"Now, if you would follow us to meet His Majesty the King. He will explain the details to you."
"Can us small fry come too?" Makoto asked with a grin.
Kazuma shuddered.
'If this gentleman called himself a small fry, what did that make us, the actual Heroes?'
The head priest frowned, his gaze sweeping over Makoto's group.
Although these people hadn't been chosen by the legendary weapons, the fact that they were brought along by the summoning magic meant they must have at least some aptitude.
He thought for a moment, his tone as if bestowing charity: "Though not chosen as Heroes by the legendary weapons, they were at least chosen by the summoning magic. They might be somewhat useful. Fine, you can come too."
Yu's eyes were bloodshot. He had already decided internally that he would shoot ten thousand holes in this bastard later.
On the way from the basement to the main hall of the royal palace, Kazuma walked at the back of the four 'Heroes'. The spear-wielding blonde was at the front, the sword-wielding black-haired youth on his right, and the shield-wielding university student on his left.
He barely suppressed his fear of Makoto behind him and started exchanging information.
"My name is Kitamura Motoyasu, twenty-one, university student."
The blonde rested the spear on his shoulder, his tone carrying innate confidence. "Nice to meet you."
"Amaki Ren, sixteen, high school student."
The black-haired youth briefly stated his name and then fell silent.
"I-I'm Iwatani Naofumi, twenty."
The shield-wielding university student paused after stating his age, "University student. I was reading in the library when I was suddenly teleported to this world."
Kazuma noticed that all their names were Japanese-style and their appearances were typically East Asian. They should all be from Japan.
But after exchanging information for a while, they discovered that the four came from different Japans.
Although the general trends were similar, many details didn't match.
"Good grief, Isekai Worlds really do exist." Kazuma muttered quietly.
Naofumi glanced sideways at him. "What differences does your Japan have compared to ours?"
Kazuma's body stiffened.
His peripheral vision unconsciously drifted backward.
Makoto was walking at the very back with his team, looking this way with a smile, and gently shook his head.
"N-not much different from yours."
Kazuma forced a smile. "Just some minor differences..."
Naofumi blinked and didn't ask further.
His eyes held that characteristic clear and pure stupidity of a university student.
Makoto walked up from behind and walked alongside Kazuma. "Why didn't you come to apply to the Superpower Academy?"
Kazuma looked completely baffled. "Superpower Academy? What's that?"
Makoto looked at him for two seconds.
He felt this reaction was off. Given Scumzuma's personality of desperately wanting to become a Hero, with Shuchi'in Superpower Academy recruiting worldwide with no age or background restrictions, there was no reason for him not to go.
Even if he couldn't pass the exam, he'd still try his luck.
After all, this guy's dream was to rise in the world and become a harem king... very realistic.
In the ensuing back-and-forth, Makoto pieced together Kazuma's situation:
When the US nuked Japan previously, this kid was at home playing video games.
Like Hattori Heiji, Hakuba Saguru, and others, he had become an unintended casualty in the game between Makoto and the US.
So when he was summoned to this world, he was so excited... not just because he had a chance to become a Hero, but because he had been given another life.
Yu walked behind, listening to this conversation, his brow slightly furrowed.
'Could even dead people be chosen by the Reincarnation Game?'
'Those who were killed by Senpai before, they wouldn't show up too, would they?'
Makoto asked again: "Did you meet Aqua?"
"Aqua? Who's that?" Kazuma's expression grew even more confused.
Makoto was silent for a moment.
'Scumzuma and the idiot goddess not teaming up felt like SpongeBob not knowing Patrick... something was missing.'
'Speaking of which, she was also a peculiar woman, just like that Sakura from the Naruto world... clearly with decent looks, but somehow unable to inspire sexual desire.'
But if forced to choose between the idiot goddess and Wide-Forehead Sakura, Makoto would still prefer Aqua.
After all, by visual estimation, she's at least a C.
The priests stopped before a huge gate.
"Heroes, His Majesty the King and the ministers are inside. Please enter."
The priest pushed open the gate and stood sideways by the door.
As the door opened, he also turned his head to look at Makoto's group, frowned again, and added in a lowered voice: "Do not be rude before the King."
The Teddy Devil walked behind Makoto like an ordinary pet dog, its two fangs protruding from under its lips, its voice very low: "I'm definitely going to fuck that guy to death later."
The other three Devils behind him nodded.
The scale of the main hall of the royal palace was naturally incomparable to the basement.
But from the palace's construction, it was evident that this country probably wasn't wealthy.
Makoto's gaze swept over the ministers' faces.
Having undergone genetic screening as the ruling class, there were basically no ugly ones.
But at this moment, these people's eyes all held doubt and suspicion.
They were probably wondering if this group could help them resist the external enemies.
"Greetings to all. I am the king of the Kingdom of Melromarc, Aultcray Melromarc XXXII."
On the throne, the old man wearing a crown, with gray-white long hair and beard, introduced himself.
The next second, he looked down at the priest kneeling on the red carpet and frowned.
"Wasn't it only possible to summon up to four Heroes? Why are there so many more people?"
The priest knelt on one knee and reported truthfully: "Perhaps it was because so much magical power was used this time that this accident occurred. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Aultcray's gaze lingered on Makoto and his group for two seconds but quickly moved away. "Well, whatever. Combat power is always better the more."
He refocused his attention on Kazuma and the other three.
"Heroes, our kingdom is currently on the brink of extinction. Please help us resist the external enemies."
Kazuma stood among the four Heroes, his long bow slung across his back, unable to contain his excitement again, muttering: "Here it comes, here it comes. This is a standard king-like anime opening. Next up should be forming a party, right?"
King Aultcray began explaining the situation.
The national power of the Kingdom of Melromarc in this world was only mid-to-low tier, often becoming the battlefield for wars between great powers.
Whenever two great powers went to war, Melromarc got caught in the middle.
After the war ended, the victor came demanding reparations, the loser came to plunder resources. Melromarc suffered from both sides.
By his generation, it was on the brink of extinction.
"Isn't this the Land of Rain?" Beam muttered quietly.
Aultcray didn't hear Beam's words and continued: "Therefore, we hope to borrow the power of the Heroes to wield the four legendary weapons and resist the invasions of the great powers for us."