I. The Talentless hero
"Oi, Mate! C'mere!"
When Ayato arrived at the grand hall, all the cutlery and the dishes were already on the table. But the royal family didn't seem to have arrived yet, there were only two men at the table. The person which calling him ... it is the burly man who got a giant axe as a weapon, Andrew Kale. Diego the Magician was also sat beside him.
"Man, It hasn't been a day yet, but you've been doing whatever you want!" Andrew patted Ayato's shoulder quite hard, that made him almost trip if he didn't hold on to the chair.
"What's that suppossed to mean?" said Ayato with irritated tone.
"Huuuh ... what's with that ignorance face?" Andrew continued while waving his hand. "Me and Diego saw it when you just casually walk with the Princess!"
"And ... so what?" Ayato didn't thought that was something special. "I was about to walk by myself when she came and invited me to walk with her. Isn't it that I can't refuse?"
But Andrew looks unsatisfied. "Huh, so the Princess was the one who invited!? Man ... how lucky are you! Listen, Diego said that Princess Regina was the prettiest girl on Iberia, no man can refuse her!"
Diego joining that conversation. "You know, His Majesty King Henry planned to choose one of the male heroes as his daughter's bride. Seeing Princess Regina had interest in you, it is a good sign!"
Andrew shouted while once again patted Ayato's shoulder. "Listen, Mate! You had a very big chance to become a companion to the future queen of this country. Now I'm really jealous!"
If being honest, actually Ayato wasn't very enthusiastic with this kind of things. It is true that Regina was very pretty, but, to be a companion to the queen who will take responsibilities over a whole country? Perhaps that's the last option he'll take. Moreover, there was no guarantee that Regina really took interest or even fell in love with him.
Ayato hear a pair of footsteps. The other two heroes, Misha and William, had arrived. They are taking a seat on the chair.
"I wanted you all to stay here even after dinner ends," Diego said. "There is something important that I have to say to all of you. About the heroes duty."
The banquet started when the royal family came in and King Henry gave an opening speech. During the banquet, Ayato met glances with Regina several times, who seemed to be deliberately throwing glances at his way.
After the banquet ended, Diego standing on his chair and started talking, "Okay, to all the great heroes, you are now officially part of this country—I mean, this world, then we really had faith that you could carry out your duties well. Therefore, I wanted you all to gather in the palace yard tomorrow morning at ten o'clock, to practice how to use your weapon. I will be the one to guide. Thank you for the attention."
Ayato returned to his room right after the banquet ended. It seems tomorrow will be a busy day, so he better go to bed as fast as he can.
That morning felt a bit different. Ayato wakes up without an alarm ring or Makiko's cheering. Of course, it is not his home anymore. No matter how much he didn't want to believe it, it had already happened. He was now at another world.
After washed his face, Ayato walked to the closet and looked for clothes to wear that day. Apparently the palace had provided a few changes of clothes in the closet, he found some shirt and trousers that just the right size. While changing clothes, his eyes take a look into the sword that he had rested at the foot of the bed last night. Steel-Slashing, kind of cool name. Ayato had never held a sword in his life, but last night Diego said that special weapons could also enhance its user's abilities.
His daydreaming was interrupted by a knock on the door and someone's voice. "Sir Ayato, I have come to deliver your breakfast."
It was one of the servant. Ayato had thought they would have breakfast together in the grand hall like yesterday, but the servant said he did not need to do that and could go straight down to the center yard at ten o'clock. Actually, Ayato felt uncomfortable with the formal treatment. If he can choose, he would prefer being called by his name only. But, what can he do? people in this world have a lot of respect for heroes after all. Asking them to take down the formalities might offend them.
Ayato finished his breakfast then put the empty tableware on the stroller left in front of his room. At ten o'clock, he grabbed his sword and left the room. when passing through the hallway, someone called him.
"Ayato! Ayato!"
It's Regina. She ran around a bit carrying some books. "Today is your first training, isn't it? Good luck!" she said with a slight gasp.
"Yeah, thank you," Ayato replied.
She tightened her grip on the books she carrying. "I wanted to watch it and cheer for you, but too bad, I have a lesson for the rest of the afternoon. I'll see you later when I'm done."
"I'll wait then. Good luck on your lesson." After Ayato said that, they parted ways.
Everybody had already gathered in the yard when Ayato came. Andrew swinging his giant axe (It's dangerous, don't do this). Diego already there too.
"Well, then, everyone has gathered here. So ...." Diego interrupted. "Shall we begin the training?"
"As I mentioned earlier. The weapon currently in your hands is a special weapon. It consists of a mixture of basic elements and can enhance the user's physical abilities, even if the user has never held a weapon before." As he explained, Diego walked in to the front of us. Then, he pointed at himself. "Moreover, it has been reinforced with magic by a Great Sage."
"First of all, try to use each other's weapons well. Who wants to try first?"
"ME! ME!!" Andrew shouting loudly while lifted up his axe, Misha, who was standing next to him, jumped.
"Stone-crushing axe. Well, then, Mr. Andrew, try to chop down that boulder over there using your axe," Diego said while pointing into a big stone not so far from them.
Andrew walked into the boulder that was as high as his knees. He take a deep breath and lifting his axe. He shouted and struck his axe hard against the stone. The stone shattered with a terrible sound. Not only that, there was a strong wind blowing from the stone fragments until Ayato had to cover his face with his hands to avoid getting dust in his eyes. When the wind stopped, the sight that appeared was even more shocking, the boulder broke into several small pieces, the ground around it also slightly cracked.
Andrew himself looked astonished at his work. Diego clapped his hands. "Well done, very good! The first try isn't too bad. If you keep practicing, you'll be able to split a monster's head open with a single strike."
Ayato looked at his sword. The green color of the scabbard glinted in the sunlight. He wondering, If a single strike can have that much impact, what could he possibly do with this sword?