"One of the four legendary heroes…"

The tightness in her chest only serves to make her more tense, her face adorned with wide eyed confusion as she takes a good look at the other people she was summoned with.

Motoyasu and Itsuki's anger can clearly be seen, both shielding a red-headed woman from the situation at hand. The two men gritting their teeth and holding their weapons tightly, as if prepared to fight. Their eyes glaring at one person specifically, bodies wrought with tension.

A part of Chise's mind wants her to laugh, they don't look the gallant hero right now, with their uncombed hair falling on their face and wrinkly shirts barely tucked in.

"Summoned here to save the world from its end."

Something just feels off. No, scratch that, something is definitely off about this whole situation. The sword at her back feels unnaturally heavy, as if her all of senses are filled with wrongness. She can smell it, their scent, someone is—

"Shield Hero! You are called here for the heinous crimes of assault and rape!"

—lying?

The King's voice echo throughout the whole chamber, before the chattering of the crowd drown it out.

Really, something is definitely wrong here. The individual whispers of nobility could scarcely be heard to the human ear. Still, the curses within her are at least useful at times like this.

"I knew it, summoning the Shield Hero would just lead to trouble!"

"What else do you expect? I'm surprised that he lasted two days without showing his true nature."

"They should have had him jailed the very second he was summoned!"

Her familiar's growls echo in her thoughts, grounding her.

"Chise, that red-headed adventurer– and that King, they're definitely hiding something."

She agrees, eyeing the four people at the front. Myne's eyes are glittering with unshed tears, clinging to Motoyasu's arm, head downcast. The very picture of a harmed maiden in need of a hero. The King stands at the center, eyes full of malice.

Chise takes the scene in full.

Knights in armor surround a kneeling young man dressed in a cream shirt and dark green pants, armors clinking as they straighten out. His wide emerald green eyes remind her of her own eyes.

Confused, not an ounce of understanding present.

She can relate to that.

She's not even supposed to be here. She's supposed to be at the College right now, looking after Philomela with the rest of her friends.

She could hear Elias' sigh in her mind, even see the way the red pinpricks of his eyes narrow in exasperation. Oh Chise.

What did she get herself into this time?

Author's Note:

Awwww shucks, oopsie, freaking got into an obsession yET AGAIN.

like bro, the last time i read MTNY was like, 4 years ago. remember when chapter 50 just got translated? goddamn its been so long.

this story was inspired by "The Devil and the Shield" by Guysajer, not really by any plot points but more of that there's no other crossover of the two and i was just hit by the fact that wow chise could be a good foil to raphtalia and college arc chise is not played around with enough.