Chapter Four: Specially Arranged Funding
Finally, the dawn arrived.
We finished eating breakfast and were waiting in anticipation for the king’s summons. It was only natural to give us a little spare time in the morning. No one wants to feel rushed out of bed. Finally, when the sun was pretty high in the sky, probably around ten o’clock, the king called for us. We could hardly contain ourselves and hurried to the audience chamber, our hearts dancing in our chests.
“The heroes enter.”
The doors to the audience chamber swung open to reveal a group of twelve strangers all dressed as though they were about to embark on an adventure of their own.
There were knights among them.
The king certainly knew how to show his support.
We all bowed to the king and settled in to listen to his proposal.
“As we discussed yesterday, I have called for others to assist you in your journey. Apparently my call did not go unheeded.”
If there were three assistants provided to each of us, we might just survive.
“Now then, gathered adventurers, please choose the legendary hero with whom you will travel with.”
Wait. So THEY got to choose?
That came as a shock to all of us, though when I thought about it, it only made sense. We all came from another world, so what did we know about our journey? Better to let the experienced citizens make the decision.
The four of us lined up.
The gathered adventurers shuffled over in our direction and formed little clumps before their intended partners.
Five people stood before Ren.
Four people stood before Motoyasu.
Three people stood before Itsuki.
And before me? Yeah—zero.
“But, sir!” I called to the king. How could this be? It was so unfair!
The king was unnerved by my protest. He spoke. “I did not anticipate anything like this.”
“He’s not very popular, is he?” The minister sighed as if there were nothing he could do about it. The king, for his part, seemed disinterested.
The men in robes were whispering something to the king, and they all seemed to laugh. But why?
“So there are rumors?”
“What is it?” Motoyasu asked. He wore a strange expression.
The situation was so unfair. I couldn’t make sense of it. It was like being in elementary school when we’d split into teams. I guess I was the last one picked? How could they do this to me here, in a completely new world?
“It seems that people are whispering around the castle. They are saying that among the four heroes, the Shield Hero does not know very much about our world.”
“What?!”
“The legends say that the four summoned heroes will have an understanding of our land. People are wondering if you will truly be able to fulfill the conditions set out in the legends.”
Motoyasu poked me in the side with his elbow.
“I guess someone was eavesdropping on us last night.”
He meant our conversation about games. They were leaving me on my own because I hadn’t heard of a game?! Besides, what kind of a legend was this anyway? I might not know much about their kingdom, but I was still the Shield Hero! For whatever reason . . .
According to the other guys, I was stuck with the most useless class . . . but this wasn’t a game to begin with!
“Ren! You can’t even use five people! Let’s share!”
The adventurers standing around Ren (and men among them) all suddenly huddled behind him, quaking in their boots. They were behaving like terrified little sheep.
Ren looked annoyed and scratched his head, perplexed. Then he said, “I’m more of a loner, myself. So if you can’t cut it, I’m leaving you behind.”
He said it relatively forcefully, but none of the people behind him showed any signs of moving.
“Motoyasu! What do you think of this? Isn’t it horrible?!”
“Well . . .”
By the way, I’d like to point out that there was not a single man among the adventurers with Motoyasu. It looked like he was setting up a brothel or something.
“Well I don’t want to be biased here . . . but uh . . .”
Itsuki looked a little confused but seemed to be saying that he couldn’t exactly refuse the help that he’d been offered.
All the adventurers gathered around Motoyasu were women. I guess he really did have a way with them. It was like some kind of involuntary attraction.
“I suppose it would be fair to split them evenly with each of us getting three. But then again, it’s not gentlemanly to deny them once they’ve made their decision.” What Itsuki said sounded fair enough, and everyone in the room nodded along.
“You mean I need to go it alone?”
I was stuck with a shield! THEY were the ones who said it was the worst class! If I didn’t have a party to travel with, how was I supposed to get stronger?
“Sir, if it pleases you, I could serve with the Shield Hero.” One of the women with Motoyasu raised her hand to volunteer.
“Hm? Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
She was cute and had shoulder-length red hair.
Her face was pretty, too. She was relatively tall, just a little shorter than me.
“Are there any others among you that would throw your lot in with Mr. Naofumi?”
. . . No one moved a muscle. The king sighed heavily.
“I suppose there is no way around it. Mr. Naofumi, you’ll have to recruit others to accompany you while you are traveling. Each month, I will supply all of you with the necessary funds for your journey, though in compensation for today’s events, Naofumi’s first payment will be higher than the others.”
“Y . . . Yes, sir!”
It seemed like a fair resolution.
If no one wanted to work with me voluntarily, I would have to find people to help me.
“Now then, heroes, I have set aside these funds for you. Please accept them.”
Attendants brought a bag of money to each of us.
I could hear something heavy and metallic rattling inside the bags. The one I received was slightly larger than the others.
“I have set aside 800 pieces of silver for Mr. Naofumi and 600 pieces for the rest of you. Please take these funds and begin your journey.”
“Yes, sir!” we all answered in unison.
Each of us made our obligatory bow of gratitude before backing out of the audience chamber. Once we were all out of the room, we made our introductions.
“Um, so it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Shield Hero. My name is Myne Suphia.”
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