In the midst of the nobles, Selena and the Emperor shook hands, thus forming a pact of equality between them, placing her and the heroes on equal footing with the Emperor and the imperial family.
— Beloved children of the goddess, you must be tired from the journey. Allow me to offer you a meal at my palace — said the Emperor.
— It would be an honor — replied Selena.
Although the Emperor understood the gravity of that act, he was not dissatisfied with such actions, as it was the first time he had seen such interesting "Transmigrants."
The Emperor thought, looking Selena in the eyes:
"The last group of heroes sent to me were very arrogant and full of themselves; these, on the other hand, ask to be treated as equals while kneeling before me. I've never seen such interesting people."
On the other hand, the nobles who witnessed that scene were uncomfortable with it all.
Those who were meant solely to kill demons and conquer enemy lands had now become favored individuals of royalty, who would have the right to live with the same dignity as a king.
— You are truly astute people — spoke the Emperor, looking at Selena and her colleagues, then glancing at the faces of the nobles.
— Um... Right. Thank you... I guess — replied Selena, confused by such a statement.
Selena didn't know, but she had earned the respect of everyone in that place, as did her colleagues.
— Lumina, guide them to the banquet hall. I still have matters to discuss with the nobles — said the Emperor, moving away from the heroes and walking toward his throne.
— Understood, Your Majesty — replied the princess, making a small bow.
— I will accompany you as well. As a servant of the goddess, it is my duty to accompany the development of the heroes — said Duke Taylor, standing beside the princess, before facing the Emperor.
— Go. Your duties as a priest are more important than your duties as a noble.
Making a small bow to the Emperor, the Duke and the princess took the lead of the group of heroes, calmly and elegantly.
— Follow me — said the princess.
They didn't hesitate and did exactly as she had said, following her.
Passing by the palace guards and servants and the numerous works of art that filled the place, they arrived at a corridor as wide as a house and as long as it seemed infinite.
With walls as red as blood and a floor as shiny as the reflective surface of a mirror, the place was so beautiful and well-designed that it reminded everyone there that they were in another world.
— Incredible ! — exclaimed one of them, looking at every tiny detail of the place.
— Yes, Kaike, this place is incredible, but somewhat surreal — said Selena.
— Sel, in moments like this you don't question reality, you think about how to best enjoy the moment — replied Ciel.
— That's something only irresponsible people would say — said Arthur.
— Haa... That's why people like you aren't popular with girls — replied the redhead.
— Tsk... And to think that an idiot like you also came to the other world annoys me. Why didn't you just leave with Noah? — exclaimed Arthur.
— What did you say, Mr. Second Best? — mocked Ciel.
Despite all these things happening, all third-year students were enjoying the situation, almost as if they were on an excursion.
— Everyone, calm down! — shouted the teacher, clapping her hands to get their attention.
Unexpectedly, like good students, they all fell silent and quietly followed the path.
— Ha... Hahaha.
Strangely, someone was laughing at the scene.
— Your Highness? — said the Duke.
— Sorry. It's the first time I've seen such an animated group — replied Lumina.
Who was laughing at the situation of the young teenagers from another world was Lumina, the princess of the Empire of Argyros, who seemed strangely cheerful to see the group out of the corner of her eye.
— I'm sorry if I was rude to laugh at your excitement — said the princess, looking at the young teacher following her.
— Don't worry, princess. Even I end up laughing sometimes — Elizabeth calmed her.
— Thank you for the comment —she paused briefly, then continued — Maybe that's why dad liked you.
— His Majesty liked us? — Selena asked.
— Yes, but I must say I didn't expect such audacity from you.
— His Majesty normally doesn't like people from another world very much, but unexpectedly he liked you — said Duke Taylor, walking beside the princess.
— The way you talk makes it seem like other people from another world have come to this world before us — exclaimed Selena.
— Ah, yes. In the past, the gods sent apostles from other worlds to our world almost daily; however, this became rarer over time — explained the Princess.
— Although rare, some gods still do it. Lady Freya has been sending people from another world to the Empire quite frequently — the Duke added.
— What!?
Unexpectedly, all the young teenagers were shocked by this news, as if they felt betrayed by the person they trusted most.
— Are you saying we weren't the first ones sent to this world by Lady Freya!? — Arthur shouted.
Neither of them knew how to answer that question. Both Lumina and Taylor were strong people who had fought in the war against the Demon Lord for years, and yet they acknowledged that they could die at any moment during the battle.
A war is not a place to make mistakes, but to always give your best, as if it were the last day of your life, and the goddess knew that; so both the Princess and the Duke imagined that the young heroes knew they could be replaced at any moment if they died.
It would be foolish to entrust the future of a nation to people who were not even from this world.
— You don't need to worry. The last heroes sent by the goddess were weak people who trained little. As long as you blindly obey us while you're here, your lives will not be in danger — said the Duke.
Of course, the Duke knew the goddess he had sworn loyalty to well and knew she was a cunning person who rarely made mistakes.
If she had sent such foolish people to face the Demon Lord, there must have been a reason.
" Better obedient fools than rebellious wise men " thought Taylor, nodding to Lumina.
Immediately understanding her partner's signal, the princess continued.
— Lord Taylor is right; as long as you faithfully follow our advice and attend our trainings, defeating the Demon Lord will be a piece of cake for you.
— I-I understand... For a moment I thought we were disposable to the goddess — said Professor Elizabeth, with a clearly worried face.
Incredibly, all the students seemed to have agreed with the teacher, who seemed quite relieved by the nobles' comments.
" Hmm... So that's what happened! " thought the Duke.
Strangely, under the mask, the Duke saw such a scene with curiosity, as if they were analyzing something.
"She must have used 'that' on them."
Despite everyone in the hallway seeming excited about their futures as heroes again, there was someone at the back of the class who looked at it all disdainfully.
"Hehehe... Everything is going according to plan!"
It was Lucas, who watched the unfolding of the story with a wicked smile on his face.
"Prepare everything for your return, Noah!"
.
.
.
— We've arrived.
Some time later, everyone stood before a huge wooden gate, guarded by two armed soldiers dressed in silver armor.
The guards immediately opened the doors to welcome Lumina and her group, clearly noticing they were from another world.
— Come.
Inside the hall, a massive 10-meter table was set, with several chairs around it and dozens of unique dishes with strange appearances that no one from Earth would have ever heard of.
— Wow! — exclaimed Kaike, one of the boys from the group.
The sight was impressive, even for them, who were all heirs of major companies on Earth.
— Don't be shy and eat to your heart's content — Duke Taylor said, looking closely at the group — This banquet was prepared with you, the 21 heroes sent by the goddess, in mind.
— We are very grateful for the consideration... although we are now only 20 — the teacher explained.
"Hmm?"
Confused by those words, the Duke personally began counting the number of people present in the hall.
— How strange. Did I misunderstand the oracle's message?
— You probably understood correctly, but one of us gave up helping you and decided to go back home — Arthur said, taking his seat at the table with a somewhat irritated expression.
— He gave up?
— Yes. He was basically a coward who spouted nonsense about not having reasons to risk his life for complete strangers, but we all know the real reason he fled back to Earth was because he was a wimp — Arthur explained, obviously annoyed to talk about Noah.
— Don't say that, Arthur. Noah must have had a good reason for leaving! — Selena intervened, also taking her seat at the table.
— As expected from our angel. Always seeking to help the fishermen! — Ciel exclaimed.
— Please, everyone, mind your manners — the teacher said.
All the students, seeing Noah being defended by Selena and the teacher, exploded with anger and indignation, especially the men.
— He was just a snob who couldn't stand living with us! — one of them shouted.
— That scoundrel has been annoying us for months. He certainly won't be missed — another exclaimed.
— Someone as rude as him would be immediately killed by the Emperor — said another.
The Princess and the Duke were astounded. They had never heard of someone so hated by their own companions.
— Was he really that bad? — Lumina asked.
— The worst!! —they all responded unanimously.
Silence filled the room. All of them, except for Professor Elizabeth, Selena, and Lucas, had the same view of Noah, which made them feel a strange sense of camaraderie in their hearts.
— Hahaha... I'm sorry if I've ever offended you in my life, Ciel — Arthur said.
— Don't worry. I know I'm someone difficult to deal with — Ciel said, somewhat embarrassed.
— He really was terrible — Kaike exclaimed.
While everyone discussed how bad Noah was, one person in the room seemed interested in him for another reason.
— Interesting... So he decided to go back home on his own — Duke Taylor said.
— Someone problematic, Tay —the Princess whispered.
Ignoring her friend, the Duke walked towards the teacher to inquire about the dropout student.
— Excuse me. Would you happen to know more about this Noah fellow?
— Well, he was reserved and calm, often liking to spend his free time staring at the clouds.
— That's not the kind of information I'm looking for. What I would like are more relevant details, like his Rank.
— I don't know much about him or his family, but Selena was somewhat. And about his Rank, it was E.
— What!? — the Duke exclaimed.
The Duke was astounded. He knew someone had managed to resist Freya's "Lust", but beyond that, he had survived an invocation being only Rank E.
"Teleportation and Invocation are completely different things. There's no way someone of Rank E could survive an Invocation without repercussions, and at the same time resist "Lust". I need to study this case better!"
Noah didn't know it, but from that moment on, there would be someone dedicated to finding out as much as possible about him.
"Noah Elísio... I need to find him!"