Lucas was vaguely aware that this “Lord Moru,” had been one of the ones who had been part of the “Summoning Ritual,” which didn’t leave him with the best impression to begin with. Nevertheless, Lucas was starting to calm down slightly, and realizing that he had probably left a bad impression himself. If he held his breath for an apology from these people he would probably faint. After all, they seemed like they had technology and government of medieval Europe, a time when the idea of “equality” or “the value of human life,” did not exist.

“Well Mr. Moru,” Lucas deliberately left out Moru’s title, as he gritted his teeth and got to his feet. He would be polite, but he would be damned if he would bow to these glorified kidnappers. “Lead on to where or whomever I am supposed to be talking to.”

Lord Moru frowned, but nodded his head and led Lucas to the command tent. Ladies Versi and Almistraus were there, in new clothes since their dresses were used to staunch Lucas’s bleeding earlier. The Knight Captain Forus followed him in as well, and they were joined by an older man dressed up in gaudy robes with intricate designs sewed in gold thread over every square inch. This man was introduced as the ArchCardinal Simon, one of the two that served beneath the Pope.

It was plain to Lucas that this tent had once been much more full, obviously many people had died to bring him here. It was a sobering thought, and as he considered it, his anger faded further. What kind of desperation would push people to this extreme? Lucas was not sure he wanted to know, but he doubted he would get a choice.

Lord Moru cleared his throat, “ArchCardinal, this is the Lord Hero, Lucas. We have succeeded in the summoning.”

“Those sacrifices will be honored in their next life,” Simon intoned grimly. “They have brought us a chance of victory against the demonic forces, glory is theirs forever.”

Lucas decided to interject here, “I am not sure what you are expecting from me.” He should nip this in the bud early, “I am a biologist, a scientist. I know nothing about demons, and less about magic. Frankly, I doubt I can help you in the way you think.”

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“Scientist? That word isn’t translated, so we don’t have a word for it…” Lady Almistraus questioned.

“The short answer is that I study life in an attempt to understand it,” Lucas replied. “The long answer is that you don’t have the education to actually understand what my job entails.” It sounded rude, but how the hell was he supposed to explain using viruses to change the genetic code within living organisms? You would need a high school level of biology to understand half the words Lucas used, and to actually roughly get what they meant put together would require several years of higher education. Real understanding of it was still an open frontier that Lucas had finally reached the bleeding edge of.

“So you are useless then,” Knight Captain Forus sneered, clearly he was not on board with the summoning to begin with. Coupled with Lucas’s rudeness earlier, and Lucas realized he had probably made himself an enemy.

“Not necessarily.” Lucas sighed, until he could figure out a way back to his world he was stuck here. So he had to keep enough value to live a comfortable life and gain the resources to find a way to return. “Given what I have seen there are many things I can do for you, how you use it is up to you.”

Lady Versi gestured to keep the Knight Captain quiet, “any aid you can give us is welcome, but if you cannot fight we are still stuck with how and where to go.”

Lady Almistraus sighed, “I believe that we should head towards Francea.”

This announcement caused quite a bit of surprise among the gathered people. For a noble of Almistraus, an Almistraus in fact, to suggest such a thing…

Lord Moru cleared his throat, “Milady, are you certain?”

Although Lucas did not know, the Ladies Versi and Almistraus and Lord Moru had also been accompanied by Lord Eric, who died in the flight from the city. With the death of most of the cardinals, two Knight Captains, and Lord Eric from the kingdom of Adelade, despite women being often considered lesser in society, Lady Almistraus had such a greater status than everyone around her that in the end it became her responsibility.

Fortunately, even for a princess she was well liked, intelligent, and displayed humility and grace that made people not mind following her. Just that she let herself be addressed as “lady” instead of “princess,” or “your highness,” was an example of how she refused to flaunt her status and title.

And now she had suggested traveling to the land of her most bitter rivals.