'I can't believe how stupid everyone is. Only four people, really, why do they trust that strange King so much?' was what the amber-eyed beauty from amongst Lone's former student's thought to herself. Thanks to her power, she had been able to identify four other people besides herself that also thought the King of Milindo, Ralph Zinc, was deceiving them.
However, she knew that even without her power, she would never believe what the people surrounding her were saying, purely because it was obviously a hoax. Looking at how Lone had killed the Duke would usually lead one to believe Ralph's narrative, but it was only that, a narrative. Again, due to her power, she had discovered that Lone had killed Oswald Fenton out of anger for enslaving and trying to sell one of his kin, which while not worthy of death in most people's opinions, it was certainly more reasonable than the weak explanations the King had given them.
"Have you still not discovered a fighting style that suits you, Hazel?" a sudden voice asked the amber-eyed girl which pulled her out of her thoughts. She immediately recognised the owner of the voice, although, Hazel wished that its owner had never even approached her, let alone speak to her.
"Ah, Prince Andrew?" Hazel asked emotionlessly. She then turned her head to see the well-dressed and handsome young man approaching her. She was currently in the shared training hall of the palace and was just taking a break after trying out several more of the weapons available for use.
'I wonder what he's thinking about today. More useless rubbish I'd bet,' Hazel thought before she subconsciously used the power she had been granted upon her arrival on Altros.
Due to the host being a summoned hero, gained Unique Skill: Unique Skill: Eye of Truth Effect 1: Allows the host to view the thoughts of other beings [toggleable] Effect 2: Allows the host to identify all lies and discern the truth of all situations Restriction 1: Can only be learnt by the host, Hazel Brightmoon Restriction 2: Can only be used while the host has an entirely pure heart Mastery: Not available due to the nature of the skill
'Useless girl. Why won't you just stop being so cold to me and accept becoming my first wife? Perhaps it really is time to just force myself on her? Then father would have to drive her to marry me or else it would ruin our family's reputation and possibly even shake our royal position. Hmm... ' such was the Prince's line of thinking. It would seem that all he was thinking about right now was ways to get Hazel into his bedsheets.
Indeed, he like many others was infatuated by Hazel's beauty and wished to own her as a trophy which was the cause behind her cold attitude towards the Prince.
"I was wondering if I could possibly assist you in your training?" Andrew asked the girl with some eagerness clear in his voice. Naturally, Hazel checked his true thoughts. 'No matter how many of the other female Heroes I 'trained' with, surely they wouldn't possibly match up to Hazel.'
Andrew's thought lined up with exactly what she assumed was going on. This was the final nail in the coffin for her. It would seem that the Prince had corrupted several, if not all of her fellow students, so it was time for her to finally implement her plan.
"Thank you, but I've already finished my training. I think I'll retire for today," Hazel replied before she immediately stood up and left. In the corner of her eyes, she could see several of her fellow students looking at her disdainfully while Prince Andrew was visibly gnashing his teeth in frustration.
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'He's getting more forceful, and I think people are catching on to the fact that I'm not 'one of them'. Guess it's time to find Mr McCullen,' Hazel thought while she increased the pacing of her steps. It had been four weeks since they were summoned here and it would seem that Hazel could no longer avoid leaving the capital.
She soon reached her room and waited. Recently she and the four other people she trusted had been meeting in her room in the evenings to discuss things and go over possible escape plans, although one of their member's abilities made escaping fairly easy, but it never hurt to over plan and have other options.
'I wonder how he's doing? His pudge is all gone, and it looks like he's started being more honest with himself. I want to see him again so badly. I want to meet his lover, his child, his accepted beings. Mr McCullen, We'll do our best over here, so please, don't be angry when you hear what I have to say to you,' Hazel said internally with a smile on her face. After gaining her power, the truth behind Lone's and her own situations was revealed in their entireties to her. What those truths were, only Hazel knew.
Hazel was soon pulled out from her ponderings by her bedroom door being opened. A very short girl with long blonde hair had entered her room. She was wearing a witches robe and had a comically oversized witches hat to match it.
"Ah, Alisa! You look so cute in that outfit!" Hazel exclaimed in joy. She was honestly rather fond of cute things, and Alisa was an exceedingly adorable existence. In her excitement, Hazel had jumped up from the seat she was sitting on and proceeded to hug Alisa in a very abrasive manner.
"Mmmm! H-Hazel, air... I need air..." Alisa moaned while she tried to squirm out of Hazel's grasp. Unfortunately, she was very weak physically and hence was always caught by Hazel and forced into these death cuddles.
"Ah! S-Sorry. I lost myself, but it's your fault for being so cute!" Hazel claimed in her defence. The young-looking girl was indeed exceedingly cute. She was a Russian transfer student back in their school, hence her overly European face and broken accent.
"Yeah, you are very cute, Alisia," a new voice said. Its owner was the slightly muscular boy who had also spoken up for Lone along with Hazel during their initial induction. He was very average looking except for the numerous freckles that littered his face and his short ginger hair.
"Ha-ah... ha... .my... my name is Alisa," the short girl said amidst her ragged breathing. It was apparent that she was still trying to regain her breath. However, she never failed to retort the boy's way of addressing her since it was incorrect and one of the few things she hated was being called something or someone that she wasn't.
Hazel smiled warmly at this exchange of her two friends. The boy was called Scott and his reasoning to join Hazel's faction of sorts was that he wanted to return to Earth and he knew how these situations turned out usually. The Heroes kill the Demon Lord but the King or God has no way to return the heroes to their worlds, or they betray them. So after Hazel had explained to him how the best possibility to get back to Earth was to get Lone's help as opposed to anyone else which after some thought, Scott could only agree.
Alisa, on the other hand, was only here due to the fact that she was excellent friends with Hazel and naturally believed everything that she said since to everyone's knowledge, Hazel had never once told a lie in her life. It was a shame that this fact had been ignored by most of the people surrounding her, but from a practical perspective, Alisa was the single most important person as far as the group's escape plan was concerned.
"Well, enough jokes. All the students are here, but what about the other two?" Hazel asked the still squabbling pair, Scott and Alisa. They stopped momentarily and were about to speak before Hazel's door was opened one last time. Standing in its frame were two young adults.
"Welcome, George, Emma. It's finally time to leave," Hazel happily stated to the two people who were already familiar with Lone. Indeed, it was the son and daughter of the two Dukes, George Leston the Third and Emma Malik.
"Oh, yay! We finally get to see the charming Foxkin again!" Emma almost shouted in an excited tone. George simple remained quiet.
Despite the way he acted most of the time, and his lazy attitude, George was far from foolish. He was honestly ashamed of his father for being so invested in this manhunt against Lone, and George thought that if there were ever a time to prove himself to the world, it would be now. He would demonstrate that he was no coward and that he will always stand on the side of what is truly right, not what is truly convenient.
Unfortunately, Emma genuinely seemed to be here purely for fun and for a possible romantic encounter with Lone. It was almost as if she had yet to grasp the full gravity of the situation.