After Ken and the three other high school students were summoned to the Clorius continent, they were trained very strictly by the instructors. It took several months for them to become proficient in using their innate skills. When the instructors trained the other three, only Ken trained his innate skills by himself.
Right now, the sun is scorching. Ken had finished his training and rested under a tree while quenching his thirst with a bottle of water given by the imperial servant.
"Ken! Are you done with your training!?" A girl suddenly ran towards him. Her jet black hair fluttered in the wind. Her face is beautiful and smooth, not inferior to any royal princess. She doesn't seem to care if her white skin gets burned by the hot sun. That girl is Shiori Akama, one of the people summoned to that world besides Ken. Shiori was the closest person to him out of the other three people summoned to that world.
"I just finished with my training. How about you, Shiori?" Ken smiled and asked her back.
"I've already finished earlier. I searched everywhere but couldn't find you. It turns out that you are in this place!" Shiori sat next to Ken. Her overly intimate attitude made Ken a little panicked.
"Shiori! What are you doing!? I stink and sweat! You better not get too close to me!" Ken slightly shifted his body to avoid getting too close to her.
"I have no problem with that! Did you forget, I also just finished training?" Shiori looked at Ken and smiled. Shiori's face was very close to Ken's. If they moved a little more, their lips would touch each other.
"That's not the problem..." Ken answered in a low voice. He turned his face away in shame.
They both fell silent and didn't say a word. Not long after, Shiori finally spoke and broke their silence.
"Hey, Ken. Are you used to living in this world?" His previously cheerful voice turned somber. Her smiling face currently looks sad, and her body trembles slightly. Ken didn't answer her question right away. He pondered for a while before being able to answer.
"If I had to tell the truth, I would never be able to get used to living in this world. In Japan, there is my grandfather, and my only family is waiting for my return. I want to return to our homeworld if I can." Ken looked at Shiori and smiled bitterly. Right now, his face looked even sadder than her.
"I apologize if my words remind you of your family." Shiori smiled apologetically. She didn't expect that Ken had the same feelings as her right now.
"You don't need to apologize. I know how you feel right now. We can do nothing and only stay alive and struggle to fulfill our purpose in being summoned to this world. We might find a way for us to return to our world while subduing those bad guys." Ken smiled and quickly wiped his sad face.
"Ahaha… you're too optimistic, Ken! By the way, have you had lunch?" Shiori chuckled but suddenly fell silent like she just remembered something.
"Ah, now you remind me of it. I haven't had time for lunch yet." Ken shook his head. He also only remembered it after Shiori asked him.
"Then it's the same with me! Wait a minute here! I'll be right back!" Shiori got up from her seat and quickly ran in the direction she had come before. Not long after, she came back with a basket.
"What did you bring, Shiori?" Ken is curious about the contents of the big basket that Shiori is carrying.
"Hehe… can you guess?" Shiori smiled teasingly at him.
"That's...your lunch, isn't it?" Ken just guessed the contents of the basket.
"Eh? How did you know that?" Shiori was surprised that Ken could guess it in one try.
"Eh? Is my guess right? Though I guessed randomly." Ken scratched his head at accidentally guessing right.
"OK. Then your reward is to get a share of the lunch I've made." Shiori puffed out her cheeks, but then she smiled and took out the food in the basket. What Shiori brought was a simple sandwich with pretty food garnish.
"This…did you make it yourself? Didn't you make too much?" Ken was surprised when he saw the number of sandwiches in the basket.
"Of course I made it. Previously I intended to have lunch with the others. But Kazuki and Sakuya seem to be busy with their training." Shiori pouted after remembering that her hard work made that much lunch wasted.
"Can't you give it to them after they finish their training?" Ken tilted his head, seeing Shiori's attitude.
"I don't know when they will finish their training. Meanwhile, the food I made might not taste good if you don't eat it right away." Shiori sighed heavily and gave Ken more portions for his lunch.
"Shiori…I know you're upset. But, don't you think that my portion is too much?" After seeing the portion of food Shiori gave him, Ken broke out in cold sweat.
"You are a boy, Ken! You're in your infancy. So you have to eat a lot for that!" Shiori said with a serious face.
"Aren't you doing this just because you're upset and taking it out on me..." Ken mumbled so as not to be heard by Shiori. But Shiori listened to what he said.
"What did you say, Ken?" Shiori smiled at him. But that smile gave off more pressure than looking at the magical beasts the Empire used for training.
"Ahaha...nothing. You may have heard it wrong." Ken took his eyes off her and started to bite into Shiori's sandwich. He widened his eyes after feeling it.
"Delicious..." Ken muttered subconsciously.
"Haha…of course, it's because I made it. Then you have to spend it." Shiori puffed out her chest proudly.
"Uh... Yes, I will spend it." Ken smiled bitterly and regretted expressing his feelings after tasting the sandwich. Shiori's food was delicious, but he wouldn't be able to eat that much.
Six months passed after that. Ken and the three other heroes began to conquer the divine races while seeking battle experience. They fought various magical beasts in the Alba Mountain Range. Until finally, they arrived at demi-human territory. Ken and his three comrades from another world stop at the Elven Kingdom.
"Welcome to the Elven Kingdom, O heroes from another world. I am Amanda Venetia, Queen of this kingdom. I am honored to be your acquaintance." A middle-aged woman with short emerald green hair introduced herself to Ken and the others. They were currently in the throne room of the elven kingdom's castle.
Ken and the other three heroes introduced themselves to the Elven Queen, respectively. They were permitted to live in the castle and served as honored guests.
At night, Ken decides to take a night walk to breathe fresh air in the Elven Kingdom. Shiori and the other two heroes decided to stay in their room to rest. The atmosphere of the Elven Kingdom at night still looks lively, although not as busy as in the Empire. On the city streets, Ken meets various races. There were elves, humans, dwarves, beastmen, and demons. Some were adventurers, and the others were people who had acquaintances in the Elven Kingdom.
Ken kept walking like someone was leading him to go somewhere. Before he knew it, he had arrived in front of the giant tree that the elves called the world tree.
"Beautiful!" Ken was amazed when he saw the giant tree up close. While he was admiring the beautiful view of the world tree in front of him, he was startled by the voice of a girl who suddenly called out to him.
"Hey, you! What is a human doing in this place!?" The voice came from near the world tree.
Ken approached the voice source and finally found a girl with wavy turquoise hair wearing a dress made of leaves sitting at the root of a tree.
"What are you doing at this time of night in a place like this?" Ken asked her back.
"Eh? Can you see me?" The girl was shocked when Ken suddenly saw and spoke to her.
"Of course, I can. Aren't you currently very clear in my eyes?" Ken did not understand the girl's question. Ken also didn't find anything strange in the girl in front of him.
The girl looked at Ken with curious eyes. She looked Ken from head to toe then circled him.
"Hmm... you are indeed human. But you are not a human from this world." The girl rubbed her chin while looking at Ken's face with interest.
"Yes. I am indeed not a human from this world." Then Ken explained it to the girl. This is no secret. Everyone in the Elven Kingdom already knew about it. So he thought there was no harm in telling it to the girl.
"It turned out to be so. No wonder you can see me. Ah, I forgot to introduce my name. I am Dryad, the spirit of the world tree and the guardian of this forest. I'm glad to be your acquaintance, a hero from another world." Dryad chuckled and offered her handshake to Ken.
"You are a spirit? I just saw it for the first time. Ah, please don't call me that. Even though I'm called a hero, I haven't done anything to deserve that title. My name is Ken nijisaki. You can call me Ken." Ken accepted Dryad's handshake with a shy smile.
"Then… please take good care of me, Ken!" Dryad smiled sweetly.
"Ah, yes, please take care of me too." Ken's face flushed with embarrassment, and he averted his gaze.
"Ehehe... why is your face red like that? Are you embarrassed?" Dryad keeps teasing him.
"Stop it. I am not ashamed!" Ken kept his eyes off Dryad.
"OK. I'll take you somewhere. You must come with me!" Dryad suddenly grabbed Ken's hand and took him somewhere in the trunk of the world tree. They both disappeared into it.
After that, Ken and Dryad's relationship became closer and closer. Ken even often came to the Dryad's place secretly. Dryad asked him to keep his meeting with Dryad a secret, and Ken immediately agreed.
Ken and the other three heroes stayed in the Elven Kingdom for two weeks and continued their journey.
After several weeks of traveling, Ken and the three heroes from another world finally had to come face to face with the people from the Divine Race. Not just one, they had to be confronted with a pair of divine races riding black dragons and white dragons.
Their first battle was helped by the people of the Empire and was fierce. However, they managed to defeat the two divine races in the end.
In this battle, Ken managed to show his innate ability to everyone. Thanks to his abilities, they were able to win the battle. But, Ken was also the one who was the most exhausted in that fight. Currently, there are only Shiori and Ken in that place. The other heroes were checking the situation around.
"Congratulations on succeeding in our first battle, Ken!" Shiori walked slowly towards Ken.
"Yes. This is all thanks to our cooperation and the help of the imperial people. If it weren't for them, maybe we wouldn't have succeeded in defeating them." Ken looked at Shiori. He can only sit because of difficulty moving his limbs.
"You are right. I hope our next fight will go smoothly, and there will be no casualties." Shiori smiled a little. She also looks tired but not as bad as Ken.
Suddenly both of their bodies stiffened. It was because they sensed danger from around them. One and the divine race dragon mounts were still alive and threw one of its claws at Ken.
"Watch out, Ken!" Shiori shouted a warning to Ken. But Ken can't do anything with his body now and can only close his eyes and accept his death.
No matter how long Ken waited, he still felt no pain. He felt a splash of liquid on his face and made him forcefully open his eyes.
"Shiori?" Ken called her name in a trembling voice. In front of him was Shiori blocking the dragon claw with her body. The dragon claw pierced Shiori's body, and blood flowed from the wound.
"Shiori!? Why!? why did you do this!?" Ken forced his body to move, but it made him feel unbearable pain.
"I do not know why. But suddenly, my body moved by itself. So, this is my choice. I ask you not to be sad and blame yourself." Shiori reached out her hand and caressed Ken's cheek. In addition to his stomach, her mouth also oozed a lot of blood.
"No, no, no! You can't die! There must be someone who can save you. Anyone help me!! I beg of you. Please save Shiori!!!" Ken still couldn't accept Shiori's condition and scream like crazy.
"Stop it, Ken! I'm glad you care about me so much. I hope that I will be given another life and meet you again. So what I'm telling you is, see you later." Shiori's voice was getting lower and lower. Finally, the hand that caressed Ken's cheek fell, and her eyes closed.
"Shiori! Shiori! Please don't die, Shiori! Please live! Aaaaahhhh!!!" Ken crawled and was finally able to approach Shiori's corpse.. Not long after that, the other two heroes came back and saw an unconscious Ken tightly gripping Shiori's corpse's hand.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺