The meeting room is dimly lit and it smells like old books. Everybody are sitting around a big circular table and the atmosphere is tense. We are waiting for the last person, Sotos, to arrive. Because he is the spymaster I can imagine he will provide us with further information and the reason he’s late is because of the preparations.

Speaking of the devil, there he is. In through the door walks Sotos, carrying a bunch of documents and I can’t help but notice the bead of sweat on his forehead. He smiles apologetically to us before taking a seat. A few moments after he sits down Orethon stands up and starts talking.

“I am sure you all know why we have gathered here today” he says. “Chreshnas new hero have been officially revealed to the public. I assume you have all read the report given to you?” When hearing this everybody nods. They all know. “Sotos will provide us with all the details and afterwards we are to discuss what to do next. Understood?” Once again everybody nods. “Good. Now, Sotos, if you please”.

“Of course” Sotos says. He skimrishes through the documents before finding the right ones and for a second his robe comes undone. I briefly stare at his exposed nipple before skiftning my attention towards his face. I am not a pervert after all.

“Yesterday the king of Latverra held a ball to which he invited as many nobles as he could. At the end of the ball he announced that he had something important to tell them. It was at this time he revealed a young boy named Rentaro Blitz to be both his illegitimate son and the new champion of Chreshna. Of course the message spread like a wildfire by the end of the day everybody had heard the news”.

Slowly Sotos slides one of the documents across the table so it will be easier for us to see. On the document there’s a bunch of text but what catches my interest is the symbol on the bottom of it. It’s a star with eight points and in the middle there’s a longsword.

“The king then announced that since the new hero have emerged that he needed the nations help. He said, and I quote, “The hero can’t do everything by himself, he needs your valued support and strength. Take up your weapons and join our cause to protect our beloved country!”. Apparently the audience replied with cheers and great vigor”.

“Of course they did!” Bekkhildr exclaims furiously, slamming her fist on the table, causing it to shake. “As long as it’s not their own blood they’re sacrificing they are all happy! If they fought on the front themselves then they wouldn’t be as passionate!”

“What would you expect?” Erica says while before taking a sip on her tea. “After all, they have never experienced the chaos and dread that is real war”. She seems awfully calm a out it all. Ah, wait, I can sense a strong bloodlust orginating from her. Erica must be really irritated despite her calm demeanor.

“I assume they have already started to prepare themselves?” Orethon says.

“Ah, yes, you are correct. We noticed how things started to stir a few weeks back and we suspected that it was something like this. But for Chreshna to reveal her new hero already… He’s just 12 years old. Usually she wait until they are at least in their later teens”.

“She must be nervous now that she knows I exist” I comment. “Before she had the time to prepare but now that she knows that there’s a new threat she cannot relax anymore”.

“You are probably right” Orethon says before sighing. “Now that Chreshna have started to move then there’s no doubt that Ylwa, her sister, will start to do the same. She’s already chosen the new demon king to lead her forces and clash with the hero”.

The demon king vs the hero… it’s so cliche. Most light novels I read in my previous life had this kind of setting. The hero with his harem full of beautiful girls will travel across the land to defeat the greatest enemy towards mankind, the demon lord. Epic battles, magic, adventure and ecchi, so much ecchi.

Ah, I just hope Taro won’t turn out like that. A harem hero I mean. They are just plain annoying.

“How long will his training take?” I ask.

“It depends on how talented he is” Sotos respond, “but I would say about five, six years? It may sound like a long time but believe me, these years will pass by in a flash. Besides, from what you told us about his status he’s got more mana than a regular human his age. My agents are already looking into his current strength so we will just have to wait and see”.

“He won’t start his training at once” Orethon suddenly remarks. “First he will travel the country and “inspire” the people to go to war. And after that there will be a lot of nobles and important people who will want to meet him. This will slow down his progress”.

“That’s undoubtedly the case” Florent says, “but that doesn’t mean we can relax. Instead we should use this time to prepare the last things needed to go through with our plans”.

“At what point shall we reveal ourselves?” I ask. To my surprise this time Esther answers my question.

“A few weeks after the war officially starts. The our debut will cause more impact if we arrive on an already bloodied battlefield. It will make our arrival seem more malicious. Upon our arrival we will have to make sure everybody realize we are battling against both the humans and the demons”.

“I see… But what do we do now?” Across the table Erica slowly puts down her cup of tea before staring directly into my eyes.

“It’s just like Florent said, we prepare ourselves. We train, gather information and strategically place our forces”. Erica picks up her cup of tea and takes a small sip. “So let’s start planning”.

Ahhh! That was so intense! It was when I had to do group projects in school, except now everybody contributed. Ah, I’m tired...

The meeting went on for about three hours before we decided to end for the day (finally). For the first time I saw how serious everybody was about their cause. Even Esther showed a more professional side I did not expect from her.

Everyone seemed kinda excited and I could see a small smile flash across Sotos face a couple of times. Well, they have been waiting to do this for years so I guess that’s only natural. Of course they weren’t happy that about the occurrence. They do not go to war because they enjoy it, they do it because they have to.

Sigh, this is really happening, isn’t it? Going to war I mean. I knew this would happen but until now it have always felt kind of unreal...

“Are you alright?” Bekkhildr suddenly asks as we make our way down the castle corridors. Since we are heading the same direction we decided to make company.

“Yes, I’m fine, I just… a little bit stressed I guess. I’m not quite used to this” I respond, shaking my shoulders lightly. Bekkhildr gives me a concerned look before smiling lightly.

“You are young so don’t worry, it will come to you eventually. And if you are having troubles, don’t feel ashamed to talk to me”. She ends her sentence by putting my head. Ah, her hand sure is huge... Suddenly her face lits up, as if she remembered something. “By the way, I heard you didn’t eat a lot of breakfast this morning. Are you feeling alright? You’re not sick I hope?”

“No, I just wasn’t that hungry since I ended up having a light snack in the middle of the night”. Bekkhildrs face suddenly darkens and a small wrinkle forms on her forehead.

“Don’t you know midnight snacks are bad for you?” she says while giving me a stern gaze. “Besides, why did you take a midnight snack? Did you have enough dinner? Are you sure you aren’t sick?”. Bekkhildr removes her hand from my the top of my head to my forehead and tries to feel my temperature.

“I am not sick” I say dismissively while removing her hand. “And I promise, if I had any health problems I would tell you. Besides even if I didn’t tell you Sotos would know the moment I left my room. He’s got eyes everywhere after all”.

“Ah, yes, you are right” Bekkhildr says. “I’m sorry, I got ahead of myself”.

“Don’t worry, I appreciate your concern” I respond. How could I be mad at her for asking? She’s very kind and I know that she only means well. No wonder she’s got so many admirers… Oh, speaking of admirers! “Bekkhildr” I say, “do you have any sort of hobbies? Excluding combat of course”.

My sudden question seems to confuse her and for a moment it looks like she ponders on asking my why I want to know. But ultimately she simply shrugs her shoulders and decides to answer my question.

“As I told you the first time we met I enjoy reading when I have the time and going for walks at evening. But aside from that… Ah, I guess cooking is also sort of a hobbie of mine. And blacksmithing I suppose”.

“Aha, mhm” I say while nodding my head. This is good information. Ah, it may seems strange that I am asking her these sort of questions but it’s not for my sake. I have an ulterior motive after all. And that is… Making Charlotte closer to Bekkhildr!

Ever since she told me about her crush on Bekkhildr I have been doing whatever I can to aid her! That means giving her information, creating scenarios where they can get to know each other better… Call me Cupid for I make love blossom! Uhm, I mean, I wish Charlotte the best of luck.

… Ehehehehe…

What… Is this? I opened the door to my room and what did I find? A deer lying on my bed. If I had a penny for every time that happened I would have one penny for this is a first. Of course the deer in question is Zar.

“Zar, what are you doing here? Zar?” I poke him between his eyes but I get no reaction. He’s still breathing so he’s not dead… Did, did he fall asleep? Uhm, what do I do now? Should I poke him again? But he looks so peaceful. And cozy… His fur is super fluffy too… A quick nap before dinner can’t hurt, right?

Slowly I crawl up on the bed and lay down next to Zar. Hmm, it’s cozy but… something’s missing. I grab his left wing and carefully pull it over me. It covers me completely! Ah, it’s perfect!

Mmmh, this is the best. I could stay like this forever...