I Was Summoned As A Hero, But I Became The Demon Lord Instead

After successfully ruining her mood I went over to the other weapons to get tested. Aside from water magic the only other talent I had was with the rapier, both of which I was already aware of.

I figured I'd leave the rapier for last though. Right now I was more curious about a certain sword that stuck out from the rest of the weapons. When I went over to the guard holding it, he presented the sheathed sword to me and told me it was called the Star Cleaving Sword. It was quite a beautiful looking sword when I pulled it out of the sheath, but even when I firmly held onto the hilt and waved it about a few times, nothing out of the ordinary happened. However, from within the sword I could feel a strange loneliness and depression like it had suffered some sort of traumatizing event which left it heart broken recently. Right as I sheathed it, it was like I could hear a crying feminine voice beside me which told me to be wary of humans.

After I went through the other weapons one by one, it was as expected, I had no affinity with them. Finally I went over to a guard holding onto a rapier. The moment I touched it, a bright light was emitted from the rapier and it seemingly acknowledged me as its master.

From what I heard from the guard, it was a mid grade weapon spirit. The guard explained that the only level above it that their kingdom had was the high grade sword spirit within the depressing Star Cleaving Sword I'd first tested.

When I asked the guard about the Star Cleaving Sword and about it's most recent master, the guard just brushed me off and showed me away saying it was none of my business if I had no affinity with it.

There really were way too many warning signs for me to feel comfortable. After an hour passed by, almost everyone had tested their affinity with weapons and elemental magic. There were only two people remaining who had not tested their affinity with the sword. Of course, it was Kenji and Muko who had been dragged along with him the entire time. Kenji had decent affinities with all weapons while Muko had none in the end.

"Don't worry Muko, I'm sure you're bound to have some talent with the sword."

He had his right arm wrapped around Muko's neck like he was some sort of good guy encouraging his buddy who'd failed every possible exam in school. Of course, when Muko hesitantly grabbed the sword, there was not even the faintest sliver of a reaction from it. He could only hand it over to Kenji dismayed over his lacking abilities. As soon as Kenji touched it a black and white radiance was emitted from the sword in front of the guards shocked faces. It seemed they couldn't believe their eyes.

"I-i-it looks like it has acknowledged you as it's master... for the time being."

The last part of the guards sentence left me with my suspicions, but it was not my job to point out the strangeness to his remark.

Of course Muko only sunk further into despair after having been compared to Kenji the entire time. Kenji also didn't make things any better, thanks to him everyone's eyes were constantly drawn towards the two and Muko's lacking ability was only emphasized when next to him.

"Don't mind, don't mind it. Like Rina said, even you surely have an ability, you've just got to find it."

Of course looking at the guards in the area, their disdain towards Muko was clear. I could reveal his ability, but it's not like I owe him anything. Besides, revealing his ability might not be what's best for him anyways. It was also uncertain whether that half elf really knew of his ability or not as well.

"Kenji, he's always been useless since we were kids. You should stop pampering him all the time."

The bulky Otoko was the first to take a shot at Muko while the four eyes pushing up his glasses, Doku, snobbishly kept his silence with a discernible disdain in his eyes. I'd rather not get involved with their little sausage fest over there so I resolved myself to keep my distance.

Overall, Kenji seemed to be the idiotic oblivious type, unable to read the atmosphere, but he also appeared to be the one keeping their strange little group together. He didn't really stand out much, but it felt like if he wasn't there, they would never have stuck together.

"Kenji, why did you so readily agree to aid the king? Don't you realize it would be putting all our lives in danger?"

It looked like although four eyes personality wasn't the best, he at least had a brain in his head, unlike the other three in their group who looked to just go with the flow.

"I don't really get the difficult things, but we've got you Doku, the brains, Otoko the brawns, me the playmaker, and Moku the… joker? Yeah, that's right, Moku, the unpredictable wild card that could flip a crisis on its head."

"Oh that's right, we also have Akua, the damsel in distress."

Oi. Should I teach these youngsters a lesson after all? Aren't they a bit too c.o.c.ky? No, why am I being included in their group anyways?

"Kenji, if you mean her over there, she herself indicated she did not know us and even stated she isn't the person we knew. Can you please stop being delusional and think with your head instead of your heart?"

Yeah Doku, my thoughts exactly.

"Doku, you should stop trying to fight it, I know you had a crush on Akua back then too. Why not be honest with your feelings and just show you're happy to reunite with her again?"

Eh? What? No thank you.

"Kenji, you're an idiot. That girl is dead to me."

Right. Right. My thoughts exactly.

"Oh? Should I remind you about how you bawled your eyes out when she first disappeared? Also, it was only after she left that you highlighted streaks of your hair dark blue, right? Just admit it, the only reason you grew to like the colour blue was because of her back then."

"Are you an idiot? I always liked the colour blue."

"Don't lie, don't lie. Back then your favourite ranger was red. It was only after Akua disappeared you liked the blue ranger."

"There was no such thing."

"Hahaha, it's like Kenji said, Doku, even I was aware you liked her too."

"Shut up Otoko, don't think I'm not aware of why you started training so much. It was only after that time when we were kids after Akua mentioned bodybuilders looked cool that you started working out and joining all sorts of athletic clubs."

"You too Kenji, you're no better! Don't even get me started, back then we were watching a movie in class and there was a jack of all trades character who was a weapons master, wasn't it Akua who said you were similar to him? She also said the way of the sword was somewhat romantic. You then took up kendo and later learned about all sorts of weapons didn't you?"

"Eh? Hahaha. Doku, isn't your memory a bit off? I took up kendo to learn self defense. It definitely wasn't for that reason or anything."

Ah. That's not very convincing when you're peeking in my direction discretely like that. Wait, actually, there's no way I really said stuff like that as a kid, right? It must be someone else they're talking about, definitely.

Ugh. If I were liked by guys like this in the past… it's too embarrassing to think about it.

"So, Miss Akua said things like that in the past?"

"Yeah, yeah. She did, she did. She was super popular with all the guys back then too."

"Heeeeh, I never would have imagined."

At some point that sneaky water shrine maiden, Umi, had snuck her way over to Kenji's group and mixed in without my notice to gossip about me.

"Umi, get your a.s.s back over here."

"Uuuuuu. But it's such a rare opportunity to learn about Akua's childhood."

"They're talking about a different Akua."

"But what if on the off chance they're not?"

"It's a different person! A different person!"

Somehow I'm feeling more exhausted even before I've managed to fight the demon lord.

"Hohoho, it's good to be young."

Somehow the king had joined in on their gossip about me.

"Right king, back then Akua actually cried because she was the only one in our group of five who couldn't pee while standing up."

"Is that so? Back when the great I was still a prince, I used to play such games as well."

How'd it get to this?! Ugh this is getting more and more embarrassing. When they were finally finished with their small talk, the king finally brought an end to my unexpected trial by fire from the past.

I really had to admit though, the one thing going for Kenji was his social ability that allowed him to warm up to anyone quickly. Even the king was caught in his pace and listening attentively to their stories while I suffered several indirect critical hits. Was he getting some payback on me for the shrine maidens earlier comments about him?

No, he doesn't look devious enough to do something like that. In the end, I could only reconfirm he was just an oblivious good for nothing idiot with nothing better to do.

The king finally excused us after explaining how we'd be given a few days to grow accustomed to life here before our training would begin. The king also took the time to announce the three people who would be taking on the roll to act as our instructors to bring us up.

The first was that half elf Rina, the second was someone named Kurotsuki who was dressed in all black that appeared to be an assassin, while the last was a priest named Seth. It seemed they would be in charge of guiding us in battle magic, close combat with weapons, and lastly support magic respectively. We were informed that they were the former heroes party members. We were also informed about how they had thwarted the plot of the last summoned hero who succ.u.mbed to the temptations of demonic whispers and plotted to usurp the throne.

Of course I wouldn't just blindly believe such a story when I thought about the message the high grade sword spirit in the Star Cleaving Sword passed on to me.

Eventually the king departed and we were each taken to rooms within the castle where we would spend the next few days resting. In three days we were told we would be taken into the dungeon beneath the city to train. I had my own thoughts on the matter though. I didn't really want to stick around for their little kiddy training. I was already level 150 and there was no way I'd really act buddy buddy with them and go about killing low level monsters.

Those three were in no way worthy to be my instructors either. So I figured I'd venture deeper into the dungeon where they would be unable to find me.

I'll also take the shrine maidens with me if they want to go. They're all level 100, there's no need for them to waste their time here with training either unless they actually want to get along with that group of novice summoned heroes. Well, I'll leave what they do up to them. They're all m.a.t.u.r.e enough to know how to take care of themselves by now.

From what I saw today though, the strongest person I'd come across in the castle was level 80. That person appeared to be the king's secret guard who protected him from the shadows though. I managed to avoid drawing his attention and it seems like he didn't see through me either. That half elf was only level 50, but I shouldn't underestimate someone just because there level is low.

Even the strongest person can die to someone weaker than them if they are too careless.

Looking around the room I was assigned to, I found that it was rather luxurious, there was a magically powered chandelier centered in the room, a bed to the far right corner of the room, a desk with a chair on the left side beside a dresser to store clothes. To my right in front of the bed was a bookshelf filled with all sorts of different reading material. There was even an open balcony with a sliding window at the far end of the room to look out over the surprisingly, still bustling capital city below.

It was already dark outside, so there were countless stars in the night sky. What I found most interesting was how active the streets were even at night. If you really focused into the distance you could see women pulling wandering men on the streets into their humble abode. I suppose the citizens who lived close to the castle aimed to snag big fish with bloated pockets.

Taking in the peculiar sights, it really didn't feel like a city fearing the threat of a demon lord soon to descend upon them.

Since it was already late, I figured it was about time I got some much needed beauty sleep. I stripped off the blue one piece I was provided and dived under the snuggly soft blanket before I quickly dozed off into the world of dreams.