16 Chapter 16: The gathering

The capital Lorian was divided into two distinct portions: a residential and commercial segments, which comprised almost 90% of the city's landmass, and the royal land, which located neatly on a large hill at the center of the city. A moat had been artificially constructed to separate the two segments, thus in order to enter the royal palace, visitors had to cross either the North or the South Bridge. Aside from having the moat as protection, encompassing the palace was another layer of wall, along with hundreds of keeps, albeit they were smaller than the outer wall that protected the city. Had this been a palace on back on earth, it would most likely be considered impregnable. But in this world, with the existence of magical abilities and unfathomable fantasy creatures, it would be an easy task to storm the place. That was why the security of the palace rested solely on the protection provided by the Royal Knights. According to what Ryan had told the hybrid, they were strong individuals, selected from across the vast kingdom, each wearing a custom made Mithril class armor and weapons.

「Welcome to the Royal Palace, Ryan the Hero.」Greeted a Royal Knight who was fully covered by his armor from head to toe. 「My name is Arch. I'll be your guide for today.」

「Good morning, Arch-san.」Nodded the hero. 「This is my master, Kibadios sama. And these two are Rowan chan and Maia chan. They are also following Kibadios sama, just like me. 」

「Ah, yes. I have heard about your story. I am so sorry about what happened to your previous party.」Arch politely commented as he glanced at the hybrid. 「If Kibadios sama here had saved you, I'm pretty sure he'd be a powerful adventurer.」

「Of course!」The hero excitedly agreed. 「He's much stronger than I am. That's for sure!」

「Is that so?...」The Royal Knight suddenly swung his giant sabre at the hybrid. Strangely, to his surprise, the strike clashed into an invisible barrier before it could hurt the so called "master."

「What do you think you're doing, Arch-san?」Rowan glared at the knight after had quickly constructed a barrier to protect Kibadios.

「My apologies. It was my intention to test out Kibadios sama's strength, but judging from all your stances, readying to strike me down, I guess you would not allow me to fight him...」The knight slowly retracted his weapon.

「Stand back, you guys.」Ordered Kibadios. 「After all, we are in front of the Royal Palace, it would be trouble if you were to attack a Royal Knight… Am I right, Arch san?」

「No, no, no… I was the one who initiated it. I was in the wrong here.」Arch shook his head. 「I was just curious about your strength since it's not too often you see a hero class individual pledged himself to serve someone else. To be honest, I don't think I could take on Ryan sama and these two right here. Thank you for holding back. 」

「Dont worry about it.」

「Well, I hope you can forgive my transgression. If you allow me, I will be showing your company to the Royal Audience Hall, Ryan sama.」

「Of course, please do.」The hero nodded begrudgingly since he could not get over the fact that someone was just trying to harm his beloved master.

As the group walked through the entrance, they finally got to see the inside palace for the first time, a rare sight for any commoners living in the capital. Since the palace was built along the slope of the hill, it was divided into different levels. From what their tour guide, Arch, told them, the first level was where the soldiers and Royal Knight stationed. The second level housed all the necessary departments that helped the king govern the country. Most of the high officials also had their second residence here. On the very top of the hill was the Royal Residence, where the King and his family lived. Extending out from the middle of the Royal Residence was a tall tower that strangely emitting a small quantity of magical energy.

「What's with that small amount of magic coming from that tower there?」asked Kibadios as their group was being lifted up the slope of the hill on a large magical platform.

「Oh, I'm impressed that you could detect such a small quantity of magicules. The tower housed our palace's last line of defense. It's supposed to be "off" now but when it's "on", a strong barrier can be projected from the tower to completely cover and protect the palace from all forms of attacks.」Explained Arch. 「If you can sense it, am I correct to assume you belong to magician class?」

「... Hm, not really. I am good with magics but I can't say I'm a magician.」

「Ah, I see」Arch nodded. Since Kibadios did not elaborate, he did not want to push the question further. After all, in this world, keeping secret the class that one belonged to was common, since in knowing someone's class was equivalent to knowing their strengths and weaknesses. A warrior class individual would possess a higher physical strength but a lower affinity to master magics while a magician would be the opposite. Some of the classes, though, were really obvious so there were no points in hiding.

As the group waited for the platform to reach the Royal Residence, the hybrid turned his gaze toward his three slaves and admired their new outfits that he had picked out for them yesterday. For the hero, Kibadios had chosen for him a black sleeveless short shirt that hugged tightly into his muscular torso. Overall, his outfit was not that revealing since Kibadios was kind enough to add onto him an outerwear.「This is what master chose for me, of course I love it!」was what he eagerly claimed the moment the hybrid gave him his new clothes and his own gift, the circlet that he picked out back at the marketplace. For Maia, who was wearing a pretty conservative clothing, the hybrid chose her an oriental looking outfit that revealed most of her slender dorsal area and her back, which reminded him of the signature looks of Erune female characters from Granblue Fantasy. Although excited at the clothes Kibadios picked out for her, Maia was blushing red at the time she first wore it, but now, it seemed like she had already gotten used to it. Rowan, who was wearing a typical "villager A" clothes, had changed into a sleeveless shirt that was similar to Ryan, although unlike his fellow male slave, his shirt was a bit loose from his body . Additionally, the hybrid also chose for Rowan a long scarf that wrapped around his neck and shoulder to ensure cold weather would not make him too uncomfortable, though he wondered if it really helped since much of the teenager's back was exposed, for his own viewing pleasure. Since he was technically a cleric class, Kibadios also got him a staff to channel his healing ability, although he was not too sure whether it was needed since Rowan was mostly focusing on his barrier ability.

UPDATED AT LATER DATE:

Please follow the link or click the comments at the links to see the pictures.

Rowan: https://imgur.com/yyS1hly

Ryan: https://imgur.com/pv03O6v

Maia: https://imgur.com/q3w9lN3

「Ah, we're finally here!」exclaimed Arch as the platform reached its highest point: in front of the Royal Residence. 「Please follow me.」

The Royal Knight stepped up to privately speak with the four guarding soldiers, who immediately hurried to open up the large gate leading into the castle. As the group followed Arch, they were surprised at how, even though from the outside, the Royal Palace has been looking like a bunker, the clever architecture and layout of the place had allowed plenty of sunlight to shine through the castle's interior. At one time, they were even walking through a small open air garden filled with blooming flowers, causing Maia's face to brighten up from their beauty. After a while, they finally arrived at the Royal Audience Chamber, where the meeting of the heroes would occur. According to Arch, even though the king had personally sent out summons to more than a dozen hero parties travelling close to or within the kingdom, including Ryan, only 5 had answered the call.

「Do you know for what reason?」asked Ryan

「... You will be briefed on that soon, Ryan sama.」answered Arch as he knocked on the door. 「This is Arch Lynen. I have come here with Ryan sama's party.」

Once he had informed them, the door slowly opened from the inside, revealing the large chamber. Unlike the luxurious decoration befitting royalty that the hybrid had expected, the room was almost empty, save for various emblems and a large, empty throne at the far end. Once the hybrid's group got inside, Kibadios could saw four other groups already present in the room. The group stood closest to the throne comprised of a few large and muscularly built men, with the leader-looking man wearing gold-plated armor. Another group comprised only of two women, one was clearly the other's follower, or at least that was what the hybrid thought. The one group standing next to the door, comprised of mostly middle age individuals. The last, but obviously not least, was Kyles and Yllaner. Somehow, there was a glowing aura emitting from the satisfied looking hero as Yllaner wrapped her hands around his arm.

… They fucking had sex, I can tell! The hybrid thought to himself. After all, it was obvious to him that the two liked each other just from the brief interaction he had with that. Then, instead of staying with Ryan at the Royal Inn, they stayed at their personal guesthouse. And lastly, if Yllaner was really Sylvia's reincarnation and they shared the same personality, there was no way she would spared Kyles' virginity when she had all the perfect setup for a romance drama like that. Nonetheless, the hybrid did not feel any jealousy, since to him, the elven princess was a completely different person regardless of who she used to be in her past life.

「Hey Ryan!」called out Kyles. 「Over here!」

「... Ryan the pathetic loser of a hero?」the man in gold-plated armor laughed out loud as the hybrid's group walked toward Kyles and Yllaner. 「Hahaha! I've heard rumors about you! You were caught and fucked by lowly goblins then pledged to serve a no-name adventurer? How can you even call yourself a hero?」

「Ha! Like you're one to talk, Corey !」Before Ryan could reply, the female hero had already intervened.「Aren't you head of the biggest brothel in the capital? That is not much more befitting for someone possesses the seed of hero, either!」

「HUUUH? How is that not befitting? I am their boss! I own those whores. What I do is the most befitting! True heroes like me are the pinnacles of humankind, of course we should stand on the very top. What's wrong with owning some bitches? The dozens whores that I own should be proud to have me as their master. 」The man growled at the female hero, then his eyes fixed on both her companion and Maia. 「In fact, your sidekick here and that chick in the loser's party looked pretty nice. Maybe they wanna work in my brothel? I promise you two much better pay than whatever you're being paid now! Hahaha!」

「WHATT?」The female hero's party member angrily shouted.

「Like I said...」The laughingly Corey was going to reply something, yet his sentence was cut short when he felt murderous haki enveloped his body.

「You're Corey right? Do you mind repeat what you just said about my Ryan and Maia?」The hybrid slowly step forward with his eyes wide opened in rage as he released his concealed Haki.

「Haa… What the hell? You're the so called master?」Corey gulped. Even though he was an overconfident man, he was not stupid. He was able to tell the hybrid's power could easily rival his and maybe in a fight, there was a chance he might even lose. His hand has by now instinctively grabbed onto his glave, ready to receive the hybrid. 「...you were hiding your haki before? 」

Ignored Corey's question, the hybrid had summoned his usual weapon, a black scythe, in his hand. In an instant, Kibadios leapt forward, crashing his weapon down at the arrogant hero. Corey the Hero was no push over since he quickly reacted by swing his glave upward to receive the hybrid's strike.

「Please calm down, O guests of His Majesty!」a voice called out for the hybrid and Corey to stop just before their weapons finally clashed against one another. 「I advise you two to conserve your energy, for the enemy you were summoned here to deal with is much stronger than anything you have fought before.」

From the shadow behind the throne, two figures emerged: A young nobleman with a fancy cape and a young woman, who seemed to be his servant. With a smile on his face, the man continued「My name is Jayden Stringer , Lord Protector of Lorian, and the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Maeg. Unfortunately, ailment has caused His Majesty to be bedridden for almost a month now so he can't personally greet the five great heroes and your parties here today. For that, you have my deepest apologies. However, His Majesty has entrusted me to take care of the important meeting so I do hope to have your fullest cooperation. 」

As he looked up to the throne, where the Minister and his maid stood, Kibadios froze. His hand grabbed tightly onto his scythe… though… it was not because of Corey. His rage has suddenly been redirected the moment he saw that person. The one who was responsible for the death of Sylvia more than three thousand years ago. The one who betrayed and slaughtered her own kind in order to gain favor to ascend to the ranks of the false gods. Why is she here?... Kibadios did not care. Why is she acting as a lowly maid for the young nobleman?... Kibadios really did not care. Right now, the hybrid was only thinking of one thing: chopping off and stomping on her head as a piece of trash. And so, with his scythe in hand, Kibadios was going to do just that...