Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (LN) Vol 1 Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: False Charges

They dragged me down the street, and soon enough we arrived at the gate to the castle. I was still in my underwear. The knights kept their spears trained on me as they led me to the audience chamber.

The king and his retainer were there, both looking very grave.

And then…

“Myne!”

Ren, Motoyasu, Itsuki, and the rest of their parties were also there. When I called out to her, Myne ran behind Motoyasu and made dagger eyes at me from behind his back.

“What the h.e.l.l, Myne?”

Everyone was glaring at me like I was some sort of criminal.

“You mean you really don’t remember?”

Motoyasu stepped forward and interrogated me.

What were they talking about?

“What do you mean? Remember what… HEY!”

Motoyasu was wearing my chainmail.

“So it was you… you thief!”

“Who’s a thief? I didn’t know you were such a scoundrel!”

“A scoundrel? What are you talking about?”

With my outburst, I realized that the audience chambers were beginning to feel rather like a courtroom.

“We will now hear the charges against the s.h.i.+eld Hero.”

“Charges? But… but I!”

“Sob… sob… The s.h.i.+eld Hero drank too much, and he came bursting into my room. Then he… He held me down, and…”

“What?”

“He held me down and said, ‘The night is still young, Baby.’ Then he started to rip my clothes off…”

Myne was sniveling behind Motoyasu, and she pointed a shaky finger in my direction as she spoke. “I screamed as loud as I could and ran from the room. That’s when I found Mr. Motoyasu, and he saved me.”

“Huh?”

What was she talking about?

Last night, right after me and Myne split paths, I’d gone straight to sleep. That was why I didn’t remember anything.

I felt bad, watching her cry. But I was too confused to make sense of what was going on.

“What are you talking about? I went to bed right after we finished eating!”

“Liar! If that were true, why would Myne be crying like this?”

“Why are you speaking for her? And just where did you get that s.h.i.+ny-new chainmail of yours?”

They’d all just met yesterday, right?

“Last night I went to the bar for a drink. I was sitting there, alone, when Myne came running over. We had a couple drinks together, and she gave me this chainmail. She said it was a present.”

“Say what?”

I could tell that it was my chainmail.

Granted, Myne could have had her own chainmail and given it to Motoyasu. But it seemed suspicious, at the very least, considering that my own chainmail had gone missing at the same time.

Talking to Motoyasu would get me nowhere. I decided to speak to the king, directly.

“That’s it! Your Highness! I’ve been robbed! My money, clothes, equipment—everything but my s.h.i.+eld has been stolen! Please bring the person who did this to justice!”

“Silence, Scoundrel!”

The king ignored my plea.

“Any act of s.e.xual aggression committed against the people of my kingdom, whether by barbarian or Hero, will be punished—immediately—by death!”

“But this is all a mistake! I didn’t do it!”

“I had an inkling the first time I saw you. Of course you would sully yourself, you little wretch!”

“Wretch?! What did I do?”

“Of course things turned out this way. I felt it immediately, that you were a little different from the rest of us.”

“Me too. Even at that though, I never thought you’d stoop so low. You must think you’re somehow ent.i.tled to whatever you want!”

“This isn’t all about you! Show some respect!”

All of them were already a.s.suming that I was guilty. I felt my blood rising hot up my neck. What the h.e.l.l was going on? What the h.e.l.l? What the h.e.l.l?

I didn’t even know what they were saying! I never did these things! Why was I being punished? I looked over at Myne in desperation. Apparently she thought that no one else could see her, because she stuck out her tongue and mocked me.

Then I understood what was happening.

I glared at Motoyasu. I could feel hate, black and hard, churning in my guts. I jabbed my finger in his direction, and found my own voice booming out over the room, louder than I ever expected myself to sound.

“You! You had your eyes on my money and equipment, and so you made all this up to get your hands on my stuff!”

“Who would believe the words of a rapist?”

Motoyasu stepped forward, hiding Myne from my view, and stuck out his chest. He was playing the role of the brave hero, protecting a defenseless and victimized woman.

“Liar! You had your eyes on my money and equipment from the start! You and your little friends had a meeting about it, didn’t you!”

Here’s what happened: Motoyasu had whispered all of it to her when we first met at the castle. He told her I was a weak cla.s.s, sure to lose. She convinced me to buy her good equipment. After she got what she wanted, she’d steal the remaining money and equipment, and run to the castle as a victim in an invented story. They’d have me killed off, and then they’d get away with everything.

… That was their plan.

Besides! Myne always called me, “Hero,” but she’d called Motoyasu by his name. If that wasn’t proof enough, I didn’t know what was.

In this world, I guess one hero was enough.

“You come to another world and treat your companions this way? You’re trash.”

“I agree. It’s very difficult to sympathize with him.”

So Ren and Itsuki had no qualms with throwing their lots in with Motoyasu.

Of course… They had all been in cahoots from the beginning. The s.h.i.+eld Hero was weak, so they wanted to get rid of me, and increase their own standing in the process.

They were disgusting.

Could they be any worse?

Thinking back on it, it seemed like no one, not even the people from this world had shown any desire to trust me.

But why? Why should I have to fight to defend the rats?

I hoped the whole place burned to the ground, the whole d.a.m.n world.

“… Fine. I don’t care. Just send me back to my world, and call yourself a new s.h.i.+eld Hero. That’ll do it, right?”

Another world? Ha! What a joke. Why did I have to spend my time in such c.r.a.ppy place?

“Things don’t go your way, so you decide to turn tail and run away? How weak.”

“I agree. You have no sense of responsibility or justice. You ignore the task you’ve been entrusted with, only to attack a poor girl… Just terrible…”

“Get out of here then! Go back home! We don’t need people like you here!”

I was glaring at Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu as if I could kill them with my eyes.

This was SUPPOSED to be FUN. But they had ruined it all.

“All right already! Send me home!”

The king simply crossed his arms and frowned.

“I would very much like to send you home, but the waves of destruction will not allow it. New Heroes can only be summoned once the original four have all died. This is what the researchers say.”

“Wh…What?”

“But…”

“That’s… you’re kidding, right?”

Finally, the three of them seemed surprised by something.

There was no way to send us home?

“You mean we can’t go home?”

Give me a break.

“When were you planning on telling us that?!”

I broke free from the knights and their spears.

“Plan on running, eh?!”

“I’m not running.”

One of the knights. .h.i.t me.

It made a good sound, his fist. But it didn’t hurt. It didn’t even irritate me. The knight, rather, seemed to have hurt his fist. He was cradling it like a baby bird as he stepped away from me.

“Well? What’s it going to be, Your Majesty? What’s my punishment?”

I swung my arms to get the blood flowing again.

“At the current moment, you are our only defense against the coming waves, and therefore will not be punished. However, your crimes are already well known to the people. That will be your punishment. I doubt very much that you will find work or help in our country.”

“Ah, thank you so much!”

So I was to level up and fight back the waves of destruction.

“We will summon you in another month, when the waves approach. You may be a criminal, but you are still the s.h.i.+eld Hero. Do not s.h.i.+rk your responsibilities.”

“Got it! I’m weak, is that it? Better hurry up!”

Clink…

Ah, yes. I remembered the stash I had hidden in the back of my s.h.i.+eld.

“Check it out! This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

I removed it from its spot. It was the last 30 pieces of silver I had. I threw it forcefully at Motoyasu.

“What the? What are you doing?!”

I didn’t expect him to deride me for filling his pockets further.

I left the castle through its gate, and as I made my way down the street, the crowds on either side of me pointed as they whispered among themselves.

Gossip moved fast here. Better be careful what I say, and to whom.

The whole world looked awful to me then. Hideous.

And so I lost respect, trust, and my money. Just as my adventure began, I lost it all.