1 – Prologue
Nakajima Saito calmly analyzed the scene in front of his eyes. There stood people he had never seen before.
Furthermore, the several men were dressed like priests as one would hardly come across in Japan and amongst them was one girl, wearing a pink dress, too.
He checked out the surroundings by looking around. The building was an atrium, so he could see outside well even while sitting. The building was a tower or alike. The ceiling was supported by various pillars and had unfamiliar and strange drawings on it. They were mysterious drawings like Egyptian mural art.
What he did recognize were the four people near him, wearing the same high school uniform. They were his classmates, but he hardly talked to them. So, why was he here together with them?
A magic circle like from a game was drawn on the ground to his feet. Obviously foreign people, an unfamiliar scenery and a magic circle. He could more or less guess what had happened from the current situation. And the girl in the dress confirmed it with her words.
“I, I welcome you, Heroes!”
Yeah, this was a so-called different world.
Up until now he had been at school. Skipping classes by sleeping the whole time on the rooftop, he went back to the classroom to fetch his bag after school. There he found these four people. Like always, he had headed for his desk without so much as looking at them. They had frowned a bit upon seeing him, but he ignored them as he didn’t care.
But then a bright light suddenly gushed out from under his feet. All five present, Saito included, had frozen up on the spot from the all too sudden surprise. Everything had turned snow-white in front of him and in the next moment, he found himself in the current situation.
The priests cheered merrily. Frolicking with “Yes!” and “It’s a success!”, they ignored the five of them, who were confused from the sudden happening.
Same as the men, the girl showed a broad smile. Most likely the five of them were summoned unquestioning. Although Saito had been rather composed so far, a part of him still refused to believe it even now. The others seemed to feel the same from being summoned as their faces showed that they couldn’t keep up with what was happening to them. Then one of them finally spoke.
“H- Heroes? What do you mean?”
The guy named Yamaguchi Ichiro had blonde hair, but an earnest expression and gentle aura. To add, he was tall and handsome, so he was overwhelmingly popular with the girls in class.
The girl lowered her head flustered on Ichiro’s question.
“Ah, my apologies! His Majesty personally will explain this matter to you! So please follow me!”
She looked apologetic as she said that. On a closer look, she appeared rather pale. It was hard to tell from her smile earlier, but like the men, she was sweating on the face as well, probably exhausted from the summoning. Ichiro seemed to notice her condition as well and likely thought it would be better to listen to her for now instead of staying here longer, since it would probably allow the girl to get some rest then.
Ichiro exchanged looks with everyone except Saito and seemingly the other four also kind of understood their situation.
Like that, the five of them headed to the King in the Throne Room with the girl‘s guidance. The building they had been in was indeed a tower and stood in the middle of a big castle.
“Ohh, I appreciate your coming, Heroes.”
A man probably in his late 30’s with a rough beard and mustache sitting on the throne said that with a refreshing smile.
“I am sure you must be confused from the abrupt circumstances. But rest assured, I will properly explain it now.”
After saying that, he first started with a self-introduction. The kingdom’s name was Eglantine and the name of this world was Berseria. This king serves under the Empress of humanity. And it seems he was tasked with a mission to summon heroes. Just like your typical isekai novel, the Demon King plotted to destroy the humans. He seemed to think that only his race was suited to rule over a united Berseria with their superior strength.
The Mazoku indeed had an enormous magic power and possessed an all too brutal battle strength. Magic existed in this world and needless to say, the stronger the magic power, the stronger the magic. Humans had magic powers as well, but it was relatively low.
Of course magic wasn’t everything in a battle, but the magic used by the mazoku was quite powerful and a human had close to no hopes of defeating even a lower demon by himself.
Even a high ranked adventurer from the adventure guild had to form a team to fight against a demon.
The king feared that they would be destroyed sooner or later. On that occasion, they used summoning magic, which had been sealed as an old magic. But it was sealed for a reason. It showed that the summoning magic wasn’t omnipotent.
The summoning magic consumed a lot of magic power and if used by someone untalented, it ran the risk of making a giant crater and killing the caster.
It wasn’t a simple summoning magic. It was a heretic magic that opened a path to another world and thus carried an adequate risk. Saito thought that the king was an idiot for taking such a risk like that, but he kept it to himself.
Heroes possessed an incredible magic power and could utilize physical abilities and magic unthinkable for humans. Learning of this, the king, Liserg, hardened his heart and due to the command from the Empress, he ordered the ritual to be executed.
“I see. So you brought us here to protect the humans from the Mazoku.”
Ichiro nodded a few times while listening to the explanation.
“Yes. According to the documents, there are four Heroes in total. Mh? Speaking of, I just noticed, there’s… five of you.”
Exactly. Five people were summoned this time. The king looked at the nearby scholar. The scholar adjusted his glasses flustered.
“I, I have no clue! But I guess, all of them are Heroes…?”
“Mhm… Then we just have to find out. All of you, show me your abilities.”
Liserg said that, but Saito and the others tilted their heads puzzled.
“Mh? What is the matter? Do not tell me you are unable to show me your abilities?”
Ichiro answered as their representative:
"Excuse me, but it's like not we're not willing. It's just that we don't know how to do it."
“Recite [Status] in your mind.”
Everyone did as told. Of course Saito recited as well. Upon that a status screen like from a game appeared in front of him.
Saito Nakajima
LVL: 1
HP: 24/24
MP: 120/120
ATK: 13
DEF: 8
AGL: 27
HIT: 11
INT: 23
Magic Attribute: None
Unique Magic: Devour
Titles: None