Chapter 1: Summoned to Another World?!
Chapter 1:
Summoned to Another World?!
POV: ODA AKIRA
EVERYTHING CHANGED that day—for me, and for every other student in Grade 11, Class 2. It started off like any other morning. The bell was just about to ring when an enormous summoning circle appeared on the floor of the classroom, adorned with mysterious symbols. At first, we were all too dumbstruck to do anything but gawk; it was only when the circle began to glow with a pale blue light that we began to react.
“Everyone out of the classroom! Now!”
But it was already too late. The summoning circle had been activated, and a blinding light flooded the room. I could only squeeze my eyes shut and listen to the shrieks of my female classmates as a gentle floating sensation briefly overtook my body. Next thing I knew, my feet were back on solid ground. When I opened my eyes, I realized my once-simple life would never be the same—we’d been transported to another world.
My name is Oda Akira, and I’d never been one for superstition. Never believed in ghosts, UFOs, or any sort of supernatural happenings either. I’d read plenty of fantasy novels, including ones where the protagonist ended up in another world, and I was certainly capable of putting myself in the character’s shoes and reveling in the power fantasy of it all. But there was a big difference between fiction and reality.
“We beg of you. You must defeat the Demon Lord and save our world.”
Yet there I was, standing before a king in a strange land—and he was bowing his head to me, imploring me to undertake some heroic task. This was clearly not a dream, but I still had trouble believing it. In my defense, I think anyone would have been flabbergasted by this turn of events. I had a bit of a reputation for being stone-faced (some of my classmates even thought I might be involved in some shady business), but in that instant, a train could have driven through my gaping mouth.
As the blinding light from the circle had abated moments before, we found ourselves standing in the middle of a vast audience hall. I was still totally discombobulated at this point, but I used what little presence of mind I had to scan the unfamiliar location. We were surrounded by thirteen knights and what appeared to be a princess around our age. She was breathing heavily and hiding behind the knights, peeking around them to get a look at us. As I watched her, I realized the knights were carrying staves and not swords, so perhaps they were actually armored wizards. A woolly rug in garish red was spread across the floor, which matched the ostentatiousness of the rest of the vaulted chamber; the ceiling was engraved with intricate designs I had to squint to make out. When I gave up and brought my gaze back down, I noticed someone new was standing in our midst.
“We bid you welcome, brave hero candidates. Please come this way; His Majesty will explain everything,” said the old man—likely a butler or a steward—before indicating a large, ornate door.
Some of my fellow students opened their mouths to voice questions or complaints but were silenced by his steely gaze. It seemed we had no choice but to go along with his instructions for now. Through the door, we found ourselves receiving a long lecture about the state of this world from His Majesty—which was usually how the fantasy novels I’d read began.
First, he told us about the world itself. Its name was Morrigan, and like Earth, it was spherical. On its surface were four continents, each the home of a different race: humans, demons, elves, and beastfolk. We had been summoned to the largest of these continents, specifically to a human kingdom known as Retice. And the reason we’d been summoned was as I previously mentioned: the demons had begun a full-scale invasion into human territory, and it fell to us to slay the Demon Lord.
It’s like a dream come true! All my favorite tropes in one! I wanted to squeal like a little kid, but I restrained myself. Still, this was the sort of fantasy every teenager dreamed about, and I could tell most of my classmates were struggling to contain their excitement as well. Some of them were less than enthused, looking around nervously as if waiting for the other shoe to drop, but virtually all the male students were downright giddy.
If only we’d known then what trials and tribulations lay ahead.
After a while, His Majesty stepped back and told us his attendant would finish up with an explanation about “stats and so on.” Shortly thereafter, the old steward came back in, some sort of crystal ball under his arm, and launched into yet another lecture.
Wait. Where did he get that thing? Hell, I didn’t even notice him leave the room to begin with. Sneaky old man.
“Everyone, look into your hearts and repeat after me: Display Status!”
Each of us followed the old man’s instructions in turn. He gauged our reactions with a curt smile as, one by one, stat tables ripped straight from an RPG appeared in front of us with flashes of light, and our jaws dropped.
AKIRA ODA
RACE: Human
CLASS: Assassin (Lv. 1)
HP: 1800/1800
MP: 700/700
ATTACK: 1200
DEFENSE: 800
SKILLS:
Mathematics (Lv. 5)
Negotiation (Lv. 4)
Assassin Tools (Lv. 1)
Assassination (Lv. 1)
Curved Swords (Lv. 1)
Short Swords (Lv. 1)
Conceal Presence (Lv. MAX)
Detect Presence (Lv. 1)
Detect Danger (Lv. 1)
EXTRA SKILLS:
Understand Languages
World Eyes (Lv. 1)
Shadow Magic (Lv. 1)
Whoa. Looks like most of my skills are stealth oriented. Which I guess makes sense if I’m supposed to be an assassin. But what’s with this Conceal Presence skill? How the heck is it already maxed out?
“Hey, Akira! You check out your stats yet?” asked one of my male classmates.
I nodded. He seemed…enthusiastic, to say the least. Not that I blamed him. This wasn’t the sort of thing that happened to your average high schooler. Admittedly, I was struggling to contain myself as well, not to mention thanking my lucky stars I’d lived to see this day. Yet a part of me wondered if we were getting ahead of ourselves. After all, we’d just arrived in this strange new world and, so far, had only been given the vaguest explanation as to why. There was a good chance we were all in grave danger, so perhaps it would be best to hold off on the celebrations until we had more intel to work from.
“So, what class did you get?” I asked him.
“Wind mage. You?”
“Assassin.”
“See, I knew it! I knew you’d end up being a ninja or some shit. Feels like you’re always just disappearing and reappearing out of nowhere during lunch and stuff like that.”
“Oh, shut up. It’s not like I’m trying to be invisible or anything…most of the time.”
He wasn’t wrong, though. Any time I made an effort to hide from people, no one could find me. I’d even had a reputation as a kid for being unbeatable at hide-and-seek. It had reached the point where nobody wanted to play with me, as sad as that sounds. And whenever we played kick the can, even the people who’d been sent to jail and were eagerly waiting to be set free often wouldn’t notice me making a break for the can until after I’d already kicked it. Basically, my Conceal Presence skill had been pretty high-level from a young age—I just hadn’t had the stat page to prove it until now.
Either that or people just thought I was supremely forgettable, which I guess is possible. Oh, god… Have I had it wrong my entire life? No, let’s not follow that train of thought—it’ll only make me sad.
Aside from having the one skill maxed out from the start, my stats seemed pretty reasonable. Heck, maybe that wasn’t particularly abnormal in this world. After all, other skills I’d used in my normal life were also higher than level one. Mathematics, for example, must have been boosted thanks to all the random formulas I’d memorized over the years (and would probably never have to use outside the classroom). And my Negotiation skill level could be attributed to regularly haggling with the old fart who ran the local produce store; I could tell he’d hated my guts for it, but I was glad to have had the experience now. Talking it out might not be of much use in open combat, but we were all at a disadvantage in this strange new world—who knew when a little persuasion might come in handy?
“Now I’m just wondering who the hero’s gonna be,” said my classmate.
“Yeah… I think I’ve got a pretty good idea,” I responded, stealing a quick glance over at the corner of the room where a flock of girls had congregated around another male student with a shit-eating grin on his face. Well, not literally—he was pretty good at playing it cool, actually. But if he thought I didn’t notice his lips curled up in a self-satisfied smirk, he was dead wrong.
He was Satou Tsukasa, class dreamboat. Good grades, handsome face, and great at sports to boot. He was also our student council president. If he wasn’t cut out to be the hero, I didn’t know who would be. His only real flaw was his inability to hide the smug grin that appeared on his face whenever his harem started going gaga over him. Everybody probably assumed he’d be the hero, including him—it was written all over that very face. Maybe the girls could sense it, too, as they were crowding him in even greater numbers than usual, and the boys looked on with jealousy.
It was the same scene as always—just in a different place. Come to think of it, who was this random wind mage standing here next to me? I knew he was one of the few classmates who occasionally made an effort to talk to me, despite my dogged efforts to remain the biggest loner in our class, yet there was absolutely nothing memorable about him. I couldn’t even remember his name. And it would be incredibly embarrassing to ask him now. Oh, well. Guess I’ll never know.
“Now then, hero candidates,” said the old man. “Please step forward one by one and place your hands on this crystal ball. It is a magical artifact that can read and display your stats for all to see. Let us see who among you is stronger than all the rest.” He set the crystal ball on a pedestal and stepped away.
I frowned. So we’re expected to just let everyone else see our stats, then? I think I’d rather not, thanks. There’s no telling who we can trust. For all we know, this could be a trap.
I recalled a novel I’d read in which the “heroes” were only summoned to serve as meat-shield foot soldiers in the army. While I had no reason to believe that was what was going on here, you could never be too careful. After all, we still knew next to nothing about this world. Frantic, I scanned my surroundings and racked my brain, trying to think of a way out of this. I noticed some statuesque suits of armor along the walls of the room. It was hard to tell from this distance if there were soldiers inside them or not, but if there were, I couldn’t afford to try anything rash. “Come along, now. You first.” The old man beckoned to one of the female students—Sano Miko.
If our class had a mascot, it would have been her; she was always bubbly. She stepped forth and reached out a tentative hand to touch the crystal ball, which lit up and beamed out her stat page for all to see. The font was large enough that even the suits of armor along the walls would have no trouble reading the fine print.
“Whoaaa!”
Our classmates all stared in amazement at the projection, apparently not having considered that sharing one’s stats could be risky for even a millisecond. As my fellow classmates oohed and aahed at this mystical otherworldly technology, I gazed up at the girl’s stat page and could scarcely believe what I saw.
MIKO SANO
RACE: Human
CLASS: Barrier Mage (Lv. 1)
HP: 180/180
MP: 130/130
ATTACK: 150
DEFENSE: 130
SKILLS:
Mathematics (Lv. 5)
Sewing (Lv. 7)
Cooking (Lv. 5)
Barrier Magic (Lv. 1)
Recovery Barrier (Lv. 1)
EXTRA SKILLS:
Understand Languages
“What the hell? She’s so weak.”
Just when I thought I’d finally come to terms with the whole “summoned to another world” business, I felt a new wave of confusion and disbelief coming on. In all the fantasy novels I’d read, even the boring party members were generally comparable in strength to the hero, and even if they weren’t, they at least had about the same number of unique skills in order to make them viable adventurers. Sure, she had a few skills at decent levels, but the disparity between her stats and mine was so great that we couldn’t be compared, and I wasn’t even the hero. Perhaps it was because she was less of an offensive class and more of a defensive one? But that theory sank as soon as the next person laid his hand on the crystal ball and the crowd oohed and aahed once more.
KATSUMI WATABE
RACE: Human
CLASS: Brawler (Lv. 1)
HP: 180/180
MP: 300/300
ATTACK: 200
DEFENSE: 200
SKILLS:
Mathematics (Lv. 3)
Fisticuffs (Lv. 3)
Martial Arts (Lv. 2)
EXTRA SKILLS:
Understand Languages
“What’s going on here?” I mused to myself.
“I know, right? Like, how does that crystal ball even work, man?” said the wind mage.
Wasn’t talking to you, but whatever.
“All right,” I said to myself. “Let’s give these new skills a whirl, shall we?”
After a few more students placed their hands on the crystal ball and it became clear none of their stats were even a tenth as high as mine, I used Conceal Presence to try and make myself invisible. If this was anything like when I’d played hide-and-seek, then I should have become completely undetectable to the average person. It was unfortunate there was no easy way for me to test this, because if I misjudged it and made a scene, I’d be forced to reveal my hand. I decided to stick around and see if our so-called hero’s stats ended up being higher than mine. If they were, I could simply turn off the skill and take part in the ceremony.
However, they were nowhere close.
TSUKASA SATOU
RACE: Human
CLASS: Hero (Lv. 1)
HP: 200/200
MP: 350/350
ATTACK: 800
DEFENSE: 500
SKILLS:
Mathematics (Lv. 7)
Mesmerize (Lv. 5)
Martial Arts (Lv. 2)
Swordsmanship (Lv. 2)
Elemental Magic (Lv. 1)
EXTRA SKILLS:
Understand Languages
Holy Sword (Lv. 1)
Some of his skills were admittedly quite high, and Elemental Magic was always a nice perk, but his general stats were far lower than mine. And yet, somehow, I doubted all the girls would cheer and shout for me like they did for him.
What’s going on here? Why are my stats so OP? Did the summoning glitch out or what?
“Now those are the kinds of stats and skills that befit a hero,” chuckled the old man. “The average human born into this world can hardly reach 100 points in attack power. Even our hardiest warriors never break 500. Yet here you are with nearly twice that from the very beginning! I think it’s safe to say we’ll beat the Demon Lord quite handily with you on our side.”
The old man flashed a suspicious grin, and a chill ran down my spine. It was hard to say for sure, since we’d only just met the guy, but in that moment, I sensed something was really not right here. Come to think of it, I’d gotten the same funny feeling from the king earlier, as well as from the young woman who I suspected was his daughter—the princess—and her wizardy knights who’d presumably summoned us to this world. All of them had welcomed us with the same artificial smiles. I began to feel like we were being watched, so I looked up at the ceiling. Sure enough, a reflective black orb was looking down at us. Was it some sort of magical surveillance device? I couldn’t say for sure.
I scowled. I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Something tells me we’re not gonna like where this story ends.
I found an empty bedroom down a hallway and proceeded to flop down onto the cushy mattress and stare up at the ceiling. It was a lovely, spacious room that would likely have cost well over ten thousand yen per night if it were in a hotel. The bathroom was impressive as well. If these rooms were intended for a single occupant, then the castle was quite luxurious indeed. It didn’t seem like it was being used at the moment, but I assumed it was still being cleaned on a regular basis, as none of the white furniture was dusty.
“Damn it. And here I thought I’d be playing on easy mode. Usually the assassin’s job is just to go off on little scouting missions while the hero does most of the actual work, but nooo…” I grumbled to myself. Of course, this was all assuming my little hunch was correct, and that was seeming more likely by the minute. Man, what a rip-off. I ended up with the hardest job of the whole damn team, didn’t I? Of all the awful luck… Oh, well. Guess my first order of business is to figure out what exactly the king and his inner circle are plotting.
I kind of felt like I had the ability to tell what other people were thinking—maybe it had something to do with my Negotiation skill. But if that black orb really was a camera, then I’d have to be extra careful going forward. I was the only one who hadn’t touched the crystal ball, so if they noticed me and tried to match my face to my stats from the ceremony (which they might well have a visual record of), I’d be in deep trouble. I wasn’t supposed to be in this part of the castle either. I had no choice but to stay invisible until I could escape.
Thinking back on it now, I probably could have made a decent living back in my world as a professional thief. Sure, I’d never thought of my ability to sneak around as a tangible “skill” before, but I’d used Conceal Presence to get into some pretty dicey spots, and as long as I was able to stay in a security camera’s blind spot… Honestly, I could probably have even pulled off a bank robbery. Not that I ever would have.
“Guess I’ll just have to keep a low profile for now. Man, this is gonna be annoying. Why did it have to be me?” I grumbled as I donned the black cloak I’d procured on my way to the room. The closets in my classmates’ rooms had been filled with outfits for each of their respective roles, but as I hadn’t shown myself or my stat page, I’d had to find clothes for myself. I’d been a bit on edge sneaking into the castle armory, especially since there were guards on duty, but I’d simply kept my presence concealed and been able to get in and out without a hitch.
Perhaps I’d make a fine bank robber yet—if I ever made it back to my own world, at least.
I decided to make this bedroom my base of operations for the time being. I felt a bit guilty, but not too much, since I didn’t think it was in use. While our class consisted of forty students, twelve of them had been out of the classroom during lunch hour, so only twenty-eight of us had ended up in this world. With so many rooms to clean, I doubted the castle maids would keep count of us. They seemed like the type to cut corners anyway—I’d noticed garbage piling up in a few of the other rooms I’d scoped out.
“All right, time to head out.” I slipped out the window and quickly scaled the walls up to the roof. Ever since I was little, I’d loved high places. Leaping from spire to spire, I made my way to the top of one of the castle’s five towers and scanned the surrounding cityscape.
“Damn… So this is the royal capital, eh? Definitely lives up to the title.”
I could see everything. The glimmering lights of the industrial district dotted the edge of the skyline. I thought I saw a few roads lined with streetlamps as well, and some other lights I couldn’t quite make out. But given that there was magic in this world, it only stood to reason that they’d have some form of illumination magic. From a technological perspective, they were about as far along as Japan after the first industrial revolution. Not too much artificial light, and you could tell they were still getting used to the technology. All the nighttime light was centered in the heart of the city. Unfortunately, this meant the back alleys and side streets were probably a haven for criminals. Though there also didn’t seem to be very much foot traffic at night, so perhaps my Japan comparison was inapt after all.
I filed these observations into a corner of my mind and tried to get a feel for my more immediate surroundings.
Great. Doesn’t seem like anyone’s nearby. I scurried my way over to the central tower where the royal chambers probably were—not to mention the tightest security—and slipped in through an open window. Now, if I were the king, where would I be?
With silent steps, I made my way down the hall, stopping in front of every door to listen in and see what I could hear. I’d only heard the king’s voice once, but I couldn’t forget his eerie tone. I’d thought nothing of it when he first stepped out to greet us, but thinking back on his voice was giving me hives.
It wasn’t long before I found my mark, as I heard his voice leaking through a heavy wooden door. Could this be his personal study?
I stood with my ear to the door and listened.
“So how goes the little brats’ orientation, Maria?”
“All according to plan, Father. I think they’ve just settled into bed after a long day of excitement. None of them suspect a thing—how could they? They’re only children, after all, and far too dazzled by our world’s magic to realize they’re being used.”
“Good. Then we proceed as planned. But remember, they must not be allowed to enter the castle archives. Have Saran commence with their basic training on the morrow.”
“Yes, Father. All shall be done in accordance with Your Majesty’s grand design.”
I’d been expecting to uncover something like this, but it still sent shivers down my spine. To think these people who’d been smiling and welcoming us only hours ago had actually been luring us into their sinister plot. Sure, we had our fair share of liars and cheats back in my world, but I’d grown up in Japan, where that sort of thing was extremely uncommon. Even though I’d suspected something was up, part of me had still wanted to believe I might be overreacting—but not anymore.
Just as the princess stepped out of the study, I concealed my presence and slipped in through the open door, taking note of her wicked expression as she passed. No semblance of the polite, dignified princess who had greeted us remained. I wondered if perhaps all girls could turn their feelings on and off like flipping a switch; most guys I knew weren’t very good at hiding their true intentions to that degree.
I stalked through the bookshelves of the impressive study in search of the king. As a book lover myself, I was half-tempted to see what kinds of volumes lined the shelves, but now wasn’t really the time. I pulled out a silver dagger from beneath my cloak. I’d pilfered it from the armory along with the clothes since it seemed like a fine-edged blade, but I’d never expected to have to use it so soon.
At the far end of the room, I found my mark. He was sitting at a desk, writing with great fervor. Remaining undetectable, I closed the gap until I was standing directly behind him.
A terrifying thought popped into my mind: I could kill him, right here and now, and no one would ever know it was me.
If he really was as vile as I suspected, then I could put an end to his evil schemes before he ever had the chance to implement them. Granted, it wouldn’t solve the Demon Lord problem, so we probably wouldn’t be allowed to go back home right away, but it would at least resolve the most pressing threat.
I also still didn’t know his true objective. Why had he summoned us here in the first place? I knew frighteningly little about this world and this country.
But more than anything, I lacked the resolve to kill a man with my own two hands. It wasn’t just a matter of assassinating someone—I wasn’t sure I could kill another human even if my own life was on the line.
I left him there that night, fleeing back to the safety of my own room. I wouldn’t come to regret the decision until one month later.
Being summoned to another world had always seemed like it would be a wonderful experience. Sure, it had been exciting at first, but now that I was actually in another world, I started to yearn for the peaceful, easy life I’d known back in Japan.
Here I was in a strange new world, with better stats than the hero of the party—who was nothing more than a narcissistic prick—but pretending I didn’t exist. I was also the only person who knew the royal family was up to no good, as my classmates were taking everything at face value.
Man, I wish I could go home.
I hadn’t gotten much sleep due to my late-night recon mission, and I’d had a terrible dream to boot, so I was quite grumpy as I sat in the dining hall the next morning, shoveling flavorless gruel into my mouth. In the dream, I was chased by a gigantic cockroach—scourge of kitchens everywhere. Needless to say, I was very relieved upon waking.
My classmates were all making pleasant small talk over breakfast, and I felt just the slightest bit of resentment toward them. If only I could be blissfully unaware that our lives are in ever-present danger here, I caught myself thinking.
Part of me wanted to flee the castle to go explore this vast new world and just forget about the king’s evil plot. I supposed the only reason I hadn’t already was due to some lingering sense of camaraderie I felt for my fellow classmates. I wasn’t about to stand by and let them be taken advantage of; I had to find some way to throw a wrench into the royal family’s schemes.
“Excuse me, everyone! Could I have your attention, please?” asked the hero as everyone finished eating. All the clamor and chatter in the dining hall instantly subsided. It seemed everyone had accepted the hero in his role.
Everyone except for me, that is.
“I think I speak for everyone when I say that we’re all still pretty shaken up from being summoned here yesterday. So I figured this would be a good opportunity to make sure we’re all on the same page as to what’s going on and what our next moves should be.”
Well, well. That was quite the convincing opener for such a lackluster hero. Guess he’d really taken the hero designation to heart—or just let it go to his head. One or the other. I sensed a cringeworthy speech coming on.
“Here in this world, we’re not just students. We’re strong. Probably stronger than the vast majority of the native inhabitants. Heck, we could probably conquer them all if we really wanted to.”
What the hell was this dumbass getting at? The smiling faces of the dining hall attendants turned stone cold. Couldn’t blame them. I’d feel the same way if the legendary hero who was supposed to save my world said something like that, even as a joke.
Don’t these idiots realize that we’re at a huge intel disadvantage here? We can’t be acting all flippant like this. I wanted to wring his little neck, but I sensed his speech was far from over, so instead I decided to keep my presence concealed and my mouth shut.
“But we can’t forget our Japanese pride, now can we?! I don’t know about all of you, but I firmly believe that helping those in need, even when there’s nothing in it for you, is part of what makes us Japanese so special. So I want to use these newfound powers to help the people of this world and defeat the Demon Lord. Who’s with me?!”
Oh, shut up. My classmates didn’t know a damn thing. Had they even considered the possibility that this “Demon Lord” wasn’t actually ravaging the land, slaying humans indiscriminately? How could they know for certain the king and the princess were to be trusted? I mean, you only had to look at the plush lifestyles they enjoyed to know their circumstances couldn’t be that bad. Why, even this breakfast—bland though it was—was still far more than the daily ration of bread you might expect during wartimes. There were four separate side dishes on top of that—four! At my house, I was lucky to even get two.
“I-I’m with Tsukasa here, guys!”
“Yeah! Count me in!”
“Me too, me too!”
“D-don’t forget me!”
And so the number of victims of the hero’s charisma increased one by one, until eventually all the other students had rallied under his banner. I decided to keep myself concealed for the time being. It was possible that no one except the wind mage had even realized I had been summoned as well. “Thanks, guys,” said the hero. “Then let’s all work together and save this world!”
The other students let out a roaring cheer, and I was struck by a sudden wave of secondhand embarrassment. I planted my elbows on the table and let out a heavy sigh. Guys, I know we’re in high school, and you all think we’re young and invincible, but could we please have a little more shame?
I found myself more and more tempted by the idea of abandoning the fools, heading out on an adventure of my own, and using my OP skills to get famous and live happily ever after. If only I could get ousted from the group on false charges or something, like what always happened in these sorts of novels. Then I’d have a perfect excuse to leave the castle. But for now, I just had to swallow my pride and stay put.
A few hours after the buffoon brigade had mutually agreed to save the world, we were finally given armor and weapons for our respective classes and summoned to the castle’s training grounds—which were far bigger than our school’s track and field, and probably the entire campus.
Taking care not to have my appearance noticed, I made myself visible and joined the rest of the group. Not sure how they plan to teach us fencing, archery, staff-wielding, and magic casting all at once on the same field, but I guess we’ll find out. Wait a minute… Is that a morningstar? Hot damn.
“Welcome, brave heroes. My name is Saran Mithray, and I am Knight Commander of the Kingdom of Retice. Some call me the country’s ‘Last Bastion,’ though that does sound a little pretentious coming from me, doesn’t it?” The man chuckled and brushed his luscious locks out of his face.
Really? This is the knight commander? Looks more like the castle’s resident pretty-boy to me.
“You should really be more professional in front of the troops, Commander!”
I felt an immediate kinship with the vice commander (who seemed to have a good head on his shoulders) as he scolded Commander Saran with a harsh whisper—even if it didn’t stop the long-haired fop from laughing. Still, I sensed his smile was genuine, unlike the royal family’s, and my intuition told me I could trust the vice commander. Not that I was about to let my guard down.
“Oh, pish posh,” said the commander, waving him off. “Now then, my little heroes. In one month’s time, we will be traveling to a nearby labyrinth in order to test your mettle. Until then, we’ll be conducting training exercises here at this hour each and every day. King’s orders, I’m afraid!” His carefree demeanor was in contrast with his serious words.
Something told me I was going to have a hard time getting a read on this man. Group training exercises, eh? Yeah, not really my bag. Think I’ll pass. Just as I was about to be on my way, I noticed the fear that had taken hold of my fellow classmates’ expressions and the way they murmured amongst themselves. What’s the matter, fellas? Thought you were gonna save the world.
The Knight Commander had apparently noticed their unease as well, and he looked none too pleased.
“W-wait a minute. We only have one month?” asked one student.
“Yes? Will that be a problem?”
“Can we really get strong enough to take on an entire dungeon in a single month?”
“Oh, certainly. Why, I’d even go so far as to say that if you all aren’t strong enough to handle the labyrinth after a month of our meticulous instruction, then the problem lies with you, not us.”
I watched as the hero winced at the commander’s insinuation. Right, I forgot how much he hates being talked down to.
“I’ll be frank with you: We knights of Retice take great pride in being humanity’s last line of defense. If you think we’ll step aside and be shown up by a bunch of kids from a magicless world without a fight, you’re dead wrong,” the commander said with a wry smirk. He’d clearly struck a nerve and caught the ire of my classmates.
It was then that he made eye contact with me, and I smiled knowingly back at him. I didn’t mind him underestimating my peers, but I wouldn’t let him do the same to me (even though I was probably the most stubborn child here). His eyes widened, then he went right back to smiling—albeit with a more winsome expression.
Yeah, yeah. Keep smilin’, pretty-boy.
Every girl in the group had her eyes locked on the commander for a good while after that, but apparently, he had nothing more to add. The knights divided us into groups based on our weapon types, and the groups spread out to practice their specialties.
Not me, though. Have fun in training, suckers. I’m off to go check out the castle archives. Whaddya mean, it’s off-limits? That just makes me even more curious. Besides, they’ll never even know I was there.
POV: SARAN MITHRAY
I WATCHED AS THE BOY in the black garb concealed his presence and attempted to slip away from the pack. Apparently none of his colleagues were able to sense his presence—none of them even batted an eye as he walked away. Even I hardly noticed him; I only caught him out of the corner of one eye. We’d only made eye contact for a split second, yet I had a feeling he’d turn out to be a very interesting case indeed.
“You take it from here, Gilles. Start them out doing one-fifth of our usual training regimen.”
“Wh—Commander?!” wailed Vice Commander Gilles as I foisted all responsibility onto him and headed off after the boy.
I hoped Gilles wouldn’t tear his hair out from the stress of trying to wrangle the little kiddos while I was gone. Though if he did, I supposed I could just give him a nice vacation.
Now, if my intuition was correct, and the boy’s Conceal Presence skill level was as high as it seemed, then his Detect Presence skill level would be fairly low in comparison. After all, if you could conceal your presence perfectly, you didn’t really need to worry about accidentally bumping into anything.
“And where do you think you’re going, boy?” I snuck around him from behind and stopped him dead in his tracks. His eyes wavered, intensely wary. Interesting. He’s not a mindless sheep like the rest of them, then.
“I’m impressed… I didn’t think anyone could see me,” said the boy.
Seeing his genuine surprise came as a bit of relief to me. He appeared to be the most mature one of the bunch, so if he’d ignored me and gone on his way, I don’t know what I would have done.
“I’m guessing I was the only one who did. Let’s just say there’s something special about my eyes,” I said, tapping a finger below my right pupil, the eye with which I’d captured his presence.
The boy raised both arms in defeat and turned off the skill. I could now see him with both eyes.
“Interesting. So there are people with enchanted eyes here, too, eh? This really is your bog-standard fantasy novel world… Sorry, Commander Saran, was it? I assume you’re here to punish me for skipping training. Well, go right ahead—boil me, mash me, stick me in a stew.”
I was a little taken aback by this. For one of the hero’s retinue to know about Mystic Eyes was a strange thing indeed. I’d heard there was no such thing as magic in their world, so how could this boy know about such a specific facet of ours?
My mystic eye was the result of an injury I’d suffered during a battle with the Demon Lord long ago. After it had healed, I’d found that my right eye could see things invisible to the average person, like changes in the body heat of living organisms; I’d first noticed it when my knight cadets appeared blue before training and bright red afterward. Apparently, it was a phenomenon that could, on rare occasions, develop in the eyes of those injured by the Demon Lord or his minions.
I knew of others who’d inherited Mystic Eyes from their parents and could see things far off in the distance or interpret the value of any given object by a supernatural sheen and luster. My abilities were fairly rote by comparison, though I could still use them to see through most illusory and concealment skills used by stealth-based classes. Mystic Eyes was an Extra Skill, after all.
Extra Skills, like Mystic Eyes, were more advanced than regular skills and couldn’t be superseded by them. I wasn’t entirely sure why this was the case, but if a regular concealment skill like Conceal Presence was up against an Extra detection skill, the detection skill would always take priority. In addition, Extra Skills were exceedingly rare, and they only ever manifested in the most gifted of individuals. When an average person faced someone with an opposing skill, victory fell to the individual with the higher skill level. These summoned hero candidates always had at least one or two Extra Skills, but in my experience, Conceal Presence was always a regular skill for assassins, and this boy was no exception.
“Let’s dispense with the boiling and mashing, shall we? Why don’t we talk about something a little more fun?” I was eager to learn more about the boy—not only because he’d known about Mystic Eyes, but because of the way he used his skills so naturally that even my trained knights hadn’t noticed him slipping away. For someone untrained and from a magicless world, his ability made no sense.
“So tell me,” I continued, “what exactly were you sneaking off to do? And be honest; I promise I won’t drag you back to training by the ear or anything like that.”
It seemed my hunch about the boy being harmless was right, as he answered my question straight away.
He told me he’d been heading for the castle archives, which were indeed off-limits to the hero and his party. I asked him what he intended to look into there, and he said he simply wanted to know more of what people would consider common knowledge about this world. My smile broadened. Of course he does—he and his little friends only just got here, after all. They don’t know the first thing about this world; it’s only natural they’d be curious. It’s ridiculous to keep them from the archives.
If anything, I felt the other children were far too trusting for taking the king’s orders at face value. This boy really was different from the rest.
“I see… So tell me. What level is your Conceal Presence skill?”
“It’s maxed out. Or, well…it says it’s maxed out on my stat page, but I don’t know if that’s completely maxed out or maxed out for now.”
Max Level, eh? The usual skill cap was Level 9. I’d heard anything higher than that would be labeled Max Level, but that there was no way to tell whether a skill actually increased in power beyond that point. It was where the metric stopped. My own Swordsmanship skill remained peaked at Level 9, and I knew of only one other person who’d reached Max Level in any skill.
“And what of your other skills?” I asked.
“Pretty average, I assume. Most of them are only Level 1. But they’re the kinds of things I never had a chance to get good at back in my world, y’know?”
I was desperate to learn more about his world, but I restrained myself, as there were other things I needed to make sure of first. “But you’re an assassin, correct? Are you telling me you don’t have any other assassin skills?”
“I mean, I do. I just don’t know how to go about raising them higher than Level 1.”
“Oh, is that all? In that case…I could teach you, if you like.”
The boy looked extremely opposed to my kind proposition. That was probably the smartest reaction. A merchant friend of mine once told me that anything offered for free would always cost you more in the end, especially when you were a stranger in a foreign land.
“Well, I can tell you right now that you won’t find what you’re looking for in the castle archives. All the truly interesting books about this world—its magic and skills and what have you—are locked away in the king’s private study.”
“Oh, are they? Well, that makes things easy. I’ll just have to sneak in there again.”
“Though I also have to warn you—you won’t find most of the things our world considers common knowledge written out neatly and concisely in any book.”
While the boy was disappointed to learn that he wouldn’t find any Beginner’s Guide to Morrigan-type books, they unfortunately didn’t exist. Common knowledge wasn’t the sort of thing you read in a book—you absorbed it gradually via cultural osmosis from the day you were born. In any case, I was more interested in that last word he had accidentally let slip.
“Wait a moment,” I said. “What do you mean, ‘again’?”
“I snuck in there last night. You’ve really gotta step up your security game—all the guards had their thumbs up their asses. But anyway, why are you telling me all of this? What’s in it for you?”
“For the record, the royal knights have no jurisdiction in those quarters, so your insinuation about my men is extremely uncalled for, but as for what’s in it for me: I’m glad you catch on so quickly. I want to know more about the world you come from. That will be more than enough recompense for my services. I’ve always loved learning about different cultures, you see. Even as a little boy, I read every book in the house from cover to cover.”
“All right. You’ve got yourself a deal.”
We clasped hands in agreement.
Then I started shaking my hand up and down, and the boy looked perturbed yet didn’t let go. I leaned into the gag and shook it harder, only releasing it when the boy started becoming visibly irritated. I was very good at reading faces, you see.
“So what perks do I get if I raise my Assassination skill, anyway?”
“Well, you’ll be able to regulate your body temperature, for one. Then even I won’t be able to detect your presence. I’ve heard you also eventually gain the ability to conceal not just your presence but your footsteps and footprints as well.”
“Damn, seriously? Sounds like I’d better get to work, then,” whispered the boy, and I smiled at him.
A good assassin was a more fearsome threat than any warrior or mage. You never knew when they might strike, and they said the best ones could kill a man before he even knew what hit him. In that sense, they might’ve been one of the strongest classes out there; even the hero himself could only fight head-on, while an assassin did the exact opposite.
If this boy were to learn the king’s and princess’s true colors, then maybe—just maybe—I could entrust him with the righteous task we’d been working toward for so long. For the good of the country.
POV: ODA AKIRA
WE SAT DOWN on some little stone seats we found in one of the castle’s less trafficked courtyards and took a moment to enjoy the flowers. I noticed some butterflies fluttering about that looked eerily similar to the swallowtails we had back home, and I felt an inexplicable emotion welling up inside.
Apparently, Commander Saran was going to teach me about this world’s mythology today. I wondered if it was similar to Greek mythology, which always had a bit too much jealousy and infidelity for my liking.
“Well, let’s start by discussing the god of this world, I suppose.”
The world of Morrigan had only one central god: Eiter, the God of Creation. First, Eiter created the sky and the earth. Next, he created the many races of the world in his image—the humans, the elves, the demons, and the beastfolk—and gave unto them sentience and emotion. He gave each of them land on which to live, labor at which to strive, and finally, the power of stats.
He watched over his creations and hoped that, in so doing, he could heal his weary heart, which had grown old and jaded from the quarrels of gods.
So even the gods get in fights from time to time, huh? Well, maybe it wouldn’t be that way if those other gods weren’t so damn lazy! Eiter’s out here busting his ass, and you losers won’t even lift a finger to help him?! Though if he really expects his own creations to “heal his weary heart,” I feel like he needs to lower his expectations a bit. Sure enough, it didn’t take long before Eiter’s creations started to imitate the very gods he’d created them to replace. They raped and pillaged, fighting over land and property, starting wars over women and crusades over men. Soon the four races refused to coexist, and each claimed a part of the land for themselves. In his rage, Eiter rent the land asunder into four separate continents and created fearsome monsters to ravage each.
The demons, being the only race that could control the monsters to do their bidding, were shunned by the other three and driven out to the desolate hellscape of Volcano. The elves, well known for their love of nature, took for themselves the sacred land of Forest, and they became the guardians of the Holy Tree that lay within it. The humans and beastfolk fought for many years over the remaining two continents, until the humans emerged victorious and claimed for themselves the largest and most bountiful continent of Kantinen. The beastfolk, defeated, resigned themselves to the remaining continent of Brute, where feral beasts reigned supreme.
Hang on a minute. So you’re telling me that each continent’s name is just the English word for its most defining feature? At least they had the decency to obscure “continent” into “Kantinen,” but the others? No excuse. Also, where have I heard the name Morrigan before?
“And that’s how the world of Morrigan came to be the way it is today.”
“Kinda sounds like the humans are the bad guys here.”
“I…suppose you could look at it that way. That’s not a sentiment you’ll find among many people living here, however,” Commander Saran assured me.
I found myself thinking I’d perhaps be better off reading all of this in a book after all. True, it might be less digestible than an oral explanation, but it would certainly go a lot faster. I decided to head for the castle archives after all and stood up to leave.
“Wait, where are you going? You still haven’t told me about your world yet,” said the commander, grabbing me by the arm. His arms were slender but powerful, as I discovered upon trying (and failing) to wrest myself free. I looked up to see a devious glint in his eyes.
By the time I was finally free from Commander Saran’s custody, it was almost night. I assumed he would have kept me there too, had a grumpy Vice Commander Gilles not come to fetch him. He’d been looking for the commander ever since training got out, and he literally dragged Commander Saran back to his duties. The way the commander kept grinning gleefully in spite of his impending discipline made me wonder if perhaps he was a bit of a masochist. The vice commander clearly wasn’t joking around though, as he let the other man’s head bonk against a stone wall as he dragged him around the corner.
I’ll have to be careful not to get on that guy’s bad side, I thought to myself.
I thought back on the brief conversation I’d had with Vice Commander Gilles just a moment ago, before he’d absconded with his superior officer.
“Sorry about that, kid. Our commander just doesn’t know how to control himself when something or someone piques his interest.”
“That’s okay. I learned an awful lot from him too, so it evens out. In fact, I’ll probably be coming by the knights’ barracks to talk with him again sometime soon, if you don’t mind.”
Not everything Commander Saran had told me could have been learned from reading a book. Perhaps it wouldn’t be too hard to find reference texts for the story of creation and the other myths and legends, but there were plenty of other, more nuanced topics we’d discussed as well. I was certain that without a tutor to clarify details, many of those things would have been utterly unintelligible to me in written format. And Commander Saran’s explanations were about as succinct and intuitive as I could have hoped for. I very much appreciated that he was able to turn off his usual eccentricity to discuss serious business.
“Oh, no, I don’t mind at all. As long as the commander finishes his paperwork beforehand. He should generally be done with his duties by this hour, so feel free to come by at any point during the evenings.”
“I’ll do that. Thanks.”
“My subordinates are carrying on like I don’t even exist… What a sad day indeed…”
Sir Gilles and I had waved goodbye as we went our separate ways, neither of us paying Commander Saran’s “poor me” act any mind.
So that’s how you take the air out of the commander’s sails. Very interesting. I’ll have to keep that in mind.
Though it was now dinnertime, I didn’t have much of an appetite, so I returned to my room and plopped down on the bed. I couldn’t get the commander’s words out of my head.
“For decades, we’ve treated the demons as if they were our mortal enemies. And when I say ‘we,’ I mean not just humanity, but the elves and the beastfolk as well. We drove them into the most uninhabitable corner of Morrigan for no reason other than that they could control monsters at will.”
Not the best excuse for the persecution of an entire race, now was it? Though I guess they got off pretty light, really. Some people wouldn’t be content to banish them and leave it at that. Some of us, if we were serious about wanting someone beat down, would hound them until we broke their spirit. Not that I would know anything about that.
Jokes aside, I did feel kinda bad for the demons.
I stared up at the spotless ceiling, ruminating on the day’s events.
“What’s really going on in that head of yours, Commander?”
The man had a powerful memory. He could probably recall each and every word anyone ever told him about. It wasn’t that he’d ever taught a 101 class on the history of this world before—it was just that each and every detail remained crystal clear in his mind for years after he first heard it. It was hard to imagine him as human rather than some sort of walking encyclopedia robot—though I had a feeling he’d be at least a little offended by the thought. Not that he’d have any idea what a robot is.
POV: SARAN MITHRAY
“HAVEN’T SEEN YOU do that in a while,” said Gilles, having finally relinquished his grip on my collar. He looked resentfully down at me trying to regain my footing and patted the dirt off my clothes.
If you’re going to pat the dirt off me anyway, don’t drag me on the ground in the first place. I kept that little thought to myself. I’m a very forgiving person, you see.
“Quit flattering yourself and actually respond to me, would you?”
Sometimes it really did feel like Gilles was a mind reader. Please stay out of my inner thoughts, would you?
“You mean it’s been a while since I took such a liking to someone?” I asked.
“Well, yes, there’s that. But mostly I meant that it’s been a long time since I saw you actually enjoying yourself.”
“Ah.” Perhaps he was right. I wore a fake smile every day, but I hadn’t smiled and laughed until my jaw hurt in a good long while. I suppose that only went to show how much of an interest I’d taken in that boy and his world.
“So what exactly did you two talk about?”
“About their world. In exchange, I told him a few tidbits about ours.”
Akira’s words had hit my ears like a ray of hope beaming through dark and clouded skies. To be honest, I’d been a wee bit suspicious of him and his friends. Obviously I knew it had been a kingdom tradition since time immemorial to summon heroes from another world using an ancient spell passed down through generations, and to entreat them to defeat the Demon Lord of the current era. However—and perhaps this was just my skeptical nature talking—I wasn’t going to take the reports that the princess and her court wizards had successfully carried out the summoning ritual at face value until I’d verified it with my own two eyes. Even after seeing them in my class, part of me still didn’t believe it; I hated how stubborn my mind could be at times. But after hearing that young boy tell me about their world in his own words, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Was it really that fascinating?”
“Oh, yes. Everything he spoke of was completely new to me, and you know how much pride I take in my encyclopedic brain.”
“Goodness. He even stumped Saran the Sage?” Gilles gasped, reviving my old nickname. “What exactly did he tell you?”
“Well, apparently their world runs on something known as ‘science,’ sort of like how ours runs on mana,” I explained, before recounting the many fantastical things Akira had told me as we walked. By the time I was finished, we’d arrived at our personal living quarters inside the castle.
“Self-propelled carriages, giant steel vessels flying through the sky…” Gilles summarized. “The ability to transmit information all the way across the world in the blink of an eye, or even hold a remote conversation with someone through a tiny metal tablet that fits in the palm of your hand. It’s all rather unbelievable, isn’t it?”
“I couldn’t agree more, my friend. And would you believe these children come from a place known as ‘Japan,’ as well? Ring a bell? Historical documents tell us that’s the name of the world from which the very first hero was summoned.” I sat down in a chair and scrunched my brow between my fingers. Gilles, in all his consideration, brought me a glass of water, which I downed in one gulp. “Thank you, Gilles… But do you know what’s even more baffling? I believe every word. The boy’s eyes spoke true.”
Not to brag, but I had an uncanny ability to see through deception and falsehoods. I hadn’t been made Knight Commander just for my good looks, you know.
“If you believe him, then I suppose he must be telling the truth… So what do you intend to do with him?”
“Well, that’s just the thing. The boy is hiding his true abilities, you see. I think he actually might be a fair bit stronger than our intrepid little hero. Why, he told me his Conceal Presence skill is already at Max Level,” I said matter-of-factly.
“Max Level…?” Gilles gawked. “But hasn’t there been only one person in history who ever reached Max Level? The very first hero—the Hero of Legend?”
Indeed. For those of us who were born in this world, Level 9 was as high as it went. In truth, reaching even that was but a remote possibility, and precious few of us ever broke Level 7. But for whatever reason, those who arrived in Morrigan from another world had an uncanny ability to reach higher levels with ease and could even overcome that skill ceiling. It was one of the few concrete differences between them and our native people.
“I don’t have the Extra Skill needed to verify this claim for myself, of course, but I have no reason to believe he was lying about that either.”
“But if that’s the case,” Gilles said, stroking his chin, “then why hasn’t the king taken notice of him yet? …Oh, wait.”
“Now you’re getting it. He used his Conceal Presence skill during the ceremony and didn’t touch the crystal ball. It’s amazing how effortlessly he’s adapted to using skills, I tell you. The boy’s a quick learner,” I gushed, though I was sure he’d protest such lavish praise were he in the room with us.
“Sounds like quite the prodigy… Are you planning to bring him into our ranks?”
“I am. I want to temper his abilities. Or, at least, help him discover the latent potential lying within him and help him focus only on the skills he truly needs. Trim the fat from his training regimen, so to speak.” I’d made a point to ask him what his personal training regimen would be, and I could hardly believe my ears. The boy seemed to be quite the hard worker, despite his cynical personality.
Gilles assented to my decision without a word of protest and retired to his own quarters for the evening.
I suppose I’d better get some rest myself. Tomorrow’s shaping up to be a very busy day.