Chapter 4: A Sham Trial & Surviving

It is almost morning as the night sky is slowly turning from black to a soft blue and the rays of the sun hasn't shined yet. Arthur wakes up and gets out of his woodsie tent in order to stretch. He cracks his shoulders and knuckles as he tries to wake-up before rinsing his face in the river...by dunking his head in it. Arthur gasps as he pulls his head out before drying his head off. Plus he still has all of his items.

"Time for breakfast." he says.

Arthur then hunted any creatures that aren't monsters and are edible. He did manage to find a rabbit that isn't a monster, killed it, skinned and gut it, and then have it for breakfast after cooking it over a fire.

Gwen shows up at the campfire, "How's the food coming?"

"Just hang on. It still needs to roast."

"Don't forget the salt."

"I got it." Arthur sprinkles some salt on the roasting rabbit. "You know, this is the first time I have seen an unmutated rabbit that wasn't trying to kill me."

"Same here." Gwen says while sitting next to Arthur and looking at the rabbit. "I have only seen pictures of them in those old books mom and dad kept before the apocalypse."

"Just hope that it taste good. The mutated ones taste like shit."

When they think the rabbit is done cooking, they took pieces of it and gave it a little salt before eating it. Arthur chews on it a bit before swallowing it.

"It has this strange taste to it. Gamey, a bit tough, but oddly delicious. Yet I cannot describe what it taste like but better than the rabbits back home. It actually taste similar to the chickens that we had in the deep freeze back in the old silo. But could use some of that orange sauce or sweet and sour sauce."

"I have to agree." Before Gwen takes another bite, she hears something coming into the woods. She look back and notices something. She dropped her rabbit meat and says, "Heads-up! We got trouble!"

Arthur drops his meal and springs into action with his shield. Approaching him are men clad in armor and are from the royal guards. Some have spears and some have swords that are ready to be drawn out.

"Shield hero." one of the guards say, "You have to come with us."

"And if I refuse." Arthur gives one of the guards a threatening glance as he is about to grab his katana.

"I'm sorry kid, but you have to by order of the king."

"Let me guess; false charges about me from the princess? Even though I've been living out here the whole night."

"Please come to the palace."

"Fine." Arthur lowers his guard. "I'll come along even though it is a waste of time."

Arthur is forced into a wagon and is taken to the castle. He is then taken to the throne room where the king is on his throne with the other three heroes there as well and the princess, who is sniveling behind Motoyatsu.

"What is going on?" Arthur says to everyone in the room.

"Quiet you lowlife child!" the king demanded. "My poor daughter. Could you testify once more for us, please?"

Malty sobs behind Motoyatsu, "Th-the shield hero came to me in an alleyway like a wild animal and pinned me down... He said, 'The night is still young so why not. I could enjoy a virgin,' and tore my clothes off. I somehow escaped and ran into Sir Motoyatsu when I came back to the inn from an alleyway and ran to him for help!"

Arthur says, "That is impossible. Because I was in the woods last night and made camp. I even met Ren when he was doing late night grinding."

"It's true." Ren says as he steps behind Arthur to support him. "He and I even had a conversation in the woods. He said I remind him of a character from a series from his old world."

Arthur shows everyone his Linker, "Yeah! I even recorded our conversation!"

Ren looked at Arthur, "Wait, you recorded our conversation?"

Arthur looked at Ren, "Yeah. I always record what people say to me." That is a bit of a lie yet he did recorded their conversation when they were talking about SAO.

So he came prepared for occasions such as this. He played it and everyone hears their conversation. Malty looks nervous as her lie quickly unravels as the recording goes on. After the recording, Itsuki seems convinced.

"Okay." he says. "I'm completely convinced." Then he walked over to Arthur and Ren and joined their side.

"W-w-w-wait!" Malty tries to think of something. "I-it may have happened after your conversation. Yeah. T-t-that's it."

Itsuki looks at Motoyatsu, "Motoyatsu?"

Motoyatsu looks down has he takes a deep breath through his nose. He looks at Malty and slaps her in the face. Malty is taken by surprise along with everyone else in the throne room.

"Arthur is right." Motoyatsu says with the look of disdain and a small tear in his left eye, "You are a pathological liar! I know that I shouldn't harm women but you cross the line. Trying to frame a child for something that he didn't do, you're a horrible person!" Motoyatsu is very angry at Malty for trying to do such a thing to someone that is younger than her.

"I'm actually 13." Arthur stated with his right hand raised. "Just to clarify, I'm a teen now...I think. But still younger than the princess."

Motoyatsu joins the other heroes.

Itsuki says, "Arthur already warned us about the princess being a manipulative bitch that wants us to fight each other for your own amusement and personal gain."

Ren states, "That, and because of your religion that sees the shield hero as an enemy because shield heroes support demi-humans."

Motoyatsu points his spear at Malty, "Because of Myne, we may decide to be your enemies if she ever does something like this ever again."

Arthur then states, "Although, if she isn't in a hero's party, she may end up as a plaything at Faubley. If the princess keeps on trying to manipulate us."

Lüge slams his right fist on his throne as he angrily shouts, "I WOULD NEVER GIVE MY DAUGHTER TO THAT BASTARD!"

Some of the men were frighten by the king's outburst as he scowls at Arthur. Malty hides behind one of the guards and is scared by such a thought. The king of Faubley is known for treating women as his playthings as he also tortures women to the point of death. Being married to the king is almost a death sentence in itself.

Arthur then made a proposition while his arms are crossed, "I know that you want to protect your family, but there are things that can get them killed which I did say yesterday. As of now, the princess will remain with Motoyatsu for now in order to avoid becoming his 10,000th victim. But if she lies and manipulates Motoyatsu in anyway, she will be punished by Motoyatsu himself."

Motoyatsu looks at Arthur with a surprised look, "Seriously?!"

"In a kinky way if you want."

Motoyatsu's face turns red when he heard that part.

"What do you mean by 10,000th victim?" Ren asks.

"Because the king of that nation is a perverted sadist that torture his wives to death." Arthur explains which is a surprise to them.

Lüge grits his teeth as he grips his throne tightly along with scowling Arthur. But he does have a point. So he stops and tries to regain his composure. "Fine." he says calmly. "However, the shield hero will be treated as a criminal and outcast in my kingdom and won't receive any funding from this day forward."

"You mean your wife's kingdom." Arthur stated the obvious.

"Grrr!" Lüge starts to get pissed-off again but calms down.

"You can't do that!" Itsuki speaks in Arthur's defense. "It's not right!"

Ren draws his sword and points it at the king, "You were the ones that try to turn us against each other."

Arthur grabs both their shoulders and says, "Easy guys." All three heroes look at him. "That won't be necessary."

Motoyatsu speaks up, "But they can't do this! It isn't fair for you to be treated like this!"

"It's alright, Motoyatsu." Arthur sounds assure. "There are other ways to make money. I found out that there are monster corpses that are only worth a small amount of money, a few odd jobs that I can do, and if I want food, I could just hunt and forage in the forests." He lets go of Itsuki and Ren's shoulders as he smiles at them. "Besides, I have survived a world that is post-apocalyptic. This world here would be like easy mode but with some monsters."

Itsuki looks unsure, "But Arthur..."

"But what are you gonna do as a party?" Motoyatsu asks. "Without any other support-"

Arthur raises his hand to silence Motoyatsu. "It will be fine. My sister does have some ideas. Plus I think I may have found a way to use my other weapons and getting past my shield's limitation." He walks out the door, "Besides, I have some issues I have to get over with."

The three look at each other as they have no idea what does he mean by 'issues I have to get over with'.

As Arthur exits out of the castle, some of the folk heard what happened in the castle and has spread quickly. Many steer clear of him because they are afraid that the guards might kill them if they do anything to him. He pass by until he comes across a shop and purchases some rope for 2 silver. Then he made his way towards the forest where his camp was but was reduced to ruin.

"Man!" Gwen sounds pissed. "I can't believe that some people would do this!"

Arthur just ignores her as he takes a sharp piece of rock and starts cutting the rope.

Gwen notices what Arthur is doing and checks it out. "What are you doing with that rope?"

"You'll see."

Arthur cuts a small piece of the rope and added it to his shield. He has obtained a [Rope Shield] along with a new skill, |Airstrike Shield|. Unfortunately, he has to be level 3 in order to use it.

"Damn." he says to himself. "But worth a shot."

Arthur cuts up the rope and ties one half of the rope to one of his katanas and the same with the other half. He makes sure that they are tied tight before wrapping his hands around the two ropes. He draw his weapons and twirls them around for a bit and he doesn't suffer any penalty.

"Holy fuck berries, it worked!" Arthur says in his excitement. "As long as I don't touch the weapons directly, I can use them!"

"Fuck yeah!" Gwen says as she is proud that Arthur found a way to overcome one of the rules of the shield. "Now you can slay monsters a little easier!"

Arthur tested out on a few balloon monsters close by as he draws out his sword and slice up 10 balloon monsters with them. However, he didn't gain any experience points.

'WHAT THE HELL?!' Arthur is getting frustrated. 'I didn't get any exp! Seriously!? This sucks! I gain exp by launching my swords at them but what the hell?! The rules of this world is completely broken!'

Gwen is up on the tree as she asks, "How did it go?"

Arthur is a bit upset as he replies, "I didn't get any experience from my katanas!"

"What the shit!" Gwen is upset as well. "That can't be right!"

Arthur puts his katanas away, "Well at least they could be useful when in the waves at least."

So now, Arthur is stuck using only his hands and spend two all nighters trying to reach level 2. Eventually he has and unlocks the [Leaf Shield].

'Finally.' Arthur thought before he collapse. 'Now I can rest.' He sleeps through a whole night until he regained his strength.

What happened next is that he finds some medicinal herbs and used the [Leaf Shield] on them in order to get them to become higher quality. Once he did he took them to an herb and medicine shop he saw earlier.

The shop owner is quite surprise from what he saw when he examines them. "I am surprised you manage to find herbs of high quality. Where did you get these?"

"In a forest not too far from town."

"Hmm." the shop owner puts down the herb. "I thought there were only average quality herbs in the forest. But nevermind that, I'll give you a good price for them."

After that, he headed towards Erhard's shop for a bit.

"Hey kid." Erhard says hello and is a bit unsure.

"Hey, Erhard." Arthur approach the counter where Erhard is. "Guessing you heard about what happened?"

"Yeah. I can't believe that woman try to frame you for something that you didn't do and has everyone treat you as a criminal. Honestly, I wish the queen was back so she can sort all this out."

"You tell me. Listen." Arthur shows that part of his chain mail is a little damaged as some links got cut a little. "Can you do any repairs on this?"

"Sure kid. I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks."

Arthur removes his duster, backpack, and hat in order to remove his chain mail to have Erhard to repair. However, Erhard notices Arthur's black t-shirt that has some sort of serpent in mummy wrappings, have green wings, a strange (possibly) serpent-like skull and the words in gold that say, 'Metallica'. And Arthur hands him the chain mail shirt. On the back of the shirt it reads, 'All the Earth becomes my Throne. I adapt to the unknown. Under wandering stars I've grown by myself but not alone. I ask no one. Wherever I may roam.'

"Pardon me for asking, but what is that?" Erhard points at Arthur's shirt.

Arthur looks at his shirt and explains. "This? Oh, this is my grandfather's shirt. Back when a musician band called Metallica was popular. I did listen to some of their music but there were those that sounded...off."

"Metallica musician band? Are they like bards or something?"

"Sort of. But let's focus on my chain mail, okay?"

"Oh right."

After a while, Erhard repaired Arthur's chain mail shirt and payed the man a silver and three coppers for repairs. When he enters out of the blacksmith shop, Arthur had a thought. He pulls out a copper coin and a silver coin in his left hand and thought of something interesting.

'What happens if I use these on my shield?'

Gwen appears behind Arthur, "I know what you're thinking. Let's head towards an alleyway to test it out."

Arthur went to the alleyway to try something out. He places one copper coin in his shield and unlocks a [Copper Coin Shield] which comes in the form of a large copper coin. This strangely bizzare shield makes Arthur -10 Lightning Resistance, -10 Fire Resistance, -10 Water Resistance, +10 Earth Resistance, +25 Luck.

"So this shield only grants me earth resistance and luck. Maybe I can use it in gambling since it's luck is really high."

Gwen suggests, "I think you're under age to do such thing."

Arthur then places a silver coin in his shield and unlocks a [Silver Coin Shield] which is in the form of a large silver coin. It grants +20 Damage to Monsters, +20 Attack Power at Nighttime (+30 During Full Moons), -5 Fire Resistance, -5 Water Resistance, and +10 Luck.

"I could use this to do extra damage to monsters? Sweet. Plus some extra attack damage at night."

"That may actually be more useful than your copper shield."

It transform back into a [Small Shield] as Arthur says, "But best to call it a day. I really want something to eat. Plus I think I got enough money to pay for a few meals."

It has been two weeks now and Arthur is only at level 4. He starts to figure out a way to get stronger before the waves appear while eating dinner at a tavern. He figures the best way to get stronger is to get a party. While contemplating, three unsavory men approach him.

Gwen whispers, "Heads-up, we got trouble."

"Hey, shield hero." says the guy with the spiky hair and sleeveless shirt. "I understand that you are in need of a party. How about-"

"Get lost." Arthur says to them.

"Huh?" says the mushroom head guy in a red vest. "Come on now. You can-"

"You guys are more interested in robbing me instead of forming a party."

The guy with an open shirt chuckles. "So you figured it out, huh? That makes it a little easier. Then how about-"

Arthur grabs two of their heads and bash them against each other that causes them to be knocked-out. Then he grabs the third man by his hair and knocks him out by slamming his knee into him. Right in the nose as the guy's nose starts to bleed. Arthur finishes his meal and pays a little more for the innkeep for the trouble. Arthur walks out of the tavern and walks down the street. His left fist swells up as he angrily pounds a corner of a building.

"Dammit." he says to himself. "I really need support. But how can I if everyone tries to rob me and treat me like an outcast? I'm trapped in a fucking loop because I cannot raise my offensive capabilities which is bullshit!"

Gwen shows up as she leans over to Arthur's right, "Hey. We're being watched. Some short, fat guy in the alleyway behind us to the right."

Arthur turns around and says threatening, "Whose there!?" while raising his shield with his left hand and prepares his sword with his right.

The man hiding chuckles a little in the shadows of the alleyway. "So you figured me out." The man appears out of the shadows and shows off his golden rim glasses that hides his eyes and dress pretty fancy with his attire having a neck area looking like purple feathers while in a ringmaster tuxedo from a circus and a top hat. The guy looks short and creepy and even is mustache and grin screams 'creep.' "I can't help it but over hear your troubles. You cannot gain more exp if you don't have party members, correct?"

Arthur looks at the man and notices that he looks familiar. "Y-yeah." 'Who is this man? Why does he look so familiar to me?' "Sorry, but have we met before? I think I met you before but can't remember where."

The man laughs a little. "Can't say that we have. My name is Beloukas and I may have something that might help you, shield hero."

"Call me Arthur." Arthur lowers his guard. "Arthur van Buren."

The two appear at a tent of some sort in the middle of the night.

"Is this a circus?" Arthur asks.

Beloukas walks in, "Not exactly. But it does appear like that, doesn't it?" He turns to look at Arthur, "Now, would you please follow me, Mr. van Buren."

Arthur walks inside the tent and is taken by surprise by the huge amount of cages filled with strange creatures that look like they are part human and part animal.

Arthur thought to himself as he looks at the creatures, 'Are those...mutants? No. This is a fantasy world. So they must be...' He speaks to Beloukas, "Hey, uh, Mr. Beloukas? Are these...demi-humans and...beastmen?"

Beloukas turns and laughs at Arthur. "Of course they are! I am a slaver by trade. Since Melromarc is a human supremacist country, I trade in demi-humans which are creatures that look human but aren't. The beastmen are demi-humans but are more on the animal side. These creatures are used as bodyguards or manual labor. Or as participants in death matches that are gambled on."

Arthur is filled with anger as his fists swell up for something so cruel. But loosen his grips after he calms down. Back in his old world, his parent's taught him the evils of slavery and how many countries abolish them because it is undignified, cruel, and inhumane. Something like this is insulting. However, given his circumstances, he has no choice. However, he won't need anything that would bind them.

Gwen is over at one of the cages as the two look around. Gwen points at a cage with cloth draped over it as she whispers, "Over here."

Arthur looks at where Gwen is at and walks over. He removes the cloth and sees a small raccoon (called tanuki in Japanese) demi-human roughly around the age of 10 and is in bad shape. As if she has one foot in the grave. Arthur has his eyes widen as he notices something is familiar about the young raccoon girl. So familiar that he starts to get flashes of the young girl as a young lady.

'What the hell?!' he thought to himself. 'Why does this girl look so damn familiar?! Just what the fuck is going on with me!?'

Beloukas asks from one side of the narrow pathway between cages, "Is everything alright, Mr. van Buren?"