Hail to the Emperor!!

After the blue flash I look around and find myself in a place with wide halls and a high ceiling.

Enormous.

The hall is so vast that I can barely see end to end, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the hall stretches on for 200 meters or so. Even the ceiling, which is lit with a number of gigantic chandeliers and painted with a mural thats barely discernable from this distance, is at least 80 meters high. Along the hall tall and thick pillars that reach from the floor to the ceiling, decorated with precious metals and gems that seem to have the purpose of highlighting the paintings place in the middle of each pillar, are lined a few meters apart from each other.

Below our feet and in front of us, a luxurious looking red carpet that stretches from in front of the magic circle to the end of the room, is laid out. There's no door behind us, so I assume that everyone enters this hall through the magic circle.

"Let us not keep his majesty waiting. Come on."

After Lucius says this, everyone looks like they snapped out of a trance, they were probably dumbfounded by the luxuy and enormity of the room too.

We start walking the entire length of the hall led by Lucius and the priests.

"The paintings on the pillars display the images of the great emperors of our past."
Lucius suddenly says this in a voice that sounds filled with admiration and reverence.

So thats who they were, considering that every pillar has a painting then this empire of theirs must have a long history, no? Well either that or there were a lot of successful assassinations committed in their past..

"Umm.. Lucius- san? Do all the past great emperors- san have pink hair?"

Hm, now that Aomimi- san mentions it, all the people in the paintings we've passed do have pink hair.

"Yes hero- sama, pink colored hair is a sign of royalty in the Versailles empire, only those of Royal blood have it. Can there be a color that expresses honour and dignity anymore than pink? I don't think such a thing is even possible!"
Lucius immediately gives an answer that sounds like it's brimming with passion to Aomimi- san.

I see.. But isn't it kind of awkward to be a man, even an emperor at that, and have pink hair? Well, I better not think about it too much, peoples sense of aesthetics may differ from place to place.

After a long walk we soon arrive in front of a set of gigantic wooden doors, adorned with intricate carvings and a golden doorframe.

"Presenting the ruler of all free humans, conqueror of the beast people, slaughterer of demi humans, destroyer of demons and the bane of vampires. His Majesty Emperor Remulus Octavion Sangre de Versailles XVII!! HAIL TO THE EMPEROR!!!"

After Lucius shouts in a thunderous voice, as if on cue the double doors swing open inwards revealing what seems to be a throne room so luxurious it seems that even the air coming out of it is shining gold.

We step inside and continue walking until we stop before a small set of stairs. On top of those stairs is a high throne studded with various glittering jewels and a soft looking cushion to sit comfortably on. There, on the throne is a man with a sharp gaze and dignified stature, even while sitting, he exudes an intimidating aura. His remarkable pink hair is cut short and on his head a large golden crown encrusted with countless small sapphires on the side and a single red gem in the center. His body, covered by a regal looking cape over simple yet elegant clothes, looks to be in the prime of his life.

Lucius and the priests kneel immediately upon arriving in front of him. On both sides of the emperor are five knights wearing shiny full plate metal armor, like those in fantasy novels, with swords at their waists.

Welcome heroes, to the Royal palace in the capital of the Versailles empire! Welcome to the realm of Gehanna."

He speaks in a voice that carries an air of superiority, it can even be described as commanding, a perfect fit for an emperor.

"Umm.. Excuse me, your majesty-san? It's been bothering me for a while now, Lucius- san called Kurono- sensei and Usa- chan 'Hero' before, and now, you're calling us that too, why?"

Kanzashi- san asks something that's been on my mind since a while ago too. Even the pink haired marshmallow girl called me 'Hero' when she spoke. Wait, she might be the princess, I probably should stop calling her that in my mind.

"Please call me Remulus Hero- san, well before I answer that may I ask for your name young lady? And with that, all the names of the other heroes- san too"
The emperor stands up and approaches us as he says so.

"Ah yes, Kanzashi Yuki, please call me Yuki, Remulus-sama"

"Takahaki Yoichi your highness, pleased to meet you"

"I'm Midoriba Yama"

"I'm Aomimi Usa, you can call me Usa- chan, Remulus- kun!~☆"

"Takahaki Yoshi your majesty, please to make your acquaintance"

"And I am Kurono Madoka, their teacher, please take care of me"

Everyone gives their name and bows in turn, then they all look towards me at the same time, even the emperor is looking my way. It seems to be my turn.

"Akio. My name is Natsuki Akio."
I hold out my hand to him and he shakes it immediately.

"Alright then, now that we have been properly introduced, the matter about heroes. Yuki- san and the others, you were summoned to our world, an other world transfer if you may, in order to become heroes.

You see, the Versailles empire, the empire which I rule, the empite in which all free humans belong to has been at war with the other races of this world, the beast people, demi-humans, the demons and the vampires for the last 800 years. And over the course of the war, we humans have been slowly losing. Our territories, getting captured by the enemies one by one thus reducing the size of the once great empire, and with every loss and captured territory, hundreds, no, thousands of humans either die or worse, captured by the enemies to be used as their slaves."

"Despicable"
I hear Yoichi mutter in a voice thst sounded like a low growl. Hostility clearly evident in his words.

"Yes, Yoichi- kun we are well aware of how evil the enemy is. But because of their physical abilities, control in magic and extremely long lives that are vastly superior to those of what we humans possess, we cannot help but lose even our only advantage, our numbers.

After the countless battles we've fought, we have understood that we cannot attain victory by simply throwing millions of bodies at them, that Heroes- san, is the reason why we have summoned you, in order to aid us. The Versailles empire needs heroes, the humans of this world need heroes to lead them, bring them victory.

For what is the purpose of an army if a single person is capable of matching ten thousand men?

Heroes- san, you are our only hope, the survival of the Versailles empire and the freedom of humanity rests on all of you."

"Your majesty Remulus, I understand out responsibility and all but It's necessary for us to know the reason behind this war of yours."

Yoshi asks a logical question.

In responses the emperor snaps his fingers like Lucius did a while ago.

I wonder if snapping fingers in place of commands is common sense in this world.

After a few seconds, more priest like people carrying a transparent glass case emerge from a passageway on our right. Floating inside the glass case is something that closely resembles a medium sized rock that looks like it's glowing green. After bringing the case beside the emperor, the priests stop.

"This hero- san, is what we refer to as the Earth stone. The Earth stone is the treasure of the Versailles empire and its people. It is one among the five stones, said to have been bestowed to each race upon the creation of this world. The earth stone for humans, Fire stone for the demons, Water stone for the demi humans, Wind stone for the beast people and lastly the lifestone for the vampires, each stone provides the race that holds it a blessing. As you may have observed on the way here, the Earth stone has gifted us humans with abundant mineral resources, such as gold, silver, gemstones and rare ores, it also gives us fertile land no matter the season allowing humans to always have plenty of food.

And since the possession and blessings of the stones transfers to the one who subjugates and rules all humans, you can understand how the Earth stone can easily be an object of desire for other races, no?

Of course we also desire the stones of other human races, but because we have only been losing the war so far, it is but a distant dream, that is why this war serves the purpose of protecting our Earth stone and you, heroes-ssn are our last hope in this defensive war."

After the emperor explains the reason behind the war, silence fills thr room. The atmosphere feels heavy. Unexpectedly, Yama speaks, breaking the silence.

"What's in it for us? Why would we be your heroes? Your war doesn't concern us"

Right. I've been thinking the same thing, even if the humans lose their precious Earth stone, it won't affecg us as long as we don't get involved, we have no reason to fight a war in a world where we haven't even lasted a day on.

"Good question Yama- kun, indeed why would you be our heroes? Why would you risk your lives for us?Bleed for us? Kill for us?

Well to put it simply, because being our heroes is the only way for you to get back home"

Authors note: From now on I've decided to combine two chapters from my original drafts into one chapter because I think one chapter is too short, so expect the chapters to be longer!