Chapter 3: Same Old Tale

Inside a simple room with the lesser presence of the eye candy grandiose found in the rest of the palace, sitting on opposite couches, was the Baron with his son, as Sylvia stood behind them, and Alaric looking at them, waiting to see what the man would say.

"Alaric Nyx Lofn… That was your name, right? You were talked big by Cardinal Ark. Rarely have I seen that man talk about anyone, but seeing you now, I understand him. After all, who would not be interested when faced with the spirit of a Trexus? What a marvel, truly." The man smiled as he spoke in the most casual of manners.

(… How?… Did Ark tell him? It's hard to say what that guy's plans are… This is why I hate Future Sight!) Alaric forced a smile on the outside as he found himself troubled on the inside.

"I guess I was just lucky, but if I'm being honest, I would rather cut the chase. After all, small talk will take us nowhere." Alaric pushed the conversation to be more direct.

"Ah to be young, impatience is not a good idea. Then again, I can't expect you to be a great negotiator just because your father dabbles in trade. Especially if you don't have any leverage." Baron Regali replied seeming amused to see the boy's behavior.

"I don't believe that is as pressing as you are making it out to be. As for leverage, I don't need too much when I'm in a sort of state of immunity as a guest. After all, I expect a Baron to be a good host." Alaric responded as he leaned in and looked at the man his forced smile still on.

"Hehehe, quite the attitude. Fair enough, I'll admit, I'm in no position to harm you, not directly that is, accidents happen all the time in such crowded environments like the palace.

"Not that it matters, from the moment I knew you were the person who tried to assassinate my son, my plans in regard to the resolution changed." Baron Regali expressed as he put both hands on his cane, and on his face, a small smile.

This caused the young noble next to him, to look at his father confused as he said. "What do you mean Dad?! We're gonna kill him, right?! He's not gonna get away with this! He can't!"

"Enough! Luscious I brought you here because you need to learn that life isn't as simple as an eye for an eye, if you can get retribution or take revenge great, but you mustn't let that get in the way of your success. Be ready for the enemies of today to be the allies of tomorrow as well as the reverse, especially the reverse." Baron Regali talked to his son, patting the young noble's head as the words left his mouth.

In turn, Luscious found himself focused as he looked at the boy in front of him, conflicted.

"So, you want me to work for you?" Alaric raised an eyebrow at the mere suggestion.

"Well, not something as crude as that. A so-called prodigy like you would not bow their head so easily, especially not in your current position. What I envision is far more beneficial for both sides, in other words, a simple alliance." The Baron spoke not minding the boy's reaction.

"You do realize your son almost r*ped someone dear to me, right? I wouldn't work with you to save my life." Alaric was not impressed much less interested.

"It seems my son is not the only one who needs to learn the lesson of today. I understand your point though, I too would plan the downfall of someone responsible for such acts against one of mine, but what we have at hand goes beyond both of us.

"I'm sure a country child like you has no real understanding of the state of the country or more importantly the state of royal affairs." Baron Regali sighed and glared at his son aggressively before returning to the conversation as if nothing happened.

"Before anything, your son will die by my hands, now do you still want to try and sweet talk me?" Alaric continued to be straightforward forward having no intention of engaging with this.

"How crude. You do realize you could get in trouble for saying that to a noble even as a royal guest, right? Then again, if it's you, it's pointless. I'm quite sad to see you seem to understand your value, I don't like such self-aware people." The baron rolled his eyes.

"Here I thought nobles couldn't be honest, you're going against your own advice Baron." Alaric pointed out.

"Every rule has its exceptions, if you can't adapt, you die. Besides as I said earlier, the matter at hand is quite serious." Baron Regali continued with a smile.

"Fine, talk." Alaric decided to hear what the man had to say, even if his mind was already made.

"Could you tell me what keeps a nation together? It's not military, territory, control, or even loyalty." Baron Regali questioned.

"… Patriotism? That sense of blind trust and fear?" Alaric replied.

"Close enough, but you made two mistakes, first a better way to put it is faith rather than trust, but not just faith in the Gods, The Divine Lords play a part, as the factor they are, however the biggest contributor aside from the fear you mentioned is pride.

"People like to believe or trick themselves into believing they are humble because that's the right way to be, but in reality, pride is a core factor not only in success, it also keeps things together. Without the pride that you can succeed and others fail, what is life?" The baron continued talking with a wide smile.

The man paused to look at a narrow-eyed Alaric waiting for him to get to the point.

"When it comes to a country, however, this pride goes beyond succeeding, it hacks back to being the same, a part of the group, that in a way, you somehow belong, that simply by virtue of being born there is a part of your identity already defined for you.

"Would you betray the pride of your own identity? The pride of the identity of those who came before you?! The pride of your country? Well, some do, and it's not impossible to convince most to do so, all you have to do is hurt that pride in its core." Baron Regali looked the boy in front of him in the eyes as he spoke each and every word.

(Is he trying to tell me to start a rebellion with him?! Is he insane? We have a war on the horizon… a coup d'etat doesn't sit well now.) Alaric thought to himself.

"Huh… I guess there's some truth to that, but what do you want me to do with that information?" Alaric asked.

"I'm not telling you to do anything, I'm just telling you about the state of the Kingdom. Do you know how most people feel about other worlders?… No, better yet, did you know there's a whole cult dedicated to ending them?" The Baron inquired with a small smile.

(So, it's one of those worlds?… That will be troublesome.) Alaric could only internally sigh at this information.

After all, it was not something new to him that some universes had planets where Otherworlds were not seen in the best of lights.

"I've heard of such things before." The boy said.

"Good, I am sure you understand what we have at hand, that said, are you still in opposition to an alliance?" The baron questioned.

"I made my stance clear, I would never ally with you." Alaric kept his decision.

"Oh well, how unfortunate. I hoped we could have seen eye to eye. In this case, I hope you are ready for what the future holds.

"Anyway, we have eaten up enough time, let us join the King in the throne room. I'm sure the otherworlders will be there by the time we arrive." Baron Regali got up and his son followed with Sylvia coming right behind them.

No more words left Alaric's mouth as he went along, all of them headed toward the throne room.

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-Mormial Royal Palace; Underground Area; Summoning Room-

In the same room, where they had been for a while, Fritz, Heather, and Leopold were once again talking to one another.

"What do you think these people will do with us now?" Leopold asked.

"If I had to guess, from how things have been going in accordance with isekai tropes, probably they'll tell us we'll be fighting in a war with superpowers we now somehow have," Fritz responded calmly.

"Superpowers? Like in movies and stuff?! Why didn't you tell me I had those earlier?!" Heather questioned as she looked daggers at her brother.

"Not only are we in another world, you're telling me we have to be super soldiers for them?! If we really have superpowers we should just get the hell out of here, I'm not fighting a war for no one!" Leopold concluded with a reluctant expression.

"I would say something, but I don't want to jinx it. Plus, we don't know how to use our powers if we have any, and even if we did, I doubt they would bring us here without a plan." Fritz replied waving his hands not too keen on rebelling.

"That... Whatever let's just focus on how we'll deal with this. I'm not surviving any war with or without superpowers." Heather brought up the main focus for her.

"What can we do really? Aside from the gun your mother something has over there, there's not much we can do to defend ourselves overall.

"It's not about ability, it's just that there's no way we will be able to deal with a few knights, much less an army." Leopold pointed out.

"Don't forget the fact that even if we escape by some miracle, have no idea of where we are and what the situation is on many fronts." Fritz added to what his father said.

"Ok, ok, I get it, but we still need a plan just in case... I guess escaping is better than double death? Honestly, how does this work?" Heather began rubbing her forehead.

"We can't make much of a plan if we have no idea what the place we're trying to escape looks like... We can at best set a few signals to at least know the basics of what we intend on doing, but specifics are blurry." Leopold brought up.

"Agreed, for now, we should just focus on getting the full picture, and if we're going to do anymore, that can come later.

"All in all, I don't believe they want to harm us, at least not yet, 'cause if they do, they're going through a bit more trouble than necessary." Fritz threw out his perspective on things.

"... That's likely true, and there's really not too much we can do now with how little we know. I guess waiting isn't too bad..." Heather came to agree upon reflection.

As their conversation was going on, Lavenica pointed her musket at them, one by one her arm trembling as she did so, but even after she stood there for minutes thinking and trying to go through, her finger would not pull the trigger.

At that time, her expression became serious and she gritted her teeth as she aimed and pushed her finger against the trigger.

Just like before, the big metal door was opened, catching everyone's attention as Merilyn came in with 4 knights again, carrying the same finesse as before.

This made her presence stand out much more than it had to, but that was something that felt a bit overkill in such a closed environment with so few people.

"Once again, you'll have my apologies. The accommodations and hospitality you've received thus far are not adequate for people with your status but as the princess, it was my duty to worry about my people first, and that's why I left you here until now.

"From this point on, however, things will change and you'll see that, it's not as bad as it might have seemed so far." Merilyn apologized before meeting them with another short bow, then smiled and said. "Please follow me, it's time for you to find out what's going on."

Not having much of an option, Fritz, Heather, Leopold, and even Lavenica all followed behind.

As she walked with them, Lavenica gripped the musket with a trembling hand before sighing and keeping it back under her skirt, which was certainly not long enough to physically cover it.

Even though the princess herself said nothing, the knights wouldn't stop looking at Lavenica and the black blob in her arms with obvious suspension from time to time, but nothing came of it and they all reached another big door after going upstairs and walking through long corridors with various paintings, vases, and a few sculptures here and there.

"Once, inside, I ask that all of you kneel before the King. It's not that you can't stand, as your status would allow you to, but I advise against it since some nobles might use it as an excuse to discredit you." Merilyn warned them as she looked at them before turning towards the door, which then began opening slowly.

To each of her sides, two knights could be found as everyone got ready for what lay beyond.

At that time, Baron Regali, Luscious, Sylvia, and Alaric also arrived, both groups meeting as they looked at each other.

"Princess Merilyn, as bright as ever, I see. So these are the Otherworld heroes, it is my pleasure to meet you.

"I hope you enjoy the heroic life, I see you all have quite the latent. As for you, Sylvia, stay with Luscious and join the noble crowd once we go Inside." The baron greeted the otherwolders before ordering his maid.

To this, Sylvia nodded and pulled the Young noble to be close to her.

(So these people are the other worlders, I wonder if they come from Earth…) Alaric just looked at them calmly.

"Who are these people?" Fritz was the one to ask.

Leopold simply looked tired and half-lost about the situation.

Heather narrowed her eyes as she looked at the newcomers, unsure of how to feel.

While Lavenica ignored them all, simply petting the black blob in her arms.

"Baron Regali, it is good to see you brought the prodigy... It seems he is indeed as young as the rumors claimed." The princess forced a smile upon seeing the baron before replying.

Then she turned to Fritz and said. "This is Baron Regali and a prodigious child with a heroic spirit from another world was found in his territory so he's here with you, heroes of another world."

This explanation didn't help all too much, for Fritz or his family, but before he could say anything, the baron spoke.

"Let us to a stop to the wait, one mustn't make a King wait if they avoid it, after all."

To that, the princess nodded, and so, they all marched forward.

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-Mormial Kingdom; Raphtal City; Royal Palace; Throne Room-

Inside, a contrast of blue and golden could be found, and aside from the numerous knights, in there, various robed individuals could also be found, and standing to the sides of the room, at what could be called a safe distance, were the nobles looking at every move the supposed heroes made.

Finally, at the end of the room, two thrones, one of a King and the other of a Queen, as they each sat imposing their presence on everyone there.

To one of their sides, one could see an old-looking man who would be the royal adviser, and to the other, 2 young men, a small boy, 2 young ladies, and a small girl.

Soon, they came to a stop in front of the thrones, and as the knights kneeled, then Merilyn walked up to join the other younglings to the side of the thrones.

At the same time, Sylvia took Luscious to the midst of the other nobles.

As for the otherwolders, Fritz, Leopold, Heather, and Lavenica, all kneeled at around the same position. A bit in front of them, Baron Regali and Alaric could be found kneeling as well.

(How demeaning, but it's not like I have a choice, I'm already in a complicated position altogether. Once again, I'll have to swallow my pride and passion.) Alaric thought to himself a bit irritated with the whole ordeal.

"So those are the supposed heroes?... Not only are their attires unusual, but some of them also don't look fit to deal with the weakest of monsters." A comment came from the nobles to the side.

"Honestly, their attire looks to be made of high-quality fabric but that's the best I can say about them. The fact that a little girl is among them says all that needs to be said." Another noble added.

"It seems the one at the front next to the Baron is our own kingdom's prodigy, how fitting, he has a much better posture altogether as expected." The comments continued.

"How unsightly! We were made to come here repeatedly and even waste a few days of our time for this? I hope the status sphere proves my fears wrong." The tirade of comments continued.

"Let us take in this exotic view of individuals from a whole other world, something one can't just do. That alone is interesting, though I do hope they are more capable than they look."

"You're all making too much of a fuss. Don't act as if you've never seen young prodigies when one of the greatest mages of our time is still barely just a young adult at this time."

"That's the exception, not the rule. By your logic, are we supposed to assume every child can just destroy cities with their magic?!"

"Say what you want, but these heroes at least have some basic etiquette."

The comments and even a few discussions among the nobles went on for a while, making heroes feel uncomfortable, but they waited through it until finally, it was stopped.

"Silence!... Dear heroes from another world, I imagine that you are all curious as to why you were brought here. As my daughter must have already told you. This world is in danger and peril approaches.

"As the worshippers of Yovit have founded their own Demonic Kingdom, and intend to eradicate everyone else. That is only one of a few disasters we will face. Not to mention the ever-present Dark Celestial Empire, never giving up on their evil ambitions.

"Aside from that, both the Apocal and the Ertros are said to eventually invade our world at different points in time and ultimately wage war here." The King began his explanation by looking down at all of those in front of him, but there was no haughtiness, but rather knowing eyes.

So he took a pause letting everyone take in his words before he continued.

"There is also the possibility of Yovit and the unknown evil being descending on us at some point...

"Then we have the problem with the new breed of monsters that seem much more violent and destructive than all others increasing in numbers rapidly, and maybe worse a World eater will come...

"Finally, Another ancient evil will somehow rise to destroy everything. That's all the disasters we'll need your help preventing." The King sighed after talking about all of it, fully awere of how absurd it all sounded, but reality would sometimes have such moments.

As one would expect after all that, silence was all that was left. The people who knew of the situation and those who didn't were both a bit speechless thinking about how nonsensical it was to have so much peril their way.

"I'm sorry to ask, hum... Your Highness, but how do you know all that is going to happen?" Fritz couldn't with the absurdity and had to ask.

"The greatest oracle Ark, the current Cardinal of the 15 Divine Lords, has informed the royalty and nobility of every kingdom of the travesties to come and that's why the hero summoning was performed by as many chosen kingdoms as possible with the available resources." The King answered.

Once again silence ensued.

(I guess AF's insanity really spewed into reality… it was not uncommon for planets to have a lot of trouble coming their way.

(I definitely should not have allowed reality to run on that game's logic, but again… it's too late to change it now…) Alaric was feeling guilty knowing that it was partially his fault that such an absurd fate full of disaster could ever befall place.

"... Your majesty... Can't we do one thing at a time, I assume an idea of which one of these events take place first exists, correct?" Heather questioned.

"Yes, the Demonic Kingdom of Yovit and the Dark Celestial Empire are the most urgent and immediate threats." The King replied.

"Oh ok, so we just have to kill some Demonic and Dark Lords or something like that right?" Fritz inquired.

"Well yes, but that's not all. From the information we have, their forces are not to meddled with at all. They have multiple Demonic Lords and a few Demonic Kings, and there are even rumors of the Demonic Emperor's power.

"The Demon Kingdom of Dekvel reported that a Demonic lord is as powerful as one of the four heavenly Kings, The Demon King's elite personal guard and Demonic Kings outclass even the Demon King himself! We can only imagine what kind of monstrous power, the Demonic Emperor possesses.

"Though rumors say he could crush the moon... Though those are just made-up tales to scare us more, I believe this being's power might be something of a legend. As for the Dark Celestial Empire's forces, they are currently still a mystery as they change every time we face them so far." The King responded.

The ever-so-prevalent silence strikes again as the heroes don't know what to say.

"... Your Majesty, I have to ask, how exactly are we expected to help with this? As far as I'm concerned we're just normal humans... For the most part." Leopold asked, then remembered his wife and added the last part.

"That's where you are wrong. Maybe in your world, you were normal humans, but here in Mirth, you're all heroes, beings of great power blessed by the Gods with the potential to stop all evil.

"So long as you are properly trained, the strength you'll have shall know no bounds. Actually, since we've talked about the disasters, it's time to see your potential, so bring me the sphere of status!" The King ordered.

Soon a sphere on a pedestal was brought to the room and put in front of the heroes after the still-kneeling knights, who came in with Merilyn. It was then that the King signaled the royal adviser to act.

"You can now stand up, and walk to the pedestal. Touch the sphere and relax, it will do its job and show us the value of the hero." The adviser explained.

The first one to get up was Fritz who walked to the sphere and put his hand on it, then took a deep breath, and soon after, a floating screen appeared for everyone to see.

[Status Screen]

[Name: Fritz Ismene Heartfield
Age: 16 years old
Sex: Male
Species: Human | Sub-Species: Earthling
Affinity: Neutral, Fire, Death
Bloodline: Ismene Lineage
Physique: Ismene Body
Level: 1
Exp: 0/50
Titles: Reincarnated Individual, Otherworlder
Job: Hero
Class: Necromancer
Stats:
Strength: 15
Dexterity: 15
Vitality: 15
Magic: 20
Willpower: 20
Agility: 15
Charisma: 72
Luck: 30

Unique ability/s: [Death's Embrace]

Innate ability/s(Racial skills): [Adaptability]

Active skills: Raise Skeletons,

Passive skills: Weak Death Aura,

Resistances: Instant Death Tolerance,

Magic: Death Magic,

Unique Magic: None

Extras: Blessing Of The Divine Of Death]

"A necromancer… to think such an evil class would be given to a hero of all things…" The Royal adviser was the first one to comment.

The surprise in the room was palpable.

"Execute him! It's too dangerous to have a hero with such powers around!" Amidst the crowd of nobles, someone yelled.

"That's true, someone with such abilities cannot be trusted!"

"If given time, he will certainly turn against us, it's better to cut off the weed while it's small."

"It will be a pity to lose a hero, but the risk is too great to be taken."

Various voices continued to urge for Fritz to be executed.

"Silence!" The King once again stopped the commotion and looked at Fritz as he also stared at the king, waiting for the decision.

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Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and I in no way endorse the discrimination of necromancers. No necromancers were harmed or discriminated against during the writing of this chapter.

Chapter end