Vol 1 Chapter 23 (1/2)
Chapter Twenty-Three: All I’d Wanted to Hear
“You didn’t win anything, you coward! Soht!”
“What are you talking about? You weren’t strong enough to hold me down, and now you’ve lost!”
Was he serious? The creep!
What a hero What was he talking about slaves for?!
What kind of hero would be proud of winning a duel against someone who only had a shi+eld?!
“Your little friend there interfered! That’s why I lost my balance!”
“Ha! So disappointed that you have to make up lies?!”
“That’s not it at all, you freak!”
He ignoredvictorious
But… But she really had cheated! And this… ARGH!
“Is that true?”
The crowd turned to Motoyasu
There was no way to tell if they believed hi there in silence
“Why would we believe the words of a criminal! Spear Hero! The victory is yours!”
The jerk! The king ignored all the evidence, all the doubts, and proclaimed Motoyasu the winner
Just when I had been about to win, he was looking down on ar-like That was it! I could have won I could have won!
It looked like the crowd had their doubts as well Their eyes were looking us both over, but none of the
He probably would have had the out
What was this, a dictatorshi+p?
“Oh you did so good, Mr Motoyasu!”
The root of all evil, that woician ran over and healed only Motoyasu’s wounds
They just ignored me
“Yes, hter Malty has excellent choice in Heroes”
… Said the king, and placed his hand on Myne’s shoulder
“Wh…What?!”
Myne was the king’s daughter?!
“Yeah, I was really surprised too To think that the princess would use a fake name and infiltrate us!”
“Oh, yes, but naturally it was all for the peace of the kingdom”
… So that’s hoas
I’d thought it was strange that she was able to have le shred of evidence
The sneaky princess, in order to get the hero she wanted, she sacrificed the weakest hero, ot him to denounce me It was a perfect way to frame me
Then, because Motoyasu had saved her, she used that as an excuse to get closer to him than the other women were able to
Now it all iven more money at the start
She’d wanted the good equipment for herself, and then she would attach herself to the best hero
When I’d seen, at the very beginning, that Motoyasu had better equipment than the others, I should have been smarter and kept my distance
They’d thought it all out, and there was no other recourse but to ask theo, I didn’t have a good reason to think they would not have covered their tracks In the end it was the word of the disgraced and useless shi+eld Hero versus the word of the >Spear Hero who had saved the princess
They’d planned it all fro It was a perfect trap
And while it hadn’t dah to knock ests that the caster had been well educated It was proof of the princess’s involvement
That hy they’d set up this one-sided duel in the first place It had been their plan from the start
They’d known that he would win, and they’d known that the princess could interfere on Motoyasu’s behalf if the duel ever seemed to be in question
It was simple All that woman needed to do hisper in his ear:
“That girl with the shi+eld Hero is a slave He’s forcing her to cooperate You have to save her”
It was a perfect opportunity to ood to her chosen future husband They would not let it slip by
If they ended up getting raced shi+eld Hero was the perfect end to their heroic story
Legends are born through evil The more evil you were, the better you’d be remembered
Throughout history, they’d be remembered as the heroes that took care of the fallen shi+eld Hero and saved a little girl They’d have songs written about them
The king was a jerk, and the princess was even worse!
Wait a second… The princess was… a bitch?
The phrase sounded familiar to me
But from where? I know I’d seen it before
…I remember It was in The Records of the Four Holy Weapons
The princess in the book was a bitch that made eyes at all of the heroes
If those heroes were the same as the heroes in that book I’d read at the library, then it must have been connected somehow to this world, so it only made since that the princess would be a bitch
I was filled with a burning hatred, and it ran powerfully through my body
Thump, thump
My shi+eld was… pulsing
Curse Series shi+eld: conditions met
The seething black hatred absorbed my shi+eld, and my field of vision warped
“Now then, Mr Motoyasu, the girl that the shi+eld Hero was using as a slave is waiting”
The people parted, and Raphtalia was there with the castle priests They were about to remove the slave spell from her
Thea bowl filled with some kind of liquid which they smeared over the slave mark on her chest
As they did so, the slave icon in my field of vision vanished
And that er my slave
The seething hatred was burning, and it took control of me
The whole world was laughing atme They were happy when I was in pain, when I was humiliated
Yes, all I could see was shadows and dark smiles
“Raphtalia!”
Motoyasu rushed over to her
They’d re from her mouth, and as Motoyasu approached, her eyes filled with tears, and she turned to say so…
And slapped him
“Y…You fool!”
“… Huh?”
Motoyasu looked stunned and confused
“Of course I don’t forgive your cowardice, but when did I ever ask for your help?!”
“But Raphtalia… He… He was abusing you!”
“Mr Naofu I didn’t want to do The spell only ht when I was too afraid to have done it otherwise!”
I felt very light-headed and couldn’t really follohat everyone was saying
No, I could hear them, but I didn’t want to listen
I just wanted to get the hell out of there
I wanted to go back to my oorld
“But that’s not okay!”
“Mr Naofumi can’t attack monsters, so he needs someone to help him!”
“That doesn’t have to be you! He’ll work you to the bone!”
“Mr Naofuot tired, he always let me rest!”
“N… No… He’s not the kind of thoughtful person you… you think he is”
“Would you reach out to a sick, filthy slave?
“What?”
“Mr Naofury When I was sick he made s?!”
“Of course!”
“Then you must have slaves of your own!”