6 Chapter 6 - Real Hero
Quietly, Hoshiro ascended the steps of the castle in the capital. He had only seen courts in western drama and had no idea that he would be an actor on such a stage. Quiet were his footsteps, and quiet was his heart and mind amidst the unrelenting duties that he carried on his back.
Walking with Merillion and a few of the guards, they passed into the double doors of the king’s court. The noblemen and elites stood motionless. Tense was the air, and heavy was the pressure that they exuded. Hoshiro wanted to run and escape the scene altogether, but thought it cowardness and thus quashed the thought. The marched with grace and an undeniable air of authority towards the throne.
“So, the prophecy rings true!” Exclaimed the steward of the kingdom. This throne was to the right how of the king’s and he stood up and raised his hands to greet the new comers.
“Alas, our efforts have not failed. I greet you, hero, to our land Londawn!” Continued the steward.
“Father Abbis, timely as the hero come to our rescue. In less than a minute, he was able to down 15 orcs, never having to wield his sword or having gotten close to the enemies. It was fascinating.” Said the Princess as she ascended the steps to the king’s throne and sat down.
All the subjects knelt as she sat.
Hoshiro out of courtesy and form, also knelt down to obey her highness.
“Your majesty, our people are devoid of the luxuries that we have in the castle, namely provisions shelter. We must remedy this if we are to keep the people happy.”
“Yes, your Majesty, It is of crucial importance also that we acquire more soldiers from the surrounding lands to keep safe the city.”
“I will address each issue personally. Yet today we gather for another reason. Do you, ministers and noblemen, approve of Hoshiro as our hero?”
There was murmur and talk.
“We trust the prophecy, but we must also test our hero to ensure that he is indeed wise and worthy.”
“Oh, what do you have in mind, my friends?” Asked the princess.
“3 hard riddles that we have come up with. If he is able to answer all 3, then we will submit that he is wise.”
“And what of his worthiness?”
“We have other means to test that, but first the 3 riddles.”
The head minister turned to Hoshiro and walked towards him.
Hoshiro swallowed, nervous and under pressure to perform, he held himself together as best as he could and awaited the 3 riddles.
The minister in a loud voice asked thus:
“I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have nobody, but come alive with wind. What am I?”
Hoshiro quickly inputted the riddle into his smartphone. Google, as always, did not disappoint, as he took less than 15 seconds to come to the answer.
“The answer is an echo!” The hero proclaimed.
“That was incredibly fast, my sire. How about the next one?” Said the minister as he continued. “What walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three at night?”
Again Hoshiro inputted the riddle into google and then he answered.
“The answer is Man. In the early part of his life, he crawls on all fours as a baby. In the middle of his life, he walks on 2 feet. In the twilight of his life, he uses a walking stick and thus he has 3 feet.”
“I cannot believe how you are able to fathom that so fast!” Said the minister. “Let me test you one last time. I am something people love or hate. I change peoples appearances and thoughts. If a person takes care of themselves, I will go up even higher. To some people I will fool them. To others I am a mystery. Some people might want to try and hide me, but I will show. No matter how hard people try, I will never go down. What am I?”
Hoshiro inputted the long riddle into google, then came up with the answer.
“The answer is age.”
“Perfect! Our hero passed the test!”
Hoshiro pumped his fist in the air and celebrated his victory.
“What of his worthiness?” Asked the Princess.
“Yes, your Majesty. Come forth Lance!” The head minister proclaimed.
A knight in shining armour of arboresque came forward, wielding a long sword.
“We have here, our mightiest warrior. If he can best him in combat, then it will indeed prove you are the hero!”
The knight bowed.
“I am Lance of Caldawn. Pleased to have met you, sire.”
“I am Hoshiro of Kanegawa. Pleasure to have met you too, my good sir.” Replied Hoshiro. “Before we begin, I will have to summon my weapon. Please give me a few moments.”
“Agreed, but do not think you can avoid my blade.”
“It’ll only take a minute.”
Hoshiro took out his notebook and drew a beam blade, much like the ones he saw in Star Wars.. Touching it with his saliva, the beam blade hilt popped out of the notebook. Hoshiro smirked. No way that he was about to lose if he had a beam blade.
The hero then pressed the button for the blade to come out and lo and behold, a blue beam blade buzzed in the air.
All were amazed at this new armament, believing it to be magical.
“What do you call this sorcery?” Asked Lance.
“From where I’m from, we call it science fiction.” Said Hoshiro. “Ready when you are.”
“I come at once!” Said Lance.
The knight summoned a spell on the ground to make haste his steps. He also adorned his gauntlets with a buff spell that makes him stronger. Then upon completing his upgrades, charged at Hoshiro headlong.
In an instant, Hoshiro was able to slice the metal sword that belonged to the knight. But Lance did not stop. He threw his half cleaved sword at Hoshiro, whom dodged the attack elegantly. Lance then drew another sword form his belt and charged.
Hoshiro shredded the sword in pieces as he swung his beam blade back and forth in front of him.
Face with no other weapons, Lance then stopped his attack.
He knelt down in defeat.
The crowd was silent.
And then, the Princess started to clap. Slowly, but then the crowd started to follow.
“The Hero! The Hero has come to save us!” The crowd cheered.
Hoshiro did not like the attention. He reveled in it.
Satisfied that he had passed both tests, he disintegrated the beam blade and knelt before the Princess.
All followed suit.
The Prince then stood up and announced.
“I have given my hand in marriage to Sir Hoshiro in exchange for him defeating the Demon Lord.”
The ministers and noblemen elites broke out in rungs. The chatter was to an unbearable degree, until Hoshiro lifted both of his hands to stop the noise.
“It started as a j….nevermind….. I will first defeat the Demon Lord. We can talk of marriage after the quest has been fulfilled.”
The ministers and noblemen, settled down.
“I trust our hero!” Said Lance, loud and clear. “Have faith in the prophecy. We will be saved!”
Heads began to nod, and then they all knelt at the mercy of Hoshiro.
“Oh, God help me….” Said Hoshiro. “Damn….”
