356. [INTERMISSION] SUMMONING CIRCLE

A summoning circle is an ancient structure which becomes the point that connects the world of the heroes to the current world.

The ultimate symbol of isekai and one of the most ludicrous kidnapping tools that has ever come into existence.

Toren Kingdom was once a nation which summoned heroes on a regular basis. Somehow, due to war or some unrecorded reason in history, the summoning circle was broken.

Rin and I decided to come visit this place.

The summoning circle was located in the center of a giant church, which looked like the Parthenon. The place was still maintained by the priests and clergymen.

“It is located here, what once was the foundation of this kingdom,” explained the head priest.

“It’s hard to make out the lines, Noel, what do you think?” Rin bent down and ran her fingers over the faded blue lines.
“I’m sure this is it, thank you High Priest.”

It looks similar to the summoning circle in Erudite kingdom. You’ve got cobblestones running in circles, and monoliths on the outer parameter. And if I were to be honest, the one here is a lot more well maintained. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that it’s under the protection of a building.

That asides, as Rin had said, the blue lines have faded.

What exactly is the damage of this runic circle anyways? I don’t see any wreckages or the likes.

“High Priest, how was the magic circle destroyed?”

“I’m not too familiar. Legend says the demon took out the power core.”
While pondering, I watched as Rin observed every inch of the structure. This was the first time she’d ever seen a summoning circle, it’s no wonder she would be so excited.

Though, power core huh? From what Gaia-sama said before, the summoning circle is powered by the root system of the Yggdrasil. I can only assume that means this summoning circle had been severed from it?

It’s not like I have an X-ray ability to see what’s going on underground. Even if I did want to fix it, I wasn’t an engineer.

Perhaps I can consult Gaia-sama about getting this kidnapping weapon up and running again. I’ll have her run the Yggdrasil diagnostic.

“Thank you High Priest, we’ll look around for a bit.”
Imagine if you were summoned to Toren Kingdom. You begin here, and you look around. You find yourself in a huge building, something like Rome. Erected around are monoliths with runes, a circle of knights and priests. After that a princess comes up running to you, begging you to save the world. Then you go meet the king and begin training to save the world from demon lords who just want to live.

Speaking of which, how do people get sent back?

“High Priest, which God, or Goddess is in charge of returning the heroes back to their world?”
“The God of magic, Hecate-sama,” he answered sonorously.

“How are they sent back?”

“I heard that it is through this same portal,” The high priest tapped his staff on the summoning circle.

“I see.”
The God of Magic, Hecate. 

I don’t remember him, unfortunately. Who are the other gods and Goddesses again? Dunno.
“Noel, I found something!”
“What is it?”
“Look.”
There’s a scribble behind one of the monoliths. It’s japanese.

“It is written in the hero’s language. It warns us to not use this ever again.” The high priest said.

Colour me surprised. 

I can’t read it. I suppose the otherworld language cheat doesn’t encompass the Japanese.
“Why though?”

“Perhaps they’re fed up of it. It’s not like everyone wants to be thrown into a fantasy world. It’s not all sunshines if someone from a peaceful world was forced to kill.”
“But you don’t kill though, Noel.”

“I’m a special case.”

Rin nodded slowly as she tried to digest my words.

The little excursion to the summoning circle ended with that.

===

“That rift in Toren Kingdom?” Gaia-sama asked with her languid expression.

“Yeah. I wanted to know if the damage was caused by the severed connection.”

“Don’t tell me you intend to boot it up? Are you instigating a kidnap?” Nine retorted with a laugh.

“Yeah.”
“Then I’m on board,” Nine whizzed his hands in the air.

“Allow me to check,” Gaia-sama rose from her seat and walked over to the Yggdrasil control panel.

“I didn’t know Gaia-sama room looks so comfy. I feel like I could sleep here if I wanted,” said Nine.

“I don’t mind, feel free to do so.”
“Really? On second thought, nevermind..”
“Ah, yes. How could I have forgotten? Must have been because that is something that happened centuries ago,” Gaia-sama turned to me, “I was the one who severed the connection. Do you wish to know why we decided to shut down this rift?”

“I’d like to know what happened please,” I lowered my head.

“Mn, then I shall tell you, my child.”
In an unknown cycle in the far past. There was a demon lord who attempted to escape to the heroes world. A mad magician of sorts of character, an expert in rune magic.

So he found out one day that the summoning circle was in fact, operated by the energy of the Gods, but not in the way most people thought of it.
It was mana from the Yggdrasil, said to be the source of all mana.

He somehow managed to hijack the root which connected to the summoning circle. Overjoyed, he expected that he would be able to summon himself to the modern world when instead, he summoned another hero. And the hero was but a child.

It became a situation where the demon nurtured the child.

So on one hand, we had the actual hero, and on the other, a hero being mislead by the demon.

That was the plot for that cycle. A hero summoned to save the kingdom against a heroine who was raised by the demon.

And unfortunately for them, the Gods and Goddesses decided to shut down the summoning circle. Which meant that there was no way to return them home. 

The Gods and Goddesses didn’t know how the demon lord managed to hijack the root, but whatever it was, they couldn’t let it happen again. 

Thus, why the summoning circle in Toren Kingdom stopped working.

“That makes an interesting story concept. Let me guess, the two heroes got married?” Nine asked.

“If I recall correctly, you may be correct,” Gaia-sama nodded.

“Seriously?”

“Then you can return power to it right?”

“If you wish for it, my child. However, it is up to the jury to decide. A meeting must be called upon before the decision is made. Do you wish for it?”
“Huh.. I guess..”
If I could get the summoning circle back into working order for Toren Kingdom, that would help them out. Toren Kingdom is Liliath’s home town after all.
“Then I shall call the rest.”

===

“Wow~, he’s my type!”

“Aphrodite, humble yourself!” The God of Law, Thermis knocked the hammer.
“Ara, are you just jealous that I’m getting close to our creator?”

“For goodness sake, can’t you read the creator’s expression? What if he becomes angry?” the God of disease, Asclepius said.

“Our creator is all loving and gracious.. right?” the person in the line of the verbal attacks, The God of Love, looked at me with such innocence, I felt my throat clogged up.

She’s lovely, but I’m not falling.

“My hypothesis, would you like to hear?” The God of Magic, Hecate asked.

“What?”

“Oh please share it.”

“This is truly, getting out of hand. Never have we had a meeting fallen to such disgrace,” the God of hunting, Artemis laughed with a hand to her face.

“You two are just plain jealous of the fact that Aprodite is fawning over him.”

“What nonsense?!”

“I will let the creator be the judge of that,” Thermis turned to me. He pressed his glasses to his face.

“It’s fun seeing this. A memory worth reliving,” said the God of Time, Chronos.

And just to make things clear, the word ‘God’ doesn’t actually imply that they’re of a male gender.
“It’s probably a big misunderstanding. Lighten up everyone..” I said.
“Will Ares and Ophion not come?” Gaia-sama asked.

In Gaia-sama’s case, I use the prefix Goddess since I’ve gotten used to it. Otherwise, it would be the God of Nature. Perhaps there’s deeper lore to why we should use one and not the other– I’m not interested in finding out.

The God of Creation, Asclepius shook her head in sorrow.

“Then we’ll make do with what we have, will that be alright, my child?”

“T-That’s unfair! The great creator of my love Noel-sama, I can call you my child too can I?”

“You’re too close, Aphrodite!” The God of Merchant, Mercury tore her away.
“Everyone here can just call me Noel.. there’s no need to add -sama prefix or any title or sort. It just makes me feel uncomfortable.”
“I want to call you my child!”

“Fufu, I suppose that’s an exception which only I may use, is that right, my child?” Gaia-sama looked at me with a motherly smile.

I could only nod with a sigh.

Jeez. Coming to a meeting like this.. what did I expect? A bunch of rowdy Gods and Goddesses. Well, better than a super serious, boring one.
“Now then, we shall begin the voting. Our Creator, Noel-sama has..” Thermis began the encore.

The decision passed with 7 to 8 votes.

The one who didn’t agree was Aprodite who tried to blackmail me. Though, it wasn’t like the loss of her single vote mattered.

Returning, I thanked Gaia-sama and returned to Toren Kingdom that evening.. to find Liliath riding on Rin.

Anyways, I went to report the results to the king.

And from that day onwards, Toren Kingdom has regained its status as a hero nation. Of course,  I told them not to kidnap unnecessarily for this cycle.