- Unknown Chamber, Presumably, the Capital of Nelimista Kingdom –
- Around Afternoon -
As the Princess made the request declaration, the young boy suddenly shouted in excitement, as if it is what he wanted. The escort then helped him stand up, let the boy go, and returned to the Princess's side.
"I can't believe I became an Isekai (another world) Protagonist! The goddess sure is nice enough giving me language understanding and awesome skills!" he exclaims with happiness.
Jaeger could only cringe at the boy's happiness as if he were seeing his dark past. on the other hand, the Princess smiled gleefully at him and held a grip on the boy's hand. Her appearance made the boy blush since she's admirably a beauty herself. Looking at the two, Jaeger then coughed to get their attention again. Realizing her actions, she had a slight blush on her cheeks and took several steps away from the boy.
"Apologies for my improper act as a lady, I was overjoyed by the news that sir hero is blessed by the goddess Eos herself" the boy flushed as he was complimented.
"Please your highness, it's not that I expect this myself" he chuckled at his retort. Jaeger still wary of everything gets into the business quickly.
"Your highness, it might be impolite of me, but may I have myself to see the king? I need to know further information if you wanted me to be your so call Hero for your nation" he sternly requested. One of her men then whispered something to her and she nodded at the man.
"Very well, I do intend to come here to introduce both of you to the King" she then orders them to follow her. Both of them agreed and tailed her.
"Ofnir, change of plans, we keep Yukikaze's existence a secret and also our Valiant too, my intuition has a suspicion towards this nation"
"Understood sir"
Secretly, Jaeger orders Ofnir to send out a drone to their location right before the Princess and her men came, the drone's mission is recon and data gathering for topological scanning and map creation, he's not that worried since his sister's creation came with a trick, so it won't be detected. Like the Yukikaze, the drone is also equipped with optical camouflage that covers its underside. And as the scan results came in, the mercenary smiled as he finally got something valuable, like the castle defences, the number of soldiers in their inventory, and their infrastructure mapping. Although, he also asks Ofnir about the boy's database since Jaeger has a suspicion that the boy is from the earth. Fortunately, Ofnir did find the boy's data.
"Hey, since we're both the summoned heroes, wanna be friends? You know, to get to know each other?" the boy asked, breaking the silence in the castle corridor where they were being guided to the throne room.
"I have no intentions of doing so, although I've already found out about your data, Kurogane Hiroshi" Jaeger's statement surprised the 16-year-old boy because Jaeger knows about his identity whatsoever disturbed Hiroshi quite a lot.
"How did you- ", he stopped as Jaeger shush him, his crimson cold eyes pierced through the boy's eyes, radiating an immense cold-blooded aura that made him feel fear.
"Ah yes, a normal boy in a high school from Saitama prefecture, while having a hobby of being a manga artist. And how come you have that kind of body if you learned Kendo?" Jaeger continued while having a look outside the corridor. The boy was speechless and kept on walking, but he moved beside the princess's guard, fearing him.
"Ah, I forgot to ask sir, but there seem to be metal things that were latched to your body, is it a piece of otherworld equipment?" Jaeger then showed his arms outside his cloak to the princess that is looking her back at him.
"Oh this, you could call it like that your highness, it is currently confidential"
"I see, it seems that it looks quite excruciating just to wear such equipment" Jaeger averted his eyes while sighing in exasperation.
"you could say that again..."
As they were nearing the throne room, one of the guards reminded them that they should bow when speaking to the king or they'll be considered acting imprudently towards his majesty. After turning right at the corridor, they saw a huge wooden door, decorated with gold with the kingdom's insignia on each door. Two guards bowed at the Princess's appearance, and their arrival was announced to the audience inside. The Princess's escort then permission themselves to leave, she blesses them as they turn around the corner. The door opened grandly, inside, an audience full of high classed attire was present, presumably the nobles and the Kingdom's ministers. The crowd bowed at the presence of the princess, while both Jaeger & Hiroshi walked behind her. Hiroshi is waving at their hospitality, while Jaeger, is wary around them. Princess Lunamaria stopped at a certain distance and bowed to the King, who is sitting on the throne, Jaeger then also immediately bowed down while Hiroshi followed along.
"Your Majesty, King Kievan Orbus Nelimista II, my presence hereby is to declare the succession of the hero summoning" the crowd cheered as she announced it.
The king smiled at his daughter's achievement and congratulated her. Although it was a light of hope for them, the King questioned why there are two men behind her. She explained that the summoning had a slight flaw, resulting in two people being dragged into the magical power. The king wasn't disappointed he was pleased. At the same time, the word 'magic' piqued Jaeger, he didn't think the so-called fantasy thing did make him dragged into this mess, and he did notice that there was also a person with priest attire along with the ministry standing across the hall as if confirming that this kingdom is the religion centre of the continent.
"That Priest seemed to be bad news," he thought,
"why would it sir?"
"I felt a weird stare from him, is he trying to use magic at me?" Ofnir did a quick scan towards the mentioned man
"I'm detecting the same abnormal energy that envelopes the fighter, it could be that-"
"wait, don't act rashly, it may be him that initiated the teleportation, but we need to search for clear clues" Ofnir understands and stayed on high alert
"Should you make a move sir?"
"I have an idea"
The mercenary in his cloak then stood up and opens up his hoods, looking confident. An audible gasp was heard, and the crowd started murmuring. The king order them to remain silent, he was interested in the man that dare to stand up in front of him.
"Sir, what in the world are you doing?"
"Just shut up will you?" Wolfenford then cleared his throat
"Apologies for my discourteous action your highness, let me introduce myself, my name is Achilles Wolfenford, but my subordinates call me Jaeger." he introduced himself. On the other hand, Hiroshi was a bit worried about what Jaeger did.
"My, your name has the same name as our god of war. What brings your courage to speak up young lad?" Jaeger then cleared his throat.
"As I am a bit curious on how I ended up along with the summoning, what is the reason behind the war against the so-called Demons?" the audience started shouting 'how imprudent', 'what a disappointment, and so on towards Jaeger. The King silenced them down again. Jaeger's question piqued the King's interest in him.
"Quite a question you have asked, may I have the reason, mister Jaeger?" all eyes are onto the robed mercenary in question. He, with all of his professionalism, answered it bravely.
"War isn't just about good vs bad, all I wanted to know is the true reason behind this war, then I'll decide which side I'll join." one of the Prime ministers interjects him.
"Then, as you stated, Sir Hero might side the Invading Demons?" Jaeger raises an eyebrow at the question.
"It is plausible, I won't join into one of the factions because of biased prejudice" and as he stated that, the knights that were present were enraged unsheathed their swords, swiftly surrounded him while pointing the tip of their blades toward the currently standing man's neck in the middle of the hall, encircling him. The king shouted to every single one of the audience to not interfere, along with the knights that unsheathed their swords, or their actions were treated as treason.
"I see you do have a proper foundation, have you been in a war before young lad?" Jaeger then saluted, as he's confirming that he did. His stance was so dignified that the King was astonished.
"Yes, your highness, Lieutenant Colonel Achilles Wolfenford, with a callsign Jaeger. I work as a mercenary before, under my father's command, General August Wolfenford. Pardon me if you don't know about him" the king chuckled and laughed, he clapped while saying fantastic as there are no Heroes in their history that is a mercenary before and a weird greeting that is out from his world.
"Impossible! A mere boy like you has a rank that high!" shouted one of the knights. He's young in appearance, wearing the white royal attire just like the other knights, along with a longsword holstered at his hips. The Knight's saffron eyes are full of disbelief and still with anger since Jaeger could turn against them at any time.
"Oi, I'm around 20, I'm old enough to be enlisted. And yet, I see you're quite greener than it looks" Jaeger retorted while the young knight gritted.
"Apologies for my uncouth action, your majesty, but I, Captain Siegmund Lichtenburg, the Kingdom's Lightning Swordsman, hereby request a duel against this treacherous fraud of a hero!" the crowd gasp the king facepalmed at his knight's attitude. Kurogane, can't comprehend fast enough, could only stare blankly at everything that unfolds in front of him
"heh, this development is extremely too cliché," Jaeger thought in amusement.
"Hhhh.... Very well, I hereby declare the duel between Captain Siegmund against Lieutenant Colonel Jaeger, the duel will be held at the colosseum of knights tomorrow noon. The maids will guide both of the heroes to their rooms. This meeting is in shambles and can't be continued, you may all leave now. Except for the heroes, I have something to talk to them" the nobles left the throne room one by one along with the knights, even though Captain Sigmund kept staring daggers at Jaeger.
The throne room is now empty, in the aftermath of everything, Jaeger could finally relax a bit and look around him. Seeing the ornaments and design is very grand and luxurious, the ceramic floor reflexed the sunlight coming from several massive windows on the left, even for a medieval era building, it looks as if they've developed technology quite good enough to make them.
"So, Sir Wolfenford, what makes your decision of saying the statement earlier?" the king asked
"As I said earlier, my reason is uncovering the truth behind this war you're in, I won't accept something like 'go fight the demons for humanity' and just massacre everything hostile in this nation's eyes and be treated as a weapon of war" the king nodded, Jaeger has a good reasoning to not side with their kingdom and act to his own discretion, he fear that it may potentially lead to a betrayal.
"Also, Sorry for dropping my formality your majesty, but I must say this castle design is very grand and elegant, you have quite good taste" the king smiled at his compliment.
"Why thank you Sir Wolfenford, I do take pride in my designers and architects." He proudly says. The princess, who is still present, coughed to remind the king about his purpose.
"Ahem, as you can see, I welcome you both Sir Wolfenford and Sir..." Kurogane then introduced himself to the king.
"Yes, Both Sir Wolfenford and Sir Hiroshi are welcomed to our kingdom. And apologies for my Knight's Imprudent behaviour towards our guest." There's an awkward silence between them, but Lunamaria started speaking about Kurogane's blessing from the goddess to break the silence. The King wasn't all that surprised, he already knew and told them about the judgement eyes skill he has that could see someone's capabilities and compare them to others. He was more intrigued at Jaeger's presence since he's the abnormal one, the king couldn't sense any magical aura nor any blessing emitting from him, but his skill told him that Jaeger's thousands time powerful than ten thousand of his knights combined and could fight toe to toe with Kurogane in his full power or even with the limiter skill was off. He said to his daughter to keep this a secret from the knights, He wanted Jaeger's performance at the duel to be a surprise.
"Wait, hold up, this guy could even beat me on the highest level without any special magic or skills?" remarked the blessed hero. Jaeger patted Kurogane's shoulder while smiling.
"It is what I call, Battlefield experience, kid" retorted Jaeger. Kurogane pouted, and the princess giggled at their demeanour.
"My, you two seemed close, even though you have just met today," she remarked,
"WE'RE NOT!!" both of them exclaimed simultaneously, denying her.
"Alright gents, since the meeting has ended, just as earlier I have stated, the maids will escort both dear heroes to their rooms, if you have the intentions to go sightseeing around our city, you'll be permissioned to take a leave. All of you are dismissed" The maids then came through the other door in the room and asked both Jaeger and Kurogane to follow them. Both of them then ask their permission for their leave to the king and Princess
"And one thing sir Wolfenford..." as Jaeger wanted to follow his guide, he stopped his tracks and looked again at the king.
"Will you even fight against or perchance, with us if you have found out the truth?" Jaeger had a moment of silence, he then smiled at the king.
"Do not worry your majesty, I will not take your life even if I'm the enemy, you seem to be a pretty nice man" Jaeger sincerely says. the king nodded.
"Very well, have a nice rest" Jaeger then followed the maids and Kurogane to their room. As soon both of them left the room along with the maids, the Princess sighed in relief.
"Good gracious, what a handful bunch," she said, the king then stood up from his throne, walked towards his daughter and hugged her, his appearance isn't as old as other fantasy stories, the king is rather young around in his thirties. His voice is gentle yet deep.
"e-eh? father?" she sounded a bit surprised and very worried about her father.
"Sweetheart, please, don't become the enemy of that man... my premonition has seen a terrible future, this kingdom will ultimately fall..."
"Wh-what? It must be a mistake, the premonition blessing of yours could even foresee another ending... right father?" she sounded quite afraid of what happened, the king could only stare at her with despair in his looks.
"There are none, all of the branches will always end with this kingdom's fall. I could only pray that the goddess will protect us. So please, remember what I say"
"... yes father, so that's why you were...." Both of them had a moment of silence, the fact that the King himself has a powerful premonition blessing also drives the princess to feel the desperation of her father's heart. In her eyes, her father is a spectacular King. A man who could revive his country from its darkest days and made the kingdom the centre of their religion in the continent, making wonderful allies here and there and winning against a full-scale invasion from the southern arctic continent. To see him being so down made her resolve into something that would be called a dream.
"don't worry father, I'll unite humanity under our goddess Eos and bring peace upon this land. I swear to my name and this kingdom." The king let go of his embrace, seeing his daughter grow made him smile with pride.
"I knew you're my daughter, you have such high dreams, don't let your elder sister and brother's death on the battlefield be in vain, live up to their expectations"
"Understood father!" she smiled and permission herself to leave. As she already left the hall, the king sighed.
"He's the son of that man huh? Nevertheless, may the goddess bless your effort, my dear daughter...and forgave this old man, I have to do what I must do"
Back to the duo, their walk to their room takes a lot of turns, the inside of the castle felt like a maze. Breaking the ice, one of the Maids asked them if they wanted an interconnected room or separated rooms. Kurogane requested interconnected rooms so he could get along with Jaeger better, but even though Jaeger is against it, he sympathizes with Kurogane's idea, they also were informed about the castle's directory so they wouldn't get lost. During their conversation, Jaeger interjected.
"Miss, may I request the way to the library?" the maid looked at him still with her expressionless face. She had one of her eyebrows raised above her Navy-blue eyes.
"my, are you interested in our history sir Wolfenford?"
"Sort of like that" The maid then told the other one to escort Kurogane to their room while she'll guide Jaeger towards the Castle's library room, and they parted ways at a certain turn.
They arrived at the library door, it was a tower, towering high that Jaeger has estimated the tower has a height of around 50 meters. It has the same door with a golden insignia of the kingdom. The maid then gently opened the door, and its creaking sound echoed inside. The set of lights was set ablaze in a controlled circular streak on every floor, as it reacts to the door with magic, even the massive chandelier that hangs from the top of the tower at the centre. The library itself is massive in scale, from top to bottom of the tower was filled with books and bookshelves. As they went inside, there is no librarian since it's rarely visited but there was a catalogue book at the round table in the centre of the room.
"I shall return in several hours, enjoy your time reading sir" the maid then bowed and left, leaving the library for Jaeger himself to enjoy. He then scrolled down through the pages of the book, as he flipped through the pages, he felt irritated since it has characters that he didn't recognize.
"Ofnir, this one is uh... might be a problem..."
"what is it, sir?"
"I can't freaking read this crap, how do I suppose to know a language from another world?"
"give me a second sir" Ofnir uses Jaeger's memory to scan the language of the book
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
"Yeah, no luck, the language is not in my database"
"Yeah, no s**t Sherlock"
But as he flipped another page, coincidentally, several book titles were written in a language that he knew. One book was written in German while the others were written in English and Japanese.
"I guess this so-called hero summoning has been done throughout the ages huh?"
"Luck must be on our side then sir"
"you believe in such even though you're an AI?"
"I don't know sir, It's just a catchphrase that was programmed inside me"
He thought to go to the floor where the three books were located to bring them to the reading area. But since he didn't know about the language of the nation, he could only rely upon Ofnir's quick scanning, which means he needs to search from top to bottom. The mercenary grunted at the overwhelmingly high and large library while looking up to the ceiling.
"Man, this might take hours to look for just three books, I should've asked the maid to be my translator"
"I've blocked the pain receptors from receiving any fatigue signals throughout your body, you could start from the bottom floor, I'll be using the photogrammetry and laser imagery module that's installed inside the exoskeleton to find the similar letters."
"how about we use the drones we deployed earlier to scan?"
"they're currently recharging their power sir, it's a long flight from the fighter to our coordinates"
"and why don't you just scan them while I'm standing here?"
"it takes a lot of processing power to scan the whole library to mere millimetres"
"Isn't your processor made with quantum tech? wait... you're just using me as a convenient carrier huh?"
"perhaps"
"lazy ass"
And with that, Jaeger started walking around the library, even though he complains about his AI. The shoulder part of the exoskeleton opens a very small hatch, revealing the glass protection for the aforementioned modules. He took his search slowly and thoroughly, making sure it has 100% succession on the scanning of the area. One hour later, he reached the top floor and finally have the data of the interior layout of the Library, he then pinpointed where the location of the books and went to the shelves.
As he already has the book in possession and started reading, he found an article that piqued his interest. Although it was one of the books that were written in German, he could read it since it was his first language rather than English, while the ones in Japanese were translated by Ofnir. The page also showed the map of the continent, and there was a note written by the author, depicting a race that was aforementioned by the king.
"Sir, I'll take onto account what the so-called demons are"
"Understood, I see they were just humans with controlled biological mutation"
"Is this what they call racism?"
"quite possibly. But then again, it is also debatable about whether mutating humans are allowed or not back at home" The man was so immersed in reading it that he didn't notice the Maid that has returned.
"Have you done reading sir?"
"GAH!!" he jumped out from his seat and had his heart beating frantically, surprised by seeing the maid that was suddenly beside him.
"My apologies, I seem to startle you"
"Dear God, could you not make that sudden appearance! You could give me a heart attack!" He sighed and then returned to his seat, flipping another page. the Maid beside him was slightly curious and took a peek at the book he was reading, making Jaeger have an uneasy feeling.
"Miss maid, would you help me to translate most of the letters in this book? There are some that I don't know since it came from this world" the silver-haired maid gives a slight smile.
"Certainly sir. Also, you may address me as Victoria"
"thank you, Miss Victoria"
The maid subsequently helped the man, telling him about the letters that he didn't understand that was written in the book. And as time flew by, they could decrypt most of the contents of the three books. It was the journal of each of the heroes that were summoned from three different nations, and they are people from Earth. The oldest ones were from Nelimista itself, a British female noble with the name Olivia Cravestar who brought the concept of churches and knighthood, the second one is Japanese swordsman, Maekawa Asakura, summoned in the Incliras Kingdom that made advances on their metallurgy and became the kingdom with the sharpest yet densest sword, and the last one was summoned at a Kingdom that was never heard off and his name bewildered Jaeger
"August....Wolfenford.....?" The maid leaned back slightly as she was done translating the nation's names.
"The Kingdom of Apollyon? I have heard of such a kingdom before, it was thought that it has fallen due to the Demon army's first appearance 280 years ago" Jaeger hummed while rubbing his chin.
"fallen? But it says here that the kingdom is still thriving"
"hmm... fascinating knowledge sir"
Victoria had her curiosity increased since the book that was written in German had never been able to be decrypted by anyone in the kingdom, she even told Jaeger that even the past heroes that were summoned in the kingdom couldn't even read them. she then leaned forward to look more closely at the book and asked Jaeger for what is the main essence of the book. she fixed her silver hair that was covering her sight at the book, the alluring view of it made Jaeger slightly blush. The man coughed to cast out any crude thoughts and started from the beginning, from where the original form of the idea of the hero summoning and its purpose like ending wars, brought progression in every kingdom, and to their personal life. And as he reads, the more he knew the truth, but some he kept away from the Maid since it was quite trivial.
"So the hero August married a girl from his party that is the mage. Several years later, through the mage's research, they found out how to return to his world ... but the magic could only transfer two lifeforms at the same time, and since they already have a child that's already born, the mage let them return, leaving her in this world and he was never heard again...."
"wow, such a romantic story.... It deeply touches my heart- huh? Sir Wolfenford?" the maid was taken aback, the calm looking man was in tears, although it was not much.
"o-oh, hmm... sorry for seeing me in this state, anyway..." he wiped his tears out and cleared his throat.
"So... mom didn't die in an accident... dad, why did you keep this from me..." he silently thought and continued.
"the mage's name is Christina Eoflora, also known as Archmage Talisman-" Jaeger was cut off by the Maid that suddenly leaned too much to his face in starstruck, glimmering in excitement as she hear the name.
"The Archmage Talisman?!" her exclaim were to a surprise for Jaeger that he leaned back in his chair to not make an accident with her to that extent.
"Ohh I adore the Archmage! She was gallant and her magic was astounding and beautiful! Protecting the weak while she is still on the frontlines, such an honourable mage"
"wait, she's on the frontlines?"
"Yes! Rumour has it, that she has a thousand years to live since she made an age extending spell that is an enigma for all mages worldwide. And-" she stopped as she realized that she lost her composure as a maid, she then cleared her throat while standing straight and returned to her expressionless expression.
"so the cool maid also has that kind of side eh?" Jaeger teased her.
"Sir Wolfenford, would you refrain from remembering our conversation earlier?"
"eh but-" she gave a threatening glare to the mercenary.
"I. Insist." The stare made the mercenary shiver his spine and slightly terrifies him.
"O-okay then... well uhh... would you guide me to my room now? I don't wanna get lost and all" the maid then bowed.
"Certainly sir, and just let the books here, It is imbued with magic that if the readers have concluded his or her time reading, it will naturally return to where it belongs"
"that sounds convenient"
"most definitely"
They then left the library while the books are stacked up in the reading area. She then closed the door and issued him to follow her to his room. As they were walking, Jaeger silently glanced at her back.
"this maid reminds me of the maid back home..." he shudders and shrugs off the memories that haunt him.
- The Heroes room, inside the castle –
- Around 5 pm -
"Man, I haven't got to sleep in this kind of bed for years... also how's the library?" the boy started yawning, the bed that is provided by the king is heavenly for a boy that is registered in a boarding school. Jaeger sighed at his roommate that is very carefree while he was hanging his cloak inside the closet. Jaeger closed the closet and stood right beside the bed, crossing his arms.
"The library is just your average. And kid, aren't you being too carefree for this?"
"Aww... I thought there'll be something interesting. And about the demon invasion... I'm worried honestly, I've never gone into battle before, but hey, it'll be interesting isn't it? we're going to kick some ass!" hearing that, made Jaeger grit his teeth.
"Tch, this is why I hate your generation."
He then walked to the room connected to it and slammed the door to the next room, leaving the boy confused. In his room, he opened up the window. Since the castle is on top of the hill, the view was quite staggering, a medieval city that he used to see in fantasy movies and games, with people in the town busy doing their business and happily conversing with each other. He could also see the military training grounds, seeing the soldiers swing their swords and train their endurance along with practice sparing on their swordsmanship. It has the same sunset view as the earth
"Ofnir, how is our comms to the ship currently?" he asked, Ofnir sent several data to run through his brain.
"Currently, an abnormal energy is blocking our communications towards Yukikaze at the stratosphere around 37km from sea level, laser comms is also unavailable, unable to connect to control"
"Alright, our mission priority currently will be re-establish communication towards the ship, as Valiant currently doesn't have an engine powerful enough to break from the atmosphere. As we now know this kingdom isn't technologically developed enough and were very extreme against it, we need to go to that country, I assume we'll get support from them."
"Mission order received, preparing multiple calculations..."
"By the way, how did you obtain Kurogane's data?"
"Oh, the exoskeleton you're using is operated by a micro quad quantum processor, which is why I have over three hundred Terabytes of processing capabilities and a hard drive capable of storing up to 900 Terabytes of data" Jaeger is quite surprised that he twitched slightly while viewing the scenery through the window.
"What in the world did my sister created for god sake..."
"a fairly smart AI helper sir"
"Thanks for pointing out mister obvious" Ofnir gave more data about the continent that he scanned back at the library, from their names, borders, etc. However, the AI wondered about its master's actions earlier.
"Sir, why did you taunt the nobles earlier?"
"Eh? I just wanted to know their reaction towards different habits of different cultures and their social understanding, turns out they're quite old fashioned ain't it? Besides, I could get to experience that cliché stuff on record to embarrass that cocky ass knight"
"I questioned myself on how I ended up here now" the man in the black uniform chuckled at his AI's behaviour. He has been on a lot of missions and troubles solo but having a companion to talk, to slightly helps his lone time. After viewing the data, he then went to Kurogane's room and grab his brown cloak, he was hesitant to invite him to come along at first, but he changed his mind.
"Hey Kid, wanna take a stroll in the city?"
"Alright, count me in" the boy jumped out of bed while he was playing on his phone and followed the mercenary outside. Jaeger reminded him to not make a scene like taking pictures on the streets whatsoever. He understood and asked the nearby maid about the way to the gate castle and permission them to go sightseeing in the city.
"How could you even calmy use your smartphone? What if it ran out of battery?"
"I could use my lightning magic skill, it's pretty useful you know?"
"Dear God.... this kid is just way too carefree"
- the city of Apostysa, Nelimista Kingdom Capital–
- Around 7 pm -
The busy streets of the city were very rowdy in the evening, people went to the market to buy ingredients for dinner, or they would eat outside, the streetlights started glowing as they react to the darkness, creating a beautiful middle age night time scenery. among the citizens that were walking by, was A girl with a cloak, hiding her head with the hood, happily trotting down the streets of the city, her company was running to catch up to her agile movements, panting as he approaches her.
"Sis! Slow down!" the girl turned around, facing the man that exclaimed to her. the man took a breather and exhaled as he relaxed his breath.
"Aww~ you can't be this weak on walking only this far, anyway, this city is quite a scenery isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is beautiful, but it isn't walking if you're hopping in the streets, it'll attract attention!" the girl pouted.
"Tch, be glad I could act like a different person, or not this 'visit' of us will become a trouble for father"
"WE ARE already in trouble, I got a call from the forward battalion that they're going to try to launch an assault on another fortress in two days" the girl had her fingers on her chin, thinking about the information that was given.
"they're suiciding again huh?"
"Sadly, yeah"
"Well, it's a perfect cover for our nation's army, they thought us as demons like we're literal mythical creatures, good thing the scientific team did a great job making that mutation serum that has no side effect and -" her mouth was stuffed with bread out of nowhere by her brother
"SHHHHH could you stop being a researcher for a bit! You'll blow our cover!" she nodded while saying muffled words.
All of the sudden, a man that is also cloaked, came out from the dark and forcefully robbed her coin pouch from her, the crowd nearby started to scream in panic. The girl's brother started to run frantically, chasing the thief. she screamed at her brother for leaving her stranded in the middle of a city that she barely knows. at the same time, another cloaked man rocketed at the streets, causing dust in his wake. Although the man went past the girl at breakneck speeds, their eyes met for a split second. The man's crimson eyes reflected the streetlights, creating a streak of red light and his eyes gave a stare of someone in his professionalism, while the girl's emerald eyes were sparkling and astonished at the man's abnormal speed for that era. As the brother weaved through the crowd, he saw the thief go into the alleyway. The thief jumped between the walls to gain his height and escape through the rooftops.
As the thief was relieving for a minute while still running, thinking he would lose his pursuers. His irritation came back as he saw a silhouette at his back also jumping above the rooftops, following him. He intended to jump down but then he saw the city guard was following him below. The thief then chants a spell, causing his speed and agility to increase while being enveloped by a faint coating of white light. He apparently could make a distance against the pursuers and laugh evilly, but as he was laughing, he was kicked in the face and knocked out by someone out of nowhere at breakneck speeds.
The thief fell to the ground and created a crater in the streets, he has broken bones all over his body and was bleeding even though it was minimalized by the magic he chanted. as the dust cleared away, the guards finally reached the scene and saw a man with a brown cloak has his left leg stepping at the thief, looking at him with a cold stare. The man then explained what happened and the guards understand. A few minutes later, the man that is also chasing the thief finally arrived. There, he could only see the aftermath of it and a man that was conversing with the guards, holding his sister's pouch.
"Hey, uhh... would you return that to my sister?" the man with the brown cloak turned around, he then noticed it and throw the pouch towards him. He then thanked the cloaked man but as he was about to return, a teenage boy was shouting at a distance while approaching them.
"Wolfenford-San!!" a boy was waving at the cloaked man that opened up his hood. As the boy arrived at them short on breath, the boy was highly agitated and scolded Wolfenford because he left him out of nowhere. A few moments later, another one shouted at them, this time is the girl earlier.
"Conny! Finally found you!" she exclaimed while waving. The girl was running elegantly. although she was wearing a cloak with her hoods on, it didn't cover her front, revealing an elegant dress with short skirts up to her knees and had her cleavage slightly exposed. Men nearby took a glance at her since her chest also bounce with every step she took.
"Yo dude, she's hot ain't it?" the boy teased Wolfenford that is also captivated by her appearance while nudging Wolfenford's stomach with his elbow. Wolfenford got irritated and smacked the boy's head
"OW! What's that for!?"
"Shut up pervert"
"I'm just saying the obvious! OW!" he was smacked again by the cloaked man. As the girl arrived, also out of breath, she pinched her brother's cheeks and pulled them
"OW!! STOPP!!" begged him while trying to let go of her pinching.
"This is for leaving me out of nowhere! You do realize that I'm a girl right! Stupid older brother!" her brother cried in pain as she was pinching him harder
"this déjà vu is very similar with more violence," Wolfenford thought for a moment. After she has done pinching her brother's cheeks, the girl noticed something.
"AH! The roadster dust maker!" she got smacked by her bother
"Ouch! What was that for!"
"Mind your words miss! He's the one that returned your pouch"
"But I was only stating the obvious!" she got smacked again by her brother. Both Wolfenford and the boy laughed at seeing a near-perfect déjà vu of them. The brother of hers force her to bow and apologised, the man felt awkward and told them to raise their head.
"Although, she was right about that part honestly" nodded Wolfenford.
"See? He admitted it"
They all laughed and started chatting about how the siblings were there and their experience of visiting the town. Both parties agreed about how it was beautiful and lively, how their cuisine is a treat, and the citizen has great hospitality towards visitors. In their moment of chatting, the brother realized that he haven't introduced himself.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce ourselves, I'm Conrad, and this is my little sister Aurora"
"Pleasure to meet you both" Aurora bowed again gracefully this time as a follow to her brother's words. The boy smiled at her and as he looked at Wolfenford, he can't hold a grin, as he saw his partner has a faint blush on his cheeks. Wolfenford realized that they were done with their introduction and cleared his throat.
"ah yea, I'm Achilles Wolfenford, but my subordinates call me Jaeger" Conrad got interested in him
"Subordinate? Are you in the military perhaps?"
"Yes, My rank is Lieutenant, and this is my friend-" he was cut off by the boy that jumped in front of him and introduced himself cheerfully.
"Heya! I'm Kurogane Hiroshi! One of the summoned heroes of this era!" both siblings twitched as he said hero while Jaeger facepalmed and grunted.
"Kid! Why in the world you would reveal yourself as a hero?! Isn't that supposed to be a national secret!?" he was fairly irritated, Kurogane's Innocence is just too troublesome for him.
"aren't you being too secretive? The whole Kingdom knows us as the hero, Be proud of your title!" Jaeger gave a death stare to the boy and grabbed his shoulder roughly.
"Listen kid! This is war! enemies are all over and they're going to eat you alive! Us was given the title of heroes means we'll fight on the frontlines. And don't just go blabber it to any friendly random person you just met! We don't know if they're friendly or not!"
"trust is vital for making more friends on our journey! and also, why didn't you want to tell the truth about your rank! Mr Lieutenant Colonel!? Isn't being truthful the part that makes a hero the example of virtue?!"
"Example of virtue?! What are you? a child? Everybody dies on each end of their side in any conflict! Heroes are just propaganda for morale boosters!"
"They're not!"
As they were bickering, the siblings are worried that this would break into a fight, but as Conrad tried to intervene and calmed them down, he was knocked back by Kurogane's golden aura suddenly emerging and blanketing his body, the wind was going outwards from Kurogane's position, and it creates such pressuring feeling around him, pushing the siblings back with just mere energy. But Jaeger is still standing while kept bickering with Kurogane as if he was unfazed.
"Conny, I don't know how there are two heroes, but this is more troublesome. We need to stop their fighting"
"I know, but the pressure from the magic is just so great, I can't get close to them!" at a certain moment, Jaeger lit up both of his wrist-mounted plasma daggers and Kurogane invoked a spell, opening up a small dimensional rift. He grabbed something inside and pulled out a fantasy esque great sword, it was emitting blue lights on the engraved symbols with its blade tip and middle section covered in the gold coating. The crowd nearby was in fear, they scrambled and ran away from the scene as fast as they can before they become a victim of their fight.
"I challenge you to a duel! After the duel against that Knight captain! I can't accept what you said about being entitled as a hero!"
"Bring it, I'll show you what's the true meaning of being in a real battle" at the midst of the commotion, Aurora's shout finally reached them
"Could you two calm down! We're about to get blown to the river!"
They both calmed down, and the pressure also instantly vanished. Both Aurora and Conrad sighed in relief, although... Kurogane was still angered and crossed his arms, he then walked away from them, heading somewhere else while muttering and cursing Jaeger. The man with the brown cloak sighed.
"I'm sorry for the trouble, and could you keep a secret about us being heroes, I also have a duel tomorrow noon against a pompous Knight, plus, the whole city will be the audience." Conrad had his armed crossed.
"why would the king be allowing such things honestly?"
"not sure, I do have a suspicion about this country too, it seems that they hide a lot of information about the demon invasion and whatnot. And by the way..."
Jaeger had his curiosity at Aurora since her eyes have a prepossessing shine and a unique iris that has a carved symbol that is theoretically impossible to have naturally. But his stare causes slight discomfort for her.
"umm, would you not stare at me too much?..."
"Oh sorry, I was looking at your eyes, it seems different... could it be that-"
Conrad instinctively jumped in between them, he had his knife ready and strangely, a pair of wolf-like ears appeared out of nowhere, sticking out inside his hoods. His fangs grew and snarled in hostility, his sharp silver hair turned grey, and his cyan iris became narrow and darker.
"and what if we are?"
"whoa calm down! I was about to say that her eyes are beautiful!" An awkward silence came, the siblings were dumbfounded, but mostly it impacted aurora much. Her blush is so visible on her face, making her act all fidgety.
"eh?"
"what?"
"e-eh!?" Conrad retracted his fangs and put away his knife, laughing hard enough that it echoed the street. His appearance returned to normal, he didn't expect his enemy of him to say such a compliment.
"Hahaha! This is the first time someone outside our kingdom complimented my sister. You pass buddy"
"I-I'm not t-that beautiful..."
"Oh come on sis, I could see his earnest feelings." Conrad kept chuckling, seeing his sister all fidgety for the first time.
"So, demons aren't evil as they say huh... and they look human as the book says" Conrad finally eased up after laughing, he noticed that it was very late and told his sister that it is time to go home. Jaeger agreed, saying that he needs rest before tomorrow's duel.
"Are you going to be okay? The amount of magic that the boy releases is just huge, no sane human would withstand that" the girl nodded at her brother's statement. Jaeger could only sigh.
"You may have a point, but I won't worry much. anyway, enjoy your trip home. Hope we meet again soon and stay safe" he flips up his hood and walks away, waving at them and disappearing in the dark of the night of the city soon later. As the siblings stopped their waving at him, Conrad let out a sigh of relief.
"Man, good thing it didn't break out into a fight, we would be dead if they did, literally"
"Indeed, but isn't it weird? Shouldn't the hero summoning ritual could only summon one person every 200 years each?" Conrad had his hands on his chins, thinking about the oddity of the occurrence.
"You may be true, and somehow, Wolfenford seemed to be a more rational person than the naïve boy with him."
"Do you think they might change the tide of the war?"
Conrad had a moment of silence, thinking about the possibilities of what lies next. Nevertheless, he was fairly optimistic and smiled at his sister while patting her head.
"It depends on those two, let's just see later"
"Yeah...." Aurora stared blankly at the darkness of the road where Jaeger go, her brother noticed this and teased her.
"Ohoho... I see someone had a crush on the other worlder that she even changed into her usual self" she snapped but she can't contain her bright blush.
"Wait, you really have a crush on him?" she bashfully nodded. Conrad facepalmed.
"Good gracious, you two just met! I just.... Ughhh... whatever, let's just go home, we don't wanna keep anyone waiting for you" They then walked in the other direction.
"Things might get interesting tomorrow" muttered Conrad, even though he was very anxious about it