Chapter 66: Lloyd’s False Accusation

“Someone is manufacturing and selling counterfeit gold?”

I frowned at the report Lilina and Alisha gave me after returning.

“They said they bought gold supposedly sold by Lloyd-sama, only for it to suddenly turn into lumps of dirt one day. How rude! Lloyd-sama would never do such a thing.”

Lilina puffed out one cheek, a small crease between her brows. Alisha nodded beside her and continued.

“The shops that suffered losses pooled their own money for a reward and made the wanted posters. Placing a bounty on Lloyd-sama is terribly disrespectful.”

Apparently sharing Lilina’s opinion, Alisha turned and glared fiercely toward the town.

Meanwhile, I was clutching my head alone.

…That was it. Come to think of it, the anime had mentioned something like this!

I recalled the incident that had been touched upon briefly in the anime.

Lloyd had once created counterfeit gold and been pursued by some extremely dangerous people.

He’d run around much as I was doing now.

…If I remembered correctly, Lloyd had shouted that he was being falsely accused.

I’d wondered what the old Lloyd had done before I reincarnated into him, but apparently he’d become involved in something even worse than I’d imagined.

There was no way to fix this now, was there?

I let out a deep sigh at the seemingly hopeless situation.

"Hm? No, wait. The timeline doesn't add up, does it?"

“Lloyd-sama?”

When I sank into thought again, Lilina tilted her head.

Leaving her and Alisha puzzled, I replayed the anime’s plot once more.

Lloyd had committed all sorts of crimes even before meeting Kane.

But the story in which he made counterfeit gold and was pursued took place after he expelled Kane. That meant that, since I'd reincarnated into Lloyd's body before then, Lloyd should never have made the counterfeit gold.

And yet, he was now being blamed for making it and was being hunted.

“Could it be…that when Lloyd claimed he was being framed in the anime, he was actually telling the truth?”

“A false accusation. I knew it. I believed that must be the case.”

At my murmur, Alisha placed a hand over her chest and gave me a gentle smile.

Surprised that she showed not the slightest sign of doubting me, I couldn’t keep the corners of my mouth from lifting.

Even though I’d already known it, having someone believe in me so purely made me honestly happy.

As I thought that, Lilina took my hand.

“Lloyd-sama! Let’s go clear up the misunderstanding right now! Then everything will be settled!”

“Y-yeah. You’re right.”

As Lilina pulled me along, I wondered whether that would truly solve the problem.

After thinking for a while, I abruptly stopped.

“Lloyd-sama?”

“Wait a moment. Thinking calmly about it, even if I say I didn’t do it, I can’t imagine anyone properly listening to somebody like me.”

Even if Lloyd hadn’t committed crimes recently, considering everything he’d done before, very few people would refuse to believe that he was selling counterfeit gold for profit.

There were actual victims who’d been deceived, after all.

“Lilina, you know about my reputation too, don’t you? Objectively speaking, very few people are likely to believe me.”

“I-I don’t think that’s true.”

Remembering my reputation, Lilina awkwardly looked away.

That was only natural. Lilina had known Lloyd’s terrible reputation from the start. That was why she’d initially been so confused by the complete absence of wickedness in me.

She probably trusted me from the bottom of her heart now, but she must have realized that not everyone in town felt the same.

“Lloyd-sama, then what will you do?”

I pondered Alisha’s question with a low groan, then gazed into the distance.

“I’ll catch whoever is using Lloyd’s name to commit crimes. That’s our only option.”

If I merely insisted on my innocence, those rough men would undoubtedly drag me away.

Then I had no choice but to capture whoever was committing crimes in my name and hand them over.

If no one would believe me, I would bring the culprit myself.

Besides, unless I stopped the people using Lloyd’s name now, they might continue exploiting it for further crimes.

Then I’d spend the rest of my life being hunted for things I hadn’t done.

To prevent Lloyd's false charges from spreading any further, we had to deal with the root cause.

When I looked sharply at the girls, Lilina and Alisha nodded with determination.

“Understood! We’ll capture them before anyone else!”

“Yes. I agree with Lloyd-sama.”

Hearing how eager they were, I waved a hand horizontally.

“No, wait. I’m about to be hunted, so I want the two of you to hide somewhere.”

I couldn't drag Lilina and Alisha into my problem. I intended to solve it alone.

They could hide near Lilina’s home, and we would reunite once things had calmed down.

But Lilina shook her head and looked at me with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“That won’t do. Anyone shameless enough to commit crimes using Lloyd-sama’s name must be punished.”

H-her voice was far too flat.

I was beginning to worry that taking Lilina with me might cause an entirely different problem.

Then the light returned to her eyes, and she continued.

“Besides, Lloyd-sama has always been the one helping us. This time, it’s our turn to help you.”

She gave a determined little huff through her nose. Alisha smiled beside her and looked up at me.

“Even if you tell us not to follow, we will. With my eyes and Lilina’s nose and ears, tracking Lloyd-sama wouldn’t be difficult.”

I sighed softly in surrender at their determination.

At the same time, reassured that they would come with me, I smiled back.

"…All right. There's no chance I could shake the two of you anyway. Please lend me your strength."

They nodded firmly.

And so, to clear my name, we set out to capture the person committing crimes under it.

To turn a reputation too terrible to bear into a false accusation instead.