The first challenge was sitting down on the chair, seeing as the halberd was impossible to remove from my body, making it impossible for me to find a comfortable sitting position. While the other three had relatively short weapons, that they either hung on their waist or back, the long pole made it impossible for me.
Seeing my trouble, Tanaka spoke, „Ah, I also had trouble figuring out how to stow the weapon away at first. You need to focus your mind on the menu and it will open on itself."
The `menu` he was talking about, is this game-like interface, that filled my sight ever since coming here. On it, there were guides, skills, all sorts of things, including health and level.
Following his advice, I manage to transform the clunky halberd into a small key chain-sized version of itself.
Overhearing the conversation, Kuroda pulls his weapon from under the table and his eyes narrow, implying deep concentration. What confused me at first about Kuroda was his weapon, that I couldn't clearly identify as anything I knew. It had a medium sized blade, making it seem like a sword, yet its round pomel made it obvious that it was something different. Of course, his weapon also held the iconic round jewel on its guard, that shines in a crimson red.
However, connecting all that happened by now to the flyer that I read, I remembered its name next to the other three holy weapons. They went: ‚The mace, halberd, crossbow and the spatha.', though I was unsure what it meant when I read it, seeing it before me, this must be it.
Breaking the silence and awkward clanking of the silverware, Sakamoto unexpectedly speaks up.
„You guys, how did you end up here? And how much do you know about this world?"
There you go, girl. Saved me the trouble of asking myself.
Surprised by her contribution to the `conversation´, Tanaka spoke first, „It's obvious. This world is an exact replica of the game I used to play. Though, I haven't really had the time to play it ever since I got a job.", he said, letting out a light chuckle.
Snapping, Kuroda refuted Tanakas claim, „You're wrong. This is the world of the anime I was watching, that sucked me into it when I was just about to watch the final episode. God, I'm still bummed out about that."
Following this sentence, the faces around the table turned into deep confusion. Of course, that included me, though I already guessed something similar when they were talking about it earlier. Still, if he mentioned watching a full season of a show, excluding its ending, his knowledge scope of this world must exceed mine by far. The only thing I still remember from that scrap of paper was the general premise of the four heroes saving the world and then something.
Turning towards me, Kuroda said, „What about you, girl? You haven't said anything yet."
His disrespectful demeanour aside, I wasn't very fond of the idea of revealing my inferiority when it came to the information on this world. I didn't know these people long enough to trust them with potential black mail material.
So before I could reply, the king reentered the room, with four people tailing him closely until coming to a halt in front of the long dining table, pulling the heroes' attention to them like a magnet.
„These are the personal aides, that will support you on your journey throughout the lands. From now on, each of you will be assigned one of these personal guides and will travel the lands, while proving your worth to the continent through your actions. This will be over a period of one month, after which we will decide how to make the best use of your capabilities as a hero. These guides are there for simple maintenance work, chores and can even serve as law mediators to you, who come from a different land."
Without further explanation, these `guides` each select one of the heroes and stand next to them, similar to how a butler or a servant would.
‚Heh, I could get used to this', is what I couldn't help myself from thinking at the moment.
I'm guessing the heroes will adventure separately if every one of us needs their own guide.
The king continues, „Since it is already late, you will be escorted to your rooms, from which you will be starting your adventure tomorrow. Please note, that we will only accommodate you with these rooms for the day, your guides will help clear up any questions you might be having."
I look back to my serv-, I mean guide: The guide wore what seemed to be a suit and had gray hair, he was an old man, that I believed to be around 60-70 years old.
Noticing my inquiring stare, he pushes back my chair and motions for me to go.
„If the Halberd has any further questions, I'm willing to answer them all as soon as we get back to your room. We wouldn't want the other heroes to hear, trust me.", he says with a face almost as void of emotion as mine.
Even though he simply spoke two sentences, they seemed to tell a whole story, occupying my mind for the whole walk through the widely spanning castle. Not only did he refer to me as Halberd, he also suggested keeping my inquiries private from the other heroes.
It gives quite the picture of how these people treat their heroes. Instead of seeing us as people, they only see the weapons in our hands.
„Hey, now that we're alone, what do I call you?", I asked as soon as we entered the honestly underwhelming room.
„I am not in possession of a name, but if you insist on calling me by a name, you're free to nickname me as you wish."
What a cliché answer! „Then from now on, I will call you Puddles. Also, tell me everything you know about the holy weapons, including its limitations and how I grow stronger."
Though he unfortunately didn't seem to mind the pet name, his thorough explanations of things, like the ability to absorb other weapons or materials of monsters to increase the strength and abilities of my weapon, made up for it.
Not needing anything else, I dismissed Puddles and started undressing on the cold, unheated floors of the castle. Though the Halberd had now shrunk to a manageable size to sleep, I still found it to be annoying more than anything.
But… I wasn't tired at all, seeing as I was going to school on a sunny morning just two hours ago.
Lying in bed, I thought back to Puddles' words… If I was able to consume other weapons and materials to strengthen my own, maybe I could test my limits with the people in the castle, asking them for weapons for me to consume.
So I put on the night gown, that was stored in the cupboard, to go on a little adventure throughout this castle, seeing as they never forbade us leaving our rooms.
Seeing as none of these people actually knew who I am, I might be confused for an intruder, so I returned the Halberd back to its original size, thus also helping others recognise my status as a holy hero.
Using the long pole as a walking stick of sorts, I aimlessly wandered throughout the dark halls, that were surprisingly void of people, except for what seemed to be labourers like cooks or superiors working within the castle.
Though noticing my presence, they retreated as soon as they saw the Halberd, avoiding me completely, even if I tried striking up a conversation.
Finally, after about 20 minutes of walking, I stumbled upon what seemed to be a room meant for weapon maintenance. Seeing the grumpy man working, holding a sword to the grinder, I couldn't miss this chance to use my status to steal some of the weapons here.
„Excuse me, sir. May you humor me by telling me about what this place is?", I said, unable to withhold my smile.
Upon seeing the weapon in my hand, his already stern expression turned into a downright frown.
„Ugh, what do you want?", he replied, recognising my intentions.
„Oh, merely…", I said while caressing the weapons on the stands, causing small red sparks to appear when I touched the weapons that weren't a halberd, „wanted to ask,… can I lend some of these?"
„These are the property of the holy city, I don't have a say in the matter. But honestly, I couldn't care less if you decided to take them.", he said, trying to quickly end the uncomfortable conversation.
Replying with a smile, I started looking around and taking the halberds that looked promising and started putting them into the seemingly limitless inventory of the blue jewel on my Halberd.
Upon consuming them, a notification popped up on my menu, offering new forms of the halberd, that I could transform the weapon into.
Almost all of them were merely vanity except for a select few that had unique abilities or buffs.
- Barbaric Halberd -
{Applies bleeding to targets hit}
- Gladiators Halberd -
{Adds a 5% modifier to stats when in combat against other humans}
- Gilded Spear -
{Skill ‚Greed slash': Upon defeating an enemy with this skill, they drop currency based on their level.}
This was exactly what I was looking for, now I have an advantage over the others, while not leaving a single trace of me stealing the weapons.
Even if people noticed the weapons missing, they wouldn't dare accuse one of the holy heroes,
it was the perfect theft.