It was the tour, part two. After the intermission of dinner, sleep, and breakfast, I was ready to go continue the tour from yesterday. I was happy to announce that I managed to remember a quarter of what Regio talked about yesterday. It might not seem much, but it was a big deal to me since I was the type to just drone it out. In fact, if it wasn’t for all the walking and holding hands, I probably would have fell asleep. Thankfully, that didn’t happen; I wouldn’t have been able to vouch for my sleepwalking skills if it did.

Breakfast with the king was a simple affair, laced with more questions for me, of course. After that, I went hand-in-hand with the intelligent teenage player and the adorable walking doll. Honestly, I could hardly believe that they came out of my DNA. I could tell that Regio would have a hard time keeping girls off his back while Lisa would probably grow up to be a bombshell. It kind of made me feel inadequate.

“Am I boring you, grandmother?” Regio asked.

“No, no, no. I was just thinking how compared to you and Lisa, I’m just very plain.” The moment that the words left my mouth, I realized what I had just said. I wasn’t actually supposed to voice my honest thoughts! My cheeks started heating up in embarrassment.

“Plain?” Regio scoffed. “Hardly.”

Lisa tugged at my hand. “Pretty. Very pretty.”

“Thanks for the compliment, but I know how reality is.”

Regio scratched his head as he looked at me as if I was an alien.

“It’s just because of all this make-up caked on me,” I said. “If you see me without make-up, you’d understand.”

“Then let’s go take it off.”

“Wait, now?” At his nod, I could imagine myself looking perplexed. “What about the tour?”

“Forget the tour. We can do that later.”

“I want to see too,” Lisa said as she tugged at my hand. She really loved to tug, doesn’t she? Wait, this wasn’t the time to be thinking about that.

“Are you sure? I mean, it could take awhile.” I remembered it taking at least an hour when the maids removed the make-up last night. It was seriously one of the things I wished was as advanced as my old world.

“We’ll wait.” Regio glanced at Lisa, as if daring her to disagree.

Lisa meekly nodded.

There wasn’t much I could do to dissuade them at this point, so I merely sighed and gave in. We made our way through the maze-like hallways until we finally reached my room. Along the way, Regio had informed a servant about our intentions so my cadre of maids were already there, waiting for me. Surprisingly enough, Alina wasn’t here, but I supposed she was out of the palace or busy with something.

What came afterward was a detransformation scene! Except sixty times as long and lacking all the magical aspects. The maids were both thorough and gentle, wiping away the make-up as if I was a fragile doll. I almost wished they would be a bit rougher to get it done faster, but they were moving like they had done this a million times so I doubt they could go any faster. Not to mention they probably aren’t used to doing it rougher so it would greatly increase the chances of them messing up. Besides, I knew for a fact that removers were often pretty strong, and since it wasn’t really advance in this place, I could imagine it being something like a very weak acid, which could be pretty bad if they make a mistake. It was better just to leave them to what they were familiar with.

When they finally washed my face off, I found myself look at a familiar image in the mirror. I had to say that I preferred it over the porcelain doll image that the make-up made me look like. Once in a while was fine, especially if I had a camera and some gothic dresses. That would just be superb, but for everyday life? I think I would rather stick to my natural appearance.

“Do you have a more extensive make-up kit? Like with more colors that’s closer to my skin tone?” Just because I didn’t want to be caked up like a doll didn’t mean that I didn’t want to accentuate my natural appearance.

“Yes, Your Highness, I will bring it right away.”

~o~

…and done!

I grinned in victory while the maids gave me a standing ovation. Looking at myself in the mirror, I saw all my nature features were enhanced. A little bit of color to my pink lips, a dash of blush to my cheeks, and some make-shift penciling to my eyes. Not to the level that I could do with my regular kit back on Earth, but it worked out well enough. It took a lot of effort though, especially since the tools weren’t quite right and the colors were off, but I made it work.

“I think I’m ready now. How long has it been?”

“Two hours, Your Highness.”

I shrugged. I did tell them it would take awhile. I bet they would be asleep in their chairs. Without any further hesitation, I left the room as my posse of maids followed along.

Outside, I found them sitting down in their chairs, looking positively bored. Surprisingly not asleep, but I had to say I was a bit disappointed to find that they didn’t look like they had been talking to each other either. The moment they heard the door open, they looked up and saw me in all my newfound glory.

“You look good,” Regio said.

Lisa nodded.

Damn it. Shouldn’t it have been an explosive reaction or something? This was so mild that I felt disappointed, so much so that I wondered why I spent so much time on trying to find the right balance of colors. Maybe it was the look on my face, but they started to spout out compliments like sprinklers. However, it was too late. Far too late for you two!

Wait, wasn’t this whole thing supposed to prove that I didn’t look as good as those two in the first place? I completely forgot. When did my goal change?! I crouched down and sulked in regret.

“Ah ha ha…” Regio awkwardly laughed. “Should we continue the tour?”

“Don’t feel like it,” I replied.

“I insist.”

Lisa padded over to me. With me crouching, she was at face-level so she looked me in the eyes and gave me the most pitiful expression I had ever seen. It was like a wide-eyed squirrel. So adorable. I quickly wrapped my arms around her, ignoring her shriek of surprise.

“Feeling better?” Regio asked.

“A little.” The moment I released Lisa, the girl quickly scurried back from me. I wasn’t that frightening, was I?

“Ready to continue the tour?”

“I have a better idea.”

“Oh?”

“Let’s go to the training room!”

~o~

Rather than a training room, it was a training yard. I guessed indoor training would get pretty hot in spring and summer since there was no air conditioning. There was a plain of leveled dirt with practiced dummies sticking out of the ground. Surprisingly enough, there were both men and women on the field, swinging their swords on the dummies or sparring away with each other. Off to the side, some of them were doing a regime of exercises like push-ups and sit-ups as well as running around the field. Definitely from Ranzel’s influence. Anyone who said differently was probably lying.

“What exactly did you want to do here, grandmother?”

“To blow off steam!”

“I don’t believe we can bring a kettle here…?”

“What I meant was that I wanted to hit something.”

“Then we have come to the right place.” Regio led the way. Since we were all connected by hand, Lisa and I were dragged along for the ride. It didn’t take long for people to start noticing our presence and lower their training weapons, but Regio quickly said, “Continue your training. We’re merely here as visitors.”

Of course, not all of them went back into the thick of training, but they made a show of it. It was quite obvious that they were paying more attention to anomalies on the field aka the royal trio. I was the center of attention, of course, being that I was the rumored Hero. I would be willing to bet that most of the curiosity was because of the rumors centered around my supposed motherhood. Just thinking about it made me feel pregnant already.

We arrived at the training weapons rack, at which point we unlinked hands. I had to say that I felt a small sense of loss at that, and a fair bit of embarrassment when I realized my hands were sweaty. They never complained about my hot and moist hands. I didn’t want to say it out loud because that would further cement my embarrassment and lay to waste their silent tact. I could only apologize to them in my heart.

I wiped my hands on my dress and took hold of a training sword. It felt fairly used since I could feel finger indentations on the hilt, not to mention the dents in the wooden blade itself. There were some splinters, but I quickly brushed them loose. I remember reading about training swords in novels that describe them as heavy, but it seemed pretty light to me. I gave it some light, practice swings.

“Grandmother, you’re holding it wrong.”

“Oh, I am?” I held the sword steady.

“Yes, it’s like this.” Regio moved his fingers across mine, unwrapping them and re-wrapping them into the correct position. It took a few tries before we got my fingers in the right spot, but it paid off as I finally got the proper grip except I couldn’t exactly tell the difference. I was the same way with a steering wheel until after I used it long enough so I don’t think I could trust my judgment in this case.

After that, I was led over to a dummy to do what I wished with it. Not that there was anything else to do with it except hit it. I raised the sword high over my shoulder.

“Grandmother, that’s not how you—”

“Hiyah!” I swung the wooden sword with all my might, smashing it against the dummy. It only resisted for less than a moment before it broke in half. Huh. I didn’t think these things were so fragile. I glanced over to Regio to see him staring with his mouth agape. Lisa began to enthusiastically clap.

It took a couple of moments to realize it. I looked down at my sword. There was a big crack on the wooden blade. It was large enough that it would probably break with one more swing. That was odd. I was pretty sure that the sword and the practice dummy were both made to last so that could only mean that it wasn’t because they were fragile; it was probably because I was too strong.

“How did you—”

“Hero System,” I said bluntly. It was really the only explanation; I certainly wasn’t this strong before my summoning. Not even close.

“Ah,” Regio said as if he just realized it.

“You forgot, didn’t you?”

“You just don’t seem like one…”

“I completely agree,” I said. “That’s because I’m not a Hero. Not really, anyways. I just got chosen, I suppose.”

Regio merely nodded. It was only now that I noticed that most of the field had stopped training and were staring at me. I probably looked amateurish, swinging the sword like I did, but they seemed like they were awed by my borrowed strength. Or would it be more accurate to say gifted strength? It was a pretty big advantage, but that didn’t really translate into skill.

“Normally, I’d feel bitter or jealous with someone near my own age, but it’s hard to feel jealous about your own grandmother,” Regio said.

I laughed nervously. I wasn’t really his grandmother per say, but I suppose that Ranzel never told them about it. Now that I think about it, it would be almost impossible to explain it to these people who never experienced the wonders of science fiction. I couldn’t just come out and say that I am actually the king’s mother from a parallel universe where she—I—never had a child. This would probably be way too hard for them to understand. So in that sense, I really did have to play as Ranzel’s mother. I just hoped they wouldn’t ever ask about their father’s birth…

“Still, you weren’t using your sword correctly. Straighten your back and hold your sword like this.” Regio moved into a stance. “And swing like this.”

I watched as Regio demonstrated his swing through the air a few times before I tried it myself. I had to admit that I was pretty clumsy, but I eventually got it right. The problem was that I couldn’t keep it right. I would do it correctly one swing and then incorrectly the next swing, enough that I could see frustration starting to build up on Regio’s face. After I managed to swing my wooden blade correctly three times consecutively, his patience finally gave out as he gave me a strained smile.

“How about we go somewhere else?”

Sorry I’m not a martial arts savant. This was my first time actually swinging a sword so I thought I did better than normal, but judging from his face, I guessed not. I felt a tug at my dress and looked down.

“Not happy, grandma?” Lisa was staring up at me with her innocent eyes.

“Want to go get something to eat?” I asked, changing the topic. I didn’t really have an answer for her, and I knew she wouldn’t say no to food.

Of course, the little girl nodded enthusiastically. As we made our way out of the training yard, I noticed there was less tension on the faces of the people exercising and practicing there. Even a little smile here and there. I guessed that what I did made me seem more human than the all-powerful Heroes. I could imagine their reverence for Heroes, considering that one of them was their king. However, at the same time, I felt like I was committing a crime by destroying a legend. It was like telling a child that Santa didn’t exist. That made me feel odd to say the least.

As I was thinking about that, we made our way to the dining hall.

~o~

“I want to see the town.”

Both of my escorts had surprised looks on their faces. All three of us were seated at a table filled with food with a maid and a butler off to the side in case we needed anything more.

“What’s with the sudden desire?” Regio asked as he lowered his fork.

“It’s not sudden,” I said. “I mean, just look out the window. There’s a whole city built around the palace. I think anyone would be curious from seeing that.”

“Mmm, mmm.” Lisa licked her lips of crumbs and said, “Mama says that it’s dangerous out there.”

“Dangerous?”

“You may not know this, but the capital is not a safe place. It’s the seat of the government and prosperous so many travel here from the villages to take a little of that prosperity. However, few ever do,” Regio explained. “Slums and crime are both rampant even with the number of guards patrolling the town. There are murderers, thieves, and assassins to worry about.”

“Assassins?” I blinked my eyes in surprise. There would always be concerns about assassins, but he was making it sound like it was as commonplace as thieves.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“Assassins are a big issue. This kingdom is small, but it has more Immortals than usual. As such, our country has always been focused on defense rather than offense,” Regio said. “Most of the cities have been fortified to withstand sieges and the infrastructure of our roads are developed enough to make travel swift. That’s why the kingdom is nicknamed Fortress Nation Ashran. Because of that, not many are willing to attack us directly.”

“Then it should be more peaceful, right?”

“Not quite,” Regio told me as he shook his head. “Assassins are more commonplace here. The reason is that they’re trying to provoke us into war.”

I frowned.

“Ashran has one of the best defenses, but it also has the weakest offense. If the nation mobilizes into invading another country, it’s likely we would be crushed and the retaliatory strike would end our nation.” Regio looked withdrawn and tired. “As you can imagine, many had died to assassins without us being able to do anything. More than half of our Immortals are dedicated to rooting out spies and assassins. That makes our counter espionage organization one of the best in the world.”

“That’s a pretty dreary picture,” I said. “I guess that means a town trip is a no-no?”

“Heroes are one of the most valued targets in any country, especially since it is easier for them—and you—to rise to up the rankings.”

“Rankings?”

“It’s the system to determine how powerful you are,” Regio explained. “It’s not exact or consistent, but it works. It ranges from one to ten with ten being the most powerful. You can only reach rank seven when you have passed the Threshold for Immortality.”

“Is it that hard?”

“It requires many life and death experiences to break through the Threshold. I have heard a rare few that did it through just training, but they were geniuses over sixties years old when they achieved it. Everyone wants to become Immortal while they’re still young so you hear about many who throw themselves recklessly into dangerous situations,” Regio said. “The casualty rates are high, and aspirants usually drop out before they make the breakthrough. If you have something to lose, it becomes harder the higher you rise as it gets much more dangerous.”

“You seem to know a lot about this.”

“It’s common knowledge,” Regio responded. “The dream of Immortality isn’t restricted to nobility. In fact, most of the aspirants come from the commoner for one reason or another. That is why adventurers are a thriving culture in any country; soldiers are rarely put in life-threatening situations unless there is a war.”

“That makes sense.” It really did. I would bet that even if you started impoverished, once you got strong enough to take higher ranking missions that had huge payouts, it would be pretty hard to justify risking your life to try to reach Immortality.  In a sense, you had to abandon your dreams for reality. Back on Earth, we called this: “growing up.” I guess to become an Immortal, you have to keep living your middle school dreams.

I guess that meant that this was perfect world for me, hahaha.

It was only after the meal concluded that I remembered that I never got an answer whether I could go to town or not. When I asked, I was given a response that essentially came down to: “Ask father.” So be it!

~o~

I stood in the middle of an office room that was surprisingly utilitarian. There were no real awards, paintings, or decorations hung all over the walls. Instead, there an organized chaos of paperwork with stacks here and there. They seemed to be clearly labeled, but that didn’t change the fact that they were just stacked there. There were also filing cabinets, though from the few that were open, they were stuffed to the brink. It looked more like the desk of a paper pusher than the office of a king. However, in the four corners of the room, there were armored guards who stood at attention. By the king’s desk, there were two servants, one male and one female, both in business attire. Off to the side, Regio and Lisa stood in a daze. I supposed they weren’t actually expecting me to come here.

As for Ranzel, he hadn’t even been paying attention to my entrance at all as he sat in his chair and continued to write on a piece of a paper on his desk. The thing that I noticed though was that he was using an ink pen. Seriously, it was an ink pen. For however many things that were of medieval style, there were some things that were a lot more advanced than they should be. I know it was because of Ranzel’s influence, but it was like: if you can make those advance, why not make everything advance? I should probably ask about that later.

“I want to see the town,” I boldly said. When the minutes ticked by without a response, I started getting nervous and repeated my statement again in lower, more humble voice.

“I heard the first time,” Ranzel said, still writing his document. “Forgive me. You caught me at a busy time.”

I awkwardly nodded. I was starting to feel bad about interrupting his work.

“So when do you want to leave?”

“Well, as soon as I can. I guess you will need to get an escort for us—”

“No need.” Ranzel dropped his pen carelessly onto the table and stood up, finally looking up at me. “I will escort you to town!”

…huh?

“King Ranzel?!”

“But Your Majesty, your work—”

“My paperwork won’t run away. It can wait.”

“But the proposal for—”

“I said: it can wait.” Ranzel quieted the man with an annoyed glance.

“Eh? Um, you shouldn’t abandon your work for me,” I quickly said. “We can just go another day.”

“Nonsense.” He dismissed the notion without hesitation.

“Father,” Regio spoke up as he walked over to us. “You’ll be surrounded by the citizenry the moment you enter town. I don’t think grandmother would be able to sightsee like that.”

Ranzel seemed to deflate at those words.

Nice job. I gave Regio a thumbs up. He stared at me, confused.

“Very well.” Ranzel regained his composure straight away. As expected of the king of a nation! “Send for the crown prince.”

“Your Majesty, may I remind you that his lordship, the first prince of Ashran, is currently securing the outskirts from the newest monster horde,” the male secretary said.

“Then send for the twenty-fifth princess. I’m sure Valkana has nothing on her hands for the moment.”

“As you command, Your Majesty.” With that said, the man swiftly left the room.

Ranzel took his seat at the desk again, though he looked a bit disgruntled. I supposed he really did want to go to town with me. Ugh, now I was feeling bad about that too. I would have to make it up to him later.

“Mother,” Ranzel began. “Your tour of the capital will have to wait until tomorrow.”

“That’s okay. I can wait,” I said. “I’ll leave now since it seems like you’re very busy.”

“It’s fine. I need to take a break anyways. How has your day been going?”

“Um.” I wasn’t really prepared for the question, but it wasn’t like I had anything to hide. “It’s not bad. I mostly toured around the palace with Regio and Lisa. Oh! That’s right, I almost forgot. I have a question.”

“You don’t have to keep asking me that. Just ask your question away.”

“Why is the technology here so weird? I mean, some things seem so advance like your pen, but other things are very medieval. It’s a strange contrast,” I said.

“That’s simple. They’re imitations.”

“What do you mean?”

“Consider them as knock-offs. Most materials of this world is different from Earth. Look at this pen.” Ranzel held up the pen. “I recreated the concept from memory, but each of the material that composes it is make-shift, for lack of a better word. The metal of this casing is an entirely different substance from our world. The ore is dug up from under shallow waters, and it has a different melting and freezing point. Even the production of it on the blacksmith’s anvil takes more effort. The result is a slightly more flexible material that is actually much more resistant to breakage. Even the ink that fills the custom tubing is made by mixing a variety of assorted leaves and roots. Do you understand what I’m getting at?”

“So I can think up something like a car, but I would have to figure out how to use this world’s substances to make it?”

“Because all of the materials work differently, it’s impossible to create something that requires precise work even if you know all the inner mechanics. That is especially true of guns. Even now, the best we have been able to create is a musket, but those are pitiful in comparison to Earth’s standard and ultimately too expensive for mass production.”

“I see.” Interesting. Very interesting. That meant I could actually recreate make-up as long as…

Actually no, that was a bad idea. A very, very, very bad idea. Creating something like make-up using random substances and putting it on my face was just asking for trouble. I would probably burn off my skin or accidentally make it permanent on my face. I didn’t relish the idea of looking like a certain homicidal clown.

That really wouldn’t put a smile on my face.

“King Ranzel,” the female secretary said. “It’s time for your meeting with the representative of the Merchant Guilds.”

“Is it now?” Ranzel sighed as he stood up. “Forgive me for cutting this short, mother.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” I nodded my head. I had gained more than my fair share of knowledge from this, but I still needed time to process everything. I have already learned so much that my head felt full, especially since my imagination was starting to run rampant with ideas. Well, there was time for that later. I still needed to finish up my tour!

~o~

“So who’s the twenty-fifth princess?” I casually asked while we walked down the hallway. Hand in hand, of course. They have already gotten used to it, but overcoming the prejudices that Regio had about Lisa would take a lot longer than just a few days so I wasn’t planning on stopping anytime soon. Of course, there were plenty of stares from the palace workers and the servants which I pretty much ignored at this point. It wasn’t because I had gotten arrogant or anything, but I got stared at so much that I had to either ignore them or go insane. I prefer the former.

“Her name is Valkana Ro. She is one of the two royal children who became an Immortal. As you can expect, she has a lot of influence in the court,” Regio answered. “I can’t say much about her since we never really talk to each other.”

“Auntie is nice. She brings me presents all the time,” Lisa said.

“Only two?” It was a bit strange that there were only two Immortals, considering that he had over fifty children.

“Some are content to live out their lives in the palace. However, only Immortals can be considered heirs to the kingdom. The more ambitious ones attempt to reach Immortality, but almost all of them either perished or gave up,” Regio said grimly. “Only the first prince and the twenty-fifth princess managed to reach Immortality. There are some more Immortals with royal blood, but they are further down the line of succession. Descendants of his children.”

“That’s…”

“The first prince is over four hundred years old while the twenty-fifth princess is around two hundred and fifty.”

Ugh. It made my mind boggle that even my grandchildren were older than me by multitudes. What about their children? I asked Regio about that.

“The first prince’s lineage reached down four generations before the last died of disease. He has not remarried since his wife perished,” Regio said. “As for the twenty-fifth princess, her descendants currently have reached the fifth generation, and she still protects them to this day.”

“Is…is that so…?” Fifth generation? Oh my god, I felt so old even though I was supposed to be young. Since Ranzel had more than fifty children over five hundred years, I couldn’t even imagine how many descendants I had now. “And how of these descendants became Immortals?”

“I know of a couple. We also have a few who reached rank six, but they were unable to break through the Threshold.” Regio looked contemplative. “The path is difficult. I heard that one Immortal managed to break through in a very close life and death battle. In the end, he had lost both arms, a leg, half his ribcage, and a quarter of his brain.”

“And he survived? Wouldn’t he be paralyzed?”

“The healers regenerated all his body parts.”

Imagining that was making the contents of my stomach swish around in my belly.

“Did he lose any memories?” I asked.

“No. Why would he?”

“He did lose part of his brain, right? Even though it was only temporary.”

“What are you talking about? Everybody knows that memories are stored in a person’s soul, not his brain.”

…what is this? Cloud saves? My mind boggled over the answer, but as it had a clear example, I couldn’t really argue against it. Was the science of this world really that strange? While I was lost in thought, my escort moved on to another topic.

“There are some things that you will need to know for your trip when Valkana takes you tomorrow.”

“Huh? You two won’t be coming with me?”

Regio shook his head. “My—our mothers wouldn’t allow it. The city is very dangerous, especially since this is the year of the Heroes Summoning. There will be more assassins than usual.”

I could see his subtle warning. They were probably here with the intention of taking my head since I was the Hero. That actually made me surprised that Ranzel actually allowed my trip, though I suppose Valkana would be able to keep me safe. I was a bit sad that I couldn’t go with Regio and Lisa, but it was probably better this way; I didn’t want them getting hurt by those assassins because of me.

“The first thing you have to know is that…that…” Regio had an expression like he was constipated.

“That…?” I prompted.

“I don’t actually know.”

If I hadn’t been holding on to their hands, I probably would have tripped. At my questioning glance, Regio waved his free hand in front of himself.

“I rarely go to the city. Perhaps once or twice a year with my mother.”

“I’ve never been there before,” Lisa said when I glanced at her.

They really were a sheltered pair of royal children.

“No use worrying about it then,” I said. “Let’s go. We still haven’t gone around this corner of the palace yet.”

~o~

A/N: About the make-up remover, she doesn't know any better xD