I. The Talentless Hero
"We need your assist, Heroes of the Four Directions."
After Diego opened the tablecloth, four different weapons appeared. With the second flick, a piece of parchment appeared.
"First, I want to confirm your identity. Please come when I called your name," said Diego, grabbing the floating parchment. He cleared his throat, then continued, "Andrew Kale, the South Hero."
"Ooh ... here we go!" The burly man shouted loudly and came in front of Diego, with full of enthusiastic and too much self-confidence.
"Stone-chrushing axe." Diego lift up the big axe and gives it to Andrew. "A large sized weapon will suit your posture."
Andrew shouted again, excitedly flipped his new weapon.
Diego continued, "Misha Chernenko, the North Hero."
It was the blonde haired girl's turn to come forward. Diego lift up the bow and gives it to her. "Bow-of-Nature. Archery would be perfect for a pretty girl like you."
Misha accept that long bow. "Thank you so much, I'll definitely put this to good use."
"Next is, William Foster, the West Hero."
It was the turn for the blonde haired young man. He got the spear. "Sky-piercing spear, A tall man like you would have no trouble using it."
without a single word, William turn around and returned.
"Last, Ayato Yukimura, the East Hero."
It's Ayato's turn. There was only one sword left on the table, so Diego handed it to him. "Steel-slashing sword, although your body is not as big as Mr. Andrew, nor as tall as Mr. William, but the size of this sword will fit you perfectly."
Ayato studied his new sword. He drew the sword from its scabbard. It's kinda heavy, but it doesn't seem like a problem once he get used to it. The blade gleams in the light of the thrones room. Both the handle and the scabbard are colored dark green and glossy varnish.
"Thank you, I'll take good care of it," said Ayato while sheathing the sword.
"Well, you all have obtained the weapons. I hope you can use it for a good purpose." Diego kept the parchment. "Shall I return it to His Majesty for the next session?"
King Henry get up from his throne and clapped hands to get all of the attention on him. He walked to the edge of the podium and said, "Once again I say many thanks to the heroes who had arrived and received weapons, I hope your presence will bring peace and security to this world."
"Surely you all are exhausted, right? We have prepared a banquet to celebrate your arrival, please come to the grand hall two hours later. Additionally, I have ordered the servants to show you your rooms. Hope you all can spend this time to rest as best as you can!"
King Henry get off from the podium, followed by his wife and daughter. Meanwhile the servants entered the throne room to walk the heroes into their rooms.
"Haa..."
Ayato immediately threw himself onto the bed as soon as he got to the room. This room is not bad, although not big, but quite comfortable. There are a medium size bed, a nightstand and a wardrobe. With a small balcony and a bathroom.
Now he didn't know what to do during these two hours. Visited other heroes? But he didn't know what he should talk to them about. Finally Ayato gave up on that intention. Ayato then decided to go take a shower. It is not good to attend a banquet without cleaning up first.
Then, Ayato thought it was better to go out and try to go around the palace. Of course it wouldn't be funny if tomorrow he was lost in this big palace, it's better to try to get to know the building he's going to live in from now on than to get lost later. Ayato walked towards the room's door and opened it.
"Kyaa..."
"Whaa..."
He finding a girl behind the door, obviously made Ayato and the girl both jump in surprise. Wait, looks like Ayato has seen this girl before.
"Ah, g-good afternoon ...." The girl was still slightly surprised because Ayato suddenly opened the door. She wore a lacy, short-sleeved purple dress that looked luxurious, her dark brown hair shaped in a bun on top of her head. She lifted her dress a little and bowed. "You must have seen me earlier in the throne room, now allow me to introduce myself to you. My name is Regina Isabel de Iberia, the crown princess of Iberia kingdom. Pleased to meet you."
That was true, Ayato had already saw her in the throne room. But, what makes a princess bother to come to his room like this?
That question immediately answered by the Princess. "I made my way over here just to meet you, Ayato Yukimura, The East Hero."
"Is it true? It was an honour to be visited by the princess," Ayato responded and bowed a little, for the sake of politeness.
But such formality seemed to made Regina uncomfortable. She asked again. "If you had a free time, do you want to walk around the palace with me?"
Indeed, Ayato was in the mood to go around. But, is it really okay if he took a walk just with the crown princess? What if someone saw them and was thinking of things? Even so, rejecting her offer doesn't seem like a good option either.
"If Miss Regina don't mind, I'd like to," Ayato answered.
"No need to be so formal, you can call me Regina," Regina said while gestured for Ayato to follow her. "Come on, I'll show you all my favorite place in this palace. One more thing ... can I call you Ayato?"
"Okay, then ... Regina?" Ayato followed her.
The two were really walking around the palace. Regina was a talkative girl. Along the way, She continued to telling about everything from the palace buildings to her life as a royal princess, while Ayato only respond with "Is that so?" or "Great" or something like that. Seems like he cannot think of a better response.
"What about your previous world, Ayato? What was it like?" Regina suddenly asked. now they are on the garden, sitting on the bench.
"My previous world? Well ...." Are there any interesting things on earth that will impress the people of this world? "There is nothing special, I think. We had no magic or something like that."
"Is it true? That means, it must be your first time seeing magic!" Not so long after that, Regina got up from her seat. She said, "It is almost the time for the banquet. We'll meet again soon in the grand hall with my father and mother."
He also got up from his seat and was about to get going. Before they separated, Regina softly pulled Ayato's arm and whispered in his ear. "Before that, let me tell you the reason I really wanted to meet you ...." She giggled. "You're really my type, you know?"