Book 3. Chapter 5
Chapter 5 : The Empire and the Heroes (Classmate Side 3 Part I)
We go back in time a little…
Around the time when Hajime defeated the Hydra in mortal combat, the party of heroes had temporarily aborted their dungeon clearing and returned to the Kingdom of Hairihi.
The clearing speed had fallen due to a lack of the comprehensive intelligence they had on the floors up till now, and also due to the strength and trickiness of the monsters. As such, intense member fatigue had resulted – the conclusion was to take a break and rest.
But though the rest town of Horuado would have been good for recuperation, someone was sent to meet them: they had to return to the palace. An envoy of the Hoelscher Empire had come wanting to meet with the heroes.
What was with this timing?
By nature, almost no time had passed between the arrival of the God Ehit’s oracle and the summoning of Kouki and company. For this reason, the empire –which was an ally and did not itself conduct the hero summoning– would not be able to meet the heroes right after they were summoned.
However, it had been thought that the empire had not moved even after knowing of the heroes’ summoning. This was because the empire had been founded 300 years ago by famous mercenaries, becoming a ‘holy land’ for adventures and sell-swords with its meritocratic system.
For them, talk of a group of heroes suddenly appearing and leading humanity was unconvincing. The Church was also in Hoelscher, and as such it was not an exception to having believers, but they were less devout than those in Hairihi. Most of its people were either mercenaries or were involved in the business, and as such there were more who valued profits over faith. If anything, this was just a story; it would hardly make earnest believers out of them.