Chapter 1

I Should Have Raised my Stealth

“You! Did you find anything?!”

“N-no, sir!”

“Damn it all! You aren’t trying hard enough then! Keep looking!”

“Y-you don’t think he was k-kidnapped, right?”

“Don’t say something so stupid! He’s the Hero of our nation, he defeated the Demon Lord single-handedly, there’s no way anyone would have been able to kidnap him!”

“O-of course!”

Ahh, thank you for your kind words, Mr. General, however I’m sure the words coming out of your mouth would be completely different if you knew my reasons for leaving.

That reminds me how that guy always tried to pamper me when I was training. That attitude of him definitely didn’t fit the fact that he looked like a bear with black hair, but you grow used to it after a while.

Now if only I could remember his name.

You can’t blame me though, have you tried remembering the names of every NPC? I can barely even remember my own at this point. One year of being called ‘Hero’ can really do wonders to your psyche.

Let’s forget about my bad memory though, and focus on the problem at hand, said problem being how to pass through these guys without getting recognized.

You see, apparently I had done some miscalculations, and instead of having until morning to leave the city before someone figured out I was gone, I had been forced to avoid guards merely one hour into my already failed escape plan.

I don’t even want to think about how they figured out I was gone this soon. That would mean someone came into my room pretty much at the middle of the night, and I doubt it was to play checkers.

They don’t have checkers here after all.

Avoiding the guards had been easy enough, even if the numbers and intensity of their search made it look as if they were looking for a serial killer; however the problem came with actually leaving the city now.

All the entrances are in lockdown you see, or at least that’s what I’ve heard from people on my way here, and there was no way I would be able to leave through there without getting caught.

It was still quite early though, so I had decided to hide and rethink my course of actions. Of course I chose the shadiest bar I was able to find for this. No way they would look at me in a place like this, right?

Well I was right, they didn’t, however it looks like my Luck stat is on negative numbers because a pair of guards had decided to station themselves at the entrance, and they were interrogating everyone that was entering or leaving the place.

And with Mr. General there, no way I would be able to just walk away.

I have a plan though.

This was a shady bar after all, filled with pretty much your typical low-life population. Combine that with the fact that I am, even if it kills me to admit it, the protagonist of this world’s story and, well, it was just a matter of time before…

“Hey pal, you new around this place? Don’t you know is customary for new guys to pay for everyone’s drinks? You stink of rich kid so I’m sure you won’t mind!”

And as my eyes met those of a bald, scarred, troublesome looking fellow, the only thing I could think of was that this barely thought off game-like world would never cease to disappoint me.

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Well that went better than expected. A little comment here, an insult there, and the whole bar started a brawl that would have made sailors jealous. Slipping out while the guards were trying to calm everyone was easy enough.

It didn’t help with actually getting out of the city, but at least I was outside now. The cloak hides my face so I also don’t have to worry about getting recognized by the general population.

It is quite weird actually, walking around without getting stared at by everyone. My status as  summoned Hero had been pretty much announced as soon as I got here after all, and after the first couple of months that I spent just training with the Kingdom’s army, it became pretty much normal for my team and I to become the center of attention anywhere we went.

No, wait; I definitely got cheated there too. All the attention was good at the start, and it definitely did wonders to my ego, but having to act like a proper Hero all the time had been the hardest part of the whole journey!

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I did try to act more like myself once during my quest though.

Long story short, my team performed an exorcism to take out the evil spirit that had apparently taken over my body.

Love you too team.

I was taken out of my thoughts by the unmistakable sound of galloping coming from behind me. I wasn’t the only that turned around because of the sound, for I could see the rest of the people that had been walking around the street also stopping and looking at the same direction.

It’s not like someone raiding a horse was a rare thing, especially on such a big street that connected to the North entrance of the Kingdom, however it looked like people had realized that something was going on with the amount of guards that had been deployed, so they were most certainly on edge.

I apologize for ruining your everyday life. I promise to get out of your business as soon as possible.

But as my eyes looked properly at the incoming figure, I noticed that it wasn’t a horse actually…

The thing had wings after all.

And the only person that I know that has a Pegasus here as a ride is…

Yep, that’s her alright. Blue eyes, long blonde hair tied in a ponytail, fair skin and a silver armor that showed her womanly lines for some reason, a girl on her early twenties that could definitely be considered a regal beauty.

That is none other than the Princess’s cousin, and also a teammate of mine, Lady Elena.

And boy does she looks angry. I don’t remember ever seeing such a scowl on her pretty face. Sure she got angry during our journey, but I could feel the heat on her gaze as soon as she passed by on her ride.

I pray for whatever poor bastard got her so angry.

...wait.

“West door it is then”

Yep, not getting close to that hot mess. I was sure that I could handle her, mind you, but that would mean having to act and I would like to not die from internal cringe today, thank you very much.

But then again…that was a Pegasus, one that only let two people ride it, one of them being me.

And to be fair, going from here to the West gate would take me at least one hour with how big this whole city is.

Well, I guess there’s a reason for why I maxed my Charisma skill first. Flying pony it is then.

Luckily for me following her tracks is as easy as it could get, after all she’s obviously going toward the North gate. I moved as fast as I could in this situation, for the last thing I wanted is for her to suddenly fly off with the ride I needed.

Why wasn’t she flying before then? Surely if she was looking for me it would be better to do it from above so you could cover more ground…

Whatever, it’s too early in the day to question the logic behind this half-assed game, especially since my eyes could see my ticket way out.

 The Pegasus was alone by itself, just to the side of where the guards were blocking the massive archway that is the North gate. It isn’t even tied to anything, looking to its side from time to time.

Even if the thing was extremely loyal, you shouldn’t just leave it like that, you know? Or else a bastard like me might come and take it for himself. How careless of her, she’s probably inside the walls or something since I wasn’t able to get a glimpse of her when I arrived.

Alright now I just need to get close without anyone noticing me. Easier said than done but hey, I’ve been doing well so far, so how hard could this one be?

Oh, it’s looking at me now, good, maybe I can make it come to me instead…

Wait, what are you doing, horsie? Please stop making so much noise; you will ruin our escape plan!

Great, now everyone is looking at me!

Stop trying to chew my cloak off, you… I’m sure this thing has a name, I just can’t remember it.

Damn it, at this rate she’s going to-

“Who’s there?!”

Oh, now you decide to stop?!

And now I could feel the tip of a sword right on my back, and I don’t have to be a genius to figure out whom it belongs to.

Alright, I might not have thought of this plan properly. Sorry mom, dad, girlfriend that is too good for me, I think it might take me a little longer to go back.

Let’s fix this before she actually impales me with that thing.

“Is that how you treat a friend?” you know, at this point I hated this smooth tone, but it certainly did the trick since I couldn’t feel the sword on my back anymore. That and the gasp I heard from behind pretty much tells me she recognized my voice.

I used that moment to turn around while removing the hood from my face. More gasps followed my action, only that this time it came from the soldiers around us, who were quick to kneel, the sound of metal clicking filling the area.

Please don’t do that, makes me feel kind of bad since I was just trying to escape.

“H-Hero!” this time it was Elena the one that spoke, her blue eyes looking straight at me, while I simply smiled, hoping it would hide the mental scream I was having.

Well, there goes my escape plan.

I blame this one on you.

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“You’re safe! You had me so worried; I thought some remnant of the demons had tried to do something to you”

Please don’t say that while hugging me, Princess, you’re making my barely existing conscience twitch in despair.

And please don’t look at me with teary eyes, almost as if expecting a kiss. Best I can give you is a pat on the head and that’s pushing it.

We are currently in the throne room just so you know, since I was pretty much dragged here by Elena and her stupid pony whose name I still don’t know. The only ones currently here were myself, the Princess and Elena, since with the two of us there isn’t any real need for bodyguards.

“What happened? Why did you left?”

Because if I spend one more day in this place I’ll fear that the damage you all have done to my common sense will become permanent?

Well I obviously can’t tell her that, and I could feel Elena’s gaze still on me so I obviously couldn’t avoid this. The rest of my team isn’t here since they are apparently still searching for me.

“You didn’t even take your sword” Elena followed those questions, getting me to look back at her “What could have mode you do something so foolish?”

Is this the good and bad cop thing? Because one is glaring and the other one looks like a kicked puppy.

First thing first though, lets cash up on that Charisma.

“I’m sorry for making you two worry, that’s the last thing I wanted to do”

If I got paid every time I had been forced to smile like this I would probably no live with my parents anymore. At least it got the wanted effect, as both blondes were now blushing, one looking away with a huff while the other one just hugged me tighter.

Yeah well, I can explain their reactions…

I mean I won’t since I have other things to attend to right now, but I can, and I swear I didn’t enjoy it one last bit.

“However let’s wait until everyone is gathered, there’s something everyone needs to know”

 I got reluctant nodes in response so at least I dodged a bullet there. One question remained though.

How am I going to bullshit my way around this?