On the way back, I spent some time talking with the maid, Silica Ember, and the head knight, Falco Branson. Both of them served the Flameheart family who Ruby Flameheart, the young girl still clinging to me, was the heiress of. Silica was a member of the branch family and was trained to be Ruby's personal maid. Falco on the other hand was the family’s head knight and the personal bodyguard of the head of the family, Ash Flameheart. Unfortunately, Ruby and Silica were the only survivors of the wolves attack. Falco was still very grateful to me though for keeping the two of them safe until he and his men arrived. I tried not to reveal too much about myself considering I was a stranger to this world and didn’t know their culture or customs.

After we reached the Flameheart’s mansion which resided at the border of this nation's capital, Silica finally managed to pry Ruby off of me. I was shown to the mansion's bath and given a spare change of clothes which I was incredibly grateful for. After I had bathed and changed, I met up with Falco and Ash Flameheart who wanted to speak with me. Ash was a towering man with silver hair and a chiseled beard. He looked like he had been carved out of stone. “Thank you for saving my daughter, but I must ask, where are you from and who are you?” Of course, I expected as much since being questioned like this was Isekai 101 so I put on my most convincing face as I replied, “Mr. Flameheart, I apologize but I haven’t the faintest clue. I awoke in the forest a day ago with not a memory to my name, or rather, my lack of a name.” He seemed suspicious but didn’t pry any further. “Might I ask what branch of magic you possess?” Falco asked.

“I haven’t the foggiest. Is there any way you would be able to check for me?” I asked. Ash walked over to his desk and grabbed a large crystal ball. Alright, magic here I come. I accepted the ball as he placed it in my hands and waited for it to glow. Nothing. Maybe I wasn’t doing it right. Before I could ask though. Falco drew his sword as Ash retreated into the corner of his office. “Wha, what are you doing?” I asked as I dropped the crystal ball onto the ground. It thunked loudly before rolling to the side. “Alright kid, reveal to us the truth. What imperial prison did thou escape from?” Falco asked. “Prison, What the hell are you talking about?” I yelled. “Guards, search for his branding mark and seal.”

Three lightly armored guards entered the room and began ripping off my clothes and searching my skin for this so called branding mark. I would have tried to resist but the sword Falco was holding was pointed directly at my throat. Potentially a favorite finishing move of his considering he skewered the dire wolf the same way. I tried to stand as still as possible as they removed the rest of my clothes. Suddenly the door opened and Ruby and Silica appeared, “Father, may I meet him now.” Ruby tried to ask, only to find me standing there, shirtless. “Oh my!” Silica said as she blushed slightly. She quickly moved her hand to cover the young girl's eyes but made no effort to avert her own. One of the guards escorted the two girls out while the other two guards and Falco continued to search me. Well this was all very unexpected.

___

Ash bowed his head as we all sat around a large and extravagant dining room table. “Please forgive me. Even after saving my daughter, I jumped to conclusions and humiliated you.” I asked him to raise his head as I continued eating. Apparently, in this world, everyone was capable of using magic. The only people who were not, however, were dangerous criminals who had their magic sealed while in prison. The guards had not only failed to find a seal on me but also didn’t detect even a trace of mana within me. Long story short, I couldn’t use magic. I could see them beckoning me. Overpowered cheat skills, original magic spells, summoning cute waifu spirits, all of it, gone. It was impossible for me to use magic. Apparently whatever bulshit goddess or summoner brought me to this word brought me as is. No enhanced stats, no magic, nothing.

“What’s your name mister.” the young Ruby asked me. She had gotten over her initial embarrassment and was now able to talk to me. Maybe the embarrassment of her pissing herself and me being seen half naked canceled out or something. “Who knows, doesn’t matter. Call me whatever you want, kid.” I said dispassionately. The fact that I couldn’t use magic had practically drained the life out of me. “Ok, then Hero. because you saved me and Sil” That was the stupidest name I had ever heard, but I didn’t want to take the wind out of the poor kids' sails. Even if I was in a rut, I didn’t want to be a dick for no reason.

Honestly, it kind of sounded like the name Hiro which made me feel even more like a Japanese protagonist. Besides, who cared if I couldn’t use magic. Wasn’t being super weak and laughed at during the beginning of the series a huge trope? Having literally zero capacity for magic would just make me like, the ultimate protagonist right? Starting from zero and working my way up. I could make this work. I was now this young girl's Hero goddamnit. I was Hiro. I started to laugh to myself while the adults at the table looked at me awkwardly. “Yea, Hiro, I like the sound of that! Ha, that's my name now so remember it!, the one who saved you was Hiro alright!” I yelled as I pointed my spoon at Ruby. She smiled and tilted her head slightly as if confused. “Ok Hiro.”

After dinner, I apologized for my outburst stating that I was simply tired and then asked if I could bum a room for the night. Ash was more than happy to comply. As I laid in bed, I pulled the odd black stone out of my pocket and studied it. In the end though, the only thing I could deduce was that it looked cool and was probably magical. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. I dropped the stone on the bed and went to answer it.

Ruby stood there slightly blushing, she hesitated for a moment before saing, “Kkap jay pke pipyp piye i kate etep yeep a poy kike pkap.” What the hell. “Huh,” I muttered while very confused. She ignored me and continued “I kpoj i'y pop okk epoupk, pup yy papkep yaik ip jikk pe pipe jkep i ppoj uk.” I suddenly felt a faint attraction, like something was tugging on the back of my shirt. I turned around to see the black stone hovering and glowing faintly on my bed. I raced over and practically tackled it as Ruby continued. “t Peyikey, yipye you yatek ye, so now you have to do it. Promise me!” I looked down at the stone in my hands and then looked back up. “Good” she yelled before closing the door and running off. “Wait that wasn’t a nod!” I tried to yell in protest, but it was too late. She was long gone. Well, at least I figured out what the black stone thingy did.

I spent the next few days living in the Flameheart mansion. The young Lady never brought up the conversion we had again and truthfully, I was too afraid to ask. The Flameheart mansion had a small library and I was able to skim several history books and speedrun this world's mythos. Most of it was textbook Isekai stuff. Multiple races, monsters, wars, several kingdoms, etc, etc. The only notable things I found were the fact that a treaty had been established over a century ago between demonkind and humans. Recently however, the treaty was renewed and improved when the current king took the demon queen as one of his wives. The country we were currently in was called the Averdine Empire and was supposedly peaceful and prosperous. I say supposedly because the book was published by the Averdine Ministry of Records so there may have been some slight bias.

Overall, the only real threat to the kingdom were monsters which were unintelligent and aggressive beasts that often attacked hapless travelers. The dire wolves that attacked us were a perfect example of this sort of monsters that the people of Averdine had to deal with. I was hoping for something a bit more interesting in the threats department if I was planning on becoming a hero but it probably wouldn’t be wise to wish for worse. After skimming the books I found interesting, I tried to squeeze free swordsmanship lessons on Falco but he told me to “Prepare thine body for combat first” and gave me a pretty standard exercise routine. My physical abilities were decent relative to humans back home. Sadly, I still lacked the upper body strength necessary to wield a sword so I began following his regiment.

The days passed Idly by until finally, It was time for me to leave. Ash Flameheart gifted me a hefty bag of gold while Falco squeezed me in a bear hug. While they had offered to let me stay at the mansion and work as a butler, I needed to go out on my own and become an adventurer. Whether I would eventually unlock some hidden skill or become the world's most famous magicless adventurer, I didn't know. All that I did know is that no protagonist would sit around on their butt while destiny called them. If I really wanted to be an isekai protagonist, I would answer the call.