"Ooh!”
“Wow!”
“Amazing!”
Me, Kari, and Alice exclaimed upon entering the throne room.
It was a large room decorated with ‘awe’ at the forefront of the architect's mind. From the large chandelier hanging in the ceiling to the exquisite red carpet laying on the floor, everything exuded an air of majesty.
In the center of this majestic room, was a magnificent throne elevated on level high. And on the throne, was a blonde-haired man who looked to be in his late forties. He was most likely the king. Next to him, was a man who looked to be a couple of decades older than the king. I’m going to assume that that’s his confidant.
Besides these two, there were several other important individuals here.
Standing a ways from the throne, were a few men giving us varying looks. Some filled with respect and reverence, some calm and indifferent, and a few scheming and malicious. I turned to face the person who was giving off the most malicious intent and ingrained his face into my mind. He was a balding overweight man with the face of a pig. He was staring at both Alice and Kari with lustful eyes.
...Sigh, it hasn't even been a full day and there’s already a person I got to look out for.
“I have brought the summoned heroes as you requested, your majesty.”
Prince Leonard kneeled and reported the instant he arrived in front of the king.
"Excellent job, my son. Welcome my brave heroes! My name is Paul Aregecio, the king of Talius. It's a pleasure to meet you."
The moment the king laid his eyes on us he said. His eyes opened wide in surprise when he glanced at me but immediately went back to their usual calm moments later.
Did he know my identity?
"It’s a pleasure to meet you, your highness. My name is Marcus Townley."
With this doubt in my mind, I kneel and introduce myself. Seeing me do this, Alice and Kari did the same.
"My name is Alice Caston. Nice to meet you, your majesty."
"M-my name is K-Kari Lawson! N-nice to meet you!"
One was calm and composed while the other was nervous and jittery. Watching how Kari was acting nervous, I couldn't help but throw her a gloating glance. In return, she threw a vicious side glare my way.
"I'm sure you're wondering why we have summoned you here, the reason is simple, our world has met a crisis!"
'This is it!' Kari said under her breath, it was loud enough for only me and Alice to hear and low enough not to disturb King Paul.
"The crisis happened just a few years ago, four to be exact. After the fall of the demon lord and the destabilization of the mighty and terrifying nation of demons, Denoria, a nation in the far west of the Demon continent rose to power and started swallowing up many of its neighboring countries. That nation is called Ladoris. We believe that the leader of Ladoris is trying to mimic the actions of the aforementioned Denoria, and try to conquer the world.“
Hearing him mention Denoria, I couldn't help but start to frown. That damn nation was the main reason I was summoned to this world in the first place! Wilberg Dentra, the Demon Lord, ruled over Denoria with an iron fist, killing anybody that stood in his way. To make things worse, he was obsessed with the notion of obtaining power, he authorized many gruesome experiments about evolution on many prisoners of war and committed various evil deeds against his own people, such as forceful conscription and heavy taxes.
There were, of course, revolts because of this but they were easily squashed.
In Demon Lord Wilberg’s words, ‘Denoria is about the survival of the fittest! The strong rule while the weak beg! If they want to revolt then let them revolt! I welcome the challenge! And if they’re strong enough to take me down then it just means that I wasn’t strong enough!’
“It was terrible enough we already had to fight such a nation as Denoria. And to think that a nation is once again attempting to repeat such a thing. Sigh…”
Hearing King Paul lament about the objective of the nation of Ladoris, I silently agree in acknowledgment.
Denoria was a tough nation to take on. By the time I was summoned here, they completely took over the Demon Continent and occupied a vast amount of human territories.
Their prowess was on a whole other level!
“If you don’t mind me asking, why didn’t you try to stop them before they became too powerful?”
I mean, if they noticed what Ladoris was doing, couldn’t they have sent some soldiers over there while Ladoris was in its infant stages of growth and solved the problem?
"We tried that. Using our allied nations on the Demon Continent, we sent troops to Ladoris."
“And the result?”
“We were decimated…”
With a bitter smile, King Paul explained.
"Reports from survivors said that they were defeated by a group of powerful men and women. Their power was on par with summoned heroes. In other words…”
"They managed to summon heroes just like us."
I interrupted the King's words with a tone full of surprise. This is possibly the first time in history that there's another nation other than the five great nations that could summon heroes.
"How are they able to come up with a way of successfully summoning heroes?"
"Hmm, according to my intel, the leaders of Ladoris seemed to have acquired an unknown ancient summoning spell by exploring the ruins of Demon King Wilburt’s castle."
Wilburt’s Castle?
When the battle between the demon king and me was over, there was nothing left of that castle, but rubble. Not to mention that it became a 'dead zone' where even air is considered 'dead'.
Hmm, I wonder how they did it.
“That’s why I hope that you three heroes could help us in this crisis!”
King Paul said as he looked into my eyes. Within his amber eyes, I could see the sincerity and an ever so slight hint of pleading.
But despite that...
"After listening to the whole situation, I’ve concluded that you practically summoned us to be your janitors."
I had to say this. No matter how you look at it, we’re cleaning up after the five nations fuck up.
"Marcus, isn't that a little rude?"
"Ouch! Don't nudge your finger into my side, Alice! I was just stating facts. I'm not going to sugarcoat the situation here. We need to know what we're dealing with."
"Even so, that's the king you're talking to."
"Yeah, how dare you talk to the king like that!"
"He's right! Show some respect!"
Immediately after Alice reprimanded me, the people standing on both sides of the throne started making remarks, with the baldy leading. It's fine if Alice is doing the lecturing but who's right is it to have you guys do the same?
Weren’t you guys all silent just a minute ago?
"Haha! It's alright. He has every right to criticize me."
Noticing my expression, the king replied as he waved his hand back and forth to show that he didn't care. Quite the benevolent king aren't you?
Compared to the petty nobles here, you, my friend, are wonderful!
"But please! I hope you can help us in defeating the nation of Ladoris and it's summoned heroes."
The king then got up from his magnificent throne and did a ninety-degree bow. With complete sincerity, he said.
"I, king Paul Argecio, humbly beg you to help us defeat this formidable foe. Otherwise, who knows what'll happen to this world as we know it!"
Alice: "Ah!"
Kari: "Ah!"
The two girls by my side gasped in shock. It completely caught them off guard to have the leader of a nation, a king, to bow his head and plead for help. Even I’m a little surprised. This is a first for me as well.
"I'll do it! It's not every day a weeb girl like me can fulfill one of her lifelong dreams. What about you Alice? Are you joining in on this too?"
After overcoming her initial shock of King Paul’s bow, Kari took a deep breath and grabbed a fist full of air, and said energetically.
Alice thinks for a moment before replying,
“Of course! I could never turn down a person who sincerely requested me for help.”
Immediately after agreeing to help...
"T-thank you so much! I could never thank you enough!"
“Thank you, heroes!”
“You’re our savior!”
A shower of praise came from the nobles. What a bunch of suck-ups. Trying to curry favor already.
"Hey, aren't you forgetting about me?"
I suddenly interjected. This caused the atmosphere to freeze and everyone turned to look at me. Ignoring these stares, I said to the king.
"I haven't given my answer yet."
"What do you mean 'given my answer yet'? Isn't it obvious that you would want to help?"
Kari said while giving me a look that seems to say 'why would you ask a dumb question like that?' But my next reply will leave her in astonishment. Looking at the king who has straightened his posture and is currently looking at me with hopeful eyes and said in a calm and collected voice.
"...No."
"Eh!?"
The whole room gasped in surprise. But I didn't care. I ignored them and continued with my explanation.
" I'm not going to help you fight these people. Sorry, it's not going to happen."
"Are you telling me that you don't want to become a hero Marcus?"
Kari said as she stared at my face intently. Are you trying to spot subtle emotions within my facial expression to see if I'm masking my emotions?
"Yes, I'm dead-ass serious on not wanting to become a hero."
"Why? I thought since you were a fellow weeb like me..."
"I would be happy to become a hero? Kari, you have to look at the bigger picture, this isn't a manga, you can't just expect me to suddenly say 'okay' in this situation. Yeah, it’s easy to say that I dream about becoming a hero but dreaming and becoming one are two different things. Also, we've basically been kidnapped. These people expect us to fight for them. I'm not gonna clean up after these people. It's their fault for allowing such a huge threat grow under their noses."
I deeply sigh and continue despite the angry looks of the nobles. What they mad about? I'm just stating the truth. My ideal vision of a hero got brutally crushed as I faced the reality of being a hero.
"The role of the hero is a 24/7 job. You can't quit halfway, you gotta keep going even when times get tough. You can't cry saying 'I don't want to be a hero anymore' because once you take on the mantle of 'hero' it'll become an enormous burden of nothing but responsibility."
“How do you know?”
“Because I...Sigh, anyway, your majesty, I hope you can forgive me for such rudeness. If you no longer need me, I'll be leaving the room."
I almost gave out my identity just then. Luckily, I managed to catch myself. If they found out who knows what would happen.
"How dare you say that and expect to leave so easily?"
But as soon as I was going to turn around and leave, that damn fatty had to make a comment. Stopping in my tracks, I glared at him and said coldly.
“What you gonna do? You ain’t my mama. Keep talking shit and I’ll drop your ass so hard you’ll cause an earthquake.”
"Why yo-"
"SILENCE!"
The king roars angrily, causing everyone in the room to quiet down. After quieting everyone down, King Paul cleared his throat and looked back at me, and said with a voice full of sincerity.
"I'm sorry for how my people have treated you and I'm sorry for bringing you here unjustly and expecting you to fight on our behalf. As I said before, you have every right to criticize me."
"There's no need to apologize, your majesty. It's those people there who should apologize. Trying to tell me what to do. They're the ones asking for help. Especially fat ass here...Yeah you, don't think I haven't seen the look in your eyes when looking at these two. If you try to pull something I swear to God I'll…nevermind, looking at how big your stomach is, all that fat probably suffocated your junior to the point where it can't get up anymore.”
“Hmph!”
I stared at the fatty as he tried to play it off by smacking his lips and turning his head as I said that. But I can tell he's fuming right now. There's a vein throbbing like crazy on his forehead.
When I scanned the rest of the nobles up there they averted their gazes as they tried to hide their faces filled with shame. While others tried to hold in their laughter.
"But still, it's my fault for allowing them to try and shame you. How about I have a servant escort you to your room?"
"That's fine with me."
I shrugged my shoulders and said to the king who was shivering due to trying to hold his laughter in.
"Alright. I'll send one to lead you right away. Willis if you please."
"Yes, your highness."
The attendant (now known as Willis) did a bow before leaving the throne room. A couple of minutes later the attendant came back with a chestnut-haired girl around my age.
"P-please follow me, Sir."
The maid said nervously. If one were to look at her face, you could see her eyes jump around a little bit.
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"Sure. Lead the way."
I said the maid after I said my goodbyes to Alice and Kari. It looked like they wanted to say something, but they reluctantly held it in.
"Sigh, I'll tell them my identity later on."
I mumbled under my breath so that no one could hear me. That's the only way I can make them understand that I'm serious about the troubles of being a hero.
"What's your name?"
It felt rather awkward walking in silence so after leaving the throne room and walking a bit down the hallway, I suddenly asked the maid.
"M-Mary."
She said stutteringly.
"Mary? That’s a pleasant name. I'm Marcus. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"N-nice to meet you too, Master Marcus."
"How long have you been working here?”
"Six months.”
“I see.”
“...”
“...”
Even though I tried my best at making a conversation, I still managed to end up walking in awkward silence! I can't talk about stuff from my world since she doesn't know anything about it. And I can't talk about things from this world because that'll give away my identity of being a former hero.
What a dilemma.
"We're here."
Finally, after walking a solid five minutes in nothing but total silence, we arrived at my room. When I entered...
"Woah, this is huge!"
These were the words that escaped my mouth.
The room came with a king-size bed and silk over hangings, a lounge area that has a set of furniture that looks to be made out of very expensive wood, a dresser with a mirror and on top of it are sortments of different types of perfume.
This room is practically equivalent to a presidential suite!
It’s too exquisite for a commoner like me!
"These rooms are usually for when the king
has very important guests."
“Like other royalty and such?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
"I see.”
Well, that’s to be expected. It’d be considered an international problem if the king were to disrespect another country’s royalty by letting them stay someplace shabby.
“Hey, Mary, what’s the best thing in this room?”
I looked at Mary and asked with eyes full of expectation. It's great to have the opinion of a person who worked in the palace.
"I-if you don’t mind my opinion, I think it's the b-bathroom, Master Marcus!"
Albeit a little nervous, Mary replied.
“Then let's see the bathroom.”
Taking her word for it, I walk over to the bathroom door and open it. Upon opening, I turn back and give a thumbs up to her.
"Nice choice!”
Inside the bathroom were a walk-in shower, a porcelain freestanding tub, and a sink that had what looked to be facial products laid out on top of it. Hell, there was even a toilet here!
“...Why is life unfair?”
Seeing all this luxuriousness, I’m starting to feel a little jealous.
When I was first summoned here, I never stayed in a whole castle before nor have I slept on a soft bed.
Because I spent most of my time on battlefields, I slept mostly on the hard ground, and on the days I did get to sleep in a bed, it was usually hard and had parasitic bugs living in it.
Sleeping on those beds led to some...uncomfortable nights.
And seeing how luxurious Alice and Kari’s first summoning is compared to how my first one was, it’s not unreasonable for me to feel at least a little bit jealous.
“Sigh, seriously, why is life unfair?”
After brooding over life's unfairness, I leave the bathroom and plop myself down on one of the expensive chairs in the lounge area of the room.
Ah, so comfortable.
"Would you like some tea, master?"
Mary asks as she places down a tea set. As expected of a maid from the royal castle, I didn't even ask her for the tea.
"Yes, please. Y’know you don’t have to add ‘master’ to my name if you don’t want to. I’m not all that picky about those things."
I’m not like those nobles who place too much focus on status.
“I-it’s alright. I was taught by the head butler to treat guests of the castle with absolute respect. I consider it an honor to serve you.”
“Even if I declined to be a hero?”
“...Yes.”
Not saying anymore, Mary places a teacup in front of me and pours me some tea. I say my thanks and take a small sip of it.
"Mmm, good tea."
This was the only comment I could think of to show my appreciation of the tea. If the castle should serve tea to its guests then by all means it should be expensive right?
Even if it tastes like water. Right?
"...Then if you excuse me. I shall leave you to your things."
With a light bow, Mary leaves the room. As soon as I hear that door close, with a heavy sigh, I drop into the chair.
"Sigh, I'm tired. I didn't expect today would be like this."
One moment we're walking from a funeral and the next we're standing on top of a tower. The fast turn of events can take a toll on the mind.
"I'm glad I kept that cigarette."
With a smirk, I pull out a slightly crumpled cigarette from the breast pocket of my denim jacket and place it in my mouth.
“Now where’s a light...I almost forgot about this.”
While patting my body down for a light, I came across the envelope I received from Mr. Williams. He said it was from Father Jefferson.
“I guess it’s as good a time as any to open it.”
I carefully break the seal on the envelope and take out the letter. In the familiar sloppy handwriting known as Father Jefferson’s it reads:
‘Son, if you’re reading this, then that means that the Lord in the sky has called me to his Kingdom. It was a long fight but now I’m at peace at last. Who knows, I might be able to find me a big boobed angel up there...! You think they’d allow me to do a motorboat...?’
“Haha, I’m pretty sure they’ll kick you out if you did that.”
Chuckling slightly, I retorted and continue to read the letter.
‘Jokes aside, I know you are going through a tough time right now. And I know the circumstances as to why you’re going through such a time. Therefore, if you haven’t heard it yet then allow me to be the first one to say it. Thank you.’
“...”
‘I know it was hard. Having to do stuff you didn’t want to do. Possibly risking your life in the process. I know all about it. I also know that you tried your best to make sure that none of the kids at the church followed in your footsteps. Believe me, if I was still in my younger years, I would’ve gladly done those deeds myself. Especially when I know I was doing it for my family. if it wasn’t for you doing what you had to do, the church probably would’ve had to give up the kids.’
True. Donations could only get you so far. This is even more so when considering that most of the proceeds went towards maintaining the church’s daily operations. I still remember the times where we’d go on for days eating only ham and cheese sandwiches.
‘Don’t think I didn’t notice you trying to hold in your sobs in the middle of the night when I did my rounds. It hurt me knowing that I put a pretty heavy burden on you over the past couple of years. And for that, I’m sorry. I’m a poor excuse for an adult for having to rely on a child such as yourself. I’m sure it was hard, I bet you wanted to run away at times. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you did. That’s why Marcus, thank you. Thank you for staying there and helping us when we needed it. Although the world thinks of you as a vile and vicious criminal, just know that I will always be on your side, even if the lord says otherwise...I’m glad I was able to watch you grow up into a fine young man despite the lacking ability that I had as a parent. I love you son and I hope that you can forgive me.’
Those were the last words in the letter.
“...”
A silence filled the room…
*Sniff*
But that was before the faint sound of sniffling could be heard.
I was crying. Although I tried to suppress the tears that were coming out of my eyes, I couldn’t stop them. They just kept coming.
“I never blamed *sniff* even once!”
I was prepared for what was going to happen the moment I decided to get into the streets. I knew the violence that came with it. I knew the risks. But despite knowing this, I still did it.
Why?
Because it was for my family. For Alice, for Patrick, for Father Jefferson, and the other kids. I wanted them to spend their time at the church with no worries. I didn’t want them to worry about their next meal nor did I want them to feel embarrassed about their clothes. I wanted them to live happily.
And the fastest way for me to achieve that goal was to jump off the porch and enter the cruel and dangerous world of the streets.
Were there times where I regret doing so? Of course, there was, but I soldiered on and got through it because I knew that at the end of the day, it was for my family.
That’s why…
“I could never blame him.”
After letting the tears fall for a good ten minutes, I managed to get myself together.
“Damn, that got me in the feels.”
I’m not much of a crier but damn, that got me. It was a good thing Alice wasn’t here to witness this otherwise I’d be too embarrassed to look her in the eyes.
“Now that that’s over with, let’s see what this is.”
Folding Father Jefferson’s letter and placing it on the table in front of me, I turn my attention to the unknown object in the envelope.
“Heh, talk about a coincidence. I needed a lighter and it turned out to be the one I always wanted for Christmas.”
Taking the lighter out of the envelope, I said with a wry smile.
It was silver and slightly tarnished and had the numbers ‘71-’72 on the top part of the lighter while the MACV-SOG insignia was on the bottom case of the lighter.
This was Father Jefferson’s lighter. He had with him ever since he left the Vietnam War.
It was something I always wanted ever since I was little. Every time me and the other kids wrote what we wanted for Christmas, I’d always write Father Jefferson’s lighter. Back then, it wasn’t for anything dealing with smoking, I just wanted it because it was cool.
“The doctors warned him that smoking was going to kill him one day, but he ignored them and kept on smoking until he hit the dirt.”
Picking up the cigarette that fell on the floor due to my sudden outburst of emotions, I lit the cigarette and said.
I understood why he did it despite the warnings. To him, smoking was in a way, his fortress of solitude, helping him temporarily forget the painful and terrifying memories of the Vietnam War.
I understood this even more so after coming back to Earth from this world...War is not something a person can easily forget about, especially when that said person is playing an active role in that war. The loud booms of artillery fire, the screams of agony, the smell of iron that's accompanied by piles of dismembered corpses, these things are permanently engraved into the mind of that person no matter what they do or where they go. They can't escape it.
...I can't escape it.
"Enough with these negative thoughts...*Tss* Ah, that hits the spot."
I say in delight as I push the unsavory memories into the back of my mind and drag on the cigarette, making smoke circles with the smoke.
...
“Time to hit the sack.”
I put the cigarette butt into the nearby ashtray and jumped into bed. Forget washing, I'll do that tomorrow