Chapter 07: The Road has been Blocked!

Six hours ago.

Several soldiers and magicians of the royal court were standing on either side of the palace room. In the center, there was a round table where two men of different ages were sitting in their chairs. One was the King of Heiligh and the other was the Pope of the Holy Church.

The room was permeated with an oppressive atmosphere as they looked at each other.

"Are you sure what you said is correct?" The King asked as he looked at the Pope with a serious expression.

"In the name of Lord Ehit, everything I have said is true!. If you want to confirm it, we even have all the girls who have been victims".

"Sigh~, no need. All I wonder now is how I will be able to mention this in front of my daughter...". He sighed and leaned back in his chair, tired.

The Pope's eyes sparkled for a moment: "There is no need to mention it directly to her. How about tomorrow morning we make this information public? That way, she will have no choice but to accept it."

The king contemplated the Pope's words for a few seconds and nodded: "Then it will be done. But then we have to act before we inform the public. We don't want him to escape, do we?"

"Don't worry about the preparations, I already have all the arrangements to mobilize tonight". Said the Pope with a soft, calm smile.

The topic of conversation was, of course, Nader. Who was now reading in the library without knowing what was going on behind his back.

It had all started this morning when Pope Ishtar had begun to weave plans to use against Nader. As manipulative as the Pope turned out to be, it wasn't so hard for him to do some behind-the-scenes scheming.

He was someone who wanted to have everything under control, including power. When he had found out about Nader's absurd stats being only a level one, he wanted to get him under control, or if he couldn't, annihilate him before he grew up. He couldn't allow such a dangerous bomb to be on the loose.

This would also apply to Kouki if he were smarter, but to his luck, Kouki turned out to be quite dense as a child. However, what benefited the Pope the most was undoubtedly Kouki's idealism.

"Then, our discussions are over, for now, Eliheid". Said the Pope, and they both rose from their chairs as they shook hands.

"By the way, put Meld Loggins in charge to take Lord Ehit's chosen ones on an expedition tomorrow into the Great Orcus Labyrinth for training".

"Very well!" Nodded the King.

Even though he was the King of Heiligh, he treated him as if the Pope was in a higher position than him. This made things much easier for the Pope.

Just as the Pope walked out the door of the room, his calm smile was replaced by a distorted smile.

The King watched the Pope's back until he disappeared around the corner of the door, turned around, and said:

"Listen, everyone! Tonight, fifty warriors and fifty wizards will be mobilized together with the bishops! You heard everything that has happened, and I don't want any of you to infiltrate what you have heard! Understood?!".

"Understood, Sir!".

"Someone go and inform Captain Meld Loggins that I need him present here in twenty minutes! He should be with the heroes by now. That's it, you're dismissed".

The soldiers bowed before heading in ranks and exiting the room, leaving the King with a solemn expression.

"Sigh~, tomorrow will be a busy day...".

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A few minutes ago, Nader had left the library and was now walking along with one of the paths that led to the outskirts of the castle.

Nader sensed a familiar presence to his right and turned his head. He saw a beautiful girl with black hair tied in a ponytail that waved slightly in the light evening breeze. She had a distracted gaze looking at the beautiful reflection of the moonlight reflected on the surface of the river that flowed under the bridge. In her arms was a kitten with gray fur curled up and enjoying the girl's caresses.

Nader instantly recognized her. It was Shizuku, the same girl he used to rummage through his mind for information. He saw her as the most intelligent and capable of the hero's group, although sometimes she acted as a babysitter to appease a child's tantrum, in this case, Kouki's.

With light steps that went unnoticed over the noise of the river, Nader walked in their direction. He stopped a few feet away and looked down at the river. He leaned back on the wooden railing and a typical phrase came out of his mouth:

"A beautiful night, don't you think?".

"Hiiii, who-?!", Shizuku made a squeal like never before and jumped to the side as the kitten meowed with its fur standing on end, its sharp claws digging into her clothes.

Shizuku looked towards the person who had suddenly spoken and when she saw him, she was surprised, not because of his appearance, but because, even though Nader had a smiling face, his look was still the same as always, emotionless. Even though his eyes were as bright as pearls, to Shizuku they seemed dull, lifeless.

She let out a sigh of relief as she patted her chest. She did her best not to blush at her recent squeal.

Nader smiled at the girl who jumped like a scared little kitten and commented, "Don't be afraid, it's not like I'm a villain or anything".

Shizuku looked at him with a strange look and returned to her place, "You haven't been able to sleep either?".

"Something like that. I recently came out of my library seclusion to try to appease my mind after a few long reading sessions".

"Oh, I heard a lot of girls were lamenting that you didn't show up anymore." A small smile formed on Shizuku's usually serious expression, "Did you discover something while you were reading?".

She wanted to discover more about this world, but unfortunately, she had to stay at the training camp every day as she didn't want her stats to stay too far behind the hero.

Nader, shrugged his shoulders and, instead of answering the question, asked her another question, "Shizuku, what do you think about this world?".

"Huh?", Shizuku turned her head towards Nader, puzzled, then looked back at the serene river and began to speak, "If I expressed it would be something like, 'Pretty cruel?'. We're just teenagers who so far have seen nothing of the cruelty of the world, and suddenly we are summoned as God's chosen ones against our will to save mankind".

The little kitten in Shizuku's arms jumped nimbly through the air and landed on Nader's shoulders.

Nader reached up and stroked the little kitten's soft fur. Shizuku looked at him with jealousy as the kitten purred at Nader's soothing caresses.

"So why did you agree to help them in this war?".

After thinking for a while, Shizuku spoke again, "Because I'm afraid, not of the war, but the fear you have when someone close to you is in danger, I just don't want to lose them....".

Nader nodded at her answer and said, "I see, but it would be good if you didn't have too much trust in this kingdom or the Holy Church. Much less in that so-called God, think that for him you are just one of the many chess pieces on his game board".

"How are you so sure, is that related to what I had read?".

Although she thought Nader couldn't find a history book that contained themes of both the Kingdom and the Holy Church being marked as suspects or as the villains of history, she had been interested in his point of view.

"No, just a hunch. Where I come from, there was a world similar to this one. The different races of that world continually received revelation from their respective gods. The gods had planted in the minds of their respective follower's small seeds of hatred towards the other races. Little by little, the small seed sprouted into a huge tree full of evil fruits. Fruits that have caused a huge war that encompassed all races: children, women or old people, all died without exception".

"When the news reached our world, it was already too late. When I had gone to see the world, there was no living being left, there was only a world flooded by the blood of its former inhabitants... Well, the point is that I think that the God they worship in this world is not very different from the one in that destroyed world, moving the pieces of the board at his whim. If my guess turns out to be correct, then you the summoned, are the favorite pieces on that board." He explained as he recalled the figure he had seen in the Cathedral of the Holy Church.

Shizuku simply remained silent as she gazed at the distant, beautiful stars that decorated the dark sky with a wistful, pale expression.

After a good few seconds, Shizuku broke the silence, "And then what happened to those gods? Where they found?".

"Oh, well, those beings who called themselves gods were some beings from my world who had gone to that world for fun. So yes, I had to take care of them."

When Shizuku was a child, she turned out to be extremely sharp. She had an excellent understanding of a person's personality, so she could tell that Nader wasn't lying to her with everything he was telling her.

Mind you, she could not completely trust him, neither him nor the Holy Church, since one she had only met a couple of times, and the other had summoned them against their wills to fight in a war against the demons.

However, from his point of view, there was no harm in knowing the other's thoughts, for one day, that information might be of use.

Nader stepped away from the railing. He took the kitten in his hands before approaching Shizuku and putting her on his shoulders.

"Also, don't take all the burdens others carry on your shoulders, especially the burdens of that guy who thinks everyone is inherently good and filters everything he sees through that perspective of his. Someday, that same idealism and mentality will bite you in the ass."

Shizuku raised her head and looked at Nader's face as she shook her head, knowing exactly who she was referring to, "He's my childhood friend. Even though he is so dense and acts according to his worldview, he is still my childhood friend...knowing that, I can't abandon him."

She knew that if she didn't intervene in Kouki's actions and decisions from time to time, it would only cause more harm than good. That thought had only grown stronger after they had arrived in this world, where magic and power ruled.

"I didn't mean for you to give it up, simply for you to take a little breather, they never hurt...".

"Mmm, thanks...", Shizuku nodded with a smile.

Before leaving, Nader opened his and took out a beautiful necklace with a pink-colored pearl in the center with a navy blue crystal rim.

"Here, this will protect you when you are in a life or death situation," Nader said and handed it to Shizuku, who was looking at the necklace with fascination in her eyes.

Shizuku unconsciously took the necklace that was hanging from Nader's hand and brought it towards her.

Without waiting for her to speak, Nader walked past her as he gently rubbed her head, "I hope someday we will meet again, Shizuku."

"W-wait!", She turned around to ask why he had told her everything and why he had given her the necklace.

However, Nader was no longer in sight, it was as if he had simply dissolved into thin air. Only the whisper that caressed her ears was evidence that he was standing next to her:

"By the way, I didn't know that the ever-serious Shizuku liked cute things, haha...".

Shizuku stiffened, not knowing what to do as her face turned red with embarrassment. She never imagined that someone would discover her biggest secret.

She walked over to the railing and touched her chest, which was beating a thousand miles an hour.

She looked at the beautiful necklace that glittered faintly in the palm of her hand and placed it around her neck. It was the first time she had ever been given anything other than a sword as a gift.

The instant the necklace embraced her neck, a warm feeling of protection enveloped her whole being.

She took the necklace that hung around her neck and looked at her image that was reflected in the mirror of the water next to the moonlight.

Soon after, she said goodbye to the kitten and went to her room. All night she had been dreaming scenes where Nader came to save her in his shining knight's armor.

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As for Nader, he had just left the palace. He had given the necklace to Shizuku because he had rummaged through her mind without permission. The other reason was that he had liked the girl, not in a romantic way, but because he had liked talking to her.

'Talking to someone once in a while doesn't feel so bad, after all...'. He thought, in all his life, or at least, almost all of his previous life had been spent training on battlefields, where a small mistake made would mean death.

Soon, though, his lines of thought were cut off by something rather suspicious...

'Hm?'.

His brows furrowed. He hadn't sensed any presence in the nearby houses with his senses. Silently, he increased the field of his senses to fifty square meters while also increasing his guard.

It was by no means natural for the always bustling people of the capital to leave their homes at the same time, of course, unless they all agreed.

"Heh, so it turned out that way". A cold smile formed on Nader's face.

His enhanced senses picked up several silhouettes moving towards him from all four directions, possibly wanting to corner him.

"Mmm, I don't sense the Pope or the King, I guess they're pretty sure this many people will be enough to get me".

What the others didn't know was that Nader practiced every night. Although his stats didn't go through the roof, he now had about 150 stats on his strength parameter. This was only because he was spending more time practicing his combat skills.

He had chosen one technique, one skill, and one element to focus entirely on to increase his mastery with them.

It doesn't matter how many techniques and skills one had if, their proficiency with them turns out to be inefficient, it was better to have a few and that you are proficient in their uses.

The technique he chose was based on movement speed and was called [Riftwalk]. This technique increased his speed of movement, reaction, and processing by 50%. Of course, he had his spatial manipulation, which to some extent was conceived as a movement technique, but the difference between them was the use of energy.

The skill he chose was called [Energy Manipulation]. This skill allowed him to manipulate his energy to turn it into anything he wished.

As for the element he chose it was the [Lightning Element]. Although most people used it only to increase their speeds, it could also be used to attack and defend, and it happened to be one of the most powerful elements besides the fire element.

Nader kept walking without any disturbance in his expression, he acted as if he didn't notice the missing people and the people sneaking over him.

Only when they were twenty meters around Nader did the people appear. Many jumped onto the roofs of houses as they took up a fighting stance. Others appeared from the alleys and closed off any possible escape route through which Nader could escape.

Nader paused in place and his gaze fixed on a middle-aged man in gleaming armor who took a few steps forward before thrusting his greatsword into the ground and announcing loudly:

"We have a direct order from the King and Pope Ishtar to make sure we get you!". He paused for a moment and his brows furrowed in annoyance as he saw that Nader's expression hadn't changed, "You're surrounded by over two hundred people competent in different jobs! So you'd better be a good boy and come with us!"

"Oh? Is that so?..." Although it was only a murmur, his voice thundered around the perimeter.

His heterochromatic eyes glowed in the darkness of the night with a cold light.