179 Palace Tour

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The grand parade to welcome the hero had just ended and the hero had arrived at the royal palace. There weren't many humans who didn't know about the heroes of legend that saved the human race from calamities, so Kazuya had been welcomed with smiles and cheers.

"(The face remained almost the same)" Kazuya thought as he got off the grand carriage.

He looked at the royal palace which represented Zweifel kingdom's authority. One big difference from his previous life was that this time, the Zweifel kingdom's princess wasn't closely standing beside him. The engagement between him and Alicia had been announced because there were a lot of people who thought that they had been a match made in heaven.

Now, the possibility of that happening were close to nil. Not only did the two of them not have a good first impression, Alicia probably wanted to tear him to pieces. Kazuya grinned at the direction of Alicia's room and smiled.

"(I wonder what kind of expression you'll be showing me the next time we meet, Alicia.)"

"You seem like you're used to this kind of thing, hero." The king stood approached after getting off the grand carriage himself.

"Though it may not be always at this scale, I've more or less experienced such events." He replied nonchalantly to the king's inquiring comment.

Though he had mentioned that he had been a personage that held a position in his world, the king and many of the nobles didn't take it much to heart. They knew nothing of the hero, but his demeanor and actions have been proving his statements to be true. Not even the most talented person from the kingdom's theater could appear as calm as the hero did when he stood at the center of such a grand parade.

"Welcome to the Royal Palace. I had hoped that you would stay here as you learn more about the world and our kingdom." The king expressed regret.

"Don't take it the wrong way, king. The reason I chose to stay at the duke's place is because I want to be able to move as I wish around this big city. Though this castle is indeed impressive, I wouldn't be able to move as I pleased here wouldn't I?" Kazuya grinned. "Since I'll be here for the foreseeable future, I will learn about this world through its people as much as I read about them."

"I see. That is a unique way of looking at things." The king wasn't really interested in what Kazuya had to say but he refrained from saying anything about him wanting to learn through reading. Though the language barrier may have been resolved coincidentally, the king didn't think Kazuya would be able to read Edean scriptures.

"er—Kazuya-san" Elrich approached. "I will need a little bit of time to prepare quarters suitable for you at my estate here in the capital. Would you like a tour of the city in the meantime?" though he was aware of the hero's wisdom, the duke was still uneasy about leaving him at the palace.

"I suppose I did impose on you suddenly." Kazuya appreciated the offer. "I am thankful for your offer but since I am already here, I would like to see if the castles in this world are similar to what they are like in mine." Kazuya's decision made the king ecstatic.

"I see…" the duke was slightly disappointed. "Very well, I shall personally make arrangements and come back later to fetch you."

"I appreciate you going through the trouble duke. A simple room will suffice since I would be uncomfortable if it were too extravagant." Kazuya finished bidding Elrich farewell and accompanied the king and headed towards the castle.

Though it had been unfortunate that Elrich wasn't given a chance to be alone with the hero, the duke was still able to get himself chosen to be Kazuya's host. Though it will only be a few hours till they met again, the head of the Eberbach household wished that the hero's wisdom would be enough to fend himself from the nobles that wanted nothing more than to use him.

"(Get here as fast as you can, foolish daughter. The opportunity to befriend a hero that defines a generation isn't something you choose to miss.)" Elrich sighed before taking one last look at Kazuya who did nothing but impress him before heading back to his estate.

Nobody that wasn't in the royal family in the kingdom had the privilege to walk beside their king normally but Kazuya acted as if he wasn't aware of such things and strode beside Zweifel's ruler without a care. This caused the castle staff to give surprised and curious looks but not even the nobles accompanying them had the nerve to say anything about it to the hero.

"Hero, about that weapon you used earlier…" the king decided to break the silence so that he could take his mind of this embarrassment.

"What about it?" looking at the empty gun holster in his side, Kazuya acted oblivious to the question he had been expecting.

"It was able to shatter the barrier my daughter put up as if it was nothing. Though it may not sound like a big deal to you, Alicia is one of the most talented youths in the capital. It makes me wonder just what kind of weapon it is." Though the king had not mentioned it directly, his desire towards the unknown weapon was apparent.

"Well I guess you would have found out about it sooner or later but that was my 'Soul Weapon'." Kazuya didn't bother thinking about it and gave an immediate reply.

"Soul weapon?" The king was unfamiliar with it as he turned to one of the magicians behind him. The court magician could only shake his head because he too did not know what it meant.

"It is a special weapon that certain individuals on earth known as 'awakened' are able to use." Kazuya maintained a poker face as he explained. "It is made from fragments of an awakened person's soul and appears as a weapon that is suitable for the user. Mine is as you have seen, a ranged weapon."

"Made from a person's soul…" the king wasn't unfamiliar with the concept of souls. He was unable to confirm nor deny Kazuya's explanation.

"Though it is a 'special weapon' it doesn't mean that it had no limitations." Kazuya noticed the disbelief and decided to go for another push. "With my current mastery of it, I can only materialize it for a short period of time. The time it can stay in physical form is even shorter if I use it."

"Is that so?" the king felt that it hadn't been a lie. There was no sign of the weapon in the hero's possession. "I had hoped that it was something that can be manufactured. Such a weapon could have been helpful in these troubling times." An exaggerated sigh of regret was shown by the nation's ruler.

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Kazuya resisted the urge to roll his eyes and scoff at the king's exaggerated acting. He was satisfied seeing that his lie had been accepted by those who were skeptical about his gun. Revealing the weakness and limitation of his weapon made their vigilance go down together with their desires to acquire it.

What they were not aware of was the reason the hero had made such an elaborate lie. Not only would they have to think twice about attacking the hero though he appeared vulnerable, they would also not be able to disarm him under the pretense of a place forbidding the presence of weapons.

If they were planning to do something to the hero, they would first have to make him use his to its limits before they can make a move. While the limitations he spoke of was non-existent, the lie would give Kazuya an appropriate warning that these good for nothing people would be up to something.

"I apologize for not being of help with that. Since my world is not blessed with the abundance of mana this world has, people like me have to pay an appropriate cost so that we can ensure our safety." Kazuya gave a negative hint about the cost of using his weapon and showed that he did not want to talk about it any further.

After separating from the king and the other nobles, the members of the royal guard were tasked to show him around the important parts of the castle. Kazuya acted like a tourist and showed interest in the palace while he imagined different scenarios in which he would be able to see it crumble.

Of course, Kazuya was well aware that the method he used to destroy the Kurogane estate wasn't an option he could use here. Not only would the formation around the castle be easily discovered, the royal palace itself was several times larger than the Kurogane estate. It was the place that housed the most important figures in the kingdom, so it had been covered with several layers of protection that even he would have a hard time dealing with.

"And finally, this is the royal library." the royal guard led him to the final stop of their tour.

This was the place aside from his room that Kazuya spent the most time in at the palace. He used this place not only to familiarize himself with the language, but also the kind of world Edea was. One of the regrets Kazuya had was that he wasn't able to look through the articles he was interested in before he was sent away from the capital.

"Oh? A new face?" an old man walked from the desk covered by several books and met them.

Kazuya smiled after seeing the old man. The library was like a sanctuary for him because he was able to come here whenever he wanted to run from the instructors who kept training an earthling like him in the art of fighting. This old man is one of the oldest people staying at the palace so no one was able to go against him. This included members of the royal family.

"Hello. My name is Kazuya, I will be frequenting this place often so will be in your care." Kazuya's respectful demeanor stunned the royal knights who already witnessed him mercilessly debate with the king and the nobles without a care.

None of them knew that people like this old man were the only reason why Kazuya refrained from destroying the castle without a care. Though this place did indeed house the most rotten people of the kingdom, there were individuals like the old librarian who got along with Kazuya even in his past life.

This old man in particular was the one who patiently taught him how to speak, read and write in this world. This had been because of the simple and unconscious action Kazuya had been used to as a regular visitor of a public library. In the old man's eyes, the hero was unlike anyone else who visited the royal library and actually returned the books he was done with to their proper places.

"What a polite young lad! Are you by chance the hero that has been summoned?" the man's eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"I guess that would be me. Though I haven't accepted the request for assistance, I wanted to learn more about this world before coming to a decision."

"A wise decision!" the old man nodded. "Are you alright with reading in our world's language?"

"There should be no problems but…" Kazuya turned towards the royal guards who kept their eyes on him.

"I understand. You can leave this to me!" The old man straightened himself before standing in front of the guards who tried to follow the hero that went to look for books in the aisles.

"Sir Quinn…" the guard called out the old man's name hoping that he would understand that they were under orders to keep their eyes on the hero.

"You guards stay put here! I'm already being lenient in letting you enter this place with your weapons." He sternly looked at the other guard who tried sneaking past him in another direction. "This place only has one place to enter and exit. You will be able to observe the hero once he has finished choosing the materials he wants to read!"

They were aware that the old librarian had connections to even the previous family heads and veteran generals so they didn't dare offend him. It was true that there was only one place to enter and exit the library so the guards compromised and watched the hero come back with a pile of books in hand.

Quinn, the old librarian was satisfied when he saw the hero concentrated on his reading. It had been a few hours since Kazuya started immersing himself in the books. Quinn figured that the hero picked up books that made him curious and finally went back to his own work.

"(Phew… this old man sure is thoughtful in his own way but...)" Kazuya breathed a sigh of relief after making sure that the old man no longer paid attention to him.

Probably waiting to be asked questions, Quinn waited for the hero who showed nothing but concentration in the books he started reading. The old librarian figured that his help would be needed once the hero figures out just what exactly he will focus on learning, so he went back to his own work.

The royal guards already got tired of being vigilant every time the hero stood up to return the book he finished to get new ones. They sat near the large doors of the library and kept an eye on him from afar while looking bored.

"(Though it would be a bit risky to do it now…)" Kazuya reached for a small device from his pocket and placed it on his seat before moving towards the aisles once again.

He waited for a moment where both the guards and the old man didn't pay any attention to the place where he just left before pressing a button to activate the device he left on his seat.

"yawn… hmm?" The guard scratched his head after seeing the hero already back on his seat with a book in hand.

Kazuya observed the situation for a while before deciding that there weren't any problems. This would give him some time to walk around the castle by himself. There was one place in particular that he wanted to stop by no matter what.

"(Time to give my respects to the royal castle's vault. I need to get some compensation for the inconvenience and mental trauma that this summoning has caused me~)"

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