Edea: Hero Summoning Conspiracy 178 Well, aren't you people selfish?

Due to the pillar of light that could clearly be seen even during daylight, the news of the successful hero summoning had spread across the kingdom of Zweifel and the cities closest to the capital with haste. Every citizen, even those who weren't in favor of calling upon a hero at this time was excited upon the fact that a person who could only be considered a legend would exist in their current generation.

What the excited citizens that had already gathered around the temple of the hero were unaware of however, was that there was already a person who had schemed to summon the hero already regretting her decision.

Alicia laid on her bed after being rushed back to the castle. Knights have already been sent out to call for higher ranked healers since the priestesses who accompanied her back for healing were perplexed at how their healing magic were not affecting the princess' wounds.

"Useless!" Alicia scolded them in frustration.

She began to worry since she couldn't feel anything starting from the parts where she had been wounded. Both her legs and her dominant right arm made her lose a sense of feeling starting from her knees and elbow.

"Get the bishop here from the temple if you have to!" she commanded without holding back her rage.

What Alicia didn't know was that the moment she showed a sly smile after confirming that the hero summoning was a success, her fate inside the hero's mind had already been determined. That had been enough for him to consider her as having bad intentions towards him.

"Princess!!" a young woman dressed in armor that only royal guards could don entered the room in a fluster. "What happened? How did you get such injuries? Weren't you supposed to be in the hero's temple?"

It was the day of the month where the leaders of the royal guard were to have a meeting so the responsibility of looking after Alicia for the day had been delegated onto another. No one ever expected that the currently heavily guarded hero's temple would experience an attack from the inside.

"Don't remind me Julia. It was that hero that did this to me." Alicia calmed down a bit after her personal guard had entered the room and told her what had transpired. "I don't know what he did or what that weapon of his was but, it looks like the priestesses' healing magic is of no use against my wounds."

"I will make sure that he answers for what he has done!" Julia angrily rose. "I will tear that weapon of his to pieces too."

"Don't. Not even my father had been able to refute the hero's reason for doing what he did. Not only did I try to retaliate, looking at things from his point of view, we are merely kidnappers that took him from his world without permission." Alicia persuaded her knight to stay.

"But not only did he injure a member of the royal family, he also dared to draw a weapon in front of his majesty! That is enough reason for us to have a reason to turn him into a criminal slave!" Julia didn't care about the hero's reasons and already condemned him in her mind.

"No. That would only condemn us in the eyes of all the people and countries who look up to the hero. My father had already sworn on his crown that we would do nothing to harm him." Alicia bitterly explained. "It might be because of our lack of information about the world the heroes come from or this specific hero just might be an exception but the fact that we had not expected him to see us as threats was our own fault."

"I don't think there wouldn't be a problem if I acted against him because of my personal feelings. My personal feelings are separate from my duties as a royal guard and it is my belief that he should suffer for what he did to you, princess."

"How stubborn." Alicia showed dissatisfaction despite being pleased with her royal guard. "Just remember to make sure that it is clear that you are moving as an individual and not as a person employed by the royal family before you make such a move. As much as it pains me to swallow this disgrace, the fact still remains that he is a major part of our plans." She reminded.

"I am aware." Julia nodded as she was aware of the reason why the hero had been needed.

"Hero Kazuya… just you wait. It will be me who has the last laugh…" Alicia grit her teeth as she tried put some strength towards her limbs. Her pride couldn't accept her current condition and she refused to even think about asking the person who treated her like that resolve it.

-

Over at the hero's temple. Kazuya had just finished listening to the same spiel that the king and the nobles had given him about why he had been summoned to Edea. The only thing that changed was that they had chosen their words more wisely.

Kazuya believed that this was because of the presence of duke Eberbach, a person who was not present when he was summoned the last time.

"(Too bad that stupid knight Julia wasn't here when I took Alicia as a hostage. I would have liked to cripple that bitch as well.)" he sighed inwardly after hearing what the nobles had to say.

"We beseech you to lend us your strength." The king gave a humble looking bow that Kazuya was not unfamiliar with.

This action had been one of the most important factors that made him decide to lend the Zweifel kingdom a helping hand. This time, the hero held the urge to slay this king for this shameless attempt of trying to fool him.

"Though I assumed that there had been such a reason for why I was summoned here, I am interested to know just what you people might do in case I choose to refuse to help?" he shot a question that once again left the king struggling to answer.

"That's…"

"I mean, think about it, putting aside the fact that I don't know anyone here, would anyone of you agree to put yourselves in danger just because you were asked to? By the ones who suddenly brought you to another world all of a sudden?" Looking at their expressions was enough to tell him what they thought.

"None of you even know anything about me nor even bothered to ask. Would you, a king, decide to go on a long journey in an unfamiliar world when you know that you have a kingdom who is currently in need of you because of a war?"

"I would not…" the king couldn't help but say so because he was in the presence of his subjects.

"This is preposterous! Are you saying that you are a king in your world!?"

"How shameless!"

"How dare you continuously question the king!"

Kazuya's eyes narrowed as he turned to the nobles who were speaking up for the king. He released an enormous amount of mana to show that the current him, who had just received the hero's blessing had released mana due to his current emotions.

"I may not be a king specifically, but I am one who will stand on top of two of Earth's most influential empires in the future. Two empires that affect not just a single country, take note of that. One is my family's empire and the other is my fiancé's. I don't expect any of you to understand because none of you even tried to consider my own circumstances." Kazuya looked at them like he was looking at insects.

The nobles felt like they were going to be crushed under the pressure and started to regret their decision to suck up to the king. Their decision had most likely turned the hero against them and it would be hard to recover from it.

"I apologize." The king bowed his head once more. "We had been so desperately clinging to the hope of summoning a hero that we have forgotten to think about your circumstances." The king had finally thought of a way to save himself from the current situation.

Though Kazuya wanted to press them further, he stopped himself because he knew that both him and the kingdom wanted to have an amicable relationship for their own purposes. He stayed quiet and continued to listen to how the king intended to salvage the situation.

"You indeed have the right to refuse to help." The king's words surprised the nobles that surrounded him. "Our kingdom will take full responsibility of you during your stay in our world."

"My stay?" Kazuya already knew the answer, but he acted as if he did not know what the king was trying to imply.

"Yes. Currently, we have just recovered the capability of summoning a hero such as yourself. Due to our circumstances, we have yet to complete the research about the method on how to send you back to your world. I'm afraid that you will have to stay here until we are able to find a method to send you back." The king explained while maintaining a regretful expression that Kazuya wanted to hit so badly.

"…" Kazuya remained silent and acted as if he had been thinking about the situation.

This was the first time that the hero had been silenced so many of the nobles felt a sense of relief. They still didn't know much about this hero, but his intelligence was glaringly apparent. The mana he was able to emanate earlier was as impressive as the elite knights, so they looked forward to the result once he had been formally trained to control it.

"As much as I would like to say that your desperate action is akin to using a poison without an antidote, I understand the situation after that explanation. I will take you up on your offer and impose on your kingdom while you search for a method for me to return to Earth." Kazuya came up with a compromise for the current situation.

"What about your decision to help us with our peril?" the king knew he had the current advantage.

"I still haven't decided. As I take you up on your offer to be in this kingdom's care, I will think about whether I can help or not after I learn more about this world. I would like to believe that a wise king such as yourself won't use the method to return me to my world as leverage. Which is why I want your word as a king that you will seriously find a way to send me back."

"You have my guarantee. It is what we should do as the summoners after all." the king agreed and gave his word without hesitation.

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He believed that he had victory over the conversation in the end. With how it turned out, this hero will inevitably lend them a hand. With being able to go back home much quicker at stake, the king was confident that Kazuya will eventually go through the process that had so meticulously laid out for him.

"Good! In the meantime…" Kazuya turned towards duke Eberbach. "Would I be able to intrude upon your place Duke-sama?"

"That's—"

"That will not do hero-sama, everyone knows that the hero will stay at the castle."

"A parade has even been prepared from here to the royal palace!"

The nobles immediately tried to dissuade him because they had been the ones against duke Eberbach.

"I don't mind it being announced that I'm staying at the palace. That would be more convenient anyway." Kazuya didn't deny them that. "As a person new to this world, I want to know just what kind of kingdom this is with my own eyes. It's not like I'm not planning on going to the palace since it should have a library in it that's full of knowledge, right?" he turned back to the duke and waited for his decision.

"It will be an honor to be a host for the hero, but…." Elrich looked over to the king implying that he did not have the final say.

"It's fine…" the king knew that it wasn't possible for the duke to have planned this all out beforehand. The hero had just been summoned so such preparations to make them look bad wasn't possible. "Duke Eberbach is one of the most loyal subjects of the kingdom so there should be no problems leaving him to inform you with other things you need to know."

The king gave Elrich a serious look. This was a reminder and a warning for the duke to not say anything that the hero shouldn't need to know. Both were aware of why the duke had been against summoning a hero so the king had felt that there had been to need to say it himself.

"I humbly accept the king's trust." The duke gave a polite bow.

The meeting had ended not too long after that and the grand parade of the summoned hero was started. The king did not sit on his throne despite his numerous competitors for it. He had already decided on a way of dealing with the hero.

For the prideful ruler, he had taken everything the hero said with a grain of salt. He was still a young man despite his words and actions. By showing Kazuya the glory and advantages of being in his position, there was no doubt in the king's mind that it would not take too long for Kazuya to accept his fate.

"(I dressed up for it just in case but… looks like it isn't easy to change the events without being forceful about it.)" Kazuya thought as he rode the grand carriage that he and the king boarded. "(I'll take this compromise Benino von Lichtenstein. Our game is just beginning.)

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Chapter end