Chapter 22

A few hours later

Landing a few meters from a large city, I hopped off Daenerys and proceeded to help Makoto down. "This has to be the place." I said softly. Pulling out the map the weapon shop owner, Erhard, gave me, I confirmed this was indeed Siltvelt.

Approaching the city's gate, I was stopped by two armed demi-humans. "What are you doing here, human?" one asked.

Holding up my hands, I quickly calmed the situation. "I'm a good friend of Naofumi Iwatani, the current Shield Hero. My name is Mercury Takamaki, the Dagger Hero."

The two guards glanced at one another before looking back towards me. "We had heard rumors that someone was summoned alongside the Shield Hero. You're him?"

"Yep..." I said slowly. "I heard Siltvelt praised the Shield Hero over the other heroes. I came here because of that."

"Why not bring the Shield Hero with you?"

"Because I don't know where he is." I replied. "I would've asked him to come, but he's doing his own thing to prepare for the next wave. If I could, I'd prefer to stay here for that, but I'll be teleported back to Melromarc once it arrives." Hearing this, the two guards shared uncertain looks. "What is it?"

"Did no one tell you?"

"Tell me what?" I asked.

"The Dragon Hourglass is what teleports the heroes." one of the guards said.

"When a hero registers at an hourglass, they are teleported to it once a wave begins." the other continued.

"The king never mentioned that." I said as I crossed my arms.

"Not surprising." one of them said.

"Each kingdom agreed to summon one hero each. However, since there are five kingdoms and only four heroes, one kingdom would have to survive without a hero for one wave." the other added.

"Melromarc was supposed to be the first without a hero."

"But instead the king summoned all of the heroes, ignoring the agreement."

"Sounds like something that prick would do." I said softly. "Bastard!" looking to both of the guards, an idea popped into my head. "Is there a way for me to register to a different hourglass?"

"Yeah. It's simple, actually."

"What if I register to the one here and help Siltvelt in the next wave?" I asked.

The two guards shared another glance. "You'll have to ask the ones in charge."

Minutes later

Led to the capital by one of the two guards, I followed him into a room where four demi-humans sat behind a large counsel table. Behind each demi-human was another that seemed to be their chosen right hand or something like that.

Being noticed almost immediately, the four demi-humans stopped talking to face me. "Who is this human?" one of them asked.

Bowing my head respectfully, I spoke my name. "Mercury Takamaki, Dagger Hero and close friend of Naofumi Iwatani."

The demi-humans began whispering to one another. After a few seconds, they each fell silent. "You're friends with the current Shield Hero?" one of them asked.

"I am." I nodded. "I was summoned here alongside him."

"Why isn't he here with you?" one of the others asked.

"I don't know where he is, otherwise I would have offered to bring him with me." I answered.

"What do you seek to gain from coming here?"

"I want to register to the Dragon Hourglass here and help Siltvelt with the oncoming Waves of Catastrophe." I replied. "Melromarc is...it's a cruel kingdom led by a cruel man. It branded my friend a criminal, and everyone turned their backs on him. I refuse to protect a place like that."

The demi-humans seemed to smile at my words.

"With your permission, I wish to register here, in Siltvelt."

An hour later

With the leaders in agreement, I was allowed to register in Siltvelt. As Naofumi's friend, I'm glad to see he wasn't entirely hated by everyone in this world. Even if he was, I'd still be right beside him.

Approaching the Dragon Hourglass, a green beam shot out from the jewel on my weapon. Once it vanished, a number appeared showing just over two weeks before the next wave.

With my party behind me, it was time to get the class upgrades Naofumi had mentioned.

"You're going to let us choose?" Daenerys asked.

"Well, yeah." I placed a hand on my hip. "Why wouldn't I?"

Smiling, Daenerys and Makoto approached the hourglass. After a few seconds, a message appeared in front of me asking if I wanted to choose their classes. Selecting "no" a few more seconds passed before Daenerys and Makoto walked back to me.

Makoto seemed pleased, but Daenerys had her gaze to the floor. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

"It wouldn't let me choose." Daenerys said.

"What?"

"It said I was already assigned a pre-determined class." she told me. "The, uh, first Dragon Queen class."

End of chapter 22