took it. "I'll repay you later."

"Just pay me when you can-"

Motoyasu held up his hand to cut him off. "I will pay you later today." He then pulled the armor on before going out to fight monsters.

He ran off into the fields and started taking his rage out on Orange Balloons, the enemies all dying with one satisfying shot from his Legendary Spear. He enjoyed imagining the balloons were either other heroes or that awful woman. He felt burning rage towards them as he killed enemy after enemy, but eventually that rage turned towards himself.

Why was I so trusting!?

*Slash!*

Trusting girls is what got me killed last time!

*Pop!*

Why did I even get summoned to this world!? Maybe I should have stayed dead! Motoyasu let out a roar of rage as his mind was pelted with more questions and self-doubt. He could see his HP was getting low, though he couldn't even feel pain now. His party would normally keep him healed while he fought, but he didn't have that group of traitors anymore. I need either a healer or a tank…

His tantrum hadn't lasted very long before he just stood there, staring up blankly at the sky.

Should I just let myself die? Motoyasu asked himself as he let Orange Balloons swarm around him. He was conflicted. Did he really have nothing left to his life? But then he remembered at least that one shopkeeper seemed to believe in him. He did promise to pay him back. With one twirl of his spear, he eradicated all of the balloons around him. He had done enough grinding for the day, not that he could do anymore with his HP low. He quickly gathered the balloon pieces.

Now was the new challenge of doing business in town.

Motoyasu ran back into town. He had a pretty good speed stat which, while not nearly as good as Ren's, was enough to keep him from having to talk to most of the people on the street. He made his trip quick, right to where he could sell his balloon scraps. He didn't just have a normal bundle of the scraps, considering he was hugging a large pile of them to his chest the whole way there. He dropped the pile on the counter and glared at the man behind said counter. "Buy these."

The man shuddered as he got a sense of déjà vu. "Hmm… I can give you ten copper for all of this."

Motoyasu kept up his glare. "Ten? I completely covered your counter with this shit. You'd better have a better price than that."

Of course, the man was trying to swindle Motoyasu, but he also knew he could get away with it. "It's supply and demand. I need to make a living too."

Motoyasu lacked Naofumi's sense of what was a good deal, so he didn't pick up on the obvious scam. "Fine." He held out his hand for the money.

The man grinned as he gave Motoyasu the money. "Nice working with you."

"…hopefully this will be enough for tonight…" Motoyasu grumbled as he ran off to the weapon store. He left the five copper on the counter and bailed without even seeing Old Guy. He had enough work to do without a talk weighing him down. He needed to make money, and a lot of it.


So things continued in a similar way for a few days.

Motoyasu would kill enemies and sell off his drops at greatly-reduced prices. He would fight all he could, but eventually his HP would get too low for him to continue. Then he would rest to recover his HP, mainly in trees outside of the city since he couldn't afford an inn.

He had entered a cycle. He couldn't level up quickly because he couldn't take damage very well, and he couldn't take damage very well because he couldn't level up quickly. He didn't like it one bit, but a part of him was searching for irony in this. He didn't even have much money still.

Motoyasu walked through the streets, very-much worn out for the night. He would take too long to advance to a new area. He needed to get stronger before the Wave. If he remembered Emerald Online well enough, he knew he would be completely destroyed in his current state. His best option was to get new party members, like how he had seen Naofumi walking around with a little slave girl the previous day. Could he even trust a slave though? He just assumed it would kill him in his sleep.

That was when he heard something in the alleyway.

Motoyasu curiously looked in the alley and saw a filthy puppy digging through the trash for food.

Then it hit him.

What would be more loyal than a dog?

Motoyasu went over and picked up the scrawny-little thing, checking to see if it would bite him. He noted that it was oddly heavy for a puppy, which made him think it could grow strong enough to fight.

The little puppy just tilted its head curiously before licking Motoyasu's nose, leaving a smear of whatever it last had in its mouth.

For the first time since the day he was accused, Motoyasu let out a chuckle. "You're my only friend, so I will call you Buddy. Let's get you something to eat, Buddy." Of course, he intended to train it into an attack dog, but he could at least be on good terms with it.

Thankfully, Motoyasu was only in that area to get food anyway, which meant a restaurant was close by.

He went into the cheapest restaurant he knew, immediately feeling everyone's eyes on him.

"Now the Spear Hero is picking up strays? Gross…" Someone muttered just loud enough for Motoyasu to hear it.

Motoyasu just sighed as got himself a table. He let Buddy sit on his lap so the dirty pup wouldn't trail mud onto the seats.

A waitress was over a few moments later. "Hello, what can I get for you?"

"Just…the cheapest meal you have for me, and…what is the cheapest meat you have?" Motoyasu was already keeping mental track of his copper.

"Currently we have fish," the waitress told him.

I'd prefer something with more substance for a dog… How else will Bud grow big without good food? I need him to fight with me! He eventually gave in though, not being able to afford anything else. "Yeah, I'll have some fish too."

The waitress nodded after taking the orders then went to help another customer.

Buddy pawed at Motoyasu's shirt, letting out strange grunts.

Motoyasu was wondering if he just had a weird dog. He was sure the puppy would be barking, but he could only hear Buddy grunt and growl. He took some of Buddy's loose fur and let the gem of his spear absorb it.

Beast User Spear Unlocked!

Equip Bonus: Beast Maturation Bonus (Small)

Motoyasu added Buddy to his party before curiously going through the settings of his new spear. He was low on time, so he just put the maturation bonus to the highest he could.

After all, what could go wrong?


Bet no one expected this coming in! Sometimes you need to crack a few heroes to make an omelet. I intended for this chapter to be eerily familiar in places, so hopefully I did ok with that.