Reign of The Demon King

Me a Hero?

As the sun began to rise the next day, the priest came to their room in order to wake them for their meeting with the king. They were given some time to prepare themselves before they were led to the throne room. The guards bowed to the priest before opening the door and waving them in. The priest walked in with both of them close behind. There was a line of guards on either side of them leading up to the king. There were several windows along the walls leading to the king. Between each window, a banner was placed, dawning what he thought was the crest of the kingdom. They walked along a long red, gold embroidered rug, slowly approaching the king. The king was sitting on his throne with what he assumed were important figures around him. There was also a young girl and an older woman behind him who he assumed was the queen and the princess. While he was taking in everything he saw, Himari was busy trying to keep her composure.

“Your Majesty,” The priest said before kneeling.

Renji was quick to follow, while Himari was a bit slow to react to the priest's action.

“So these are the other worlders? Young man, young lady, what are your names?” The king asked. The king was a tall man with a husky frame. It was evident that he was in good shape in his younger days before the day-to-day life of a king affected that physique. He was wearing a red and white gown lined with gold with the same lion crest the priest had on the chest, with a long red cape lined with fur and a dazzling golden crown to top it off.

“Renji Aiuchi, your majesty,” He answered.

“H-Himari Hanabusa… your majesty.” Himari stutters.

“They are well-behaved, but they seem relatively young,” The king noted.

“Yes. According to the tomes, those that are summoned from another world are around 15-20 years of age. This is the perfect age range as they are old enough to grasp the situation while being young enough to have plenty of room to grow.” The priest explained.

“If that is the case, then I will not ask it any further. Mandhak, what have you told them about their task?” The king asks.

“Nothing yet, your majesty. I only told them that we needed their aid. I thought it would be best for you to tell them yourself.” The priest answered.

“Then I shall enlighten them. It is a pleasure to meet you, I am King Reginald Griffan, king of the Gryffander kingdom. I am unsure of what your world is like, but in this world, there are many more intelligent species than just humans. There are lizard men, elves, dwarves, demi-humans and many others. But, the race that all the other races fear, is the demon race. For thousands of years, they have been a source of fear for our world. However, they are not a constant existence in our realm as they reside in the demon realm. They only make an appearance once every five hundred years or so. But, once they do, a war of unimaginable magnitude always follows. We are unsure of why the demons attack our world. All we know is that they appear seemingly out of nowhere and begin their assault immediately. They are ruthless in their attacks and leave a trail of destruction wherever they go. For reasons unknown to us, only heroes from your world are able to slay the demon lord, ruler of the demon race, and save our world. That is why we need you. We need you to save our world. So, will you accept such a daunting task?” The king stated.

He took a moment to think about what the king said before speaking.

“I have a few questions that I would like to have answered before agreeing to your request,” He says.

“Such insolence! How dare you speak to his majesty in…” The man standing to the right of the king starts to say but stops once he sees the king raise his hand. The man was huge with jet black hair. His armor was golden with rubies in his shoulder pads. There was a red lion crest on the chestpiece that resembled the one that was on the banners around the castle walls. He had newly grayed hair and his eyes were blue and had an intense fire in them.

“General Braun, we are asking these young ones to risk their lives to save a world that is not theirs. They are more than entitled to questions.” The king states.

The general grumbles as he takes a step back.

“Please continue, young Renji,” The king urged.

“Thank you, your majesty. For my first question, I wish to know how exactly this world works in terms of how you fight your battles against these other races. In the world I come from, the only intelligent race is us humans. There are no elves, dwarves or demons, so I do not know what these races are capable of.” He asks.

“I can see how that would be concerning for you. To start, most of the other races exceed us humans in both strength and speed by a large margin, but that does not mean we are unable to fight. In this world, every race is capable of using magic, which closes the gap between the races and allows even us humans to fight toe-to-toe with any race.” The king answered.

“Then I assume that I should be able to use magic.” He guesses.

“Yes,” The king answered.

“Then for my next question, I would like to know how you are able to tell if I'm the hero or not. You surely have a more reliable way than simply assuming it.” He asked.

“That is a simple question. Are you the hero?” The king asks.

“Yes.” He answered unconsciously.

His eyes went wide immediately after as he questioned why he said yes.

“Why did I…” He began to question before his voice trailed off.

“The gods of our world marked you with the title of the hero, so you know that you are the hero, much like I know that I am the king. Due to my title of king, I can force individuals to obey me. It is easier to do so if the task I am asking of them is something they are more willing to do and, it gets more difficult the more against something someone is and the stronger their will,” The king explains.

“I see,” He mumbles.

“The demon lord is yet to invade, but he is expected to break through the gates that separate our world from theirs 12 days from now. Until then, your identities will be kept a secret in order to keep the people from panicking. I have prepared someone that can hide your status from prying eyes until the day the Demon Lord invades and your identities will be revealed.” The king states while nodding towards one of the men next to him.

The man walks forward and holds his hand over Renji.

“Skill; conceal.” He says.

He didn’t feel anything change about himself, but the man turned away and walked back to the king's side.

“Good, now that your status has been hidden for now, are there any further questions?” He asked.

He thought for a moment before he remembered something.

“What are you going to do with her?” He asks as he looks over to Himari.

She had been kneeling next to him simply following the conversation as best as she could, mostly zoning out about halfway through everything. The mention of her name shook her out of her daydreaming as she turned towards him.

“Since she is not the hero, it would be best if she were to stay at the castle as an aid unless she would like to roam freely throughout the world,” The king answered.

Renji saw the unsettled look on her face and knew that this was not a favorable solution for her.

“May I ask a few more questions?” He asks.

The king nods, urging him to.

“Are people summoned from my world the only ones capable of being labeled a hero? Is it not possible for heroes to appear from your world as well?” He asks.

“Heroes are born in our world, but they are not capable of defeating the demon lord. Only a hero from your world can. However, heroes from our world will accompany you in your fight against the demon lord,” The king answered.

“If that is the case, then I would like her to join me on my journey.” He says while looking at Himari.

“H-huh?” She whimpers, unsure of how to respond.

“Are you sure? She is not a hero, and she will most likely be a detriment to you,” The king pointed out.

“I do not think that is the case,” He retorted.

“Please, explain.” The king urged him.

“If it is possible for your world to produce heroes, but they are unable to defeat the demon lord while heroes from my world can, then it is possible that people from my world have more potential than ones from your world. That being said, this girl could still be a valuable asset since she is from the same world as me.” He explained.

“That is an interesting theory. Someone other than the hero has never been summoned from another world, so there are no records that would dispute the theory. But that would be putting the girl in an exuberant amount of danger, especially if your theory turns out to be false.” The king pointed out.

“That is true, but I will only take her if she wants me to. And if it turns out that my theory is incorrect, then I will bring her back here to keep her safe.” He states.

He turns to her and looks her in the eyes.

“So, Hanabusa-san, do you want to travel with me? The journey will be dangerous, and we will be risking our lives, but surely you will feel more comfortable with someone from the same world as you around and more freedom.” He asks.

She looks at him for a moment before smiling.

“Yes, I would love to join you on your journey.” She answered.

The king gives a groan of approval as he nods before rising.

“Then I shall ask once more. Sir Renji, will you defend our world and its people and defeat the demons and the demon lord and stop their incursion?” The King asked.

Renji glared at him, his eyes analyzing all the information he had heard today before answering.

“Yes, your majesty.” He answered finally.

“Then it’s settled. The kingdom will provide you with wares fitting for people just beginning their journey, as well as funds for living and eating that should last you to the next city at the very least. Also, my daughter will be joining you. She was bestowed with the title of warrior priestess on her 12th birthday, a title that is usually bestowed upon someone that is destined to join the hero on their journey and is adept with the spear and attack magic. She can also act as an informant about how magic and the world works. Please take good care of her,” the King stated.

“Understood.” He says while lowering his head.

The princess walks from the king's side to them.

“I am Angelica Griffan, first princess of the Griffander kingdom.” She says as she curtsies. She had on a long red dress that was reminiscent of what princesses of the past from their world wore. Her skin was flawless, and her hair was long and a silky blonde. Her eyes were blue and seemed to sparkle in the light. She was so beautiful that it felt hard to believe she was real.

“I hope we can become good friends on this journey.” She says with a smile.

“As do I,” Himari says with a smile.

Angelica turns her gaze towards Renji, and he nods in response.

“Did I do something wrong?” She asks Himari.

“Don’t take offense to it. He isn’t much of a talker. To be honest, this is the most I’ve ever heard him talk, and I’ve been trying to start a conversation with him for a while.” Himari states.

“I see, hopefully he gets comfortable enough to talk more at some point during our journey,” Angelica says.

“That would be nice.” Himari agreed.

“I have one more gift before you leave.” The king says as he raises his hand.

The priest walks forward and hands each of them a necklace with a pale blue gem.

“That is a necklace of concealing. It will distort your identity so that you look like someone else. That way you can move about the city and take on quests without people knowing what you truly look like. You will not change appearances to one another, however, due to each of you wearing one.” The king notes.

They nod as they put on the necklaces.

“Well then, why don’t I show you both around the capital,” Angelica offered.

“I would love that,” Himari says with a smile.

Before they left, they were given a change of clothes that matched what average citizens wore, so they didn’t stand out as much before following the princess out of the castle and through the streets of the kingdom. Just as he had thought, the technology was similar to the level of medieval times. The buildings were made mostly of stone with wooden framework and flooring. There were signs hanging over buildings with the shop's name on them and a picture that gave a general idea of what the shop sold. They walked through the shopping district and made it to the food market. It looked exactly how TV shows would portray it. There were vendors selling fish, fruit, vegetables, jewelry and everything in between and there were people crowding the area. The food looked so fresh and natural, and it was obvious that everything was grown naturally.

After walking for another 30 minutes or so, Angelica took them to an inn.

“This inn is very popular among the people for its comfortable lodging and delicious food. Why don’t we stay here, so we can make preparations for our journey,” She suggested.

“Fine by me.” He says.

“Then I’m okay with it too.” Himari chimes in.

The princess leads them in, and she is immediately greeted by the innkeeper.

“Welcome to the Lion’s Den. I’m Sarah, the innkeeper and cook here. Go ahead and grab yourself a table, I’ll be with you shortly.” The innkeeper stated as she zipped by them to grab a customer's order.

As they take a seat, his stomach begins to growl.

“I see you’re hungry. Understandable considering it’s getting towards night, and we haven’t had anything to eat since breakfast, so why don’t we eat before getting a room?” She suggests.

They nod in agreement as they take their order from the innkeeper and dig in. The food was just as delicious as promised. It was cooked and seasoned to perfection.

While he and Himari finished their food, Angelica set them up with a room that they headed up to after eating, so they could put their things down. Their room was pretty cozy looking. There were two beds and a couch set under the window at the back of the room. There was a nightstand with a lamp on top. He walked to the lamp with a curious expression on his face.

“Is something wrong?” Himari asks.

“This lamp looks somewhat similar to ones from our world, but as far as I can tell, this world doesn’t have that type of technology.” He answered.

“That’s most likely because they are powered by magic. Instead of oil, there are magic stones inside that produce flames. All you have to do to turn it off is say ‘off’,” Angelica answered.

“I see,” He mumbled as he moved away from the lamp now that his curiosity was satiated.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get you two separate rooms. All the other rooms were taken and this was the only one left.” She apologized.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. Besides, there are two beds. But, where are you going to stay?” Himari asks.

“I still have some things that I need to take care of at the castle, so I will be staying there for tonight. If there is still not another room by tomorrow, well, we'll deal with that issue when it comes.” She answered.

“But until then, goodnight.” She says with a smile.

“Goodnight,” Himari replies as she leaves the two.

A bit after Angelica left, Renji dropped onto the bed and let out a deep sigh.

“Uhm, Aiuchi-san, are you alright?” Himari questioned.

“Just tired, I had to have my guard up for so long.” He groans.

“What do you mean by that?” Himari asks.

“Whenever I’m around people I don’t know, or an unknown situation, I keep my guard up. I don’t blindly trust anything that is said or done, I need to think about it all on my own. Also… I’m not the greatest… well, at interacting with new people or with people in general really.” He explained, a bit embarrassed about the second part.

“Then why are you explaining it to me? Even though I’ve tried on several occasions to start a conversation with you, I never even got your name until just yesterday. Aren’t I someone you don't know?” She questioned.

“Be that as it may, you’re the only other person that is from the same world as me, so you are the one person I feel I can trust in this world.” He replied.

“Is that why you wanted me to go with you, so that you could have someone close by that you trust?” She guessed.

“That’s part of the reason, but when you heard that you might be stuck in the castle or have to fend for yourself, I could see on your face how much you didn’t want that. If it meant that you were a little happier, I am more than willing to take you with me.” He corrected.

“So if I become a burden, will you send me back to the castle like you said you would?” She asks.

“If that’s what you want,” He answered.

“What if it isn't?” She asked.

“Then I promise to protect you no matter what. Even if I need to forsake this world, I will save you. After all, I am the reason you got dragged here.” He assured her.

The statement made her face go bright red. He basically just said that he would choose her over the world. That was something that every girl would be ecstatic to hear.

He turned the light off as he got ready for bed.

“Hey, Aiuchi-san?” She mumbled.

“Hmm?” He groans in response.

“Did you really mean what you said? Will you really protect me?” She asked.

“I’m not one to go back on my promises. Now, we should get some sleep. I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a busy day.” He states as he rolls over in bed.

“Okay,” she whispered as she did the same.

About 30 minutes after they laid down, he was still awake.

“I can’t believe I said something so cheesy. I hope she doesn't think I’m some sort of weirdo.” He thought to himself as he turned slightly to see her.

Her black hair was shining in the moonlight. Even without seeing her face, he still thought she looked beautiful. He quickly turned back around. In the other bed, Himari was still awake as well.

“My heart is still beating so fast. I hope he can’t hear it.” She thinks as she turns slightly to look at him.

She quickly turns back, her face red.