—Cole POV—

After spending an hour searching the library for information, we came up with nothing except references to the Dragon Hourglass and Ancient Dragons. Leaving the Church empty-handed, we visited a few local books stores to see if we could find anything that the Church didn’t have. The first few came up empty, but the last one finally turned up something.

 

“A Dragon you say?”, an elderly woman repeated as I asked if she had any books about them, “I think I have a few actually, not many people go hunting for them nowadays. They mostly stick to themselves up in the mountains, are you looking to slay one for fame and glory? Maybe you are looking for new women to join you too hehe.”

 

“No, I am actually looking more for their history or maybe something about an Evil Dragon.”, I chuckled, “I like looking into myths and folklore because all of them are based on some sort of fact. There is plenty of adventures just waiting out there for someone to start.”

 

“Hehe, my husband used to say that when we were younger. He had so many dreams of going on adventurers to find lost cities and treasure…”, she said with a sad expression, “Please give me a moment to retrieve the books.”

 

Wandering into the back of her store, she came back a few minutes later with a few old books and one that was bound very ornately in leather and gold. Setting them on the counter in front of us, she said this was all she had regarding Dragons. The first few books held no importance to us, but I had hope for the ornate one. Asking for the story behind it, she gave me the short of it.

 

“An old monk sold it to me fifty years ago and said that it was a very important book. When he showed me what was written inside, I was shocked to see an entire language that I couldn’t read. I bought it from him for fifty gold and put it in the back for me to research later. When I opened it later that night…the entire book was blank.”, she sighed, “Crafty bastard swindled me out of so much money!”

 

Opening up the book to see for myself, I cracked a smile and told her that it actually did have value. Asking me what I meant, I inquired if she ever tried imbuing any magic into the paper. Shaking her head, she told me no one would do something so careless as the paper would just burn. Applying a small amount of mana into the paper, words appeared on the page in a very old language. Seeing what was happening, she let out a gasp of disbelief.

 

“This is written in magic ink, it requires rudimentary knowledge of magic to read the book so most people can’t see it.”, I told her, “Whoever wrote it wanted to make sure it stayed hidden. How about I pay you what you bought it for?”

 

“Well if there is potential for treasure to be found, I think it ups the value.”, she argued.

 

“Can you read the language though?”, I countered, “Besides which, are you going to look for it if there really is a treasure? For all I know it’s some old mage’s notes or something.”

 

“I uh…oh fine!”, she relented, “I have no use for it anyways, these old bones aren’t fit to travel anymore.”

 

Paying her fifty gold for the book, the six of us found a secluded area nearby to review the text. Handing the book over to Eve, since she specialized in linguistics, I asked her to see if she could figure out what it meant. My magic worked well for translating spoken languages, but when it came to written ones it showed its flaws. The magic would give me a literal translation which caused meanings to be lost and sometimes would give me a completely different impression of what it actually meant.

 

“Hmm…it appears to be a very old book, you said there are currently four Legendary Heroes?”, Eve asked me confirming something.

 

“Correct, the Bow, Spear, Sword, and Shield Heroes are the four Legendary Heroes.”, I stated, “I don’t know if they have been summoned yet, but there are only four possible Legendary Heroes in this world.”

 

“This book refers to there only being one, the Shield Hero.”, Eve informed me, “Based on what you told us earlier, that means this book is from prior to the first merger.”

 

Giving us the details, she told us about the Great Calamity that sparked the whole chain of events leading to the first Wave. Apparently, the Dragon God appear out of nowhere one day and told the people of that world they had to fight other worlds to survive. The losing world would be absorbed by the winner, and the populace would end up dead or enslaved.

 

“Jeez, the Dragon God sounds like a bastard alright.”, Rumi chuckled.

 

“Agreed…so many people have died for his entertainment.”, Luna said with a downcast look.

 

“Hey now, since he is likely helping the people we are after…I don’t mind killing him as well.”, I offered with a grin, “What’s one more dead villain on my record?”

 

Laughing at me, Luna appreciated my offer and gave me a hug. Stowing the book in my storage for future use, I suggested we go to where the Heroes would eventually be summoned. My plan was to help Naofumi out, and also have him assist in locating the Dragon God. I knew part of its spiritual body was in Malty, but that wouldn’t be enough to track it down.

 

“Didn’t you tell us earlier that three of them are complete tools?”, Isola questioned, “You sure you want to go find them? Most Heroes are a bunch of pricks.”

 

“We are more or less going to help the Shield Hero, he is the only sane one out of the four. The other three are easily swayed by fame, fortune, and women.”, I stated knowing how they would eventually end up, “Much like many of the other Heroes I have met…”

 

“Hehe, we certainly swayed you a lot.”, Evelyn teased me with a playful wink.

 

“Who says I was the one swayed?”, I retorted with a chuckle, “I would say I am the one that made out like a bandit. It’s not every day a man gets to be with the most beautiful women in the world, and I got to it six times.”

 

Blushing in response, the women thanked me for the compliment. Punching me in the arm, Rumi told me that I didn’t need to butter them up or anything. Telling her I was just speaking the truth, I told her I could show her how much I appreciated them later tonight if she wanted. Biting her lower lip, she nodded her head and agreed to it.

 

“About fucking time.”, she whispered leaning in, “I was close to just doing it whether you were ready or not.”

 

Giving her a kiss, I apologized for making her and the others wait so long. 

 

“So where do we need to go?”, Eve asked interjecting herself.

 

“We are already in the city we need to be in, that Slaver’s Tent is in the same city they get summoned in.”, I chuckled looking at the castle in the center of town, “That is where we are headed now, let’s pay a visit to the Royal Family and the Heroes.”

 

Knowing that there was going to be a fight, Rumi was eager to get going. Heading straight there, I used my Smoke ability to slip past the guards surrounding the castle to avoid raising the alarm. Reassembling our bodies in a private corridor, the five women looked around for signs of guards. Not finding a single one in the halls surrounding us, Eve was frustrated by the lack of security.

 

“Are they serious?”, Eve sighed looking around, “When we were in our castle, we had guards everywhere along with spies.”

 

“The castle’s spies are with the Queen who's currently attending a Peace Conference with her youngest daughter.”, I stated walking out into a main hallway, “The Queen holds the authority in this country, and when she is away it falls to her husband. His decision to summon the Heroes will cause her a lot of problems at the conference and force her to stay there for several additional weeks to calm the neighboring nations down. Also…the first princess of this nation is a Grade-A bitch. Don’t try to reason with her, she will try to manipulate you into doing what she wants.”

 

Wandering around the castle the four Rabbit women put several guards into comas. Hiding their unconscious bodies in closets, Rumi really enjoyed this as she didn’t need to hold back nearly as much with the people here. Eventually, we stumbled across the Throne Room where the Heroes were in the middle of selecting party members from the nobles present at the moment.

Seeing that Malty was making her play to trick him, I quickly burst into the room to intervene. Putting my charisma to work, I walked in and nodded toward the other Heroes. Approaching Naofumi directly, I wanted to close the gap before she did.

 

“Ahem, you must be the Shield Hero everyone is talking about.”, I said putting my arm around his shoulder, “Nice to meet you friend.”

 

“I uh…who are you?”, he asked with a confused look.

 

“My name is Cole Bolt, but most people refer to me as Kessler. Since you are new blood, I figured I’d come here to show you the ropes and get you set up for success.”, I chuckled.

 

Asking me what credentials I had, I informed him that I was an S-Rank Adventurer. Pulling out a psychic notepad, similar to the one The Doctor uses, I tricked him into thinking I was an Adventurer of this world. Telling him that I came straight here from the Adventurer’s Guild to join him, he thanked me for the kind offer and accepted without hesitation.

 

“Hold on a moment!”, Bitch spoke up, “I was going to offer my services to him as well, surely he will need more than just-”

 

“Your Highness, the Legendary Heroes need to be brought up to speed quickly for the impending Waves. As the Shield Hero is unable to fight directly, it is best he makes connections at the Guild to build a party capable of supporting him. First Princess Malty may be a competent magic user, but he will need more than just one person.”, I said carefully wording my words.

 

“Hmmm…I agree with you, Malty can’t be bothered to carry his weak self through it all. Malty, you will stay here and help the other three Heroes. This S-Rank Adventurer will take care of the Shield Hero.”, Trashed ordered.

 

Flashing an irritated look at me, she was pissed that I ruined her plans. Sending her mental images of me butchering her, she stumbled back with a fearful expression. Telepathically reaching out to her, I made it known I knew she was a two-faced bitch.

 

“I know what you were trying to do…piss off Bitch.”, I told her quickly taking Naofumi out of the Throne Room.

 

Getting clear of the castle before she could weasel her way into the group. Letting out a sigh once we were clear, Naofumi asked me a question.

 

“So…are you from another world too?”, he asked me.

 

“Correct, you barely dodged a bullet there kid. She was going to frame you for attempting to rape her. The Shield Hero is seen as a Demon Lord of sorts in this nation, they would kill you if it weren’t necessary for you to be here.”, I informed him.

 

“Wait, seriously!?”, he spat looking back at the castle, “I knew it was too good to be true, all she is was a pretty face.”

 

“She is a spoiled brat that saw you as easy pickings for your money, and then could rid herself of you by claiming that.”, I chuckled, “Either way, I am going to get you set up so you don’t have a run-in with her. The first thing you are going to need is armor and camping supplies, then it’s on to getting you a partner in crime.”