Interlude: Summoning A Hero?! Sakata Hiroaki On The Scene!
Meanwhile, just before Miharu and the others found themselves in another world...
His name was Sakata Hiroaki; he was a 19-year-old Japanese young man with an average appearance. While he was in a highly-ranked group at his prep school, he failed his university entrance examinations and became even more of a shut-in, then immersed himself in all sorts of indoor hobbies instead — just like any normal young man would.
On one fine spring day, Hiroaki was lying on his bed in his parents’ house and playing with his PC tablet. He idly visited his favorite websites, watched videos, read novels, played games, and posted on forums to his heart’s content, making the most of his fun and fulfilling life as a shut-in.
It was then that Hiroaki’s world changed completely.
Dressed in his sweats, he had been lying down with his tablet held above him, when suddenly, he felt like he was falling.
“Whoa!” Hiroaki shouted in surprise. However, he hadn’t actually fallen anywhere, and was still lying on his back. The tablet in his hand hadn’t fallen, either, but the sensation against his back was strangely rugged and hard. And that wasn’t all —
For some reason, the background behind his tablet was no longer his ceiling, but a vast, clear blue sky. Hiroaki reflexively arched his neck and looked around.
“H-Huh? What’s going on?!”
Gathered right next to him were foreign-looking knights and soldiers armed with swords, spears and armor that looked they were taken straight from an outdated fantasy setting.
“Eh?!” Hiroaki sprung up, startled. While he was dressed quite foolishly, he was nothing if not utterly serious right now.
Ogling at his surroundings, a completely unfamiliar scenery stood before him. It seemed as though he was in the garden of an elegant mansion; the ground was covered in paved stone tiles, while the garden around him was filled with nature. A castle-like structure towered a little further in the distance, imposing enough to be called a palace.
The armed knights and soldiers, unfitting for the quiet and tranquil atmosphere of the garden, warily surrounded Hiroaki with a certain degree of awe.
Hey, hey... what the hell is this?! Hiroaki stood up in a panic and checked his own situation. He felt faintly more relieved to see his tablet in his left hand and his well-worn sweats on his body. However, he noticed that at some point, he had begun to clutch a European-style longsword in his grasp. It filled him with surprise and a sense of excitement.
A s-sword...? That’s a cool design... It tingles my childish heart.
But when he looked at the armed people around him, he felt a sense of wariness.
Once he had calmed down, he found the combination of the sword with his sweats to be unbearably lame, and he began to feel embarrassed too. Hiroaki tightened his grip on the sword in his hands and braced his tablet as if it were a shield.
“Ah... Umm, can you understand me? Who are all of you?” he asked, forcing down his sense of embarrassment.
A stillness fell over them... Or so Hiroaki had thought. After a moment, someone appeared from between the crowd of knights and soldiers — a cute, lavender-haired girl in her mid-teens, wearing an elegant fluttering dress.
Damn, that’s some high quality... It’s like some beautiful girl stepped straight out of a television. Is she a princess? Hiroaki thought in a daze, captivated.
Meanwhile, the lavender-haired girl took a look at Hiroaki’s appearance. Her eyes widened. After a pause, the middle-aged man next to the girl murmured something to her. Immediately after, the girl started walking toward Hiroaki with determination. The man followed, as well as two other young-looking knights. Hiroaki braced himself warily.
“U-Umm, my name is Flora. Flora Beltrum. I’m the second princess of the Kingdom of Beltrum. May I ask if you might possibly be... the hero?” she questioned nervously, having stopped at an appropriate distance from Hiroaki. For some reason, he was able to understand her words.
Hiroaki inspected the self-proclaimed princess and cocked his head in suspicion. “Hero...? Me?”
It was fishy, but it somehow matched the current situation perfectly. In fact, it was extremely similar to the prologue of the world-jumping fantasy novel he had read most recently.
“Y-Yes! The Sacred Stone I carry in my custody suddenly began to glow, just before it let out a huge pillar of light. According to the prophecy of the Six Wise Gods, the hero will appear by the Sacred Stone one-thousand years after the Holy Era begins.” Flora explained in a rather rushed way as best she could.
Hiroaki organized his thoughts. “...Ah, wait, hold on a sec. Let’s calm down first, princess. Putting aside the meanings of all those words for now, what you’re saying is that I appeared by the Sacred Stone you carry. That’s why I’m the hero?”
“Y-Yes. That’s why.” Flora nodded.
“I see. Well, this is a fairly cliché situation if I’ve ever seen one. And you can understand Japanese, for some reason. I suppose being on Easy Mode isn’t that bad...” Hiroaki murmured to himself.
“U-Umm.” Flora carefully watched Hiroaki’s face. “May I please ask for your name, great hero?” she inquired.
“...I’m Sakata Hiroaki.” Hiroaki ruffled his hair in a pompous gesture. “Just to clear it up now, Sakata is my family name and Hiroaki is my first name. I’d like to ask you something too. Where am I?”
“This is Marquess Rodan’s territory in the northeast of Beltrum. The consulate of the capital of Rodania.”
“Have you ever heard of these country names: Japan, America, England, France, Germany, or China?”
“Erm, I have not.” Flora shook her head apologetically.
“I see...” Hiroaki sighed a small sigh.
I’ve got an idea of the general picture now, at least... This is what you would call your typical cliché fantasy trip. Judging from the princess’s attitude, there’s no mistaking that the hero is of a similar status to royalty. If so, whether I’m actually the hero or not, would it be better to pretend I’m the hero anyway? While it’d be annoying to be treated as their go-to guy to solve all their problems, I don’t want them to look down on me, and I need more information. If I’m going to negotiate with them, I need to stand above them.
At the very least, Flora was a fair maiden, and it wasn’t bad to be respected as a hero. And so, he braced himself to be able to carry himself with skill and tact.
“So, who’s your friend there?” Hiroaki addressed the middle-aged man standing next to Flora. He appeared to be of a rather high-ranking status.
“Pardon my rudeness. I am the duke, Gustav Huguenot. Due to certain circumstances, I am currently serving as Her Highness Princess Flora’s guardian. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Duke Huguenot pasted a sociable smile on his face and greeted him respectfully. However, his eyes showed no trace of weakness as he carefully observed Hiroaki.
“Got it. For now, I’d like to get a better understanding of the situation. I’m sure you would agree, right? Don’t you think we owe each other some explanations?”
Duke Huguenot nodded agreeably. “Indeed, that is true. Allow me to show you to a place where we can discuss this while seated.”
“Great. Thanks.” Hiroaki headed toward the mansion with Flora and her entourage.
Several minutes later, Hiroaki was lowering himself into a sofa across from Flora and her group.
“This is George Rodan, the lord of this territory,” Duke Huguenot said.
“An honor to meet you, hero. I am most delighted to welcome the hero of legend into my humble residence.” The middle-aged Marquess Rodan bowed his head at Hiroaki with reverence.
“Yeah, nice to meet you. Are you going to tell me the names of those knights over there, too? They seem pretty young... Even younger than me, and I’m nineteen.” Hiroaki curiously looked at the two knights standing behind Flora.
“They’re our sons. As you can see, they’re in their mid-teens, and have a long way to go. I allowed their presence here, hoping it would be a good lesson for them. Does this displease you?”
“I see... The sons of Huguenot and Rodan. I don’t mind, but... I’d like them to remove their weapons, at least,” Hiroaki warily requested while leaving his own longsword by his side. The two young knights stiffened by a fraction.
“Pardon our rudeness. You two — disarm yourselves,” Duke Huguenot ordered them with a smile.
“Yes, sir.” The two boys nodded uncomfortably, taking their scabbards from their waists.
“I shall take care of those.” A girl in noble clothing approached from the corner of the room and retrieved the two swords.
“Thank you.” The boys greeted the girl with a small bow.
“This is a good opportunity. The three of you, introduce yourselves to the hero,” Duke Huguenot urged.
“...Nice to meet you, hero. I am Stewart Huguenot.”
“...I’m Alphonse Rodan. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The two boys introduced themselves to Hiroaki first in stiff voices, watching him with faintly dubious eyes.
“It is an honor to meet you. My name is Roanna Fontaine. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” The noble girl smiled elegantly as she introduced herself.
Hiroaki widened his eyes, captivated by Roanna’s smile. “Yeah... Nice to meet you. Sorry, but you were standing in a corner, so I didn’t notice you. I cannot allow a lady to remain standing while I sit, though... Won’t you take a seat?”
Roanna shook her head with a troubled expression. “No, I’m...”
“If the hero says to sit down, then take a seat, Roanna,” Duke Huguenot insisted.
“...Thank you very much for your consideration, hero. Then, if you would excuse me.” Roanna lifted her skirt and curtsied, then entrusted Stewart and Alphonse’s swords in her hands to a servant and sat down on the sofa. Hiroaki watched her with a smirk at his lips.
“Now, may we proceed to the main point of our discussion, hero?” Duke Huguenot asked. Hiroaki nodded coolly. “There’s something I’d like to ask first.”
“What might it be? If it’s something we can answer, we shall answer to the best of our ability...”
“What summoned me was that Sacred Stone thing held by Princess Flora, right?” Hiroaki asked, looking at the princess.
“Y-Yes. That’s right!” Flora agreed almost nervously.
“The fact I’ve been summoned means that — naturally — I can go back too, right?”
“Huh? Go back? Umm, that’s...” Hiroaki’s question must have been unexpected, as Flora was rendered speechless. Her reaction was enough to tip off the sensitive hero.
“Oi oi, don’t tell me you summoned me here with no way for me to get back.”
“No, it’s just... Umm... I don’t know...”
“If you don’t know, then doesn’t that make this an abduction? Taking someone away against their will is considered a crime in this world, too, is it not?” Hiroaki pushed without giving Flora time to respond.
“I-I’m sorry. I don’t know the circumstances either, so we’re actually a little troubled by it all...” With her naturally gentle disposition, Flora could do nothing but apologize in return; her side of it had no idea what was going on, either. The Sacred Stone had summoned Hiroaki by itself, so calling it an abduction was a rather extreme way of misunderstanding the situation.
“Ah, it’s not like I’m trying to be mean. It’s just that I’m the one in a bind because of this, you know?” Even Hiroaki seemed to feel ashamed of persecuting a pretty girl like Flora, as he inclined his head guiltily.
“Hero, isn’t your attitude toward Her Highness rather rude? Is this the proper manner of a hero?” Stewart objected with furrowed brows.
“Stewart!” Duke Huguenot called in a stern voice.
“Guh... My deepest apologies,” Stewart said with a vexed expression.
Duke Huguenot bowed his head deeply at Hiroaki. “Please pardon my son’s rudeness, hero.”
“Ah, don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not trying to pick a fight or anything. It’s just that I had a life in my original world, too. One that was unfairly taken away from me. I just wanted to make that clear. If you all participated in my abduction, then we should approach this in a logical manner. Even if you suddenly tell me that I’m the hero, there’s not much I can do about it.” Hiroaki shook his head.
“That applies to us, too... And the abduction is a misunderstanding. It looks like there is a need to lay all our cards on the table and discuss things properly. We vow to tell you everything we know at this point in time, hero. Will you lend us an ear?” Duke Huguenot asked with a slightly perplexed look.
“Yeah, that’d be great. Even if you talk about Six Wise Gods and Sacred Stones and heroes, it doesn’t really make sense to me,” Hiroaki said with a relaxed smile.
After that, Duke Huguenot explained various facts to Hiroaki, including their request for the hero’s cooperation.
At that very same moment, Miharu and the others were wandering about the grasslands.
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