After their discussion Sofia went towards the balcony where the hero is said to be at the moment.
Even though she wanted to do some research, as the princess of the Albanian kingdom it was her duty to greet the legendary hero summoned by the goddess "Aqua" that her kingdom worships.
She swiftly moved through the long hallways of the castle heading straight towards a door that connected to the balcony that towered over the garden of the castle grounds.
Sofia squinted her violet eyes as the dazzling sunlight shone through her pupils. She adjusted her clear glasses as she scanned her surroundings.
There seated near the edge of the balcony beneath a shade umbrella a woman with pearl white skin who seem to be 16 or 17 years old with long waist length glossy black hair that was tied with a single red ribbon sipping her tea.
Her eyes were as dark as the starless night sky, and her clothe were clothing that weren't originally from this world. She was the embodiment of the word beautiful.
There were two knights standing a few meters behind her as guards, when they notice the presence of princess Sofia, they both bowed their heads showing deep reverence.
It didn't take too long for the black-haired woman to also notice the presence of Sofia as well, her black eyes looked warily towards her, seeing that Sofia slowly walked towards the black-haired woman with an unbothered gait.
"Hello there, it's nice to meet you. I am the princess of this nation, Sofia Albanian."
Sofia said lowering her head towards the black-haired woman. Hearing the introduction of the princess the black-haired woman's wariness faded by a small amount.
"It's nice to meet you princess, I am Katsumi Aiuchi."
Katsumi introduce herself with a bow of her own. She was from a very influential family back in Japan, so she was already use to such formalities.
Sofia showed a warm smile from her introduction and opened her mouth.
"Do you mind if I sit here?"
"Oh, not at all, please go ahead."
Katsumi replied, gesturing towards the empty seat.
"Please excuse me then."
Sofia sat on the opposite side of Katsumi; they were now seated before the other. Katsumi promptly poured out the black tea from the metal container into the teacup for Sofia.
A pleasant fragrance whiffled through the air creating a nice atmosphere.
Sofia inhales the fragrance of the tea while admiring Katsumi's skills, the way she moved her hands were beautiful and graceful at least it was clear to Sofia that Katsumi is used to using her hands for these kinds of things.
"I must say your tea skills is really great."
Sofia commented.
"Hm? oh, this well... back home there is a friend of mine that always invited me for tea, so I picked up the skills from drinking with her."
Katsumi replied nonchalantly. Though for a faint moment her eyes became gentle at the mention of her home. Though, it was brief Sofia's sharp eyes had caught sight of it.
".... I see."
"Let's give it time to cool before we start drinking."
"Okay, got it. In the meantime, is there anything you want to ask me? please go ahead."
Sofia said prompting her to ask away. Hearing her suggestion Katsumi placed her right hand beneath her chin and hummed in thought with her eyes close before opening them up again.
"In that case can you tell me why I was summoned here and who exactly summoned me?"
Although she had more questions, she chose the ones she was more curious about at the moment. Sofia leaned back in her chair in a more comfortable position before explaining.
"You were summoned here by the power of the goddess of water, Aqua. As for why you were summoned well.... we actually don't know the answer to that question either. The hero's return was a little unexpected to us as well but, I'm sure you were all sent here for a purpose."
"Hmm. Did you just say we? So does that mean I'm not the only one summoned here?"
Katsumi widened her eyes in a show of surprise, she had originally thought that there was only one hero summoned but, apparently there were others.
"Oh my, you weren't told that either, did my brother not explained anything to you?"
Sofia wondered, while sighing in exasperation.
(That man, once he sees a pretty face, he completely loss himself while forgetting the main objective)
"If you mean that annoying prince then no, a proposal is the only thing I had received from that man."
Katsumi said grumpily, clearly remembering her meeting with the first prince as her neatly refined eyebrow furrowed into a frown.
Sofia could only laugh dryly from the bitterness coming from Katsumi's words.
"Ahem, well please allow me to explain."
Sofia cleared her throat and straightened her posture.
"There are four elemental goddesses in this world and each of them ruled over their own element. The goddess of fire name is Aetna. The goddess of earth name is Gaea. The goddess of wind name is Hera, and finally the goddess that summoned you is called Aqua. They are the gods that ruled this world and are the ones who summoned you heroes."
Sofia explained.
"Each kingdom worship one of the elemental goddesses, because we worship the goddess Aqua the hero of water was summoned to us while the other kingdoms will most likely acquire the hero of their own respective goddess."
She continued.
"I see... so can I assume that this is not the first time a hero was summoned to this world?"
Katsumi inquired curiously.
"Nope, the last time a hero was summoned to this world was three centuries ago during a great war."
Sofia explained, while elegantly picking up her cup of tea. Katsumi kept her silence while going over the information she had just acquired in her head.
(Three centuries ago, and during a great war. Could that also be the reason why we were summoned here? No there doesn't seem to be any kind of war or urgency at the moment. The princess also doesn't seem to be agitated or bothered by anything either so then why? sigh, forget it no use pondering about that right now but, if that goddess was the voice I heard before coming here then, maybe she can also send me back but if not then.... I guess I'd have to live the rest of my life here)
Katsumi thought, even though she was unreasonably abducted from her home she still had a clear mind, at least she wasn't the kind of person to act impulsively and make unreasonable decision.
What she lacks now is information if she can accomplish whatever the goddess Aqua wants her to do then maybe she would allow her to go back home but, until then she had to become the hero of this kingdom.
"Hey, can you tell me what exactly a hero is?"
Katsumi asked. Sofia played with her short purple hair as she looked confusedly at Katsumi.
What is a hero isn't that an ambiguous question?
Sofia thought but, she decided to give the answer that comes naturally to her.
What is a hero, you asked?
"… Well a hero can mean many things depending on how you interpret it but, for me a hero is a kind and noble person who do good for the sake of others."
Sofia replied, after some thought.
"Do good for the sake of others, huh.... your definition is not wrong but, what if there are heroes summoned here that use their powers for the sake of evil?"
Katsumi inquired as she stared directly into those pair of violet eyes. A curtain of silence filled the surroundings, the fragrance of the black tea is the only contradicting thing that existed in this atmosphere.
After a moment of silence, it was Sofia who had opened her mouth first.
"Then those scums aren't really heroes, right? for someone to use their powers only to prey on the weak can only be called garbage."
Sofia answered.
Her voice had a bit of coldness to it, this caught Katsumi by surprise. judging by Sofia's kind atmosphere she didn't seem like the person who could show such level of coldness.
"In any case it's not like we have to worry about that, because lady Katsumi isn't that kind of person, right?"
"Of course, not but... I'm not sure if I can live up to your expectation of being your kingdoms, hero."
Katsumi said with a downcast gaze, what reflected in her eyes was a thin Japanese style katana that was sheath into a black scabbard. Ever since she came to this world, she could feel a connection to this katana.
"Oh, please do not worry yourself over that matter, I'm sure you will do great."
Sofia said confidently.
"Oh, you think so?"
In contrast to princess Sofia's words Katsumi had a dubious look on her face.... she couldn't imagine herself saving others, she still found it hard to believe that she really was in another world.
A normal woman her age would panic but, for some reason, her mind was calm and focus. Perhaps somewhere in her heart she just accepted her reality.
"Very well I will do my best to fulfil my duties as hero."
Katsumi said in a soothing voice.
"I see well then were happy to have you, lady Katsumi. Please come to me whenever you want someone to talk to, okay."
With a cheerful smile spread across her face Sofia offered her hand to Katsumi, Katsumi accepted her hand with a faint smile.
Maybe it was because she could feel the sincerity coming from Princess Sofia, that she opened up to her so fast.
Meanwhile, the two was exchanging pleasant smiles, there was a shadow of someone secretly watching them from the entrance of the balcony, the figure had bright blonde hair and donned a golden robe, it was the first prince of the kingdom.
Seeing the smile of Katsumi, the prince was mesmerizing for a moment at the beautiful sight of Katsumi's figure beneath the radiant sun that filled the balcony with much of its warmth.
"I swear you will be mine."
He muttered beneath his breath.