As soon as the throne room doors closed behind the four heroes and Princess Elara who was accompanying them, Archmage Elowyn, the top archmage in the Eldoria Kingdom, threw a soundproof barrier around the throne room and voiced her opinion.
"Your Majesty, the summoning must have failed. I apologize for being unable to live up to the summoning standards of our ancestors."
"Clearly, the archmages of the past exceeded the caliber of the archmages today. However, to think that all of them would have only one skill each, and for one of them to have that skill be mere language mastery…"
King Thorian sighed. Forget the 6 to 8 skills that the heroes of the past received; for the summoned four to have only one was a conundrum. As noted in even children's history books on the continent, demonic war efforts would ramp up as soon as the Demon Lord noticed the plummet in atmospheric mana concentration that was characteristic of the hero summoning.
"Your Majesty, I have a proposal."
"Speak, Archmage Elowyn."
"Your Majesty, I propose that we present the demons with the heads of the heroes. Their war effort might even slow down once they make the connection that there will be no way for us to summon more heroes until the mana concentration rises again."
To Archmage Elowyn's proposal, King Thorian stroked his brown goatee as he pondered her suggestion. Archmage Elowyn, with her sharp features and archmage robes that were customized to look as formal as possible, with black and brown colors only, had a personality to match. Her proposal carried zero empathy for the heroes that carried no sin, and she was the quickest to recover from the disappointment of the summoning out of the seven archmages.
"No. Although it is true that these heroes will be extremely unlikely to strike down the demon lord, they should still be able to deal enough damage to offset the ramped-up war efforts of the demons. If we were to offer them the heroes' heads, the possibility exists that the demons may further accelerate the war, in order to capitalize on what might look like a defenseless humanity to them, and also reduce the preparation time of the next summoned heroes as much as possible. Therefore, giving up the heroes would be unwise. However, this does not mean we will provide these heroes with the extravagant support they have been historically granted."
The politically well-versed archmages were able to detect the nuance in King Thorian's words. The heroes would be presented with room and board and would be forced to get stronger without financial support, aside from the minimum of training for appearances sake, to show the nobles. The number of people that would be informed would be minimized as well, so that the reveal of the fake heroes would pleasantly surprise the populace.
When the heroes inevitably perished, the truth about them would be revealed, and the heroes would be cast aside as people eagerly waited for the 'real' heroes.
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Truly a pitiful fate. Though, none in the throne room at the moment pitied them.
-
"So… how long is this translation spell going to last?"
Noah couldn't help but try to start a conversation with Princess Elara, whom he was walking behind, along with the three others. She was probably the cutest girl Noah had ever laid eyes upon. With natural brown doe eyes that gently arched downwards, long brown hair that reached her waist in a thick dutch braid, and a blue princess dress that didn't hide her figure, she certainly didn't fail to live up to the title of princess. It was like an instinct engraved in Noah to engage in conversation with a pretty woman. Not doing so felt like blasphemy. Also, Noah really was curious about the translation spell as well.
"It was cast by an archmage, so the spell will probably last a few days. Make sure you request a spell renewal before it expires! Haha! Ha!"
Emma, ever the extrovert, was first to pick up on the Princess's nervous tone. With a casual hop forward, her waist-length, untied blonde hair fluttered as she hooked her arm around that of the princess, and spoke with a mischievous glint in her eye and a smirk, as if they had been friends for years
"Ellie, you seem a tad nervous, do we scare you?"
"E-Ellie? Hero Emma, i- if you wish to address me in that fashion, I- I certainly wouldn't be opposed to it, and I see n- no reason why I should be nervous! Haha!"
Princess Elara's adorable cheeks flushed with a deeper and deeper shade of red, with her eyes resembling pinballs in a pinball machine as she spoke.
"Em, I think you're scaring her…"
"Mia, you're always far too gentle with this dumbass. Em, turn around."
"Huh? Wh- Oy! Is this how you treat a fair maiden? This is why you'll be a virgin forever!"
Compared to Mia's gentle rebuttal, Noah flicked Emma's forehead as she turned around with her arm still linked to the Princess, cutting her off mid-sentence. To Emma's protest, Noah dealt a finishing blow.
"If this dumbass is a fair maiden, my cat's piss would be holy water."
As Princess Elara looked at Noah, saucer eyed, Emma rolled her eyes, throwing a line back at him, then sticking out her tongue.
"Well, since you're my second cousin, you have my genes, so if I'm ugly you're ugly too."
"Pfft- Hahaha, hahahaha!"
Princess Elara mysteriously burst into laughter and used her arm not linked with Emma to wipe away a tear that had formed as her giggles turned into a wide smile.
"I didn't expect the legendary heroes to be so…normal."
"Sorry if we don't live up to your expectations…"
Mia grumbled with a pouty expression.
"No no, that's not what I meant; I had just read so much about the legendary heroes, who were supposed to be so stoic and intimidating, it's just refreshing to know that it wasn't necessarily the case."
"...Are we really supposed to be that special?"
To Evan’s question, Princess Elara's expression brightened up, clearly excited to talk about the ancient heroes that had saved the world in the past.
"Well you see…"
A few hours later, Noah lay down on a bed that felt oddly comfy, letting his fringe of black hair droop slightly past his eyebrows.
His eyelids covered his black eyes as he let the memories of the day drift around his mind. Having his childhood friends by his side was his only solace at the moment.
Just 24 hours ago, it would have been unimaginable that he would never see his mom, or his cat, who he had found in an alleyway, dirty and unkempt, when he was on the way back from elementary school with Emma, Mia, and Evan. As he drifted into a dreamless rest, a single tear escaped his closed eye.