[Authors notes]
To Guest: No, there is no reason to add the time reversal spear to the history, seems unnecessary and would only make the history more confusing (plus we don't even know how Motoyasu unlocked that spear, it's very vague)
Azure-Star-Dragon: to your last question, no, as much as I would think that would be funny I much prefer to just make him gain the magic affinity of the person, the body's level is reset into the beheaded's current level, and he couldn't get the benefits of someone who went through a class up ceremony because his class will always be 'Sword Hero'
GravitatingGastropod: I gonna be honest with you, I didn't know about this whole cell quality thing, but I guess the legendary sword can solve that issue
JtBlack-Hawk3198: I know that but in all honesty having to write the chants every time someone uses magic would get pretty lame, plus, I don't think higher-tier spells like [Judgment] have to use the same ranking system as normal spells, but I will keep that in mind
It was after midnight in the inn where Myne slowly walked through the corridors and made her way into the shield hero quarters, she slowly opened the door and tiptoed her way into his room, she looked around for the bag of silver but did not find it out in the open, she searched for it in the drawers and cabinets, until finally seeing its tip hidden under the shield hero's pillow
'this will be a bit tricky but...' Myne thought before moving her hand slowly and carefully under it and removing it wouldn't wake up the muscular man from his slumber
'I'm such a good thieve as I am a princess' Myne said as she went to exit the room, before turning her head back and staring at Juan's gold belt as it shined by the moonlight
'This gotta be worth something...' she smiled in a crooked way as she tried to slowly remove the belt, before being zapped by purple sparks
"Eeeeepp!" she let out a tiny scream before closing her mouth with her hands and standing still as she saw the shield hero move around his bed
"Uhm..." Juan just grumbled as he moved in bed as if he was trying to get comfortable again, he did that for a little bit before seemingly returning to his rest
Myne just stayed still upright for a few seconds before slowly making her way out
'Thank heavens above he didn't wake up...' Myne looked at the bag of silver in her hand while slowly making her way back to her room
'This is all good but why was I shocked?! Does that mean I can't steal a hero's clothes and armor by force? Whatever, I got the money, now to phase two' she thought to herself as she entered her room for a rest
As morning came and sunlight shine over the capital, Juan lifted himself from bed and did some stretches, he took a look under his pillow to grab his money but found it missing
"Strange, where is my bag of silver? Did it fall or-"
"Shield hero! Open the door!!" a voice screamed out from outside Juan's room, the luchador decides to check to see what was going on before going back to look for his belongings
"Yes?" Juan said as he opened the door to see two royal knights standing in front of him, with one looking very furious
"The king requests to see you immediately!!!" the angry knight said as he seemly had no control over his temper at the moment
"Okay, let me just warn my companion first then-"
"We do not have time for this! Come with us!! Now!!!" the mad knight screamed even louder as if he couldn't contain his anger much more, he grabbed the shield hero's pulse and tried to pull him away but it was a worthless attempt
"Watch your tone, some people are sleeping still" Juan said as he slapped away the hand of the knight away with ease, getting annoyed over the constant screaming
"Why you-"
"Dude, it's not worth it" the other knight said as he holds the shoulder of his partner, he felt that somehow if a fight was to break down between his companion and the shield hero, the shield hero would break all of his bones and tie him up like a pretzel
"Just follow us...please?" the other knight asked gently, and as much as Juan's face looked serious, he nodded and followed them either way
Madeline made her way down the stairs of the inn still a bit sleepy, as she wasn't accustomed to waking up so relatively early compared to her old sleeping schedule, but as she made her way down, she saw Shovel Knight there ordering breakfast for his team and hers
"Good morning lady Madeline" Shovel knight greeted her as he finished getting their orders done, he had re-equipped his small spear as he had finished mastering the [Balloon spear]
"Good *aww* morning" Madeline yawned as she sat down in one of the chairs and asked the bartender for some coffee, she also equipped back her [small bow]
"Ready for our second day of adventure?" he gleefully said since Madeline seemed like the only one out of the four of them not used to adventuring and combating monsters, so he did his best to try and make sure she was prepared for the no doubt many dangers of this new world
"Yeah, just gonna get coffee to wake me up" she responds as she sat there waiting 'we should probably get one of those termal bottles... If they even have that in this time period' Badeline suggested
"Sir spear hero and lady bow hero! The king has requested your presence, it is of the utmost importance" A guard came running into the inn and called out as he came close to the two
"Really? Well, take us there!" Shovel Knight said as he got ready to attend to whatever situation it was, as it could be an emergency or-
"But first, we will warn our parties that we are going to meet the king and then meet back here" Madeline said as she went up the flight of stairs to warn her teammates just in case, with Shovel knight face-palming himself for not considering that before going to do the same
"Please be hasty, time is of the essence" the guard said, as his orders were to bring the heroes as fast as he could to the king
The beheaded walked back from the forest to the city gate so he could sell all the stuff he had gathered from last night but as he got closer, he saw Quinn standing still while leaning back against the city walls, as soon as he saw the beheaded, Quinn waved back at him
"Sir sword hero, you returned!" Quinn said as last night he got a worrying feeling that something bad had happened to the beheaded, he looked at the status magic and it showed that his health was dangerously low, but as he grabbed his equipment and prepared to see what was happening, he saw the health bar of the sword hero fill up again back to full hp, he rationalized that he probably used a healing potion, how he got that he didn't know but it was enough to relieve him enough for him to sleep after a few more minutes of worrying
"Hey kid you stayed!" the beheaded said as he was admittedly a bit surprised that the cleric actually wanted to stay as his companion, he thought that the only type of companions he would have would be with animal monstrosities and cursed objects, having an actual human as a company was something that he had admittedly had never cared or thought it would happen
"Yes, but unfortunately, Mald and Rojeel..." Quinn started saying as he prepared to deliver the bad news about their companions
"Left? I already knew that" the beheaded nonchalantly says as he waved his hand as if this was not a big deal to him
"Really?" Quinn asked a bit surprised, considering he had left when Mald and Rojeel decided to abandon the team, did he have a good hearing or was that so obvious?
"Yeah, why did you think I gave you such a small amount of silver? Knew that they would steal from you before leaving, only needed one person anyways, and you had all the skills I needed, that guy Mald probably couldn't read" the beheaded stated, from the start and especially after he heard their conversation, he knew those to wouldn't stick around, he honestly didn't care that mustache brute in shiny armor left as he his ego would clash with his ego, probably trying to steal all the fame and money he would make for his own and try to command the group that the beheaded had formed, and that was something he wouldn't allow, that Rojeel guy was a shame to lose though, the guy looked like a good fighter but he gets it, he would also abandon anyone if it meant more money
"That's...quite the high sight you had" Quinn responded as he had to admit that he didn't expect the sword hero to think this far ahead considering his interaction with him so far, but that just came to show him not to doubt a hero's abilities
"Uhm, but I'm a bit surprised that you cling along, you're a loyal fellow, and I like loyal people" the beheaded said as he put his arm over Quinn's shoulder, maybe he could have this kid be just like the hand of the king, a loyal servant that will do anything he asks without question
"Oh! Thanks, sir!" Quinn responded, blissfully unaware of the true meaning of the compliment
"Sword hero...the king wants to see you..." one of the guards in the gate said, a bit reluctant to speak with the creature that was summoned as the sword hero, but he had a job to do
"What does that old geezer want now?" the beheaded said, as he didn't want to be around the guy unless it involved him getting some money or fancy stuff
"We have to go there sir sword hero, the king is not someone you want to let wait" Quinn said, as letting royalty wait is the equivalent of poking a bear, unless you're powerful and well prepared, you are screwed most times than not
"Sorry mister, only the heroes are-"
"He's coming with me, understand?" the beheaded said while he pointed his sword at the man's throat
"Uhh yes..." the guard said in defeat, the beheaded looked back at Quinn and gave him a thumbs up, with him nodding in response with a little smile on his face, if the beheaded had a face he would be devilish smiling, turning this kid into his pawn would be easy and quick with little demonstration of "caring" here and there, the occasional compliment and making it seem they were friends would be all he needs to make this guy willing to do anything for him, it would take time sure, but turning someone into his personal servant would be worth it, and this guy seemed to be already halfway there, the two began their walk to the castle and once inside they were take to a room were there was "bucket head" and "little ginger" standing up waiting
"Oh great you two are here..." the beheaded said sarcastically, as he wasn't a fan of the two goodie-two shoes, especially the horned helmet knight after what happened during their first day of the meeting
"Hello beheaded" Shovel knight responded in a much more cold than usual, as he was also not a fan of the vile creature that was his "coworker"
"Huh? Hello there nice to meet you" Madeline said as she took notice of the person alongside the beheaded, standing her hand to start a handshake
"Hi, I'm the sword hero companion" Quinn said as he just waved back at her, with Madeline retrieving her arm back at the failed attempt of doing a handshake
"Did they let you bring your party member here?" Shovel knight asked, since they were not allowed such a thing, then why was the beheaded allowed to-
"Nah, but not like they could stop me" the beheaded responded scratching his back, Shovel knight just sighed at the fact he was overthinking an obvious answer
"I see" Shovel Knight said, he shouldn't be surprised about that, this thing did not seem to respect authorities or laws in general
"Soo... Why are we here?" the beheaded asked, was the king gonna give them more money or rare stuff to absorb, if not, he would just leave right now
"The king hasn't told us yet, says that we have to wait for Sir Juan" Shovel knight said, he didn't know why they were called but it must have been important for them to need the four of them present
Suddenly the gates opened to show Juan walking into the room followed by two guards at his sides
"Oh hey he's here!" the beheaded said as he was already wanting to get this over with
"I'm here, now what do-"
"Silence!" the king shouted which caught the attention of the four heroes, the expression on his face was of pure anger that the heroes were confused as to why
"I now begin the trial of the shield hero!" the king said as the main door slammed shut and all the guards tap the end of their spear's into the ground while also slamming their left foot
"What!?" Juan screamed very loudly filling the entire room, he had been in this world for a day and did his very best to follow any rule he knew back home, he didn't kill, rob, or do anything bad to anyone in the town
"What do you mean your majesty?" Shovel Knight asked as he did not understand why such a thing would be called upon as Juan hasn't even been in this new world for more than a day and from his interaction with the man it was clear that he was someone with a heart of gold that cared very deeply about his family as it was the first thing he asked for when he was sent here
"Eh?" beheaded just left out a small sound of confusion while tilting his head although no one even noticed as it was made of smoke
"Trial? But why?" Madeline asked as she was just as confused as Shovel Knight 'trial? For that guy? What crime could he have done? public exposure?' Badeline was just as confused, there is no way an intimidating but soft-hearted guy like Juan to have made any crime
"But I haven't committed any crimes, why is th-"
"You may say this shield hero but we have evidence and a testimony to prove otherwise" the king cuts Juan as Aultcray swipes his hand across the air
"This is getting exciting" the Beheaded said as he was finally getting excited about this whole thing
"I don't believe you should be happy about something like this" Quinn quietly says to the beheaded, although the teachings of the church always said how evil and awful the shield hero was it still was weird for one of his fellow heroes to get excited about seeing him be on trial
"Why not I haven't seen a trial in... I don't even know how much" the beheaded said, as he had lost the understanding of the concept of time from how many times he had relived the same day over and over again
"Now myne my dear, could you please tell them what you told me and the guards" Aultcray asked as he leaned down to look at the girl with a saddened look
"If I must, it was late at night when the shield hero barged into my room h-he smelled of booze a-and he said "The night is still young" he pushed me against the wall, violently stripped my clothes off and h-he..." she stops her speech as myne puts her hands in her face and starts crying
"You..." the luchador couldn't believe what Myne had just done, she accused him of committing one of the worst things a man could do to a woman even after he told her about his wife and how he wanted to go back to his family "How dare you say such a thing!!!" Juan screamed out as he moved forward, the various guards around him point their spear's at his neck but Juan gives another step forward in anger as if they weren't there, the tip of the various spear breaking when he does so
"You have no word in this trial shield hero! And if you do not back down I will be forced to have the guards restrain you" the king shouted out in anger at the display of the shield hero, various guards had to grab Juan's arms and legs to restrain him from moving
'Shield hero... Those animals really made you fall from your holyness' Quinn thought as he let out a sigh, as the many teachings of the church talked about how the shield hero was a devil and many of his fellow church members see him that way, but in his eyes, he was a tragic figure, tempted by the ancient demi-humans that made him lose his holy status and turned him into a demonic god for them, but that was a point of view only he had in the church
The tension in the courtroom was getting higher and higher, as Juan stared at the King angrily and the King responded with an even angrier expression, bordering on mad as some would say. Shovel Knight was confused as he could tell that mister Juan was a man of virtue and as such wouldn't do such a thing and he trusted his sense of recognizing the good in people, but he also didn't know if Myne was lying or not and even then he didn't know how to prove her wrong. The beheaded didn't care as he was more interested in his own issues and stuff, as he wanted to get out of there and go sell all the monster parts he got yesterday to make some money. It seemed as if all hope was lost...
"OBJECTION!" Madeline shouted as loud as she could to the entire room while pointing her finger at the king, this caught the attention of everyone with now Madeline being the focus of the room instead of Juan "Why did you scream that?" Badeline asked before recognizing what her counterpart was doing 'Don't tell me you-'
"Your honor, there isn't enough evidence to blame the defendant for this crime, the testimony doesn't give enough for us to be sure that Juan is the criminal as Myne herself might have been drunk and may have mistaken the identity of the real suspect" Madeline said with confidence but extreme seriousness and a professional aspect to make sure her argument sounded solid"you're playing lawyer now? Just because you beat an ace attorney game doesn't mean you qualified to do this" Badeline responded as they had no experience in a courtroom except in video games
"That is a dramatic way to say but you have a great point lady Madeline, though I trust your judgment King Aultcray when it comes to a matter such as the trial that will decide the fate of a man, word of mouth alone might be insufficient to form a final judgment" Shovel knight said as respectful as he could, as this whole situation seemed way too far out to be happening
"You're questioning the testimony of the victim?" Aultcray was flabbergasted at this, how could someone, even a legendary hero question his daughter's words
"I have to, a whole trial where the only evidence is a testimony is a trial where we just work on pure instinct in who is right or wrong based on trust, if we had the testimony of more than one individual then perhaps we could work solely on that, but if we are to trust only her testimony alone as evidence... Do we have a way of knowing whether or not she is lying? If we do then we should use that" Madeline suggested as maybe they had some sort of magical lie detector because as it stands she couldn't trust Myne's words, chattering amongst the people watching the trial in the balcony above began with most believing that the shield hero was guilty no matter what but a very few now had doubt about the princess words and whether or not she was telling the truth, as unbeknownst to the four heroes, the princess had quite the reputation of being a manipulative lier to get her way with her father
Myne visually tensed up and her expression changed to one of worry and anger, if she was to be placed under a slave mark the whole plan was ruined for her, 'Defense Attorney' Madeline did not leave that pass unnoticed in her mind
"I don't care, but it does seem like a contradiction" the beheaded commented as he just saw this trial as a form of entertainment, the more twists and turns it had the better
The king just let out a heavy sigh as he somewhat calmed himself to keep his professionalism in the face of having to face a legendary hero in an argument, even if he disliked that the other heroes weren't on his side on this trial, he couldn't find a reason to get mad at them, the bow hero is stated to be a vacant of justice and truth so she putting into question a more fair trial even for a criminal made sense, and she did have many points that his wife would also bring up if a trial was at hand, his wife would have placed a temporary slave mark on his daughter just to guarantee that she wouldn't lie if she was put in a trial as a testimony, but he was not going to place one of those cursed marks in his daughter not even for a second. The spear hero might have agreed with the bow hero but he was very respectful about it and Aultcray could see that he was acting out of a sense of righteousness, he was a knight that went against a king's wishes due to personal reasons believing in his heart which matches the old stories about the spear hero, if he was serving under him, he could perhaps punish the knight same as he did with Eclair Seaetto, but that knight didn't serve him the same way the others did, that knight was a legendary hero that served under the world itself and thus he had a authority and presence that a simple knight couldn't have in a courtroom. Quinn just looked in awe at the two heroes for their bravery to stand up against the king
"So you ask for more evidence?" the king asked, although he thought it wouldn't have been necessary as he expected the testimony to be enough, they had received an extra piece of evidence before the trial started, which he was going to use it in the case of the shield hero tried to proclaim himself innocent
"Yes!" Madeline, Juan, and Shovel Knight said in unison
"Very well... Bring the second piece of evidence" the king ordered as 2 knights come in with women's lingerie, Myne looked away at the sight of it out of embarrassment, but she was half faking it, as for the plan to work, she had to use one of her actual underclothing to make it look more authentic to her father, and it was one of her favorites for how soft the silk was
"According to the report of many knights in the area, this was found in the shield hero room during an inspection and this reinforces the witness testimony, do you accept this evidence bow hero?" the king asked, with Madeline nodding to show that she accepted that as evidence, she put a hand to her chin as she began to think how this fitted into the testimony and how she could prove that this evidence didn't make sense
"That wasn't in my room when I left, that is planted evidence!" Juan said as more guards tried to hold him in place, Madeline heard that and grunted, as she had no way to prove if it was planted or not
'dammit, I can't tell if this is real evidence or planted one as I wasn't allowed to see the crime scene, even if I did it would be hard to know if it was as the guards that brought him there could have set this up and-'
"Wait a fucking minute, there is something wrong with that" the beheaded spoke up, Madeline was surprised to see the beheaded show some sort of interest in helping as was the rest of the courtroom
"If she had her clothes torn off and ripped away how come that thing is in one piece?" the beheaded pointed out, in his experience in those cursed isles, he had seen many messed up things, which included the raped corpses of many people, apparently some people didn't want to die by the malaise without having a bit of a 'fun time' first, which of course cause many bodies of raped victims on the floor and they all had torn clothes, heck he had seen a necrophiliac torn the clothes of a dead body just because it was faster than removing it the normal way, people there had no limit to how disgusting and horny they could be
"Ah! The sword hero has brought up a crucial detail, myne's testimony contradicts the evidence!" Madeline exclaimed as this was exactly what she needed to invalidate this forged piece of evidence 'That guy finally did something aside from being a grade-A jerk' Badeline spoke, as it was surprising to see that guy actually do something even remotely nice
"Ugh!" myne flinched once again, she wasn't liking this trial as she didn't prepare for someone to point out contradictions or question her validity as she lied more than she told the truth now she was sweating 'The bow hero is gonna ruin everything! I will have to count on my stupid father's hatred of the shield hero and his love for me to get out of this' She took a heavy gulp of her saliva as she looked over at her father
"Hum..." the king mumbled as he placed his hand on his chin, what she said had some credit but Aultcray still believed in his daughter's word more than anything in the world, but with how this trial was developing, he would have to take a more unbiased approach to this trial and deal with it as if it was a normal one
"Then what do you think happened in that night bow hero? Can you explain the lingerie being found in the room of the shield hero?" King Aultcray asked, if Madeline was able to paint a picture of what had happened there that night then aultcray would consider giving the shield hero the benefit of the doubt and remove the rumors but he was sure that his daughter's words would hold up as she would never lie about such horrendous act
"I will try my best your honor" Madeline said as she took a deep breath and prepared herself to prove that Juan was innocent 'you're doing this better than I thought' Badeline said as it was surprising to her that the king wasn't trying to shut them down from playing defense attorney
"Myne said that the shield hero was drunk when he had raped her and that he had barged into her room by slamming against the door, if he was as drunk as Myne said he was then he would have broken a vase or tumbled a table when he was making his way to the room and myne would have screamed while being raped wouldn't she?" Madeline asked, she did not see the crime scene but something like that should be brought up, but since it wasn't, she would use that to her favor
"I assume... " the king responded as it was a reasonable assumption and unless the shield hero had covered Mynes mouth to stop her from screaming she would have cried for help 'Ugh! Just thinking about it makes me want to crush him! But I have to try and remain unbiased with the heroes here' the king grunted at that thought
"What are you getting at lady Madeline?" Shovel Knight asked as he was trying to follow her thought process
"If what she said is true... How come no one at the inn woke up!?" Madeline exclaimed now pointing at Myne with confidence 'You're doing good, try to keep that up' Badeline encouraged her
"Ugh!" Myne grunted once again as more inconsistent appeared in her testimony
"I find it hard to believe that no one else would have heard your screams for help and rushed to see what was going on, and even if your mouth was shut somehow, they would have definitely heard some sound from the ensuring activity that came after, I mean look at the size of the accused, no way he didn't make any sort of noise during the whole ordeal, especially if he was drunk" Madeline said as she was sure that someone would have heard something if that was the case
"W-we were the o-only people that rente-ed a room!" Myne said as she never had been so questioned before, she didn't plan on the trial going on for this long, she would have to improvise something to win this
"Maybe, but still wouldn't the owner or a staff member of the inn have heard? Shouldn't we ask them to give their testimony of that night?" Madeline pointed out, usually the owner or a member of the staff would be either still awake during this time or they would live inside the inn or very close to it, so somebody should have listened to what has happened
"Not to mention that if Juan was drunk he would have had to break into the kitchen, yet none of the guards did an inspection to see if anywhere else was damaged instead they only investigated Mister's juan room" After that explanation more chatter amongst the nobles began as now even more of them were intrigued and began to consider that the shield hero was innocent despite them not liking the idea, they couldn't deny that it was very possible now
"I see... And if he was drunk they would have brought a bottle of liquor found in the scene as evidence as well, great analysis lady Madeline" Shovel knight complimented, he did not expect the young lady to be so well versed in crime analysis and argumentation, she probably had a very high education worthy of a noble
"Indeed, so you are saying that the shield hero was not intoxicated when he committed the act?" Aultcray asked, he was more invested in this trial than before as now this case was unraveling in such an intriguing way but he still felt that the shield hero was guilty but now he wasn't sure how he was guilty 'Myne would never lie to me... She must have been too scared to remember it properly' the king said to himself, as it was impossible for one of his daughters to do something like this
"Yes! But more specifically that Myne's testimony is unrealistic, It is the most crucial piece of evidence in this case but it has holes in it which would be solved if we had more testimonies or more solid evidence but as it stands we need to cross-examine it as best as we can, I mean when was the last trial you did where you only needed one testimony to prove your criminal was guilty your honor?" Madeline said as she used all the knowledge of how trials and court procedures she had from mostly pop media 'We are right at the money, we just have to expose all her lies and the case is gonna be done, I bet that there is more that she is hiding' Badeline said, as seeing how Myne would look at them with utmost frustration was way more satisfying than it had any right to be
"About 7 years ago... But it was a murder case so I suppose the conditions were different" the king said as he remembered the last time he was in a courtroom, his wife asked all the right questions against the murderer while he had a slave mark on, the man was an extremely smart individual who made all his killings look like accidents or suicide, but his wife had outsmarted him and he was there to watch, but now wasn't time to think about the past, it was time to focus on the present "but how do you explain the women's lingerie?" the king asked as that was undoubtedly a solid piece of evidence that proved the shield hero guilty of the crime
"That one is a bit more tricky, but what I think is that is impossible for it to have been found in his room as Myne's testimony says that he entered her room and 'did' the act in there, of course, the guards may have found in Myne's room but then why would they say that it was found in Juan's room? What about her other clothes? Wouldn't it have been better to bring some of her ripped clothes too?" once again Madeline spoke her thoughts about the testimony, with the chatter amongst the people just increasing as even some of the knights were now thinking about it and looking at each other in a bit of distrust
"Dang you're good at this whole proving that someone is an innocent person thing, although trials barely happened where I'm from so not much reason to prove anyone was innocent" the beheaded said as he was admittedly impressed by Madeline, although all the trials he had conducted in his time as king were just "throw them in the dungeons" and just that
"I learned it all from Phoenix Wright, but I never saw him handle a rape accusation before" Madeline said as she was getting confident 'before you start getting a massive ego, remember that you would be absolutely destroyed in an actual court of law against a real lawyer' Badeline said as she didn't need her counterpart to think she was a big shot lawyer or something
"You learned that from a phoenix!? That's amazing lady Madeline, I didn't know the ones from your world could talk and give tutoring!" Shovel Knight said as he took the Phoenix part literally thinking it was the mythical bird made of fire rather than a video game lawyer
'This bow hero is gonna be my downfall! why is she questioning my word!? I'm the princess of this country! If I say someone raped me then he raped me and is going to suffer for it, my father better not listen to her! but at the very least my mother isn't here or else I would be screwed already' Myne thought as if her mother was the one handling this trial, Myne knew that she would side with the bow hero after her first statement and would have put a slave mark on her just to make it worst for her
"The events seem made up like Myne is lying about all of this, there is no way what she describes be the real event as is more likely she was knocked out and imagined all of this, most likely drunk off her mind, she is not a reliable witness to give a testimony" Madeline said as she had successfully proven that Myne was lying and that this whole trial didn't have a reason to exist
"I see..." Aultcray says with a hand on his chin as he processed all of that information, coming to the most logical conclusion in his mind "So you are saying that the shield hero knocked Myne unconscious and raped her while she lay helpless on the floor" the king said with all the four heroes and even the people on the balcony confused at his statement not understanding how he could have gotten into such conclusion when all the evidence pointed otherwise
"What!? No th-"
"It all makes sense, this explains the inconsistencies in Myne's testimony" the king declared as if he had found the answer to this question, as this was the truth in his head since it still had the shield hero as the culprit and that would allow him to sentence him
"That's n-"
"Yeah! That must be it!" Myne interrupts Madeline 'Time to capitalize on my father's stupidity, I got to make sure that the bow hero doesn't get the chance to talk him out of this' Myne mentally said as this trial was finally going to her favor again
"Your majesty this is n-"
"Thank you bow hero for showing this, I hereby declare the Shield hero guilty!" the king said with a firm voice without even listening to what Shovel Knight or Madeline had to say, Aultcray was just happy to bring the shield devil down as he knew his daughter would be telling the true
"You got to be kidding me..." Juan said as he put his hand on his face, he was honestly more disappointed in the king than mad at him, even after all of this, he still had declared him guilty even after being proven that the testimony of Myne was as fake as it could be
"This is not h-"
"Give up kid, you're not gonna convince him at this point" the beheaded said as he close Madeline's mouth with his hand, she was at first mad at this but then she thought about it and it was true, it seemed that even after all her efforts to prove the innocence of someone was in vein as if the result was already decided from the start, even the people on the balcony that hated the shield hero thought it was a very stupid thing for the king to do as he genuinely thought that was what happened instead of seeing the obvious fact that Myne lied about all of it, but they were still somewhat happy about the shield hero being sentenced guilty despite him not being a true criminal, but they did worry that he constantly shutting down any attempts of the heroes to speak might cause them to get frustrated and mad at the crown and by extension the country
"..." Shovel knight just stood there still as he observed both the king and Myne who wasn't even trying to hide a malicious smile on her face 'this kingdom... Is doomed...' he thought as he looked down at the ground
"Since you're a legendary hero I cannot condemn you to the dungeons or to be executed, but know that rumors about your crimes will be spread across the land! You will never be able to live a normal life again and as long as you fight off the waves no further punishment shall be placed upon you, now release him and get him out of my sight" the king said as a bunch of knights pushed Juan to no avail
"There's no need for this, I'll leave by myself" Juan said as he turned his back and began to walk away from there and made his way to the gate, he looked back to see the angry face of the king and Myne pulling her eyes socket and showing her tongue with a mischievous little smile on her face, which she shouldn't have done since Badeline and the beheaded saw her do that
The other three stood there for a little bit after Juan left before deciding to leave as well, but before they could leave "Excuse me..." Myne spoke as she approached the three heroes and Quinn, going up to Shovel Knight specifically
"... What is it, lady Sophia was it?" Shovel Knight cordially asked even though he didn't want to talk with such a woman, all three were confused as to why she wanted to talk with them but Madeline felt that it was not good
"Spear hero... I... Want to join your group" the red hair woman asked which confused all three heroes even more and infuriated Madeline
'What a Bitch!' Madeline said to herself in her head as not only had Myne just accused Juan of a crime she made up but she immediately after went to join another of the heroes
"Huh?" even if his expression could not be seen by the others it was clear that Shovel Knights was the most confused out of all of them
"After what happened... I want to get stronger, regain my confidence, and honestly... Feel safe..." Myne said as she looked way to the sides as if she was distraught and anxious but like everything she did, this was just to mask her true intentions
"And I feel that the only way for me to do this... Is by following you" she said as she looked back at Shovel knight eye to eye... Or at least where she thought his eyes were supposed to be
"You have shown nothing but virtues and Shively, different from the shield hero... That's why I want to be your companion!" The redhead said while putting on her best-determined face, in reality, she just wanted to join him to have an easier life by marrying someone as powerful as a legendary hero and regain her right to the throne
After a whole minute of silence between the two, Shovel Knight finally answered "... No" Shovel Knight's response caused the whole court to get surprised
"What?" Myne asked completely caught off guard by the answer, how could he refuse her? She was irresistible, no one could refuse her when she asked for something, especially men! Yet the spear hero had just started up refused her and she couldn't rationalize why
"Lady Sophia, I admire how even in pro of recent events, you want to keep going and fight against monsters and the waves, it is truly a trait worthy of a lady such as you" Shovel knight compliments Myne which confuses both Madeline and Beheaded, however, Myne blushed at this compliment as it was different from when her father would shower her in compliments, this made she feel that the spear hero has already fallen in her charm which would make things easy for her
"However, after this whole ordeal, I can't allow you to follow me" he continued, gently passing his finger on her cheek placing a thread of her hair behind her ear
"But why?" Myne asked as she couldn't understand why he didn't want her, she was everything a man could ask for in terms of beauty and her ability to make people do what she wanted with her charm and next-level acting should have him crave her more than anything else in the world
"The best thing for your recovery is to take some time to yourself to mentally and physically restore yourself to when you feel better and more comfortable with yourself and others if you have been raped, then it is more than understandable that you retire from adventuring for a while until you feel better" The elegant knight says as he places his hands on Myne's left hand as Shovel Knights words of worry confuse Myne a bit but at the same time she feels flustered by his words like he really cared about her and her mental state, still she needs to be in his party for her goal to even be possible
"But-"
"You should stay in your home or with your parents, you might be able to act brave now, but what if you freeze up in the face of real danger? You showed clearly to me that you are scared and worried, the best for you right now is to rest, not expose yourself to more danger. I'm honored that you can to me for help, but as a legendary hero, I'm not going to fight against simple balloons and round rabbits, it will come a time I will have to fight feral creatures, mighty beasts, and abnormal monstrosities from the waves, allowing someone in such a fragile state as you might lead to fatal consequences, and I don't want to live with such guilt in my heart" Shovel Knight once again gives a speech that makes Myne's heart rate skyrocket, she didn't see him as a pawn in her plan to take the throne anymore... instead she felt that he was someone that not only cared about her but someone she cared about
"I..." Myne didn't know how to respond, she didn't want to lie to this spear hero as she felt like she could trust her but if she did he would probably hate her as she had only done all of this for her own selfish goals and as a man that radiated soo much virtue he would despise her for every lie she has said so far, this was something she did not have experienced before such things for a person that was not herself ever before
"I have to get going, but promise me that you will treat yourself and recuperate, so you will become a better and more confident individual" Shovel Knight said as he let go of Myne's hand, Myne was visibly sad by this as she left out a sad squeal
"I will..." Myne said quietly as she didn't want this moment with the spear hero to end as she felt so safe and comfortable hearing his gentle voice, even if she couldn't see his face, Myne felt like she could trust every word he said
"Farewell lady Sophia, I hope that when we meet again, you will be better and have taken the first steps to recovery" Shovel Knight says as leaves as he turns his back, and walks away with Madeline and the beheaded out of the room
"Bye..." myne responded as she extended her arm out while placing one in her chest with a small tear falling from her eye, she never felt in such a way before, it was like she had fallen completely in love with this spear hero in just a couple of words, having the thought of her whole life with him by her side taking over her ambition of becoming queen and then she was forced to abandon that dream of marrying him because it was a forbidden love and that his duty to protect the kingdom came first
'Wait... Did he just dump me?!' Myne said in her head as she realized what happened, she got dumped but that never had happened to her before, no man could resist her charms 'Did I play victim too well? Shit! I have to get into his heart and head before those other sluts seduce him first-'
"This Spear hero more than matches the description of heroism" Aultcray speaks up as he came close to Myne, having heard the entire conversation, he was moved by the spear hero's words, such tenderness, and kindness to a person he has barely interacted with just came to show how big his heart was
"And he spoke with such wisdom as well, you should take his advise Malty, you should recover from such a horrendous thing in the safety of the castle" Aultcray said as he placed his hand on the shoulder of his daughter, at first, he found the idea of Malty adventuring with a hero dangerous but that it would allow her to grow as a person, but now he saw that perhaps she was not ready for the cruelties of the world and that it would be best for his sweet daughter to stay safe and secure inside the walls of his kingdom and castle
"Uh... Yes papa" She reluctantly agrees and walks to her room, she was livid at how bad her plan went, first she almost got exposed during the trial, and then when she attempted to get together with a hero she was rejected because she won that trial 'I got to think of something soon, right now only the church is benefiting from that stupid trial' she thought about once she had entered her luxurious room and laid on her bed
Outside the three heroes were walking away, all silent and staring at Shovel Knight after that display he did in the castle, as it felt really emotional, sure he dumped her, but Madeline was worried that he had somehow fallen to the charms of that lady
"What a lying vixen! Does she not possess a limit to her audacity?" Shovel knight finally said a word, anger filling his voice at the actions of that snake-tongued woman, Madeline sighed in relief at seeing that they were on the same ground
"That more than settles it, the whole case and all accusations were a lie!" Madeline comments as she knew that Juan was innocent from the start but to see the so-called rape victim immediately go after another hero was more than enough to make her infuriated
"Yeah especially after she did that with her face" the beheaded said which confused the two heroes and his companion, Badeline filled her counterpart on what the sword hero was referring to, which only caused her to get more angry at Myne
"Did what?" Shovel knight asked as he was the only one of the heroes that didn't see Myne do the facial insult
"That thing kids do, pulling out one of their eye sockets while showing their tongues" the beheaded said as he would much rather just flip them off rather than do such a childish thing, although the lack of certain facial features contributed to that as well
"Such immature behavior... Did she understands what she did?! A rape accusation is a serious thing!" Shovel knight screamed outraged, to act so immaturely in a court of law, truly showed how much of a rascal the so on called lady was
"She did, she made that while having that sadistic smile you make when you fuck with people for fun, like making a servant bring you a drink, making them drop it by 'accident' and telling them to clean up and when they get down to their knees, you step on their head with your foot and say "clean it with your mouth" and watch as they lick the floor while you still have your foot on their heads" the beheaded said with Madeline finding it a very weird example while Shovel knight felt like that was something the beheaded had done himself which was not surprising to him in the least
"But why would the princess lie like that?" Quinn murmured to himself, he knew that the first princess was removed from inheriting the throne but he didn't know why, but maybe he now understood a possible reason, since this whole trial thing was probably one of the worst attempts of lying he had to see, although he was convinced at first, once the bow hero began to point out the flaws of the rape accusation, he did start to see them as well and now he believed himself dumb from not noticing them at first
"Wait what?" the three heroes said in unison as they stopped walking and turned to look at the cleric with surprised faces(well only Madeline's was visibly confused)
"Kid, you better get to talking" the beheaded said while putting his arms crossed and tapping his foot on the ground as he and the other heroes stared him down for an answer
"W-well, that person is the princess of the country, Malty Melromarc the first princess, I assume that Myne Sophia is her adventurer's name" Quinn explained as he was put in a bad position, he did not know why the princess was there to join the heroes but it might have been to hook up with one of them considering that was something many people wished to do if given the chance since legend told that the children of the heroes are usually blessed with great intelligence and physical prowess, and it would make sense that a member of royalty would want to become the spouse of a hero, but considering she threw away a chance to stay with the shield hero, which might just have made her a person of power in Siltvelt and Shieldfreen which could have lessened the conflict between Melromarc and those two countries if a royal of Melromarc had joined or even married the shield hero, he couldn't see the logic in her action
"Why would the princess of this country do this?!" Shovel knight asked as it was illogical for a person such as a princess to commit such petty and downright evil action
"Why not? She was probably bored and decided to have some fun in her own way" the beheaded said, when he was royalty one of the best things to do when bored was pick a random person and use his power over the kingdom to screw them, granted he didn't do that with frequency as he was mostly partying when he could but still he knew that a royal fucking someone over was not new
"But why?!" Shovel Knight once again asked, it simply did not make sense to him that a person who was provided with the best of the in terms of education and was mostly likely thought about the responsibilities and weight that power and decisions have to just do something so rotten and twisted
"Don't tell me that as a knight, you never met a bratty monarch before?" the beheaded asked, as it was impossible for this knight not to have seen an example of a bad or tyrannical ruler before
"I-" Shovel Knight stops for a moment as he remembers his fight against King Knight, not only was he part of the enchantress's order of knights but also joined her just because he wanted to be a king, and once he did the so-called king ignored his people, only caring about himself and putting anyone that speaks their complaints about him into jail "I did... But in his case was because he stole the throne, that self-proclaimed king didn't care for his people, all he cared for was the money, the status, the drinks, and feasts. He just stayed at the top of his castle drinking wine while the kingdom suffered" Shovel Knight said as he remembered the childish excuse of a king he had to fight to save the kingdom
'I can relate to that' the Beheaded thought for himself for a moment as he remembered tiny pieces of his life as a king where he did the same thing once the malaise started
"Still, why do that to a hero summon to protect her kingdom? That doesn't make sense" Madeline said as that was an illogical decision to make, what type of benefits would this bring? It didn't seem to have any advantages that would come from such a thing, if anything, it would only cause more trouble for them
"Sometimes, people do awful things, because they like doing awful things" the beheaded said, with both Madeline and Shovel Knight surprised at how truthful that phrase was coming from him
"At least that explains the king's altitude, even if he acted irrationally, at least it was because of parental love" Shovel knight said as he put a hand to his face, his respect for the king had surely fallen but he at least had a good excuse for his action, a parent's love can blind even the wisest of man's from the truth about their children
"Yeah yeah whatever, see you losers later" The beheaded said his very rude goodbye as he went on to a different street from them to look for a shop to sell the stuff he collected, with his only party member following behind him as he waved back at the two other heroes
"I... Will go get back to my party, and you?" Madeline said as she looked over to Shovel Knight, who seemed to not be taking this series of events well
"I will do the same, but after that... I don't know, after all of this, I just want to sink my head into a pillow or even the dirt below" Shovel Knight stated as his voice did not possess the same enthusiasm as it usually had
"I know..." Madeline responded as she looked down, disappointed with the law system being abused in such a manner, she just had to hope things would get better from here on now
Juan walked through the streets of the capital, he could see the looks of hatred and disgust, their whispers expressing their anger about him, but he didn't care for any of that, all that went through his head was the trial, even after been defended against those accusations by the bow, spear, and even the sword hero, the king seemly ignored all the flaws and lies in the testimony of Myne for no apparent reason, Juan was mad at the king sure, but he was more worried for the state of the kingdom if the active ruler was acting senile already.
But what he hated the worst was Myne, she just have proven herself to be the same type of scum that Calada, perhaps even worst since Calada at least had been tricked by the devil and dragged to hell before deciding to take over the world of the living and the dead while committing many atrocities along the way, Myne did what she did seemly out of a sheer will to screw people over. Worst of all was what she accused him of, if it was murder, theft, or any other thing he might not have been as mad at her as he was now, but accusing him of raping her, that was unforgiving, he fought against an invincible opponent and died trying to save his childhood friend and love, returned to live and battled through the deepest and dangerous places of the world of the dead and all of Mexico to save her and never in their six years of marriage had their love faltered. Accusing him of breaking the vows of love the two had made just to pound a random girl he just meets infuriated him more than being declared guilty, he just wanted to punch Myne so hard that her future descendants would feel it
'I really want to get to my world now...' Juan thought as he continued his walk, when he passed through an alley he was pulled by the neck and pinned against the wall, he looked at his aggressor to see a tall man with a bald head with a scar on the side wearing dark thick gloves and a dirty apron, he tried to move the hand of the man from his neck but couldn't
'This man is way stronger than me somehow, probably because of this level system' Juan thought as he tried his best to escape the grasp of his attacker
"Heard what you did to that poor girl, this is for raping her you scum" the tan man said as he prepared to throw a punch in the face of the shield hero, although he was holding back to not kill him since he was level 80 or so and the shield hero was probably between levels 2 and 13 at least
"I DID NOT RAPE HER!" Juan screamed out as he stared at the bald man, both just stood there looking at each other, but when the man looked at the shield hero's eyes, he saw something, those were not the eyes of a guilty man, they lacked the malicious look and the twisted sense of rightness, when he looked at Juan's eyes he saw passion, bravery, heroism with a hint of betrayal in them "..." the man kept staring at the shield hero's eyes for a bit longer before coming to his own conclusion
"Ugh... Fine" the man said as he let go of the shield hero and took a few steps back to allow the shield hero to get some air
"You trust me?" Juan asked as the sudden change of heart of the man who attacked him was a surprise to be sure, but it was a welcomed one
"Yeah... Looking at you better, you don't have the eyes of a rapist, you are lacking in the evil department" the man said while scratching the back of his head, he had developed a way of knowing when a person is bad after many encounters with shady people and bandits back in his younger years
"Well, thanks... You're pretty strong, are you a guard or an adventurer?" Juan asked as it would take plenty of strength to hold him down, something a normal person wouldn't have if they didn't level up a lot
"Retired from that, I'm a blacksmith now, my name is Erhard" The figure finally introduced himself to Juan, offering a hand to the luchador who gladly shakes it
"Glad to know, happy that at least four people here don't hate me" Juan said as he knew that at least the other three heroes didn't believe in that farce of a trial and now he had this guy, that got to count for something
"So... What are gonna do?" Erhard asked as the shield hero was in a very hard situation since being branded a criminal was gonna make everything harder for him
"... I will fight the waves, that's the only way for me to get home, and as long as I fight against them, the king won't be able to punish me" Juan explained as this was the only main goal he had at the moment
"Well since you gonna do that, pass by my shop, and I can whip you up with some good gear" Erhard offered seeing how things were for the shield right now, it was the least he could do for the hero
"I will keep that in mind" Juan said as he prepared to leave, the best thing for him to do right now would be to go out and kill some monster outside the city limits so he could grow stronger
"Ah before you go grab this, it will probably help you avoid people recognizing you... I hope" Erhard says as he hands out a dark coat that he used when it was raining, the coat covered Juan's neck and shoulders with a hoodie to cover at least the top of his face
"Thanks, although green is not my color" Juan says as he walks out of the alleyway and continued his path down the streets to go into the fields to fight more monsters and raise his levels
'I don't know why, but I feel like he is gonna be a great hero, he even has music to follow him' Erhard thought as he saw the shield hero walk away, wondering if the heroes had the ability to generate music wherever they go, since during his entire interaction with the shield hero, he heard some sort of background music that seemly came out of nowhere
[Author's notes]
Yes, this chapter was heavily influenced by the ace attorney series. I asked my brother for help in what to do in the trial to make it not be a repeat of the original but with the other heroes being just skeptical and staying mostly silent, he suggested making it more like in ace attorney, full of twists and dramatic turns, but it had to end mostly the same
For those who thought Myne who join Shovel Knight... Sorry but I just don't want to write her character more than I have yo
Please leave a review, it helps!