"Criminal! Shield Hero, do you admit your guilt?"
In the Audience Hall, the king, ministers, and nobles wore grim expressions as they glared down at Naofumi Iwatani.
Dressed in thin clothing, Naofumi Iwatani was dragged inside and shoved hard to the floor. He stared around in bewilderment as everyone present fixed him with hostile, disgusted looks.
"What on earth is going on?" Naofumi Iwatani asked blankly, still unable to process what was happening.
When he spotted Myne beside Motoyasu Kitamura, he called out, "Myne, are you all right?"
At the sound of her name, Myne let out a panicked whimper and hid behind Motoyasu Kitamura, her face full of fear.
"Myne?"
Naofumi Iwatani looked utterly confused, unable to understand why Myne seemed so frightened of him.
"Oh, right! Your Majesty! All my money and equipment, except my shield, were stolen while I was asleep! Please order the culprit's arrest immediately!"
Suddenly remembering what had happened that morning, Naofumi Iwatani urgently reported it to the king.
"Silence, you beast!" the king snapped, his face twisted with loathing.
"What happened?"
The king sighed and turned to Myne beside Motoyasu Kitamura. "Poor adventurer Myne. I'm sorry, but could you give your testimony once more?"
"Ugh... sob... last night, the Shield Hero was drunk when he suddenly barged into my room and pushed me down..."
Myne buried her face against Motoyasu Kitamura's shoulder. Tears spilled from her eyes as she covered her mouth with one hand and told her story through choked sobs.
"Huh?" Naofumi Iwatani stared at Myne in shock.
What is she even talking about? Didn't I go straight to sleep after dinner last night?!
"The Shield Hero said, 'It's not even dawn yet,' and tore my clothes open..."
"What?"
"...I was terrified. I barely managed to escape and asked Lord Motoyasu, who was staying at the same inn, for help."
Seeing the disgust on everyone's faces, Naofumi Iwatani tried to defend himself. "What nonsense are you talking about? After dinner yesterday, I went back to my room and fell asleep!"
"You still dare to lie! Then why is Myne crying so hard?" Motoyasu Kitamura stepped forward, furious.
"Wait, where did you get that chainmail? Were you the one who stole my things last night?"
Naofumi Iwatani had been about to argue back, but froze when he noticed what Motoyasu Kitamura was wearing. Wasn't that his chainmail?
"Hah! Who stole anything last night? Myne gave me this as a gift when we met at the tavern yesterday," Motoyasu Kitamura said mockingly, slipping an arm around Myne's waist.
"What?"
That's the equipment I only bought yesterday!
Naofumi Iwatani could not understand how, in just one night, the entire world seemed to have changed, turning utterly hostile toward him.
"Attempting to force yourself upon an unwilling citizen of this country is an unforgivable act of barbarity. If you were not a hero, I would have you executed on the spot!" The king rose in anger and stared coldly down at Naofumi Iwatani.
"I'm telling you, this is all a misunderstanding! I'm innocent! If you're so certain, show me the evidence! The evidence!" Naofumi Iwatani shouted defiantly at the people glaring at him throughout the hall.
"After searching the Shield Hero's room, we, um... found this on his bed."
Before the king could answer, a knight stepped forward and knelt in salute. Stammering, he held up a piece of women's underwear that had been violently torn apart for everyone to see.
With a look of grief and indignation, Myne let out a shriek, covered her face, and hid behind the three heroes.
"What a shame. I thought something seemed strange at first, but with both testimony and physical evidence, you can't deny it."
"I never thought you'd commit such a serious crime. You probably assumed being a hero meant you could do whatever you wanted."
Itsuki Kawasumi and Ren Amaki, who had remained silent until then, spoke as they stared coldly at Naofumi Iwatani.
"Wait..." Ye Uchiha, who had been watching the spectacle from the other side, suddenly called out.
"What is it, Lord Ye?"
The king frowned at Ye Uchiha's interruption and asked.
Watching Myne, Ye Uchiha asked, "This Myne is an elite adventurer in this country, correct?"
"Yes. Myne is indeed one of the finest adventurers in the kingdom."
"As an elite adventurer, her level should be very high, shouldn't it? She should be stronger than low-level adventurers, say, those below LV10?"
"That is true."
Perhaps sensing something amiss with Ye Uchiha's questions, though unable to pinpoint it, the king answered honestly.
Turning his gaze to Naofumi Iwatani, Ye Uchiha asked, "Naofumi, what's your level? As the defense-oriented Shield Hero, you shouldn't have been able to level up that quickly by fighting monsters."
"I'm still LV1." As though eager to prove himself, Naofumi Iwatani quickly brought up his Status Window for everyone to see.
"What? A whole day has passed, and you're still LV1?" The three heroes were shocked by Naofumi Iwatani's level. Even though they had only spent their first day fighting monsters, the lowest-level hero among them was already LV4 and approaching LV5.
Had Naofumi Iwatani not gone outside the city to fight monsters and level up yesterday?
The three immediately shook their heads, dismissing that possibility. After all, they had seen Naofumi Iwatani struggling to fight orange-red balloons on the grasslands several times.
"Your Majesty, let me ask you this first. How do you think someone at LV1 could force himself upon one of the kingdom's elite adventurers-and nearly succeed?" Ye Uchiha asked, his dark eyes fixed on the king upon his throne.
"Was she only putting up a token resistance? Was she genuinely unable to defeat him? Or did she deliberately choose not to resist?"
With every question Ye Uchiha asked, Myne's face grew pale and panicked behind the three heroes. She had never expected someone to interfere at such a crucial moment.
"Exactly, exactly! I'm so weak I can't even beat an Orange Balloon out in the wild. How could I possibly have the strength to do something like that to Myne?!" Though the truth was humiliating, Naofumi Iwatani readily backed up Ye Uchiha's words to prove his innocence.
"Myne?"
The three were not ignorant children. They quickly noticed the holes in the story and turned to Myne behind them, waiting for an explanation.
"Because the Shield Hero is a hero meant to save this world. If something happened to him and the world was destroyed as a result, it would be my fault. How could I dare hurt him?" Myne quickly invented a suitable excuse, bowing her head and covering her face as she spoke in a voice trembling with tears.
"To think that even when she was about to be violated, Myne was still concerned for the safety of this world. She's simply too kind!"
Motoyasu Kitamura believed her without question. He pulled Myne into his arms and patted her soft back, his face full of emotion.
"Lord Motoyasu!" Myne choked out, taking the opportunity to embrace Motoyasu Kitamura and bury her head against his chest. Hidden from view, the corners of her lips curled into a faint, subtle smile.
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