Hello, I'm writing a story called Isekai Monster or Trying to be a Hero in a New World, When Back Home you were a Monster You can also find it here: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/27560/trying-to-be-a-hero-in-a-new-world-when-back-home https://www.scribblehub.com/series/...ld-when-back-home-you-were-a-monster-volume-/ https://www.webnovel.com/book/15036678006649505 Synopsis A rising star in his place of work is taken to another world to start his life over as a hero but this man has a dark secret. One that he has been hiding from the world for well over ten years now and with this new world and its new customs and view of life how will his secret effect his new life and this new world. He only wants to live an acceptable life without being looked down on but now that he is a hero that seems impossible so what is he to do? Obviously, be the hero that everyone wants him to be and only that, nothing more nothing less. Genre (optional): Action, Adventure, Ecchi, Fantasy Table of Contents Prologue My name is Mikeal "Ash" Romanoff. In this world I have a great destiny, that's right "this" world. Ten years ago I was summoned to this world as a “Hero”. When I was summoned, there were two other heroes already here. An old guy who was the personal guard of the youngest royal child a cute little princess and the top general of the army who was married to the king’s sister, both of whom appear to have come from my world too. In books when people go to another world they’re usually confused or scared, but not me I was immediately looking forward to my new protagonist lifestyle or so I thought. I got some cheat like magic that scoured the battlefield clean. So the war with the neighboring country I was summoned for ended quickly, but before I could start my peacetime harem; demons attacked from the southern border. That war dragged on for years, apparently, they were being led by a Demon Lord. That Demon Lord ended up killing the hero General who must have been weak because I was able to finish them, easily. Their ice magic was no match for my flames. With the Demon Lord dead the demons were forced to retreat. I single-handedly saved this nation from back to back wars they should have been bending over backward to reward me. That was just a few months ago I no longer have the childish dream of a harem after years of war, and the little princess was starting to look ripe for a political marriage. So maybe she could be my prize, heroes commonly marry royalty or nobles here, heck the first king was a “Hero.” Yet, all anyone was talking about after the war was getting ready for the next hero summoning, ten years went by so fast. The king thinks some frontier land on the border is enough of a reward for summoning me and forcing me to fight in multiple wars. Even if it’s prosperous land on the grain belt of the nation, ridiculous. A bunch of nobles also disagree with how the current king is running things so I decided to help out in a coup. Their forces are attacking and seizing key points around the capital. While I'm with the group of nobles directly attacking the throne. Some assassins will kill the king and the other royals in the castle. It's my job to suppress the new hero so we can blame him for the king and queens death and quell the populous; he is so weak some people don’t even think he's a “Hero” I mean he is strong way stronger than a normal soldier but he has no magic, yet. For my part in all this, I will get the first princess and become the new General. After everything is over I will seclude myself in my domain and the nobles will place some puppet such as the king's nephew on the throne, it is a great plan if it works. Even everything going according to plan is frustrating; this new “Hero” is fucking worthless. I told the nobles to be wary of him because he hadn't shown his unique magic yet, but a little bloodshed and he's trembling in a corner. The knights are negotiating with the minister and other high ranking bureaucrats while he is just standing there mumbling to himself. Sure it's only been a few weeks since he was summoned but does he have to be such a fucking coward. His eyes are dashing around everywhere frantically looking for someone to save him and mumbling something. "The princess escaped with the old Hero so even with the king and princes dead the kingdom will not collapse, now I just have to survive. I guess that makes everyone in this room expendable." As he whispers that last part his face and voice change; he looks as if he lost all emotion and his voice almost becomes monotone. That eerily calm and emotionless voice silences the negotiating nobles. "This narrative can work. All tragedy can be blamed on the bad guys and only successes will be attributed to the good guys." It takes me a moment to realize that it is the wimp hero who is still talking. The dissonance between his previous persona and now is too unsettling. "Hmm, how can I make this the most believable? Should I mutilate the corpses? Hey, minister of whatever. Of those who refuse to submit would they mutilate your corpses before displaying them to the public?" Everyone is too confused to make any kind of response, but then one of the old guys in the back answers. "No, they would want the corpses in as pristine condition as possible. To better recognize them and show how merciful they were." "Oh, so that's how it works. It's good I asked, my narrative would have been to showcase their cruelty, but if that diverges too much from the expected reality then it won't be easily accepted." The tone of this conversation is completely at odds with its contents and the current situation, its pissing me off and I’m not even sure why. Flames gather around me it's my flame cloak, the searing temperature forces everyone away from me and even augments my physical abilities. "That's enough out of you. Look around you. You have no allies and no escape option. Your only choices are to surrender peacefully or die." The look on his face is abnormally calm, and not the calm of someone who has everything under control the kind of calm of someone completely disinterested in what's going on. His attitude is rubbing me all the wrong ways, my flames intensify, sending my allies scurrying to the other corners of the throne room. The floor starts to melt beneath my feet, but his damn face is still a mask of calm. "You would normally be right, but that's assuming you and your lot are capable of subduing me. Though I'll have to kill everyone here as my method of defeating you has to be kept secret. In doing so I open a number of alternative paths." The way he says it makes even me believe he can do it for a moment. Only a moment, the other heroes couldn't do a thing against my flames; even the Demon Lord of the Waning Crescent, who specialized in ice magic couldn't stand against my fire. The hardest part will be keeping his face recognizable but we’re going to kill him anyway so I will end him here and now. I send a wave of fire to take out his legs and immobilize him and get rid of that smug look on his face. The flames crash against him and stop as if against an invisible barrier did his magic awaken or was he hiding it the whole time. The flames dispersed harmlessly, he is wearing a cloak of shadows much like my cloak of flames. I've never heard of a shadow or darkness element. The only elements that could extinguish my flames are ice and water, and maybe a creative use of wind I never got around to checking if conjured flames consume oxygen. A high pitched shriek interrupts my thoughts. The Cardinal who was hiding behind the hero is trying to crawl further into the corner as he stutters out some words. "D-D-D-DEMON!!!" The old man is frantically clawing at the walls as though he's trying to dig his way out of the room. His panic is rapidly spreading to the others. "Don't bother. The room magically sealed itself the moment the king died, only other royalty can deactivate the seal to enter or leave. That's why these guys have been so sure of themselves." Why does he know about the locking mechanism, he has only been here for a few weeks. I just learned that from the nobles in preparation for the coup. We were taking advantage of the fact the hero would be sealed in here on the off chance his unique magic gave him the opportunity to flee. But why does someone just summoned to this world know the intricacies of royal magic? Another high pitched scream interrupts my thoughts again. The old man who first shrieked has worn his fingers to bloody stumps as his frantic attempt to escape has sheared off his nails. "It's the Demon Lord of the New Moon." A whisper is clearly heard coming from Joffrey, the noble leading this coup. "When did you replace the summoned hero." "An interesting misunderstanding has occurred. Which confirms it was the right decision to hide my magic and that I can't leave any witnesses." The hero is speaking with the same unnerving calm despite the tension in the room reaching a new height. "Well, time to get down to business." With a wave of his hand, the shadow surrounding him engulfs the people behind him and with a gasp, they all collapse as if they were never alive to begin with. Fear grips my heart for the first time since coming to this world. Panicked I turn my flame cloak up to max power disregarding the safety of my collaborators with another wave of his hand the shadows fly towards me. My flames are extinguished one noble let out an anguished gasp and everyone but me and the other hero fall to the ground. I can't properly process what is happening, is everyone dead or asleep. Only that one noble showed any sign of pain, what is happening. "Interesting, by completely enclosing yourself in magic you managed to save your life. It would be valuable to continue to experiment. However, I apparently can't negate the heat from that pool of lava you've created. So I'll end this now." The fool gave me the hint I needed; I channel my rage and indignation towards the ground. In less than the beat of a heart the pool of lava expands a smile spreads across my face, this could work. As I begin to contemplate how to handle all of the dead nobles my mind blanks. I can't remember what I was thinking. What was I doing here? Then pain, unfathomable pain, it feels like my soul is being ripped from my body I try to scream but it's just a sigh, and I fall.
This part aren't quite clear. You mean like those chinese mc where acceptable is "like a god" and not looked down as "you look down on me i break your nose"?
It's hard to invest in the characters when its presented in exposition, The betrayal has no build up so its kind of like jumping into a third act in a play. The MC's name is too cool, at least go into some detail about he changed his name when he arrived because he learnt that names have power or his last name was uncool or how he had many enemies in his last life so in case another hero showed up he wouldn't recognize him. Tbh who would plot against the new hero when you don't know what their power was, that's some daytime television level bad guy plotting. It could be a power that's really beneficial for the kingdom instead of a power that causes mass genocide. If you want to change anything feel free but those are my take aways from the first chapter.
Chapter 1 Part 1 I am the first princess of the Twilight Kingdom, Releina Maya Yuno la Twilight. I am turning 16 this year and I may be meeting my future husband later today. Rather late for a princess but there are quite a few problems my father has to deal with concerning my future. No no, I will not be queen I have two older brothers ahead of me in line for the throne, I also have a little sister by the way. The problem for my late betrothal is two-fold I defend the castle and cannot leave unless with my father. I am no mage, knight, or hero but I power all of the magic circles that protect the castle. That was not always my job, my Mother the Queen actually protected the castle before but since my sister was born she lost a lot of power and can no longer perform her duty. The king my father was going to call back some of the high mages from the border to power the castle but the royal court mage determined that my power would be more than enough, much more actually. So I became a national treasure and cannot leave the capital. Normally I would have been married off to the hero that is summoned every ten years, but the last hero summoned, the red knight, has a temper and is unstable. Father doesn’t even like having him in the capital. He has killed quite a few people for minor perceived slights against him but father puts up with him because my uncle, the blue knight, died in the last war against a Demon Lord. He was such a kind man, after every battle he would cry with my aunt about having to kill so many people but he did it to protect her and the country; he was a “Hero” summoned 20 years ago. Many heroes marry royalty but because I am a national treasure that hero cannot be trusted with me. So my father entrusted my future to our oldest hero, he was summoned 30 years ago, the white knight; he protects me and by virtue the castle; he also has the task of finding a proper husband for me, he actually set up my aunt and uncle. For some reason that I was never told our oldest hero never married and seems to just be dedicated to being a Knight. I heard he had many friends in the knight corps and mage corps but they were only males so I don’t think he has ever had any lover. Now we come back to the meeting today it has been ten years since the last hero was summoned which means it’s time for a new hero to come and this one just might be my one. I head to the summoning room to prepare, I don’t know how to summon or any magic really but I am the power source for the spell. Apparently I’m what is called a Furnace, it’s hard to explain without an in-depth knowledge of magic so I don’t really understand it myself; basically, I have so much mana I can’t use normal magic. I tried a water spell with the help of one of the defensive circles after becoming the castle defender; it flooded the town. The royal court mage is actually really excited about how different the summoning will be with my mana. We reach the summoning room and the white knight opens the door for me the royal court mage is already waiting. He is a rather old man no longer the most powerful mage in the kingdom but still the most knowledgeable. “Ah princess we may begin whenever you are ready, the circle is finished I widened it for you mana capacity we may be able to summon from a world even farther away than normal or perhaps even from heaven.” The old mage laughs. I am not quite sure what he means by that statement how many worlds are there, I don’t remember any talk of that in any of my classes? “Oh sir, you still have many secrets to teach me, don’t you,” I respond questioningly. “Yes, indeed princess it will still take some time to teach you all that I know hopefully I live that long. Now we should begin soon if you please the king is waiting for us.” I nod and move to the edge of the circle with the mage and knight beside me and begin to pour mana into the circle. The circle begins to glow green just like normal but then the color changes again like normal, the color that the circle changes to after green is what color the “Hero” is normally connected to and becomes their knight title; it also hints at their unique magic but not always. The circle changes to red and I become agitated the same as the last hero, not good, then unexpectedly the color changes to blue. “This has never happened before.” The old mage cries. Then the color again changes to yellow, purple, orange, and then back to green. “This “Hero” could be quite powerful and have many magics.” The white knight calmly says after the circle appears to stop changing color, but then the room becomes hot and the color changes to white and gets brighter and brighter it now hurt to look at the circle, I happily stare on not minding the pain. “Princess cover your eyes; this could be dangerous, this heat is unnatural,” The white knight yells and attempted to cover me, both he and the mage shield their eyes and turn away while trying to obstruct my view as well. I can feel my eyes burning along with my heart, this is destiny, this “Hero” will be mine I know it. Just as my vision begins to blur the circle becomes black, pitch black, and all the light in the room is drawn to it. Everything is dark then “he” is there. The lights along the wall, as if having their light returned to them, illuminate the room once more. “It is over, the summoning is complete, what kind of hero did that ritual grant us?” The old mage begins to speak and opens his eyes. The white knight also looks on with wonder then turns back to me and asks. “Princess are you alright, quick Roland heal her, her eyes quick now.” The white knight yells at the old mage while I stare at “him” with blurry vision. My vision slowly clears and his form comes into focus as does my thoughts and I stop breathing. In the instant that I see him my blood runs cold, my face is flush, my spine tingles, I become light-headed, and yet remain to stand. What is this feeling fear, love, hate, lust, or anger I have no idea I have never felt like this but I must stop, it has been a few seconds already but I need to breathe again or I will collapse? “Princess” ”Princess are you alright.” The two old men are trying to get my attention but I cannot stop staring at that man. Yes, he is a man, not a boy or adolescent that are normally summoned thou he is not old by any measure he appears to have just entered manhood maybe 20 at the oldest or he could be 16 like me and just matured faster than normal. The air around him is still, he has the look of someone who has seen war and overcomes many trails in their life I can feel a connection to ‘him’ as well as his strength, his magic, it has a frightening feel to it and then he smiles at me and I fainted.
Chapter 01 Part 02 White Knight of the Twilight Kingdom Suzuki Hanzou, I am the oldest serving hero of this kingdom. I was summoned here 30 years ago. At the time there was only 1 other hero alive, Siegfreid, he was summoned over 50 years prior. This kingdom summons heroes every 10 years but all of the other heroes between my teacher and I had fallen to time or the most recent war with the Demon Lord to the east. He only survived because being as old as he was he did not serve on the front. His unique magic slowed the aging process to half so he still did not look or act as old as he was. That man died saving my life one year later, at the hands of the southern Demon Lord. I was able to avenge him thanks to an opening that his death had created, but killing a Demon Lord is a hollow victory as they revive endlessly; though his death brought relative peace for 21 years. I dedicated myself to protecting his family, the royal family for those 21 years. He was not the king but the previous queen's royal consort. She had died several years before him of old age. His grandson is now the king and I have the duty of protecting his oldest daughter and finding a man worthy of her and that can protect her; a herculean task indeed. The perfect candidate would be a young hero, but the hero from 10 years ago is not worthy and there are none in the kingdom that can fill the task so I am laying a lot of hope on the ‘Hero’ set to be summoned this year. Most Heroes could easily fill the position, in fact, the one summoned after me, wed the current king’s sister and led the nations army as its general for years but he fell recently against the revived southern Demon Lord. The newest hero was able to kill the Demon Lord again so we should have peace for quite some time to come but he is unstable; killing innocent people at the drop of a hat. I would have ended him by now if we did not need his strength. Demon Lords can revive as early as 5 years after death the last long peace was just luck, but maybe if the hero to be summoned is strong I can get rid of that foolish Red Knight Mikeal before he goes too far. Today is the day I escort the princess to the summoning room around high noon. She is unusually happy today but that is to be expected, she knows more than anyone that this hero could very well be her future husband. Seeing the normally reserved and proper princess like this is a sight for sore eyes. She has not acted like a normal child since the last hero was summoned. Even then she was lovingly looking forward to a new hero, I hope this one today can live up to her expectations. We get to the room and I open the door, the High Court Mage Roland is there already preparing the summoning circle. He said earlier that it needed to be adjusted for the princess’s mana she is a very special existence and needs and deserves a hero to protect her as I will not be here forever. “Ah princess we may begin whenever you are ready, the circle is finished I widened it for you mana capacity. We may be able to summon from a world even farther away than normal or perhaps even from heaven,” Roland laughs. I have never heard of even more worlds let alone heaven, this guy, he must be joking I have never been able to understand his sense of humor no one but our old master Siegfried would ever laugh at his jokes. “Oh sir, you still have many secrets to teach me don’t you.” the princess comments. She must not get it either. “Yes indeed princess, it will still take some time to teach you all that I know. Hopefully, I live that long. Now, we should begin soon if you please, the king is waiting for us.” Roland urges her to begin the ritual. We move into position when the princess begins to pour her mana into the circle, it lights up and changes colors. Wait, what, that is not supposed to happen. What is going on? “This has never happened before,” Roland says in a panicked voice. Then the color again changes yellow, purple, orange, and then back to green. The color normally shows what affinity the hero has but no hero has ever had multiple unique magic. “This ‘Hero’ could be quite powerful and have many magics,” I say this to keep the princess calm during this anomaly. Then the room begins to get unseasonably warm. That should not happen, the temperature in the castle is controlled by a magic circle, that is connected to the princess; this could be bad. The color changes to white the same color that I had but I know that this did not happen for my summon and it is getting brighter and brighter, so bright it hurts to look in the direction of the circle. “Princess cover your eyes this could be dangerous, this heat is unnatural,” I yelled to warn the princess and attempt to cover her from the reaction but I feel her move out of my path I can tell that Roland was forced to look away and I do as well. “It is over, the summoning is complete, what kind of hero did that ritual grant us?” Roland says that it's over, my eyes still burn but I open them and look upon the ‘Hero’. He looks young and strong, he is wearing a black suit. I feel magic from him but it is condensed within him and not leaking out at all. I immediately turn to check on the princess. She is shaking, her face is flushed and her eyes are red. She looks almost terrified but also embarrassed I have never seen her like this. “Princess are you alright, quick Roland heal her, her eyes quick now.” The princess had stared directly at the circle. I alert Roland of the princess’s condition, we cannot have her fainting on us. “Princess” ”Princess are you alright.” both Roland and I try to get her to answer; but she is lost, in, his eyes? I have seen this look before it is the same as the king’s sister with the summoning 20 years ago. Well, that problem may be solved but I would have never thought that this princess would act so much like a normal girl. Then she collapses on the ground, “Princess, Princess Releina please wake up,” Roland calls to her and cast some restorative magic on her. After only a moment she wakes up and I help her to her feet all the while the summoned youth looks concerningly toward her but says nothing. Roland then turns his attention back to the youth. “Hello, I am Roland the kingdom’s High court mage. Hero, Welcome to the Twilight Kingdom.” The youth looks calm; surprised but calm. That is to be expected all heroes are surprised when they are first summoned, a few even suffer fits of panic. He looks around as if trying to find his bearings then turns to us and responds. "It's a pleasure to be here. I am a bit dizzy so a place to rest would be nice but let's take care of the formalities first. Who is in charge here?" He looks to the princess as he says this, obviously, he said that out of concern for her since she did just faint. "Of course, right this way Hero." Roland begins to lead the way to the throne room. The way he is looking at the princess and that she is blushing so profusely this looks perfect. It could not be going any better. Now he just has to be half as powerful as he looks and I can die without regrets. We get to the throne room entrance Roland speaks into the door and a moment later we hear the horn announcing the new ‘Hero’ to the kingdom and the door begins to open. We wait for the door to fully open before we enter. We need to let the court see the hero. Then we proceed to the King. The hero’s posture has not wavered since we left the summoning room. He is not on guard but is definitely alert and taking in all of his surroundings very methodically. Like a trained soldier, what could his past have been; he is at most in his early 20s. "The summoning was an unprecedented success. I can feel an overwhelming power coming from you." The king can feel the dense magic that is trapped in this hero. Wait, is it trapped in him? That could be bad, he might not have access to magic like this. That would be unprecedented, a ‘Hero’ without magic. That would be very bad. But all that magic I feel, if it is truly trapped in him perhaps he could be incredibly strong and durable. He will have to be tested during his training. The princess moves towards the king and goes to her place beside him; I follow and notice the king glancing at her beat red face. He must be wondering what is with his normally stoic daughter, but then his face changes as if he has realized everything and puts on a happy grin and turns back to address the hero. "Welcome hero, to my Twilight Kingdom. You have been summoned as part of our country's tradition of summoning heroes every ten years." "Oh! Are you saying I wasn't summoned to fight a demon lord? Or a rampaging dragon? Or to end some war?" The hero looks shocked. His response gives away that he expected to have some grand quest given to him after getting here. He is indeed a special summoning, never has there been a hero called here knowing that they had a duty to fulfill. But he does not appear to be angry that there is no mission for him, just shocked. "Oh, well, the demons are a constant threat but we did not summon you to fix a specific crisis. A hero long ago suggested to periodically summon heroes so that they are ready when a disaster does strike." The king responded a little hesitantly, trying to reassure him. The young hero looks puzzled. Did he accept the summon because he knows of a pending crisis? What if this unique hero was summoned to deal with an equally unique problem in the future. Dammit, if he has come because we are heading to dark times I cannot look forward to a peaceful death after all. Dammit, I cannot get rid of that accursed Red Knight now either; we will need all the power we can get. Ah, some time has passed while the young hero is thinking and the king begins to look concerned, "If you are worried about how you will be cared for, don't worry. You will live in the castle and be instructed in magic and martial arts before being given a noble rank and land to manage. You will be expected to fight for the country against demons or foreign invasions. Oh, we seemed to have skipped the order of some things but could we have your name Hero." The young hero looks directly at the king and proudly says “I am Seigi”, I flinch, this cannot be a coincidence. That name is in my native language I did not even realize till now because of what happened to the princess. This young man, no Seigi, is Japanese. Just like me, how could I not see that before. I know none of the other heroes in this kingdom are from Japan and none of the ones I know of outside the kingdom are either but this man and that name we are headed for dark times I must protect the princess at all costs. "Alright, please show Seigi to his room he'll begin lessons tomorrow." The hero is lead away by Roland while I head to escort the blushing princess back to her room to rest, it is not too late but she is exhausted. I bow to a smiling King and Queen and follow after her with the future weighing heavily on my mind.
Chapter 01 Part 03 Our Hero Life is hard. I don't mean to say I am suffering undue or excessive hardships. Simply that living a normal life is filled with difficulties. Take today for example. I was promoted this morning. That sounds like a good thing and I am expected to be happy about it, but it’s filled with more problems than benefits. I'm in charge of more people than before and of course, the majority of them are incompetent because the competent ones keep getting promoted. I have this week to rid myself of dead weight and then shift their duties to the remaining few. But, I hear you say, a promotion may mean more work but it also means more pay and more pay is always better. That's simply not true. My account is already steadily filling with extra cash that I could enjoy spending, but with working well over forty-hour weeks their best use is to sit in an account until I need it. So no amount of more pay can actually compensate for more work because while time is money, money isn't time. That is only the first problem today. Because I've pushed it back repeatedly I can no longer ignore this social engagement so the last vestiges of my time are given over to someone else. Yet it still gets worse. Despite having scheduled this dinner for other reasons, because of my promotion it will now become all about me and I will be forced to reschedule a new dinner to replace this one. I could hide my promotion but that is asking for more problems by keeping secrets. Yet this is the life I have chosen. Ever since that incident 10 years ago I have been working toward this, a normal life, no one will call me that again. Still, I wonder does everyone work this hard to be normal, to be happy? No, I know that most do not, I would never have been labeled as such if that were true. I must be vigilant, the only way to be happy is to be accepted, being unique in accepted but only to a degree so I must soldier on this path. Huh....I'm disorientated. I'm down on a knee and the world is spinning despite me being only in darkness. Calm down, panic is the enemy. What is my current condition? My hand opens and closes as I quickly assess my situation. I have all of my fingers and don't register any pain, but I feel warmer like when you’re in a hot spring; a soothing heat but its coming from inside me not enveloping me like a hot spring. I'm kneeling in darkness and don't remember at least the last few minutes. Okay, then let's construct those missing memories, what is my last memory. I was walking down a semi-busy street in Tokyo at night. When there was a sudden flash. Was there sound? I don't remember a loud noise. The most likely scenario is the flash was an explosion from a terrorist attack. Damnit, the flash has either permanently or temporarily blinded me. Wait, I don't hear any panic. So I've gone deaf as well, that is disappointing. If this is my condition my first step should be checking on my companion who was on my right. I grope around in the dark and notice the texture of the floor is wrong. The concrete sidewalks are very familiar and this is nothing like them. I need to reevaluate. The ground feels like a polished stone. The air smells stagnant like a room that's been locked for months or years. I hear a gasp and air moving. I haven't lost my hearing. I probably haven't lost my sight either it's just a dark room but let's not get my hopes up. After a bright light, I was transported, unharmed, to an unfamiliar location. There is no reasonable explanation for this event, yet it has undeniably happened. So let us go with the unreasonable. I got blackout drunk at dinner and have just now awoken. Or a secret government research facility that has been experimenting with teleportation had a mixup in the coordinates that somehow resulted in moving me to the intended location. Neither makes the least bit of sense. While I don't hold my alcohol well I am quite aware of this, meaning I would have been tricked or forced to drink to excess. No one around would have done such a thing and even allowing that unlikely event waking with no injury and all of my clothes are pushing the unbelievable too far. As for a teleportation accident. It's possible I am the first accident so no one had heard of them. It would also explain my dizziness and otherwise pristine condition. However, why am I in a pitch-black room? A target room would be well lit and well monitored. It's possible to go further and say I've was unintentionally grabbed and then flung somewhere unintentional. But that begs the question of the likelihood of landing in a perfectly dark empty room and not in a wall or in space. Logic doesn't support my current reality. So I guess I roll with the situation as is unravels. I notice the presence of 3 people in this room, maybe this is a target room; researchers then? Lights seem to turn on along the wall. What? Torches? And they turned on automatically? No, those are not flames emitting light may be just custom LEDs I would have to get a closer look. What are my options, escape, and cooperation? Is there any middle ground? I could reasonably take down two people but if they are trained guards I might struggle against just one. So resisting is a last resort at the moment. Having decided on my course of action I stand up and make myself presentable as I raise my body it feels lighter almost nonexistent, is gravity weaker are we in space am I just light-headed what does this mean. The three individuals here with me are in odd postures. A middle-age man in oddly colored robes, he is hiding his face and turned away as if hiding from a bright light. Did they see the light too? There is another old man in armor, a knight, in a similar posture looking away from me. Are they cosplaying? The one in armor does look Japanese. They are both flanking a young European looking girl with blond hair in a ball gown, maybe? Oh no, she is staring right at me, her eyes are red, was she looking at the light. She does look scared, she is trembling and her face is blushing too. Oh no. I dropped it, damn I dropped the mask that I have had for 5 years because of the disorientation and shock. I dropped it, this is why I don’t drink, she is terrified of me now. “It…. is….. over,....... the…. summoning…….. is…. complete,....... what….. kind….. of…... hero…... did….. that….. ritual……. grant…... us?????” The old man in robes starts talking but why is he talking so slow and their movements it is all in slow motion. I can understand them but what I hear doesn’t match what it looks like they are saying. Did he say ‘Hero?’ Oh no, like those stories. I never thought of that, cosplayers are looking increasingly less likely. Do I roll with this as well? Could they be a cult? If so, how dangerous would it be to resist their narrative? At the very least I need to see a method of escape before I become hostile or uncooperative. Ok, cooperate, what will work best here. Arrogance? Submission? They called me hero so I don't want to be too meek. And heroes shouldn't be rude either. Let's go with confident polite neutrality. “Princess are you alright, quick Roland heal her, her eyes, quickly, now.” The knight turned to the girl and begins yelling, guess she is a princess and that old mage looking guy must be Roland. “Princess” ”Princess are you alright.” They are both yelling now. They said heal her, I bet is supposed to reference magic; if it is like those stories. Now they are speeding up or am I slowing down; either way, this is better. Now the girl, what to do; she still looks scared. I guess I will go with number 5. Yeah, it is all I can do, the worst case is that it ends the same as last time but she won’t be scared anymore so I have too. So I show her my smile and then she faints, of course, it is the worst case but that problem can be pushed off till later now. “Princess, Princess Releina please wake up,” Roland calls to her and his hand lights up, that must be magic. After only a moment she wakes up and the knight helps her to her feet. After confirming that she is fine Roland then turns his attention back to me, “Hello, I am Roland, the kingdom’s High court mage. Hero, Welcome to the Twilight Kingdom.” Yeah, I figured this is one of those stories. I kind of wish I read some of them. All the knowledge I have is second hand, so then I have to treat this just like normal. Stay calm, gather what this culture’s social cues are and fit in, so let’s begin. "It's a pleasure to be here. I am a bit dizzy so a place to rest would be nice but let's take care of the formalities first. Who is in charge here." With that, I can show concern for that princess and let them know that I am a kind-hearted caring hero; though she is not going to like that. Considering how she is blushing she knows why I said that. Well then I cannot let my mask drop again I could have ruined everything I have done up till now, all that work for nothing. I am not even sure what I could do to fix it. "Of course right this way Hero," Roland says, the girl is trembling, she doesn’t seem to be taking this well she must be really embarrassed. I'm led out of the room and through a number of hallways. Everything is stone, which gives it a medieval vibe but the torches they are carrying look like they are LEDs on top of sticks, and the floor is soft like memory foam I wonder if I push on it would it return to its normal shape. I haven't passed a single window, how do they keep this ventilated? I can feel a breeze but it's coming from the walls. They have integrated air conditioning? Nothing is making sense. The more and more unlikely is starting to becoming reasonable. We stop at a large ornate door Roland moves to it and whispers. “The summoning was a huge success the new hero is impeccable and powerful. Let the kingdom know and I will give the king a full report after the introduction, the princess is very tired from the ritual and we need to finish fast.” Roland seems to have been whispering but I heard everything loud and clear I could never hear whispers this clear before. This, that constant warmth, and the weakened gravity I must have changed when coming here I have to be careful about this it could not be normal I will need to see how everyone acts here before I make some big mistake again. The awkward silence is ended by a horn blaring. The door opens not to another hallway but a massive room. This is definitely a throne room, there is no other name for a room that draws all attention to an overly ornate chair. A man probably in his late fifties sits on the throne with a look of anticipation. On a smaller throne right next to his is a woman in her mid-twenties. She's barely older than the girl that is with me. Could she be the queen? If she was his daughter she would sit on a lower stair right? Not next to him, is this normal? Should I comment or ignore this? This is a king, should I kneel or bow? I think I missed my chance for either. We're already standing in front of him, no this would be the time to do either but I am a hero and since I don’t have some frame of reference I will do neither. The others don’t make any kind of show of respect perhaps this kingdom doesn’t show the respect that way; all cultures are different after all. I have to observe everyone so I can match them just like always and then take into consideration what being a hero means. In the stories I have read one does not become a hero until they have saved a princess, killed some monster, or ended some kind of conflict but I am already a hero to them. Yes, those stories work differently, you call a hero to complete one of those tasks. Meaning I am going to have some kind of job given to me. That will not be so bad, choosing your own path can lead to unforeseen problems; having one set out for you could be a huge boon. "The summoning was an unprecedented success. I can feel an overwhelming power coming from you." The king is practically jumping for joy as he looks at me. I'm radiating a power? Do people here have some sixth sense, is it the warmth within me? That is the only thing different about me that others would be able to notice, there is no way they could tell my body feels different from before they would have no reference so that must be it people here can sense this warmth in others. But I cannot feel anything from these people that resembles that warmth, is it a hero only thing? No, most likely I just don’t have that ability which means I am going to be at a disadvantage from the start. Looks like I might have to guess that stuff based on other people's reactions. No one here is hiding their emotions but they could be faking it like me, the old Japanese knight is the only one here even suppressing them at all, this society just seems more open about those things than home. Reading people here looks like it is going to be easy, life here might be easier than back home. The princess shuffles her way up to the throne with the knight close behind her. After the princess gets in her position the King gets a good look at the knight, and smiles then he continues. "Welcome hero, to my Twilight Kingdom. You have been summoned as part of our kingdoms tradition of summoning a new hero every ten years." "Oh! Are you saying I wasn't summoned to fight a demon lord? Or a rampaging dragon? Or to end some war?" I leaped before I looked. Not good how can I spin this. How was that perceived? Was I overbearing? "Oh, well, the demons are a constant threat but we didn't summon you to fix a specific crisis. A hero long ago suggested to periodically summon heroes so that they are ready when a disaster does strike." The king seems a little shaken to have been interrupted but he’s taken it as a reasonable response. I haven't blown it yet. Let's look at my situation then. If they make a habit of summoning heroes and have them live here, then they probably don't have a method of sending them back. So I guess all that work before was for naught, no not completely. It proved that I can live a normal life, I will just have to start from scratch. This world is different but they appear human and act similarly all I can do is live my life. As for a future crisis; it seems that in this world it’s more a matter of when not if like home. That could be dangerous and since I am a hero now I will have to deal with it; I am going to need to learn about this world fast. The king begins again interrupting my thoughts. "If you are worried about how you will be cared for, don't worry. You will live in the castle and be instructed in magic and martial arts before being given a noble rank and land to manage. You will be expected to fight for the country against demons or foreign invasions. We've skipped the order of some things but could we have your name Hero." So they have a plan already for me and as I thought something will happen. I am going to be trained in magic and martial arts that most likely means the sword. Magic, that could be interesting; learning new things always came naturally to me, one of the few things I enjoyed. Now about a name I can just make one up. He is asking for my name but never mentioned his, no one here has said their name either, normally one introduces themselves first. As king does he not have a name anymore or just none of us can use it? I hate not knowing the proper etiquette better off not bothering asking his name it might be rude. Now, I never liked my old one, not since then. Yuusha seems like I am pushing it, then there is just one choice. "I am Seigi." The old guy with the princess twitches at my name. Yes, he is definitely Japanese and knows what that means. "Seigi." The king says the name I gave as though tasting its flavor. "Alright please show Seigi to his room he'll begin lessons tomorrow." Training should be a perfect method to figure out how people interact. I was department head for 9 hours, now I’m in a new world dealing with a new culture as a hero. Life sure is hard. What happened in the throne room after. “The hero and princess have left the room, your Majesty,” A guard informs the king. “My queen what do you think,” The king asks. “That was different, he seemed to have a purpose to all his actions and did not ask many questions almost like he was expecting this. From the records no hero has acted like that, almost universally there is some confusion, doubt, or even denial of what has just happened to them. Then his name was the only information about himself he gave willingly, perhaps because that was all you asked of him?” That was the Queen's answer. The king responded, “Yes, sir Suzuki noticed it too. That young man, Seigi, he has a purpose; it may not actually be some kind of mission that needs to be done, but he is driven. If we had asked him more about himself he most likely would have answered but I think we can leave that to Releina. This may mean we are in for dark times, but Releina seems instantly taken with him. I cannot recall a time I have seen her so flustered, it reminds me of how young she still is.” “Your Majesty if I may,” Roland speaks up. “The summoning was quite different this time as well. The circle shifted color many times to all the known colors and ended with a bright and hot light.” “Then I have decided, send word to border forts that the new hero has been summoned and we are to heighten alert levels. Have them all double scouting missions for the foreseeable future. Roland, you and Suzuki will be charged with Seigi’s training have him take lessons with Releina starting tomorrow. I will retire to my room for the rest of the day I need to think of the future, my queen will you accompany me?” A nod from the queen and then the two of them left together. The last word before everyone else left the room where Roland’s. “I guess things are going to get very busy from now on”
Chapter 01 part 04 I am Anna the first princess’s handmaid, she and I have been together since we were 5, the princess has two other maids but those positions change every few years I am the only one who has been with her since she left the nursery. We have been together through all kinds of hardship and illness. While we are not true friends, she is the first princess, after all, I have been the only one she can talk to about her problems. Even if we are the same age I feel like a big sister to her and want to help her, but I have never seen her like this. Princess Releina was so happy today that in of itself is unusual, but all her maids knew why. Today was the summoning of the new hero and she would most likely marry that hero. So you can understand that none of us can understand why she is in her bed crying her eyes out, she won’t say anything she is just crying, and now I have been pushed in here by the other maids to find out why. “Princess Releina, please stop crying, if there is anything I can do please let me know.” I plead with her trying to get some kind of response. “Were there some problems with the new hero? We all heard the horn announcing the successful summoning.” With that, she stops crying and lifts her head out of her pillow then looks at me with a terrible face and cries. “The hero thinks I am a child.” She then grabs onto me and continues to cry. “I fainted, I fainted, he smiled at me and I just collapsed. When I first saw his face I thought my heart would stop, I did stop breathing. The very definition of masculinity, ruggedly handsome face but clean-shaven, well-toned and muscular body and the air of battle around him; but his smile was so kind and soft. He was so regal, a true hero, much stronger than the red knight, more caring than my uncle, and he even had a kingly aura rivaling if not exceeding my father; the perfect hero. And I fainted at his smile, then out of concern for me, he did not even ask many questions of my father about the summoning just to let me rest. He must think I am nothing more than a child that needs to be protected. That is the problem.” She screamed that last part. Oh my, this is indeed a problem. “Princess if he is truly as you say then it is only natural for you to faint, could you have ever thought of meeting such a man before seeing him? I cannot wait to see him, hopefully, after hearing about him from you I might be able to hold myself together.” “That makes sense,” The princess says still sobbing slightly, “But not if he shows you that same smile. Just thinking about it now, ah.” The oddest smile appears on her face as she begins to remember. “Princess you don’t need to worry, steel yourself for the future I am sure he will have to train and learn magic, all the heroes do, perhaps he will have lessons with you.” The princess turns back to me with a stern face and replies. “I would not be surprised in the least if he needs no training and even knows magic already; but no matter what he will have to learn our history and common knowledge. I must be the one to teach him, I am sure father will allow it.” Releina jumps out of bed and goes to her bookshelf and pulls one of them out. “This will be perfect, ‘The founding of the Twilight Kingdom’ a basic outline of our history starting with the first hero, no I am sure this book should be in his room. He will most likely try reading everything he can once he gets there and the translation skill heroes have should allow him too. No no, I will have to report our most current information so that he can have a good grasp of our situation. Anna, you and the other maids go to all the ministers and ask for written summaries of their most recent works I want to know everything that is going on in the capital tonight and the rest of the kingdom by next week at the latest. I will show I am not some wallflower and not a child, I am the first princess. I need to calm down and get to work, what are you waiting for Anna go tell the others as well no sleeping tonight we have to help prepare for the future.” Now, this is the princess I know, mature beyond her years, I must help any way I can. “Yes, princess I am off.” I head out to complete my mission it is going to be a long night.