[The next day - Melromarc Castillo - Room Throne]
The day had started calmly, until Naofumi noticed that his things; The coins, armor and clothes in his world had disappeared, he panicked a little about his missing things.
When Naofumi planned to ask for help, some gentlemen interrupted his room and asked him to follow the castle to talk to the king.
When Naofumi was taken to the throne room, he was thrown to the ground, then the knights pointed to their spears in the direction of Naofumi, which surprised him due to his actions.
Naofumi begins to complain about being thrown to the ground, Naofumi looked where the other heroes and the king were, until his sight focused on the only girl in the place and seemed to cling to the body of the hero of the spear.
Naofumi, seeing his 'partner', demanded an explanation of what was happening, with the so -called Myne, she hid 'scared' behind Motoyasu.
Motoyasu shouted Naofumi that it was a disgusting rat and that he had no right, at that same moment the king stood up and asked Myne to tell the "crime" that Naofumi committed.
Myne told what "happened last night", incriminating the hero of the shield as a rapist pig, they all ended up believing that lying when one of the knights brought the torn underwear, which led the other heroes despise him, but the point of rupture was when he saw Myne smiling, then lowering the time of his right eye and took out his tongue.
That simple action seemed to be breaking Naofumi psychologically, but before it could rage in an attack of anger, the doors of the throne room were open by a powerful explosion of air that even knocked down some of the knights who were in the room; When the smoke of the land generated by the explosion, everyone could see the responsible, the person in charge was a child who had an adventurer, this young man was none other than Alex "objection his honor, an injustice is being committed here," says Alex when he enters the room and is next to Naofumi.
Alex's appearance in the throne room surprised everyone, but especially Naofumi and Myne, when the shock ended, the king was enraged and asked almost shouting "Who are you?" With that cry, all the other people in the room reacted, including Myne, who was nervous to see Alex. "Sorry for my intrusion, but I could not simply sit and do nothing while accusing Naofumi of something he did not do (it is better to keep calm and show the evidence I have against him)."
"What do you mean, Alho who did not do? That damn Naofumi was the one who tried to rape Myne!" Motoyasu roared when Alex said. "That does not answer the question! Who is supposed to be?" The king demanded again with anger growing inside him "I am Naofumi's partner and I was present the night he supposedly raped the adventurer Myne and I have come to prove his innocence"
Those words surprised everyone, but especially Naofumi who was beginning to feel that the darkness that consumed his soul was diminishing a little "To begin with, Naofumi supposedly drank too much last night, but I have proof that he didn't drink a drop of alcohol" he says and then takes out an orb the size of a palm of a hand "What is that thing?" asked Ren with his indifferent attitude, but with some curiosity.
"This is known as a remembrancer" she says as she brings the orb to her lips and whispers "System Call" and then releases it, falling near the king and the heroes. A holographic image materializes where the scene where Alex gets Myne to talk about her plans to frame Naofumi for the crime is shown. Of course, she had to erase the part where he admits to working for the Church of the Three Heroes.
The expressions of the heroes, king and princess were mixed, but above all the most affected are Motoyasy, Myne and the King and their thoughts as well.
Myne: "(How is this possible!? HE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO WORK FOR THE CHURCH, WHY IS HE DEFENDING HIM?!)"
Motoyasu: "(Does that mean Myne lied? But that can't be possible)"
Aulcray: "(This can't be possible, everything is ruined! EVERYTHING)"
"With that settled I would like to ask the Hero of the Spear to return that armor to Naofumi-sama, immediately!" those words managed to bring everyone back to reality "T-that's not possible, this is a gift from Myne" he tried to give some veracity to the gift Myne gave him.
"Mr. Hero of the Spear, do I have to put back the part where the woman says that she steals all her things including her armor and money?" he asks with a raised eyebrow to the hero who still had Myne in his arms, but not as much as before with nervousness.
"Yes I saw it, bu-but that doesn't mean this is from Naofumi" he tries to keep some of the confidence in Myne
"In that case Mr. Hero, let me inform you that every purchase made has a code on the products so we can know who the product was obtained from" he informs before turning to see Naofumi "Naofumi could you tell us where you bought the armor"
Naofumi who had been silent since everything started spoke "I-I bought it from a blacksmith named Erhard" he says while Alex makes a little face and whispers to him "~you calm down, I'm nervous~" he says and then turns to look at the people inside the room.
"I would like to request that the armor's ownership number be checked" when Alex asked for the check, at first the King seemed somewhat reluctant to do so, but in the end he decided to accept the request and told one of his knights to check the code "according to the code, that armor was taken from the palace vault" said the King with a smile thinking that he could regain some control over the situation.
"Then the castle's security needs urgent remodeling, how is it possible that a simple adventurer managed to enter the castle and take something from the royal vault, that doesn't make any sense" said Alex trying to get the heroes to distrust Myne more "as I see, that girl got into the castle and stole that chainmail"
After Alex's words the tension in the room became more palpable, along with that Motoyasu said "Myne, t-that's true?" She asks hoping for an explanation "that's not true, I was able to take that armor because I'm part of the royalty" Myne explains exposing her true identity.
"I'm the First Princess of Melromarc Malty S Melromarc" she says giving a slight bow "I see and since you're the princess it's normal that you can take some of your family's nonsense" that relieved a part of the tension she had in her body.
"BUT WOULDN'T THAT MAKE THE FACT THAT IT'S YOUR FATHER WHO VERIFIED THE CODE MORE SUSPICIOUS!" "SHUT YOUR MOUTH CRIMINAL" Naofumi and Aultcray shouted with some anger in their voices and a lot of anger respectively, to prevent Naofumi from falling into complete darkness Alex spoke again.
"Okay that's enough!!" Alex shouted trying to prevent a new fight between the shield hero and the trash king from starting. "My goal here was to prove that Naofumi had not tried to rape his partner, with that done we leave" Alex says before going for Naofumi to help him get up to head for the exit.
"Stop right there! This isn't over yet!" Aultcray yelled angrily as he realized he was no longer in control of the trial. "Now what!? As I understand it, this trial is for rape and since I've already proven that Naofumi is innocent, what else do you want!?" Alex exclaimed at the insistence of harming Naofumi. "Th-that..." The King didn't know what to say to those words.
Without being able to give the King the chance to say something, Alex grabbed Naofumi's arm and then ran out of the castle. "H-hey Alex, where are you taking me?! OE!" Naofumi shouted as Alex pulled him into an alley. "W-what was that all about!?" Naofumi manages to break free from Alex's grip.
Alex takes a few breaths before speaking "Well I just saved you from having your reputation ruined because of that bitch" he says as he starts walking down the alley, "Hey wait!!" Naofumi claims as he starts running to catch up with Alex
After walking for several minutes and Naofumi got tired and shouted again "where are we going!?" standing in front of Alex, making him sigh "let's go to a trusted blacksmith so you can get a better outfit than your pajama" he said giving him one last look before continuing his walk.
Naofumi saw his outfit and blushed a little at what he was wearing and then looked up before following Alex on his way "(trustworthy?) and who would that person be?" He says, following Alex, a little more encouraged by the answer, "The blacksmith is a man who knows how to keep secrets and is not intimidated by anyone, he is also a retired adventurer who is over level 40."
Those words excited Naofumi, if he had a partner that strong, maybe leveling up wouldn't be so difficult in the end "another thing Naofumi, don't think about recruiting him, this guy has already retired from the combat business, now he only creates, sells and trades materials for other adventurers" that lowered Naofumi's mood a little, but he was still a possible ally for him to survive.
...
...
After a long walk through the streets of Melromarc, Alex decided to lend Naofumi some of his accessories to disguise his appearance, preventing people from whispering about him in what looked like pajamas. Finally, they stopped in front of a stone and wood building with a sign depicting crossed weapons.
Naofumi nodded, recognizing the place.
"This is where I bought my equipment before."
"Perfect. If I don't get a good deal for your new team, I'll stop calling myself Alexander Sebastian Maximilian Harper."
Naofumi looked at him with a mixture of confusion and weariness.
"Is that really your name?"
Alex let out a small laugh, dismissing it with a wave of his hand.
"No, not at all. I just wanted to give the moment a touch of epic realism."
Upon entering, Alex curiously observed the interior. The orderliness of the tools and the aroma of forged metal gave him a good impression of the owner's discipline.
I like how she has the store organized; you can tell she knows what she's doing.
"Where's the manager?" Alex asked his partner in a low voice.
At that moment, a man of robust build and arms weathered by fire emerged from the back room. He had a shaved head, an Amish-style beard, and a body marked with scars that told stories of past battles. He wore a blacksmith's apron over an off-white shirt, with a black glove and a leather pouch at his waist.
Upon seeing the Shield Hero, Erhard stopped dead in his tracks, his expression a mixture of surprise and subtle concern.
"Oh... it's you. I heard what happened at the castle. How are you coping with all that mess?"
Naofumi lowered his gaze, beginning to briefly explain his situation in a bitter tone. Seeing him like this, Alex couldn't help but wrap Naofumi in a protective embrace, trying to cheer him up under the blacksmith's confused expression.
"Hey! Let go of me! Don't do that again!" Naofumi protested, abruptly pulling away, his face slightly flushed with embarrassment.
"Alright, alright, I accept the deal," Alex replied with a calm smile, turning to Erhard. "Sir, we need the cheapest armor you have, please. And if possible... it has to be green."
Erhard raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask any difficult questions. He nodded and retreated to the back room to search his inventory. Naofumi, confused by the color choice, turned to Alex.
"Why green?"
Alex simply pointed his finger at the emerald gem that shone in the center of Naofumi's shield.
"So it matches your main accessory, don't you think?"
Before Naofumi could reply, Alex hugged him by the shoulders again, laughing as the Shield Hero comically struggled to regain his personal space.
TO BE CONTINUED