Chapter 2

A few minutes after being summoned, we all lined up before the king of the human kingdom.

The king stroked his impressive beard and scrutinized us.

"Hmm... Well done, brave heroes from another world. I am the ruler of the central human continent, the Kingdom of Distinia. I welcome you."

As he said this, the ministers and knights around him bowed to us.

...By the way, King Distinia seems a bit older, with more wrinkles, giving off a dignified middle-aged vibe. He looks like he's aged about five years.

"Thank you, King Distinia. We are here to serve you and fulfill the mission given to us."

The one who answered the king was the class hero, Hikari... that idiot.

A few minutes earlier, we had heard the reason for our summoning from the princess, and the classmates and the female teacher who happened to be in the classroom at the time were moved and accepted it.

According to the princess—this country and continent are being attacked by the demon race and beastmen.

The cause is unknown. A war that was supposed to have ended suddenly reignited, and they are being attacked.

Moreover, the beastmen and demons have formed an alliance, and the human kingdom is struggling.

To restore peace to this country and end this war, the princess wants to entrust this mission to the heroes... something along those lines.

Frankly, it's a request that can't be taken seriously.

No one in their right mind would risk their life for a country they have no connection to.

I refused at first too.

---But this time, the human kingdom was different.

"Sure! We're up for it!"

The class hero, Hikari, gave a positive response.

The others nodded in agreement.

At least think a little... I was about to point this out when I noticed the princess's eyes were filled with magic.

(---Is that a charm gaze?)

Charm gaze, a low-quality magic that captivates the target and makes them comply with requests... essentially, everyone here has been charmed by those eyes. It's not about making them fall in love, but rather making them more likely to accept the request.

Still... to charm even the same sex, that's quite a power. The princess has grown a lot in five years.

---At first, she couldn't even cast basic magic.

Well, as you can guess, a charm gaze has no effect on me. Not even Medusa's petrifying gaze works on me.

There's one other person who isn't affected by the charm...

Hana Higuchi, who has been fidgeting, wondering why everyone is so enthusiastic. The charm gaze doesn't work on her either.

I've been giving her my protection since childhood, so mental interference magic is automatically blocked.

...Hana is one of the few people I value as much as my parents in my second life. I've been helped by her brightness. I vowed to protect her in this life.

Even though we could resist the charm, we couldn't go against the majority, so Hana and I had to go along with it.

That's why, currently, I'm being forced to take a magic aptitude test because of some guy named Hikari.

The test is simple; just touch a crystal ball the size of a soccer ball to determine one's elemental affinity and magic power.

If there's no magic power, nothing happens to the crystal. If there is magic power, it shows colors ranging from green, yellow, orange, red, blue, purple, black, to white, with green being the lowest and white the highest. The average in this world is orange. Those with talent show blue or purple. Monster-level power is black.

"Amazing! Hikari's magic power is white!! His aptitude includes the basic elements plus light, making it five elements!!"

The princess, who was conducting the test, jumps with joy at Hikari's results.

He does seem to have quite a bit of talent. While modern humans generally have a lot of magic power, white is monster-level. With proper training, he should become a formidable mage.

His elemental aptitude can be determined by someone with enough knowledge of magic, like me, the princess, and the castle's resident mages.

The basic elements are fire, water, lightning, and earth. The hero, who is still being praised, has an additional light element.

Light element is particularly rare in this world. He will likely be overworked, my condolences.

Hikari was exceptional, but the others also overflow with talent.

At least purple... what kind of group is this? Are they all crazy?

Among them, Hikari's group all have black magic power with a hint of white, almost white. Hana has gray, which is practically white.

Everyone has a lot of magic power and multiple elemental affinities. The average in this world is 1-2 elements, but these guys have at least three. Hana has the most, with seven elements, monster-level.

"Next, please!"

The princess's voice calls me. I realize I'm the only one who hasn't taken the test yet.

Oh... I'm going to stand out...

"Place your hand on the crystal."

I do as told, placing my hand on the crystal.

The princess watches with expectation, but the crystal shows no color.

"Huh...? What does this mean?"

The princess looks confused.

She tries it herself, and the crystal changes color normally. Purple, she's improved.

It's not broken, and the princess's eyes turn to look at me like trash.

She's quite expressive. Back then, she was just a mischievous kid.

"Zero magic power... Well, there are such people. We will adjourn for today! We will provide rooms for you to use freely!!"

Ha ha ha! She's clearly changed her attitude!

She doesn't even glance at me and leaves. The classmates behind me look at me with mocking eyes, especially the Endo group, with their annoying smiles.

The castle's mages also look at me with eyes that say, "What kind of hero are you?"

...Quite disappointing, it seems there are no decent mages in this castle.

The reason the crystal didn't change color when I touched it isn't because I have no magic power.

---It's beyond the capacity of that crystal.

More magic power than white, that much magic can't be measured by that crystal. That's why it didn't change color. ...By the way, my elemental aptitude is almost all. I can control any element a human can handle. I acquired these during my battles with them.

That's the situation. I feel bad for the castle people who are misunderstanding, but I'll use their misconception to my advantage.

I want to leave the castle as soon as possible, so I'll use the knowledge I gained from isekai summoning novels.

"---Feel free to brand me as useless."

I mutter to myself.

Being branded as useless and kicked out of the castle.

That's how my carefree and free life in another world will begin!! The first time was all about battles, but this time, I'll enjoy myself a lot!

And so, my plan to be kicked out of the castle began.