"First, to make sure this is accurate, are the two of you Naofumi Iwanti and Bard Bowman, the Heroes of the Shield and Bow respectively," he asked, and I was about to say yes, but the words caught in my throat, like something was making me choke. For a moment, just a moment, I saw the King's eyes widen, as I realized that 'Truth Blade', or whatever it was called, was probably having the effect of preventing lies, so I thought fast, and quickly stopped choking, instead clearing my throat like I'd simply choked on my own spit or something. Better to look like an idiot than a liar in this situation, after all.
"That is the name and Title I am known by in the Kingdom of Melromarc, to which I have been summoned," I said, evenly, and for a moment the King kept his hands on a blade I hadn't even noticed at his hip as he turns towards Lucia, who nods at him, and he gets a thoughtful expression on his face, before chuckling, a relief evident in his laughter.
"That stupid Adventurer Guild tradition about taking second names. I forgot about that. Regardless, are you the same Naofumi who stood before me on the day of his summoning, and I disrespected so openly?" he asked, turning to Naofumi, who looked odd at the admission of such, and at me for choking, but he nodded.
"I am," he said simply, and the King nodded back.
"Very well. Then I will ask this straight. After she was made a member of your party, did you in any way take advantage of my daughter, Princess Malty Melromarc, known to you at the time as the Adventurer Myne," he asked bluntly, and Lucia held the sword forward a bit more, as if to make sure Naofumi was in the magical field it produced. For his part, the Shield Hero looked ready to throw hands at the sudden accusation, but when Raphtalia took a step forward, placing her hand on his shoulder, he calmed down, and after a moment of looking into her eyes, turned to face the King and stared into his.
"The most advantage I took from her was that she found me a blacksmith of notable skill, if also expensive. She barely helped out in the fighting, despite me being the only one able to do only one damage per attack. After that, we headed to the same inn as the rest of the Heroes to rest, but she insisted on staying in a fancier one across the street," he began, laying out what had happened in a way we,I had to admit, hadn't let him do when we faced him that next morning.
"I didn't touch her afterwards. She offered me a drink, probably drugged now that I think about it. I was tired though, and went straight to bed, inspected my gear a bit, since it was so high class, and then stuffed a few coins into the sleeve of my Shield before going to bed, since I couldn't seem to take the thing off anyway, and it made as good a pocket as any for emergencies," he explained.
"That morning, before dawn, I woke up to my room having been robbed, and then, before I could tell anyone, the door opened up, and some guards grabbed me, and brought me to your court. I didn't ever even touch your daughter in the whole time I knew her, though I would totally punch her if you let me now," he finished, practically growling that last bit out, as he kept the King in his withering gaze.
It seemed, all too clear to me if not him, that his words hit like blades on Aultcray, who looked ready to fall over, and I could practically see his eyes watering. He stumbled a bit, but caught himself before any would need to render assistance. Instead, he took a step forward, and drew his blade, but in a slow, very precise way, not a mote of hostility radiating from him, as he knelt down on one knee, bowing his head to Naofumi.
"I-I am much ashamed that I took no measure to judge my daughter's words for the lies they were, and that I allowed my love for her, and my hatred of what your weapon represents, to blind me. I will not ask your forgiveness for what has befallen you, Hero of the Shield, but know my words are spoken before the Blade that forces only Truth from my lips. I am deeply sorry for what I have done to you," he stumbled a bit at first, his throat seemingly too tight for a moment, but once he began talking, the words came more easily, the tone speaking of a leader filled with regret.
Naofumi, for his part, was very much stunned into silence by the admission from the king, leaving him just standing there dumbfounded, until I elbowed him in the ribs, just between the plates of his armor, causing him to grunt, and then look at me, allowing me to motion with my eyes and tell him to say something. He growled under his breath at that, but opened his mouth, and did the choking on his words thing I had done prior, obviously about to lie and being unable to, before he found something that let him speak.
"I can't…I can't say I forgive you. What she did to me, what YOU did to me based on what she said, it's not the sort of thing that you just get over," he began, obviously searching for each word, but it came more easily the further he got along with it.
"However, if you truly regret what you did, I won't hold it against you. Just remember next time you hear something bad about someone, make sure you get both sides of the story before passing judgement," he declared, and Aultcray, rising to his feet, nodded.
"I intend to, Na…Hero Naofumi," he said simply, rising to his feet, and then turning towards Lucia.
"I have asked my questions, you may end the Truth Field, while I…attend to my duty," he said, and Lucia dropped the sword, sighing in relief, and a quick glance at her sheet told me that skill cost her quite the MP, having drained her to almost half in the few minutes she held it. However, much to my shock, she was already recovering nicely from it, her robe obviously aiding her in that.
Before moving back, he walked over towards the Pope, an expression steeled onto his face as he glared down at the man, who was smiling warmly up at him, bowing his head. The King's hand, for just a moment, seemed to move down to his sword hilt, but that moment passed, and instead, he flexed his fingers, and took a deep breath to steady himself before he spoke.
"You are a lucky man, Balmus. My Daughter was indeed behind his defamation on her own, given Naofumi's truths. Your crimes are still great enough that my sentence has not changed for you, but you need not fear the headsman as you well should. Now never again darken my doors," he declared, moving his arm to flourish out his red cape before marching away from us, the Pope looking after him, and gently wiping his brow.
"Heh, he is a generous ruler, to have such mercy for an old soul like me. deserving of none," he said, in a tone that implied humility, though also only implied it, probably the reason he'd waited until the Truth sword was put away to say anything, honestly. He turned to me with that smile on his face that looked almost warm, if you didn't see the cold glint in his eyes.
"Regardless, I believe we have much to discuss, Lord Bowman," he said with a bow towards me, and then motioned for us to follow, Lucia taking a moment to glare daggers at me, before she 'swished' her weapon, causing it to glow with golden light, and then turn into a bracelet on her arm. That done, she walked with the Pope, and our group followed.
"I'm going to hazard a guess that your weapon is the thing the Pope was offering to find for us in his archives?" I asked her, and she growled without missing a beat, nodding her head underneath her cloak.
"It is neat. What is it?" I asked, trying to get her to speak to me, but she said nothing, the Pope chuckling in an 'old man' kind of way.
"Our young lady is most perturbed at you for leaving her at the Rabier Estate the way you did, and for leaping once more into danger without herself or Lady Ray at your side. Still, it would be rude not to answer, Ms. Lucia," he chided her, and she growled again, but then pulled her hood back and looked into me with those green eyes of hers.
"It is the Replica Weapon, an artifact as legendary as the Glass Swords that Ray uses. The Church apparently found it in Siltvelt during the last war, and decided to keep it," she explained in a mechanical tone, flicking her wrist out, so the weapon came to her hand, swiftly switching between a sword, a shield, a spear, and finally, almost reluctantly, a bow, before going back to the bracelet that appeared to be her preferred carrying form.
"To be fair, we found it before I was head of the Church, otherwise I might have seen fit to use it in a scheme or ten. My predecessor, sensing that it might be used for nefarious ends, most specifically ones against him, saw fit to hide the thing in the archives in such a way that I was not made aware of it until the Waves. Even then, it was hidden amongst many other relics, and spelled such that it took these months simply to find it within. Though, with Ms. Lucia behind it, I think it is in the best hands possible," he said with a chuckle.
"If I, or any of my flock were to wield such a thing, we might be able to cast one of its more powerful abilities before collapsing in exhaustion. Together, it is possible we might do more, but the MP of the Priest Class has never exactly been as high as a combat style caster. Ms. Lucia's stats thanks to being in a Hero's party, along with her class, skills, and mixed with a robe blessed in ancient times sees her as its perfect wielder," he explained, and Lucia, looking towards me, I hope sees me smiling brightly at her, but she quickly pulls the hood back up, leaving me to droop a little, as we approach the groups by the wall.
"Men, parade formation. Let us greet the Queen as best we might," said the King in a loud voice, the knights jumping at his command, and quickly reassembling themselves out of the defensive formation they'd been in, and instead standing in neat rows. The priests, looking towards the Pope, found him nod towards them, and they did likewise, as Motoyasu, Ren, and the remainder of the third group came up to us, including Myne who very obviously did not want to, but had little say in the matter, given I doubted even running would have worked at the moment.
"So he confirmed it then. I figured. Are you really going to go through with it, old man?" asked Motoyasu, and the King looked…a lot less angry than I'd expect at being addressed like that. In fact, he seemed stoic instead, in a way that screamed he was forcing himself to remain neutral about something.
"I have little choice in the matter, Spear Hero. What has been brought to light cannot be ignored," he said, and Motoyasu scoffed, but didn't say anything else to the King. Instead, he walked past Aultcray, to stand right in front of Naofumi, taking a moment to look him up and down, before nodding.
"You've gotten stronger, I can feel it. Good, then I won't feel bad about this," he said the last quietly, so only those of us standing nearby could hear, but then hefted his spear straight up, in a very 'look at me' kind of gesture, before letting it fall down, and pointing straight towards Naofumi.
"Naofumi Iwantani, Hero of the Shield, and one most grievously wronged by Adventurer Myne of the Spear Hero's Party, I challenge you for her life," he declared as loudly as he could, which didn't seem to surprise anyone else at this gathering, as everyone else stood around like they'd expected this. Our group, however, took a moment to process that, before Naofumi stepped forward and gave voice to what we were all thinking.
"What the hell are you talking about, blondie?!" he demanded.
(A/N: I have now read the Manga since starting this thanks to a reader who linked me to some archives. So I am well aware that in that version of this story, Aultcray was indeed not only in on the defamation plot, but also on the attempt on Melty's life(Though later he claims he thought it was only a bit of stage play to make the recording worth it, he was unaware of his daughter's absolute hate for her younger sister…somehow).
In the anime, which forms the basis of this version more than the Manga, however, it is not clear if he was aware or not of the defamation plot(He's aware there was a plot, but not on the specifics, and seemed to have believed his daughter HAD been taken advantage of), and he most certainly was not aware of the plot with the knights trying to kill his youngest daughter.
That does not make him guiltless, as the Queen says, and in fact, he is blamed for much of the death under his watchword as the Kingdom's Ruler, fair or not as that statement is given he was ruler for months, and some of the deaths and evil nobles he's blamed for stretch back decades. But he still failed to protect a beloved member of the Court under his watch, and allowed many vile things to happen with his blessing, which he deserves nothing but scorn for.
Regardless, in this version, I'm going with, he was unaware of what his daughter did. He EXPECTED it of Naofumi, however, and thus, was fairly easy to convince of his guilt, and to hope he died. He was also behind the plot with the duel. That was his only 'crime' against the Shield Hero, and even that can be considered just him picking on the man, as he was not intended to die during the fight.
Beyond that, what the Nobles did, and the death of Lord Seaetto were not fully his fault, though he SHOULD have stopped it, they must own their sins themselves. Evil Triumphs when Good Men do Nothing. That does not mean the Good Man is responsible for the evils done, however.)