"I really don't get why people wear this stuff" Rayheart said, as she, Kotori, and Yulari walked down a hallway, being guided by some maids. They were wearing some nice white dress shirts, some sweatervests, and dress shorts. Yulari and Rayheart were wearing short white socks, while Kotori had been given taller socks, and they were all wearing dress shoes as well.

This was only after the trio had been forcibly bathed by the maids, which was significantly less embarassing for them then Rikuo's group. After all, Rayheart didn't mind, and saw it as a chance to bond. Kotori is a boy with only knowledge of this world, and so this was just common sense to him. And Yulari straight up didn't care or mind at all in the present or previous life.

Hence, far less trouble. The only thing that embarrassed them really was the fact that they couldn't bathe themselves, but instead were bathed by an army of maids. Especially for the more self-conscious and independent minded Kotori, who was more shy and reserved then his sister or her friend.

Either way, they were now fully prepared to meet the king in a few hours at the party. But perhaps not taking it as seriously as her brother, Rayheart had decided to entertain her love and desire for gossip, and eevesdropped on various rooms.

"Haru, you are my future hubby! This is an official princess order, don't let that mean old Jezre bully you! You can always come find me for help, or call out for help in general, or whatnot! It doesn't matter that you are weak, small, really bad at fighting, Haru is Haru and my Haru at that!"

"...Princess...you could have left out the part where I was weak...also, again, I am a servant, and there is an age difference...you will probably get married to a..."

"No! Only Haru! Because Haru is Haru, and Haru is safe and warm and kind!"

Such a thing was overheard. Rayheart decided to leave those two alone, and didn't even open the door. As such, they just continued onwards, doing a bit of castle exploring before the party.

"And this is the way to where we will summon the Hero, tomorrow after the party" the King told Rikuo as they went through a large gathering hall, and entered another large room. They were clearly on the top floor due to all the skylights, but even so, the natural light only enhanced the visuals of what they saw. Royal blue rugs that lined the way, somehow never getting knocked out of place or wrinkled. Banners and chandaliers that made the room full of deep vibrant color and sparkle, and various paintings and decorations.

Just like the noble manor they had broken into and robbed, there was a lot of art on naturalism. Scenes of beautiful landscapes, breathtaking and painted with exquisitite detail, giving you the feeling as if you were there itself with its depth and detail, like it was a real place you were at in that moment. Additionally, plenty of paintings and statues of beasts, acting in their natural habitat, and some even in a state of acting or running, or other such action.

There were also many paintings of the natural human body as well, including one that featured the current royal family, but also children playing in the river or such.

They certainly did not lack for art. It was quite incredible, and amazing. That said, among the paintings, there was one that caught his eye. It was of two boys, sitting naked atop a wall of the Imperial Capital, looking outwards. The boys were looking away, and you only saw their backs and behinds, but Rikuo got the feeling it could be Ciel...either of them, really. And next to him, another blonde haired boy.

"Ah, yes. I remember posing for that one, long ago. It was part of a reward actually, for saving my life from assassins. I was saved by the S-Rank Adventurer, Ciel".

"...just how old is he?"

"Haha...even I don't know myself. He is surprisingly shy when it comes to his own age, and never gives a straight answer".

Incidentally, at this moment, the king was carrying Rikuo. For the party, it was promised they would try to let him walk on his own, but it seemed that given all the walking and standing that would be done, it was better for him who had the shortest legs to let them rest right now. At least, that was what was said as the reason.

"...is he a noble or something? I didn't think a commoner and a royal would normally get painted together".

"Being an S-Rank adventurer offers certain benefits. He outranks lower class nobles due to his contributions to the kingdom, even if he did it because he was hired. Plus, we were both children, or at least he looked like a child. Had we both been adults, at the very least, its less likely we would have been naked".

Rikuo had already been picking that up, but it seemed that it was not as common, but still not rare, for adults to go through the same things they did. If Rikuo was an adult, even with his small size he definently wouldn't repeatedly get picked up and carried around.

"Anyways, its right in here" the king said, as they entered the next room. There was also a skylight in here, but that was not the main thing of note. There appeared to be a large device built into the floor, several rings around one large center stone platform. Rikuo could feel an energy radiating from it, and he saw the magic circle that existed inside it. However, it was nothing like he had ever seen before.

"That is...the Hero Summoning spell?"

"Indeed. This entire contruct was created using a few divine shards to enhance its power. The same as your clothes, glasses, and the legendary spear Ruuruu. The more power and magic that is used into it, the better the summoning will be...and we will need many strong heroes. Which is why, Rikuo, I would like to ask you...if using your Divine Shard equipment, could you do the Hero Summoning?"

Hearing that request, Rikuo pretty much understood now why everything was happening. Why he was offered royal blood, why he was asked to come here after retrieving the spear. Its true they wanted him to be declared as a hero, someone capable of helping others, even if he would be an adventurer and not tied to the kingdom.

But, there was also another benefit. By using blood, especially by using Royal Blood, his magical power would be greatly enhanced. And he was using at least one Divine Shard they knew of, but had two others as well. Even now, he still felt the power of the royal blood he was fed, with no sign of it weakening anytime soon.

"I see...you want me to use this contraption, along with my own power and equipment, to do the Hero Summoning. That was why you were so insistent on securing my safety in the Imperial Castle, and making sure I was taken care of".

"Well, I also plan on being a king that is praised and cherished by all for being a leader that brough greatness and prosperity to his kingdom, and all people in it. Unlike others, I do not discriminate against commoners, at least as much. But it is true I needed to make sure nothing happened to you. Its rare for a vampire to become an adventurer, and even more rare that they have a decent personality and no ulterior goals. My daughter says she made sure to test you on that. And I suspect that if you did it, it would be far greater, considering your connection".

"I see...you mean as an Otherworlder?"

The king nodded.

"With this, we could potentially have a great an ideal hero summoning. Other kingdoms are also planning on doing them as well, but in this situation, were so many capable people and Otherworlders have appeared, we may finally have the chance to rid ourselves of not only the approaching Demon King, but even the Demon Lords which have given us so much trouble and are enemies of our gods".

Considering that Darius is among them, that would be convienent for me as well. So, this was the endgame of all this. All this testing me, watching us...they plan to use my great magical talent, my ability to amplify my magic by drinking blood, combined with their high power royal blood, and then also use my connection to the world as an Otherworlder...though, an Otherworlder summoning Otherworlders? Something feels really off with that situation.

Rikuo thought about it a bit, but he really couldn't come up with a way to progress that line of thinking, so he shrugged and left the matter alone for now.

"Alright, I will do it. Will I need to focus on anything specific?"

"Children with great untapped magical power. That said, too young and they need too much time to grow and adapt, and their power might be too hard to control. Too old, and their powers seem to have weakened and diminished greatly from aging while they were not used. Usually, the ideal ages are between nine and fourteen years old, although fifteen and sixteen has worked out in the past as well".

...so high schoolers are actually weaker then middle and elementary schoolers? I guess its that degredation thing from not being used, like muscles they need to be worked.

"Alright. I will try to shoot for the higher end of that range though" Rikuo mentioned, drawing a bit of shock from people. "And, I am going to try and target some specific qualities for people".

"That is fine. Anything that makes it easier or more comfortable would be good".

"Oi oi, Master. I know we are doing okay, but is it really a good idea to snatch children from our world like this?"

If we want to survive, we need the king as an ally. That said, I dont plan on targeting kids with happy or healthy lives right now. I am going to try and interfere with the selection process, and focus on children who are trapped in abusive or terrible living conditions, homeless and orphaned, or rather, specifically those that would want to escape to another world. This world might hold a few dangers, but in end, I plan on summoning children whose lives would improve.

"...I see. If its like that, then I am okay with it. So, you plan on using the hero summoning to rescue children then".

Exactly.

"Alright then. In that case, there is one last thing I would like to ask you...in order to prepare and taste test some food that, even if it is not better then the food of this world, would be familiar to the Otherworlder's food, so they can rest and adapt a bit easier".

Hearing that, Rikuo had a few very biased ideas he planned to introduce.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the day, a group of four adventurers were now scouring the city, looking and investigating the alleys and what appeared to be criminal hot spots. Using Fang's werewolf senses in combination with Lutessa's Spirit Arts, they were searching high and low.

However, it was Lutessa, who used another skill in combination with her Spirit Arts, that got a response.

"Hmm...in an old section near the border wall, where there are a lot of run down buildings and not much activity, it seems like there is something unusual there. The spirits wont get close to the place, feeling warded away by a dangerous and dark aura. I think sending a report to the guardss might be a good idea".

"No, the guards have a weird smell in them. Remember that guy who used that weird magic on me? The guy who said he worked for Darius? I caught a few smells similar to his. They are disguised, but my Unique Skill, Bloodhound, was able to ignore such disguise attempts".

"Then, how many of the guards are those things, or were possessed by them?" Ardet asked.

"Is it a dangerous number?" Arlit inquired.

Fang just shrugged though, his bare shoulders seen as he was wearing a sleeveless shirt, a green vest, black shorts, and black shoes. All of it was very light, but more importantly, all of his clothes were extremely easy to strip off should he need to transform into a werewolf.

It was a bit awkward, but the common sense from his second life let him adapt better.

"Its definently a minority within the guard, but its enough that they could cause us trouble if we are not careful. And around that place..."

Fang then started to sniff the air in the direction of the place they had isolated.

"There are quite a few inside as well, and I think they are protecting something in the basement".

Hearing that, Ardet and Arlit stepped forward.

"Then in that case, we will do a dedicated radar sweep there using our magic".

"Yeah, let us handle this. We will scan the area safely from this distance".

Once they spoke those words, the two linked hands, and activated the Racial Skill they had. Syncronized Casting. They then began to chant in unison.

"Let our mana flow through all, and let us search and realize the truth before us all...Detailed Scan!"

The two unleashed the spell together, and their magic traveled through the sky, invisible to all but the twins, as it then scanned the area in question. There were multiple hostiles, of various types. There were also statues that appeared like they could be golems. The building looked old and abandoned, but it was actually quite reinforced, and there were some areas that were blocking their spell actively. They could roughly tell there was something of importance in the basement, as that was the place with the most wards, but nothing else.

"They have placed wards and barriers to prevent intelligence gathering. Since we did a high level scan spell, we still got something, but...whatever it is, its heavily guarded. We might need some help to deal with it".

The amount of enemies there was quite a lot. They were not simple thugs or farmers, low ranked unskilled goons. The twins got the impression that those guys were far stronger then that...that they were quite dangerous.

"It was that tough?"

"Leaving aside normal guards, we need knights. Whatever those guys are protecting down there, its being held in a very secure way".

"Well of course. That is because your opponents are Demons, after all".

Suddenly, a man's voice spoke out behind them, which shocked them all. They turned around, and saw that on the other side of the elevated path they were on, a sharp, well dressed, good looking man was there. Nothing about him seemed normal or out of place, and he did not seem hostile at all. But none of them heard or sensed him go there.

Even with Werewolf senses and my Bloodhound, he somehow managed to get there without me noticing?

Fang was probably the most shocked, but the man just gave a slight bow.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Demon Lord Rassle, the oldest of all the Demon Lords. And I have come to offer you all a deal".

"...Demon Lord Rassle?"

"...seriously, he is just standing in the Imperial Capital like it is no big deal?"

The twins were the most surprised, having dedicated the most time to studying and learning the world out of all of them, and were probably adapting the best.

"Ahahaha, so you do know of me. I was curious to meet you three...well, I guess you four Otherworlders".

Now everyone was shocked. All of them realized that he knew that the twins were one person reincarnated into two bodies.

"I should warn you though, my deal is probably your best chance to save many of your classmates, who will be in grave danger should this plan go off unchecked. Even when you succeed in defeating the enemies there, you will then need to make your way to the Imperial Castle, considering that at least eight of your students will be in grave danger, sensei".

Lutessa felt the gravity of the situation, as he used a language of their original world, and not this one, to address her.

"How do we know we can trust you? You could be lying to us" Fang mentioned.

"No, Demon Lord Rassle is many things, but he has never once lied during negotiations. All the records say this is true".

"Indeed. After all, honetly and trust, and being known as keeping ones word, is critical for negotiations. Besides, I will give you one bit of information in advance. Another Demon Lord is behind the actions happening here right now. I know this, because they are borrowing some of my subordinates for this. So, what do you say?"

Lutessa was not sure. On one hand, she felt there was more to this guy that it seemed. She felt no malice from him, but she felt as if he was omitting something. His own motives.

"...I will at least hear what kind of deal this is".

"Excelent. Its simple really. I will arrange things so you have the reliable allies and forces you need to deal with the thing over there, which should give you plenty of time to reach the castle. You wont be able to stop it before it starts, but you should at least be able to reduce the damage. I will also boost your power and strength temporarily. And in exchange, I want you to get me one of the Divine Shards that will be used in the Hero Summoning ritual. Any of them will do so long as they were involved, and I will know if they are. How is that for a nice deal for you? The lives of so many of your students, and all you need to give me is a bit of crystal from the place you will go to save them".

"More like, a great deal for you" Ardet mumbled.

"A Divine Shard isn't exactly something you just stumble across, not unless you are going into dangerous places or Dungeons".

"True...but I think for your ideals, this is a good deal. Once accepted, you will be magically bound to carry out your end. So, what is the answer?"

Lutessa thought well and hard. She understood right now she was being used, that there was some sort of trap or consequences later if she accepted the deal.

But, her duties was not to this world, but to the twenty students she was tasked with looking after and ensuring their safety.

"Very well. I accept".

And so, the deal was struck.