“What?!” Clara exclaimed in disbelief. Coming from a world where such practices were a thing of the past, the revelation hit her hard. “Are these people insane?”

“Well, It’s not that far-fetched,” Jax interjected. “Think about it—we were summoned into a world that still has kings and queens which means they are somewhere during their medieval period. Our world went through a similar phase where slaves were used to build empires and kingdoms before transitioning to serfs, and eventually, free people. Add in mana, other races, and the threat of demons—it makes sense they’d still have slaves here.”

“What the hell are you even talking about?” Clara glared daggers at him. “You’re really just going to shrug this off? People are being chained up and forced to work like animals, and you think that’s fine? What if they plan to do the same to us?”

A tense silence fell over the group. Though they had some semblance of freedom, none of them could shake the feeling they were being kept here against their will. Since their arrival, they’d been confined to the castle grounds under the guise of training, and any information they received about the outside world was heavily filtered—most of it coming from Seno’s reconnaissance. It was hard not to feel like prisoners, and the missing summoned only heightened their suspicions.

George quickly stepped in to stop the argument. “We’re new to this world. We’re not here to change how it works—this is their world, not ours. Right now, our only goal is to find a way home, and to do that, we need to know if what the king and princess told us about about sending us back once the Demon King is defeated is the truth or not.”

He softened his tone but remained firm. “ I get it—you’re outraged. Since you were already an activist for human rights back in our world, it makes sense this bothers you. But we’re just a handful of people in a world with deeply ingrained systems. We can’t topple that on our own. Unless you plan to stay here and fight for the rest of your life, we’ll have to accept some ugly truths. Our priority right now is getting back home as soon as possible.”

Clara clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white, but she reluctantly nodded, knowing George was right.

“Seno, go ahead,” George prompted, signaling for him to continue.

Seno glanced around cautiously before speaking in a low voice. “I was able to avoid most of the guards, and what I found isn’t good. There are six other kingdoms besides Crown Almighty: Cranch, Thalassa, Canton, Regullus, North Wind, and Lipoe. However, it seems the threat of the demons are more over blown than we thought. The people here don't seem to actually worry about demon's attacking." George's brow furrowed the more he was hearing. "As for the other races, there are the Elves and Dwarves, who have their own territories, but the Lizardmen and Ylixers don’t have a homeland. Most of the slaves here are from those two races. And from what I gathered, the kingdom of Crown Almighty is basically the central hub for the entire slave trade.”

The weight of Seno’s words sank in, making all of them feel sick. The royals, who had seemed so desperate for their help on the first day, now appeared as nothing more than monsters manipulating them. The truth about the kingdom was worse than they could have imagined.

“What do we do next, George?” Seno asked after explaining all he had uncovered.

George stood in silent thought, piecing together their next move. On the surface, they could stay and gather more information—but time wasn’t on their side. They had already signed a contract with the kingdom, a contract that had yet to be used against them, but George had the sinking feeling it could be at any moment. There were more than one person that day who had second thoughts on signing the contract but in the face of self preservation, they had done so. In his mind, right now the royals were stalling, likely unsure of how to reveal the truth without causing a rebellion among the summoned.

“We need to make sure,” George finally said. “They've been holding information back from us. If we move now—while they’re still unsure how to deal with us—we have the best chance to expose them. ”

"Isn't that too risky?" Clara asked. "What if they decide to kill us to shut us up?"

"Then you should all do your best to escape if you can. However, there are questions I need answered. They could've taken us prisoner the moment we arrived but didn't. I believe they need us for something so I don't think they'll do anything to us yet. However, if we continue to operate in the dark we will be in more danger later on."

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His team exchanged wary glances but nodded in agreement. They didn’t have all the answers yet, but it was clear—they couldn’t wait for the royals to pull the strings any longer. They had to act before they were caught in a lie too big to escape.

He turned to Seno and asked, "What about that person who escaped?" He was referring to Haru.

"He's still alive I think. My [Path finder] skill led me outside of the city when I tried to use him as my end point. I don't know where he is but the route changed several days ago which means he is still moving and not just a corpse."

George nodded. In his mind, that confirmed that the royals had simply let Haru go, not realizing it was because Haru had already left before they could touch him.

He turned back to Clara and Jax. "If I do go missing, make sure to do what you can to escape and if you ever get back home…" He handed them both a note. "… please."

They both nodded and George turned back to Seno.

"Can you take me to the princess?"

"Yes."

…

Sunlight streamed through the windows of Princess Reina's study, illuminating the numerous bookshelves and the large oak desk where she sat. Her brow furrowed as she scanned through several documents. Her hand, which gracefully moved across the parchment, paused as she sighed.

"And?" she asked without looking up. Standing opposite of her, the two mentors stood. Seraphina, the sleek, raven-haired woman with her bangs covering one eye, and Ren, the ever-relaxed mentor. They had returned from observing the summoned and made their report.

Seraphina spoke first. "As expected, the two [Destiny of the Hero] holders share traits similar to the original wielder of the skill. Although the Summoned have mostly arrived with skills not common in our world, the [Destiny of the Hero] seems unchanged since Emanuel the Brave.

Ren chimed in with a more thoughtful tone. “Both of them, even after just a month, have completed their magic circuits naturally. They’re using aura without even realizing how advanced that is for someone so new to this world. The skill is essentially guiding their progress at an accelerated pace. The others are also improving well due to the presence of the skill as well. We believe it won't be long until the secondary effect of the skill will start taking effect.

Princess Reina listened intently, her fingers lightly tapping the desk. “Since the time of Emanuel, the world had never again seen the [Destiny of the Hero] skill again, yet now, there are two who came with it," she mused, her gaze drifting to the window where the evening sun cast a golden hue. “Perhaps it’s a sign that troubling times are still ahead."

"It certainly seems that way. We will continue to monitor the Summoned hero's. If their skills continue to develop at this rate, they’ll soon be ready to take on the demons and not a moment too soon."

Reina nodded and dismissed the two.

As the door closed behind them, Reina continued to sign some of the documents in front of her when she suddenly spoke out, "Hero George, you can come out now."

“You can come out now,” she said calmly.

From the shadowed corner of the room, George and Seno emerged. George appeared before her, a note of surprise on his face.

“How did you know we were here?” he asked tensely.

"The palace has many hidden tunnels known only to the royal family, in case of emergencies," she explained calmly. "This room has three. We’ve placed detection artifacts at each entry point. If someone enters through one of those passages, we know. I'm guessing you used the [Path finder] skill to find one to meet me. " There wasn’t a hint of malice or anger in her voice, which George found unsettling. Instead, she seemed unfazed by their sudden appearance, almost as if she had expected them.

"Though," she added, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips, "I can’t say I appreciate you taking the back door. If you wanted to speak with me, you could’ve just asked."

George’s eyes narrowed slightly. "I tried. They kept telling me you were too busy."

Reina sighed, leaning back in her chair. "I apologize for that. We summoned you here, and yet I haven’t done my part to address your concerns properly. Unfortunately, my father has been away, attending an important meeting with the Holy Maiden, Demetria. As a result, many of his duties have fallen to me." Her voice softened. "I hope you understand."

George stepped forward with an eager step. "I don’t understand." His voice was firm. "When you first summoned us, you and the king told us we were brought here to defeat the demons threatening the human realm. But since then, we've been kept under close watch, restricted to the castle grounds, and all we've done is train. You’ve left out important details—like the fact that this kingdom enslaves the other races, or that the threat from the demons isn’t even a threat to the people here. And now, we haven’t seen the others who were separated from us since the first day." He locked eyes with her, his expression hard. "Before I do anything more, I need answers."

The princess sighed heavily, her shoulders visibly dropping as she rose from her desk. She walked towards the window which overlooked the city and leaned against the window frame. Her gaze wandered over the bustling city below, the capital’s main streets filled with people, unaware of the conversation unfolding.

"You're right, we've haven't been forth coming with you all. We had been afraid you would turn us away had you known the full truth. We've been selfish, expecting you to help us solve our problems and you deserve the truth." She turned to face him, their eyes locked. "Let me tell you the history of the human race."