I hate being wed in a fantasy world!

Inside their quarters, Masahiko and Daichi are engaged in battle.

“Make your move.” Masahiko smiles confidently as he passes the dice to Daichi. Both of them are playing a board game of the dari, cards and tokens are all over the table, showing their resources and troops.

“Get this!” Daichi rolls the dice, one shows this world's symbol for one, the other one a mouse with a spiky tail, and the final one had a blank. “Dammit!” He takes resources based on the number, one gold, one iron, and one nickel, then he cast a ration card away before he furrows his brow.

Masahiko knows what the problem is, Daichi has to pay too much upkeep. His people can't eat enough, so he had to import more food. Problem is that right now his upkeep is due and he lost a ration, means that he has either discard one citizen card or otherwise pay double to quickly buy another ration.

This game is one, where you need to be careful how much you want to expand. Daichi self-destructed as he hasn't held anything back, making it impossible to keep everything going when disaster strikes.

Suddenly, the door opens, and a ragged Katsuo enters the room. “Hey.” He throws his backpack on his bed and opens the straps of his armor.

“Hey, Katsuo!” Masahiko turns his head to his friend: “Everything good?”

“No. Trouble down there. Demons.”

Masahiko fights the urge to stand up, Daichi is standing up halfway, but as Katsuo is taking off his gear, there is no immediate danger. “Specifics?”

“Demons are gathering in the tunnels, infesting monsters. About a thousand in total, almost forty demons.” This is a large fighting force. “Urgrik reports to the king.”

“How could so many enemies gather right there?”

“Most likely they gathered somewhere else and slowly moved here. There are also new tunnels, might be their work.”

“Anything we can do?”

“Don't know. Was told to clean up.” He's already half naked and grabs some fresh clothes from his backpack: “Will be back in a minute.” Then he walks out of the room, most likely to the bath cells.

“Teruko-san should be back too, right?” Daichi looks eager to learn more.

“I think she's also taking a bath.”

“Ah.” Daichi wouldn't do anything like peeking... at least not under these circumstances. On a school trip, he might be up for it.

“What about Eri-san?”

“I'm sure Eri will let us know when she's back. Most likely after taking a bath.”

“...nothing we can do?”

“Wait for Teru and Katsuo, then we'll talk about what we want to do. I'm all for helping the dari, but this is a matter we need to discuss.”

“Of course I'll help. They're helping us, after all!”

“Still, we're talking about a small army. Most of them might be mindless beasts, but it's still no easy fight. Also, there may be more coming or hiding.” At least it's not a thousand demons, as these are much harder to fight.

“I'm not running away.”

“I don't mean that. Just that this is too big to make rash decisions.”

Hearing his friend saying it, Daichi calms down a bit. He slowly starts to box the game, while Masahiko goes to the girls' quarters, knocks to find out if someone in there, and leaves a note as there is no answer.

Around half an hour later, four of five party-members are inside the boy's quarters; Eri is still missing. After hearing everything from Teru and Katsuo, Masahiko and Daichi take a moment to process everything.

“To sum it up,” Daichi says: “There is a bunch of demons, and they want to attack Kraggwas.” He's always good at finding the core of a matter.

Masahiko goes the next step: “Basically, we're left out of the conversation again, just like in Esse. Still, I’d like to offer my help. I think this is part of the reason why we were summoned here, these demons are most likely attacking because Kraggwas and Feuerberg are allies.” As the demons are at war with the Feuerberg-kingdom, the dari of Kraggwas are supporting them. “If the demons can cause enough damage to Kraggwas, they might not be able to keep helping Feuerberg. Even as allies, their own kingdom has to come first.”

“I’d also like to help,” Daichi backs up. “We may be still rather weak, but the dari are training us, we should repay them.”

“...” Katsuo looks like he's about to decline, then he surprises Masahiko: “I'll help.”

“You don't need to if you don't want to.” Masahiko doesn't want to force anyone, though discussing it is important to hear as many arguments as possible.

“I won't let you fight without me. We're friends, right?”

“Right!” It's not like Katsuo wants to fight the demons, maybe he's still hung up on how they're 'wasting time,' the same creeping doubts Masahiko is having. “I'm lucky to have you watch my back.”

Now all eyes are on Teru, who is furrowing her brow. Then she sighs: “No need to ask me. I'm in.”

Too bad that Eri isn't here, as this would make it somewhat official, but Masahiko's party is ready! They still need a cool name, but that discussion is dragging on more and more, as there are so many different ideas and preferences. “Then let's go!”

Following their words, the party gears up and heads to the palace. Well, less a palace, and more an underground temple, from which the king of the dari and his court of chiefs rule. It's at the great city square with big dari statues marking its entrances. As most of the building is built into the rock like the rest of Kraggwas, its true splendor is only visible on the inside, while the outside may be a bit above average, but nothing remarkable.

There are no guards at the entrance, as this is a mostly open building, everyone can enter if they please. The tunnels have several statues there, depicting the former kings and chiefs of Kraggwas and its clans. Following the lane, Masahiko and his friends are on their way to the conference room. They were already there when they met the king of the dari for the first time.

“Her again?” Masahiko sees a dari girl, the same he saw twice before. She's just walking in front of them, still, he can't help but watch her. Is she looking for something? The way her head is moving suggests that. “Daichi,” he whispers: “You see that girl?”

His friend takes a long look at her, especially her face whenever it's visible. “...you're right... you could tell from behind?”

“Yeah.” Following his inkling, he speeds up his steps: “Hello. Nice to see you again?”

The girl turns her head to him and looks genuinely surprised: “What are you doing here?”

Actually, this is one of the questions that burns on Masahiko's tongue, but she also has every reason to question this: “I want to meet the king,” he answers honestly. “We didn’t introduce ourselves last time. My name is Inoue Masahiko, I'm a hero.”

“...Nikaws. I'm a trader.”

“Nice to meet you. I hope, didn't broke a deal or something earlier.”

“You didn't, it was just an argument. Not like I needed you to solve this.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. You're already quite busy, I think you arrived in Kraggwas today? I saw you on a wagon.”

“Being fast is a trader's virtue. I was surprised to see someone like you, but a hero, I see.” She looks behind her: “Are all of you heroes?”

“Yes. We're still missing someone though.”

“Ah. Have you been long here? Anything you can share with me?” Her grin shows anticipation and greed, the usual traits of anyone in the mercantile business.

“For a while, but I have no idea what might help you. I'm a hero, after all, not a merchant.”

“I've heard that the most successful merchants are in fact heroes.”

“Actually, my childhood friend already picked up the [Trader]-class. Ah, she's the one missing,” Masahiko adds, as Nikaws looks at his friends.

“Pity. I would invite you to sell me monster-parts, but I still need to get the approval for my stand.” So this is why she's here.

“Where are you from?”

“I'm from outside, a human village in Feuerberg. Didn't want to become a blacksmith like my Pa, so I started trading.”

“What exactly?”

“All kinds of stuff. Whatever I can turn into profit.”

During this sentence, the conference room's door is in sight. It's open, and there are no guards, so nobody of rank is in there. “Strange.” Masahiko looks inside, only to see someone cleaning the large stone table. “Excuse me, where is the king?”

“Not your business.”

In times like these, it's easier to rely on Teru. Masahiko waves her over: “If you would, please?”

“Always relying on me.”

“Sorry.”

“Nevermind.” She changes to [Knight] to give her [Persuasion] a boost. “We're heroes and really need to speak to the king.” Her voice sounds like usual, but for the cleaning guy, it has a lot of weight.

“They're in the temple-chambers.” The [Persuasion]-attribute only makes the hero more persuasive for non-heroes, it's not mind-control. So if this was supposed to be a secret, the cleaning guy would be horrible at keeping one in the first place.

“To the temple then.”

“Erm... good luck!” Nikaws excuses herself. She's here for an entirely other matter, so Masahiko believes she followed them just to continue having the conversation with him..

“Bye-bye. I hope we'll be able to look at your stand soon. Just leave a note with the address here after you’ve got your permission.”

“Sure.”

“Let's go!” Masahiko starts walking. Similar to Feuerberg, the main temple of this kingdom is also part of the government building. Maybe this is something common in this world.

Like the rest of the edifice, it's mostly open for anyone. Masahiko and his friends enter and walk through the passages until they find the best-guarded room. Masahiko greets the guards: “Greetings. I'm Inoue Masahiko, and we would like to talk to the king.”

“Ah, 'know ya. Sorries, but no'one can enter right now.”

“I see.” It's the same like in Esse, they're not welcome to the important talks. Masahiko said to Daichi before that they have to accept that position for now. Still, he exchanges only a glance with his friends, and everyone nodded.

Suddenly, Masahiko jumps forward, makes a quick turn to evade a dar hand and kicks open the door, while Teru, Daichi, and Katsuo are holding the guards for that split-second he needed to push through, as he uses his [Swishstride]-skill, increasing his movement speed for a moment.

Behind the door a small ramp goes upwards, at the end are more guards, which catch him, but he can see a big, round table and several people gathered there. In addition to a thing.

Its body seems to be some sort of mineral, almost rock, almost crystal, its big, eight-fingered hands are made of pure gold, its feet are looking like copper, its eyes are silver. The basic form resembles a dar vaguely, but there is no mouth or hair.

A rumbling is heard, as the creature turns its head to Masahiko, hidden beneath that tremble is a voice. «This is a breach of contract! Why is the human hero here?»

Next to that creature is King Urgrohr, whose gold-like hair and beard are swaying as he shakes his head in disapproval: “My apologies, Father. I have forgotten how impulsive humans can be and didn't deem it necessary to give them specific instructions.”

Is this rock-creature the father of the king!? No, maybe some sort of title?

There are several faces here Masahiko recognizes, like Braxas, his hero-teacher, his girlfriend Ophwizz, some of the chiefs he met before. “Hey, Father,” Braxas intervenes: “No harm done. Don't worry, we're here.”

«We don't worry, we do mind the proper execution of contracts.» The way it talks... something rings a bell in Masahiko... this is similar to the voice, not in the way it sounds, but in the way this voice just... is?

So this is Kragg, the deity of Kraggwas? The dari refer to him as 'father'? “I'm sorry to interfere with the meeting, your majesty, and... Kami-sama?” Is there a correct form of address for a deity? He just uses what he knows from Japan. “We may have been a bit too rash.”

«Son, a rash hand destroys, a patient one creates.» This sounds like a fortune cookie's quote. «However, to claim a patient hand, a peace of mind is needed. We're approving to partake in this meeting with your comrades. Youth is what leads you, a strong power indeed, and the king is wise to listen to the voices of the youth, as they may lack the wisdom, but have the conviction.» So Kragg-kamisama is letting them stay?

“Father has spoken,” the king continues: “who is of the same opinion?” Suddenly, hands are rising, so this is a democratic process, and the deity only has a vote? Many of the hands hold up a small gold bar, seeing Braxas approving this is making Masahiko happy. “Who's against?” Lead bars are lifted, just a few. “Your opinion was heard, now show unity.” Everyone lifts up a gold bar, is that the way it works? This seems strange at the moment. “Human heroes, take a seat.” King Urgrohr points next to Braxas, as dari are moving aside to make some space. “You sit with the heroes.”

The guards let Masahiko and his friends go, they sit down on the bench.

Braxas smiles at him briefly, before turning his attention to a chief, who speaks of the current situation regarding the ore mining. Masahiko decides to first listen what they're exactly talking about before he starts talking about the demons, as he feels guilty about charging in.

Yet, he thought it'd be entirely different here. He imagined screaming, he expected a strict and harsh tone. Instead, it sounds like some sort of business meeting, going through how good Kraggwas fares, where there are bottlenecks, everything but the demons.

“Then we'll have a break. See you again in half an hour.” The chiefs stand up and leave the room, while the deity just sinks into the ground like it's just another door for it.

“Wanna grab a bite, too?” Braxas pokes Masahiko roughly, waking him up from the daze.

While he wants to ask his friend some question, his first worry is about another matter: “Ophwizz, what about Eri?”

“Left her to the geomancers, sure she's still in'there.” The amount of time she has spent inside this hole has become ridiculous! Still, he has to believe in the dari and Eri’s inner strength.

“Then I guess we can talk while eating. Guys?” He asks his friends. “Do you want to tag along?”

Everyone nods and the party of six, four humans and two dari, go to the dining hall. There are also several of the chiefs, even the king eats there with some of them.

Today's menu is rats with fungi, rats are like beef for dari. Maybe, because they're among the few animals that even come close to their underground kingdoms. Braxas sits next to Ophwizz, it becomes apparent how male dari are just smaller than female ones. “K, mates. Looking as confused as a daiosar in'a butchery.”

“This is an emergency meeting, right?”

“Neh, just 'nother meeting. Ya're there 'cause of the demons, right?”

“Yes.”

Daichi speaks up: “Why are they so... so... relaxed?”

“Nah, less relaxation, more assessing our sitch before making decision. Father always lettus start from how we're now.”

This brings up one of the topics Masahiko wants to talk about. “That was Kragg, right? The one who summoned you?”

“Eyup. Ah, thanks, Gold.” Ophwizz pours Braxas a drink, while he keeps explaining.

“This is the first deity I've ever seen with my own eyes. The one who summoned us didn't show itself.”

“Y'know, every god differs. Some rule people directly, others behind the curtain. Father isn't the ruler-type, more like a mentor of all, while yours- err, I mean Feuerberg's are more like parents who sent their kids outta the world.”

“What does that mean?”

“Only heard about that, but clergy seeks advice in times of need, but otherwise almost no contact. Country makes own decisions... maybe power-struggle? Don't know 'xactly, still, some sort of separation. Think I read about a deal the founder made.”

“Eyup,” Ophwizz takes over: “Hagen von Stolzherz made deal, hacked his way through his oppressors, liberated the humans, founded the kingdom, kicked Kraggwas' ass.”

“Huh?” Teru bats her eyelashes in surprise: “Kraggwas and Feuerberg fought with each other?”

“Eyup, centuries before, way before we got here.” Ophwizz takes it easy, as she's not that involved, being from another world. “Kraggwas thought that humans would be dangerous, then they knew it. War lasted two years? In the end, made a peace treaty, Feuerberg was still young, lacked the resources to invade Kraggwas anyways, Kraggwas made Feuerberg business partner, win-win. Alliance came later, I think about...”

“Nah, doesn't matter,” Braxas snuffs at this little insight into history. “Still, that rat's great.”

By the way, Masahiko and his friends brought lunch with them, as the dar cuisine has a lot of overcooked meals. The rat Braxas is eating is almost falling apart, same goes for the fungi. The only cutlery a classic dar dish needs is a spoon.

Good thing that they have their backpacks.

“So basically,” Masahiko sums up the former topic: “Kragg is like a most trusted adviser?”

“Eyup, Father just gives his divine insight and suggestions, doesn't interfere directly in what we mortals do. Decisions are made by votes, every'one has a differ'nt weight, the king's vote weighs about a fifth of the council, the heroes' votes are a quarter altogether, the chiefs have the rest split among them.”

This seems almost democratic, though there is still a class system.

In Feuerberg, nobles are running the country, it's very centered on the king and his inner circle. However, from what Masahiko has seen, the people are mostly happy, the country prospers, and the king cares about his people.

Kraggwas is different. Not that it's bad, but the whole feeling is different. Maybe it's because it's a country of non-humans. Still, Masahiko has the impression that there is a sense of unity there, even though the dari are more direct, more physical than humans in the way they treat each other.

“So there is the royalty, the clans, and the heroes? These are the different parties?”

“'bout right.”

Masahiko's friends are mostly listening in, sometimes whispering to each other or Ophwizz, but then Daichi asks a simple but very vital question: “How will you two vote?”

“Me? About the demons?” Braxas sways his head: “So far, the city is stable, can go fighting some. Let the heroes do the job, we get XP, city gets rid of demons and monsters, no need to endanger normal soldiers. Though it'd be their job as well and any army should fight battles. 'bout you, Gold?”

“Just kill'em all, finished.” Ophwizz really isn't holding back: “They're in the way anyways.”

“In the way of what?”

“Err... for the reclaim and reconstruction of the Deep Trails?”

“What are the Deep Trails?”

As Braxas was about to begin, Teruko taps Masahiko's shoulder and shakes her head. “Later.” Ah, so she knows it, but it's not vital right now. Without Teru, Masahiko might have spent more time on topics that aren't necessary to fully understand the current situation.

“What do you expect that the council will decide upon in the end?”

“No clue. They're hardheaded, we're still counting our resources. You wanna fight too, right?”

“Yes.” Everyone nods.

“Would be glad to have ya. I'm still stronger, but reli'ble friends are what I need most.”

Masahiko feels a bit of embarrassment, partly due to the words of his friends, partly due to how quickly he was stopped when he stormed the council before. His eagerness just melted away, while his determination still is strong. Strange.

Maybe it has something to do how he was treated, how he was readily accepted and could partake. He forced his way in, thinking he would meet resistance, only to tread water.

Thinking about this for the rest of the break, he and his friends return to the chamber to join the next discussion. This time, Kragg is nowhere to be seen, yet nobody in the room seems surprised by this.

King Urgrohr starts with the very reason why Masahiko is here in the first place, the deepstalker Urgrik enters the room to explain what he and his platoon found out. More than a thousand enemies, if his 'feeling the stone' is right.

Urgrik leaves and the king takes over: “This may be only the tip of the iceberg, yet we just established that we're more than capable of taking care of the current numbers without much influence on our economy. These tunnels aren't important to maintain our current status.”

“Means,” Braxas whispers to the humans, “we can just cave'm in with'all the monsters and demons inside.” So this is how dari fight underground. Thinking about how necessary which tunnels are before just destroying them with their enemies.

“Yet,” the king continues, “we haven't explored them fully, there may be more ore deposits in them.” Is the king serious!?

The moment Masahiko thought that the dari have a perfect solution to this problem, one Masahiko didn't even consider before, the chiefs are starting about talking about how fighting the enemies in the tunnels might be an opportunity to make them wealthier.

Some even proposed to reinforce Kraggwas as much as possible to let the demons attack them, just to keep the damage to the tunnels as low as possible. Even worse, this suggestion earns quite some nods! Risking the lives of people just for the chance to get more ore!

Masahiko is shocked at how the king, the chiefs, and even some of the heroes are arguing about how much risk and reward there is for each suggestion that is made. Some of the arguments are reasonable, like how they know too little about the forces and plan of the demons, as there may be more groups hiding and such, but the greed seeping through the argument makes Masahiko sick in the stomach.

Daichi looks like he's about to eat the table, as he wants to say something about it, but doesn't know how, as every attempt is mercilessly shot down by another dar, while the whole council gives him disapproving looks like he spoke out of turn.

Teru is clearly grinding her teeth, Katsuo is on edge, so Masahiko starts whispering to Braxas: “When can we talk?”

“Maybe tomorrow.”

“To-tomorrow?”

“Eyup, Father not being here shows that this might take a while. First, a bit of probing, asking for opinions, clashing attitudes, tomorrow best ideas will be chosen and further formulated, I think, like which clan does whatsoever.”

The more the dar hero explains, the wider the humans open their eyes. In the end, the only concrete thing that was decided at this meeting is to send more deepstalkers to investigate the matter further.

―○●○―

Completely exhausted by this total waste of time, Masahiko lays on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Daichi is already sleeping, Katsuo is maintaining his gear, a sign of his frustration. A soft knocking is heard, at the door. “Come in.”

It's Eri! “Hey boys.” She looks like she just bathed, her wet hair is still hanging down, instead of her usual ponytail: “I've heard from Teru. You suck, Masa.”

“Yeah,” Masahiko stands up greets his childhood friend at the door. “Let's take a walk. Daichi is sleeping.”

“Sure.” However, the moment they leave the room, Eri already starts talking: “You're doing it again. Why can't you just let the dari take care of their own stuff?”

“Before we talk about that, how are you? You were in the hole for almost a day!”

“I won't lie. It was dark, it was hard to breathe, I felt like dying a hundred times. Still, I'm stronger than that.”

“You always were the stronger one,” Masahiko smiles wryly. “I'm just trying to get by.”

“I think you're just not satisfied by taking things slowly or letting them rest.” Her small giggle and her well-meaning eyes make Masahiko feel more at ease. He can always rely on her when he hits a wall.

“I'm just doing what everyone would do.”

“...sometimes I think, if everyone were like you, the world would be at peace.”

“Ah, come on! You just want to see me embarrassed!”

“Seriously, Masa. You try too hard.”

“I'm not... if I tried harder, things wouldn't be like they are.”

“I should be glad that you didn't charge right into the demons on your own.”

“I've thought about that. Still, I'm at my best with all of you... *sigh*.”

“It's Kyou-chan again, right?”

“You really know me.”

“It's always her!” Why is she so angry? “That's what I mean by trying too hard!”

“I don't know what you mean.”

“Forget it. Seriously, you're just dumb at times. You make my head hurt.”

Maybe she's right, perhaps he's too bitter about what happened with her, but sometimes Masahiko can't help but think that everything that went wrong lately ultimately comes from them leaving Kyou in Esse. “Sorry to make you worry.”

“...you're sneaky. Smiling like that.”

“I know exactly how I can get through your hard shell.” They have known each other since forever, of course, they learned how to plead to each other. “Though, the real reason why I'm not suggesting to charge in is a feeling.”

“That feeling?”

“Yes. I feel like sticking around here for a while.” Sometimes Masahiko has this strange sensation, he used to think of it as a sort of precognition, now he thinks it's just a good instinct. The first time he had it, he spontaneously decided to take his superball with him to the playground. Later, he used it to throw it against a boy a head taller as him, who was about to hit Eri, so he could grab her and run away.

In Elementary School he just wanted to check the gym storage, only to find a boy, who was locked in there. Another time, he just had the urge to return to the classroom only to find a handheld console which has been kicked under one of those movable shelves during cleaning, and he handed it over to his classmate, who was crying because his parents would be angry at him for losing it.

In junior high he had the feeling that he needed to stay home, so he feigned illness, only to see his grandmother collapsing. If he weren't there, she might have been there alone for hours.

In high school, he just knew where to find Katsuo when he was sulking again. He happened to have that card deck with him, which opened up the conversation, which made him befriend that boy who didn't want to fit in class before.

This instinct is most likely just a result of all the subtle hints he unconsciously collects. It’s nothing too fancy, but he learned to trust this feeling. It's rare, maybe once a year at best, but the moment it strikes, Masahiko listens to it.

This is the first time since being summoned into this world that he has this feeling. He just feels like he needs to stay in Kraggwas for now. Maybe he still has to hear something, perhaps something is amiss, he doesn't know, but he's sure that it's the best option right now.

Eri seems to be a bit relieved: “At least you won't charge into your death... for now.”

“We're heroes, it's a dangerous job.” He respects Eri's decision to stick around with him instead of finding other ways to be of use for the Feuerberg-kingdom. He's not entirely content with it, but that's just a man's pride. Women have the right to fight too.

“Well, being a hero means to be stuck in holes, it seems. How was your day?”

Eri changes the topic, robbing Masahiko of all his unpleasant thoughts about the current situation for the moment. She really knows how to cheer him up.

―○●○―

“...” Why did she use [Camouflage]? The moment the two of them entered her sight, Teruko pressed herself against a wall, using a skill to make her body take on the colors of the background. In a way, this is the perfect fit: Reduced to being a background character.

Masahiko and Eri-chan are so close to each other. They're childhood-friends after all. Seeing them like that, laughing together, having fun, makes Teruko aware that her most inner desires concerning him won't ever be realized. It also makes her understand that she doesn't have her childhood-friend by her side anymore; Kyou-chan isn't here.

No, no negative thoughts! She just needs to wait, then Masahiko and Eri-chan will be away soon. Yes, just wait until he's gone...