Melromarc Kingdom
"We did it! The summoning was a success!" A Mage shouted.
"Where am I?" Naofumi said, confused.
"O brave heroes, please save our world!" The Mage pleaded at the five figures standing in front of them.
"Seriously?" Naofumi said as he looked around, unaware of the gaze of a certain green-haired.
"What do you mean by that?"
"There is a long and complicated story behind this, but we've summoned you Five Cardinal Heroes here using an ancient ritual." The Mage explained.
'Five Cardinal?' So he thinks the five of us are heroes of legend? Naofumi thought.
"Our world teeters on the brink of destruction." The Mage continued. "We beg you, O brave heroes! Please help us!"
"I guess I could hear you out, at least." Naofumi said.
"I refuse." the ravenette hero said.
"Likewise." the hero with the curly blonde hair said.
"We can go back to our world, right?" the hero with the blonde ponytail said. "We'll talk about your problems after that."
Enkidu remained silent as he listened to what they were talking about.
"Don't you guys feel any guilt at all for bringing us here without our consent?" The ravenette hero said as he pointed his sword at the mages.
"And if you throw us out as soon as peace is restored, we'd have worked for nothing." The hero with the bow said.
"How willing are you to accommodate us? Depending on your answer, we might end up becoming your enemies instead." The hero with the spear said.
Not only are these guys taking all this in stride, but they've also already started to demand respect and rewards! Naofumi thought and looked at Enkidu. But why doesn't he say anything?
"F-First, we'd like you to have an audience with the king of our country, Melromarc." The Mage said nervously. "You can negotiate your reward after that, so please."
"Fine, I guess." the ravenette hero said as he pointed his sword to the ground.
"I suppose we could consider their offer." The bow hero said.
"Not like our demands are gonna change, no matter who we talk to." The spear hero said.
Yeesh! Could these guys be any more confident? Naofumi thought,
"Are you coming?" Enkidu said as he looked at Naofumi.
"Eh? Um yeah." Naofumi said and followed the others.
"We really are in another world, huh?"
"We sure are."
"Such a pleasant breeze..." Naofumi said as he looked out of the window. "It's like the typical sales pitch in all those tour brochures."
"Wait, have you never traveled out of Japan before?" The bow hero said.
"Going by the breeze outside, this place probably has your standard Mediterranean climate." The sword hero.
"Yeah, yeah. Excuse me for my lack of knowledge and vocabulary."
"You shouldn't worry about them." Enkidu said as he put his hand on Naofumi's shoulder. "They're trash, after all." Enkidu said quietly enough that only Naofumi could hear.
"I'm sure they're not that bad." Naofumi said.
"How naive. Trust me, it's better not to trust people like them. It's your choice whether to believe me or not. Sooner or later, you'll find out my words hold true."
.
.
Throne Room
"So these men are the Five Cardinal Heroes of ancient legend?" The King said. "I am the King of Melromarc, Aultcray Melromarc XXXII. Heroes, name yourselves."
"Amaki Ren, sixteen years old, high schooler." the sword hero said.
"I'm Kitamura Motoyasu. Twenty-one, and a college student." the spear hero said.
"I suppose I'm up next. Kawasumi Itsuki, seventeen years old, and a high schooler."
"Enkidu." Enkidu said.
" And lastly, me...I'm..." Naofumi said, however, he was cut off by the King.
"I see. Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki, huh?" The King said.
"Y-Yo, King, aren't you forgetting me?" Naofumi said.
"Hmm? Oh, forgive me."
Enkidu narrowed his eyes at the King's actions. So this is what Anu meant.
"'Yo, King?' You mustn't be so disrespectful." Itsuki said.
"Should I call him His Highness, then? That's too formal, no?"
"King is fine." The King said.
"Well, whatever works. My name is Iwatani Naofumi. I'm twenty and a college student."
"Now, I suppose I owe you an explanation." The King ignored Naofumi and continued on.
"You're ignoring me?"
"Let it go, Naofumi," Enkidu said as he looked at the Shield Hero.
Naofumi sighed.
"My country, Melromarc, and the entire world is headed toward destruction."
"I'm still pissed off at how the King's treating me, but here's the long story short. This world has an apocalyptic prophecy, which mentions 'Waves' that will lead the world to ruin and reportedly appear in, well, several waves. Unless the calamities wrought by the Waves are thwarted, the world will end. Each country here has an ancient dragon hourglass, which can predict the arrival of the Waves. The first Wave washed over this country before we were summoned. Local knights and traveling adventurers somehow managed to fend it off, but the following Waves will be even more potent. The hourglass's sands will keep trickling as long as the Waves keep coming. Currently, less than a month remains until the second Wave." Naofumi narrated.
"We underestimated the prophesied Waves." The King said as he clenched his hands on the throne. "We realized once we actually experienced one that only the Five Cardinal Heroes could counter them. And so, we followed the legend and summoned you five. We have no time to lose!"
Wait a sec. The Records of the Five Cardinal Weapons Isn't this the exact same story like the one in that book? Naofumi thought.
"We get the gist of it now." Ren said. "Anyway, surely you didn't summon us expecting us to save you for free."
"Of course, once you repel all the Waves, we shall reward you handsomely." The man next to the King said.
"Will you now? Well, as long as we have your word." Motoyasu said.
"We'll work with you provided you don't turn on us. But don't think for a moment that you can tame us." Ren said, coldly.
"Exactly. We can't have you looking down on us." Itsuki said.
"R-Right..." Naofumi said, timidly. God, these guys are so high-and-mighty. He thought.
"I trust we have an agreement." The King said. "Then, heroes, you should all check your statuses."
"Wait, what's a status?" Naofumi said.
"Uh..." Itsuki said.
"What's wrong with you, guys? It should've been the first thing you noticed in this world." Ren said.
Oh, get over yourself! Quit acting like you know everything! Naofumi thought, annoyed.
"Don't you see an icon in the corner of your field of vision?" Ren said as he looked at Itsuki.
"Huh? You're right." Naofumi said. "There it is."
"Try focusing on it."
"Like this? Affinity Fire: 0 Water: 0 Ice: 0 Wind: 0 Earth: 0 Lightning: 0 Light: 0 Dark: 0 The Bow Hero Status ATT: 17 MAG: 13 P. DEF: 10 M. DEF: 14 DEX: 15 Equipment Small Bow Otherworld Clothes.
"Level 1? That's worrying." Itsuki said.
"Yeah. No telling if we can fight like this."
Enkidu looked at his status quietly and smirked mentally when he saw all of his abilities was at max, thanks to Anu. Well, that's excellent news. However, given how greedy these pigs are, it's best not to show them I am more powerful than the others.
"What's all this, anyway?" Naofumi said.
"Status Magic, an ability exclusive to the heroes." The prime minister said.
"So, what are we supposed to do?" Ren said.
" You must leave on an adventure to develop and upgrade the legendary weapons that you have equipped." The Prime minister said.
"They aren't maxed out of the box?" Naofumi said. "Wait, mine isn't even a weapon."
"Couldn't we just wield other weapons until these are usable?" Motoyasu said.
"We can figure that out as we go." Ren said. "Anyway, it looks like we ought to train ourselves."
"We'll have to level up as much as we can." Itsuki said.
"Hm, what about you? Where's your weapon." Ren said as he looked at Enkidu.
Enkidu smirked. "That's a secret."
"Ano, are you a girl or a boy?" Motoyasu said.
Enkidu looked at Motoyasu. "That's also a secret."
Motoyasu and Ren's eyes twitched.
"Then, if the five of us form a party...." Naofumi said.
"One moment, heroes." The prime minister interrupted. "You will each recruit and adventure separately."
"And why is that?" Itsuki said.
"It is said that the legendary weapons repel one another by nature." The Prime minister explained. "When two more wielders of the legendary weapons operate together, it causes an adverse reaction in the weapons. Working separately is highly advised. If you work together, it apparently hinders their development."
"He's telling the truth, huh?" Naofumi said. And the weapons are translating all verbal and visual information into Japanese for us. He thought.
"The sun is about to set." The King said. "Rest up tonight, and set forth tomorrow. In the meantime, we'll gather the best of the best to form your parties."
"We've prepared rooms for you. Please come this way." The lady said.
"I hear the Five Cardinal Heroes have been summoned."
"All five of them, in this country? Are they sure about this?"
"Wait, that means the Shield and Mage Hero are also..."
"I guess you get special treatment when you're heroes of legend. The girl who showed us here was a cutie pie, too." Motoyasu said.
"And our dinner was sumptuous, though it did taste unusual." Itsuki said.
"Hey, isn't this kinda like a game?"
"You mean it is one." Motoyasu said. "It's exactly like Emerald Online."
"Huh? What's that game?" Naofumi said.
"Are you serious? It's super famous!" Motoyasu said.
"What are you talking about? This isn't some online game. It's a world out of a console game. It's called Dimension Web." Itsuki said.
"You're wrong. It's a VRMMO. It's pretty much the exact same as Brave Star Online." Ren said.
Hoh? What's this? It seems they're from different timelines. How interesting. Enkidu thought, amused.
"Let's sort out the information we have." Motoyasu said as he stood up. "Ren, can we take 'VRMMO' literally?"
"Yeah." Ren said.
"You guys get what that means too, right?" Motoyasu said.
"I think a sci-fi game I'm familiar with explored the concept," Itsuki said.
"I've read about them in LNs, yeah." Naofumi said.
"Just to be sure, let's check our general knowledge." Motoyasu said.
"Who's the person on the thousand yen bill? One, two...
"Yawara Gotaro."
"Yuda Masato."
"Kodaka Enichi."
"Noguchi Hideyo."
"No idea." Enkidu said as he laid back on the couch.
"Who?!" Everyone except Enkidu shouted.
"What won Buzzword of the Year last year?!"
" Your favorite voice actors?"
"Which countries won World War II?"
"Who's the Prime Minister?"
"It seems we're all from different versions of Japan." Itsuki said.
"Looks like it. They sound nothing alike." Ren said.
"So there are parallel world Japans out there too, huh? I thought we might just be from different eras, but I guess not, if they're so different. Ano, you didn't say anything." Naofumi said as he and everyone else looked at the green-haired individual.
Enkidu smirked. "That's because I'm not from this 'Japan' you people are talking about."
"Then, where are you from?" Itsuki asked.
"The Kingdom of Uruk." Enkidu said proudly.
"Uruk? Where's that?" Motoyasu said, confused.
Hmmm, where have I heard that name before? Naofumi thought.
"I can't believe all three of you played games that are just like this world. Why am I the only one unfamiliar with this stuff?" Naofumi said.
"Huh? What is it? W-Well, I just thought it might because you're the Shield Hero." Itsuki said.
"Oh, you too?" Motoyasu said.
"It's only natural." Ren said.
"Wh-What're you guys talking about? Is there something wrong with the shield?" Naofumi said.
"All right. Big Bro Motoyasu's gonna get you up to speed on the basics. As far as I know, the Shielder, the class that specializes in the shield..."
"Yeah?"
"is one for losers. No high-level gamers play it."
"No! How about in your worlds?"
"Sorry." Ren said.
"Likewise." Itsuki said.
Welcome to reality, foolish boy. Enkidu thought as he looked at Naofumi freaking out. You'll see how greedy and power-hungry they are once you see their true nature soon. I can't wait to see your world crash down on you. How exciting! Ara ara I'm becoming sadistic again. Enkidu sighed and looked out of the window. Honestly, Gil did always say I was a sadist, but I never thought anything of it. Well, there's nothing I can do about it. Gil... I want to see you again.
"How's the terrain here?" Motoyasu asked.
"Very similar to what I'm familiar with." Ren said.
"Each weapon has its own ideal hunting ground, so let's spread out." Itsuki said.
Well, whatever. Naofumi thought. If I'm weak, I can just rely on my party. It might have girls and all, too. The shield's role would be to thwart enemy attacks and defend the party, right? And while my life back home was devoid of romance, I might just meet The One here. It'll be fine. I've been summoned to another world, after all. Even if I'm weak, things will work out.
"All right! I'm gonna give it my all!" Naofumi exclaimed.
"R-Right. We have to set out on adventures tomorrow." Motoyasu said. "Let's head back to our rooms and get a good night's sleep."
"Do you think they have baths here? " Itsuki said.
"It's quite likely you'll have to go outdoors." Motoyasu said.
That's right. My grand adventure begins tomorrow! Naofumi thought