Behind Gaild's castle was a large square courtyard to train squires, knights, archers, mages, and warriors bred for battle and blood. If the enclosure had a living soul capable of reasoning and emotion, it would have been subjected to absolute mockery to see what is occurring in the center.
A squire, dressed in a gambeson (that weird undergarment knights wore or something), was fighting Kato with a steel broadsword. He wasn't a fully trained knight, so his movements were predictable but robust. On the other hand, Kato barely kept up with the knight's movements, staggering in his provided armor due to the weight and making clumsy swings with his sword.
A group of advisors stood watching the scene, with Gaild and Keith, Cassandra, and Vitam standing off to the side. Some advisors took notes in their notebooks, while others watched the fight like some humorous farce.
"He doesn't have the physical capability to be a knight for sure," an advisor wearing a plaid blue and white garment implies.
"Do you think he can get better?" says another advisor, wearing a black robe.
"Even if he were to be a swordsman, his strength and short stature may not be enough to face a larger opponent."
The advisors were talking with one another about what to do with Kato. Meanwhile, Cassandra, Vitam, and Keith were talking along the side.
"The magical strength test picked up nothing as well," Keith says. "Did we get the wrong guy?"
"The summoning process has never been wrong, and unless we chanted the wrong spell or misconfigured the stones, then we may have been wrong," Vitam says.
"By the way, how does the summoning process work again?" Cassandra asks.
"Well, first, you need to find a certain amount of summoning stones, which are already impossible enough. Then, it would be best if you had the spellbook for the stones, which has a variety of spells that you can use to summon someone. Depending on the accuracy of the situation, you may need fewer stones. Many stones will be needed if we specifically don't know what we are summoning, like a hero. At the same time, we can put in other variables to summon a person, like their compatibility to our world based on characteristics like similar language, beliefs, or nature. We also preferably choose people who have died, as summoning a person alive would be akin to kidnapping them and result in controversy." Vitam explains.
They continued to watch Kato struggle against the squire as Kato slowly started to get exhausted from the match. The squire was unperturbed by the length and easy difficulty of the fight and continued to launch attacks on Kato.
"That is enough!" Gaild says, raising his arm to stop.
The squire looks at him and then sheathes his sword. He then bows and then walks away from the courtyard.
"Mr. Tanada, please come closer," Gaild asks.
Kato slowly walks forward, exhausted from the match, dripping in sweat from the early summer heat.
"It is hard to find something that would make you worthy of being sent by the realms to help our world. You seem to have almost no magical affinity; your strength is on par with that of an untrained peasant, and judging by your previous country's lack of war in recent years, it seems plausible that you have no experience in commanding troops." Gaild says.
Kato looks at him with a glum look, but it seems like he anticipated such a comment.
"So, what should I do?" Kato asks.
"We have no choice but to acknowledge your existence in this world, but you would be treated as an ordinary citizen in our kingdom. Perhaps, you can find your special ability while you live but-"
"Wait!" Vitam says. He opens a spellbook and starts flipping through the pages.
"In the summoning spellbook, there is a ritual to recover magical power lost in the summoning process, and we can summon a different hero by trading Kato. We need the summoning circle and a spell,"
"Excellent!" Gaild exclaims, raising his arms. He looks at Kato, watching him with crossed eyebrows, slightly offended by his excitement. Gaild has a slight look of guilt on his face but clears his throat to clear up the strange atmosphere.
"There is just one problem," Vitam replies. "The process extracts the magical energy gathered into Kato during the summoning through, well, tearing him apart and dissolving him little by little. His body will pull into a thousand pieces, and the magical stones will consume each one. The process has been described as the summoned person being trampled alive by a hundred horses, lit on fire, and various other gory details. But in short, it's probably going to hurt, a lot."
"Hmm". Gaild rests his chin on top of an open palm, facing a situation that he knows is inevitable. On one hand, he'll be responsible for an innocent life, recently reborn out of death and given a second chance. On the other hand, he may be sacrificing the lives of his people in the process, a dilemma in guilt. It seems rational to choose the death of one over many, but he looks over at Kato, expecting some sort of emotional sign from him. Instead, Kato was deep in thought, talking to himself.
"Maybe I can do it? Hmm, perhaps this world might have sulfur? It might be problematic if others have already created it. Maybe, you know what, fuck it."
Kato walks over to Gaild with a serious expression on his face. Serious, but confident. The tired expression from the fight minutes ago has disappeared, because he knows he has only one chance to have one shot.
"Give me a month, seven blacksmiths, a group of scholars and guides, and I'll bring you a weapon." Kato says.
The group of officials slightly chuckle off to the side, but Gaild gives off a curious expression.
"I'm sorry, but we already have enough swordsmiths in our world. We also have 'crossbows' and 'magical staffs' if that is what you we're thinking." An official in a gold-red robe mocks.
"I don't know what you are planning, but even if you were to produce such a weapon, how can you wield it? You cannot hold a sword on your own, and you have no mag-"
"Then give me a knight to fight next time, not a squire!" Kato yells. This was exclaimed to the entire courtyard but Gaild noticed that Kato turned a tad bit towards the royal officials. They must've noticed too, because their mocking demeanor became slightly more uniform after his exclamation.
Gaild then sighs, tempted to turn down his offer, but submits to his offer.
"Very well, Cassandra, Vitam, Keith, please lead Kato through the city, and find seven blacksmiths as well. Remember Mr. Tanaka, you have one month, just one."
Cassandra plops herself off the edge of a wall in the courtyard, and Keith begins leading Kato through the front gate as per his kings orders. However, Vitam walks towards Gaild, with a slightly concerned face.
"Sire, you can't be serious," Vitam says.
"He's from a technologically advanced world!"
"Without magic!"
"-and has the ability to remember things well. But it's strange that he didn't say anything about the weapon itself, so I hope you can see through his mind on this weapon of his. Scout him, and see what he can do,"
"Understood my lord," Vitam says, walking away with Kato.
Gaild looks as Vitam exits the gate, wondering what the summoned failure can do in a single month.