Chuan Wenwu had lain awake all night and only managed to fall asleep when dawn was nearly breaking. He had barely slept before an urgent pounding on the door jolted him awake.
Looking irritated, Chuan Wenwu got up and opened the door. A group of fully armed guards stood outside, their expressions cold and their manner aggressive. They clearly meant trouble.
He paused briefly, and a mocking smile curled his lips. This scene was both unexpected and entirely within his expectations.
The Guard Captain ordered Chuan Wenwu imperiously, "By order of the king, the Shield Hero is to be taken to the castle to stand trial!"
"Trial?" Chuan Wenwu asked, despite already knowing the answer.
But the Guard Captain merely gave him a cold look. Ignoring his question, he ordered his subordinates, "Move! Take him away!"
The guards moved to swarm him.
"Hold it." Chuan Wenwu raised a hand, signaling the guards to stop, then stretched indifferently. "I'm not entirely sure what the king is so fired up about putting me on trial for, but I'm still a hero, aren't I? Surely it wouldn't be appropriate for me to visit the Royal Palace dressed like this?"
He calmly spread his arms, displaying his plain underwear and muscular physique to the soldiers.
"Well..."
The guards exchanged glances, unsure what to do.
Fortunately, their captain stepped forward and barked, "Then hurry up and change! After that, you're coming with us to see the king. Don't try anything funny. This inn is surrounded. You won't escape!"
"Heh, I've done nothing wrong. Why would I run? If anything, I'd like to see what sort of trial the king has in store for me. After all, I caught a thief with ill intentions for this country last night." Chuan Wenwu bantered as he methodically put on his plate armor.
"You don't get to decide whether she's a thief!"
"Yes, yes, I don't get to decide. Neither do all those people who witnessed it last night. I suppose only His Majesty, with all his power and authority, can decide. Whoever he says is guilty is guilty, right?"
Chuan Wenwu casually shut the Guard Captain down, then adjusted his clothing. Once he had checked that everything was in order, he called to Bruce, "Come on, Bruce. Let's see what that king has to say to us, the great heroes who caught a thief."
"What a sharp tongue... Take him away!"
"Don't touch me. I can walk myself. Don't forget, I'm a hero!" Chuan Wenwu's sharp rebuke kept the guards from approaching. They could only grip their spears tightly and surround him as they escorted him out of the inn.
Two carriages were already parked outside the inn to transport him back to the castle, with plenty of guards stationed around them. It seemed they had taken security very seriously to ensure they could take him away.
Chuan Wenwu casually swept his gaze around and noticed that beyond the ring of guards, many townspeople had stopped to point at the inn and discuss what was happening.
It seemed the guards' ostentatious display had already drawn quite a bit of attention.
He climbed into the carriage of his own accord. After a jolting ride to the castle gates, he was told to get out, then escorted into the Audience Hall by even more spear-wielding guards standing at the ready.
The rather displeased-looking king and his ministers had already been waiting there for some time.
The three heroes who should have been traveling alongside him-Motoyasu Kitamura, Ren Amaki, and Itsuki Kawasumi-were there as well.
Numerous knights stood along both sides of the hall, while the spectator seats were packed with lavishly dressed dignitaries. They all seemed to have come to witness the proceedings of this case involving a hero.
In front of the king stood a somewhat familiar figure with her back to him.
"Shield Hero, do you admit your guilt?!"
The moment Chuan Wenwu appeared, the king furiously demanded an answer.
"Oh? Your Majesty, what crime have I committed?"
Chuan Wenwu surveyed the Audience Hall with complete ease, looking nothing like a man on trial. He strode up to the front and tossed the question back to the king as though they were having a casual chat.
"You! Hmph!" Anger flashed across the king's face. He seemed about to say something, but instead gave a cold snort and addressed the woman standing before him. "You poor adventurer, Myne. Sorry for the trouble, but could you testify once more?"
Chuan Wenwu noticed the woman. She was indeed Myne, whom the Guard Captain had taken away the night before.
However, she had changed her clothes and no longer looked as disheveled as she had after being subdued last night. Even the scrapes on her face had healed. Presumably, she had used some fast-acting healing potion.
She turned to glare viciously at Chuan Wenwu, then adopted a pitiful expression and sobbed, "Last night... Last night, the Shield Hero was drunk, and he called me to his room, saying he wanted to discuss preparations for our adventures. Although he was wearing nothing but underwear, I thought that since he was a hero, he surely wouldn't have any bad intentions, so I followed him without hesitation..."
"But who could have known that once we entered the room, he would leer at me and toss a money pouch into my hands? He said... he said that money was for me to spend the night... spend the night with him... Sob... When I refused, he tried to hit me and even set his dog on me. I wanted to fight back, so I cast magic... Sob... Your Majesty, you must give me justice!"
The knights and guards, the ministers standing nearby, and even the nobles in the spectator seats all heard Myne's tearful accusations. They cast looks of disgust and contempt at Chuan Wenwu.
Only Motoyasu Kitamura and the others whispered among themselves, looking puzzled... Why was this different from the first version they had heard from Myne yesterday?
"Did you hear that? You damned, lawless Shield Hero! You dared to abuse your status as a hero to commit such vile acts against one of my people. Will you still refuse to admit your guilt?" the king thundered.
Chuan Wenwu pressed a hand to his forehead and chuckled derisively, looking as though he could barely keep a straight face. He spread his arms and asked in apparent bewilderment, "Ah, I was wondering what that Guard Captain would do after taking her away last night. So you went back and polished up that false accusation full of holes? But don't you know that the more you fabricate, the more obvious the holes become?"
Then, without pausing, he recounted the first version of Myne's accusation from the previous night along with his rebuttal, before asking in surprise, "An awful lot of people heard what Miss Myne said at the scene. Why has her story changed now? Miss Myne, do you know what's going on here? Or did you remember it wrong?"
Motoyasu Kitamura and the others also nodded in confirmation. "That's right. What we heard yesterday was completely different from what she's saying today! You must be lying!"
"N-no, that's not it!" Myne kept trying. Wiping tears from the corners of her eyes, she choked out, "I... The hero hit me hard on the head yesterday, and he threatened me like that. I had no idea what I was saying. It was only after the cavalrymen comforted me that I managed to sort out what had happened... I don't remember what I said last night, but what I'm saying now is the truth... Sob..."
Chuan Wenwu seized the opening. "You're saying this version is the truth, right? You won't change it again? Haha, now that's even more interesting! You claim I did those despicable things because I was drunk, but the fact is, I didn't drink at all last night. You did invite me to have a drink, but I refused. So how could I have been drunk? Who sold me the alcohol? Who can testify... Oh, no, no, no, let's not bother with witnesses. Under a regime like yours, a single order is all it takes to produce a whole crowd of people willing to give false testimony."
"I'll ask just one question. If I really was blind drunk last night, how could the smell of alcohol on me have disappeared so quickly by this morning? If there's any doubt, just have someone come and check. Using such a flimsy excuse is a complete joke! Why don't you try explaining that?" He fixed Myne with a piercing stare, waiting for her explanation.
Myne's eyes darted away, and she tried to change the subject. "Th-that might be something I remembered wrong... But I really haven't lied! The hero wanted to use money to defile me..."
Before she could finish, Chuan Wenwu interrupted her expressionlessly. "Stop, stop, stop. That claim is even more absurd. Last night, you were still saying the money pouch was yours, and that I'd stolen it to frame you. Now that I've exposed that lie, it's suddenly money I offered to buy a night with you?"
"Hey! I really don't get it. Do you even know how much money that was? More than five hundred and forty silver coins! I'd have to be out of my damned mind to spend that much on one night with you! Is your skin made of gold, or is your flesh made of gold? Take a look at yourself. Do you think you're worth that much?!" Chuan Wenwu suddenly raised his voice, making every word clearly audible throughout the hall.
Quiet whispers rippled through the Audience Hall. Those with relevant experience understood what more than five hundred silver coins meant. Although everyone present was either wealthy or influential, they clearly wouldn't indulge in such extravagant waste either.
"Exactly. I knew Wenwu was being framed. Look at that woman's face. She's furious, but she can't say a word." Itsuki Kawasumi stood with his arms crossed. "What a nasty piece of work."
Motoyasu Kitamura added, "The king only gives us six hundred silver coins a month in support funds. There's no way he'd spend that much just to 'have fun' with a woman, right? Though she is pretty good-looking."
"So it's obvious. This woman is falsely accusing the Shield Hero," Ren Amaki concluded.
"Insolence!" The king's expression darkened, and he slammed a hand onto his throne's armrest. "You brazen scoundrel! Do you know who she is? How dare you insult this country's First Princess like that!"
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