She Becomes The Hero In Another World 35 She Was Adopted

"You will!?" Queen Emeline smiled radiantly.

"Yes, it's possible." Robin said. "My main objection is to avoid having my face recorded down. If it's simply showing you, it should be fine." She then glanced sidelong at Emeline. "No sneaking image taking tools in on the sly, either."

"I got it, I got it!" Emeline nodded her head.

Jasmine, who up to this point had only been listening, laughed and said to Emeline. "Isn't it better this way, my dear Aunt? Now you can boast to be one of the only people who know the face behind this mask."

"But why must you fight so much to keep your ident.i.ty a secret?" Emeline asked, seeing her matchmaking plans going down the drain.

"It's a test." Robin replied.

"A test? A test of what?" Zephron asked.

"A test of character." Robin replied. "While people can fake bravado and kind-heartedness in front of the Hero, would they go so far for the common folk? A man's character is judged, not by how he treats the greatest of us, but by how he treats the least of us. If he is kind only to greatness, then his character can only be small. But, if he is kind to the smallest, then there is no doubt in my mind as to the greatness of his character. It is men like those who are worth befriending."

Robin then picked up a sandwich and began to eat, as the other three sat there, thinking on what she said.

"Character is judged by how we treat the least of us...good! That is a good saying!" King Zephron nodded, and he turned to his secretary. "Did you get that?"

The secretary nodded. "Yes, my king."

"Have it inscribed upon the official records." Zephron ordered. "In the future, I would hope that all the men we recruit would be men of good character."

"As you wish, my king." the secretary bowed and left immediately to go and do so.

"Then, how about we have the big reveal tonight?" Robin said.

"Tonight? Why?" Emeline asked.

Robin chuckled. "Because I've yet to go shopping for the trip in two days."

'And I've yet to find a room which doesn't have large windows or hiding s.p.a.ces attached' She thought to herself. 'Perhaps I should ask Keith? He might know of a room...' Robin stared down at her steaming cup of tea.

"It seems that you are wise beyond your years." King Zephron noted to Robin, who sighed.

"I'd like to say that it's common sense where I come from, but not everyone is so lucky to escape being backstabbed. I had to learn this the hard way."

'School can be a cruel place for an orphan.' Robin recalled as she closed her eyes for a moment.

'It is a good thing that brother was there.' She smiled a bit.

Then she turned her head to observe the castle view. She had been trying not to think of home too much, but today it seemed everything was conspiring to make her think of it. Her heart ached.

"Robin? What's wrong?" Jasmine was the first to notice the change in Robin's expression.

"Ah. Nothing...I was just feeling a bit homesick is all." Robin replied with a sigh. "Today is only the fifth day, yet I already miss home, even though I''ve actually been away for much longer upon other occasions…isn't that odd?"

Jasmine fell silent. Of course you would be homesick, if you found out you couldn't go home. Then she opened her mouth.

"It's not odd."

Robin turned to look at her.

"You have a home to return to." Jasmine continued. "Therefore, wanting to go home is only natural, right?"

Robin felt her heart clench as a rare emotion seized it. She stared down at the cup of tea in her hands and struggled not to cry. It had been a long time since she had felt this way.

"Thank you." Her voice came out a bit hoa.r.s.e. It had been a while since anyone other than her brother had said something like that.

King Zephron stayed silent throughout this exchange, but he also was feeling a bit emotional looking at this young man. After all, it was his own son that had summoned the Hero here. To arrive in a different world without any explanation or prior warning...must have been very hard on the lad.

"While I can't say that we could ever replace your real home," Zephron said. "As things are, can't you consider us to be family during your stay here? While we don't currently have a way to send you home, I promise that we will do everything in our power to help find a way for you to return."

Emeline nodded in agreement. "Yes! Just consider us your family."

The clenching feeling relaxed as Robin smiled, and exhaled. Then she laughed.

"Thanks, but wouldn't that make Prince Christian my sibling? I'm not entirely sure I'm okay with that." She joked.

"Then don't consider him a sibling. After what he's done, he's lucky that he's still alive!" Jasmine snorted. "As for me, I would be delighted to have a cousin like you. Or do you have an objection to me becoming your cousin?"

"No, not at all!" Robin quickly replied.

"Then, consider it done!" Jasmine said with an air of finality. But when she saw Robin's smile fall, she exclaimed. "Ah! Why are you looking like that! You should be happy to gain a good cousin like me!"

Robin sighed. "I was just thinking...brother would have loved it here…"

Jasmine paused for a bit, unsure of what to say. Fortunately, Emeline suddenly had an idea.

"Why don't you tell us about your family back home? Do you have any parents?" She asked.

"Not for a very long time." Robin replied with a pained smile. They died six years ago. After that, it's just been me and my brother all this time."

Emeline paused awkwardly, knowing she'd touched on a painful topic for the Hero. But, thankfully enough, King Zephron asked a question right after that.

"You mean to say that you've been living alone just the two of you? What about your extended family? You didn't have any aunts or uncles?"

Robin's eyes turned cold as she recalled what had happened after the funeral. "None that could be called human." She replied icily.

At that, the whole conversation came to a halt as no one had the courage to ask Robin what she had been through. But everyone there was wondering how bad Robin's life must have been with relatives like that. Lunch finally had a bit of progress as they used eating as an excuse to think of something to talk about that wouldn't trigger foul memories.

"Ah, that's right! You want to learn Magic, right?" Jasmine asked, finally having thought of something. "Do you know what your apt.i.tudes are?"

Robin shook her head. "I was intending to check after speaking to you, but I was distracted by what happened earlier with Prince Christian."

"Then, before you leave to go shopping, we'll give you a test." Jasmine said, as she took a sip of her tea.

"...Pardon me for asking about something so commonplace, but what do you mean by apt.i.tudes?" Robin asked.

Jasmine almost spit her tea out, but managed to swallow it instead. "You don't know about apt.i.tudes!?"

"Well, there really aren't any magicians where I come from, so anything about magic is pretty novel to me." Robin explained.

"Wait, there aren't any magicians where you come from!? You're only just hearing about magic!? What kind of place do you come from!?" Jasmine exclaimed. "How does anything even function over there!"

"The United States of America, in the state of Kansas." Robin replied. "As for functioning, if we don't do it ourselves, a lot of things are handled by mechanical tools that run on a weakened form of lightning."

Jasmine held her head feeling a headache coming on. "It seems that I need to start everything from the beginning, then."

"Probably.." Robin acknowledged.

Well, she knew a little about magic. But, seeing as what she knew about it was mostly gleaned from fairy tales, light novels and myths, she wasn't one hundred percent certain that they were accurate. Thus, it would be better to start from the beginning and learn things the correct way, as opposed to missing something important due to negligence.

After lunch was over, Jasmine latched onto Robin and dragged her off by an arm.

"First things first, we are going to test your apt.i.tude!" Jasmine decided.

Robin allowed herself to be dragged down several hallways and up three different flights of stairs until they reached the royal magician's office.

"Did you finish the preparations, old man!?" Jasmine asked as she slammed the door open, causing the bookcases to shudder.

The old magician jumped, startled at the sudden noise, but then relaxed.

"Oh, you've finally come!" He replied. "I do wish you'd stop slamming that door. One of these days, my old heart might not be able to take it anymore."

"Forget about that, give Robin the test!" Jasmine exclaimed.

"Fine…" The old man sighed as a crystal ball suddenly floated out into the room.

"Please place your hand on it." he instructed Robin.

Robin reached out her hand.