Chapter 7

“Excuse me.”

I look up only to see an upside down view of a vaguely familiar woman. Dressed in a frilly yellow dress she is looking down at me from the entrance to the circle where I am currently resting.

“Pardon me but do you happen to be one of the heroes?” She asks me in a very aristocratic tone of voice.

“Yes.” I answer simply.

“Ah good then I would like to have a moment of your time, if you don’t mind.”

I give a small sigh before I agree. She is too polite to turn down for no reason.

“Sure, I have nothing better to do right now.”

“Splendid.” She exclaims and swiftly joins me as I sit up. “Now I have yet to have a chat with you so if you would not mind, could you tell me your name?”

“Yes, I would mind since it doesn’t suit this world. If you wonder how to call me then just call me whatever you like until I make a name for myself…”

Or will I die before I even figure out a decent name?

She looks at me a bit confused but is quick to accept it. “Hmm… I see.” Is all she says.

“Well never mind that. I was walking around the garden just now when I heard a rather strange tune and, thinking it was a bird of some kind, I went to have a look only to find you here. Was that you who played that wondrous melody?”

I blink in surprise. “You have never heard someone whistle before?” I ask and let out some simple tones.

“Whistle? Isn’t that what the Knight Commander sometimes does to the soldiers when he wants to get their attention? But that is loud and sharp and hurt my ears. Not at all as soft as what you do. Why is that?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s because I didn’t want to whistle loud and sharp. Just like you can shout, or whisper with your voice, you can control the power and tone when you whistle. It’s easy.”

“Ah I see. Yes, when you put it like that it makes perfect sense.”

She ponders what I have said for some time and as she do I take a second look at her. She is in her late teens, probably 16-18 years old, pretty but not beautiful, with overly arranged artificially curled hair which has some flowers arranged in it. I am guessing she is a Noble's daughter by her presence here as well as her attire, it looking to be made in order to have attention drawn to her. Not in a sexy way, mind you, but rather in its intricate design. Even my untrained eye can see the skill that went into creating such a dress. If I were to judge her by guy standards I would say she was a 7.5. Not breathtaking but pretty none the less.

Suddenly her eyes connect with mind once more.

“Tell me about where you came from.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to know.”

“Can’t you ask one of the other heroes?”

“Well, they are not here right now are they?”

I sigh and resign myself to tell her a little bit.

“Fine. I come from a world that was in what we called the “age of information” where any and all information was at the tip of your fingers at all times. If you wanted to know something, anything, all you needed was a computer or a phone and you could find it out in seconds. Hmm… If I were to compare it to this world I would say that it was like having all the books in the world, on every subject imaginable, in your hand. There was no magic, but instead we had technology and science with which we could create more or less anything. We had things like toilets that don’t stink, a fridge that cools down food so it lasts longer, a transportation system that doesn’t shit on the roads and that can travel over entire countries in just a few hours, enough food to never have anyone in the world go hungry (in theory), weapons that could wipe out every single life on the entire planet, a healthcare that was so good our bodies had to make up new diseases.

“That sounds rather wondrous…” She said and dreamt herself away to a place that was free from illness and hunger. And so I had to burst her bubble.

“Of course all this had its price. We used up a lot of nature’s natural resources, polluted oceans and slowly but surely destroyed the ozone layer which would eventually be out death I’m sure. We killed of entire species, held wars that killed millions of people, got so fat and lazy that a lot of people saw getting fat as an illness. We even freely took in poison in the form of tobacco, snuff and drugs if only to fit in. We were greedy and vain, always looking for ways to get what we wanted. It was only after shit started to turn bad that we even thought of doing something to rectify what we had done. Suffice to say that when you want everything in the world you will eventually have to destroy everything in the world in order to get it. And only then will you look back and think, was it really what you wanted?”

“…” She is quiet for some time. It looks like I shocked her quite a bit.

“Of course this is only my opinion of the world I come from and I was for the most part in my home and didn’t leave unless it was for work, so I can’t exactly say that I am an expert of my world.”

“It almost sounds like you didn’t like it there…” She mumbles.

“Well, there are things I liked and things I didn’t. I hated the fact that I could not just own a place of my own. I had to get ahold of a lot of money in order to do that. I hated the fact that I could not do what I wanted for a living and I had to conform to others wishes in order to get a job. Unless I had money. I hated that money was such a big requirement to live. I also didn’t like how boring the world was. I mean seriously there was nothing happening at all. Only tiny steps of progress happened. There were some things I liked though. Like the stories in fantasy and sci-fi books, a ton of games and movies, the food my mother cooked, the music. Things like that.”

“Do you miss it? Your world I mean.”

“Hah! Miss it? Hell no! I haven’t been here long enough to even think about it.” I laugh. “This place has so much that I want to see and learn about. Magic and swords, dwarves and elves, blacksmithing, alchemy, herbalism, farming, traveling. There are so much stuff here that I have finally found some motivation to actually do something of myself, and the fact that I am a hero with all that entails is just a bonus. Hell, I might even stay here forever, given the choice.”

“I see. Well then perhaps it is a good thing that we managed to summon you then. I was a little worried of how you heroes would think of us but…”

“Don’t get me wrong here missy.” I snap at her. “Just because I happen to be enjoying myself have nothing to do with the summoning. The fact is that you guys ripped us from our homes. From our families and friends. From our jobs and lives. You tore us away from everything we knew only to then tell us that we have to fight to save your scrawny ass. Don’t expect me to be grateful for that. Because that will never happen.”

“…My apologies, I spoke too soon.”

“It’s okay, as long as you understand.” With this I feel like our conversation is over and I get up with the intention of leaving. She understands my intent and stands with me.

“This was a most enlightening conversation Mr. Hero. I hope we can speak again sometime.” And with that we go our separate ways.

On my way out I noticed that two women in heavy armor and a big two handed sword on their back was standing on guard near the circle of flowers, most likely guarding the girl.

I guess she is important enough to have guards… I briefly think before dismissing them from my mind.

The rest of the day I spend in my room trying on my new armor and the supposedly magic resistant cloak.

I wonder why they said that it wouldn’t work, something about the elements not looking favorably on the use of the dead… Makes no sense to me.

Looking at my reflection in the mirror I find myself looking rather badass and when I wrap the cloak around me and pull up the hood I can hide my appearance rather well. It still has that ‘never before used’ look to it, but that will go away with time. I took note of the time it took to get it all on and was a little sad over the fact that I would be spending at least an hour getting ready whenever I need to armor up, and that’s before I equip any weapons at all. The thought of all the weapons I would like to get occupies me for a moment; however I realize that the ‘training’ Millie is giving me is far more important right now. No weapon in the world would help me if I freeze in fear when it’s time to use it. But…

Holding myself back takes some effort but i am saved by hunger and as such I head for the kitchen. It is a good opportunity to get used to moving around in the armor and after I have eaten I suppose it’s time to meet up with Millie once more.

As I leave my room I walk past a bunch of heroes standing in a hallway having a loud discussion. Since they were in the way and didn’t even try to keep their discussion to themselves I overheard it all.

Apparently the king and queen had declared that there was to be a tournament held at the end of the month to inspire the commoners and increase moral in the city. During the tournament all heroes was required to enter in order to show of the superiority of their growth and learning speed so that the people could rest easier. It was understandable that there would be some doubts since most were very young, the youngest was only around 10 years old. There would also be soldiers and mercenaries allowed to enter the tournament as a benchmark of sort.

I didn’t know that there was a moral problem in the city. Maybe I should ask Millie about it later.

There was also talk about the rewards for those who did well in the tournament. First there were gold prizes, of course, but what were more interesting to me were the titles. I only heard one of the hero's name in in passing but no one paid it any attention. I can’t blame them for passing up the idea of a title for the idea of a sack of money. After all we came from a very different world. A world where money can get you almost anything, while empty titles are meaningless. Poor fools, they didn’t even think of the fact that this was not our world. Here a title comes not only with honor and power but, more importantly, with land. And with land comes money, responsibility, security and power. There is a reason why the nobles of the past waged wars over empty land. Land can be cultivated to farmlands, built in to cities, dammed in to lakes and much, much more. Not to mention the fact that the king would hardly give away some trash land, most likely it would be a small village and its surroundings. If that was the case then you would be allowed to tax the citizens and develop it into a great state of the kingdom. How can a small bag of coin even compare to such a price?

However all the benefits come with a cost. Effort and responsibility. It’s not like you can just acquire said land and then just go about your business and expect money to just roll in. No you have to put in a lot of effort in getting the people on your side, cultivating the land and manage the finances. Not to mention defend it against… whatever is out there. Personally I think that, while it would be nice to have something of my own, I could never live up to the responsibility required taking care of any land. Hell in the past some would say that I couldn’t take care of a tiny little apartment, so how would I be able to take care of a small village? Much less make it grow. Heh, no maybe a small bag of coins would be better for me. After all I was a shut in who was happy with next to nothing. If I were to be given a lot then I might just fade away even more than before. Thinking this I go on my way.

Oh and as a side note, the reason the heroes didn’t look at me funny or even noticed me at all, was because my armor was not the only one that had been finished today. In fact all of them were dressed in polished armor and fancy looking robes. Looking at them all you could see that while they all resembled one and others design, there was a vast difference in sizes and colors. Giving them all their own unique style, even if the base was all more or less the same. Compared to their bright color and shiny metal I was not even given a second look.

I find my way to the kitchen and get something to eat before I go to meet up with Millie, hopefully I will be early this time. On the way I get quite a few looks but no one comments my new garb, I am starting to wonder if I look weird…

As I arrive I look up in the sky, noticing that I am far too early. So I guess I might as well go train a little since I don’t have anything else to do. I enter the training area behind the barracks and was not surprised to find it empty. I grabbed a wooden sword from a rack and started to randomly swing it in order to warm up a bit. It didn’t take long for me to feel the difference to wearing armor and not.

It was a lot harder to keep up a tempo thanks to the extra weight. Not to mention the cloak easily getting in the way. If I was swinging a real sword I would have cut my new cloak to shreds by now. I hope that I will be able to learn how to fight using the cloak rather than to be hindered by it. Worst case scenario I would have to ditch the cloak and just go with a scarf or something instead.

The real reason why I want to have a cloak was just because it will probably turn out to be useful later on, not only to hide my identity but also to protect against the elements, strong winds, cold and dust. You never know what will happen in the future so I would just like to be prepared for as much as possible. I have no doubt of the fact that I will eventually have to leave this place and when that happens… well suffice to say I will have to get as ready for that as possible. Especially when I think about the, supposedly, coming horde of demons.

I stand there randomly swinging for about 15 minutes before I start to lose my breath. I’m still so weak it’s not even funny. I can’t be slacking off anymore. From now on I will be focusing on my physical strength; no matter how much I want to learn cool magic it won’t do if I collapse from exhaustion after just a few minutes of fighting.

With that in mind I started swinging with some more enthusiasm. Unfortunately I over did it and just 5 minutes later I dropped to the ground, panting. Well I do have a hero’s body so I will be fine by tomorrow. Still, I am impatient. Never had the kind of mindset needed to get good at things.

No! I can’t think like that. I need this so I can’t complain. After all this is what I always wanted so get your ass in gear and get moving again.

I clamber back up to my feet and start to swing the sword once more. This time I try doing more organized swings. Bottom left to top right with both hands, until my side starts to hurt and then I switch sides. Then one handed. The classic kendo up down swing. Same thing one handed. Other hand…

I keep just going through motions. Weather they were the right motions or not I don’t know but I was getting tired and I started to really feel my muscles working. Instead of swinging randomly; which just tired me out, swinging deliberately in order to work a specific muscle group felt much more rewarding and it didn’t tire me out in the same way at all.

While I spent my time swinging a wooden sword in full armor, getting sweaty as hell by the way, Millie was nowhere to be seen. When the sun had lowered itself beyond the horizon I was starting to worry a little. However this was just about as late as I was last time so it’s not as if I can complain. I continue to swing my sword until finally it gets hard to see and I look up only to see the sky is filled with stars.

Did she forget? Maybe she thought we should rest today or something…

I was a little worried so I went to the guards at the gate to the castle.

“Hey, sorry to bother you guys but have you seen Millie?”

One of the guard looked annoyed and starts to mumbles something like ‘damn brats should be sleeping at night…’ before the guard standing next to him took an extra look at my face and quickly shut his friend up with a slap in the back of his head before addressing me.

“Ah, my lord! Forgive this old idiot; his sight is not as good as it used to be. You said you were looking for commander Millie? I’m afraid she has yet to return to the castle and, if you don’t mind me saying, I don’t think she plans on coming back tonight. Most likely she will be at one of her favorite bars down in the city. If you would like I could send some men out to look for her.”

What? How come this guy is so nice to me? Did he mistake me for someone else? I am really confused at his attitude; I had half expected to be told to mind my own business or something like that.

On the other hand I was supposed to meet Millie at sundown and I am a bit worried that she once again will wake up with a face full of hay. Can I just go to bed and leave her like that…?

I think for a while before telling the guards “No I don’t want to be of any trouble… if you could just direct me to some of the bars and I’ll see if I can find her before it gets much later. If I can’t find her I’ll just wait until tomorrow.”

“Of course my lord. Then let me send for an escort to take you down to the city.” The guard said and immediately runs of before I can even get a word in protest out.

While I was waiting I found myself getting scrutinized by the older guard. Apparently he was as surprised over his colleague’s reaction as I was.

“What’s with him?” I thought to ask him.

“Hell if I know…” He muttered while scratching his head.

“Hey by the way, do you know Millie?”

“No I can’t say I know the commander other than from… rumors.” He looks hesitantly at me.

“Please, if you don’t mind can you tell me about what you have heard? I have only known her for a few days so I don’t know anything about her. I didn’t even know she was a commander.”

“Yea, she’s a commander alright. But she was only recently given that position. From what I understand she is only a backup in case the knight commander is not around when shit goes down. Most of the soldiers like her, she likes to drink and gamble with them. Never heard of a commander that would rather be rowdy with the men then enforce discipline.”

“But if that’s the case then why was she made a commander, it sounds counterproductive. I mean isn’t it better to have a commander that have the respect of his soldiers then a commander who treats them as an equal. How is she supposed to get them to follow her orders if they think they might know better than her?”

“Well, the rumor is that she gained her commander title at the knight commander’s wishes. Apparently he had led a platoon to eradicate a big bandit group only to be overwhelmed and forced to retreat. After that defeat he gathered an additional 3 platoons and went out again only to be defeated once more. Eventually he got together an entire battalion to go out and capture the bandits and after a fierce battle he found out that the bandits was not as big as he had thought but instead they were just 30 men and women. Leading them was Millie, who after their capture negotiated their release in return for her service. The knight commander pleaded to the king and had her made in to a commander soon after.”

“That sounds a bit unbelievable, why would he hire the person who had been his enemy? Especially since she was a bandit who had killed his own men, shouldn’t he have just put them all to death instead of capturing them?”

“I think the knight commander was ordered to do just that but when he saw the bandits in question he saw that they were all young and half-starved and had only turned to banditry in order to survive. Seeing that his heart must have gone weak and filled with admiration towards their leader who had displayed true talent in repelling his overwhelming forces time and time again. To simply kill of such talent would be too much of a shame, especially with the hell that is to come.”

So Millie is actually some sort of a genius strategy commander? I don’t believe that for a minute. I mean… she is a brute, right? A drinking, bar fight loving brute. Who would follow that sort of a person in battle, other than an idiot…? Guess I should talk to her myself.

And with perfect timing the young guard came running back with two soldiers in tow.

“Hah, hah… Sorry for the delay my lord. These men will follow you and show you the way to where Millie usually go to drink. Please feel free to make use of them as you wish.” He says while giving off a strained salute and trying to hide that he is out of breath. The two guards he had with him give me snappy salutes with straight backs, not questioning in any way.

“Eh… Ok then, please… show the way.” I say as I wonder: What the hell did this guy tell them?

With a sharp “Sir!” One of them leads the way while the other positions himself behind me and before I knew it I was lead into the dark city.

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“Now what was all that about?” The old guard asks the young one.

“Shut up! You almost got both of us killed! That guy was not someone who will take any insult to his status.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t remember anyone like that. What is he, some noble’s son?”

“No you moron, he is a hero! I recognized him because Jim pointed him out to me earlier today. He is the one who Jim stopped from entering the castle because he looked and smelled like a drunken bum who had lost his way. The hero started too clearly state what would happen to them if he was not allowed inside. It wasn’t just demotion and losing their job but he would make sure that they would be whipped in public and then tortured to death as an example to those who stands in the way of a hero. Jim said that he was scared out of his mind and told me that I would do well to avoid this person or if I can’t I should treat him like a royal noble, giving him every curtsy or my life would be on the line. According to him, he was only alive because of a whim of that hero.”

“…” The older guard only stands there and stares out into the city. “He didn’t seem like such a bad person to me. Even talked to me like an equal.”

“Trust me, if you ever get on that guys bad side you will be happy if you can live to regret it.”

At this the older guard spits on the ground. “I guess you can never tell with some people…”

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