Ch:73 – The summoning – Part 2

An hour later, the Saintess arrived at a long living room, where the royalty family resided with high anticipation, both princes, the princess, and the queen.

"Welcome, Saintess," the queen added, getting up from her chair with a pleased smile on her face. Serenity's eyes tried to locate the king, but to no avail. It was extremely uncommon for him to not be present. Though she had heard he had been very ill lately. As ill as he was old.

"Thank you, your highness," she bowed slightly out of respect, not having to do it thanks to her position. Especially today, as she managed to summon this many. A feat like no other had ever been recorded in the annals of human history. Of course, none of this would have been achievable if it weren't for the goddess, but the royal family didn't know.

"Tell us, summoned. Where would you like to go?" The queen, filled with curiosity, questioned.

Romeo took the initiative and started talking.

"We'd like to remain together as we were the hero and the sage of a past world together; we have a blessed class that complements each other very well. I, as the sage, am a supportive class through the use of knowledge."

Then his friend added, "We do not know how the other 8 can help, but please do take them into good factions, so that they too have an opportunity to grow stronger. After all, the goddess blessed everyone in a way to help the human race."

The queen smiled and then added, "We'll comply with your wishes as we do not force any summoned to do anything against their own will. We do ask that, at least when our enemies invade, you will help us save our kingdom."

The crown prince then spoke, "I don't know how your old world was, but in this world, we're the weakest race. We're likely also the smallest country with 7 to 10 million people."

"Your highness, if I may speak?"

"Yes, of course, present yourself while at it."

"Yes, sir. My name is Kana, shieldmaster unique class, 20 years old." She halted her voice, looking at him to see if that was a good enough introduction.

To that, he nodded in silence.

"In my old world, a goblin king would be around level 30, and very weak. I've even killed one alone against a 60-goblin horde. I had a different class than I have now and was level 50. The max level was 100."

"Greetings, Kana, I'm Prince Julius." He smiled charmingly, making her blush.

"We believe the goblin king alone to be above level 100."

Her eyes widened, taking a step back.

"Prince. What is the normal level among our kin?"

"An average human level would be between 1 and 3."

She gulped. "That's... way too high." Her face lowered, but not before showing her despairing expression.

"It is high. Sadly, he survived the last encounter with the past hero a hundred years ago."

"Your highness, I'll be blunt."

"Be at ease." He added quickly.

"We will not win the following war."

The second younger prince rose from his chair. "You lunatic!"

Everyone's eyes fell on the prince. Some even found his attitude disgusting.

"Brother, calm down. Kana, teach us about your past world and what makes you say this."

She looked scared at the younger prince, watching him return to his seat. Only then did she resume her opinion. "In our world, goblins aren't exactly stronger than humans. However, if they survive an encounter with danger, they become smarter and adapt strongly so it doesn't happen a second time."

The princess stretched her hands to Kana. "Handshake me, young lady."

The young woman looked at her, confused for a moment. Why in the world was she requesting that? How would a handshake improve this situation?

Still, Liliana was a princess, and one could not refuse a request from a royal member so easily.

Therefore, Kana's instinct forced her body to move and to deliver a handshake.

Julius looked away. He knew that his cherished younger sister would come to suffer from her cursed skill. Unlike the blessed skills from the goddess, which were both closer to the divine and devoid of ego. The cursed ones caused side effects to their users.

Their hands touched, and Kana saw for the first time, she saw the aura of the princess surrounding their bodies.

"Our fates do not cross." The princess's hand returned, shaking as it went back to the top of her long blue dress.

"They don't?" She asked, confused.

"It seems your role lies elsewhere," the first Prince added.

Kana looked between both but resigned herself, returning to the line, whence she came.

"At the very least, we will not succumb to despair."

At the princess's words, Kana smiled. They didn't mean victory, but also not defeat. She wondered what the princess had done.

Her eyes stared upon the hero and the sage, who had a striking serious gaze in them. They were solely focused on the princess. But why? Did they who held a blessed class any different than Kana, who had a unique one?

"We consist of around 4% to 10% of the world's population. At least, that's what has been estimated. We'd need to explore more to be sure."

All the summoned felt nervous upon hearing that. Most of them had a great experience in past lives dealing with monsters and other things. The numbers of our enemies spoke for themselves; humans were the underdogs.

"For now, we'll let all of you rest, and then you'll be able to learn more about Artana, this world."

Prince Julius called for the butlers who awaited outside. There was a chance that one of the three or four summoned would go to one of the rose families.

Instead, each butler picked one and took it to their respective lord's territory.

The remaining three, Romeo, Sophie, and the Saintess, were invited to sit at the long table.

At that time, the royal family heard a knocking sound.