Chapter 7: More Cake, More Prob
I couldn't catch a break. The royal banquet had devolved into a circus of people fawning over me. My face was sore from all the fake smiling, my stomach was about to burst from eating way too much cake, and Sir Reginald… well, he hadn't stopped singing my praises since the moment we entered.
"Truly, my lord, your victory against the dragon was legendary!" he said, his eyes sparkling with admiration. "I couldn't have imagined a finer hero!"
"Right, right," I said, stifling a yawn. "I didn't even know there was a dragon until it started attacking. Honestly, I'm just trying to survive here."
"That modesty is what makes you so heroic!" Sir Reginald beamed. "The kingdom shall sing your praises for generations to come!"
"I swear if one more person calls me a hero…" I muttered, leaning back in my chair. "This is starting to feel like a nightmare."
Suddenly, someone slammed their cup onto the table with a loud clink. I turned to see a woman with short, messy black hair and sharp amber eyes glaring at me from across the room.
"Hero? You think he's a hero?" she scoffed.
Sir Reginald, standing next to me, bristled at her words. "Lady Lysandra, do not speak such heresy! Lord Kaito has saved our kingdom! He is the hero we all need!"
The woman, Lysandra, looked me up and down as if I were a piece of meat. "Saved the kingdom? From what? A random dragon he stumbled upon?" She snorted. "If that's what passes for a hero in this kingdom, then we're in bigger trouble than I thought."
I sighed and turned away. Of course, someone had to ruin the moment. I swear this always happens.
Lysandra leaned forward, her arms crossed. "Tell me, hero, what exactly did you do to 'save' us? Did you do something… heroic? Or did you just get lucky?"
I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to think of a good response. But before I could speak, a voice interrupted.
"Lysandra, don't be rude," came another woman's voice from beside her. A tall, slender woman with long, white hair and a regal air around her stepped forward. "Lord Kaito is not only a hero, but a man of great potential. We should treat him with respect."
Lysandra huffed. "Respect? Respect? We're supposed to respect some random guy who accidentally stumbled into a dragon fight?"
The white-haired woman gave her a pointed look before turning to me. "My name is Lady Althea," she said with a polite bow. "Forgive her, Lord Kaito. She's… a little skeptical of people who gain fame too quickly."
I gave her a small nod. "It's… fine. Honestly, I don't even want to be a hero. I just clicked a stupid pop-up, and now I'm stuck in this mess."
Althea smiled kindly. "Well, I suppose that's the beauty of fate, isn't it? It has a way of throwing us into situations we never asked for."
I snorted. "Fate? More like some cruel cosmic joke."
Before anyone could respond, a loud crash echoed through the hall. Everyone froze, and all eyes turned toward the source of the noise.
A figure had crashed through the window—no, literally crashed through it, landing in a heap of broken glass. The crowd gasped, and I could feel a headache coming on.
"Who the hell—?" I began.
The figure, a man dressed in a tattered cloak, slowly stood up. He looked disheveled, his hair wild and unkempt, but there was something undeniably dangerous about him. He seemed to glare at everyone in the room as if he had just walked into the most irritating place in existence.
"Where is the so-called Hero of Peace?" he demanded, his voice gruff and filled with disdain.
Everyone in the room turned to look at me.
"No way," I groaned. "Not again."
The mysterious man's eyes locked onto me, and for some reason, the entire room seemed to hold its breath.
"You must be Kaito Shizuki, the 'hero,'" he said, his words dripping with sarcasm.
"I don't want to be a hero!" I snapped back, standing up from my chair. "I just clicked a button on my screen, and now you're here. What do you want from me?"
The man's gaze softened slightly, as if surprised by my response. "Interesting," he muttered. "A hero who isn't interested in his role." He smirked. "This will be fun."
"Fun?" I echoed, my frustration rising. "What, are you here to challenge me now?"
The man chuckled darkly. "Not exactly. I'm here to test you. Let's see if you truly are worthy of the title… Hero of Peace."
Before I could respond, he snapped his fingers, and suddenly, the ground beneath us cracked open, releasing a wave of dark, swirling energy. The room erupted into chaos as people began to scream and run, and Sir Reginald dove to protect the princess.
"What the hell is going on?!" I shouted, stumbling back. "Why does this always happen when I'm just trying to eat cake?!"
The man took a step forward, his eyes glowing with a malicious light. "Let's see if you can handle this."
With a flick of his wrist, he sent a blast of dark energy toward me.
Oh, for the love of all that is holy…
I barely had time to react as the blast collided—only for it to miss entirely. The dark energy hit the wall behind me, blasting a hole the size of a cart.
The man stared, confused. "Huh. You didn't even try to dodge."
I scratched the back of my head. "I didn't need to. That was a complete miss."
The man's expression shifted. "You're not the hero I expected, but… this will be fun."
I sighed. "If I'm not the hero you wanted, then what exactly am I to you?"
"I'll show you." The man raised his hands, and the air around him crackled with power. "The game has just begun."