Chapter 2

The following morning couldn't have come any later, but it did and as such, each of the Four Heroes woke up and were informed through a single Palace Maid each that they would be summoned to the Throne Room in 10 minutes time, where they would be able to choose their own party members for their future fights against the Waves.

Not something Kodoku felt particularly too fond over when her first heard it whilst getting dressed in his normal clothes, a visible scowl on his features. He had his Sword strapped to his hip after having changed into his trousers, a rather tedious affair since the weapon took about 2 seconds or so before magically appearing there, much to his annoyance till he figured out how to move it to his back. THEN he had to get used to shifting his weapon's position on his body so that he could get changed proper, a skill he felt would become quite necessary eventually. 'Still, compared to achieving my objectives for today, this or the annoying sun will not be anything that will deter me.' he thought to himself, a determined blaze filling his gaze as he went over his plans for the morning whilst finalising his routine.

Thanks to the Maid leaving after the notification as well as telling him that, afterwards, he would be allowed to leave the Castle to wander around town, the male had a few goals already planned in mind for his morning time. With the small funds which had been provided to him (and likely the other Heroes too, though he bet that the drunkard Spear Hero had already wasted his) after they had been ushered here, he should be able to at least afford a change of clothes and a small meal. He'd have to check out the currency system first and see how that would go, but that would be his top priority for the moment.

The second priority he had, would be finding possible places where he could gather information about various topics, topics such as problems individual villages were facing (hey this was a KINGDOM under assault from monsters, so there were bound to be some), enemies he would be fighting as well as their habits, and anything else he could use to his advantage, as well as more info about this world. One of the things he had to do as a Solo Player, was manage two things: his resources as well as the information on what he would be facing, something which he had relied a lot on videogame guides back in his world, something which he likely wouldn't be able to do here. For games like Monster Hunter, he always memorized where specific items were and what elemental weaknesses certain creatures had possessed, making the use of each tool he could to his advantage to win his battles... something which had become increasingly important the more he played those types of games.

'Then, there's the theory I came up with regarding this world...' Kodoku thought as he finished putting on the upper portions of his attire, made sure his Sword was strapped to his hip securely, and then proceeded to head out of his room to try and track down some Maids for questioning. 'This world... it sounds like a traditional fantasy world for Isekai Web/Light Novels, but it is a real world nonetheless. Perhaps, it really IS so but with Game-like elements, since I discovered a Stat, equipment, party and help menus one would see in Net Games last night. I'll need to confirm whether or not this is truly so, cause if I can predict the others' actions, then it will likely be that Bow Hero who will think of this as a Game too much, whilst I'm not so sure about that Shield Hero. That Spear Drunk however, he DEFINITELY won't see it as such, he seems too much like an army commander to do otherwise, especially given his rant yesterday...'

Perhaps he could find some libraries or books scattered about as well in case he wanted more concrete information, which would definitely become necessary in the near future. Odds were, he would have to look on both the official... and the not so official side of things, such as the black market and stuff, since if he believed the King to be as competent as he thought, then the black market maybe much more expansive and dominant than one might expect.

However, that priority came second...

Compared to looking like a badass edgelord, little else was of relevant!

Later, the Four Heroes assembled in the Throne Room once more... although SOME of them looked a bit more roughed up than the others. Both Kotoku and Itsuki looked fine enough, essentially looking clean and presentable. Nothing looked to be wrong with them in terms of appearance... however the Shield and Spear Heros turned out to be a different matter altogether. Naofumi for starters, looked like a young child embarrassed by his peers at school, with his hand behind his scratched up head. His clothes looked to be all ruffled too, with there being various stains of... questionable origin behind them, the last noteworthy thing being that his scent smelled oddly like a putrid mix of alcohol, and garbage. Not a pleasant smell to be sure, which was why people stayed clear of him as much as possible... that, and perhaps the Shield he wore had something to do with it due to how they glared at it like it were the plague personified.

Similar things could be said about Ouki… thing was though, he looked like he didn't give a damn, only smiled that uncaring smile of his.

'What happened there...?'

Both the Sword and Bow Hero's questioned that in their minds, although they didn't wait too long for an answer thanks to Ouki providing said answer himself without looking in their general direction. "HAHAHAHA, MAN, THAT DRINKING SESSION REALLY HIT THE SPOT! BEST NIGHT OUT I HAD SO FAR!" he proclaimed, patting a nervously chuckling Naofumi on his back like they were best bros. "THANKS FOR COMIN' ALONG, LITTL' BRO! MADE THE DRINKING MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE!"

"Hehehe... shame that we accidentally spent all that money, which resulted in us sleeping in an alley for the night..." Naofumi responded, pretty much summarizing everything that they had went through last night. Boy did he get a surprise when he had woken up in the middle of an alley with Ouki right beside him, not to mention the guy had a HUGE ass bottle of alcohol with him that e had clutched to his chest like it were a stuffed animal he took to bed with him. The 20 year old otaku didn't want to think about where that thing was now, though, and would rather let it remain a mystery.

Before things could continue with the Four Heroes, the King cleared throat to gain their attention, something which worked although due to the residual effects of the alcohol Ouki looked a bit more... unfocused, than usual. Good, the King mused, hopefully that would make him more obedient as he should be. Thus, the man proceeded to speak. "Heroes, we have gathered today to discuss your Party arrangements." he declared, gesturing to the crowd of people (whom looked more like adventurers than Nobles, now that Kodoku and Ouki noticed)

They were quite varied but to the eyes of the spear hero few showed any sign of actually wanting to help. He has met many people in his life and saw many who entered his gang, he could tell with a glance when someone really could become loyal and useful or if the person would stab him in the back at the first opportunity. It is not perfect, he knows that, but he trusts his instincts well enough.

As for Kodoku, he honestly just wanted to leave already. He did not wish for a party to ruin his style and he'd rather be on his way to get some weapons and start monster hunting and grinding. Itsuki was almost glowing at the prospect of being chosen, as he fully believed he should well be. He was a hero, and as such deserves only the very best. Naofumi, well he was honestly tired and wanted to go and find a bed somewhere to sleep in. He and Ouki went to 'sleep' when it was almost morning and he was not used by any means to party so much.

"Now then, gathered adventurers, please choose the Legendary Hero with whom you will travel with."

'Wait, So THEY got to choose?' Were the words in the heads of Itsuki, Ouki, and Naofumi. Kudoku couldn't give less of a s*** about it, though, since he did not want any of them whatsoever.

The people began to move.

Three went behind Kudoku, four went behind Itsuki, and five behind Ouki.

"Wha?! How come, this cannot be right! I did not get anyone? WHY?" Naofumi almost shouted in despair. He was a shield hero, he had no attack power so how was he to fight without anyone to dish out damage.

"You can take mine, I don't do teams." Kudoku said, making the three behind him fidget and move to Itsuki and Ouki. Kudoku actually smiled at that one, not wanting people to disturb his style.

Ouki, meanwhile, looked at his team after having the added members of Kudoku's part.

"You, you, and you. I welcome the four of you, the rest can go somewhere else. I have no desire for those who have eyes like yours, eyes of those whose loyalty could change with the win." Kudoku said after pointing out three people. They were one male with a long white robe and with circular glasses, a small mage girl who looks too petite for her own good, and a male with simple leather armor and red hair carrying a black bow.

That shocked most people who thought Ouki would take as many as he can, but that was far from the truth. If he were to take just anyone with him things would definetly not work well before long, instead he would only take those he was confident he could at least trust.

Skills were not as important as trust in his eyes.

Clearing his throat once more, the King looked at the party roster, noticing that out of the four Heroes, the Shield Hero had only one party member, something which irritated him inside since he didn't want him to have anyone on his side, but it would have to do for the time being, hence he just opted to continue the meeting. Worse was the fact that his own daughter Malty had been the one to join the Shield Hero, though on the up side he knew she wouldn't be taken advantage of by anyone, no it likely would end up being the opposite way around. "Now then, since the heroes have their Party members sorted, we shall-"

"NOW WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE!"

Before he could speak, Ouki howled out in fury as he stepped forwards, ignoring the glares aimed his way by those on the King's side as he pointed a finger towards Naofumi and Malty. "NOW THIS IS STRAIGHT UP BULLSHIT, WHY THE HECK DOES THE SHIELD BRO HAVE SO FEW FOLLOWERS?! HE NEEDS WAY MORE THAN JUST ONE FUCKING PERSON, A PERSON WHO MIND YOU LOOKS LIKE SHE'LL BE JACK SHIT IN TERMS OF HELP AND LOYALTY, OTHERWISE HOW CAN HE AS EFFECTIVE AS HE SHOULD BE!?" Ouki declared, thinking back to his many Guild Wars and how useful Tanks had been for his forces. Depending on how they were used, Tan guys could be pretty beastly on the battlefield, so seeing Naofumi who had such options in his future be treated like this REALLY and ROYALLY pissed off.

Well, there are few other options available, Spear Hero." The King responded bluntly, trying to make his tone as neutral as possible to hide the smug sense of satisfaction slowly creeping its way through at the sight of his people 'dutifully' following their ruler's ideals. "Its not like anyone chose to follow him, so I'm afraid that there's-"

Before he could continue, a now much calmer Ouki stopped him by doing the 'tch-tch-tch' sound whilst waving his index finger from side to side... it DEFINITELY succeeded in twitching a few brows. "See, that's where your wrong 'your majesty'." he stated, making quotation marks on the last part whilst his gaze dripped with sarcasm like an overflowing waterfall. "We do have ONE option available to us: and that's to use any of the captured Criminals, and before you try to lynch me, think of it like this: With them being captured, and according to some reliable sources..." This had happened when he had been at the Tavern, as although he had been drunk off his ass near the end, it had mostly been a ploy so that he could listen to the people's comments before they could be officially 'silenced' by the royalty. One can glean a TRUCK load of useful information this way, and it had been one of his favourite recon methods. Relaxation, socializing and work being done all at once, what's not to love about that? "They would have been punished with Execution anyways. Therefore, have them turned into Slaves for Naofumi to command, and we have a small party already, and its not like they would be able to cause too much trouble. They'd be Slaves, so Naofumi can keep them in line, plus if they're competent and since your 'dire situation' made you all yank our asses over here, you pretty much need to take these measures." he explained, smirking in victory when he saw how unamused the King seemed but tried to hide.

What, he'd done SOME research on this place despite looking like a total loon, and nobody was any of the wiser. Another thing of note (something which he'd brought up before the apparent King's daughter could speak when he saw her about to) was that he'd heard from his research that there were a few 'disgraced knights' among the Criminals, trained ones who knew about combat, tactics etc. Having them on their side saving the kingdom would DEFINITELY be a boob here. Plus, seeing as how some of the Nobles actually looked like they were pandering this idea, it showed that it indeed had merit as they weighed the pros and cons of his solution.

As for the other three Heroes...

Naofumi, well he looked the most nervous out of the bunch, and a bit squeamish too as he took a gulp whilst trying to restrain himself from talking in this situation. Not like anyone could blame him since Slavery in his country wasn't really looked favourably from, if anything it was the exact opposite. However, after spending time with Ouki and coming to learn about his mannerisms, he could start to see the man's logic. They were Criminals on what the otaku would have called death row anyways, so they'd likely jump at the chance to escape punishment, not to mention in the Shield Hero's eyes working for a company, the military etc was basically a form of slave system anyways, just more official and 'humane' with the 'slaves' getting something out of it other than their life, no matter how small.

Over on his side, Itsuki thoughtfully hummed as he assumed a detective-like pose, mauling over the idea with a look of discomfort and perplexity. For one, the guy didn't like Slavery one bit, he frowned upon and abhorred it not just for moral-based reasons, but because it reminded him of how his bullies treated him back in school. However, since these guys were Criminals with death as their only alternative, he didn't see much problem in utilizing them this way. Plus, if things go well on the Shield Hero's side then perhaps he could have some Slaves of his own so that he could be seen as a hero in the eyes of others, a hero for reforming the corrupt members of society that is.

'Well I'll be... THAT's what the drunk's getting at...' Kodoku thought as he but a hand over his mouth in a similar way to Itsuki, only his hid the smirk creeping onto his lips as the well-oiled gears inside his head rapidly rotated. The more he processed Ouki's logic, the more he began to see the picture here. 'Not only is he improving the Shield Hero's chances of being effective, he is also blatantly yet intellectually stifling the apparent prejudice against the Shield Hero that these guys apparently have.' It had become official in the Sword Hero's mind after eyeing everyone's expressions that had shifted continuously throughout this conversation, one time he'd caught the King eyeing his daughter who responded with a similarly conniving look too, that the Shield Hero had a LOT of enemies against him for seemingly no apparent reason.

Hell, he figured that her reason for posing as an adventurer due to her outfit choice to go along with the Shield Hero had to be a ploy, though not a very good one for multiple reasons. One: Her demeanour may LOOK kind and caring, but there were subtle tells that gave her away in his opinion, like how she'd idly glance at her nails with her face minutely scrunching in revulsion, like she didn't like something about her getup. That kind of thing came from those who were used to times of peace and he'd seen MANY a girl gamers complain about that stuff on their streaming platforms that he'd watch for research purposes (no not THAT kind perverts, he had way more self respect than to watch them just for that), heck he'd seen his mom do it a few times way back when. Two: the way she walked did NOT convey the experience of a competent adventurer, but rather someone used to politics, someone who lived the court life. Kodoku could tell the difference due to learning how to identify people based on their classes in the few net games that he did play, whilst in his usual games it was to define which type of enemy he would be facing.

He'd already mentioned that he had seen her as a princess, and that had been due to keeping an eye out and noticing picture frames on some of the corridor walls portraying her youth and current appearance next to what he could only have assumed to be her parents, the king and queen, as well as a young girl too. Though he couldn't for the life of him see if she were here or not, so either she wasn't involved (which he found HIGHLY suspicious since, as a member of royalty, she should be at least INVOLVED) or she had other things to attend to, though the exact nature of these things was still up for debate here.

Therefore, out of interest and as a way to generally screw those guys over, Kodoku spoke up after removing his hand and keeping his expression neutral. "There's another benefit to this arrangement." he began, getting everyone's attention. "You all want this thing called 'justice' against these Waves right? To eliminate them and survive, then this option kills two birds with one stone. You both get to 'reform' some 'Criminals' in the sake of justice, and easily obtain valuable subordinates for the attacks."

Each of the onlookers glanced at one another, murmurs of the potential this idea had rushing through the Throne Room like blood cells in a vein. At that point, both the King and Malty (who shared another look that the two Heroes caught) had realized the 'defeat' they'd suffered in this metaphorical battle between the two opposing sides by the smooth intrusion of the third party, known as the Sword Hero... and for some reason, it felt WAY more satisfying to watch this then one might expect.

Although both Heroes got the feeling that this wouldn't be over, not by a long shot.

"Now, here is the start funds we have prepared for you all. We were thinking on sending each of you with 600 silvers but after contemplating we decided that our heroes deserve better so we will give each of you 100 golden coins! It should be more than enough for the begining of your adventures." The king said, grumbling inside that he had to spend more money than he wanted on this.

He would have given them the 600 silvers which is equivalent to 6 gold coins, but he just knew that Ouki would complain and make the nobility actually agree with him on this. The king have already heard from the shadows that some of his supporters were already doubting him after Ouki's speach the day before about the inadequacy of the king for taking care of things in this time of crisis.

The king didn't much care for the hero's opinion, they were just a convenient tool in his eyes, but the spear hero had pointed out the king's faults and the nobles smelled blood from there.

"Now, go and save our world!" The king proclaimed, happy to see himself free of the spear hero's opinions and the mere presence of the Shield Hero.

However, much to Kudoku's amusement as he understood what was going on, the Spear Hero spoke up again.

"My King, I must ask first where is the Treasury of the castle." Ouki asked, making the king's face go red in anger.

"And WHAT would you want with it?!" The king practically hissed his question.

"But of course, to see if there is any suitable armor and equipment for me and the other heroes." The king was about to object but Ouki spoke before he could. "The funds given surely can help us heroes to start our journey, but if we are to do us the most possible in helping this world then it stands to reason that the Royal Family would help us to the best of your abilities. Matterials for out weapons and armors and weapons that are only accumulating dust should be put to use now in this moment of crisis."

The king felt like tearing up his own hair hearing this, seeing it as shameless day robbery which it pretty much is. But the king saw the nobility turning to him in agreement with the hero.

The king knew that doing that would weaken the Royal Family own resources but not doing it would make the mobility doubt the commitment of the Royal Family into saving this world.

With the decision made, the Four Heroes and their Party members, or lack of in the Sword Hero's case, got escorted out by one of the Palace Maids. Said Maid also received a notice from one of the Guards to bring them to the royal Armoury after giving them their pre-determined funds. Said funds had been given to them just after they'd left, although there had been a noticeable hesitation when granting the Shield Hero the prepared money, though it had been ignored for the time being as the Maid guided them through the corridors.

Whilst this happened, Kodoku wondered what he should do next after this, if he were to get some bulky armour from this place with some decent stats, then he could probably find a Tailor shop or something similar to re-outfit himself with something dark, brooding and mysterious. He much preferred something akin to that than his current apparel at least, plus if he had to go around wearing such... eye catching gear like golden armour and flashy looing sword which may as well be a toothpick (well, he'd tested his own sword and it was NOT like that in the slightest, thankfully), then he would rather have gone without this little unexpected boon.

Meanwhile, the Shield and Spear Heroes gleefully talked with one another, much to the annoyance of guards passing by, whilst a few Maids gave the Spear Hero disapproving looks. Looks which came from his little 'display' in the morning due to his drunken stupor,. though these looks got ignored as Ouki had been too focused on his conversation with Naofumi to care. Though, he DID make sure to note who looked annoyed and who didn't as to concern who had the greater prejudice in them. He'd see for himself if these guys could be trustworthy or not, as well as gain an overview of the competency these Guards could have.

As for the Bow Hero, he just stayed being under the praise and flattery most of the Guards and Maids gave him, unaware of their underlying intentions.

Finally, the group managed to arrive at the Armour, the Maid having to request access and having to give a paper notice to the Guards that confirmed her claims.

Whilst this happened, the Maid then turned to look at them, promptly proceeding to explain about the Armoury before them. "This Armoury serves as the largest within our Country's Arsenal, and has a high amount of top quality items that were seen necessary to be kept stored away here in case of dire emergencies. A lot of these came from the previous Wave attacks which had happened close to this Capital, hence why they had been stored here." She explained, one hand over her crotch area as she held the other out as if holding a silver platter with it like a butler, gesturing to the door behind her.

'Sounds more like Royalty's Greed talking to me...' Kodoku thought, mild irritation seeping into his being whilst Ouki had NO problem showcasing how much he disapproved of this conduct. After all, these items could have been used to empower the various Soldiers and military assets, but instead they were left in this place to rot without seeing proper usage.

A massive waste of resources which caused more doubt on the King in Ouki and Kodoku than ever before. Heck, even Naofumi had his doubts now.

Not long later, they opened the doors after a couple minutes and let them inside. The moment that they did so...

"Huh, quite the setup we got here..." Ouki commented as he surveyed everything around him. According to traditional European castle design, it looked to be fairly standard... though since it resided in a Royal Castle, there were obviously WAY more Weapon/Armour racks than in the standard Castle. The racks all ran alongside the edges of the rectangular shaped room, with some looking the racks one would hang coats on displaying all sorts of exotic armours. The moment that the Heroes inside approached one, a seemingly holographic screen appeared in front of them, surprising each Hero. "Huh...?"

Seeing their confusion, the Maid lowered her head briefly before proceeding to explain. "In order for these items to be used, brave Heroes, they have their own requirements that must be met. As Heroes, you should be able to recognize such things with but a glance." she explained briefly, before stepping outside. "I will be waiting for you outside, as Maids are generally not allowed near the Armoury. Once you have selected your tools, please meet me outside and I will escort you to the Capital." she declared as she passed through the doors again, the Guards closing it behind her.

Once that was done, Kodoku looked around, searching with his gaze alone for any equipment of interest. 'Hmmm... A lot of this stuff seems to run on a levelling system like in those Net games I played, which likely means that I'll likely be unable to use a lot of them...' he thought, looking at some of the equipment and reading their 'info screens' as he would dub them. As he had figured, each of them required considerable levels and stats to be equipped properly and to be usable, therefore he didn't have them as part of his options.

One time he DID try to take out a hammer to test it out, but the moment he grabbed it the teen hissed under his breath when an electric shock ran through him, making him abruptly release the shaft before he could even lift it. Looked like he couldn't use anything that wasn't a sword type then, he concluded after experimenting and seeing how he could only pick up swords and no other weapon types.

A while later, he almost felt like giving up, as most of the Armour and Swords here weren't all that good and he doubted the King would be too pleased about using these as materials for his Sword. However, his gaze then briefly caught something out the left corner of his vision, something long, dark and JUST THE TYPE OF CLOTHING HE'D BEEN LOOKING FOR. His eyes widened as a light gasp escaped him whilst walking on over to it, a rack situated close to the bac of the room. 'What the... hell?' he wondered, stopping and examining the clothing he'd spotted.

The clothing itself hung atop a rack like the other Armours, however there was a distinct difference between them: this had a predominately BLACK colour scheme, his favourite colour actually. The clothing consisted of a black long coat which reached past his ankles, with some black fitting pants and matching coloured Dress Shoes. Of course under the coat he spotted a white dress shirt, but if he completely closed it up then he would look like a black figure when looked from a distance, and THAT would be more than acceptable. There was also a white Cravat too.

An info screen appeared before him, with the following words:

Rashomon Gear
Level 1
Info: a set of clothes from a Shadow Demon's hide.
Attack: +10
Defence: +10
Speed: +10
Agility: +10
Endurance: +10
Future Perks: only visible 10 minutes after being equipped.

There wasn't much else, but it quickly drew his interest. 'Hmmm... a set of clothing with stats and levels too, could that mean that it can increase in levels? Interesting, and it fits my style too. I'll take it then, everything else will be worthless to me.' Kodoku thought, immediately grasping the outfit. The previous screen vanished upon doing so, and a new one asking if he would like to equip the gear appeared in its place, of which he pressed the 'YES' option. Thus, the entire outfit proceeded to morph into this black light with a crimson coloured outline, that then latched onto and wrapped around his body. Upon completing this task, Kodoku saw his outfit be replaced by what he had seen before, the revelation drawing a whistle out of him as he smirked eagerly, his Sword sheathed on his hip. 'Heh, good to be in uniform...' he thought happily.

As for Ouki, he gazed at the many items and saw how any good armor he felt interested about was beyond what he could actually use for now. Not that he got stressed much over it as he just moved to the armor he liked most and put it straight into his inventory. Seeing his actions the bow and shield heroes, that before were having the same trouble and thinking on what to do did just the same. Getting satisfied with his choice Ouki went ahead to the weapon's selections and copied all spear and similar types of weapon. Some did not quite work as the system did not recognize them as weapons but he still got 47 unique spears with some being extremely powerful. His stats from just that risen by more that 10 times, part because the stats the spears gave and part because of the simple fact his original stats were ridiculously weak.

Finishing this Ouki went to the section were monster parts, ores, and herbs were located and started his shameless plunder.

"Ouki, aren't you taking a bit too much?" Naofumi asked in doubt seeing his new friend's actions.

"I have to agree with Naofumi, your actions are certainly a bit much." Itsuki said.

"Think of it this way, the king doesn't seem the type that would let us come back here after we came here once so you can either be a good little boy and fall behind, OR you can come and get a greater head start. I sure as hell prefer a head start, I asked around town and just the equipment for three knights is what the king was going to pay us to save his world. He have more that 9000 knights so why shouldn't we get more?" Ouki said, making both Naofumi and Itsuki look at one another, nod to each other, and start the plunder without hesitation.

Kudoku looked at this and felt like sighing, seeing the 'heroes' act more like common bandits was certainly quite weird. But, he was not dumb so he wasted no time in following the others and plunder the shit out of this place's accumulated resources.

After a while, Ouki and the other Three Heroes had what they needed and quickly left the Armoury, allowing the Maid to escort them to the Castle Gates... although they would SWEAR that they'd heard a furious roar belonging to an aged King later on.

Meh, must be something trivial, not like any of them gave a damn.

By the time they were at the gates, each of them had a brief conversation with one another before going their own separate ways with their respective party members. Well, Kodoku went alone, since he didn't let anyone join him on his travels.

Speaking of the Sword Hero, Kodoku journeyed through the Capital on his search for some reliable information sources, keeping his hands inside his new Coat Pockets whilst he did so. According to what he had heard when questioning some of the Guards and some Maids, apparently there was something called an Adventurer's Guild here in the Capital... or rather, an Adventurer's Guild for Melromarc to be more specific. They didn't give him too many details, much to his internal irritation since they apparently spent more time in the Castle then they did in the Capital, leaving him to ask for directions to the Guild Building itself so he could gather the necessary information.

'Tch, looks like this may be similar to some sort of RPG Game...' the male thought as he travelled, looking downwards slightly at the multiple screens in front of him. Each screen had been coloured black, with crimson ornamental designs around their boarders as well as white italic writing, not to mention any images that he could find resembled those from high quality photographers. He'd managed to figure out how to display them with his right hand, reminding him somewhat of an anime he had watched way back when about these kids stuck in a death VRMMO game where they had to clear up to 100 floors of bosses.

These revelations didn't sit too well with him, since he wasn't an expert in these types of things since he preferred games like Dark Souls, Devil May Cry etc. 'Its not a help that this sun is so damn irritating, either...' the male added, grimacing as he felt his skin reacting badly to the sunlight, hence he tried to stay in the shadow whilst he walked as much as possible... Which wasn't all the time. 'Here I thought that I'd be able to escape THAT side of me, but it seems I was getting my hopes up too much there...'

Yeah, there was a GOOD reason why he didn't leave the house much when he'd been a kid, let alone a nearly 20 year old, but that'll be for later.

One thing he didn't like about his outfit was the lack of a hood, but maybe he could find a suitable alternative somehow.

In any case, back to the system itself. Upon his experimenting, his System menus took the form of the following: the main menu took on the form of a list, one which had an image which looked to be a map of the entire Capital he found himself in (now wasn't THAT useful?). This map had various icons on it which seemed to display the important locations of which he had visited or had some knowledge of thanks to asking the Maids for info (he SWORE he'd heard several DING sounds during those chats too). There was an Icon of a pair of swords crossed together like an X for a blacksmith shop which he'd briefly visited, a half filled vial which seemed to be a potions shop, a glass which highlighted a Tavern, among many others. It seemed quite easy to tell which icon was for which shop/store too, hence how he managed to find Inns and stuff so easily.

Aside from that, the list itself had a list of icons on it going in a vertical line: A single upper body icon which, upon clicking, opened up a secondary smaller list of options like 'Status', 'Equip', 'Skills', 'Items'.

The first seemed to open a set of three screens, one showing his Level, which was one, his total HP and MP reserves, as well as attack and defence points. Beneath this was a series of icons which he believed were elements, with there being attack and defence percentages that Kodoku theorized were what he could currently use offensively and had defence against.

The second showed various equipment slots, the Legendary Sword being in his 'Main' slot. In the 'Armour' Slot, was his 'Rashomon Gear', with the 'ring', 'Necklace', and 'Amulet' slots empty, which made sense since he didn't have any trinkets which he could use, and if his hunch was right then Kodoku could equip these accessories on top of his Armour in these slots to boost his attributes, which the first screen would show.

Finally, and the most intriguing by far, was the third screen... which only showed a single sword icon with a title of '1-Hand sword' with a skill level slot beneath it and a number 0.

'Hmmm, how curious...' The lone teen had thought before closing the triple screens by scraping left with his right hand. Seemed pretty generic for an RPG kind of game, he felt despite having played few of those.

Afterwards, he opened the 'equip' list in the same way as the 'status' icon, only to display two of the three screens from earlier along with one new one: the one showing his status as well as the various equipped equipment, but then the third screen showed a series of icons that he didn't recognize. 'Interesting... it appears that there's factors that affect my Status in this world...' he thought once he clicked on a hidden icon and found a list of various 'effects' along with various 'resistances'. Looked like he would have to watch out for any of these, cause in his experiences as a Solo Player, even the slightest decrease in stats due to debuffs could prove fatal especially on Dungeon Raids depending on the competency of those involved.

Upon closing this section and opening the 'Skills', Kodoku found what looked to be a Screen opening up with a note-pad like design to it, showing 1 heading with it being '1-Hand Sword' with nothing beneath it. 'Hmmm... if I were to guess, given the name of the section and this format, that it would seem I have only my one handed sword style, but no actual Skills like in RPG's, which would likely mean I would have to use my Sword blindly for a while until I level-up enough to gain Skills that can be used with this style. I think this is what's happening here, but I can't be too sure.' He thought, closing the screen and opening the next one.

Turned out this one was his 'Items' section, although Kodoku realized later that it was simply an inventory. Although, what he didn't see coming was how it seemed to split into multiple columns on the same screen like with his Skills, with there being two columns so far: 'Material' and 'Consumable'. Just by guessing from their names, he figured that the former was for items that could be used for crafting things whilst the latter was for things like potions and the like. 'Although, I'm a bit troubled by this 100 item limit thing I see... seems to be related to some sort of weight system, maybe? Also, does it register the items without splitting them up, or is it saying 100 for each column? Nonetheless, I'll need some items to experiment with before I can answer that one.' Kodoku thought, closing the Items section as well as the secondary list by clicking on the primary Icon again.

Afterwards, he checked the other two and, aside from the second one which seemed to involve Party Members (he'll look into that one later, it wasn't important for him right now) the last icon on the primary menu seemed to be revolving around Quests... although that one had its own worries to it. For one, it only displayed things like Side and Extra Quests in the same format as his Skills and Inventory sections, with no mention of Main Ones which puzzled the male. Why include Side and Extra Quests and not the Main ones? Was that something to do with him not having much of a Goal or purpose here? Or was it something else? Not to mention, what was the difference between Side and Extra quests?

In the end, Kodoku concluded the following: in order to properly understand this system, he needed to get some live experience, and if he were to do that then he'd need info on where he could grind for levels. That meant he had to find the Guild, so he simply resumed his search.

Whilst he wandered the Capital city, Kodoku made sure to keep his ears open for any details that could prove useful... some bits he had heard were rumours of the various 'exploits' done by a certain member of the royal family, although they were hushed in a rather panicked manner if even the slightest suspicion of being overheard was felt.

By the time that he managed to get to where he wanted to go, Kodoku felt VERY unhappy, his mood reflected in the dark gaze inside his eyes as he beheld the building that was supposed to be the Guild Building. Upon looking at it, he found it to be similar to a religious chapel in shape, with a similarly medieval design as all the other buildings in this Capital, which he figured made sense give the theme going on here. However, one difference between this and an ordinary chapel was that he couldn't see any signs of... religious presence, something which Kodoku found himself thankful for. He wasn't a very religious person, an atheist was what people could call him.

Now that he was here though, it felt time to get some damn answers about this place... and judge whether or not this town would live past the next wave.

Entering the Guild, Kodoku soon found himself looking at a large, tavern like area, with multiple floors and multiple rows of tables lined up vertically. Everything inside seemed to be quite wooden too, with loads of people mingling about whilst going through their daily business. Adventurers, Guild Staff, etc. It actually reminded Kodoku of an anime where this pink haired guy was searching for his draconian father, so he joined a Guild with a Guild Hall which had an interior that looked just like this. 'Quite a bustling establishment, indeed...' the male thought, resisting the urge to groan as he proceeded to make his way to what he thought was the help desk, at the very back of the room.

Upon stopping in front of it, the Clerk there looked up from doing some paperwork, that clerk being a young looking man in his mid twenties. "Ah, hello sir, how may I help you today?" he asked with a smile... although it wasn't a true smile, Kodoku noticed. It was a smile referred to as a 'business smile', a smile practiced by people who worked in retail and were meant to serve customers of all types, no matter how rowdy they got.

"I'm looking for information about the Guild. Do you have anything like a leaflet, book or something?"

"None of that is here sir, but if you would like, I can answer any questions you may have..."

Thus, Kodoku began an almost interrogation-like session with the Guild Clerk, allowing him to learn more about this 'Guild'... and finally achieved the answers he sought.

According to him, there apparently more than one Guild, as guilds were prevalent throughout the world and played an important part in everyday life. There were unions of trade that maintain and facilitated the flow of goods and services throughout society, whilst each guild occupied its own unique niche in their specific Country's economy. All guilds were each led by a Guildmaster, whose main job was to maintain and supervise the internal and external operations of the Guild. Guilds can be formed by a wide variety of professional associations, ranging from the likes of merchants to adventurers, hence the one Kodoku was at right now turned out to be one for Adventurers. Part of him wondered if there was one for Information Brokers too, but didn't say anything about such things for the time being.

Furthermore, to accurately define the term 'Guild' (since Kodoku didn't play too many Net Games, he wasn't overly familiar with the term and its concepts), Guilds were an association of players that have banded together for specific purposes. This involves, levelling up, conquering dungeons, participating special events and even challenging other Guilds. In terms of establishing a new Guild, there were these 'invitation scrolls' that can be made and sent to players who wanted to make a specific Guild. In order to form a guild, they must first partake on a single quest, there being 8 types of missions to choose from, but only one needed to be perfectly completed, and once its complete the person was awarded the Invite Scroll. When opening the scroll, normal people seemed to fill in a form within it with the form giving them instructions on how to form the Guild proper.

Kodoku wasn't sure on if this would apply to the Legendary Heroes though, since they weren't like normal people as far as he could tell...

Back to the topic.

Upon creating the guild, the new Guildmaster needs to make enough invitation scrolls for their required number of members joining it. Guild Bases actually seemed to be built by conquering Dungeons and turning them into their own bases, something which Kodoku bet that drunk would ESPECIALLY like to do, given his personality and how he handled things so far.

When the clerk had finished explaining this, Kodoku mulled it over in his mind, running through it multiple times in order to burn the info into his brain so he didn't forget it. It seemed like a fairly decent system, as well as a complex one that seemed to run independently from the Kingdom itself which Kodoku found as another plus in his book, since he could see Ouki actually rejoicing in that he could make his own Guild without having that King breathing down his neck. Part of him actually wondered if he should shared this information with the guy, cause if anything watching him badmouth the royalty in this world felt OH so fun to watch... as long as he didn't try to recruit him though.

In addition, according to the Clerk there were MANY Guilds out there, like Mercenary Guilds, AKA adventurer Guilds which he could see since Adventurers literally were like mercenaries, Information Guilds which specialize in gathering information (something which he felt PARTICULARLY useful and wanted to find as soon as possible) and many others.

But, a few times the Clerk had mentioned Guildmasters as if they were some sort of classification, and not just a job or something, so he queried about that and found that there were things called Job Classes in this world too. With his curiosity piqued, Kodoku queried him about that, and learned that there were over 2000 basic and advanced job classes. Each class seemed to have their own requirements to unlock, but they also had their own categories assigned to them, like warrior-based classes, Magic-based classes, Production-based classes etc. Compared to heteromorphs and demi-humans, humanoids apparently gained all of their strengths from job classes and skills.

On the other hand, there were three different 'ranks' of job classes that defined their ability to be levelled up, usually ranked between base, high and rare. Base job classes could be leveled up to 15, high classes could be leveled up to 10, and rare classes could only be leveled up to 5 at max. In fact, some powerful classes could be unlocked by butchering some heteromorphic beings, though Kodoku didn't feel like butchering innocent civilians to obtain such things. For each and every class obtained, different spells existed. Having levels in specific classes and their respective skills can also benefit the users in ways that enhanced their specialization of spells or summoning. When users levelled up along with their chosen class, they could choose three new spells from the class' spell list each time. Kodoku ESPECIALLY liked this since he could imagine him being a mix of survivor/warrior with specialties in living off the land so he didn't have to worry about going to cities all the damn time.

All in all... a fairly detailed system going on here... Kodoku doubted the King had any hand in developing it.

As for the others, Naofumi went his way with Myne and Itsuki went with his party while happily talking about justice. One of them in special was making Itsuki feel quite attracted to, both due to being a female of about the same age as him and because of her love for JUSTICE.

"So, Seryu-san, you were already working on the guards despite being so young?" Itsuki asked the orange haired girl who nodded happily.

"Yep, my father worked on it before me and I decided to follow in his footsteps, helping serve JUSTICE to all." She said with a huge smile that made Itsuki smile back. The poor bow hero not realizing that he was getting too friendly with a girl that, in most other worlds, would be classified as mentally insane. But hey, they were getting along great.

And finally, Ouki was moving with a destination in mind.

"Mister Spear Hero, are you sure we should be coming here?" A shy voice from the side asked. Ouki turned and looked at the person speaking, it was the only female currently in his party, Rino.

"Oh, don't worry. I thought about some matters and I am quite confident things are gonna get hairy soon. I know about the slave seals, so I must worry if someone put them on any of you or perhaps they find a way to put them on me." Ouki said.

Another of his companions spoke up while adjusting his glasses.

"A wise assumption. While a bit paranoic the decision to cut a possible source of future trouble before it happens is commendable." One of the Party members, the spectacle mage Shiroe, said. He originally felt no desire to help the any of the heroes but he felt like the spear hero was much more interesting than he expected as he reminded him of some of his old friends.

As for the bow user, he nodded his head even if he didn't speak any. He was not sure exactly what he was to do but as a noble, even if a very minor one, he felt obliged to come and help the heroes in any way he could. The choice for the spear hero being simply because he felt like he could work better with either the shield or the spear heroes but he knows of how the people see the shield hero. Personally he has nothing against the shield hero, he would not judge the man without knowing him, but he knows how influent the church of the three heroes are and he doesn't want it to aim at Alsace, his lands, because of this. Thus Tigrevurmund Vorn now followed the Spear Hero.

Ouki had talked with these three before anything else after leaving the castle and now he moved to his destination.

Ouki entered the tent he was looking for, a short man wearing clothes more suited for a circus master appeared in front of him quickly enough. His crooked smile being enough to raise the hairs on the back of most people's necks, but not Ouki.

He has dealt with worse before.

"Hello, hello. What would you like from me, my good sir?" The slave trader asked and Ouki looked at the selection of beasts. The front of the shop was still a beast trading company and he wanted something specific.

"Can you find me three Griffin eggs? The best ones possible, no need to worry about the price overly much." Ouki said and one could swear that they could see the trader's eyes shining with money signs in them.

Quickly enough he returned with his best eggs, the total value being 30 golden coins, 10 for each of the eggs.

It was quite pricey, but Ouki didn't mind it right now.

"A question, but do you have much on the way of trash in this place?"

"Dearest costumer, while I do have some I don't know why you would ask me about-"

"What if I take care of all of it for you in exchange for a discount of one gold coin? It not, you could sell me one or two of your cheaper slaves as compensation." Ouki proposed.

"... I am not sure if this would be that fine a deal, I would be taking quite the loss here." The slave trader said.

"Please, don't worry too much about losses now. If I take care of all the trash your wares would be healthier, making it where you can sell them for more and you can keep them for longer without them dying so quickly. And about the slaves, they can be close to death as what I want is not really the slaves. It is to set them free." Ouki said, making the Slave Trader looked at him confusedly.

"Set them free? But why would you buy a slave to set them free?" He asked and Ouki had to hide away a smile, a dangerous smile. If his idea was right then this just might save him a whole lot of problems in the future, and it would certainly be quite entertaining to see.

"I have my reasons. So? What do you say? Do we have a deal?"

"... Fine, we do. It is nice doing business with you." The Slave Trader said, not knowing he just unknowingly set out an event that would shake the foundations of this entire country at this very moment.

Chapter End

Here you go, the second chapter. Sorry it took so long, me and KC are quite busy on our side of things, plus working on other stories takes away some time too. Though I'll thank those that faved, followed, and left a review since it made me want to continue this story further. To start though, I'll have to explain a few things.

One, Kodoku's game interface/system. Now, This system comes from a game I played a while back called SAO: Lost Song. Just look for it on youtube if you didn't get the exposition about it (I did make a few slight changes to it from its original counterpart). There's still a few kinks I want to develop further, but in the end there's a reason why this system was made for Kodoku instead of the default proficiency one that Ren used, and whilst I won't say what it is, I will say its due to the guy's personality or rather a specific trait. Sorry if it confuses anyone.

Though, if anyone wonders, yes this IS using the Guild System from Overlord, or to be more specific the system it used before papa bone daddy got transported. A rather complex system sure, but also one with a large amount of opportunities. If you've read the Novels (I haven't if anyone is curious), then you should be aware of how diverse this system is. Though, the fact that KODOKU of all people found this information out before anyone else did is interesting in and of itself since one would expect a Guildmaster (wink, wink) to want to know how to develop a Guild here... either that, or he already had something in mind from the start, that Ouki.

As for Ouki, He's well on his way in developing his own plans too. What those are, we'll have to wait and see.

Whelp, hope you all liked, let me know what you all thought and see you next chapter.

Peace Out!