The Princess of our own country fell. That easy. Disappointing, really. I had to get down to work and fix these awkward circumstances with my not at all great improvisational skills.

I pushed the Guards away by force, leaving my arms a little sore from their tough armor.

"I'm really so-"

I could not avoid it. I am unable to control myself at unforeseen moments like Their Majesties or Benned Hasser, the Commander of the Kingsguard. Although in cases like these, I can assure you that not even the King himself could prevent it. This was a mistake. More than four people summoned was considered impossible. But, what my eyes were observing at this very moment were about twenty human adolescents of both genders together with an adult female.

My face quickly distorted into a smile. I did not care. I didn't care anymore. Clearly, I was going to get the King's recognition. An unprecedented situation like this and so absurd was even comical.

I exaggeratedly cleared my throat to call out the poor attention received from the heroes and spoke again.

"I apologize for the, um, absence of our leader... Umm, we hope there isn't some kind of inconvenience or something like that."

I didn't think of myself as exactly good at socializing with people, but over time and the experience of years I became the face of summoners at Court. I never understood why everyone was so excited to see me every time I interacted with them. Anyway, I didn't care either, so I let it go.

However, every time I acted as the Chief Summoning Magician, my words seemed to be powerful enough to reach the hearts of all my subjects. I guess that was the reason why Geigar Geldum offered me a high position in the Anti-Monarchist faction. The truth is that their mini-battle was too insignificant for me to enjoy. Besides, what was he going to do in that organization of his? I heard he resigned from his position. I didn't remember very well.

Back on topic, I really suck at this. I don't even know how I managed to convince someone as stubborn as the King to give us permission to summon heroes from another world. Especially, with the Church bringing only bad reviews to our proposals and considering our low numbers, the result was somewhat unexpected. Of course, their surprised faces with the final verdict made me laugh out loud.

Although, to tell the truth, this idea had been Geigar's. One day, he had asked me for help with an experiment of his that consisted of transporting the soul of one creature into the body of another. None of our attempts bore fruit and at the last of all, twenty rats wasted, we gave up. The two of us sat cross-legged on the floor to try not to drop or break anything, since the room was filled to the brim with boxes and other items to do different kinds of summons.

"I will have to report all the problems that occurred in these tests in my meeting with His Majesty. He seems extremely busy lately, so it will probably be quick." Geigar said, calm as always.

"Again with the goblins in these areas. There can't possibly be any. You already took care of that by summoning the golems, right?"

"That was Claire, actually."

"Claire? Wasn't she gone for some stupid reason? Looking for adventure or something?"

"She went to investigate a strange artifact found in a dungeon north of Eunos. Nothing that could be considered stupid. Anyways, she did it before her travel, six months ago. Pay more attention to the people around you. Besides, she told me that she had been trying to contact you for a long time, but you completely ignored her. You should have talked with her, at least. She is intelligent, charismatic and, above all, beautiful. Also, if the problem is she's too much for you, I have other contenders."

"That's not the problem. It's just that right now I'm not looking for that kind of fun in my life."

"What are you looking for then?"

"Something...more. Deeper, so to speak. Something even the Five Gods can't imagine. I need more excitement in my life than being in a room with four walls, wondering when something interesting will happen. Hell, I even wished for another war."

"Yes, exciting is the right word to describe the enormous magical advances in the War of the Emperors. Although we have to thank the alchemists and their strange fire magic."

"Yes, of course. Thank those hermits. I'm sure they'll be very proud of your words. Those sewer rats have no human feelings. They just want to satisfy their basic needs. Every time I think of them it makes me want to throw up."

Stolen novel; please report.

"Relax, they only want what is best for the Kingdom. I will not deny that their customs are... doubtful. However, they have gone through many complex situations throughout history. Believe it or not, the Court is lately debating about the benefits of their meager existences. Even the King has taken part in these talks."

"That's not something I disagree with either. I can't bear to go down into those crypts to get ink or something else for my experiments only to come across a monster fresh from a portal in the Underworld and, after holding my nose and closing my eyes, to realize that he is a human being."

Geigar sighed.

"We're not going to get anywhere if we only look at the disappointing part of the world."

There was a momentary awkward silence where we both didn't know what to do but stare at the ceiling. To what point had we come in life to complain about everything and wish for wars.

Geigar's soft voice resumed the conversation.

"You know, I was thinking of something when I visited the Tremer Empire for the signing of the Peace Treaty." every time he started like this it meant he had interesting ideas, so I sat back and listened carefully.

"When I arrived, the first thing I saw was a row of statues. Beautiful, they were surely sculpted by renowned artists. I asked about them but got no response. So I decided to ask another question. What were they about? To which they all replied without a doubt: 'The first hero and his successors'. I wondered how they could be so sure of that obvious fallacy, however, my words were objected in the worst possible way and I ended up with several unnecessary enemies in the capital of the Empire. I hope I'm guessing correctly and you're wondering what my point is, aren't you?" I nodded my head.

"Well, what I mean is that they all have heroes, that's for sure. My problem is not the typical discussion of who is the first hero, but why Nathaniel should be our only hero. There are rumors that the Demon King has its own heroes and is ready to attack at any moment. My idea can be dangerous, I know. If it backfires on us and the so-called heroes from another world end up being nothing more than genocidal psychopaths, there will be no future for us. However, I think it's reasonable to think that the same thing would happen if the Demon King and his troops win. Don't you think so?"

"Umm..." It was too much to process.

Geigar waited a moment for my answer, but since he didn't get anything from me and my idiotic face, he got bored and said goodbye.

The last time I saw him he offered me to be a part of his faction and I turned him down. Now I wonder if it was a good idea, but I understand that he is an enemy of the Kingdom, so I think it was the best I could do.

"Where are we?" a girl with a terrified face practically spat as she spoke.

"Ah yes, sorry, I was lost in thought." I corrected my posture, struck the most confident pose I could think of, and continued. "Emm... ok, yes, I can, ahem. Well, welcome to Aerthia-"

Suddenly, another girl started crying uncontrollably and another boy came up to her and said some words to her that I couldn't hear.

"I feel sorry for my friend. She's very sensitive, haha."

At first I thought that the adult woman was the leader of the group, but it seemed to be that boy. Anyway, I thanked him and spoke again.

"As I said, welcome to Aerthia. A wonderful, peaceful and prosperous planet and... what else?... Sigh" I accepted my defeat and gave up trying to sugarcoat the truth through empty words. "Sorry, but no. We humans are at war against the Demon King and his evil army. No one knows his weaknesses or where he originated from, so we hope that you will save us."

I was greeted by expressions of anger, sadness, and despair from the heroes. There were some who even laughed. Kind of weird, but I ignored it. Once again, the boy calmed them all down while laughing.

"Don't worry, I've seen this in many animes. Now we're supposed to get a power-up or a special ability, right?"

"I was hoping you guys already had one."

At this, I received even more cries of despair. Were heroes always this weak?

"Wait!" all eyes turned to the girl who proclaimed that word. "Are you seeing the same thing as me?"

'You're looking at the air. What is there supposed to be? The heroes I summoned seem to have serious mental problems.'

"I see it too!" exclaimed another boy.

"Me too! It's like a square with words like strength and such!"

"Exactly!"

I was completely lost. What the hell was going on in the heads of these heroes? I clapped as loud as I could to focus their attention on me.

“It seems that you are already more comfortable seeing whatever you are seeing. But, my question is… are you ready to fight the Demon King?”

The leader of the heroes walked forward and down the steps of the altar. I caught several looks against this action from his own teammates. Possibly from envy, something that should be fixed before it becomes a bigger problem. When the boy stood in front of me, he held out his hand. At that moment, I knew that he was going to stab me with a subtly guarded dagger, this was the power of heroes. Truly impressive. Even I couldn't figure it out. I quickly managed to back up out of sheer luck, I knew he wasn't going to give me another chance, so I got into an attack stance. Escape was not an option. I tried to read his movements, but came to only one conclusion. There was nothing to do. He could kill me in any way, he is a hero after all. Not even the Princess's Personal Guards could do anything against just one of them. However, when I was about to accept my death.

"Sorry for scaring you. I was just trying to shake your hand."

I moved my head to the side wondering what he was talking about.

"It's a greeting from our planet. A sign of mutual trust. You just have to hold my hand for a few seconds and you're done."

I cautiously approached him, keeping an eye on my surroundings. The Guards ready to fulfill the impossible task of, in the worst case, killing the heroes and saving humanity.

When we held hands the boy told me his name.

"I'm Adam White, and you?"

"...Halder Geldum."