The rising of the shield hero xxx

Finally, it was the day of vindication. The day Myne's, or should he say Malty's, dirty secrets got revealed.

Of course, a lot more than he expected to get revealed did. Her relationship with the church (not surprising), her attempt to assassinate Melty (also not surprising), along with her admittance that she didn't intend for the church to try and assassinate all four of the heroes (a bit surprising).

But now, it was the moment of truth. The one question that meant the most to Naofumi.

"Malty," Queen Mirellia said. "Did the Shield Hero assault you?"

Malty, still heaving in pain from her temporary slave crest, looked up at her. "Th-That's right! The Devil of the Shield tried to rape me!"

No sooner had she said that did the crest activate, sending waves of pain through her body. She let out a shriek of pain before falling onto the ground, unable to take it anymore.

"No way..." Itsuki murmured with wide eyes.

"Myne... So she really did..." Ren mumbled.

"H-Hold on!" Of course, it would be Motoyasu who objected. "Wh-Who's to say that you aren't activating that slave crest! Huh?!"

Mirellia leveled him with a cool look. "And, pray tell, why would I do that?"

Motoyasu paused for a moment before resuming his glare. "I-I don't know! But I refused to believe that Myne would lie about something like this! We've been in the same party for months now! I know she wouldn't!" He shouted desperately.

Naofumi gave him a look. 'She's probably got him wrapped around her little finger. I honestly feel kind of sorry for him...'

"Would you like to put a slave crest on her then?" Mirellia asked.

This had Motoyasu taken aback. "Wh-What?"

"Then you can question her yourself. And you won't be able to accuse me of an bias."

"Th-That's..." He looked at Myne and then back at the queen. "I-I can't put a slave crest on a girl! I'm not Naofumi!"

'...Never mind. He just pisses me off,' Naofumi thought to himself, giving the Spear Hero an irritated look.

The Queen seemed to think for a moment before coming to a decision. "Alright, how about this. Naofumi," she said, causing him to look at her. "I'm sure this was enough to convince everyone else, but it seems the Spear Hero is a bit...denser."

"Hey!" Said Spear Hero shouted.

"If you want to convince him, we'll have to bring someone who willing to vouch for you, is male, and has convincing evidence that you couldn't have done this. Do you know anyone like that?"

Naofumi frowned and thought. The Spear Hero was an idiot, so he didn't really care what he thought. And he couldnt' really think of anyone like that either. "Not that I know of... Well, there is one guy, but I don't know if he has anything that counts as 'convincing evidence...'"

"Alright, bring him in!" Motoyasu interrupted. "If you have a good enough alibi, then I'll admit that you didn't do anything to Myne!" He shouted. It was clear from his expression that he didn't actually believe that anything the witness said would be convincing enough. "And I'll be the one who puts the slave crest on him! Any of you would probably just cheat."

Naofumi gave him a half-lidded glare. "Hey, you know it's up to him if he actually wants to come, right?"

Mirellia sighed. "Alright, who is this man? I'll personally ask him."

Realizing that there was no other way, Naofumi gave his own sigh. "Well..."

XXX

And that was how Erhard found himself before the queen, a slave crest on his chest.

"I'm truly sorry for this, Sir Erhard. Thank you so much for agreeing to this," the queen said, giving a bow.

"No, don't worry about it. I agreed to come," Erhard said. "Let's just get this over with quick."

Mirellia nodded and stepped back to stand with Melty, along with Malty and Aultcray, who were both still in handcuffs. The heroes of the Bow and Sword stood on her other side, watching expectantly. The knights stood on one side of the room and Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Firo stood on the other.

They all looked at him expectantly as Motoyasu walked up to him with an overconfident expression.

"Alright, Erhard was it? Do you have any evidence that Naofumi, one hundred percent, couldn't have committed this crime?"

Naofumi frowned. 'Honestly, I don't think he does... All he can really do is vouch for me-'

"As a matter of fact, I do."

Naofumi blinked and looked back at the older man. Erhard gave him a look that could only be described as apologetic.

"I'm really sorry about this, kid."

Naofumi blinked. "Wait, what are you-"

Erhard turned to look at the Spear Hero with a completely deadpan expression. "Until about a month ago, the Shield Hero had no clue what sex was and thought that kissing is how people got pregnant."

The slave crest didn't activate.

...

Utter silence.

Mirellia dropped her fan.

With a clang, it hit the ground and they all turned to look at the Shield Hero.

Naofumi himself looked like a deer caught in headlights, staring at Erhard wide-eyed. Then his face became completely red as embarrassment overtook him. "YOU PROMISED YOU WOULDN'T TELL ANYONE ABOUT THAT!"

"Kid, do you want your innocence proven or not?"

"NOT LIKE THIS!"

Mirellia broke out of her stupor first and hurriedly picked up her fan, hiding her face behind it. "O-Oh my..."

"What- But- You- How-" Malty stuttered, staring at him with wide eyes. "HOW OLD ARE YOU?!"

"H-How is this possible...?" Aultcray muttered, slack-jawed. "Even Melty knows about..."

Melty herself clasped her hands over her mouth as she looked at Naofumi, her face slightly red. "T-To think that you were so innocent..."

"N-Naofumi..." Itsuki said, looking a mixture of shocked and incredibly embarrassed for him.

Ren had lost all his composure and just stared at him, gaping.

Motoyasu looked like his brain had just stopped working entirely as he stared at Naofumi, his mouth opening and closing several times, trying to come up with something to say.

The guards started to mumble to one another.

"Did he just...?"

"To think..."

"What kind of world did he come from...?"

"I feel like we've been accusing a toddler of rape..."

The queen coughed, gaining their attention. "I, erm, I trust this is convincing enough for the Spear Hero?"

Motoyasu clamped his mouth shut and nodded, his face now the same color as Naofumi's.

"V-Very good then. The Shield Hero's innocence has been proven."

Naofumi just buried his face in his hands.

Raphtalia tilted her head in confusion. "Wait...so that's not how it works?" She whispered to Firo.

Firo shrugged, looking just as confused.

XXX