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I was led to what they called the audience chamber.

On the throne sat a sharp-eyed, middle-aged man with a crown on his head.

He looked more like an older cousin than someone my parents’ age, even though I was referring to him as a middle-aged man.

He didn’t appear old enough, at the very least, for the princess, his child, to be our age.

We stood there without kneeling.

I wondered if I had to kneel, but I was told that I was not a citizen of this kingdom and as long as I adhered to the bare minimum of decorum, I would be fine.

There were also quite a number of people that had an important air about them, but they all seemed to be looking favorably at us.

“I am Yanuary Fraus, the king of Fraus. I welcome you, heroes from another world.”
“My apologies for the late introduction. I am the First Princess of Fraus, Topersion. Please call me Sion.”

(So we really are heroes. I guess it’s no wonder given that there’s a Demon Lord. I can see everyone getting nostalgic at hearing these familiar words. Or maybe my Translation skill is converting them into words I’m familiar with. Though, judging by the way they’re dealing with us, and how they’re used to the situation I can assume that this is not the first time they’ve summoned people. They might just be using words that were well-received by otherworlders before. And three of the big-shots that didn’t participate in the summoning seem to be holding some kind of crystal balls. No matter how I look at them, these are for checking our status. If that’s the case, they’re probably trying to figure out if we’re really hero worthy or not by going over our Skills.
We’re too late…)

“K-King Fraus. May I speak with you?” I said, somehow mustering the courage to speak up.

When I did, a number of the knights that had escorted us, as well as some of the bigwigs twitched.

Maybe because I was anxious, I felt as if they were looking at me in a bad way and got even more anxious.

The seconds before the king answered felt like an eternity. Cold sweat was pouring down my back. I was urged and made my way in front of everyone. I felt lifeless just standing there.

“What is your name?” the king asked.
“Makoto Toriyama.”
“Makoto, what do you wish to speak about?”
“Well… You’ve told us that we were summoned here to defeat the Demon Lord. However, the world we come from does not know fighting. We’re not people who can get up and fight when just told so. That is why we would like you to promise us some things.”

I forced myself to conceal my nervousness and said the line I had been repeating over and over again in my head. I wasn’t sure if I had ever met a superior before, except for my relatives, and I wasn’t sure if I had ever been able to properly ask a superior for a favor. But I was still a guest in this country, and if the request was not too outrageous, I was sure they would listen.

Is what I believed, however, the knights reached for their swords.

I thought that I was going to die just from the tension that was being directed at me, but the king suddenly said, “Halt! Speak boy.”

“Thank you. I, myself, have nothing to say when it comes to defeating the Demon Lord.
After all, we were told that to go back we had to defeat him. However, as I said just now, we’re amateurs when it comes to fighting and using weapons. Therefore, we would like you to wait on us defeating the Demon Lord until each one of us feels like they can do it. Furthermore, we have no relatives in this world. We would like you to guarantee our life and safety in this kingdom for the period that we are here. As well as promise us that we will be free.”

“I see… We had originally planned to train you in combat. We don’t intend to have you die in vain. Naturally, none of this kingdom’s residents will lay a hand on you. We will also give you rooms in the castle and you’ll be provided with ample food.”

“Then you’ll accept my wish?”

“Very well. However, beware that the Demon Lord won’t wait forever. As such you will at least have to participate in combat training. I’m assuming that’s okay?”

“Of course.”

Now the deal was done.

We would have to undergo combat training, but our life and safety were guaranteed.

If we didn’t wish to fight then we just had to say the word.

It will be a little more difficult to get out of the castle, but if we say we want to travel for combat training and to defeat the Demon King, we can easily go to other kingdoms as well.

(I cannot guarantee our safety in other kingdoms, but the ones who wish to go there can take care of it themselves. My role ends here. I can finally rest easy.)

“Are the rest of you fine with this as well?”

Just as I was finally calming down, the king asked that of my classmates behind me.

My heart suddenly jumped.

I looked behind me, not wanting to see them, and saw my classmates nodding in frustration.

(I made a mistake. I spoke up mainly for myself, however, I never doubted that it would also be of benefit to my classmates. However, my classmates don’t know of my Skill. Just how did they view the exchange just now? The class’ loner was brought to another world, got excited, became uncharacteristically tense and decided on a policy for the whole class… If it were Ichinari then things might have passed, but with me in the lead role that’s not going to happen. I could’ve told them that they don’t need to accept it if they don’t like it, but I guess it’s too late for that now. I should apologize before things turn sour. After all, with the current «Contract», nothing is stopping us, classmates, from hurting one another.)

“T-This is!”
“In that case I will now have you all check your Status.”

My apology was drowned out by the king’s voice.

My classmates were excited by the game-like term Status, and I completely missed the opportunity to apologize.

With my head hanging low I headed to a corner of the room.

“If you want to look at your status, you just need to say Status Open. However, if you wish to show your status to others you must use this crystal.”

The king said, gesturing to one of the people who was holding a crystal.

As this was going on, some of my male classmates started making a scene, probably because they had been checking their status.

“We will have you use this crystal in order so that we can determine your strength. This is an important procedure as we will need this to determine what kind of training to bestow upon you.”
“May I ask something?”
“What is your name?”
“It’s Fujiyoshi Yoshikawa.”

(Yoshikawa, huh… The class’ mood maker. If it’s him he should be able to keep the class in check. I’ve never been that involved with my classmates, but I never expected that I’d end up dragging them down in a place like this…)

“What is it you want to ask?”

“Could you tell us what an average status looks like? Also, can we like use magic?!”

“I see. You’re right. It would be foolish of me to make you fight when you don’t even know your own strength. The stats of a normal adult who has never fought are about 10 on average. Those whose stats range from 20 to 30 are on par with rookie adventurers who make their living fighting. An average of 50 to 75 is typical for people who fight for a living. Those whose stats average 100 can be said to have reached an upper limit. As for legendary heroes… their stats are said to average around 300. So, I’m guessing that’s the limit a person can reach. As for magic, anyone can use Daily Magic. Regarding combat, it must first be determined if the magic has an attribute. If yes, then it shouldn’t be an issue. In addition, I believe that each of you should have Skills. Skills are a very special power that only a select few possess in this world. If you have a Skill that is based on magic, then you can become a first-rate Wizard. Does this explain it?”

“It does. Thank you.” Yoshikawa said, bowing his head and returning to our classmates.

At the same time our classmates, especially the boys, became quite loud.

They were all huddled into their typical groups and talking so loudly about their abilities that I could hear them.

From what I could gather, the lowest of the bunch seemed to have an average stats of 20, whereas the highest was about 70.

There could have been lower and higher ones as well, but for now it was safe to assume that the average was around 40 to 60.

I, on the other hand, had a lowest stat of 10, and a highest of 300. Given that the average was 60, I could be said to be quite well off.

However, it was way too unbalanced. Given that I couldn’t use 90% of my Mana, it could be said that my current average was a little over 20.

Moreover, my Strength, Stamina and Agility, as well as the others that were mainly needed when it came to fighting were at the level of a commoner.

I didn’t know how my Mana would show up on the crystal, but if it showed up as 30, I would be branded as incompetent.

Furthermore, my stats weren’t the only issue right now. My standing was in a rough state as well.

I had wanted to apologize but not only did no one want to listen, no one even asked why I’d said what I said.

Rather, no one even approached me.

“A hero appeared?!”

The king exclaimed, standing up only after a number of people had passed through the crystal.

Ichinari was standing in front of him, with a normal expression on his face.

“Aren’t all of us heroes?” Ichinari asked the king with a delighted smile.

“Those who have been summoned from other worlds using the Hero Summon are indeed heroes. However, it is also that among them, there is always a hero and his followers, which are those who possess special Skills that are said to rival even those of the legendary heroes!”

“A Hero’s followers?”

“A Knight skilled with sword and shield. A Sage, the true master of magic. A Saint, the beloved child of God. A Spy, those who support the heroes from the shadows. The above 4 are all Skills the followers should possess.”

“I have the Knight one.”

Asahi Minori, the class’ energetic star, spoke up raising her hand.

(Even though she’s good at sports, it’s strange for a short girl like her to be a Knight. Maybe the Skills don’t judge based on outer appearance.)

While discussion like this took place all over the room, the status evaluation continued.

Before my turn rolled around, a Sage and Saint had also appeared. The Sage class was found in Tsukihara Hikari, the person with the highest grades in our class, while the Saint one was found in her friend, Yamabe Seira.

I couldn’t help but think that the scenario in which the class’ most popular students got special skills was something out of a fairy tale.

This in turn made my position even worse.

When two thirds of the people passed it was finally time for my turn.

I glanced at the king, and he looked back at me with an abhorrent glare.

(I guess he really didn’t like that «Contract». Though I can’t help but think it seems like a sufficiently believable contract. Did he notice that it had something more to it? When? How?)

As the thoughts were rushing through my head I was handed the crystal.

Immediately after, my status was projected onto it. My Mana displayed as 30.

“What the hell is this?!”

The big man handing the crystal exclaimed.

Perhaps prompted by his voice, Tsunoe Mika, the person I least wanted to look at it,
couldn’t help but look at the crystal.

“Whoa?! What in the world is this! Aren’t you like really weak? Your stats are all at 10! And your Strength is at 10 as well! What are you, a child?! God! You also have only 2 Skills. Even I have 3. Why did someone as weak as you run your mouth first?”

She said in a loud voice, making a fool out of me. The people who heard her also began laughing. An unstoppable wave of laughter flooded the room. Some even swore at me. Yet, no one appeared to try and defend me.

The worst case scenario when being summoned to another world was to be thrown out and have assassins sent after you. Thankfully I had prevented such a scenario. However, I also didn’t have any allies.