*The Sounds of Trumpets*
One by one clergymen, dressed in red robes embroidered with a white lion poured into the room following their guards. Creating two walls of troops on either side of our group.
The head clergyman walked to the front of the group and proclaimed,
"Welcome heroes. I'm High Magus Pontius, Leader of the Church of Holy Light. You have answered our call, before anything else we must apologize for dragging you into this situation. We plead to you, save our kingdom!"
Akira walked to the front of the group,
"Hello uh, Pontius. My name is Akira, we're all pretty shaken.. Why did you summon us?"
The priest began to explain the situation they're in.
"Days ago, we received a divine revelation from the gods that an army of rebels is gathering on the demon continent to invade this kingdom. They're led by some of the world's fiercest commanders. Three demon emperors lead the demon continent, all might decide to invade. We've sent out scouts to investigate. We currently estimate that they will invade in a little over ten year's time."
Fighting against demons to save the kingdom in need. Pretty similar to most RPG games. Plus all this UI floating around makes me feel like I'm in a computer game. The RPG of Yuki Benemaru, could be interesting.
Kayaba walked next to Akira and expressed his blunt opinion,
"Your kingdom is in trouble so you summon a bunch of kids to fight for you? It would be one thing if we were summoned here together, you forced us to split up. You even sent some of us to slavery! What gives you the right to do that to us!"
Koji walked to the front next to Kayaba,
"High Magus, apologies for my companions bluntness. We have lost many of our main group to different kingdoms, and like he said, into slavery. It would only benefit you to help us find our comrades"
The high magus was about to continue as another commanding presense could be felt outside the door. Pontius face contorted slightly in anger then returned to the previous harmlessness he entered with.
*Door behind the clergy gets bashed open.*
A tall man wearing a golden crown embedded with large rubies burst into the room.
He's as buff as those men on the weightlifting magazines
The crowned man yelled,
"Heroes!"
The sound echoed throughout the room, carry with it an aura the felt similar to the gravity oppression given off by the gods.
After confirming he had our attention he continued,
"We can have our spymaster look into where they might have been sent. All we ask is that you utilize your abilities, allow us to train you in the art of war. Fight for us, in return we will find your friends and give you a substantial reward."
A very intimidating man, he commands a strong presence. All of us can't help but gaze at his figure.
Without much of a choice we all agreed to these terms, it was now time to take our first steps in this new world.
Akira walked over to me,
"Damn Yuki, you got taller, and now your eyes are purple. Plus these ears! You look good tho!"
He put his arm around me rubbing his knuckle on my head,
"You dog, what kind of special skills did you get? Don't think I didn't notice you have concealment on. I can see everyone else's skills but yours... "
Hinabi, Hino, Dante, Sora, and Emelia all walked over.
Sora explained,
"Koji has been talking to the head clergyman. We're going to be heading to our quarters to start it seems."
The king declared,
"Heroes, all of you have answered our call and agreed to help us in our time of need. You will be considered guests of the royal family during your time here. Follow my head maid, Cleo. She will get you all situated into your rooms, If you wish to explore all we ask is that you stay within the castle grounds for now. Heroes in this world are myth's to the people, if the wrong people found out you were here.... You could be under threat of kidnapping or worse."
The king exited the room, Cleo stepped forward. She was dressed in a black long dress with white frills. Her voice had an elegance to it that gave the impression of years of experience in higher society.
"Please heroes, all of you follow me and we will get to your living quarters. We have prepared the whole east wing of the castle for you."
We all followed her into the east wing of the castle. During our journey, which took almost an hour, we saw many different rooms and training grounds. There were treasures and family portraits on display, one could assumed they took the long route showing the impressive sides of the castle. All in attempts to raise the prestige of the King and his lands.
This castle is insane, everything about this is incredible. I'm getting so caught up in this that I forget that Mina and some of our other classmates are stuck as slaves. I need to figure out what I can do, and find a way to her. I can't get comfortable here.
Mina, was sent to one of the neighboring kingdoms as a slave, if you want to save her you need to do so as soon as possible. The turnover rate for slaves is extremely high in some countries. Some places treat them as workers, some as assets.
The king said he would look into it. It would be foolish not to hear what they have to say. She isn't some pushover, I have to believe that she will be ok until we are able to find her. Who knows, she could find her way here on her own.
You're one of the most optimistic demons I've ever met. Hahahahah
I'll need you to fill me in on this demon stuff, my senses are a bit on overload. Ever since we got here I have been feeling a rush through my body. Like I can feel the flow of something. I can also hear clear into the hallway which is also disorienting. Sensory overload.
We arrived at our rooms, Cleo explained
"You all need to partner up and take rooms. Two-three per room should be fine. Once you're ready please follow down the corridor to The Great Hall. there we will be throwing you a feast as well as filling you in on the abilities of heroes and this world as a whole."
We all divided up, Akira and I, Koji and Sora, Emelia, Hinabi and Hino, lastly Kayaba and Dante. We didn't have any personal items but it was nice to have a place to come back to. It was time to make our way to the great hall.
Akira pulled me aside as we were walking out of our rooms,
"Yuki, did you notice that the King and Pontius didn't talk while there? Didn't even look at one another. Did it seem to you that there was something going on?"
I was shocked, I was still adjusting to this world and my body's transformation. I wasn't even focused on reading the room.
"I honestly didn't notice, I was still adjusting to this world. I feel lighter here, like even the gravity isn't as heavy and all my senses are ten times as strong. I would like to go outside and figure out how much we all have changed."
Akira smiled,
"As sucky as all this is, I'm excited. I feel like it's all going to work out, we will find the others. Not end up like those others who were summoned. You watch my back out there ok? I'll be watching yours."
I smiled and nodded.
Oh a group of optimists, that never turned out badly for anyone.
We made our way into the great hall. Four large tables ran parallel in the middle of the hall and red lion banners lined the walls around us. Food like you would see in anime and fantasy novels sat warm on the table.
Sora and Koji waved us down, Sora yelled
"Hey guys! Come over here. We saved some seats for you!"
Akira and I walked over to them as the rest of the class trickled in over the following minutes. We all got seated and the King stood up declaring while raising a glass of wine,
"Young hero's before we discuss the details we should feast, celebrating our union. We shall be unstoppable, with your support."
The king was surrounded by his council members who all seemed to be excited. Except one. The man directly to his left, he had been sitting down eyeing me the whole time. I started to feel uncomfortable.
Does this guy know about me being a demon? I can't help but feel like I'm behind enemy lines at the moment.
If they did, you would likely be in chains by now.
We all tore into the feast, the mood of the room was quickly lifted. We may have been isekai'd to this new world but so far. It was pretty nice. We finished the meal and servants from each door came in removing the empty plates.
A large man, in full plate armor walked over to us.
What a grotesque scar along his right eye, must be from a sword.
"Young heroes, I'm Astolfo, I'm the Grand Marshal of the Ruby Kingdom. I have been tasked with assessing each of your abilities. Along with our Magus core we will find out what specialties you have and find a way to train you accordingly. The only way to raise your level in this world is by battle and exploration. You can train yourselves to be more proficient in what abilities you currently possess, but no amount of non combat training can raise your level very high. Every major city sits atop a labyrinth. Our city, the capital of the Ruby Kingdom, is atop the labyrinth Ruben. Named after the leader of the Ruby army that colonized these lands from the demon occupiers."
As if I couldn't control my own words I spoke decisively,
"Colonized? Right. What makes these demons evil, why are you at odds with one another?"
Astolfo, slightly insulted, responded,
"They're hellspawn that were brought into this world by unholy contracts with the original demon emperor Abbadon. As the originals were brough into this world they began to procreate with humans and other native species. They can look like any one of us, until their power corrupts them. Some have minor changes, some more drastic. These changes depend on the strength and species of the original demon they were sired from. All races except dwarves, elves and humans can have their lineage traced back to unholy demon spawn. Demi humans resembling cats, wolves, and other beasts came about through these various demon ancestors. Over the last thousand years there are now millions of each race out there. It is the belief of our god Aranothul that we must tame or execute these monsters. To purify the land."
Tsk