"What the heck is this?"
Kiriko stared at the experience bar in her status screen, watching it skyrocket like someone had installed a cheat mod.
As her experience continued to climb, her level and attributes were increasing as well.
It felt just like those cliché web novels from a few years back, where protagonists traveled to other worlds with cheat systems.
Before Kiriko could even process it fully, her level had already risen to Level 5, and she'd learned her very first skill in this world:
[Skill Acquired: Language Comprehension B]
Just when she wondered what use this skill could possibly have…
"It's getting late, brave Heroes. Rest and prepare yourselves tonight, for tomorrow your adventure begins. Before then, our country will gather worthy companions to accompany each of you."
The King's haughty voice clearly entered her ears—not as incomprehensible gibberish anymore, but automatically translated into the stiffest textbook-standard English imaginable.
After he finished speaking, a palace maid stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
"Rooms have been prepared for each of you, honored Heroes. Please follow me."
"Is that so? Then we're counting on you."
The Sword and Bow Heroes stepped forward. The Shield Hero hesitated briefly, while the Spear Hero eagerly moved beside Kiriko.
"You haven't spoken at all yet, lovely miss. Still overwhelmed by suddenly coming here? Don't worry—I'm Motoyasu Kitamura, the Spear Hero. I swear I'll protect you with my life."
Before Kiriko could reply, the Sword and Bow Heroes cut in with annoyance.
"Hey, Motoyasu. Didn't the minister just say Heroes can't team up together?"
"Exactly. If she can't fight, let her sit on the sidelines. We'll handle defeating the Waves ourselves."
Thus, the five "Four Cardinal Heroes" followed the maid and exited the throne room.
After the summoned Heroes, nobles, ministers, and guards had all departed, the King's previously proud expression turned ice-cold.
"Our citizens worship the Three Hero Church. We only needed to summon Sword, Spear, and Bow. Why did we have to summon that Shield Demon as well?"
His voice echoed hollowly in the empty throne room.
"Isn't it preferable to summon the Shield Demon onto Melromarc soil, where the Three Hero Church is strong, rather than letting those filthy demi-human nations summon him instead?"
A gentle voice echoed from the shadows of the throne room.
A middle-aged man dressed as a high-ranking cleric stepped out, smiling warmly. He wore glasses, his demeanor kindly—perfectly matching a cleric's ideal public image.
Notably, a pendant hung from his neck—a holy symbol composed of a sword, spear, and bow, but pointedly excluding the shield.
"Your Holiness, Pope-sama… What exactly do you intend?"
Seeing this gentle man emerge, the king, who hadn't even risen for the legendary Cardinal Heroes—the supposed saviors of the world—stood up immediately.
"King-sama, you needn't worry yourself with this. After all, don't you require a sacrifice anyway?"
The Pope didn't elaborate, but a sharp glint flashed across his lenses.
...
In the bath, dense white steam filled the room.
Kiriko sat comfortably in the wooden bathtub, enjoying herself.
This might be another world, but considering it resembled medieval Europe, modern conveniences like advanced plumbing obviously weren't present.
Still, this felt pretty nice.
She glanced downward. On the water's surface, level with her chest, was the reflection of a delicate girl's face.
With this face in a novel, even committing the worst crimes would probably be forgiven by the protagonist…
Of course, the price for forgiveness would be to pay with her body.
Kiriko opened her status menu—incidentally, she'd learned this was called Status Magic, usable by everyone in this world.
Her level had already reached 23, and her attributes were much higher than before.
Apart from attribute gains at each level-up, she'd also noticed another pattern:
Every 5 levels, she'd learn a new skill.
So far, though, they were all sword-related combat skills.
Sadly, after leaving the throne room, she'd been sent straight to this guest room, without any opportunity to test out her new abilities.
Oh well. Tomorrow, the King would assign adventurers as their companions, then send them out of the capital.
She'd test things out then.
Kiriko shifted forward slightly, resting her shoulders against the tub's edge, causing the water previously at her chest to rise up to her neck.
Truthfully, she wasn't too concerned about being transmigrated.
In her original world, she'd been a mere corporate slave.
If she wasn't getting chewed out by her boss, it was by customers. And when she returned home, she had to handle the endless messes created by her adoptive parents.
Her adoptive parents were basically like Ayasaki Hayate's parents from Hayate the Combat Butler—enough said.
When she learned she'd transmigrated, she'd actually felt relieved.
If there was one regret, though…
Splash.
Kiriko cupped her hands at her chest as if lifting two lumps of empty air.
Unfortunately, even after transmigrating, her hair color was still the same black as before.
Kiriko loved blue hair most.
If wisdom had a color, surely it would be blue.
It wasn't impossible to dye her hair, but dyeing it blue… wouldn't that just make her "Aizen"?
Something felt off about that…
"Kiriko-san, are you finished bathing? Dinner's ready."
A man's voice sounded from outside the bathroom door.
Kiriko answered briefly, dried herself thoroughly, then put back on the clothes she'd arrived in, stepping out of the bathroom.
Several maids in the guestroom were setting various exquisite dishes onto the table.
The four men summoned with her sat nearby.
Seeing her emerge, the Spear Hero waved enthusiastically, even standing up to pull out a chair for her.
The Sword and Bow Heroes reacted far more coldly. The Shield Hero seemed about to stand up as well, perhaps to say something, but seeing Motoyasu beat him to it, he sat down again.
After placing the dishes, the maids left the room.
At dinner, Kiriko finally learned the guys' names.
The Spear Hero was Motoyasu Kitamura.
The Sword Hero was called Matsuoka…no, Ren Amaki; the Bow Hero was Itsuki Kawasumi, and the Shield Hero was Naofumi Iwatani.
Interestingly, except Motoyasu and Naofumi, the other two were high schoolers.
Japanese high schoolers—truly deserving their place alongside Chinese cultivation-protagonists and retired American soldiers as the three most overpowered species on Earth.
Incidentally, these guys were from different versions of Japan.
Over dinner, each briefly explained how they'd transmigrated.
Kiriko wasn't paying much attention—but when Motoyasu explained how he'd died, she nearly laughed until tears leaked out.
The Spear Hero had actually been murdered by two girls who liked him, wielding the Noble Phantasm of True Love—a kitchen knife.
"Oh right, miss. What's your name?"
When Kiriko finally stopped laughing, Naofumi scratched his head awkwardly, glancing at the girl but quickly averting his gaze when their eyes met.
"Me?" Kiriko tapped her cheek lightly. "My name's Vishmo Namoryu Biruhana Haiyoru."
"Huh?"
All four heroes looked utterly confused.
"Just kidding."
This was actually a name she'd adopted from a game called Seven O's Blade, after encountering a player named "Vishmo Namoryo Yorudebu Yorude." Finding it funny, she'd changed her username to "Vishmo Namoryu Biruhana Haiyoru."
Initially, Kiriko hadn't understood the situation at all—since she'd lacked the "Language Comprehension B" skill back when they'd spoken with the King and ministers. Fortunately, during dinner, they explained everything again for her clearly.
Simply put, this country was currently being attacked by the Waves—calamities prophesied to destroy the world. Only the legendary Four Cardinal Heroes could end these Waves and save everyone.
And those four each had a Legendary Weapon that only Heroes could wield.
Because Legendary Weapons repelled each other, the Heroes couldn't team up together. They had to partner with adventurers to earn experience points.
Luckily, the King anticipated this and was already preparing companions for them. Tomorrow, their grand adventure would begin.
"I see," Kiriko nodded.
Initially, upon hearing about "saving the world," she'd assumed the plot was from Born For Me.
Instead, it turned out closer to My Big O Sword.
Were these "Waves" actually extradimensional demons?
She just hoped it wouldn't end like a certain virgin surnamed Sun's story, whose ending involved an empty wasteland after defeating his enemies.
"Hey, Kiriko-san, if you don't have a Legendary Weapon, why not join my party tomorrow?"
Seeing Kiriko lost in thought, Motoyasu eagerly spoke up.
"Hey, Motoyasu, didn't the King say Legendary Heroes can't form teams?"
Itsuki scratched his head.
"Exactly. And must you flirt with every woman you see? Don't forget how you died last time."
Ren coldly jabbed.
"You two…shut up. Nobody asked you."
Motoyasu blushed slightly despite himself.
"And besides, Kiriko… Kiriko-chan doesn't have a Legendary Weapon, right?"
Hearing their argument, Kiriko snapped back to reality.
"Kitamura-san, was it…?"
Motoyasu looked excited.
"Please just call me Motoyasu."
Kiriko subtly shifted farther away from the Spear Hero.
"Alright, Motoyasu. Two points."
"Whatever you say, Kiriko-san!"
"First, call me Kiriko-san, not Kiriko-chan."
"Ah…sorry…"
Motoyasu's excitement deflated visibly, the others chuckled.
"Second—Motoyasu, what's your current level?"
"Huh?"
Motoyasu froze. The others also looked puzzled.
Clearly, none expected this question.
Though this world resembled a game they'd played (except Naofumi, who'd only read such novels), they knew defeating monsters was needed to level up.
Kiriko stared intently at Motoyasu. Soon enough, he answered exactly as she'd predicted:
"Level…1."
Level 1, huh?
Kiriko opened her status screen again, clearly displaying:
[Kiriko Lv.30]