In the castle's conference room.


A few hours after I gave the summons, about half of the twenty-seven chairs were filled.

They all seem to have always been pale and thin and have dark circles under their eyes, ever since they came to this world.
The only people who look like they're doing well are me, Mr. Ueno, and Asahina Kyousuke, the second most skilled samurai in our class by profession.
It's a good thing that Asahina has never said a word, because he's so quiet and expressionless that he doesn't even know if he's not feeling well.
Even when he was in Japan, I rarely saw him speak, and he was a mysterious man.
He was the only one in our class who was close to Akira, and he could often be seen talking to him while Akira was talking one way or the other.
He must have been the captain of the kendo club.
It seems that he is very well respected by his clubmates.
Come to think of it, Asahina has been in the same class as Akira.
It's a great coincidence.
He is such a mysterious man, but I think his mysteriousness has been refined since he came to our world.


...... We knew we wouldn't be able to get everyone together. Let's start with this number of people.


When I stood up and said that, the quiet air became more tense.
A sharp look pierces me.


'What do you want to talk about now? My hero.


Watabe Katsumi, who activated the trap in the labyrinth, glared at me.
As the heroic group, I thought we got along better than when we were in Japan, but that's just the way it was.

I returned a look as sharp as Watarabe's.
That was enough to scare a few people.
There's no one stronger than me here.
Since Akira's disappearance, I've been trained by the newly appointed Knight Commander, Ziel-san.
I won't lose so much.
As a brave man, I can't lose.
No one but Akira.


''It's about the future.''


Except for Akira, the twenty-seven classmates meet regularly to exchange information in this meeting room.
At the first meeting, they all exchanged information about their professions.
Of course, this includes Akira, who wasn't there.
That's why I knew about Akira's profession.
Well, I thought it was mostly in that area.


''Is it about the future?''
'Oh, come on, you know better than anyone what we're going through right now, don't you? You don't mean to tell me you're going to slay the Demon King, do you?


Those were the words of Natsumi Sakata, a tall female Amazoness who was the ace of the women's volleyball team, and the fourth member of the baseball team, Kaichi Tanaka, a necromancer (necromancer).
The two of them were both members of the same team of heroes as I was because of their athletic prowess.
Now they are the first to oppose me.

I'm not sure what to make of it.
She has no hesitation in carrying out her plan to destroy me from within.
She's just trying to shake me up.


"I didn't think so. I'm going to do what I promised the king and take down the demon king. I'm going to do what I promised the king, and I'm going to defeat the Dark Lord, and I'm going to find someone to go with me.


The room went quiet in the conference room and the next moment there was a buzz.


'No way.'
In this situation?
Are you nuts?
No, you're an idiot. He's the one who created this situation in the first place, isn't he?
Oh, so you're running away.
"Do not weep for the name of the brave.
'What? Running away is so lame!


As long as people keep quiet, they can say whatever they want.
I tapped on the pure white desk made of hollowed out marble, using less force.
I was careful not to make any cracks, perhaps because I was careful not to make any cracks, but it made a loud noise that silenced the person who was buzzing about it, and there was not a single crack in it.
You don't want to break such an expensive looking thing in the heat of the moment and get a hefty bill later on.


'...... Huh, well, that's fine. I didn't expect that from you guys.


I sighed deeply.
I wasn't expecting it.
But now I knew for sure.


"From now on, I'm leaving you guys. You can goof off, start a fight, do whatever you want.


I'm the first one out of my seat.

That's my choice.
I guess the King and the Princess need me to follow them however I can get my hands on it.
So I'm leaving the castle.
I won't do as the king and the princess tell me.


I'll come with you.


An unfamiliar voice resounded in the quiet conference room.
When I looked in the direction of the voice, I saw Asahina Kyousuke standing up.
Apparently, that voice was his.
I heard the voice for the first time.

With Asahina-kun standing up, several people who had been silent until now also stood up.
Among them were Ueno-san and Hosoyama-san.

I nodded and led them out of the conference room.


'...... just seven people, huh? Looks like we can use the coordination we practiced with each team as it is.

Besides, with Ueno the uncanny man and Hosoyama the healer, it looks like you'll be fine even if you get hurt in some way.


Asahina counters with my soliloquy.
It's the first time I've ever seen you talk like this.
I'm a little impressed.


'I'm sorry, but I'm going to be the leader. Do you have any objections?''


I asked that away from the conference room, but no one raised their voice.
Some of them nodded emphatically.


'In an hour we will gather in front of the castle gate with all the necessary items. We'll leave when we're all here.


At the command, we run out to our rooms.
It's not always the case that ...... kings and princesses don't interfere.
I've already hooked up with Ziel-san for cooperation, but act fast, you know.


Speaking of which, I wonder why Asahina-kun is following me.