Heroes

Princess Aurelia brought the two of us to the training grounds where the three supposed 'heroes' were training. These heroes were distinguished guests of the castle, although they would be leaving for the academy in a few weeks, so I couldn't help but feel a little curious towards these heroes.

Although they were pretty weak at the moment, according to Aurelia they would, within a year or two, be strong enough the contend with the demon lords. The heroes were able to rank up ever faster than the demon lords, and after the crusade began their levels would sky-rocket to unachievable levels by mortals.

While the fact that they were known as heroes was known by most in the palace, their strength was actually a secret kept by the upper echelon of the three empires and the church. Aurelia only decided to tell me because I would be living with them and that I was now a member of royalty.

Also, I was really weak and it would be easy to know if the secret got out because I leaked it.

Of course, I don't believe my new sister told me everything about these heroes, like how they became heroes for example. Was it random or did certain people get specifically chosen? But it didn't matter much to either Elaina or I.

It only took a few minutes to arrive at the courtyard. Currently, there were a number of men and women training in red and gold armour in the wide courtyard, while those in red robes stood on the sidelines.

These were the esteemed royal knights, one of the strongest contingents of soldiers in the Revilon Empire. To join the royal knights, you had to reach at least B-rank in a combat related class.

Outside of the few dozen knights, there were also three others who were not dressed in armour or robes. They stood out in the sea of red and gold, and they caught my eye instantly.

The first was a short human girl with blond hair tied in a ponytail. Her clothing consisted of a yellow dress that looked ill-suited for battle. She was cheering the knights on the sidelines, and every so often a knight would go to her to be healed by her staff.

The next person was another human, a huge man that towered over most of the knights. Although I wasn't attracted to men, I could admit that he was pretty good-looking as he had his helmet off. His armour was silver, glittering in the sun, and he wore a black cape hanging off his back. The man was using a gigantic halberd that was probably twice my weight to fight a smaller woman, although he seemed to be losing quite badly.

The last one was the most intimidating of them all. She was a foxkin like Aurelia and the empress, except instead of red, her hair, ears and tail were pure white. She was wearing tight leather armour. Her stunning movements with the shining silver sword she wielded were enough to capture my attention. It was like the weapon was an extension of her body, every move coming naturally to her.

She was currently easily wiping the floor with the man in silver armour, who seemed to be quite despondent. I almost felt bad for the guy.

The knights on the sidelines were the first to see us and immediately stood up straight as we entered the courtyard.

"Welcome Her Highness, Princess Aurelia!" One of the royal knights declared, catching the attention of the knights that were still fighting and hadn't yet realized we were here.

They all stopped their activities and knelt with their heads bowed towards the three of us. I was a little taken aback by their response, but I supposed this was the power of royalty.

The three heroes though did not kneel, instead beginning to walk over and greet the princess.

"Please rise. You can ignore me, I'm here to see the three heroes," Princess Aurelia said, seemingly unflustered by the situation. The princess likely got a similar response whenever she visited, so this was likely a common occurrence to her.

The knights instantly complied to her order. They returned to their training quickly, although I did notice the less disciplined ones seemed to be taking glances at us every now and then.

"Aurelia!"

The feminine voice came from the blond healer with the staff. A bright smile appeared on her cute face and her blue eyes sparkled with interest when she noticed Elaina and I.

"Hello! I'm Alicia, the hero of compassion. May I know your name?" She asked, looking at Elaina, who was a little stunned by the outgoing girl.

"This is my sister Adrianna and her friend Elaina. They'll be eating dinner with us today so I thought I would introduce the two before then." Princess Aurelia calmly replied to the enthusiastic girl.

The girl instantly turned her attention towards me. "Wow, you must be Adriel's twin. I can't believe I didn't notice. You two look exactly alike, but I don't think I've ever seen Adriel in a dress before, especially one that feminine. Also, your hair is so pretty. I've always wanted to ask Adriel if her hair was naturally pink, but she was always super cold towards me. Since you have the same colour—"

The man in the silver armour behind her coughed twice into his fist.

"Oh right! I forgot to introduce my buddies." Alicia pointed at the man with the halberd. "This impossibly tall guy is Damien, the hero of generosity!"

"Good evening, ladies." The man gave us a friendly smile, although his eyes seemed to remain stuck on Aurelia.

Alicia pointed to the white foxgirl. "And this beauty is Primrose, the hero of mercy."

"…" The white-haired girl's lips remained sealed, her face as blank as stone.

Alicia coughed awkwardly. "Right, Prim doesn't talk much. But she's really cute when you get to know her!"

"So, you three are heroes that will fight the demons. You must be really strong." I said, feeling fond of the enthusiastic girl before me. She was really easy to talk with, although a little too outgoing.

Damien scratched the back of his head, seeming a little embarrassed. "We aren't that strong yet. Damien and I are only D-rank right now. Primrose is the real genius here, already reaching C-."

Wow, that really wasn't that strong. Elaina and I had only been ranking up for a month or so and I've already reach D-rank while Elaina has reached D+. They all look to be adults, except Alicia who looked more like a teenage girl, so it is quite odd that they are only at the same rank as me. After all, demon lords are already two advancements ahead of these so-called heroes.

"Don't worry too much. Your rank up speed is incredibly quick. It took me fourteen years to reach your rank, yet you were able to do it in a month," Princess Aurelia said.

They've only been ranking up for a month? But Elaina and I have also only been ranking up for a month as well…

Suddenly, I remembered the words of the Demon Lord of Wrath before she helped us escape.

You must make your way south, to the others. You will know when you find them.

Could these three be part of the others? Ellie said I would find them in the south.

But there were only three here, when she had said there would be seven of them. Of course, they could have been separated as well.

It wasn't just the fact that Elaina and I ranked up as quick as them. I was starting to notice that I was having a feeling of familiarity with these three, the same feeling I had towards Elaina. I hadn't noticed it at the start due to Alicia's friendliness, but now I realized my quick attraction was definitely a little unnatural.

Could this mean that the two of us are… heroes?

I glanced at Elaina and met her own inquisitive look. She must have realized the same thing.

At the moment, it would be better to keep this as a secret. Personally, I didn't want to be sent back to the northern continent to fight demons. I would talk with Elaina about this and see her thoughts on this.

But if the two of us were heroes, I would need to rethink quite a few things. For now, we could only remain quiet and hope the other heroes didn't realize we were like them.