A Loner, Making a Wish in the Starry Sky

───Circumstances have led to Alicia being my teacher.

“───Well then, it’s been decided.”

Athrel, the leader of the knights, spoke as it was decided that he would be the first to teach.

“I’m in charge of Warriors, Knights, Spear Wielders, Battler Masters, Paladins, and Martial Artists…If there are any objections I’m open to them.”

There were no disagreements to Athrel’s proposal. Rather, there was approval instead.

Next, the witch Leese decided what she’d do.

“I will teach Magicians and Summoners.”

Like with Athrel, nobody voiced any opposition.

“For me…it’s inevitable that I’d work with the Priests and Sages…”

The Shinto Priest spoke, and then Nathley beside him drew up attention.

“Assassins…that’s all…”

It seemed like Nathley still couldn’t converse well, making only brief words at best, but those words were plenty enough.

Then, next was Alicia’s turn.

“Since the Magical Swordsman profession is earned through the resulting efforts of Warriors and Knights rather than being bestowed upon…there isn’t anyone here for me to teach.”

Everyone tilted their head upon Alicia’s words.

Huh…? So why is Alicia here?

Shun titled his head like everyone else did.

“Ha ha…don’t make the kind of face, everyone, for even I am in the same boat as you all…I’m here because I was called by the king in a hurry…───My King, what urgent matter am I here for?”

Alicia had treated everyone softly, but when addressing the king, she took a dignified tone of voice as if she was an entirely different person.

“Right…thank you for responding to my sudden calls. The reason I called for you was because…among the thirty people here, one person has gotten a peculiar profession.

“…!”

Would that be me…?

Shun’s thoughts could be understood from him pointing at himself.

“…You mean to say that someone’s been given the Magical Swordsman profession?”

Alicia was slightly surprised by the king’s words and squinted her eyes.

“No, not a Magical Swordsman. That person was given something only demons should have and is what’s considered to be the best swordsmanship profession among them, they were bestowed as a Dark Knight.”

With those words, not just Alicia, but Shun and the others were also astonished while going “What a tremendous profession…”

While glancing, as if there was some kind of harmful influence that was there, Alicia muttered,

“A Dark Knight…is it?”

“Well then…since their ways of fighting resemble yours, I was thinking of having that person be under your apprenticeship, but…is that not possible?”

“No…it’s possible, but…”

Alicia spoke with an hesitant expression.

The king, as if remembering something, denied a certain thought plaguing Alicia,

“Oh, it’s unlikely that the person’s a demon.”

“…? May I ask why…?”

Alicia tilted her head with a look of confusion towards the king’s words.

“In the first place, these people are ones that come from a peaceful country with no war. Actually, when talking about the reasons for why I called them to this world, from everyone’s face it seemed like it was the first time they were hearing about these kinds of things. In addition, the largest factor is that in the world they came from, the existences of demons are only things of fairy-tales and superstition. In their original world, their existence is not recognized, so it’s highly likely that demons never existed there from the start…”

“So, it’s fine not to worry about it, right?”

“Right…For their world, coming over here is a strange situation…It seems like this person’s profession turned out like that for some odd reason, I suppose.”

Though Alicia had a puzzled look, she nodded several times as if in understanding.

The king saw Alicia looking like that and asked a second time,

“So, Alicia Rays───”

“Yes….”

With a dignified tone of voice and with polite mannerisms, Alicia kneeled down on one knee with her arm over her chest and bowed her head towards the king.

That kind of pose was mainly to express sincerity and courtesy, making Alicia seem like a dignified knight to everyone. Actually, there was more to it. There was only one reason for her doing this, it was an oath of allegiance to the country.

“Is it possible for you to…put the one holding the Dark Knight profession under your apprenticeship?”

Towards the kings words, Alicia slowly raised her head and made eye contact with the king───

“…As you wish. Even if I have to strain myself, I vow to keep teaching and protecting that person until they become stronger.”

───She made such a vow with a serious expression.

Geez, under these circumstances, the situation has led me to study under Alicia’s guidance…According to what the king said earlier, the way a Dark Knight fights is roughly the same as that of a Magical Swordsman. For that reason the king probably told the soldier at that time to hastily bring Alicia here…

Shun was convinced that was the reason why the soldier dashed out of the room at that time.

I still haven’t heard the full story yet, so I’ll go ask Alicia, my teacher, about it later…Even if there’s something to hear about, us having an audience here with the king should be wrapping up right about now…

“───So, these people will be under their favor…their new mentors. Athrel, the leader of the knights, especially has many students. I think that amount is difficult for one person, but for your capabilities it’s no problem. I strongly ask you of this. Of course, that applies to the other mentors as well.”

“Yes!” “Yes!” “Yes!”

At the king’s words, the mentors kneeled while saying so.

“The rest of you, please support the mentors!”

“Yes!” “Yes!” “Yes!”

To the words of the king, the surrounding knights, military officers, and nobles also kneeled.

“Ooh…”

Catching a glimpse at the overwhelming loyalty to the king, Shun was in admiration like everyone else.

It seems that…even if he’s a crybaby, a king is still a king…What amazing loyalty.

After the king had broke into tears from being scolded by his daughter, Shun and the others who saw this kind of display felt a bit of an inferiority complex for some reason.

“───Well then, I’d like to finish things up here with this, but…is there anything else to take care of?”

………………

…………

……

After saying that, two seconds of silence ensued, so the king broke the persisting silence,

“Then we are finished. Everyone is to disperse, save for the ones that have transported here.”

With that voice of the king, everyone except the students promptly exited the room, and there was soon much empty space between the king and everyone else.

“I have already told the others, but not you people, so I will speak about it here. Right now the time has reached 18 o’clock, but an hour later there’s supposed to be a welcome party in this royal palace with you all appearing together. Of course, if there are those of you who want to take a break, I won’t force you to do the unreasonable. However, if you choose to participate, do so in the garden of this royal palace, so please do come there. You don’t need anything to participate, so you can come in without thinking of it as a big deal…That’s all there is to say. Now then───”

*clap* *clap*

The king clapped his hands as if calling for someone, and as if in response to the clapping, ten women dressed in maid outfits came from the door in succession.

The maids formed a line with little disorder, bowed, and knelt on one knee, after which the first maid from the right of the line spoke,

“My King, how may we be of service?”

After a nod, the king gave his orders,

“For the time being, let these people settle down here. Are there vacant rooms that can be cleaned?”

“Indeed. Everyday we clean and maintain the rooms, without overlooking a single room, in case anything were to arise.”

“I see. Don’t overwork yourselves.”

“No…doing something like this for you is to be expected…So, does this mean your orders are to guide them to their rooms?”

“That’s right…I ask of you.”

“As you wish…So everyone, this way.”

“Okay.” “Okay.” “Okay.”

Being guided by the maids, them having an audience in front of the king in this world had ended after two long hours, and once Shun and the others were shown to their rooms, they at last were able to take a breather.

Everyone seemed tired, but since Shun had been running around the castle, he was more exhausted than the others.

Shun surrendered his tired body to a soft, large bed that wouldn’t lose to a king-size mattress, and exhaled slow breaths resembling sighs.

“…”

There was a ceiling he didn’t recognize at all…He had really arrived here~to another world.

While confirming that this was the case, Shun stretched.

Outside of the window, there were naturally no apartments or buildings that Shun had viewed from inside the classroom everyday, and what was there was a beautiful townscape and there were trees swaying within the night wind.

The night townscape had a liveliness to it, lit up by many lamps, and while looking down at the streets, Shun thought about how the taverns below must be jam-packed right about now.

“…I wonder if I can survive.”

Shun sighed while looking at the paper with his status that was kept inside his pocket.

“There’s nothing in my stat values that excel at all, no distinct features…and yet my profession is a Dark Knight, but furthermore, my innate skill is a bad skill that doubles status abnormalities…It’s all over before I could even gain strength. For me.”

Shun smiled bitterly at his unreliable abilities, and then compared the scenery of his previous world with the scenery viewed from this castle.

“……Right. The air here is cleaner by a long shot, and the greenery here is also far more beautiful.”

Man…it’s still a blessing even if I’m only to able to break free of that other world!

The moon that was hidden beneath the clouds and the starry sky spreading infinitely within the nightly air were both visible.

The moonlight was gradually illuminating the streets, and before long, it shined onto Shun’s face.

“…I look forward to what will happen from this point forwards.”

Shun had only seen a portion of this vast world, but even so, he felt many more opportunities awaiting within this world compared to his previous one.

While a shooting star swept across the night sky, Shun made a wish.

───I wish to stay in this world.

Right now it was just a tiny wish, but in the distant future that wish will grow larger.

Then when he’s able to make that big wish, the time will come for when he has to decide whether or not he’ll be able to stay in this world for long.

Author’s Note:

At last, the story progresses.

If I may ask, I have a request to those who have been reading up to this point, could you please give your evaluation of the story thus far in the review column? Of course, I won’t force you to do it. This is just a personal request in the end, but I thank you very much if you’d be able to cooperate.

Now, I thank you all very much for putting this into your bookmarks. I also thank those of you who will do this in the future. I’d really help me if those of you who haven’t added this to your bookmarks yet go and do so. I’d like to know how many people are reading this work…and, I’d also be thankful if you could send your reviews.

(TLN: What a polite author. It’s like he’s offering you teatime while a gentle summer breeze caresses your back to soothe the inner-strata of your spirit.)