Prologue: It takes a village
"Get a move on; the queen must reach the capital! If she complains about a bumpy ride, I will kick all of you in the shin!"
"Yes sir!" The knights shouted.
The knights in the area had just dealt with the threat of some monsters that were blocking the road and were now cleaning up the aftermath of the battle. One lady wearing a cloak was helping with the clean-up. She tossed aside a few of the monster corpses before sneakily making her way over to an elegant-looking cart. Once she made it there, she looked around to make sure the coast was clear and knocked on it.
"Who goes there?" A feminine voice asked?
"Just nobody, following in the queen's shadow."
The door to the cart was unlocked, and the cloaked woman quickly got inside. Inside, she sat across from two others. An adult with purple hair and a child with indigo hair
"This better be an important shadow; that was a very risky move," the queen scolded.
"I am very sorry, my queen, but this is truly an issue you might want to deal with before it gets out of hand."
"What did Malty do?" the queen asked as she covered her face with her fan.
"Not just the princess, my queen, but the king as well. The king has gone behind your back and back and summoned all four holy heroes."
A crack can be heard from the queen as visible cracks start to form on her fan.
"He did what!?" The queen seethed.
"Not just that. But a day later, your daughter accused the shield hero of rape. The king later convicted him of the crime and leaked the info shortly afterward.
Another crack was heard as the queen's fan. Ice then starts to generate from the queen's feet, spreading throughout the carriage.
"Not only do I have to deal with Siltvelt's council, who are already looking for a reason to go to war with us. Now I have to deal with every other nation as well!" A final crack is heard as the fan snapped off and fell to the ground, where it would freeze along with the rest of the floor.
"Mother, calm down!" The girl exclaimed. At her request, the ice in the cart started to melt as the queen calmed down.
"You're right, rage won't help at the moment. Melty." The queen grabbed the girl by the shoulders. "I know you wanted to join, but I need you to do a very special task for me. If you leave now and take minimal stops, you can make it back to Melromarc in one week. There, you and the shadow must help the shield hero and give this decree." The queen quickly writes down a message on a piece of parchment and hands it over to her daughter.
"If you can do all of this. That would both keep our nation safe from the outbreak of war with Siltvelt as well as clear the shield hero of most of his crimes. But you'll have to move fast."
"Y-yes mother. I'll do it."
"Good. Make me proud, Melty."
/~/
It was a very boring day. The guard stands at his post and just wishes that there was a rabbit or something else that could help him pass the time. He was about to fall asleep as soon as his lunch break started, but the noise of a Filolial got his attention.
Looking outside his post. He sees a brown Filolial run inside the gate and into the city streets.
"Hey! Watch it with that thing!" The guard yelled. Not wanting to deal with this issue, the guard went back inside and started to sleep once again.
Inside the town. A brown Filolial carrying a cloak-led child dashes past the citizens of Melromarc. When the Filolial reached a certain point in the town, the cloak child pulled on its reigns, forcing it to stop.
"Thank you, Hamon. You did a good job." The girl petted the filolial as another cloaked figure appeared behind her.
"Are you sure he's here?"
"He is a princess. Although he was difficult to find at first."
"That's good. Go call an anonymous meeting with my father; I'll be arriving soon."
"Yes princess. Also, here." The shadow hands Melty a pair of black pants.
"What is this for? I already wear tights."
"It's not for you." The shadow jumps into the edge of darkness and backs up, slowly disappearing.
"I never understand how they do that." Putting the pants on her shoulder, Melty walks into the alleyway. Her walk was pretty long and a bit confusing due to all the extra turns, but she was able to navigate nonetheless, thanks to the map the shadow created.
At the end of her walk, Melty turns one last corner and is shocked to see the shield hero lying among a pile of trash.
"Who the hell are you?" The shield hero asked. Staring at the princess with a glare that can petrify a thousand men. Melty staggered for a second before gathering her confidence.
"My name is Melty. I was sent here to assist you."
"We'll piss off then. I don't need help."
"Shield hero. You're lying amongst the trash; are you saying you don't want your honor back?"
"I never said that. Just that I-"
"That's not the issue! I'm sorry that we were not here earlier, and we take full responsibility for not helping out sooner. But in order to clear your reputation, you must accept our help!"
"Why are you speaking in the third person all of a sudden?"
"Not the point. The plan I have will not only clear your name to the whole of Melromarc. But it will also raise your status, if you're willing."
"And what if this is another trap?"
"Then you can take my life. A good deal, isn't it?"
The shield hero thought for a moment before nodding his head. "Fine, take me to freedom, I guess."
"Glad that we can cooperate. But please, put on some pants." Melty tossed the pair of pants at Naofumi, who was in a pair of boxers at the moment.
After putting his pants on, Naofumi went over to Melty, only to notice that she was a lot shorter than he expected.
"What the. Are you a child?"
"I am not!"
"You certainly are. And your clothes are very fancy... Are you perhaps the daughter of a noble? Is that why you were using us earlier?"
"Nice observation; you're not too far off."
"Well, I guess that can help. People will listen to a noble. Even still, I don't think a child can clear me of my crimes." Naofumi scoffed.
"Don't worry about that for now. All you have to do is watch."
/~/
"Why am I here again? I was planning on leaving the city today." Motoyasu complained.
"Apologies, Lord Motoyasu. My wife is apparently sending a very important message to the court. She also desired all the heroes here as well."
"Your wife. Like, the queen of Melromarc?"
"That is correct."
"I wonder. What could be so urgent that it requires everyone here?. A shame Ren and Itsuki can't make it."
"Now introducing the queen's envoy!" The guard shouted. Opening the door, the first person everyone saw was Naofumi.
"Naofumi! The hell are you doing here!?" Motoyasu yelled, outraged.
"Did you forget that I was also invited to this meeting? And you're still wearing my chainmail."
"How many times do I have to tell you, Myne gifted this to me!."
"I'll figure out if that's true or not!" A childlike voice echoed through the castle.
A carpet was rolled out before the entrance as the knights crossed their swords in a line.
"Now introduce the second and crowned princess of the nation. Melty Q Melromarc!" The knights sheathed their swords and revealed Melty at the entrance.
"M-melty!"
"Yes, father, I've returned. And frankly, my mother and I are not amused. As of now, I am exerting my authority as the crowned princess."
The princess made her way down the room and ushered her father off the throne.
"Greetings everyone. Allow me to make this quick. All of you are busy people, and I don't want to keep you here. That being said, the queen is not happy one bit, starting with your father." Melty looked over to the king.
"What made you think it was a good idea to summon all four heroes at once? Because of that, mother is currently in Faburey trying to prevent all-out war."
"Melty dear, this is-"
"Right now I am the crowned princess; address me as such a father."
"Yes, Princess Melty. Apologies."
"Good. As I was saying, war may or may not happen. So be on guard for any problems that may arise. With that, you nobles may leave."
"Finally." A couple of the nobles grumbled as they exited the room.
"Not you, Lord Raiber; we still need you."
"But what for?" The fat noble asked.
"I'll get to that soon enough, but the main event for today starts with the shield hero and the princess."
"What does Naofumi have to do with the princess?"
"Everything really. Myne Sophia, or should I say, Malty S. Melromarc." The revelation hit all Naofumi and Motoyasu. Both were looking back and forth between the two sisters, and they noticed that they looked pretty similar to each other in some areas.
"Hold it, Mynes is a princess! Why the-"
"Quell your rage and shield her. I'll be doing the questions here."
Melty got down from her chair and went over to her sister.
"Dear sister of mine. What in the name of the 4 heroes made you accuse Lord Iwatani of rape?"
"Young sister. I'll let you know that I was raped!"
"Well, if you did, maybe your mother would probably think more highly of you if you got pregnant with his child, but it seems you're still being a disappointment."
"Melty. What the hell are you going on about?" The king exclaimed.
"For once I agree with him!"
"Well, a Melromarc princess carrying the child of Naofumi will help bridge the tides between Melromarc and Siltvelt, but it looks like that's never going to happen thanks to her."
"There's no way in hell you can allow Naofumi to get into a political marriage with Myne!" Motoyasu complained.
"It's a possible punishment, but the shield hero disagrees, so those talks are postponed for now. But what I will say is that my sister being raped by Lord Naofumi is a total sham, and I have the evidence to finally do so. Lady Tabitha, the recording."
A lady in a maid outfit came into the room with a table. On it lies a ball swirling with purple-like energy.
"What is that?"
"A crystal ball. Mostly used for making calls and learning magic, it also has a third lesser-used function." Melty tapped the ball and showed a video of Naofumi's room. Naofumi was currently sleeping in the bed, with all his belongings still there.
"What the. How did you get that footage?"
"Mother had left a couple of people to watch my sister, and sure enough they were able to get this video before anything happened."
"But this proves nothing, Melty!"
"Yeah, this could have been recorded later on in the night."
"Father, lord spear, may I ask you to remain silent until I'm finished?" Melty tapped the ball once again. Static filled the screen as the video sped up and stopped once the princess got to her desired scene.
"Take a look again. This is 3 hours in, and Naofumi is still asleep."
"Bu-."
"Oh, just wait." Melty let the video play out. Just then, Malty came into the room with a brown sack and started to grab everything she could. She then placed her nighty under Naofumi's covers and even taunted him a bit before exiting the room.
The courtroom went into a frenzy as the video was being shown. Several people tried to discredit and even refuse its existence, but they were all silenced by the princess.
"If any of you have any gripes with the footage, then you yourself can step forward and test it for any signs or tampering." Malty went silent and guestered to the crowd, but no one dared move forward. "Good. But if you guys are still unconvinced that Malty is lying, I shall bring out my final piece of evidence. Spear hero, where did you get that chain mail again?" Melty tapped the ball once more and reversed the video back to where Malty took the chain mail.
"That's just a coincidence; she could have..."
"I ask Lord Motoyasu. Where did the chainmail come from?"
"F-from Myne." Motoyasu relented.
"And was this on the same night she came to you?"
"Y-yes. But-."
"I think that just proves my case, but I have more." Melty snapped her fingers, and the maid from earlier brought over a book.
"What I hold right now is the ledgers of the blacksmith known as Elhart. According to this, yesterday at 8:30am. Naofumi bought a set of chain mail armor, model number #ms-84561. Naofumi, can you yourself read out the engraving on Motoyasu's shoulder to confirm this?"
Naofumi went to Motoyasu's shoulder and started to read the model number out loud. He then burst out into laughter as he finished.
"And you said Myne bought this! You really are an idiot!"
"Naofumi, allow me to finish your defense before any comments are made."
"Right." Naofumi stopped laughing and went back to his original position.
"Anyways, I think that clears up all the simpleminded claims my sister spat out. With no other evidence pointing to any of her accusations being true, I hereby declare Naofumi Iwatani to be innocent and drop all crimes."
The king jerked back at the statement and immediately went to his daughter's defense.
"Melty dear, you can't honestly believe the words of the shi-."
"I'll stop you right there, father. I believe the facts, and the facts show that the shield hero is innocent. Honestly, father, you should not let your biases get in the way of logical thinking, as that is what leads kingdoms to ruin. Now mother has sent me to deal with my sister, and she'll be returning when she can to deal with you, so do yourself a favor and please run the kingdom. I'm asking this from aas daughter."
The king hung his head low. "Alright, I shall."
"Good. And as for you, sister, mother will not tolerate another embarrassment like this, so don't cause any more scenes." Melty demanded as she took out a scroll from her dress. "Now for the second reason I'm here. Mother has sent us a message, so I ask that you all listen up." Melty clears her throat as she breaks the seal of the scroll and opens it.
"To the noble court of Melromarc.
I have only been gone for one week. But I'm sending my daughter back to help supervise the kingdom, as it seems the king can't be trusted by himself. By the time this message is read, Naofumi Iwatani should have already been pardoned of his crimes, and as an apology, I shall instill him with the rank of lord in the territory previously owned by Mr. Seaetto. All slaves originally from the area of Lurona village must be returned tomorrow evening. You'll be properly compensated for the loss of your slaves, but any physical harm caused to them will be on you. Along with the release of Ms. Eclair Seaetto from her imprisonment, Everything declared in this message will be absolute and effective immediately, authorized by both the queen and the first princess, Melty Q Melromarc." Melty closes the scroll and hands it back over to the maid.
"Now with that. The court shall be adjourned for today."
/~/
"You know, if you had a video of my innocence prepared. Why did you present it beforehand?"
"The shadows are essentially a secret task force. They're similar to what your heroes call a shinobi. Breaking cover is strictly forbidden unless the most dire of circumstances happen, so the most we could do is wait."
"And waiting was a good call. As we were able to gather enough evidence to prove your innocence."
"It's still a matter of trust. Apparently I have these ninjas watching me, and they all do nothing. If I have to listen to you, then I at least want some assistance!" Naofumi complained.
"I'm sorry I couldn't have acted sooner. That's why we've decided to make you a lord."
"Making me a lord of a previously destroyed town doesn't sound that helpful, to be honest."
"It actually greatly helps both us and Melromarc. Your status will go up, as well as free housing and almost complete control of the area you're in. It'll also help that demi-humans now have a place to go instead of being completely forced into slavery."
"So there is more to this than you were telling me."
"Mother always says, never reveal everything at once." The cart they were in comes to a complete stop. The knight that was driving them opened the side door and ushered Melty out.
Stepping out himself. Naofumi looks over the hill and into a deserted town. Buildings were still crumbling, as well as smoke continuing to rise up from the village's remains. Melty also looked on in despair, as the damage caused by the waves was off the charts.
"Well then. If we truly are doing this, let's get started."
/~/
AN: New story. This will be looking at Naofumi building his village much earlier than in canon. So let's see the struggles of Naofumi and Melty when assembling this hodgepodge of a town called Lurona.