Chapter 6

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006＿The Heroes

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The 34 high school students, summoned as if thrown onto the marble floor, were placed under the watchful eye of the princess, Elmerda, who was dressed in a beautifully elaborate dress.

The 34 summoned individuals had their Record Cards immediately checked.

A Record Card is a record of a person's life. It is famous for being expelled from the chest when a person dies, but it can also be checked for the living. By using certain skills or magic, one can verify the Record Card of a living person.

"Why are they all criminals?"

Out of the 34, 12 were criminals. Whether to say "just 12" or "12 as well" might vary from person to person, but Elmerda felt it was "12 as well."

This number represents 35% of the 34 summoned. A 35% criminal rate is high. If this were a national statistic, it would indicate a country where governance has failed.

"The fortunate thing is that there were few serious crimes."

It wasn't that there were none, just few. Ten had minor offenses like assault, extortion, and theft, but two had committed serious crimes like arson and robbery, which are considered major offenses in this country.

Elmerda gazed at the copies of the summoned heroes' Record Cards with a deeply troubled expression.

"Why is the Flame Hero a serious criminal?"

Out of the 34, four had hero-type jobs, and three of them were criminals. In particular, Shintaro Akaba, the Flame Hero, was an arsonist.

He didn't become the Flame Hero because he was an arsonist. Shintaro being an arsonist and the Flame Hero was a matter of coincidence. It was thought that there was no relationship between the other heroes' attributes and their criminal records.

The Record Card records name, gender, age, job, skills, and criminal history, but for Princess Elmerda, the important parts were the job and skills. Even if someone had a criminal record, it was in the past. Moreover, it was from a different world. The laws of another world do not apply in this country, of course. However...

"Is it really okay for these heroes to gain power?"

While summoning them was one thing, there was no guarantee that the heroes wouldn't bring disaster to the country. Elmerda, who had thought heroes were always virtuous, was now plagued by great anxiety.

However, the summoning of the heroes had been widely publicized both domestically and internationally. It couldn't be undone now. If the heroes committed crimes, they would have to be punished without mercy. They needed to be educated to prevent them from committing crimes. Elmerda had never imagined she would have to deal with such issues.

Elmerda summoned the head of the knights and the head of the mages.

"First, educate the 34 on what constitutes a crime. Whether they are heroes or not, criminals will not be tolerated."

"I am aware of their criminal records. While minor offenses are one thing, can serious criminals be reformed?"

At the head of the knights' words, Elmerda furrowed her brow. The head of the knights and the head of the mages felt the gravity of the situation from an expression Elmerda had never shown before.

In this world, there is no effort to reform criminals. Criminals are considered criminals and are not expected to reform. They receive punishment commensurate with their crimes. That's all. The punishment might be more painful than death.

"Reformation is the only option. Heroes must set an example for the people. If that cannot be achieved—"

Elmerda swallowed the word "elimination."

The reason the country summoned heroes was that the number of monsters in multiple dungeons within the country had increased. If the number of monsters in the dungeons increases, they will eventually overflow onto the surface. To prevent this, the monsters in the dungeons need to be thinned out.

Fortunately, there is still a few years before the monsters overflow from the dungeons. However, once they start increasing, it's not easy to control. From past experience, it is known that thinning out the monsters in the deeper layers of the dungeons will calm the situation. That's why they summoned powerful jobs like heroes.

"——Therefore, taking someone else's property without permission is a crime called theft."

"Hey, what kind of class are we in? Even a kid knows that."

The problematic Flame Hero, Shintaro, lazily intimidated the civil servant giving the lecture.

"Even adults commit crimes that children know are wrong. Even if you don't know these things, you will be punished if you commit a crime. This lecture is also to protect you."

"Something the country should handle, right?"

Shintaro said this, but those who commit crimes unknowingly find their jobs change to thief or similar. It's too late once the change happens.

Aside from that, Shintaro's attitude suggested he had no intention of following the law. The civil servant felt this.

"The country protects those who follow the law and punishes those who break it. We will not cover up crimes. These are the minimum things you should know, and ignorance is not an excuse."

"Che. You summoned us, and you can't even do this? What a boring country."

To the civil servant, following the law was a given, but Shintaro wasn't the only one who thought being summoned granted them special privileges. A certain number of the other heroes thought the same.

Elmerda and her team were aware of and felt guilty about forcibly bringing Shintaro and the others to this world. Therefore, the country was giving the summoned heroes the best treatment possible. However, this was within reason and did not include excessive privileges.

The civil servant carefully observed the heroes' attitudes during the lectures and reported back to Elmerda.

"Indeed, many had poor attitudes. They are a troublesome group..."

After observing them for about a week, Elmerda selected those with bad and good natures. As a result, the heroes were divided into three groups.

The group with bad natures, including Shintaro, had 14 members. The group with good natures also had 14 members. The remaining 6 were production-type jobs.

Fortunately, the jobs were balanced among the groups.

After the grouping, the head of the knights and the head of the mages called the heroes to the training ground.

"For one month, we will conduct combat training, and then you will enter the dungeon. Even in training, if you let your guard down, you could suffer serious injuries. Put in your best effort."

The head of the knights' words were met with poor reactions from the heroes, especially Shintaro and his group.

"Hey, why don't we just skip the training and go into the dungeon already?"

"Entering the dungeon without training is dangerous."

"Isn't it the hero's job to handle such things?"

The head of the knights and the head of the mages conferred.

"Alright. Shintaro's group will enter the dungeon."

They thought that if Shintaro's group suffered, they would learn their lesson.

"What about the other group?"

They asked the group not in Shintaro's.

"We will train first."

The heroes were divided into those who would go into combat and those who would stay in the castle for training.

Not all the summoned heroes had combat-type jobs. Out of the 34, 4 had hero-type jobs, 8 had front-line jobs, 8 had mage-type jobs, 4 had scout-type jobs, 4 had priest-type jobs, and 6 had production-type jobs like blacksmiths and alchemists.

Therefore, not everyone would undergo combat training.

In the evening, Sayaka Itsukushima, a production-type job, returned to her room with a gloomy expression.

"Why doesn't anyone mention Fujii-kun..."

This time, her classmates were summoned. However, there should have been 35, but only 34 were summoned. The one missing was Fujii.

Since no one knew that Fujii had been reincarnated elsewhere, everyone thought that almost all the classmates had not been summoned.

Sayaka alone was worried about the safety of her missing classmate. Why was he the only one missing? Had he been sent to another place in this world and was suffering?

"Maybe it's better for Fujii-kun not to be here..."

All the classmates who had bullied Fujii were here. Being away from them should have been good for Fujii.

Especially since the leader of the bullying, Shintaro, was here. At least Fujii wouldn't be subjected to violence.

"If I had more courage, I could have helped Fujii-kun..."

She lacked the courage to stop the bullying. She was still afraid of Shintaro. No, she was even more afraid now.

Sayaka was an alchemist, but Shintaro was the Flame Hero. The difference in physical strength was even greater.

Sitting on the bed, Sayaka, with her slightly reddish hair hanging down, looked down.

"I want to see you... Fujii-kun..."

She squeezed out a barely audible voice.

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