"Hey Miko, I just wanted to say... t-thanks for saving me from my father."
I was startled, but I guess this is why she brought me to this meadow. The radiant sunlight was beaming through the trees, reflecting off the dew on the grass and flowers scattered throughout the bed. At one point there was a deer and her 2 kids (fawn?) frolicking around, but at some point, I scared them off, I think. The fragrant smell of early spring filled my lungs and bestowed inside me a sort of unending happiness and tranquility that only nature can provide.
Still, when I looked at the princess, the beauty of all of nature couldn't even compare. Her eyes dazzled in the morning rays, her smile that could light the darkest place. The little dimple on the side of her face, and an unending kindness you can't replace-
"Wake up!!! Wake up, you sleepy dolt! I'll kick you again!"
I jolted awake from the sudden scream, and then held my side due to an unbearable pain. He really kicked me...
"I'm up. Roan, I'm up..."
"I'm not the one you're looking for."
Huh? He was leaning on a column a few yards away from me, staring out the window. He was dressed in casual clothes today, some dirty medieval pants (braes I think Kile said), and a button-up shirt. There were many tattered holes across his clothes as if he had a clause to look like a hobo. He was cleaned up nicely; you could tell he spent a good amount of time shaving.
I saw that he was relaxed, so it wasn't him who kicked me. Who was it th-
"Get up sleepy dolt! You were sleeping for 30 minutes past dawn. That's 30 laps!"
Ugh, who replaced my princess with a gargoyle?
Slap!
I got up, trying to ignore the pain in both my side and my face so that I could put on a smile. It appeared as if the princess was angry today. Looking at her made me feel like I got a concussion.
I mean, she changed her whole attire... today she looked more like an Amazonian warrior than a princess. She wore combat boots, tight combat pants with a utility belt containing multiple weapons (I know some, like the karambit and throwing knives), and a sports bra covered in chain mail. I didn't know whether I was aroused or terrified. Along her back was what looked like a katana, except it was a lot heavier and sturdier.
How can she even lift this much?!
Roan looked away from the window for a moment, as he turned his head towards me to say, "I'm sorry Hero, but much to mine and the king's dismay she is honestly more suited to train you. At least in the early parts, while you're still weak. That's why we will train in a secluded area."
As if he found something more interesting, Roan came over to pat me on the shoulder. The princess was tossing a knife between her hands while almost scowling at me. Why does my crush wanna kill me? Roan sighed before clenching my shoulder. Ouch.
Roan let go of my shoulder and gave me a wooden sword before saying, "I pray for you."
What? What is she going to do!
Even though I took too long to get up, the princess showed "grace" by "only" adding 15 extra laps to the morning workout. She called it a gift but look, I'm a guy who's happy to get 60 on the Pacers. I did my best but honestly, I probably died 15 different times. What's even worse is that that number would've been exponentially higher if the princess didn't have recovery magic.
As she healed me, the princess shook her head at me. Up until this point, she hasn't looked at me all day. Truthfully, she has been the harshest teacher I've ever had, and we're just getting started.
When she finally looked up at me, she had almost a glare in her eyes. It was as if she couldn't stand my existence... "You're pathetic. Forget the sword, you can't even use the system."
That's what I'm say- wait, did she say pathetic?
"Go easy on him princess, he will get it. He's already doing better than that Mark celebrity."
Mark? Like Mark Emerson? What is he doing here, doesn't he run that rich oil company thing?
The princess took note of my confusion and finally smiled. She coyly said "Oh mighty hero, don't you know? You're not even one of the first thousand people who have come to our land. They bring technology, we bring exotic creatures of myth. Some of them are so full of themselves that they think they are the prophesized one. Then it turns out they're a bunch of babies."
To be honest, at that point, I didn't care about how much contact this place has had with my world, as I was more dismayed that I kept being called hero instead of my name (and I wanted to know the princess's name anyways), so I blurted out "Uh, guys, m-my names not hero, it's, uh, it's Miko. And I'm a- well, assuming your name isn't princess, so uh, what's your name."
I tried going for humor; I even gave a plucky smile. However, I think I came out more stupid, to be honest.
She did smile in a nice(r) way for a bit though! She replied "For now, all I am is 'princess'. Or if you like, you could call me Sergeant Hartman. But I'll make you a deal. Once you earn the system, we can renegotiate terms."
I didn't know which was worse, her inspiration as a drill sergeant or the fact she saw sharing names as a transaction. I mean, I just wanted to call her something more personal than princess. It almost made her feel like someone's possession.
Suddenly, she threw a punch at me.
Due to my martial arts training, you would think I'd be able to block the punch and hold my own, but I was knocked onto my butt in half a second. I'm going to be honest, at this point, I was starting to get tired of this place and its hostility, so I screamed and threw a flurry of punches.
They weren't the most well-aimed punches ever, but the way she effortlessly ducked and weaved through all of my attacks was insane. It felt as if she was always a million steps ahead.
After another misfire, she dodged, changed levels, and lunged toward me, tackling me to the ground and promptly putting me into an inescapable arm lock.
I guess she has mastered both kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I tapped out very quickly, as there was nothing I could do.
"You've done some training on Earth?" Roan asked. I looked over, realizing he saw this beatdown. Even so, there seemed to be some intrigue in his eyes. Considering the fact I lost the fight instantly, I wondered what he saw in me. Maybe he's hoping next time I land a punch.
"Yeah, but it obviously isn't enough," I replied while studying the grass. I was unable to look at the princess. I sat down in defeat.
She walked over and stuck her hand out. After a moment that lasted an eternity, I accepted the help, and she pulled me to my feet.
Then she flexed and smiled, saying "That's fine. I'd beat anyone on earth in a fight. Your martial arts just aren't on our level. Or endurance, or anything else. That's why we have to train you up. So, let's go again. By the end of the day, I want you to hit me at least once. Otherwise, I'm gonna knock you out for real, ok."
This time, I tried to take more care in assessing her stance. It looked like something you'd see from a Muay Thai practitioner, except she took more care for defense. Personally, I have a brown belt in karate, but if what she said is true that doesn't matter. Earth's martial arts are just inferior to this land's.
Initially, my strategy was to stay back and allow the range from my far superior height to dictate the fight. However, she gave me no openings while simultaneously applying maximum pressure, moving in as much as she wanted. Essentially, nothing I tried worked. Seeing this, I decided to take the risk of going on an aggressive front.
As I took a step forward, she made a feint as if she was going for a low kick, so I got ready to raise my knee to check. However, she quickly changed directions so that she could strike me directly in my stomach. I was too slow to react.
Blaow!
I fell to the ground, trying to hold my insides in. If I made a single wrong movement, all the food from last night's dinner would end up decorating the ground. The air around me grew thin. My head went black with dizziness. For a few eternal moments, my world was emptiness. After a lifetime of suffering, I was able to collect enough air to start wheezing. I'm going to die. My heart slowed. My breath grew thin. As my insides constricted upon themselves, suffocating me, I could feel my muscles expand as if they were ready to explode. I'm going to die.
I felt an energy begin to surge through me. "Healing" magic.
This just leads to more torture.
"S-spare me. I- I'm not the o-one who can save you." Even after she healed me, I still felt like a corpse.
I'm supposed to be on a field trip right now! Not getting killed by some hot chick just because I'm some hero.
"Get up."
There was no mercy in the princess. I looked over at Roan, begging, but he was just watching attentively. No humor, no worry, no anger, no emotion. Did the man even have a soul?
These people are insane.
I slowly got up, grimacing at my future. It took a bit, but surprisingly, all the pain had faded. I guess that counts as a miracle in this hellscape. Thankfully, death does share gifts here though. I was starting to feel a little stronger. Nothing substantial, but it was a start.
This strength revived my inspiration. It may seem silly, but I was determined to save these people. I don't exactly know how I can, but I will. If I failed, that pain I just experienced... the people here would feel a pain infinitely worse as they were extinguished from existence. I'll endure that pain a million times over to stop that from happening.
I will train until I can kill the Demon Lord.
The next few hours went like that. I would get beat; she would heal me. I would get a little stronger. I also got better at reading her moves and picking up techniques she was using. Sometimes she would even stop sparring to teach me a technique.
In all, I felt like I could beat Mike Tyson now. But I had to become even stronger. In my world, I couldn't do much for my parents or Kile. I got a chance to make up for my past failures here, and I was going to seize it no matter what.
I needed to hit my crush first though.
"Princess, it's time to pack up for the day," Roan interjected into our training.
The princess looked over at Roan as though she was going to argue. However, as she approached him, Roan simply nodded at something off in the distance. Nobles were approaching.
The princess tried to force a calming smile before sighing to no avail. After this failure, she suddenly changed her whole attire with a blinding light. Her armor was replaced with a simple but elegant gown, and she even procured a book out of thin air before sitting by a tree.
To an outsider, it would have appeared as though Roan was the one training me. To go through all that trouble to hide your passion... I guess people here really don't like women who can fight.
As the people approached, we could begin to hear their chatter, and I noticed their side-eye towards the princess. I couldn't make out exactly what they were saying, but their intent was clear. They held a clear disdain for the princess even being involved in my training.
Her watching us fight while reading a book was a crime in their eyes. Despicable. I wondered how worse it would have been if they had seen her kick my ass. The people here are awful.
I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my side. I looked down to find the source and saw the princess almost digging her fist into my side, triggering a pressure point just enough for me to feel it, but not enough for the group to see it.
At first, I thought she was intentionally hurting me, but I realized I could feel her shaking, almost using my insides as support. She whispered something under her breath about me needing to master the system.
"I hate it here."
The second those words left her lips, she looked around at us skittishly and then held her head down in shame. Her shaking was slowing down, but in its place, it almost felt as if she was shutting down her whole body.
I've heard about this in psychology, where someone who is overwhelmed can collapse into this feeling of complete loneliness. I can't know exactly why she is having such a visceral response to a couple of bigoted assholes, but I wanted to help. The only way I know how to deal with stress is by shutting down or drowning the pain in humor. And since I doubt both of us feeling alone would help her, I decided to try for humor.
"He- hey." I almost blurted out. I was surprised by how shaky my own voice was. "Uh, you know that my sides don't like getting killed. But my hand wouldn't mind being squeezed." Idiot! Why would you say that, now she'll think you're a cree-
"Sorry," She muttered faintly as she briefly clasped my hand tightly before letting go. Ow.
She started walking towards Roan, forcing a smile on her face. She started talking in a loud, sarcastic tone, making sure the passerby heard. "I'm so sorry I watched you two practice. Please accept my humblest apologies."
Upon hearing this, Roan made a comically fake attempt at chastising her. "Listen, princess, it just isn't safe here. You never know if 5 bears would just happen to find us. I already told you that I can only handle 4 bears."
While Roan was doing a good job holding in his laughter (as usual), I let loose a slight chuckle. The princess didn't smile, but you could tell her mood became slightly brighter.
The passersby didn't pay it too much mind; they just made some side remarks about how I was going to waste the system.
After they were gone, Roan gave me a quick speech about appearances. "Listen, this is a fickle kingdom. In every corner there lies someone lurking in the shadows with a dagger, looking for any opening to stab you, no matter how many times you saved them."
I could feel an unfortunate retelling of his own experience behind those words. What happened to him...
...
Later that day, this rich family from the Sonar Mudra kingdom invited the king and my triad to dinner. The Sonar Mudra kingdom was essentially a 'kingdom' made up of a bunch of rich people who enforced their rule upon the lower class.
Their estate was several hours away by carriage (for some reason, cars don't work here). The king and princess had already left, taking this big fancy gold-plated carriage and a few hundred servants with them. They were dressed to impress, wearing the finest clothes in their already fine wardrobe.
I especially liked this pearl bead necklace the princess was wearing, but the emerald gown she wore would have any celebrity girl on Earth become a modern-day Deville for a chance to wear it. With the way it glittered in candlelight, I couldn't help but feel like it would blind Stevie Wonder under the city lights. Then there's the dazzling ocean blue earrings, and this seashell bracelet on her left wrist.
Then her eyes... the radiance of her outfit couldn't illuminate their emptiness.
Maybe it's wrong to say this, but a small part of me did want to beat the shit out of those people from earlier.
And everyone else who has hurt her and Roan.
Why are people awful?
Roan led me to our caravan, a slightly more than modest run-of-the-mill vehicle. It could only seat a few million people, so I could've done with a bit more room. Roan didn't seem to mind though.
Much like he did with the food from earlier, he seemed to bask in royal splendor. Almost like a homeless man who won the lottery, finally realizing what real excess is.
His attire was the exact opposite of what he wore earlier, ditching his dirty clothes for one of the most extravagant suits I've ever seen. He was ready to receive his Oscar. I also had a cool suit, courtesy of our host.
The ride was rather uneventful.
The dinner wasn't.
...
When we arrived at the estate (well, a decent bit away from it, the actual house was a few hundred yards away), I think I almost died from shock. This house looked so expensive that not even Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs combined wealth could buy it. And apparently, it's just a vacation home?! Ok. If I sold the air from this place, I could probably set my dad up for life.
We were met at the exterior gate by a chauffeur named Avar Isno. He had a few men with him who promised to dutifully carry our luggage, which amounted to nothing between Roan and me.
Apparently, though, the king more than made up for this, as they hurriedly ran off to rejoin their comrades' attempt to unload his carriage. What does someone even need for dinner?
The chauffeur led us through the exterior gate into a forest of gardens. He apologized that we had to walk on foot, though neither of us even complained. Admittedly, I should be sore right now, but the princess' recovery magic is something else.
As we walked through the garden there weren't many plants I recognized. I'm not a botanist by any means, but I think I have a general gist of what plants are supposed to be. And that's not a giant purple flower that's 30 feet tall.
Walking through the garden felt akin to what I'd imagine a floral Amazon to be. Amidst the giants, there were tons of little exotic flowers as well. I think I heard somewhere in biology that weeds can kill bigger plants by stealing their nutrition, but I guess this place has communist plants.
After what felt like hours of cosplaying as Bear Grylls, we finally reached the interior gate. I should've been ready for the grandeur of the house, after all for me to see it with such a huge garden between us it had to be huge.
But I swear this house reached the stars.
If I went into its attic, I'd feel like Jack finding a beanstalk. Not only was it huge, but the material it was made out of screamed expensive.
The chauffeur took notice of my awe, and smiling to himself said "Welcome to our humble abode." Upon reaching the doors, the chauffeur opened them for us, bowed, and then wished us a welcoming stay.
Once we entered the massive expansive entrance, we were met by our next group of guides. This time, it was a group of 2 men and a girl in a skimpy outfit. The girl was pretty, but she was obviously in a hooter's kind of gig.
Besides, the princess is way hotter. Why am I even comparing them!
I've never been one to find a pretty girl unattractive, but I swear since I've entered this world, I've been falling for girls a lot faster. The princess I can understand, but this is a random girl... what's wrong with me?
"Hi. " I said meekly before Roan forced me down. I thought he had been meaning to hide my awkwardness, but I realized quickly that we were bowing.
These weren't guides?
"Hello, Hero. Welcome to my- father's house. We hope you enjoy your stay. As for you, pitiful knight..."
With just a few words, this man changed the entire landscape of the scene. I could sense the sweat coming from Roan's brow and feel him internally shaking. Not in a physical sense, but emotionally. It's kind of weird to describe.
Simultaneously, the other man seemed to grow annoyed with the speaker, almost like an older brother who always has to reel in his young rebellious siblings. The woman started grabbing one of the speaker's arms, as if for protection.
I could sense cold, unending greed and malice as he stared down my very existence.
He turned towards the other man and smiled. Not a heartwarming smile like you would get from someone you love, but more so a cold, calculated hunter's smile that knows he's closing in on a kill.
He turned back towards us and made a fake apologetic look in his eyes. "I'm so sorry if I offended you, Roan Okize. I hope your comrades would forgive me."
For the first time, I saw emotion well up from Roan. For a brief second, I felt nothing but cold, unending anger erupt from inside him, looking to vanquish this speaker in front of us. This sensation was quickly quelled, but its nonexistence left an almost even more foreboding aura.
"Stop it Yoku."
Yoku raised his brow at me. The other man seemingly almost instantly regretted speaking up once Yoku turned aside to him. Although Yoku appeared to have a nice smile, judging by the other man's face of despair, it would lead nowhere good.
Yoku cupped the man's cheek, saying "Know your house. From our births, I am Yoku, son of house Alash, your God and-"
"-and I am Hajime, son of the house Giha, just an ant hill. Yes, I know." Hajime swiped Yoku's hand away. This act of transgression by Hajime visibly appalled Yoku. For the first time, I could see clear disdain on his face instead of just feeling it. I wanted to get away from here.
I should have.
We should have.
Yoku smiled again.
"Remember that." Yoku coyly said in his ear.
...
After we got settled in, we were free for a few hours until dinner would commence. A small part of me wanted to ask Roan what Yoku was talking about, but a much bigger part of me didn't want to get instantly eviscerated.
Whatever it was, it was enough for even Roan to feel a heavy emotion. I considered him a guy who wouldn't feel anything at his mother's funeral.
Luckily for me, the house was as lively as it was spacious. Although there were relatively few people here upon our arrival, the house quickly filled with people from 3 of the 4 kingdoms.
I've noticed that the southern kingdom, Karg' Un, does not get much representation. I couldn't tell if it was because they decided upon, or were forced into, seclusion.
None of the other kingdoms remotely shared this trait though, as you could go down any hallway and meet at least 5 people from each kingdom.
Still, I didn't see the king, princess, or Roan until supper. Instead, I had the company of weirdos.
"Why, hello there. I heard from our messenger bird that you are our... savior."
A delicate but snide voice said from behind me. I turned around to see a... weird sight. I think it was a girl in her mid-30s, but to be honest, both her outfit and makeup made it impossible to tell. She looked like she came straight out of a wacky society in a bad sci-fi movie.
"After our dinner, why don't you give my kingdom a visit? Our subjects are interested in your arrival."
As she brushed past me, she whispered "Between you and me, your unique case is a lot better suited to science than this boogey monster demon lord."
She giggled to herself with a high pitch, almost like Umbridge. I would definitely not be taking her up on her offer.
The hours flew by, aided in their travel by constant pestering. For the first time in my life, I did not desire the life of a celebrity. At all.
I was in an expressly annoying conversation with some rich dude in the Shak' Ga kingdom when a butler came to save me.
"Hello sir, I'm here to escort you to dinner."
I immediately gave the rich man my best wishes and got up to leave. As we left the room, we were met by Yoku.
"Enjohying yersehlf?"
He slurred while sipping from a glass of wine. If you couldn't tell from his stained suit, his breath was a dead giveaway. He drowned himself in alcohol.
My butler hurried to try and assist Yoku, but his "this way sir" was only met with expletives. It honestly felt as if he was intentionally sabotaging his reputation, and I guess his family's by connection.
Is that what this is? He should realize he's not going to come out on top...
It was hard to tell whether Yoku was annoyed or excited because even though he was yelling he was also smiling. A crazy wide grinned smile you would expect from a psycho, but still a smile.
He looked at me, then held his hand up to the butler for a moment. "Go... clehn... theeehhh... staahhblehh." He switched between droning and slurring his words almost effortlessly.
After patting the butler's head, almost like a dog, Yoku walked towards me, stumbling the entire journey. He wrapped his arm around me like we were old mates.
I could tell he didn't need me for support.
"It's going to be a wild night."
Yoku shot me a devilish grin.