After the shopkeeper placed all the books I had requested on the counter… And I had asked to see books on every kind of magic… a moral and ethical dilemma appeared before my eyes. Quite literally—right in front of my face:
[Weapon Copying Activated.]
[Requirements for Fire Grimoire (Lesser) met.]
[Requirements for Water Grimoire (Lesser) met.]
[Requirements for Earth Grimoire (Lesser) met.]
[Requirements for Wind Grimoire (Lesser) met.]
[Requirements for Lightning Grimoire (Lesser) met.]
[Requirements for Light Grimoire (Lesser) met.]
[Requirements for Dark Grimoire (Lesser) met.]
[Requirements for Support Grimoire (Lesser) met.]
[Requirements for Healing Grimoire (Lesser) met.]
On the one hand, this was pretty shameful—I had basically stolen every book listed above. Then again, the physical volumes were still with the shopkeeper. But on the other hand, I am supposed to be saving lives in this world. I'm not doing this for my own sake… or at least, not only for myself. And honestly, I'm not really in a position to be nitpicking the morality of my actions.
I didn't dwell on it for long—maybe two or three minutes tops. I still had things to do today, and evening was already approaching.
Telling the shopkeeper what had just happened? Yeah, not a chance.
"How much will they cost me?"
"Four hundred silver per volume, except for the lightning one—it's six hundred," she replied with a smile.
"Is that with the discount for the Hero of the Holy Weapon, risking his life to battle the Waves?" I wiggled my eyebrows.
"No, that's without the discount," she giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. "But I'll sell you two books for the price of one—just this once. You won't be able to haggle me down again."
"Well, better than nothing. I'll take these two then," I said, pulling out my coin pouch and counting out four hundred silver to hand over.
"Interesting choice. Mind telling me why you picked Support and Healing magic? I thought you'd go for something more combat-oriented..."
"The Shield Heroine is naturally inclined toward that type of magic. We'll be able to study together. And once we earn some money, I can buy combat magic later."
"I see~," she replied with a knowing tone.
"May I ask the prices for more advanced magic?"
"They vary. For beginner-level books, the prices are about the same. Wind magic is the cheapest—2,300 silver. The most expensive are Lightning and Light grimoires—3,500 silver each."
"Ahem-ahem…" I coughed in surprise at those prices. "Thanks for the info."
"I'll be eagerly awaiting your next visit, Hero of the Grimoire-sama."
When I left the shop, the sun was already setting. I opened the map and located the Temple that housed the Dragon Hourglass. Estimating the route, I set off at a brisk pace. After about 300 meters, I realized there was no way I could get lost—the clocktower housing the hourglass was already visible, even though it was supposedly on the outskirts of the city.
"You're the Hero of the Grimoire, correct?" a smiling nun greeted me at the entrance.
"Good evening! For such a lovely lady—just call me Pluto," I replied with a grin.
"Pluto-sama, how can I help you?" she asked without changing her expression.
"May I synchronize with the Hourglass?"
"You're the first of the Heroes to request this. Admirable! Please follow me."
The Hourglass was awe-inspiring. Monumental, no less than seven meters tall. Its upper half was still about half full.
My status screen now displayed a countdown timer, indicating that just under thirty days remained until the next Wave.
But that wasn't the important part… Thanks to my poor memory, I couldn't recall whether this was something from the original novel or from a fanfic, but I vaguely remembered a trick: if you fed your Sacred Weapon mana-charged sand from the Hourglass, you could unlock some amazing power. No guarantees they'd just hand it over, though.
"Excuse me, is there any way I could acquire some sand from the Hourglass?"
"What do you need it for?" the nun asked with a frown.
"I can't say for sure, but there's a chance it could strengthen my Sacred Weapon…"
"Please wait while I check," she said and disappeared deeper into the temple.
The wait was long—half an hour passed before she returned.
"Apologies for the wait," she said, handing me a small vial filled with red sand. "This was all we had in storage. To be honest, I didn't even know it was there until your request. Will this be enough?"
"It should be. Thank you very much," I said, giving a slight bow.
The nun escorted me to the exit, and I headed toward Elhart's shop, hoping I wasn't too late and that Akira hadn't already spent all our money on that princess-bitch. Intervening now would be a bad idea. If I stepped in and prevented the princess from falsely accusing the Shield Heroine of... whatever, she might come up with something even nastier. And worse—it'd be unexpected. My brain practically short-circuits trying to guess what that might be.
But...
Letting everything go off the rails isn't an option either.
So I came up with a genius idea—so stupid it's almost brilliant. If someone's vying for "Idiot of the Year," they've got real competition now.
If I can't stop the trap... why not join it? Let us both be accused. That way, I won't have to constantly look over my shoulder for the church's schemes. Genius, right?
All I had to do was find Akira… in this massive city. Obviously, if she had already gone to Elhart, she likely headed to a tavern afterward… and the capital had no fewer than thirty taverns, at least according to the map Lin marked.
In my defense, books have pulled off even dumber plans successfully...
I didn't even realize I'd already arrived at Elhart's shop—marked by the sword sign above the door.
Ding-ding
When I entered, I realized I'd been worrying for nothing. The Shield Heroine and the princess were both here and, judging by the atmosphere, had only just arrived themselves.
"Hey there, Akira!"
"Good evening, Pluto-sama. Here to do some shopping too?" Akira smiled at me a bit nervously but brightly.
"Begone, foul being!" Elhart grumbled, waving me off with a scowl.
"Oh, come on, old man, don't be grumpy," I shot back playfully. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"
"Of course. Meet... Mine Sophia," Akira said, voice slightly tired. "Sophia, this is Pluto-sama, the Hero of the Grimoire."
"A pleasure to meet you, my lord," said the princess-bitch sweetly.
Honestly, if anyone deserves an Oscar, it's her. No hint of the vile nature described in the book. And with how gorgeous and seductive she is… heck, maybe even I'd believe the story about an otaku assaulting her.
"Akira-chan, you haven't spent all the money yet, right?"
"N-no, why?" she asked, a bit guarded.
"It's life or death! Lend me four hundred silver!"
"Pfft… How much?!" Her emerald eyes widened in shock.
"Four hundred," I repeated, calmly but firmly.
"You were given 800 silver too…" she muttered.
"So will you lend it or not?" I pressed harder with my gaze. I felt awful, dirty. But once this phase was over, I'd let her slap me across the face, no complaints.
"F-fine. But when will you…"
"Don't worry, I'll return it. I give you my word," I reassured her. "With interest."
"With interest?" Despite her nerves, I saw a flicker of greed in her eyes.
"With interest."
"Forgive me, Lord Pluto, but we need that money for equipment," Sophia said with big, innocent eyes.
"You already have gear—and for our level, it's excellent. Right, Elhart?"
"Well, good armor is never a bad thing… but yeah, it should be more than enough unless you're heading into danger zones."
"Speaking of levels… how many did you gain today?" Akira's face fell, and she mumbled something. "Sorry, didn't catch that."
"One…"
I slowly turned to Sophia. Just as I planned.
"Since we're not buying anything, let's go to a tavern and rest," the princess said, changing the subject with a gentle smile. To stop me from continuing the previous conversation, she grabbed my arm. "Besides, Elhart looks like he's closing up."
"Yeah, he does."
Akira finished counting the coins and handed them over with a blank expression before heading for the exit.
Sophia led us to a city inn she said offered affordable lodging. There was a tavern on the first floor, perfect for dinner before bed. We rented three rooms for thirty copper each and went downstairs for a meal. After placing my order, I told the girls I needed to step out for a moment to handle that "life or death" matter—and took a short stroll through the alleyways before returning.
The princess turned on her full charm, trying to get Akira and me to drink wine. I declined, but did order a beer—and didn't regret it. Honestly, it hardly tasted like beer. I wouldn't say it was worse—just different. More bitter, fizzy, closer to good kvass. Not great with dried fish, but as a light alcoholic drink on its own? Not bad at all.
Before bed, I double-checked that all valuables were in my inventory—then added my clothes too. Would be a shame if the outfit got stolen. I locked the door and left the key in the lock.
It'd be suspicious if they found no money on me… I guess the beer went to my head. Why else would I take thirty silver out of my inventory and leave it on the nightstand? A subtle hint—though in this world, I doubt anyone's ever heard of the Bible.
***
Bam-bam-bam!
"Main! We have a problem! Our money and my gear!.." — it was Akira's shout from outside my room that woke me up.
"It's started…" I muttered, getting out of bed. My eyes landed on the nightstand — not a single coin left on it. But I didn't dwell on that. There was little time. As far as I remember, the king's guards would be here any moment now.
"Pluton-sama! Please wake up, I've been robbed!" — there was a knock on my door as I pulled on my boots.
"Coming!" I replied, throwing on my shirt on the way to the door, and summoning my coat from the Inventory, hanging it over my left arm's bend.
Stepping into the corridor, I immediately saw the Shield Hero, visibly upset. She wore only white panties and a bra, which let me take in her figure. She was far from a princess — that one had a perfect female body. But even here, there was something to look at. Slightly thin, in my opinion, but with long legs, and as I guessed last time, a two-and-a-half cup size. Narrow shoulders and a round ass. Considering her pale white skin, any normal guy would want to pull her close and protect her just from looking at her.
Though I wasn't fully awake yet, these thoughts flashed through my mind in less than a second, after which I draped my coat over the girl's shoulders — the stomping of the guards was already audible below.
Realizing how scantily dressed she'd been running through the halls, the girl flinched.
"Thank you, Pluton-sama," she said, removing her shield and slipping her arms into the sleeves. Turning away from me, she buttoned the coat with trembling hands. Just as she finished, a crowd of guards burst into the corridor.
"You guys the castle guards? Please, listen to me!" Her voice was desperate. "I've been robbed! They took my chainmail, money, even my clothes!"
"Grimoire Hero and Shield Hero?" A guard asked without paying attention to her words.
"Y-yes…"
"Huh," I nodded, yawning.
"The king demands your immediate presence. We will escort you to the castle."
"He demands my presence? No, I demand something — I'm the victim of a night theft. Criminals—"
"Akira, don't resist," I advised, passing by the girl.
"What?! But why?"
At the tavern exit, a black carriage was waiting; they put us inside.
"Pluton-sama, do you understand what's going on?" Akira asked nervously, peering out the window as we rode to the castle.
"Broadly speaking," I shrugged. "Our existence here is inconvenient to someone influential."
"But why? We didn't do anything, did we… or you—"
"No, we both went to bed at the same time. And I was robbed too."
"Really?" She glanced at the coat in surprise.
"I hid my clothes. I'll tell you everything once this farce is over."
The carriage stopped, and the guards took us under escort into the castle.
In the throne room, everyone was already waiting: all the other Heroes with their escorts, the minister, King Oltkrey himself, and a separate group of nobles. All these people drilled us with looks full of disgust.
"Main! So glad you're okay!" Akira shouted, then the guards approached us and, with the butts of their halberds, forced both Akira and me to our knees.
"W-what's going on?"
"You really don't understand?" Motoyasu replied with a question, striking a majestic pose after Main clung to his chest, trembling in sobs.
"Understand what? Wait… That chainmail! That's my chainmail! What's going on here? So you're the night thief?"
"What the hell do you mean, night thief?! I never thought you were capable of that! I expected something like this from Pluton, but from you…"
"What are we being accused of?" I asked lazily.
"Accusations? For what?" Akira looked at me in confusion.
Sniff…Hic… The Grimoire Hero got drunk yesterday… Hic… Then he suddenly burst into my room, gave in to his animal instincts, and attacked me. After a while, the Shield Hero entered the room… Sniff…Hic… I thought she'd stop him… Instead… Sniff… It hurts… to remember it."
"Huh?" Akira exclaimed in surprise, looking at me.
"The Grimoire Hero said 'The night is just beginning' Sniff… and started tearing my clothes off fiercely, while the Shield Hero held me so I couldn't escape," sobbed Main behind Motoyasu, pointing her finger at us. "I was scared to death Sniff… I managed to break free… I ran out screaming, and then Motoyasu-sama appeared and saved me."
"What?.." The Shield Hero princess stared at her in disbelief. "What are you talking about? Yesterday after dinner, I went straight to bed."
"Stop feeding us lies, scumbag. Why do you think Main is crying like this?"
"Why are you defending her? And anyway, where did you get my chainmail?!" Akira shouted back furiously.
"Well, yesterday I ran into Main with a glass of some liquor at the tavern, we talked, and she gave me this chainmail as a gift," Motoyasu replied, glaring furiously at Akira.
"Huh?" The Shield Hero was stunned by the idiocy of the situation, then turned to me. "Pluton-sama, why are you silent?!"
"What can I say?" I shrugged. "Only this — Bravo! I'd applaud, but as you see, my hands are busy." I nodded at the guards holding my arms. Everyone present looked at me with surprise, though their looks still carried contempt, disgust, and a hint of fear. "No matter what we say, it won't change the script of this play…"
"Silence, fiend!" the king bellowed. "You treacherously attempted to rape a citizen of my country! Were you not heroes, I would order your immediate execution!"
"Do you have proof?!" I snapped. "Was there an investigation before throwing such accusations? Neither Akira nor I committed any crime, and we do not admit guilt!"
For a moment the hall fell silent; I had nothing more to add. Then Akira burst out shouting:
"You! So it was you who tried to pin a made-up crime on me to steal my money and gear?" She pointed a finger at Motoyasu.
"Hah! What nonsense are you talking about!"
"Akira!" I tried to get the Shield Hero's attention. "Calm down, they're not worth it…"
"… Fine, I don't care anymore. Just send me back to my old world already. And summon yourselves a new Shield Hero!" she said fiercely, tears running down her cheeks.
"Running away when cornered? What a pathetic coward," Motoyasu hissed.
"Indeed… predictable," Ren added quietly.
"Go ahead, leave! Nobody needs a guy like that among the Heroes-friends!" Itsuki shouted.
"How brave you all are," I smirked. "Don't want me to say the same to you?"
"You're even worse… But from you, that was expected," Ren said fiercely, hesitating slightly. "Go back to your world, we'll save this one without you!"
"You don't deserve the title of Hero. I'm disgusted that scum like you was summoned with us," Itsuki added.
"You don't belong with us," Motoyasu shouted.
"Wow," I smiled genuinely hearing that. "Guys, that's unexpected… but you've got balls. I'll remember your words!"
"Alright! Now send me back to my world already!" Akira cut through the drama, glaring hatefully at the king.