As I relaxed in my [Hero]-sized bed, I reflected on my first day as the [Hero].

  I woke up feeling like a million bucks, and had breakfast with the knight and the priestess again.

  I forgot her name, actually, until Rosimund said it again.

  Maria!

  Gotta remember that…

  Rosimund and Maria, Rosimund and Maria…

  We headed out to the training courtyard. It was a bit small, but for being inside the castle, I guess it was also kinda big?

  It was smaller than a football field, for sure. Like, a quarter the size, maybe.

  Rosimund and a few other knights wearing training tunics helped me into some heavy training armor, and man, it really made me appreciate football pads!

  I could barely move in all this stuff!

  They said it would get easier once I got the skill [Heavy Armor], but…

  There was a problem.

  Everyone was scared to spar with me!

  “Oh, no sir [Hero], I couldn’t possibly…”

  “It would be disrespectful…”

  Thankfully I was wearing a helmet, and had the visor down already.

  It was…

  Not great.

  It kinda felt like I was being excluded.

  I wasn’t fragile, and I wasn’t going to freak out over a little rough-housing, you know?

  But I was being handled with kid gloves.

  Even Rosimund was exasperated.

  Was he okay? I got the sense he was carrying a lot of stress.

  Then Zack arrived.

  The guy I failed to save.

  I raised my visor and tried not to frown.

  No need to be a downer first thing in the morning!

  Instead, I waved.

  I wonder why he didn’t come to breakfast with us?

  Was he sleeping in?

  But he said something really shocking.

  Maria assaulted him?

  I looked at her, but I didn’t see how such a girl her size could assault someone like Zack.

  Sure, he wasn’t as big as me, but I’m a pretty big guy.

  And he looked to be in good health, so it can’t have been too serious…

  Well it turned out to be a spell of some kind, something about undeads.

  Like zombies?

  Maybe she suspected something.

  But the way I saw it, no harm, no foul.

  And Rosimund scolded her pretty harshly anyway.

  But then Rosimund tried to change the subject to talk about the [Demon King], again.

  The previous night I had tried to move the conversation along, since I’d already heard most of it from the Goddess herself.

  Ugh, guess I didn’t manage to skip that cutscene after all.

  Well, I tried to skip it again.

  “Didn’t we already talk about that though?”

  “When was this?” Zack asked.

  “Last night—”

  Rosimund interrupted me.

  Ugh… we really were going to have to rehash this.

  I kinda tuned out the conversation for a bit.

  The armor was really heavy, and I could only move in certain ways while wearing it. Just keeping my balance was tricky.

  “...Thank you for your understanding. Now, the [Demon King].”

  I stood up straighter. It sounded like we were getting to the important stuff, now.

  “Our mission, as the [Hero’s Party], is to defeat the [Demon King]. He commands an army of demons and monsters, and has four Lieutenants that do his bidding. The Church and the Kingdom are still investigating to learn their identities. In the meantime, our more immediate goals are to gather allies, increase our strength, and find the Holy Sword [Excalibur],” Rosimund explained.

  We talked about the sword a bit, and, uh…

  Wait, was the [Priestess] into me?

  She was, wasn’t she?

  She was flirting with me!

  Even Stacy hadn’t pressed her chest into my arm like that, when we were dating.

  It was really distracting, and then we got to talking about magic.

  Too bad for Zack, if only he had the right skills…

  I’d have to remember to tell him to use his unique skill to learn [Magic Control] and [Magic Perception] faster.

  We talked about some other stuff, and I got yelled at for saying the W-word.

  Maria pulled me down to my knees to pray for forgiveness, and I nearly fell over!

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  That turned out to be foreshadowing, because soon after…

  Well, I was teasing Zack.

  I couldn’t help it!

  He was being such a nerd!

  As befit one who wanted to become a [Mage], to be fair to myself.

  The one good thing was at least he was willing to spar.

  But then he knocked me over instantly and pinned me!

  He did some kinda weird leg sweep thing and I just tipped right over!

  I banged my head pretty badly when I went down, but Maria was there in a flash to heal me up. Even the pain disappeared right away.

  Healing magic…

  Pretty cool!

  Now, I wasn’t a sore loser…

  But, come on.

  That wasn’t fair.

  So, we sparred again!

  Then he flipped me.

  Then we sparred again, and he jabbed me right in the solar plexus with a staff.

  Then we sparred again, with swords, and I showed him what I could do!

  I had the [Swordsmanship] skill, and he didn’t!

  I disarmed him instantly…

  And then he just grappled me to the ground anyway.

  Technically it was my win…

  Now, I would have been a little sore after all that.

  Not physically, but emotionally, you know?

  At least, that was how I felt until Zack blindsided me.

  He got really serious and thanked me super sincerely.

  He was thanking me!

  He said he had gotten a second chance at life because of me!

  I mean, technically, getting summoned along with me did that, so it was kinda my doing...

  And, after that, all the knights were willing to spar with me!

  I guess they were all just nervous to spar with a celebrity.

  So, I guess we were even, after that…

  But I was totally going to get him back once I leveled up a bit.

  Just, you know, settle the score.

  Still, I really was grateful. Who knows how long it would have taken to really get training without Zack’s help.

  We got to talking about our past lives on Earth, and he didn’t, like, leave behind any kids or anything. Phew. I couldn’t say it, but that actually took a huge load off my shoulders.

  And we learned about Rosimund and Maria’s pasts.

  Team-building!

  Later, at lunch, I announced my plan of building up my skills like a tank.

  Once I met [The Shield] and learned some defensive skills, our party would be unbeatable!

  So we wrapped up lunch and I went back to training, and Zack overate and had to sit out training.

  Bummer for him, he was gonna keep falling behind!

  I got all three armor skills!

  Only to level one, but they’d grow pretty quick, I bet!

  All the other knights thought I was amazing.

  We met up with Zack again for dinner, and it turned out he’d been reading in some closet all afternoon.

  Uhh…

  Was Zack kind of a space case?

  Or was he just that much of a nerd?

  His [Trainer] got in trouble for it, but Zack didn’t seem to care.

  Probably just nerding out, then.

  I explained my tank build idea, and Zack got it right away. Rosimund and Maria would get it once they saw it in action.

  Linemen were super important!

  Otherwise the quarterback gets sacked!

  It’s super not fun to get sacked.

  Anyway, I learned how to pray for miracles and buffs and stuff, and then Zack had to leave while we discussed super important, secret [Hero] stuff.

  It was, uh… kinda boring.

  Like, I get it, okay?

  [Demon King] bad.

  Church good.

  Kingdom good.

  Get sword, slay [Demon King], be a [Hero].

  I guess the map and army stuff was important, but I had the [Strategist] skill so I just learned it all instantly.

  Despite what the Goddess had said, there was quite a lot of distance to cover from the Kingdom’s borders to the chokepoint where the demons were being held back.

  But things were, supposedly, going well there, so there was plenty of time to gain levels, grow stronger, and find [Excalibur].

  Nothing to worry about.

  Finally, I was able to go to bed.

  What a day!

  I wasn’t sore thanks to the healing miracles, and Maria followed me back up to my room.

  “You know,” I said, “a massage after a day of training really hits the spot.”

  “Oh, you need a massage?” Maria totally misunderstood me, and summoned a maid instead.

  Uh…

  Did I misinterpret her constantly grabbing my arm?

  I was trying to give her an opening, there...

  Instead, I got a really good massage from the maid… er, Sally? Sandra? Something with an S. And Maria just went on and on about the Goddess and Zack of all people.

  “And that’s why we should kick him out of the party!”

  “Oohh…” I groaned as Samantha(?) hit a knot and worked it out. “Maria, we’re not kicking Zack out of the party on the first day of training.”

  “But the Goddess!”

  “He’s my friend! And he’s doing his best in his own way, okay? Nerds learn from reading books, that’s just how they are. And I don’t think nerds are super religious, either. Give him some time. He knows—”

  “[Hero]!”

  Oops.

  I nearly said the thing, right in front of the massage maid.

  “Ahem, oohh…” I groaned again. “Anyway, you know what. And he’s got that bogus cheat skill. And he knows his way around a fight.”

  “Hmph!” Maria huffed. “It was the height of disrespect and dishonor to cheat like that.”

  More like that was the only reason anyone felt comfortable training with me at all.

  “Anyway, lay off Zack, alright? He’s staying in the party, at least for now, as long as he wants to.”

  I closed my eyes and groaned again as the maid worked my hamstring, so I didn’t see Maria’s expression after I said that.

  But I could hear her sighing heavily and harrumphing.

  She was pretty cute when she was angry.

  Still, Zack was my friend.

  I wasn’t going to let her kick him out of the party for no reason.

  And, he did have a unique skill.

  He could wind up being a real important member of the party.

  If he was the scout or thief type, and we had a knight, and a priestess…

  Rosimund said we needed a mage and a fighter.

  I was pretty sure that Maria was into me.

  But that still left the party with three guys and one girl.

  That’s gotta be kinda uncomfortable for her, right?

  I decided I should try to pick out girls to fill out the party.

  Girls are usually mages, right?

  A fighter, though…

  That might be tricky.

  All the knights I’d seen so far were men, and all the women I’d seen were maids, except for Maria.

  Well, it would probably work itself out.

  I asked Maria about it, and she said the Church was looking for suitable candidates for the party, and that I could interview them and test them if I wanted.

  Perfect! I could do a favor for Zack to pay him back.

  After that, Maria left; the massage maid cleaned up and followed after her; and I sprawled out in bed.

  Being the [Hero] rocked.

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