It was one of the Knights of the Order, Agnes Whitlock. Seth's older sister.

"Seth!" Without hesitation, she got off the horse and then ran to hug him. Her armor knocked him over, and he felt his nose hurt.

"My baby brother. I'm glad. I'm so glad that you’re fine." At this moment, she lost her usual composure and ruined her image of being the cold person in front of the other knights around her, but she didn’t care. Her voice was shaking as she said, "I was so worried about you. I heard from the other adventurers that you were killed in a dungeon by a monster. Why did you run away on your own?"

Seth was uncomfortable being hugged tightly. He pushed her away gently and rubbed his nose. Agnes let him go reluctantly.

"Did Birds of a Feather say that?"

"Yes, I saw them returning to the capital alone, but I didn't see you."

It was just like in the novel. Agnes knew the date when Seth and his teammates departed, and the mission should roughly take three weeks. She would welcome him back whenever it was possible. However, this time, Birds of a Feather returned alone without him. She couldn’t accept their explanation that Seth was killed and decided to investigate it on her own.

‘Did they expect me to die? Unfortunately for them, I'm still alive.’ Seth couldn't help but sneer. “They abandoned me in the dungeon and left me to die after they stole all my artifacts and weapons.”

Agnes was furious as she clenched her fist. "What? They tried to kill you?! How dare they…!"

Agnes knew that Seth was weak, and she had been protective of him since he was born. Even though Seth acted like trash and hated his sister, she still cared about him. It was because their mother passed away early. Agnes and Seth were always stuck with each other when they were small. However, when they grew up, Agnes was busy with the duty of being the heir of a marquess.

The original Seth felt angry that she couldn't pay a lot of attention to him and felt like he had been abandoned. His mother abandoned him, and now his sister did the same, which was why he lacked familial love and his personality turned twisted. His father was not helping either since he tried distracting himself with work after his wife passed away.

Agnes took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She gave a reassuring smile. "Seth, don’t worry. I'm your sister and a member of the Knights of the Order. Since I’m here, I'll make sure that they won’t be able to do anything to you."

“...okay.” Seth didn’t say anything more.

He felt guilty, knowing that the original Seth had died. Those words should be said to him.

Even though she was his sister in this world, he didn't feel any familial bond with her.

Agnes became solemn.

Seth looked at the knights behind her. There was someone notably different from them.

His jet-black hair framed a face that could only be described as a work of art, with a strong, chiseled jawline. There were finely arched, sword-like eyebrows above his eyes that were as dark as the midnight sky, shimmering with a dark intensity that seemed to draw you in, making it impossible to look away. Thin lips complemented his straight bridge nose, which perfectly balanced his facial features.

He stood out among the few people behind him. Even without asking for his name, Seth knew he was.

The Hero. The protagonist of this world.

“Im Haeseong.”

In the 513 chapters of The Summoned Hero, it was written multiple times that the protagonist was handsome. The ratings of the novel fell by 0.5 on the official website because the readers were fed up with the writing that kept emphasizing his handsomeness.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

‘Wow, so handsome!’

‘Ho… because you have a fine face, then I’ll do this insignificant thing for you.’

‘The Hero… I didn’t know he’s this hot when he’s serious.’

Men and women fell for him left and right, front to back, so much so that even Seth gritted his teeth and forced himself to ignore it and continue reading the novel.

Im Haeseong. He was a Korean young man who was summoned from Earth to defeat the Demon King. Originally, he was only a high school student who only had to study; however, this time he had to kill monsters and grow stronger.

‘In any case, I’ve read the novel until almost the end. I know all about him. His personality, his thoughts, and his emotions. In short, even though this is the first time that we met, I feel like I’m already familiar with him.’ Seth wanted to greet him, but Haeseong was currently looking at him contemptuously.

It had been three months since Haeseong was summoned into this world. Seth felt envious that Haeseong was better than him and took the chance that Haeseong didn’t know a lot of things in this world, causing many troubles for him. Naturally, Haeseong wouldn’t have a favorable impression of Seth.

‘To be honest, it’s kind of weird that Haeseong left Tudela Village early. Did he know that the Birds of a Feather had a plan to rob Seth, so he turned a blind eye to it? With the animosity that has accumulated for the past three months, it’s possible. It’s not like he’s a saint who will still help someone who repeatedly brought trouble to him. However, he is still a high school student, so he isn't so heartless and without guilt that he would taint his hand with blood carelessly.’ As Seth made a speculation in his head, he frowned slightly. ‘Unfortunately, I transmigrated into Seth. So I also got the beatings.’

He asked, “Why is he here?”

“I couldn’t find the Birds of a Feather, so I brought him instead to show me the way to the dungeon you guys were raiding,” Agnes replied bitterly.

“It seems like he already knows that those people aren’t anything good. Is that why he left early?”

“I left because I was summoned urgently by the court. The leader of the Knights of the Order can testify,” Haeseong explained calmly, but Seth could sense that he wasn’t telling the complete truth.

“Well, it’s just my speculation.”

Agnes furrowed her eyebrows as she took a glance at Haeseong.

‘As he’s the Hero who has been summoned by the kingdom and given a task to defeat the Demon King, she naturally respects him. In her eyes, maybe I’m just saying nonsense.’ However, Seth wasn’t worried about Agnes trusting him. At the moment, he didn’t care about her impression of him.

After two seconds, Agnes made a decision. “I have to investigate the matter thoroughly first.”

“Okay.”

"Who are they?" At this moment, Agnes finally paid attention to the people in the caravan who had accompanied her brother.

"They are the people that I met in Tudela Village."

"Hello." Celia greeted her and bowed slightly.

Isaac only nodded.

Orion jumped up in excitement. "I'm Orion, meow!"

"A feline?"

Berko held his hat on his chest and made a graceful bow. "This is my son, who I have been taking care of since he was still little."

"Mrow."

Agnes turned her gaze to the caravan.

‘She probably noticed that other people were hiding inside. I didn't expect that the Invincible Cloak could completely shield their mana from someone strong like her. There’s also the dragon currently sleeping. He hadn’t woken up for a few days. I can't possibly let the twins be seen by many people since the royal family is probably searching for them.’ Seth was worried, but he didn’t show it on his face. ‘If she continued asking, then I have to act defensively, taking advantage of her indulgence towards her brother, so she wouldn't pursue the matter any further.’

Thankfully, Agnes didn't let her eyes stay there any longer, and she smiled warmly. "The marquess and I want to thank you for helping Seth. So we would like to invite you to our humble estate to express our sincerity."

Celia had a good impression of the blonde-haired woman, but at the same time, she was also intimidated as she was facing another noble other than Seth. “I-it’s okay! Seth also helped me a lot.”

“Please accept our gratitude.”

The others didn’t seem to reject the idea, including Isaac, who was quiet, so it was settled.

Agnes, Haeseong, and the knights rode their horses while Seth returned to the caravan and only saw the twins at the back.

“Where’s the dragon?”

“The dragon woke up and suddenly flew away,” Noel replied, worried that Seth would get angry for letting the dragon escape.

“We want to stop it, but we don’t want to make any noises.”

How could he not notice that they were worried that he would get angry?

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.” He rubbed their heads and settled in the caravan.

‘But what a waste... I didn’t benefit from all that debt.’ He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. ‘Anyway, it’s time to return to the capital.’