Karina von Vale

She smiles and holds out her hand. I take it once more and let myself be led to the edge of the stairs. The plaza below is bursting with people now. It’s like I’m at a rally.

“What do I say?” I whisper.

“You don’t need to say anything right now. Let me do it. Since you don’t have a fighting ability yourself, you will need some experienced companions,” the priestess explains and then shouts in a very loud voice. “Who of you will volunteer to join the Hero of Light in their quest, to train and fight with him, and to show them the wonders of our world?”

A loud murmur goes through the crowd. They don’t look like they expected such a call. Still, I can already see some people pushing through the masses to arrive at the bottom of the stairs. Powerful looking warriors, mages and other adventurers assemble below. Even a few people from the city guard are stepping up. And there are normal citizens as well. Every single one of these people have more courage than I have ever felt. Maybe living under constant threat of the demonic army will do that to you.

So it comes down to this again. I want to laugh and cry at the same time. A whole world away and yet I am still just doing my job. Selecting and hiring people. I worked in Human Resources back home and it seems I’m still in HR in this other world.

“Can I choose anyone present?” I ask as my gaze sweeps over the assembled group of about thirty people.

“They have volunteered. As high priestess of Lady Erya’s temple, I will take you and them in, so that we may figure out a plan together. No, don’t thank me. It’s my purpose and Lady Erya’s wish.”

“You come with me, then, Shilvy. You have strong magic.”

“I can’t. I’m the last defender of Atol. The chosen fighter, who stands between the demon army and the citizens of this beautiful city. I can’t leave them.”

“Then who else of your clerics can fight with light magic?”

Shilvy turns around and faces her people.

“You may join the hero in his quest as well, if you wish.”

A few of them actually step forward to join the crowd. I clear my throat and address the masses for the first time on my own. I hope my voice isn’t as shaky as my nerves. Well, here goes nothing…

“Citizens of Atol, mighty adventurers, thank you for volunteering for this tremendous task. My name is Hiroyuki Satoyama and I am Lady Erya’s chosen hero. Whoever wants to join me in my quest shall step forward and take my hand. If you are deemed worthy by the Goddess of Light, you will receive her blessing and may accompany me.”

A small lie. Erya won’t mind, will she? Anyone who touches my hand can be appraised through Divine Appraisal and I will bless the ones I want to take with me. Since this will help everyone, I’m sure Erya will give me that power… right?

Shilvy leads the volunteers back into the cathedral, where they line up to approach me. It feels a bit like a hand-shake event, now that I think about it. The idol comparisons ring true still. The first ten adventurers, who approach me, are rather lackluster. Their life points are lower than even Shilvy’s and they have little to no attributes or skills. One mage has a rather decent selection of wind spells, so I ask her to step aside for a maybe.

The next person approaching me is a young woman, maybe in her twenties. She looks like a regular citizen from the streets, without armour or weapons, yet her gaze is hard as she takes my hand. Her eyes are of a strange, purple hue and seem to shine from the inside out. She has long, white hair, which is put up in twintails. Her clothes are simple, yet elegant, in white, blue and purple. Her shoes sound harsh on the stony floor as she walks.

[Karina von Vale]

Attributes: Fire

Life Points: 45/45

Skills: Dumb Luck

I release her hand and take it again. The text flickers, but stays the same. Fire, huh? That seems quite common. Interesting. And what’s that skill? Dumb Luck? What’s that supposed to mean?

“Are you aware of any skills you might have?” I ask her.

“The polite thing would be to introduce yourself before you ask a lady questions,” she says, narrowing her eyes.

“I did introduce myself earlier…”

“Not to me personally.”

I don’t like her tone. And yet.

“My name is Hiroyuki Satoyama,” I repeat.

“Karina von Vale, daughter of the mayor, at your service.”

Something flickers in fine print as she says these words.

Notes: Don’t get on her bad side.

What kind of notes are these?? Why do they only appear sometimes?? At least be consistent, skill! I don’t expect an answer and there is none. I suppose I should heed the caution note.

“May I call you Karina?” I ask.

“You may. Now, I don’t know of any skills, but a truthseer has told my parents that I was born under an extremely lucky star. Anything I try succeeds. Anything I want to happen happens. I try not to want too much, since there won’t be anything left for other people.”

“Is that so? And what if you want to win against the Demon King?”

“Then I will succeed, of course.”

An element of random, dumb luck. I’ve always been one to rely on chance mechanics. This is right up my alley. I concentrate and a light appears around my hands, which flows onto Karina’s body. She has been blessed by Lady Erya.

“This was inevitable. I wanted to join you, so I did,” Karina says with a smile. She flicks her long braid over her shoulder and goes to join Shilvy as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Maybe it is, for her. I look around to see if her father may be somewhere, but he is likely not among the volunteers. I wonder if he even knows she’s here…

Suddenly I feel a strange sensation against my leg. It feels familiar, yet entirely out of place. I look down to see a large cat, broad and long-haired like a Norwegian Forest Cat, brush around my legs. It has splendid, well groomed fur, which swishes luxuriously like fine silk as it walks. The colour is like granite, a dark grey with a blue hue. There’s a singular white patch on its forehead shaped like a star.

“Gale,” Karina says, admonishing and fondly at the same time, as every cat parent would. “I told you to stay at home.”

“Meow.”

“No, you can’t come.”

“Meow.”

“No.”

“Mrrrrr….”

“Gale…”

Shilvy clears her throat audibly and Karina has the decency of looking chastised. I kneel down to look at the cat and stare into its amber-coloured eyes. Ah, screw it, I can’t help it. I reach out and pat its head. At that moment a text pops up.

[Cait Sith (Gale)]

Title: King of the Cats

Attributes: Wind, Fire

Life Points: 500/500

Skills: Catcall, Scratch, Firestorm, Howling Storm, Shapeshift, Charm

…

…

“What?”