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Chapter 02: Classmates
A few questions arose. He realized that his level was one. If this was a RPG-like world, this was only natural, since he hadn’t fought with anyone yet.
But why was his MP (magic power) so high? It must be the benefit of being a world traveller, who had high magic power as he was informed just now.
By the way, HP referred to endurance, MP was magic power, EXP experience and NEXT indicated the necessary experience points for the next level. ATK, DEF, AGL, HIT and INT respectively symbolized attack strength, defence, agility, hit chance and intelligence. These were expressions often used in games.
He was surprised at his unexpectedly high AGL, but what he was most surprised about was this:
â‰ȘInnocent Bystander≫
It perfectly showed that he was just dragged along with the four Heroes. In other words, he himself wasn’t a Hero, but just an ordinary person. Although he was concerned about his magic too, he rather pondered how to explain this situation.
While he was in thought, Rudolph asked them.
“How is it? When you look at the title, it should display Hero.”
Taishi was the first to answer.
“Y- Yes, it does! It says Hero here! Uwah~ Awesome, I’m really a Hero.”
He uttered with a somewhat excited voice.
“Hey, what about you, Chika?”
The one answering Taishi’s question was Suzumiya Chika. She was a talkative and popular girl in class. Her open and direct attitude in dealing with people gained her their goodwill.
Her short hair was bleached like Taishi’s, albeit paler. Her breasts were somewhat lacking, but her slender figure as a sport ace was quite attractive.
“Yeah, I have it too, Taishi.”
“Good. And you, Shuri, Shinobu?”
He called out to the other two girls. Minamoto Shuri had pretty, glossy and long black hair.
Unlike Chika, she had a voluptuous body that attracted boys. She belonged to the tea club and the boys sometimes came by to ogle her in her kimono. Her charming points also included the kind of drooping eyes and the mole under her eye.
The other girl, Akamori Shinobu was brimming with curiosity. Active in the newspaper club, she also planned to find employment in that field in the future. She was talkative as well and smart on top, so everyone often asked her for tips on the exams.
Her slightly wavy, black hair hang over her shoulders. From her cattish eyes, you could feel the strong resolution of never letting go of her prey. Moreover, she came from Kansai.
As for what these three girls had in common: They were all eye-catching beauties. And as members of Taishi’s harem, they were always around him.
Shuri and Shinobu seemed to have the Hero title too. And as a matter of course, the gazes faced Hiiro next.
“What about you?”
“
Nope.”
He answered with a single word. Upon that, the others made a ruckus.
“Then
 can you tell us what kind of title you have?”
It annoyed him how was talked down to, but answered honestly nevertheless. But only one of them.
“â‰ȘInnocent Bystander≫ ”
Now his four classmates changed their attitude on these words. They frowned and left their mouths gaping open in disbelief.
“â‰ȘInnocent Bystander≫ ? Lilith, do you know what that means?”
“Eh, uhm
 Yes. Most likely
”
Lilith looked downward, hesitant to answer. Hiiro sighed while looking at her. Then he answered in her stead.
“I’m just an ordinary person. I just happened to be in the classroom back then and got mixed up with these guys. Right?”
“Uh- Uhm
”
“Hey, wait! Okamura! What‘s with that tone!”
Chika said by pointing at me. But he completely ignored that and continued.
“Originally four people should’ve been summoned here. And that’s these four here. I’m an irregular so to speak. What’re you going to do about it?”
He merely stated it indifferently without any hostility or animosity. And yet, Lilith turned pale as she was the one who summoned them.
“Well, it’s not just about me. These guys were brought here at your conveniences too. I’m sure our families are worried about us.”
Lilith’s expression became more and more heartbroken.
“You are right. I can only ask for your pardon on this matter.”
The king offered his apology like that. Hiiro thought he would make excuses, but the king was unexpectedly aware of the significance of their actions.
“We were left we no other choice.”
“No, to be honest, I don’t care about your circumstances.”
“Huh?”
Time stopped for everyone upon Hiiro’s words.
“I have no connections whatsoever to these four.”
“Hey, Okamura! Aren’t we classmates!”
Taishi yelled enraged.
“Yeah, we’re classmates. But we’re merely studying together in the same room by the school’s decision.”
“Th- That’s going too far
”
“Yes, after we finally got together~”
Shuri and Shinobu stated their opinions too.
“So you say, but I haven’t spoken a single word with you in the four month, since we’re in the same class.”
It was a fact. Hiiro basically liked being alone, so he kept his distance from everyone, not just these four. Sleep, eat and read. That was Hiiro’s custom.
The other four fell silent from his words. Like he had said, they hadn’t talked to each other, even though they were classmates. It was also a fact that they never tried to speak to him on their own accord, even if he was hard to approach.
“Okay, as I said just now, I’ve no connection to these four. You guys want the four Heroes, right? Then I seem useless?”
“Mh- Mhm
”
Rudolph groaned with a difficult expression. He was perplexed about what to do.
“Since they’re Heroes, they can fight the ‘Evila’ in some way, right? But I’m a no-name. You wouldn’t send me out to fight these dangerous guys too, would you?”
“
Then let me ask you: What do you want to do?”
“Go home?”
“Th- The documents speak of the Demon Lord knowing a magic to send you home.”
Rudolph’s word resounded through the throne room and Lilith’s expression turned gloomy at once. Seeing that, Hiiro quietly shut his eyes.
“S- So we just have to defeat the Demon Lord quickly!”
What an idiot, Hiiro thought. Even if the Demon Lord knew such magic, why would you defeat him? Hiiro was disgusted at Taishi’s thoughtless statement.
“In- Indeed. Besides, our country is wonderful, so you will surely come to like it. You are all basically part of my family now.”
Seeing Rudolph desperately trying to persuade him, Hiiro shrugged his shoulders.
“Ah, if I may add, I‘m worried about my family.”
The others felt worried as well, not just Chika.
“Th- There is no need to worry about that. Right?”
A nearby scholar was addressed.
“Ah, y- yes! As a matter of fact, you all have been forgotten now!”
“F- Forgotten, you say!?”
It was quite a shocking statement.
“Ah, please rest assured. There are forces at work to keep things coherent in your world. Once you return, it will be changed back
 yes.”
(That’s
 a lie.)
Hiiro definitely felt that from their attitude.
(Everything they said is surely a lie. Likely just a made-up reason to somehow convince us. A return magic, in other words a method to send us back
 doesn’t exist. At least not right now. And I’m dubious about the forgotten part too
)
He looked at the other four to see if one of them had realized that. Taishi hadn’t noticed at all. Same for Chika. Only Shuri and Shinobu were frowning on this story.
(Well, I don’t care about them. As for myself
 I can make do anywhere.)
Okamura Hiiro grew up in an orphanage. His parents didn’t leave him, they died in an accident when he was still young.
Then he was handed over to an orphanage. He made some friends there, but more than that, he loved books, so he read nothing but books all day. The books were more a friend to him than humans.
Of course he still had other relatives, but he had no real reason to return to his world. So it wasn’t really troubling for him when there was no way to return.
Lilith, knowing that there was no way to return, had clouded her expression for a while now. She might feel guilty about the lie.
Taishi and the girls started to talk about what to do from now on after understanding that as of now there existed no way for returning from Rudolph’s explanation.
“Like Okamura said, you selfishly called us here. I think that’s really rich of you.”
Being told so by Taishi as well, Rudolph looked sullen.
“But
”
While saying so, Taishi looked at the three girls. They all snickered and he looked at the king again.
“We’ll do it!”
“Really, you will?”
Rudolph raised a voice.
“Yes, we always wanted to travel in such a world.”
“Yeah! We four are playing an online game together too!”
As Chika had said, the four of them had played an online RPG game in their world. They often met up and discussed about where to venture, just like they did after school before this.
Right before they were summoned here, they were just talking about their desire to venture a world like this.
“Th- Then you will accept!”
“Yes, but in exchange
”
Shinobu spoke after the king.
“From what I can see in the â‰ȘStatus≫, we still seem to be level 1. In other words, beginners.”
“Y- Yes, that is correct.”
“We can’t fight the Demon Lord like this. So
 I want you to teach us in fighting.”
“Do not worry about that. For that matter
”
At that time, a person clad in armour showed up.
“I will take over here, Heroes.”
He kneeled down and lowered his head while he said that.
“My name is Vale Kimble. I was entrusted with the duty to teach you in fighting.”
“Incidentally, he is the captain of the second division of our army.”
He was a handsome guy with a noble face. Just by looking at his body, you could tell how well trained he was. His hair was green and short, whereas his eyes emitted a great willpower.
Naturally the gazes of the females focused on him. Only Chika looked at him inexpressively, as she had no interest.
“In other words, that hunk is going to train us?”
“Yes. Right now, matters have quieted down at the borders. I want you to grow stronger before it becomes turbulent again.”
“Ah, where’ll we be living?”
“We have prepared rooms for you here in the castle. Lilith will show you around later.”
The discussion proceeded and Takashi and the others seemed to have resolved to fight. At this point, Hiiro raised his hand.
“Sorry, but I’m going to act on my own.”
Time stopped again for everyone on these words.
“You see, I’ve no obligation, nor reason to fight for this country. Neither am I a hero like you guys. So there’s no point in staying here any longer.”
“Mhm
 But”
“Sorry, I’m not as sensible as these four. Well, since I’m already here, I just want to do as I want. You won’t mind, will you?”
Rudolph looked worried. Hiiro was indeed no Hero, but just an ordinary person. He didn’t look all that strong either. Black hair, dark pupils and around 1,80m tall, but not really muscular.
His only charming point were his glasses. In terms of looks, he was inferior to Taishi.
With an appearance like that, it was unthinkable that he could fight. But it was a fact that they summoned him. Throwing him out without doing anything for him would be unreasonable.
“Mh- Mhm, I am feeling really sorry about your case. Is there anything I can do
”
“Nothing.”
“N- Nothing, you say?”
“Yeah. And it’s not like I resent you. This world should’ve some novel books, so it seems quite interesting.”
Hiiro was a guy as well. Of course he admired adventures. It didn’t need to be a great adventure like for the protagonists of his books, but he certainly wanted to travel this world.
“I’ve no more business here. See ya.”
Saying that, he was about to leave, but Taishi grabbed his arm.
“Hey! Acting all apathetic, do still call yourself a man?”
“Huuh?”
Hiiro made an annoyed utterance.
“They’re lowering their heads here! Don’t you feel like helping them out even a bit?”
“Nope.”
“Why!”
“Because I’m no Hero. Or what, do you want to use me as a bullet trap?”
“Wha
 Bullet trap
?”
Taishi let go of his arm.
“Forget about this guy, Taishi.”
Chika said with a sharp look.
“Don’t you two agree?”
“Ehm
 I’m
”
Shuri cast her look down bewildered. Shinobu stared at Hiiro, then snickered.
“Ahaha, sure, why not. I mean, this looks like a game, but it’s still reality. In other words, we’re putting our lives on the line here. We’re Heroes, so we’ll get stronger, but it’s different for Okamuracchi. He’s just a normal guy. So try putting yourself in his shoes.”
Shinobu’s words shut up the other three. Because she made a sound argument. This wasn’t a game. As a matter of fact, people died in the attempt to summon them. They were this serious about it.
“R- Right. Let’s just do it ourselves.”
Taishi consented. Hiiro gave them a glance and tried to leave. At that time,
“Uh- Uhm!”
The voice belonged to Lilith. Hiiro stopped and looked over his shoulder.
“Uhm
 I, I am sorry!”
She looked at him worried. Hiiro said as he turned his head back.
“Don’t sweat it.”
Then he left the place for sure.