In Gram Nation, there are five teleportation centers in total located at important places only, the gates were mainly used by the nobility and those with higher ranks in the kingdom.
Two of them are built in the main town of Gram, known as Rundecall and Vimbisar.
The third one was located in the central church of the nation, which was under the control of the head Pope of the continent.
The fourth one was in the capital of Gram, built inside the main fortress for easy access for the king in case of an emergency.
The fifth one was where a young man with raven-hair in his mid-teens was standing and in front of him was the place where the portal was located.
With quick and soundless steps, Kyouki walked to a spot where he was able to see the entrance of the Portal Building, and as he had expected, the two guards were unconsciously lying on the ground.
Clenching his fist, he finally confirmed that the person he saw approaching the center, coupled with the act of breaching the place without permission, made Kyouki clear that Alex's words were all true.
Without wasting any time, Kyouki approached the entrance and, after taking a quick look around the premises, entered inside.
The inside of the building was dark and silence covered the whole place which was enough to give chills to an average human, but the hero was not someone who could be counted as the norm at all.
His heightened senses helped him to perceive the situation inside, which has been influenced by someone's presence.
Everyone inside the teleportation center was unconsciously lying on the ground, without showing any glimpse of waking up anytime soon.
Kyouki checked their breathing circulation and found that not only was there not any physical damage to the staff but also there was no problem with their mortality too.
Sighing, he rose to his feet when suddenly the feeling of mana circulating at a hefty and furious pace from the other side of the door, where the portal was situated reached his perception.
Readying a dagger in place of his legendary sword, Kyouki, without letting his movements give any single noise, approached the gate to the main room where the portal was located.
It didn't take long before he could peek inside the room because of the door's partition.
Upon seeing the mana circle forming at such a rate that it wouldn't even take ten seconds to get activated, Kyouki hurriedly pushed the door and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Stop right there, Austin!!"
The light which was emerging from the mana circle evaporated in an instant due to the disturbance the conjuror suffered from.
Biting his lips, Austin, who was well aware of the person who carried such a tone, turned toward the source with an annoyed expression.
"Why are you here, hero?"
Without any further ado, as he could accept anything but to wait right at this moment, Austin asked without the mind being caught by the hero of humanity.
Breaching the school property and none other than the Teleportation center was enough to get rewarded with a termination letter for Austin. And it was applicable even if Austin was to be a noble as teleportation portals were no joke, which the capital of Gram handles directly.
The hero would have informed the headmaster about such an act of Austin, in normal circumstances.
But currently, he had his interest involved.
"You are going to meet Luna, right?"
Asking with his tone dropping to its lowest degree, Kyouki stared at Austin without having an ounce of shuddering even though he knew the difference between him and the current Austin was massive enough to be called incomparable.
The reason why Kyouki was acting so boldly and confronting Austin so head-on, which eventually was making him a criminal too, was a plain simple reason.
Love.
Austin stared at the hero in silence for a couple of seconds before he nodded in affirmation.
"I don't know who told you, but I am going to meet Luna. So if you will excuse me."
Saying so, Austin turned around to initiate the magic circle from the start when suddenly a big hand pressed on his shoulder, signifying the stubbornness of the other party.
"Take me with you."
Spoken in a heavy tone was the desperate hero of humanity who, in search of his love, was even ready to join hands with a person he utterly disgusted.
He knew that time was thin as a thread for him, and the need to recruit a member would be brought up again shortly if he didn't bring Luna back somehow.
And to conclude all his motives, he had no one besides Austin as a slight hope to meet the person again with whom Kyouki fell in love with.
Unlike the unsettled and continuously rumbling mind of the hero, Austin had a serene sense of reason as he looked over his shoulder and agreed with Kyouki's request.
"Since it would be tough to infiltrate some places alone, it's better I have you at my disposal."
Upon getting accepted so quickly made Kyouki a little baffled, but as soon he realized what Austin said, he narrowed his gaze upon the blond youth.
"You indeed are a shameless person, huh."
Brushing off Kyouki's hand, Austin again started preparing the magic circle leading them to the white continent.
Amidst the preparation, Austin's voice reached up to the cautious hero as the prior one warned him before they left for the Northern Continent.
"Eat this."
Forwarding a small green dry herb-like thing toward the perplexed hero, Austin continued.
"This is a Herb of Configuration. Your facial features would slightly get altered so that no one can identify you in the Northern Kingdom."
Austin's words made Kyouki even more confused and a little wary of the herb as he asked in a heavy tone.
"Why do I need to change my appearance? And in the first place, would anyone even be able to recognize me in that place ?"
Hearing Kyouki's blabber, Austin rolled his eyes as he helped the hero to get enlightened about his own popularity.
"The time you obtained your blessing from the goddess, your face becomes the brand enterprise of Gram Kingdom. Now the chance of people not recognizing the peculiar Hero is negligible, I guess."
Kyouki felt a little embarrassed being complimented indirectly as he brought his hand on the back of his head before he averted his gaze.
Austin, focusing his eyes back on the magic circle, sighed as he concluded with the hero's query.
"And I don't think you are foolish enough not to know what diplomatic disturbance would rise if the Emperor of Gram were to know that his precious Hero-sama is wandering in another land, or are you really willing to take that chance?"
Hearing Austin's reasonable argument, Kyouki accepted his defeat.
It goes without saying that, as Austin said, it would become hectic if the empire came to know about Kyouki's selfish actions. So without saying anything further, Kyouki, with his eyes closed pushed the herb inside his mouth.
A cringe expression spread on Kyouki's face as the bitter taste of the green grass covered his taste buds before he somehow managed to gulp it down.
The rapid effect of the herb started to show its sign of implication on Kyouki's face.
The healthy flesh on the hero's face became slightly dull before his cheeks puffed a little, and his eyes also became smaller.
In mere 20 seconds, Kyouki could feel every muscle on his face moving and modifying before he finally acquired his new look.
**SWIIINNNN**
The glow of the magic circle becomes vigorous, just like the time Kyouki
interrupted it previously before, Austin called for the dazed man.
"Hold my hand if you don't want to get left behind."
Wordlessly Kyouki nodded as he jumped inside the magic circle before he brought his hand on top of Austin's.
The two men held hands with heavy mana light covering the room brilliantly as the portal between the two junctions was finally established.
Side glancing at the slightly nervous Hero, Austin muttered under his breath before the two disappeared from the face of the earth for a small duration.
"Don't puke on me, hero."
Suddenly the scene around the two changed drastically as the previous stone walls changed into a stream of binding lights.
The surface on which they were standing previously also shifted into nothingness as Kyouki instinctively tightened his grip on Austin's hand.
The portal, which transfers a person from one place to another, travels through space and requires a considerable high amount of mana to activate.
But since Kyouki was unaware of such things, he only was conscious of his surroundings.
What felt like an eternity, only ten seconds passed since the portal activated and took the two to a far distant land, which was entirely out of Gram's jurisdiction.
The light soon started fading away from the surrounding when suddenly Kyouki felt Austin's hand getting away from his grip.
Subconsciously Kyouki turned his head toward his left when he saw Austin raising both his hands like he was surrendering to someone.
Perplexed, he was about to ask Austin for such a gesture when an authoritative voice alerted Kyouki before he finally understood Austin's evil grin, which he had previously missed.
"Freeze!!! Get on your knees right at this instance!!"
_________________________
At the same time, when Kyouki and Austin were caught up in something unexpected or not, in a particular room built on the same continent where Austin and Kyouki arrived.
The room was thinly lit with the holes on the walls and damaged material of the wooden house, reminding the residents how miserably cold it was outside.
But since they were accustomed to such harsh weather from birth, the group of men showed no sign of being troubled at all.
The person who was sitting at the head position of the table, which seemed for dining, was suddenly questioned about something troubling by the man sitting to his right.
"Chief...our resources are running out, and the way we are using our expenses for military maintenance and other things, I fear we won't survive by the end of this month."
The room suddenly became a little heavier than before, as the fact which everyone was aware of but still was neglecting for a long time, finally came to bite them at such crucial times.
The burly man who was sitting at the head seat heard his subordinate's words carefully before he fell into deep contemplation.
"What about the troops? Do we have enough men remaining to land a decent blow on the empire ?"
The head chief of the unknown group asked with his heavy voice as he finally seemed to come to some conclusion.
"Since the time people found out that the Emperor's eldest daughter became affiliated with Light Hero, most of the troops left our side and joined the empire so they could get protection from Gram eventually. So now we have only around 2000 soldiers in our arsenal, waiting for immediate release."
The one who spoke in a fluent tone was another man who, unlike others, was a little skinnier and shorter than the other humongous humans present in the room.
The chief heard the piece of news, which made him a little sorrowful but nevertheless, this kind of thing was expected in the military, so he didn't ponder on it more than necessary.
Rising on his feet, the chief extended his hand before he made the big announcement.
"Commence the preparation. Forty-eight hours from now, we will attack the empire and bring down the fort and the bastard Norsvolk with it!!"
___________________
A/N:- Mc will play from shadows and use Hero to fulfill his purpose.
And yeah, it's time to reunite the two love birds~
If you are hyped, then let me know~
Editor : Zenon