“We greet Your Royal Highness the Fifth Princess,” intoned most everyone in the room with a respectful bow when the Fifth Princess entered. Alissa was the only exception as she only offered a nod instead, something she could afford to do since she was a [Hero] and thus was not subject to the crown. In fact, according to precedent [Heroes] of the past were considered a higher authority than even the King or the High Priest, though in practice that might not be the case.

Alissa happened to be talking with the rest of the [Companions] and [Associates] in an attempt to find some information from them about the world. In order to do that, she decided to try to make them feel comfortable with her, as people might let things slip in idle talk amongst friends they would normally keep guarded instead. Ethan had still thought that she was a bit paranoid, but had not disagreed on principle either, as he was at the moment trying to find out more about Joshua’s situation instead.

The Fifth Princess, together with the two Royal Guards Osmond and Glenn who were still a touch away from their third tier, had been the only ones missing from their little gathering. Moira, Bronwen, Benedictus, Leda, Maribel, and even Silvia, who had only acquired her third-tier class as a [Courageous Spear of Faith] was present.

“Please, just call me Nadine,” said the Fifth princess, who brought Osmond and Glenn with her. The three of them still had some sweat on their forehead that signified that they had recently exerted themselves, likely killing some wild beasts or the likes to get the last two Royal Guards to their third tier as well, Alissa thought. “We will be compatriots from here onwards, so we should do away with the formality, I believe.”

“If you say so, your- Nadine,” said Bronwen with some discomfort. As subjects of the Kingdom, most of them were still uncomfortable with the idea of addressing one of the royalty by their names. Not even their newfound status as [Hero’s Companions] and [Hero’s Associates] helped against that ingrained habit.

Of course, Alissa had no such habits to begin with.

“Right, then, Nadine. I assume you came to join us after getting those two their new classes?” she asked openly.

“That is so, Miss O’Connor,” replied the Fifth Princess with a graceful nod and a smile as she seated herself on one of the empty seats on the table. Moira quickly poured some wine into a glass for her, which the Fifth Princess took without preamble, drinking deep and giving a satisfied sigh before she continued. “I’ll let them introduce themselves, since we’ll all be working together from now on.”

“I am Osmond de Jardine, fifth son of Marquis de Jardine. I have been honored with the class of [Hero’s Associate: Sharp-Eyed Royal Marksman],” said the taller and thinner of the two Royal Guards behind the princess as he swooped into a courtly bow. Alissa noted the longbow the man had slung behind his back, and nodded in return to his greeting. “Enchanted to be in such august company.”

“Glenn of Greenville. I am a [Hero’s Associate: Sturdy Royal Bulwark],” said the other. From the way he said his name, Alissa guessed that the shorter, stouter Royal Guard was likely a commoner who fought his way to the position. His class was pretty self-explanatory since the man carried a large tower shield as tall as he was behind his back, clearly a more defensive oriented one. “I look forward to serving my purpose.”

“Huh. This turned out to be a pretty balanced party overall, other than being a bit heavier on the melee side, I guess,” said Alissa after some considerations of their little group of twelve, the nine [Companions] and [Associates] together with the three of them. “I guess we’re a touch low on healers, but one’s better than nothing.”

“I would have found it ideal if we could have another mage or two, but alas, none of the mage tower’s younger disciples were promising enough to warrant a chance to be a [Companion] or [Associate],” said Nadine in reaction to Alissa’s words. “But such are the cards we were dealt, so we could only make the best hand out of what we have. I also think you’re slightly mistaken, Miss O’Connor. Our fellow [Companion] Miss Bronwen also possesses some healing capabilities, does she not?”

“My skills in the healing arts are very minor, Your Highness. I do not feel it was worth mentioning,” said Bronwen humbly. While it was most commonly [Priests] who trained in healing skills, even the [Temple Guards] had several who learned such skills as well, often acting as combat medics for their teams. “I only dabbled slightly in the arts, certainly incomparable to Sister Leda’s skills, much less now that she had attained new heights in it with the aid of her new class.”

“Even a trickle is better than nothing, as they say. We might not always have Leda free to heal us at critical moments, so every little bit would help,” said the Fifth Princess openly. “Although given our solid frontline, I guess we would hopefully have less need of healing in our future endeavors.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Their little group of twelve had three people focused on defense, namely Ethan, Bronwen, and Glenn. Between the three of them holding the front with the rest of the group striking from behind or the sides while supporting them, it made for a solid tactic for their small team to base themselves around, at the very least.

While they only had two people who were dedicated to ranged combat, most everyone else had some capability in that regard, so it was not exactly a deficit in their team. If anything, the lack of healers that Alissa mentioned was indeed their biggest issue, further exacerbated by the missing fourth [Hero], who usually started out as one.

She, Ethan, and Joshua could fight without worrying for their lives, but the same could not be said about the rest of their group. Even then, death was not their main worry. Sir Inolet had warned them from long ago that no matter what, they should not allow themselves to be captured, since that was what the demons would try once they recognized them as [Heroes].

At first Alissa thought the idea was a strange one, but then she realized that since they could not be killed permanently, then capturing them and keeping them locked up, unable to grow stronger, would indeed be a more effective way to cripple the other side. Sir Inolet had also admitted one other fact, namely that the ritual to send the [Heroes] back to where they came from needed sacrifice to fuel it.

And that sacrifice was the other side’s summoned [Champions].

In a way, it was almost as if the scenario was set up specifically to pit the [Heroes] and the [Champions] against each other. Both sides wanted to take the other side down, as they were the only way for them to return home, assuming that what they were being told was the truth. Given how both [Heroes] and [Champions] would almost certainly grow stronger than what any of the natives could even dream of, the final battles would likely also revolve around them, primarily.

Alissa naturally found some oddities with the proposed scenario. Namely questions like why had no [Hero] or [Champion] stayed after their victory and led their side to total domination over the world. While most of them would have probably jumped at the chance to return home, she was certain some would have probably chosen to stay. Hell, she could even see Ethan choosing to stay if he was given such a choice.

None of the books she mentioned explained that doubt of hers. Naturally, the losers had no say in the issue since they would be sacrificed to send the winners home, but out of dozens of batches of summoned people, not a single one chose to stay? That sounded suspicious to her, to say the least. It was not exactly a question she could ask the other natives either, since they would lack the mentality to get where she was pointing at, so it was another topic to broach with Ethan the next time they managed to secure some privacy around themselves.

Hell, she would have liked to include Joshua in their discussions too, given how they were all in the same boat, but the way he mostly stuck with his mentor and the priestesses from the temple made meeting him privately more difficult. In fact, Alissa was uncertain if she could even trust him with the doubts she was having.

Her new skill was what she relied on to get a brief moment of privacy with Ethan, at times in plain sight of others. She had basically confirmed that she was practically undetectable to most – other than some senior mages – while she was in the shadow, and similarly, while some mages might be able to detect her presence in the shadow, they could not tell with any clarity what she was doing in there.

When she told Sir Inolet that she could bring others with her into the shadows, he insisted that she practice the ability as much as she could, given its tactical value. It was as she had expected out of the old knight, and given her status, Ethan was naturally her most frequent practice partner. Those brief moments they spent hidden in her shadows were times they could communicate with each other more openly, without fear of eavesdroppers listening in.

So far, she had only shown the skill’s ability to hide herself and one other for up to fifteen seconds, without moving. She also hinted that she had the feeling that given some effort, she might be able to prolong the duration or to move slowly while using the skill, to help explain for any future discrepancies. It was not foolproof, but given that she had leveled [Walk in the Shadows] to level 3 so far, she could also explain any discrepancies as additions she gained on leveling the skill.

For once, she was thankful for the local tradition that made sharing of status screens past the first tier a taboo outside of people one really trusted. The logic behind the tradition was that those people still in the first tier needed guidance, since they were predominantly children, with [Heroes] as the exception, while those of higher tiers were advised to keep the exact details of their skills a secret from most.

Because if someone were to know another’s detailed status, it made it easier to devise a method to counter them.

Probably the [For Your Eyes Only] skill Alissa received was taking those traditions into consideration as well, because while the skill protected her from [Analysis] and its ilk, a detailed check of her status screen would have likely exposed her true class regardless. After all, she doubted the skills she would gain as a [Truthseeker] would even be remotely similar to those a [Consecrated Warrior] would have.

In fact, she could pass as one mostly thanks to how each person tends to have different skillsets, even if they were of the same class as another. One’s experiences and past, together with the feats they had accumulated, all combined together with one’s present actions and what they perceived to be their greatest need to form the skills they would receive.

It also helped that the Discretion of the South had turned out to be the [Hero] of her generation, so it was not even considered to be an oddity for any subsequent [Hero] to walk a shadowy path.

Either way, Alissa knew that if she persisted in attempting to dig out the truth beneath the… likely facade that was presented to them, chances were that she would likely run afoul of those interested in keeping the facade up, assuming it was one to begin with. She would likely need to have a lot more power to stand a chance by then, so there was no reason not to try to build a bond with her teammates for now, strengthening herself in yet another way.