The day after Shiro Aizawa passed away, Kurena Hinata and Ayato Kurogane were summoned to another world via a ⟨⟨Hero Summoning Ritual⟩⟩.
Though they were summoned at the same time, since they were summoned by two different kingdoms, they were in different places right now.
One of the two ⟨⟨Heroes⟩⟩, Kurena Hinata was summoned by the Silven Kingdom.
It was one of the three major powers on the Ers Continent.
I am currently standing on something that looked like those magic formations from light novels.
There were several rings of magic circles on the ground with complicated writings. It was releasing a faint golden light a few moments back but now there are just circles drawn.
As of the surroundings, the ground was a shining black colour. The walls were covered with grey coloured bricks.
The room itself was pretty big, around 50 metres long and 20 metres wide.
And the people who were surrounding me, were all wearing long, white robes and were holding a staff.
『So this really is a different world huh』(Hinata)
While I was still checking my surroundings...
「Klint-sama, the ritual was successful!」(Mage 1)
「We've finally succeeded in summoning a hero after 1000 years!」(Mage 2)
「You guys, don't start making a ruckus as soon as the Hero-sama appears. We still have to explain the situation to them. Don't increase their confusion anymore」(Klint)
「「Understood」」(Both Mage 1 and Mage 2)
『Looks like that Klint guy is the leader of these mages. Well for now I'll ask them to explain the situation』(Hinata)
「Hero-sama, we are terribly sorry for summoning you without your consent. We understand that you are angry and don't have any obligations to listen to our requests. However I'd like to request you to have an audience with our King at the very least. I am known as Klint, the leader of the mages present here and we are also the ones responsible for summoning you」(Klint)
Saying this, he lowered his head deeply.
『Hoh... So he understands that forcefully dragging someone from another world is terrible. Well I had to go through the God and chose to answer the summoning out of my own will so it isn't exactly "without my consent". But I think I should stay quiet about that』(Hinata)
「I am Kurena Hinata. As for the audience with the King, I'm fine with it」(Hinata)
「Thank you very much, Hero-sama」(Klint)
That said, I was then guided to have an audience with the King.
I arrived in front of a huge gate. The gate looked like a single piece of gold with exquisite designs on it.
As expected of a King's room huh.
On opening the gate, there was a huge audience room.
A long red carpet spread from the gate to the place where the King was sitting.
On both sides of the carpet, important looking people were standing. A number of knights were also present.
And at the place where the throne was placed, a middle aged old man with extravagant jewellery and clothing was sitting.
He was wearing a red cloak and a golden crown as well.
「Welcome Hero-dono. First, we are terribly sorry for suddenly summoning you. I thank you for agreeing to have an audience with me even after our rudeness. I am the current King of the Silven Kingdom, Claudius Sol Silven. Pleased to meet you, Hero-dono」(King)
Sol? Isn't that the name of a sun goddess from Norse Mythology? What is the name of a goddess doing here? Well it might be that the "Sol" I know and this one are different so I don't need to think too much about it.
「I'm Kurena Hinata. Pleased to meet you」(Hinata)
「Then, Hinata-dono, I would start by explaining the situation first」(King)
According to the explanation of the King the situation goes like this:
A Demon Lord is going to be resurrected after 2 years. We do not possess the necessary strength to defeat the Demon Lord and the demon race when it resurrects. Thus, two of the three major powers of the Ers Continent have agreed to summon a ⟨⟨Hero⟩⟩ each. One of them is the Silven Kingdom which has summoned me and the other one is the Altria Empire, which has summoned Ayato. And so they are requesting us Heroes to defeat the Demon Lord when it resurrects after 2 years.
That's fine and all but there's one thing that bothers me...
The God we met said that the Demon Lord is not an enemy. Just like he said, the people of this world think of the Demon Lord as an enemy.
But if a God says that he is not an enemy and moreover that he is his friend, then it has to be true.
Hmm... this might get troublesome.
I can't just refuse to help after coming all the way here. Besides, I don't think they have a way to send us back to our own world before something is done about the Demon Lord.
And I obviously can't tell them that the Demon Lord is not an enemy. I don't think they'll believe me in the first place. They might start thinking I am actually from the demon side and start persecuting me as an "enemy of humanity".
At any rate, I need to gather information without revealing the fact that I talked with God.
「By the way, is it fine if I ask a question?」(Hinata)
「Yes, please」(King)
「Would I be able to return back to my own world after the Demon Lord is taken care of?」(Hinata)
Hearing those words, the expressions of everyone present in the audience room stiffened.
I couldn't help but let out a sigh after seeing their reactions. Yeah, their reactions clearly show that they don't have any means of sending me back after I've been summoned.
Well I figured that much. So it really is a one-way ticket huh.
Then the guy named Klint spoke as if to reassure me, seemingly trying to cover up the fact that they can't return me back.
「P-Please rest assured Hero-sama. We will provide our utmost assistance to make sure that you do not face any inconveniences. H-However, as shameful as it may be, we do not have a means to return you back to your own world」(Klint)
Yeah... figures.
Well I don't think I should look for a means to return just yet. I think it would be better to do so after taking care of the Demon Lord.
「I understand. All right, I accept your request. I'll do something about the Demon Lord when it resurrects」(Hinata)
「T-Thank you very much, Hero-sama!」(Klint)
After the audience, I was told that I would be provided a room in the royal castle and all of my expenses will be taken care of by the royal family. I was also told to take rest for today since I might be tired after everything that happened.
Still, no matter how I think about it, I could've never imagined that I would actually be summoned to another world.
◇◆◇◆◇◆
After parting with Hinata, my vision blurred and the surroundings became bright all of a sudden.
And now I'm in a place which is supposedly where I have been summoned.
I really was summoned huh. Even if I say so myself, it still feels too unreal.
A few moments later, I realised that I was surrounded by five robed people. Judging from the expensive looking robes with exquisite designs, they're probably something like royal mages, I guess?
Just as I was thinking as such, one of the five mages, probably their leader, came up and spoke to me.
「Hero-sama, we are terribly sorry for summoning you without your consent. Your anger is justified but I would like to request you to have an audience with His Majesty, The Emperor. My name is Licht and I am the leader of the mages present here」(Licht)
After finishing, he deeply bowed his head.
「I'm Ayato Kurogane. By the way, Licht-san, were you the one who activated the summoning ritual?」(Ayato)
「No. Actually, the five of us present here activated the ritual together because it's impossible for me to activate the ritual on my own」(Licht)
「Heeh.... being able to summon someone from another world with just the five of you huh. As I thought, you five must have quite a large amount of magic power」(Ayato)
Yes, I thought there was no way that's the case at first. But when he told me that just the five of them activated the ritual, I understood that they might have quite an amount of magic power.
Hmm, looks like my anime and light novel knowledge from Earth will be pretty handy here.
But for some reason, their faces stiffened when they heard me say "magic power". I wonder why...
「Hero-sama, what you said is definitely true but... do you know about magic power? Could it be that it was present in your world as well?」(Licht)
Ahh... This is bad. This is really bad. I blurted out without thinking. Magic power is definitely something that our world didn't have. It was just a fictional concept. But how do I explain it to them?!!
「Ah no. My world didn't have anything called magic power. It was just a fictional concept in our world. But to think magic power actually exists...」(Ayato)
「I see. Then shall I guide you to the audience room now?」(Licht)
「Yes please do so」(Ayato)
S-Safe... I somehow covered it up. I think I should not reveal that I had talked with a God before coming here. I have to be more careful from now on.
I arrived at the audience room along with Licht-san and the other four mages.
Hmm.... How do I say this... The audience room, in one word, is "huge".
Like really huge. Just the door was about 5 metres tall and wide. And the Emperor's throne was placed at about 50 metres from the door.
As for the Emperor... to be honest, he was a bit different from the image I had of Emperors. Instead of a middle-aged old man, which I originally imagined him to be, there was a deep-blue haired, good-looking young man seated on the throne.
「Ohh! Are you the Hero-dono? For now, Welcome to Altria Empire!」(Emperor)
Is this supposed to be the Emperor?!! What's with that exceedingly cheerful attitude? The image of Emperors inside my head has been completely ruined. Well in a good way, of course. I guess I should return the greeting first.
「Nice to meet you, His Majesty. I am Ayato Kurogane」(Ayato)
「Hmm, Ayato-kun huh? Ahh, that's right! I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? I'm the Emperor of Altria Empire, Cylis Lir Altria. Call me Cylis. Just Cylis. Drop the His Majesty and Emperor and all that troublesome stuff, okay~~?」(Emperor)
「O-Okay...」(Ayato)
What is going on with this Emperor? Is this guy really the Emperor?! I mean, aren't you supposed to be dignified and serious in times like this?
「Umm, Cylis-sama, cou-」(Ayato)
「Just Cylis」(Emperor)
「N-No, I can't just-」(Ayato)
「Just Cylis」(Emperor)
「.....Yes」(Ayato)
T-This guy... Ahh, come to think of it, it's already been a while after I've come here but I still didn't get an explanation. And he still isn't talking and just smiling at me? Haah...
「Umm, Cylis could you please explain the situation to me?」(Ayato)
「Eh?」(Emperor)
「...Eh?」(Ayato)
Huh? That's weird. Why is he making that dumbfounded expression when I tell him to explain the situation...? Could it be.... he has forgotten the purpose of this audience already?!!
Then, Licht-san went up to the Emperor and whispered something in his ears. And now he looks like he has finally remembered something as he lightly claps his hands before starting to speak.
「A-Ahaha. I-I have to explain the situation huh. I-I definitely did not forget that I was supposed to explain the situation, hahaha」(Emperor)
.....My head hurts. Is this that? Is this guy what they call, an "airhead"? Haah... I never imagined an Emperor to be an airhead. Or rather, he's too bad at lying. It's too obvious that he completely forgot about it.
Anyway, the Emperor started explaining the situation to me. Apparently the Demon Lord is going to resurrect after 2 years and due to lack of sufficient strength, they had no other option than to rely on us Heroes. By the way, the Silven Kingdom has performed a summoning ritual as well so I guess Hinata is there huh.
After Cylis finished explaining, I remembered the last words of the God we met. He said something like the Demon Lord was his friend and not an enemy.
If what he said was true then dealing with the Demon Lord will be troublesome. Well, for now, I'll accept their request and I'll think about the Demon Lord after he resurrects.
「All right, I'll accept your request, Cylis」(Ayato)
「Really?! Thank you so much!!」(Emperor)
「So, what should I do now?」(Ayato)
「Ahh, about that, you don't have to do anything for today. You must be quite tired by now, right? That's why you should rest for today and then you can start from tomorrow」(Emperor)
「Really? But where would I rest though? I just came to this world, so that's a bit...」(Ayato)
「Ahh, you don't need to worry about that. You will be provided with a personal room in this royal castle. Of course, all of your expenses including food, clothing and anything else will be taken care of by the royal family itself so rest assured」(Emperor)
Huh? What did he say just now? Everything will be taken care of by the royal family?!! What's with this VIP treatment?
「No no no, it will be beyond rude for me to make the royal family take care of all my expenses」(Ayato)
Then after I said that, Cylis made a serious expression for the first time and said...
「Ayato-kun, in the first place this situation has been created because of our own selfishness. Please let us do atleast this much to repay you. Well, even if I say that, this isn't even close enough to repay you」(Emperor)
「....If you put it that way, then I can't say anything else」(Ayato)
「Thank you so much~~」(Emperor)
And he's back to his normal expression again. Seriously, this guy...
After the meeting with Cylis was finished, he told that he had to report to the Silven Kingdom that the summoning ritual was a success. And apparently he would receive a report from them regarding the same matter soon.
Well, putting aside the fact that the Emperor turned out to be an "airhead", my life in another world as a ⟨⟨Hero⟩⟩ is about to start from tomorrow.
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