Welcome to Ecliptica, Hero

I am the least of your worries right now ? What does that even mean ?

I-

I'm willing to understand that even someone like you has his share of problems, but don't you find it cruel to say to your own girlfriend that not only she can't help you, but also that she's one of those problems ?

That's not what I meant to say, I simply-

If you are going to be like that, I wonder why you even agreed to date me in the first place.

That's.. I thought that thanks to being with you I would be able to overcome them and keep moving forward at my pace. But it ended up being the opposite. The comfort of being with you only made the pressure they kept subjecting me to all the more suffocating. I mean, if it is possible to have such a wonderful relationship with a total stranger, why is it so hard to achieve with family ?

Come to think of it, you never allowed for us to climb that extra step. So I guess I should have understood after the second attempt.

It's no use, she can't hear me anymore...


Hngh my eyelids are so heavy and sticky.

Ahhh.. I really did dream about this stuff again.


Facing myself in the mirror looking like this made for a clear reminder that I was clearly not over what happened four years ago.

At the time there was that girl I fell in love with. She was tiny for a college student which obviously drew curious looks from a lot of students and teachers, especially the teachers. However once she opened her mouth and developed an idea or broached a "mature" or intellectual topic, it was clear to everyone involved in the conversation that she was not to be mistaken for a high schooler. 

Her keen interest in psychological debates and her unhinged curiosity in general are what caught my interest. From that point on I would come to her on occasion to strike a conversation. And what was both exciting but slightly impractical at times was that those conversations could last for several hours while we stood there basically in the middle of a sidewalk, initially on our way home.

Then one thing led to another and she ended up confessing to me.

Obviously I was thrilled at the prospect of dating such a cute and interesting girl. However I had a few misgivings.
For starters, my family is rich. My grandparents on my mother's side own a large tissue company whose seat is located in the Netherlands where they are from. I know it doesn't sound fantastic, but nobody is going to to complain about a business that allows for their family to prosper with ease, or at the very least I, for one, won't.
And while it gives me unparalleled comfort compared to the average person, let alone the average student, it comes with a heavy luggage of responsibility. 

Unfortunately for me, my father who married into this family already manages his own business, a bathhouse. And while my mother should logically inherit the business of her own parents over in europe, she cannot. In fact it's her own parents who won't accept. 

Anyway, long story short I am to inherit that business and am also expected to move to Europe to take the reigns. Oh yes, I am currently living in Japan. 

So moral of the story, while my parents are doing their best to grant me the freedom they believe I deserve, at least until I am legally an adult, the foreign part of my family is putting non-stop pressure on me to make sure I won't let the business die out in the hands of who knows who, or leave them no choice but to relinquish it to their own —judged inapt— daughter. 
However I simply cannot accept this fate. I have been blessed with a family that deals with a lot of money so there's no way I'm going to throw the freedom it's able to grant me and let myself grow old in a luxurious chair, spending my whole life alternating between filling out paperwork of all sorts and doing phone calls.

So for the time being I chose e-sports. Because among the various fields of interest I immsersed myself into up until now, games have felt the most interesting and rewarding to me.
In most games there are generally only two outcomes at the end of a playthrough, to win or to lose. And while it can feel great to think of ways to win or to complete a game, even playing it tens of times depending on the variety of content available or out of sheer enjoyment, at some point I found myself wanting more. That's when I came across "Blazing Blason".

                                                                      _______________

See where it lead me..

As I was reminiscing about the morning of that day, I was in fact aboard a plane set to land in the Netherlands. Thankfully, that didn't mean that I had been coerced into succeeding my grandfather at the head of the tissue company, or changed my mind about it. I was in fact still strolling down my own path.

But as I was on my way to europe for an in-person Blazing Blason competition with my e-sports team, our plane entered what I assumed was a thunderstorm.
The winds were the strongest I had ever felt in a ride and with the loud cracking of thunder, it was difficult to stay composed. Thankfully the pilot did his best to sound calm while he informed us of how long we could expect the turbulence to last, as well as reassuring us that it was not his first rodeo at the same time.
That being said, between the noises from outside, the shaking, and the sound of the engine being pushed to its limits, it only afforded our brains a short moment of respite.
After about fifteen minutes of what felt like an eternity, the shaking subsided. And while it was still dark out thanks to the thickness of the thunder clouds, there was no more lightning or violent outbursts.

Or so we'd expected.
Because the moment everyone started releasing the tension built in their bodies and expelling the last of their worries through a sigh, it suddenly struck again.

My vision went white for a good ten seconds. Not only that, but during that short moment I felt abnormally weightless. I also felt nauseous and like a huge wave of exhaustion was washing over me for some reason. But before I could wrap my head around all these sensations and search for a cause, I found myself opening my eyes to a large, dimly-lit room entirely made of stone.

                                                                        _____________

Knock knock

"Y-yes ?" I answered, taken aback by the unexpected noise.

"Forgive me for the sudden visit, I came to inform you that Court Mage Prakia has returned and that he would appreciate it if you could to head to his office when you can afford to spare the time. He requires your imput about something related to his research." The soldier almost shouted. "Today or tomorrow would be best he says."

Right, I did tell them that I did not mind giving a detailed report of my experiencing their summoning spell.

"Tell them I will meet them in an hour, please."

"Of course !"

So where was I again ? 

Right so basically, after being hit with thunder I ended up being transported to another world.

                                                                       _______________

Seventh room on the third floor he said, let's go now. Considering how it could take a while I would rather go early enough so that I can have dinner and read some more before bed.


Yesterday, when I recovered from the various afflictions their summoning ritual had put me through, the first thing I did was to survey my surroundings.

Forcing my brain to analyze this new and unexpected environment, I first turned my attention to the room in itself, and then to the people being there with me.

The room was fairly spacious, if I had to give an estimate using a comparison I'd say it had the capacity of a small opera venue. With a capacity of around a thousand seats. The ceiling was high and uneven which reminded me of that of western churches, or so I felt like.

And there I sat on a stony altar in the center of the room.
Painted on the ground all around it was a large circle with various sequences of what I guessed were letters of a foreign language, as well as geometrical patterns. It was the so-called summoning circle.
As for what the people present looked like, at first I couldn't really differentiate them. There was around a dozen people, twenty at most, all wearing the same dark-blue robe with a hood pulled over their heads and reaching under their eyes.
But then after what must have been already a few minutes that had passed by, someone walked up to me. Their robe was a dark red and unlike their peers, or underlings I figured, they wore a tall.. hat ? Instead of their hood.

His name, Darlin Mendfort, being composed of effectively two parts meant that he was an important figure in this country's hierarchy, or so I learned in a book later on.
Once he introcuded himself and gave me a rundown of what had happened, he gestured to his underlings for them to remove their hoods.
That's when came another surprise for my still processing brain. For among the fellow humans present, were non-humans. I was shocked to my core, or maybe awestruck would be more apt in this case, because the first thing that my mind registered, was the breathtakingly beautiful woman with pointy ears and golden hair looking my way.
But the surprises didn't end there, next I was about to hear about the reason I had been summoned to this world.


"Hero-sama, this way please, Master Prakia is already inside."

That's right, I had been summoned to this world to become the Hero of a nation.

                                                                     _______________

For a little history, this country, or rather kingdom going by the name of "Ispron", is the northernmost nation of the eastern continent of Ecliptica, this world. And it is in continuous conflict with its neighbor a small fiefdom governed by the former head of a famous mercenary troupe.

The fiefdom's name is Glursem. Their territory being situated on a rather unfortunate zone of basically wasteland under snow, they are constantly struggling to feed their people and perform beneficial trading with other countries to remain independant.
They do have one strong asset however, their leader.
From being a former mercenary of renown and already being over a hundred years old, he is able to keep both a highly skilled army under his name and a myriad of connections with both important people from other countries, and former collegues from the underworld.

On top of that his territory has something else that justifies there being no reason for them to move away. Gold mines. With a total of fourteen mines throughout their lands trade isn't so bad, that being said since gold is only processed in order to make luxury items, they can't exactly justify keeping most of it since they would not be able to sell it to their own people. And even with the means to afford such items, most would rather stock up on food and clothes instead.

At one point it is said that they tried a peculiar business plan. Reducing the export down to twenty-five percent, they used the majority of the gold they mined to make every day necessities such as tablewear and weapons, all of that at a more than affordable price. 
Of course the idea not only seduced the inhabitants of Glursem but also attracted people from all over the continent. However, while it meant more sales and an economy on the rise thanks to both the sales and the population growing as well as an increase of personel in the workforce and more customers as a result; the shortage of food production in the land quickly became their main issue. They could import more food thanks to the extra money they made, but in the end it only amounted to what the newcomers would in turn consume. So it didn't really improve their situation. So they put a lid over their idea and decided to go back to their old ways. Resulting in the population decreasing significantly and the attractiveness of the fiefdom taking a nosedive.


Right now the fiefdom is in the red you could say. And being short on options, they decided to wage war on the surrounding countries to hopefully claim new lands, ones that would allow them to grow more crops and as a result strive for even more independance. 

In fact, their military strength being nothing to sneeze at, they made great progress over the last twenty years in that respect. During that period, they were able to assimilate lots of small surrounding territories previously under foreign nobles' jurisdiction. Some even surrendering before they were even targeted. In fact, seeing how the fiefdom's goal was only to gather more fertile lands under their wing for the good of their people, conceeding the management of a small territory in exchange for zero casuality and an increase of manpower to work the land was viewed as a small price to pay.

Later on however, they came knocking at Ispron's doors. And that's when things turned ugly. Their forces being even in terms of power despite Glursem's fewer numbers brought the conflict into a stalemate. So as a last resort, Ispron made the decision to summon a Hero. In the hopes of tilting the scales to their side.

                                                                      _______________

"I see, so those symptoms you described suddenly vanished the moment you reached the altar, is that right ?"

"Yes. However the exhaustion still lingered for a while before dissipating, probably due to the shock of landing here I would imagine."

I hope it won't take too long because I really want, heck I really need to go back to reading the books I borrowed from the library. I don't know much about this sort of setting and I don't want to risk being used by these people.
As a preemptive measure for memory loss over time due to the shock, the strange happenings with magic or whatnot, and the fear of having my brain tampered with, I decided to keep a diary in which I would try to recall and write down the main events from each of the days I spent in this world.
By the way, after meeting the King of Ispron and learning that the ritual needed to return to my world was indeed possible but could only be performed in seven months' time, I judged wise to make a concession of my own to accomodate their willingness to send me back. So I told them I would take this time to learn about their world and consider their request seriously. Which I truly intended to do.

"Oh and about your necklace, are there any issues with wearing it or with its functionalities ?" The elven mage asked me.

"No, none that I am aware of thus far at least."

"I see, that's good to hear. I was a little anxious when they asked me to come up with an artifact with translating properties, so I am glad to hear there doesn't seem to be any glaring discomfort in its usage. Both for my self-esteem and out of concern for my reputation, to be honest."
Such an awkward smile, I guess magic isn't so reliable that a court mage could display total confidence in even their abilities. Also that thing is no necklace, its a straight up choker. Not uncomfortable, but still. Although I admit that it's interesting to consider that such a simple-looking accessory can do so much, like translating my speech and regulate the flow of my "mana".
Oh right I should probably tell him about that while I'm here.

"Prakia-san, excuse me a moment. There is something I feel like I should tell you."

"Oh yes, what is it ?"

"I felt this sharp pain last night, it only lasted for a few minutes but it got me panicking for a bit. I was able to get back to sleep thanks to the exhaustion of the day later on, but I can't help but wonder if it had something to do with the summoning or this world in general."

"Where was it situated ?" He inquired, grabbing a pen and a piece of paper to write down any useful information.

"At the base of my lungs." I answered. "At the bottom, I mean, like right in the middle of the rib cage." Struggling to put it into words, I ultimately decided to lift my shirt a little and to show him directly.

"Oh-ho how interesting !" He said, enthusiastic.

I don't know what's so great about my suffering but I'd appreciate if you could tone down the enthusiasm a little. At least in front of me.

"Hm, sorry about that." He apologised, re-adjusting his spectacles over his nose. "But it's actually a good news for you as well." He continued.

"What do you mean ?"

"Your body seems to be acclimating itself nicely with the mana in the environment. As a result it is likely trying to grow a mana pouch to allow you to store it."
A mana pouch ? 
I was not familiar with the term, and could barely derive a meaning from its name. So I elected to simply let him continue his explanation.
Seeing my confusion, the court mage explained briefly."A mana pouch, or the mage's heart, is an organ developed only by people born with the ability to use magic."

Uh huh..

"Ah yes, I guess I should start from there. So mana is basically-" He started, but I instinctively cut him off. "Ah sorry, I appreciate your willingness to teach me about this stuff, but I think I should rest for the time being. And have a meal. I have been reading all day and I feel like I won't be able to store any more information right now. Sorry" 

"No no, I should be the one to apologize, of course it would be too much. Forgive me, I tend to lose track of time when I'm speaking about magic."

"No I understand, it is interesting after all."

                                                                      _______________

After excusing myself from his office, I breathed a sigh of relief.
I thought very little could hope to surprise me after yesterday's events, but I was beyond just naive it seems. Of all the things I would have expected, this one was far and away the most unimaginable thing they could have come up with.
What's with suddenly hearing about a new organ growing by itself inside of my body –its functions still unclear– ?!  Of course I can't help but feel nervous now !

The news was one thing, I would come around to its inevitability sooner or later. The pain that came with it however was another story entirely.

Well, it seems I have whole lot to learn... but it's no use dwelling on this right now. Let's take a bath, dinner and go to bed early.