Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Kim Cheolsoo was wearing a formal uniform that looked uncomfortable even at a glance, with several maids hanging around him.
“I’ll come in, Your Highness the Hero.”
“Ah...”
Unlike his homeland’s uniform, the ornate outfit from this other world made Kim Cheolsoo feel stiff and constrained as he loosened the buttons at his neck while greeting the Saintess.
“You look good on you, Hero.”
“Really? It’s uncomfortable though...”
The other world, with its completely different sense of fashion from his homeland, had turned Kim Cheolsoo into someone who looked like he belonged in a drama.
While the two were having a small conversation, a servant entered and called for the Saintess.
“Saintess, it’s time to prepare.”
“See you later, Hero.”
After that brief meeting with the Saintess, Kim Cheolsoo finished getting dressed.
“Hmm...this is kind of nostalgic... IA!”
「Understood.」
A hologram suddenly popped up next to Kim Cheolsoo’s shoulder, scanning him and taking a photo.
Click—
“How is it?”
「It turned out well.」
At that moment, the door opened and a knight who seemed to hold a fairly high rank entered.
“Hero, it is time for you to go.”
The knight, who had been listening to Kim Cheolsoo and the unfamiliar spirit-like being talking, was briefly stunned by the strange entity and the Hero who controlled it so naturally, before quickly regaining his senses and guiding him toward the audience chamber.
“Let’s go in.”
“Huh? You’re not coming with me?”
“No, please enter.”
Leaving behind the knight with his strangely cold attitude, Kim Cheolsoo slowly passed through the opening doors and entered the audience chamber.
The lavish hall was decorated with a white carpet, embroidered with golden thread forming the imperial emblem.
At the far end sat the Emperor, an imposing figure with white hair and a thick beard, and beside him stood a pink-haired princess who made it unmistakably clear that this was another world.
On both sides, numerous ministers watched Kim Cheolsoo as he entered.
Ugh... this is a bit overwhelming.
But Kim Cheolsoo was used to this level of attention. With steady steps, he crossed the hall without hesitation.
Even so, the imperial treasure-like princess, whose presence drew the eyes of both men and women alike, was impossible to ignore.
His gaze briefly drifted toward her, but he quickly looked away and focused on the Emperor.
“Before the sun of the empire, His Majesty the Emperor—”
“That’s enough, Hero. Please rise.”
Kim Cheolsoo, who had been preparing to kneel and recite a formal greeting forced into him beforehand, was immediately stopped by the Emperor.
“The Hero is someone who came from another world. There is no need to force our customs upon you.”
“...Thank you, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor, savoring this historic moment of meeting a Hero from another world—something that would likely be recorded as the first and possibly only second occurrence in imperial history—continued speaking.
“Now, a great chaos is spreading across the empire and the continent beyond.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Kim Cheolsoo slightly bowed as he listened.
“The fact that Heroes are being summoned outside the usual cycle is unprecedented in our imperial history.”
“Is it really that serious?”
Kim Cheolsoo still had no sense of why a sudden divine oracle from the goddess demanding a Hero be summoned had escalated into something so grave.
“Of course. If Heroes, who were only ever summoned in times of extreme crisis, are appearing this frequently, the safety of the empire and the continent is at risk.”
“Ah... I think I understand.”
“Gasp...!”
“How insolent...!”
“How dare you not know your place!”
At Kim Cheolsoo’s casual response, the hall immediately erupted in noise.
“Enough, enough. This Hero seems quite confident. That is refreshing.”
The Emperor calmed the ministers and finally moved on to the main point.
“Hero, this matter is clearly an unprecedented emergency.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Normally, a Hero would begin their journey and naturally meet companions along the way, but this time, due to the unusual situation, we have already prepared companions for you from each continent.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the doors opened again and the sound of four sets of footsteps approached.
Kim Cheolsoo immediately turned around.
There, four women walked in, including the Saintess.
“Let me introduce them one by one. First, the Saintess of this generation, Illusia.”
“I’m usually the Hero’s first companion, you know? Nice to meet you.”
The Saintess smiled playfully, but only Kim Cheolsoo could see it.
“From the Southern Continent, forest guardian Albe Machu.”
A blonde, blue-eyed woman dressed in armor that looked as if it were woven from leaves stepped forward like a textbook elf and spoke.
“Elf. Forest guardian. Albe Machu.”
“Ah... yeah, nice to meet you...”
“From the Eastern Continent, A-cheong of the Hwasan Sect.”
A woman in a red martial robe with a long ponytail performed a martial salute as she greeted Kim Cheolsoo.
“I am A-cheong, senior disciple of the Hwasan Sect.”
“Hwasan Sect? I’m not really sure what that is, but nice to meet you.”
“And lastly, Neira from the Northern Continent’s Magic Tower.”
“Ah... ah... h-hello...”
A young girl wearing a large pointed hat nervously clutched her robe and barely managed to greet him.
“Alright, nice to meet you all. Let’s get along.”
Seeing that introductions were complete, the Emperor cleared his throat again.
“Hmm. Seeing that you are already getting along with your companions, this is a good start.”
“Your Majesty, what should we do next?”
“That will be explained by the Saintess. Now then, let us begin the Hero’s departure ceremony.”
At his words, servants quickly moved and guided Kim Cheolsoo and the others out.
“Apologies. Due to lingering wounds from the previous Hero’s journey, we cannot send you off in grand ceremony.”
“It’s alright, this is more than enough.”
Kim Cheolsoo and his companions walked through the palace garden filled with knights and ministers, heading toward the exit alongside the Emperor.
At the gate, the Emperor gave his final words.
“Your identities make it difficult to fully control information, but we will do our best to keep the Hero’s summoning secret.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Even while speaking, Kim Cheolsoo kept glancing at the princess.
But the princess simply lowered her eyes, saying nothing.
“Hmm... Hero, what do you plan to do once your journey is over?”
“Well... I haven’t really thought about it.”
“You know that once the Hero’s journey ends, the goddess grants one wish, correct?”
“Yes, I heard the previous Hero returned to his homeland with that wish...”
“Do you also plan to return?”
The Emperor asked, subtly hoping he would stay.
“My homeland... there’s no place left for me to return to.”
“Oh? Then you mean you will stay here?”
“I think... that’s likely.”
“Hahaha! Wonderful! I was worried about the princess’s future, but this solves the issue of succession!”
“...Pardon?”
At the words princess and succession, the princess flinched.
“If you survive and return, what do you think about marrying the princess?”
“Father, I—”
“Princess, is he not an excellent candidate? Historically, many heroes have been connected to imperial bloodlines! What do you say, Hero?”
“Uh... well...”
The princess, who had been silent until now, finally tried to speak, but the Emperor cut her off completely.
Kim Cheolsoo hesitated but did not firmly refuse.
“Then it is decided. When you return, the princess shall be yours!”
“Father!”
“Enough! It is already decided.”
The Emperor laughed heartily, sealing the engagement on the spot.
“Congratulations, Princess. Getting engaged to the Hero?”
“Marriage... confirmed.”
“You’re quite popular.”
“Y-you really are popular...”
“No, that’s not it, the Emperor just decided it on his own...”
The four women turned cold eyes toward Kim Cheolsoo, leaving him speechless.
And so, Kim Cheolsoo began his journey under the sharp gaze of his companions.
“So... where are we going first?”
He quickly changed the subject.
“The Hero’s journey always begins at the Adventurer’s Guild. We’ll register there first and take on requests.”
“Adventurer’s Guild? Requests? This really is an isekai setting.”
“Let’s hurry. We have a long road ahead.”
“Y-yeah!”
“I heard there’s been an increase in bandit activity lately. It should be good training.”
◆◆◆◆◆
“Yawn... finally awake...”
The day after the bandit hideout collapsed, Siu and I woke up in the middle of the forest.
“Now that you’re awake, get ready. We have a long way to go today.”
Reb was already fully dressed and had wrapped his body in bandages.
“Alright... but there’s nothing to prepare anyway...”
All I had were Momo and the hilt of Gildre’s sword. That was it.
“Today we’re heading to a city to visit the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“A city? Adventurer’s Guild?”
“Yes. It’s the city I was originally heading to. I was captured by those bandits along the way.”
“Right, but why did they catch you? You know that fist technique or whatever, right?”
Reb was a candidate for the Demon King’s succession, even if he was almost at the bottom of the rankings. He shouldn’t have been weaker than bandits.
“…I lost.”
“You lost?”
“Yes. Those guys used cheap numbers against me.”
“…How many were there?”
“……”
“Three.”
Reb lowered his head. I didn’t ask any further.
So we packed up in silence.
We walked, and walked, and walked.
“Aaaah! When is the city going to show up!”
I grabbed my head and shouted at the endless forest.
“It is natural for a bandit hideout to be far from cities. Stop complaining.”
“Still! We’ve been walking for hours! Why does everything look the same!”
Trees everywhere. Trees to the left, trees to the right, trees in the distance, trees right in front of my face.
“I feel like I’m going insane...”
“Haah. Then let’s rest for a bit.”
We sat on a broken tree stump, and my starving stomach roared loudly.
“I’m starving...”
“It’s about time for lunch anyway.”
Reb rummaged through his bag and pulled out something wrapped in paper.
“You had a bag?”
“It belonged to the bandit boss. I grabbed it while we were escaping.”
Inside was a fish that looked freshly caught.
“A fish? Isn’t that rotten?”
“It was taken from the bandit camp storage. We only managed to bring a little, but it’s enough.”
He casually started a fire and began roasting the fish on a stick.
“Whoa! This is the classic fantasy scene!”
A grilled fish on a stick! I’d always wanted to try this!
“Don’t get your hopes up. We’re eating to survive, not for taste.”
“Still! I feel like anything would taste good right now!”
Just as we waited for the fish to cook, a rustling sound came from the bushes.
“Huh? What’s that?”
“Probably a wild animal... it must’ve smelled the fish.”
Reb picked up a stone and threw it toward the sound.
“Is that okay? Won’t it just make it angry?”
“Wolves or stray dogs are easy to handle.”
“Oh... the kind of man who struggles against three bandits but can handle wolves.”
“Shut it!”
But the owner of the sound was neither a wolf nor a stray dog.
A deep growl echoed.
A massive body. Brown fur. Black eyes staring at us.
It was a bear.
“A bear?”
“Oh, shit...!”
Reb panicked, while I remained surprisingly calm.
“Ha! I actually know how to survive a bear encounter! Leave this to me!”
I had once read a survival comic when I was a kid.
Thank you, Mom!
“First, don’t provoke the bear and slowly stand up while maintaining eye contact...”
“GRAAAAH!”
The bear immediately charged.
“RUN!!!”
At Reb’s shout, we ran without looking back.
“Why is it attacking right away?!”
“Bears are aggressive! Running is the best option!”
Is this world’s wildlife different or something?!
“GRAAAAHHHH!”
The bear rushed past the fire and chased us relentlessly.
“Why is it chasing us instead of the fish?!”
“Just run!”
Reb threw the food bag behind him, and the bear’s speed slowed slightly.
“Don’t stop! We’re heading straight to the city!”
“If we run like this, I’m going to die!!!”
And so, we ran without even finishing our meal.