CH 1

The sun’s shining, and the weather’s looking fine… Rather, isn’t it a little too nice?

I couldn’t help but think about how nice the weather was as I sat there in class, looking out into the schoolyard from my window seat.

We’re more than halfway through June… and the skies are still clear, despite it nearly being the season for rain.

My name’s Totsuka Yukikazu, a student attending Konpeki-oku High.

Maybe it’s something I inherited from my parents’ genes but I’m terrible with the heat, even though I’m decent with cold weather.

As I think about the topics of the seasons and the weather, it feels like my thoughts invariably end up gravitating towards when it’ll get cooler.

“And so, if you apply this formula like soーー”

Whoops, I should be paying more attention to the lecture.

My parents would be upset with me if I were to fail my exams, and reduce the amount of pocket money I currently get.

While I’m not currently thinking about my future, getting into college is a no-brainer.

…So it’s kinda like suffering through all of it now for the sake of a better future?

Meh, I doubt I’ll do too badly if I put in the effort.

Lately I’ve really been into FPS games and other military related stuff.

The series I’ve read were set in the military, which lead me to noticing how similar military career advancement are to those within corporate environments… I guess.

Well, my classmates still discuss their own manga, anime and gaming interests.

Rom-coms were a huge thing back when I was an elementary schooler, lately it’s more of a fantasy-boom.

Rank-and-file soldiers in “other-world” stories tend to be unimportant characters, but I do wonder what their job would actually be like.

And that’s…. What I had been thinking about during breaktime.

Then, it happened.

An odd, floaty feeling permeated throughout my body… and my vision instantly went black.

It was at that moment that 17 students from my classroom vanished from the face of the Earth.

M-My body won’t move!

As I remained like that, all I could do was move my eyes around.

“Oh my… There’s quite a few of them this time.”

“Who’ll be in charge of whom?”

Who was that!?

Strange, indescribable sensations felt as if they were reaching out to me.

If I had to explain it, the closest thing I could ascribe it to would be the heat emanating from a campfire when you get too close.

“It doesn’t really matter.

All that we may hope for… Is that they survive long enough to entertain us.”

“It is fate… That’s simply how it is.”

“I… suppose. If it’s enjoyable, that’s all that matters.”

“Indeed… Let us hope the quality entertainment continues.”

“How pitiable. It is my hope that their lives may be as fulfilled as possible along with our protections.”

A glimmer of light falls upon us.

“I’ll take this one.”

“I shall take whomever is left.”

“How typical of you.”

“I’ll be taking this one then.”

The voices went on, and on, and on.

Finally… it was my turn.

“It’s your turn. As for what’s left…”

“I understand. It is simply who I am.”

“True enough.”

Who’s there!?

“Oho? So you’ve managed to retain your consciousness within this place.”

“To discover this right at the end, this must also be fate.”

The individuals in question had sounded surprised to see that I was conscious, despite not being able to speak.

“How interesting. Is it aptitude, or perhaps a predisposition? Regardless, as you are awake, heed our words. Please, survive for as long as you can.”

“Humans are often ruthless. Other times, merciful. Even moreso than we.”

“Do not waste your life squandering your power.”

I think I can hear voices…

“Ow!”

All of a sudden, several people had their chairs vanish from underneath them, and landed squarely onto their backsides.

“Kh…”

As I attempted to offset the pain, I noticed that the surrounding area wasn’t very well lit, and that the floor itself was glowing ever so faintly.

Additionally, I could hear a slight popping noise.

“O-Oh! It worked!”

“Indeed!”

Glancing over towards the direction the voices came from, I noticed a group of mysterious, robed men, and an old man wearing a crown.

“However, the equipment we have has been damaged. From the looks of it, the repairs would be…”

“There’s no problem. With these numbers, there’s no need.”

The older gentleman seemed to be discussing something with these robed geezers, who were looking over something broken.

“W-Where the hell am I!?”

“The fuck’s going on!?”

The class erupted into chorus.

I felt the same. I’d no idea what was going on either.

“We, weren’t we in our classroom just now? How’d we end up here?”

“Oof…”

All eyes gravitated towards the classmate who’d fallen onto his butt.

Including mine, of course.

“Apologies for the delay in an explanation, warriors from another world.”

An old man striking an exaggerated calls out to us.

In response, the room suddenly brightens.

Tapestries lined along a stone wall… Where did that strange place with those weird voices from just now go?

They didn’t sound anything like this grandiloquent grandpa.

Those voices… echoed with a peculiar boom to them, as if they came from the very depths of the underworld.

“Warriors from another world?”

One of my classmates responded to the old guy.

“Precisely. You are warriors from another world.”

Everyone simultaneously looked at one another, tilting their heads in confusion.

“Where the fuck are we right now?! Why did you bring us here!?”

“Simmer down a sec, we all were… We got knocked onto our asses just then, right? How did we get here, even?

“…”

That’s true. It’d be weird if we were to suddenly become comatose back in the classroom, be transported elsewhere and then thrown to the ground to wake us up.

The students who had been standing did not fall over, and those who had been sitting down fell over after losing their chairs all of a sudden.

Almost as if everyone had… been moved simultaneously, instantaneously.

What’s more… what about those strange voices?

“Hmm. It appears the warriors of another world don’t quite seem to grasp the situation.”

A robed man, standing next to the old geezer, flipped through the pages of a book as he responded.

“Hmm… If I were to appropriate a phrase left behind by your predecessors, you may think of it as ‘A summoning to another world’. Yes, quite right.”

“…Summoning to another world?”

“Seriously?”

“Don’t fuck with me! This kind of shit ain’t funny, even for a prank.”

“This is some elaborate joke, right?”

Everyone voiced their complaints one-by-one.

If you were to make an assumption predicated entirely upon the circumstantial evidence presented, you could make the argument that the story fed to us is entirely possible.

Something of this scale would be too much for a prank.

“To those of you who believe it to be a joke, or a lie, please follow along so that we may show you, otherworldly warriors, this world.”

The old geezer motioned towards to a door.

Then, he began to guide us.

“Where do you think we’re headed?”

The classmates who were close chatted amongst themselves as we followed along.

Stone walls lined in red, a red, expansive carpet… My only thoughts were that this looked like a castle from a certain popular game.

And so, the old geezer led us to terrace which gave a decent view over the castle’s walls.

What we saw flabbergasted us.

Firstly, the town below… The architectural style was a medieval-European aesthetic, which building sprawling out as far as the eye could see.

Looking closely, there were birds I’d never seen before flying around, the very air felt different.

Almost as if it truly were a joke, there were rocks in the sky too.

Also, looking down onto the castle grounds… Sat three, well behaved dragon-esque beings.

They were far too realistic to be ornaments, or a sort of toy.

“Do you believe me now?”

All eyes moved onto the old geezer in shock.

“My name is Storoa kron Leraria, King of Leraria. Warriors of another world. I understand that you may be confused, but I beg of you to listen.”

After listening to the… King, or whoever he is, it looked like we were shown something pretty indisputable.