Chapter 8
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Parker POV
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“Hello. Good evening senior heroes.” 2 twins greet us. Wait a second. We are not at the wrong house, aren’t we?
“So, who are you?” Nana quickly asked
“My name is Riki.”
“I am Riko. Pleased to meet you.”
“So, what’re about senior heroes?” I asked them.
“The king didn’t tell you? We are your juniors. My name is Riki ashfallen. And he is Riko Ashfallen. We are also from another world, just like you. Wait, you knew us, right? I mean, in that bus, we were behind you.” after that, everyone looked at me.
“Hmm, now that you mentioned it, that seemed to be right. I vaguely remember two boys sitting behind me. So, you guys got transported too. But why only now have you transferred here? Why we haven’t met at the castle?”
“We were transported to the outskirts of the country, in some rural villages. It took time for the kingdom to transport us to the castle. “
“Alright. My name is Parker Hasegawa. Pleased to meet you.”
“Nana Kaoru. Nice to meet you.”
“Chloe Ignis. Hello”
“Hart Tristan. We are comrades from now on. Please drop that senior thing! We are just 2 days apart.” Hart said while laughing a little
“Will Stanford. Nice to meet you.”
“Ahh, there are other 2 people here. Mister John and Nita. They are currently in their bedroom. I want to sleep too after this. We are exhausted. Bye, Parker. Help us with some studies, okay?”
“Sure.” I nodded while wondering how to help them study. All of us are practically new here. Ultimately, we just have our late dinner, bathe, and sleep.
“Parker?” a soft knock came.
“Yes? Who is it?” I said while opening the door. Stood in front of the door is Stella with her negligee.
“It’s me.”
“Huh? Stella? Why did you come?”
“I want to consult you about something.” She said while gazing her eyes at me. Now that I have taken a close look, she is gorgeous.
“Huh?” I asked, looking dumbfounded. If we are from the same nation and culture, a girl coming into a guy’s bedroom at night is usually for confession? But she has amnesia, right? Wait for a second. What she did just now is the same as what I did yesterday, right? Does she have some worries that she wants to share? Or are some of her memories back?
“May I come in?”
“Ahh, sure. come in.” I said while allowing her to enter. And closed the door. She messed my desk up a little, looking for paper, and sat on the floor with a pen.
“Please sit here.” She pointed across. I just did what she told me without much question. Her attitude is getting more mysterious by the minute.
“Hmm, how should I start...” she pondered for a while.
“Just speak all in your thought. I will listen to it.” I said while smiling. I owe her a favor, so I will return it now.
“Hmm. This day, I went to the freelancer guild. I hired a reader... it was not just reading quests. But also several books there. They have several manuals for beginners.....” she said with a lot of hesitation. It’s like she was wondering if she really should tell me. This is getting me more curious.
“Yes? And?”
“I also looked at the map of this kingdom. Comparing it to the former one....” so, she now also has the gist of our burden. She might have encouraged me back then but felt disheartened after looking at it herself.
“Well, we will get through it. I am sure.” I replied
“It is kind of weird.” Alright, now I am confused. Should have guessed that she wasn’t looking for comfort or encouragement. Now, what is it?
“And? Which part is weird?”
“This is current. This is the former. Weird, right?” she drew on the paper. She got me. I don’t understand what she is saying. But looking back at her article, the detail was frightening. It seems about 90% similar to the castle.
“Sorry. I don’t get it.”
“Hmm, I wonder. When I look at this map. It just strikes me as odd to me. I thought you could explain it.” she said. Please don’t expect something like that. What am I? A fortune teller? A scientist? I am not even a full-blown politician yet.
“Let’s see, the map here is bigger, huh? The other countries are included. And also their former territory. Half-human are the most critical. They are almost completely destroyed. But I can’t find any illogical meaning in it. Half-human is suffering due to their territory spread like this. Angels are at the furthest. So they are perfectly safe. Elves have taken several bruises on their territory, but it is nothing major. The one in peril is us, and possibly half-human. Looking at this might hold some clues about war. Maybe we can ask for aid from the elves. And full cooperation with the half-human. Is this about politics?” I tried to give my petty analysis. I am not a war strategist. How do you expect me to understand something that you don’t
“Hmm, i... am not sure.” she mumbled “abandoned territories.... forts? Human casualties? No, something is weird... it is not that, but....”
“Well, weird or not, our goal will not change. If you ask me, when we graduate, we will start to strike here, and then here, and here, and trying to....” now I get a terrible feeling. Chills run down every part of my body.
“Parker?” She asked. she looked at my face, which turned pale.
“Now. This is some kind of situation......”
“Yes?”
“What is our contract with the kingdom again?”
“To free them from demons?”
“Is it to free just humans or.... all of this former other nation’s territory? Our scope of work just added by more than twice. or worse, will they ask us to annihilate demons in their area too?” I can’t hide my despair now that I just realized it. Let alone 5 years. We might take 10 or even 15 years if we tried to free all this area. Damn it, do they not intend to free us after all? I might have become a middle-aged man by the time we completed our mission.
“Is this what you were worried about, Stella?” I asked
“Hmm, I don’t know. I feel there is some part about that, but that’s not all.” She replied. When I looked at the paper again, tears almost fell from my eyes. Now what, we returned after 10 years? Is there any faster method? I must think about this.
“Stella... please help me in the future, okay?” I pleaded. She might have amnesia, but she might overturn the battlefield. She did not have talents, but I believe she also had the brains to do it. I sincerely hope so.
“Huh? Sure. I will try my best.” She said while looking worried at me. But she still looked at the map. So is there another catch on this? Please let it end. If I hear any more bad news, I might cry right now.
“Thank you, Stella. I will keep this map. I will try to think up a plan so we can return faster. You also help, okay?”
“Okay.” She nodded. How shameful. Instead of me encouraging her, she inspires me again. I need to get back on my feet.
“Okay, and I have some other thing to say.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“When I browsed the book and the quest, a shady-looking man came to me. He asked me if I needed information. I asked about summoning heroes, but he put 5 kg of titanium for that information. So I gave up.” She said. This girl has some luck and skills. I am amazed each time she tells me something.
“Do you know his name?”
“He tells me his name is Mister Crawfish? But isn’t it a weird name?”
“Probably just an alias. He is what you call an information broker. I can’t imagine you meeting someone like him so fast.” I commented. My face turned happy for a moment. If this guy is capable, we might be able to steal the kingdom’s summoning technique and go home alone. Our aim is now 5 kg of titanium. It might be easier than freeing all these territories. Though I do not doubt that it will still take up years. We must not let the kingdom know that we tried to amass a fortune after all. How should we collect this number in the first place? Should we just work in the freelancer guild? I can worry that later, we can even blackmail someone. My father told me that there is no right or wrong in politics. Just legal or not. And hidden or not. We can do this.
“Thanks, Stella.”
“You are welcome. I am glad to be able of some help.” She said as she stood up, leaving my bedroom. Should I thank her or hate her for bringing such news? In politics, you should be thankful for any information, even though it is terrible. So, I should thank her, right? But my worries increased once again.
ß---------à
“Hello, my name is Nita perwita”
“My name is John Sebastian.”
“Hello.” We replied to the new heroes besides Riki and Riko this morning. While they introduced themselves, we walked through the main hallway again for a lesson. In the class we received today, they were pretty overwhelmed. It is no wonder since they were left behind by 2 days. We tried to help them, and with much effort, they finally got it. We met some other students in the hallway, and they mostly ignored us, but it was not to the extent of bullying. They seemed more like they feared us. They still respond to us when we call them, though. Is this the society here? It looks like upper noble has a tag’ caution! Do not approach them, and we were included on that list, huh?
And so, I talked to some of them, but it seems like our current powers are not disclosed yet. When I asked Sera, she advised us to hide it. I agree with them. But when I see the students asking for a match or permission to look at our practice, I don’t know how to reject them. Today, Miss Sera taught us the alphabet. It is not the alphabet. Actually, it is more like characters used in this world and how to read them. They say as long as we know how those characters sounded, the translation earrings will do the rest. We can now read the books provided to us. Now, this is very interesting.
As for Stella, Whoa!! She stared open-wide at the teacher this time. She even asked questions regarding the characters. How unlike her. Well, we knew what she was after, so everyone only gave a small laugh. She can be pretty cute sometimes. But really, there are more than 100 characters here. I need at least 2 weeks to memorize this. No, I can’t relax. Our life depended on this. Even though Stella said there are many illiterate people in this world, it doesn’t mean we can be illiterate forever. I will memorize and put this into practical use in 1 week, no, 3 days.
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Stella POV
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With the characters sheet in hand, I went to the library. Even though it is already sunset and we should go home and do some self-study, I want to read some books in the library. The library will close 4 hours after sunset. So it is okay if I stay a bit late.
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“Excuse me.”
“Welcome.” The librarian politely welcomed me.
With that simple greeting, I quickly walked towards some random shelves.
“Hmm... megiik” Ahh, it was translated as magic in my head. So this is what they mean. Okay, so this shelf is related to general magic. This one is history, math, and literature in one place. Now, where should I start? I lost my memories. What preferences do I have before? And besides, here is an entirely different world. Even if I remember my preferences, it is different here. Let’s rely on instinct. Or not... what topic should I be after? Magic roles? This is quite interesting. And after that, is this, and this. Let’s not pick too many. 4 should be enough, right? I want to read here, but it is getting late for dinner. I should go back now, or I will get scolded again.
“umm, I want to borrow this. May I?”
“Reading is free, but you need a membership fee if you want to borrow. It is 5 grams of silver.”
“Here.” I handed him 5 silver. Now I am down to 5 silver only from my first job.
“Usually, it took around 5 days to make the membership. We need to confirm your identity. But you are one of the heroes, right? Therefore, you may borrow it now. Please come here again in 3 days to pick up your membership card. And return the book in less than a week, okay? Or you will get fined for it. Is there any question regarding the rules?”
“No. Thank you”
“Ahh, that’s a hero.”
“She borrows books. Is she an intellectual type?”
“She should go out and kill monsters already. Why are they still loitering here?’
When I passed, several whispers could be heard. I guess we are not quite liked here, huh? What can I do about it? It is the order from the king. Let’s just pass quickly. They spoil the mood.
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Parker POV
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“Hah...” after taking a bath, I went to my table instantly. In my hand is a character sheet Miss Sera gave us. Using some random lecture book, I read the word little by little. But if I read it wrong, the translation crystal will translate it wrong too. For example, the sound meit will be translated as a mate. If I make the sound meid it will be translated as made, and maid I will have to work my way out of these homonyms.
“Hahh...” I made another sigh. Studying always felt boring, whatever world you are in. I am reading books and writing the essential parts on paper. I didn’t do this even on the other side.
So, this is the book about general magic, this one is a spellbook, and this one is several techniques about warriors. Even if I read them, I can’t understand them. They are filled with some unknown words. I have to ask our teachers about this. Wait, if I think more clearly, can’t we even finish all of this? Even my schoolbook is only half as thick as this one. And, there is an even more disturbing thing. Even though we are here only for a few days, they have gone over 2 chapters in a single meeting. No matter how you see it, isn’t it too fast? Are they even expecting us to read these materials? If we continue at this pace, our lesson will be finished in 3 months. They are really in a rush to skip our class like this. There are not many written tests in this world, and most are practical ones. They focused more on practice than theory.
So, technically, one doesn’t even need to be able to read to graduate. As long as his results are good enough. Though it is incomprehensible to us, this world university’s lecture is primarily a combat one. You just need to show off your power in front of an instructor, and you will have 70% of your score. Reading books like this will make up the additional 30%.
“No, I can’t cut any corners. Our lives depend on even a single technique from this book. We might get left behind. We must at least try to absorb as many things as possible.” I murmured to myself. While trying to read little by little. As I read, my thought wandered off somewhere.
ß-----------à
“Hey, Parker. What happened to you? Your face looks like a corpse.” Hart greeted me in the morning.
“I studied. You don’t?” I looked towards the heroes group. All of them feel refreshed. How can you feel refreshed after trying to read 50 pages from each of our lesson books? That’s over 200, I tell you. And it is more complicated than those light novels for entertainment. I haven’t even finished half of them because I haven’t memorized the characters used. I need to look at character sheets over and over.
“Well, I tried to read a little.” Nana tried to make some excuses. “But, it is tough. I think I will need over a month or so to memorize the characters. I can’t go past 10 pages.”
“Umm, well, I did too. Just a little.” Hart and Chloe looked the other way. His lie is self-evident. I knew from his behavior that he was a muscle brain. But Chloe, you too?? And the twin looked the other way without even trying to make some excuses. John and Will somewhat read a few ten pages. They don’t seem to lie. While Nita is... Ahh, don’t look at her. It seemed like she was about to cry. I haven’t even accused her of anything!
“You guys..... “I feel stupid for being the only one studying so hard. It’s like being honor students in the class; after they studied so hard and did their homework, their notebook was copied by the entire class.
“Hmm? Where is Stella?” Nana looked somewhere.
“Ahh, she is more of an Honor student than our Parker. Maybe she is lying dead somewhere after reading the entire material,” Hart said.
“Well, that seemed like one of the possibilities.” Nana gave a dry laugh while scratching her cheek
“You guys need to know your limit. Your life will be short at this rate.” Will advise us while walking towards Stella’s room with the others. I am doing this for our sake, you know. Your way of speaking is very insulting.
“Stella, it’s morning. Are you awake yet?” Nana knocked on the door. “Stella?”
“The door isn’t locked.” The twin holds the door knob.
“That’s impolite, you know!”
“We are just taking a peek. It’s not like she is in the middle of changing, right?” the twin blinked at each other. They have a kid mentality. Don’t they know what privacy is?
“Now, let’s see. Ahh, there she is. “
“I should have known,” Nana said. Looking at the sleeping Stella. She slept using an opened book as a pillow on her desk. Is she forcing herself to read those books like me?
“Hmm....”
“Hey, don’t stare!” Nana gave me an icy-cold stare towards me. I just left her and the room with a pretty bitter feeling.
“Let her sleep. We will wake her up after we all take a bath.” I announced, and they all accepted it.
“She didn’t need to use characters sheet anymore,” I whispered to no one. She has remembered every character on the list and can use it fluently. Moreover, she seemed to have another book outside of our curriculum. Has she read all of it? No, it is impossible. No human can read 5 books with over 500 pages each in a single night. So, how many has she read? Wait, why do I feel this irritated? It’s no business of mine what she read. What’s this annoying feeling?
30 minutes later, we had all changed, and Stella was forcefully woken up by Nana. She was in a horrible state when she crashed into the bathroom door. Can she take a class like this? I bet she will fall asleep in the lesson. But again, she is a genius. She might manage the course by herself.
“Hmm...” I feel dizzy. This monster class was incredibly dull. The sleeping spell chanted by the teacher seemed to lull me to sleep. My eyes felt heavier by the minute. No, if I fell asleep, I would be a laughing stock. I can’t fall asleep.
“Miss Stella!” The teacher yelled. “If you fell asleep inside a class, why did you attend in the first place? Sorry, but I do not appreciate it. “
“Sorry, sir.”
“Well, if you can explain what pages 52 are about, I will forgive you.”
“Hmm. It is about the ecology of some monster named frying pan.”
“Pfft.” Nana and Chloe hold out their laugh while smiling. The class also laugh. My sleepiness flies away in an instant. I quickly looked at the book, the name was funny, but she wasn’t wrong. The name really is translated as frying pan. Mistake in spaces? Or is it just a word without meaning? Names do not have to be translated, you know.
“Huh? are you making fun of me? It is fura ingpaan. “
“Huh?” Stella tilted her head while looking closely at the book. “Ahh, sorry. I read it wrong. So, this Fura monster is habituated in the woods. Their shape is like a monkey’s. They are usually docile, but when they come near the forest, they become a pest for farmers. And so they are usually annihilated only if they come near human residents. A party of around 20 to 30 is usually gathered to exterminate them.”
“That’s from the book. Now I will ask you again. How many of these monsters are in one community?”
“Around 50 to 100.”
“Hmm, good. Where did you get that info?”
“It’s in the book in the library.” After she said that, the teacher went into a smile
“I see. Well, everyone, now you see why we need a party of around 30 people to annihilate this creature, right? Though they are quite docile, they hunt or defend themselves in groups. They usually flee when they know they are outnumbered. But who knows, they might fight to the last one, so a little attention is needed, especially for beginners. You may sit, Miss Stella.”
And the class continued. My sleepiness was gone, but Stella sometimes dozed off again. She was called by the teacher, but she answered it all correctly. To my surprise, the teacher was happy about it, and he played fair. The question was never that hard. If this was in our world, she might earn the ire of teachers. It is a difficult life there if you show that you are better than your teachers.
“I am sleepy.” Stella walks in a wobbling manner. Seeing her half-closed eyes bring me to sleepiness too. I need to stop looking.
“Huaah... seeing your face made me tired too. Damn it. I will need to blow up some fuse with Bane now.” Hart commented while trying to slap himself awake.
The lesson went well this time. Just like some days ago, Stella and Will were kicked out of the training ground for warriors. John and Nita were kicked out as well. But, unlike Stella, they are stubborn and ask Richard to coach them instead. Stella chose to go back to her room. She won’t wander off to the town again, right? It is dangerous, you know.
That was the end of this day. As I returned home from being beaten by Sigil, we found Stella in her room this time. She was asleep on top of her books again. Did she find something in those books? But what she brought is some kind of spell book for a more advanced user. And the other is just a monster book and general knowledge. I am interested in general knowledge. But Sigil and Sera already taught them, aren’t they?