He tricked me…

If they have carbonara here, then Keith surely was already planning to prepare it! He could’ve told me or at least done it in a day I could actually enjoy my food instead of when I’m stuck in this hellhole.

A hole filled with a few hundred people and none of them wants to enjoy the damn food... Such a waste.

Heck, if at least this was a tame banquet like the one the day I was summoned, but nooooo, full-on ball a moment after I accepted to help the king. I didn’t even know this castle had such a big room and most of what I do is wander around!

Packing this many people somewhere and thinking that I could eat something properly was ludicrous at best. Especially with this many unknowns and straight-up foreigners. Everyone was either talking in their circles or hounding Mr. Hero while I was forgotten in some corner hearing their whispers about me. And all the king and his queen were doing was watching the whole thing from the back of the room.

In summary, too many people I knew nothing about and no place to hide from their prying eyes while still being ignored somehow…

I know it is due to the hair and the clothes, okay! What can I do about it?! Changing characters without my wardrobe, hairstyler, and make-up set is impossible, so I have to stick with what I have.

There were other blondies around, of course, but I’m on another level. I also refused to wear the full ball setup since I couldn’t fix the thing by myself and having someone help me would be troublesome, so there was that too. No one is allowed to see me before I'm ready to leave my room, and that's final. My clothes are shorter than usual and more like some outside leisure set with some extras.

But anyway, such a waste of good food…

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still packing this stupid white plate with as much pasta as I physically can, but I won’t be happy. Also, I don’t care about any of you whispering about me or eyeing me down, my contract didn’t include participation in balls, okay? Next time warn me beforehand if you want me to play along, you damned king.

Still, I wouldn't be able to do much more than complain in silence if it wasn't for Mr. Protagonist over there. He was hogging most of the attention for obvious reasons. He’s even hogging most of the guests from what I can see. Most people were talking about him all around.

Skulking their talks even got me impressed.

I mean, he could use every single element and also had some weird system that made him learn faster, so some buzz was expected, but he went farther. Rumors were going from him being proficient in everything the royal guard captain could teach to having him bust some close-by bandits and dangerous fauna. He even saved an elf while at it, and from what I know, there are barely any of them around.

How he’s still wearing that stupid uniform is bothersome, but that’s fine. It also draws more attention away from me. Not bad at all, he even calls attention when walking, so… Wait! Stop! Why are you drawing them here?! Go back to your group, dumbass! Shoo, shoo! Don’t come here, dammit!

Sigh… I guess I’m doing this now.

“Good evening, Mr. Hero.” I greeted my same-world companion as he approached while setting my plate to the side. “Why fleeing from your groupies now?”

“I’m not fleeing from anyone, Illia, I was looking for you actually. I thought you wouldn’t appear after looking for this long…”

“You should get better at searching then. I’ve been around here for a while now…”

“Oh, sorry… But, well, I came here to ask if you don’t want to join everyone there. It would be good to get some companions too, wouldn’t it?”

What’s this, Mr. Hero? Are you fancying me, eh? Sigh… Who I’m trying to trick here? His expression is almost the same as that of a mother worried about her daughter spending the rest of her life alone... I know this one very well, and I don’t like it.

“I’m not going on an expedition, Mr. Hero, so it would be bad if I messed up your team’s chemistry or something.” I glanced at his little group of misfits but focused more on the many nobles surrounding them. “I like staying on the corners. Getting in the middle of this chaos isn’t my style at all...”

To be honest, his group was very interesting and I kinda wanted to go there. He had the proper princess with him (Valiria was her name), a serious and very good-looking glasses guy who wore trinkets similar to the old archmage, a red-haired maid that seemed to be too hyped for being here, and a shortstack wearing a massive cloak. They seemed interesting and, except for the one I couldn’t see much and the hero himself, they were all lookers.

The problem was that they were the center of all attention here.

For good or bad, I’m very observant, so I can see that even the two people who seemed to be in their habitat, glasses and proper princess to shorten it, were having trouble. There were too many nobles around them, so that place was likely a mess. Some of them were clearly from other kingdoms too, which only made things worse considering how this world worked.

The maid and the small one seemed left to their own devices, though. One I could guess a reason, but the other was a mystery I couldn't care about.

The amount of bootlicking, overly intimate questioning and overall boosting in that area was enough for me to want to look away. Having this many double-faced people hog around me would end up having me killed. And that was without even considering the fact I didn’t see a single one of them stop to eat something!

“Are you sure about that? You don’t seem to be doing too…”

“It would be better for both of us if you didn’t worry too much about me.” I interrupted him before he could go any further and then made my stance as clear as I could without a lengthy explanation. “I don’t know how much you got about this place, but you being alive and well is very important to keep this country afloat.”

“The demons really seem to be a huge problem, but that’s not something we can be…”

“Saying this only proves that you know too little, Mr. Hero, so let me be the harbinger of bad news for you…” I held Hayato’s shoulders and got very close to him. “Dealing with the demons will be the smallest of your problems if those hawks around your ‘friends’ decide you’re weak, got it? It’s a little different for each country, but in most cases, someone like you is pretty much all the military power someone needs.”

“What do you mean…?”

“I mean that you better focus on yourself and on coming back alive, Mr. Hero. If you don't do, then I won't even be the one in most trouble around, although I'll be in a hell lot of it.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

This world had some hard-to-grasp systems and customs that I had yet to get a full picture of, but the idea was as simple as what I explained. Too many problems and too many overpowered one-people armies around made both politics and war a full-blown mess, and I wanted nothing to do with it.

If it wasn't for the fact demons came from everywhere and a walking weapon could only be in one place at a time, my guess was that they wouldn't even keep armies.

Anyway, I had to smack some sense into this dumb hero’s misplaced worries before he drew some bad flags. Not that he seemed to understand this.

“It would still be better if you…”

“What is happening here? Trying to steal my hero, sir Hayato?” A melodic voice that I got to know a little while ago called out as a beautiful arm went over both mine and Hayato’s shoulders. “Keeping both princesses even in power is the safer way, don’t you agree?”

Elen was shorter than both me and Hayato by a bit and by a good amount respectively, so it was a little of a weird image when she held us both together, but the impact was there. She was even pushing Mr. Hero down a little while doing so, but I was focusing more on her clothes at the moment.

Or to be clear, on the mess that made me second-guess again if she was a princess.

Her sister for one was wearing one of those overkill bell dresses keeping the same color scheme of silver with small hints of red from before. She looked very much like a princess and looked quite well in it.

Meanwhile, her sister was a mess and that was all.

A grey military coat with some buttons stuck to the wrong holes, a skirt similar to mine but in a lighter color and not properly straightened, oversized boots, and two different-colored thigh highs... Did this person throw a bunch of random clothes and then call it a day?

This is such a waste of good looks!

At least it made me understand what the king was talking about that other day… She should’ve kept the ranger look instead of whatever this is.

“Your… Highness?” See? Even Mr. Protagonist is confused if you’re really a princess!

Not being able to enjoy a person’s good looks just because they don’t care about appearance is so terrible... Almost as bad as my cooling pasta over there.

I guess she’s helping me now, though, so I’ll play along this one time.

“Good evening, Elen. I thought you wouldn’t come by after how long it took for you to appear.”

“Eve’s doing some chores for me, so I didn’t have someone to pick my clothes and all that...” She answered without a care and I held myself from saying she should’ve waited more. “I didn’t want to lose the main event, so I managed by myself and here we are. Easy as cake.”

"Main event?"

“Main event...?” I annoyingly asked at the same time as the other person in our weird trio.

“So they didn’t warn you too, eh?” Elen asked while eyeing Mr. Hero with a smile, but then she freed us both and turned her face to her sister and their group. “I could explain, but I see someone is getting bothered about you missing… Ask her instead of me, okay?”

Seeing Valiria turn her face in our direction every few seconds was fun, but that wasn’t something we should keep going on forever. Her actions were also drawing more eyes toward me since they would follow the princess’ focus, so it was better if I dealt with Hayato already.

Not that it would solve much considering who else was here now and what she was wearing, but whatever.

“Go to your party, big boy. I’m fonder of talking in quieter places anyway…” I waved away and turned back to my plate in hopes my food was still hot, sighing at it and then turning to Mr. Hero again with my food in hand. “Just remember that you have a job to do and that, if I was in trouble, you would be the first one I’d call. That’s what’s a hero for, right?”

Now look at my smile and go away. I’m hungry here.

“Sigh… I don’t get you at all.”

“I would be surprised if you could, considering we just met.” My answer came a bit off-handedly since I was focused on trying to eat a little, but I could notice a hint of surprise on Hayato’s face…

Oh, hell, I know this flag.

He’ll tell me we already met before, right? No, you didn’t. This Illia here has never met you, so accept it and move on.

“So that’s how it is? I guess that’s true in some ways...” He answered with a chuckle that made me wince as it was annoying if he wouldn’t play around. “Anyway, I’ll take what you said as a promise and go do my job now. Take this frown off your face and go eat this food you’re so focused on while I’m at it…”

“Cheeky brat.” I hurriedly held my mouth with one hand when I noticed that what I said was in sinc with what I thought, almost losing my precious plate in the process, but Hayato only turned around and started to laugh. Even Elen by my side was trying to hold herself back after my slip, not that I would give either of them the pleasure of seeing me blush.

Or I would believe in that very much at least…

“So… Do you hate or like this guy? I heard this whole thing and didn’t get it yet…”

“Neither. He’s a fine guy, but he’s trouble too, especially for me. That’s all.”

“You’re a weird one, but we already knew that.”

I wouldn’t mention my minor grips with the guy considering they were irrelevant and some were simply based on how he looks. It was very disrespectful, but what can I do about it?

Anyway, I have something else to worry about now, so I only shrugged off Elen’s comment and came back to what I wanted to ask.

“By the way, since I’m YOUR hero and whatnot, what about explaining to me this ‘main event’ of yours?”

“I said that my timing was very close, didn’t I?” The chaotic princess answered with a smile and a glance towards her father’s seat. “He’s even going to call it now...”

Pretty much at the same moment, as she said it, I heard the glass clinking coming from the king as he drew everyone’s attention. The room got silent almost right away, as it should, and all eyes went towards the local monarch. It sounded very much like a ‘main event’ was going to happen even.

“My loyal nobles and our esteemed envoys, I see all of you had time to mingle with our hero and probably heard of his skills already...” He started in a powerful voice but with a message that soon turned many eyes back to Hayato and his little group, most of them showing their respects in answer. “It is before schedule, but all of you were called here for the exact reason you thought: I will now announce the start of the next demon subjugation expedition. With one of my talented daughters, the youngest graduate of the mage citadel, and a special envoy from fey realms, it is sure that the expedition will be successful in record speed... That is, as long as all members follow with their vows and responsibilities.”

Until now he was yet to say anything interesting, so I was getting a little underwhelmed with the whole situation. To me, this whole thing looked more like a ceremonial speech for something everyone already knew than anything of note.

But I had a feeling that wasn’t the point at all, and the reason for such was very simple: The king had yet to mention me even though he made it clear that he wanted me here…

Not that it took too long for this point to appear.

“But as a side note, I have to mention that, with how protracted the current crisis is, the stability of our continent is close to concerning. Everything from cults to criminals now plagues us now that so much was set aside to deal with demons, and some even decide to play with it to their own gain...” He continued in a way that made me turn again and leave my plate rested somewhere as I felt my food would start tasting bad. “And for that, I will also announce our second hero. The one that was bestowed to us by the gods themselves as a means to even the odds for humanity. And also, someone who shall only be active inside Prourene's borders as, as some of you know, this is where the more ‘disruptive’ forces are acting. She will be our last line of defense and someone who will help keep our realm safe. Like only someone with the proper power for it can.”

As expected, the moment the king mentioned a second hero, basically confirming any rumors that were around, a mass of eyes turned to me for a moment. A mass that came with a wave of whispers and talking.

Not much of a problem to be honest, and again, something I was expecting all things considered, but that was only the beginning. He had more to say, and this more, at the very least, was troublesome enough just by how it was worded.

“And so, both the second hero and my second daughter will be now in charge of Prourene’s national security. All of it, from one border to the other, they’ll now start a cleansing operation to bring back order to this kingdom.”

He closed his speech in a tone that made it very clear that, at a minimum, some of the people here would be affected by his so-called ‘cleansing operation'. Anything headed by a hero already had extra weight, but this one was aimed at the same people who were hearing it be announced. It was something akin to having a whole army hunt for people who could very well be inside here.

The smile on his face only made his announcement scarier, something that got even worse when he continued acting as calmly as possible.

“But for now, I hope you all will enjoy yourselves to the fullest. And think well on what you do from now on.”

And by then, all I could do was take a last look at my plate and then give up on it all.