1 Summoning

Sometimes I wonder if I should be thankful. Sometimes I wonder if I'm secretly in hell, atoning for some grave sin I've done. I've already done so much, what more can you ask from me? I'm starting to lose hope and I've long forgotten the reason I am fighting. Whatever is happening, I'm just so tired. When will this end?

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Oh god... what just happened. There was a violent spinning, yet everything felt as though it were empty, in complete darkness. Once this sensation stopped there was a light whip on my head, it was as if somebody sent a slap straight through me. Coming to, my eyes were blinded by the sunlight.

My mind felt dizzy and befuddled, my hands tried to cover my eyes, but I had no spatial recognition so my limbs ended up flailing aimlessly. There was someone that cleared their throat, my eyes adjusted to the light, making me realize my body was on cold marble ground.

As my vision cleared, it was met with a stunning woman. She had glamorous blond hair and a white suit that was studded with various expensive-looking gems. She was looking at me strangely.

"Um, why are you here?"

My mind sobered up and took in my surroundings. It seemed to be a rather luxurious hall, next to the blonde-haired lady was another woman. She seemed a bit coquettish and was in a fairly frilly maid outfit. She leaned over to the blonde-haired lady and whispered by covering her mouth, though my ears could still pick it up fairly clearly.

"Miss, I think the summon went funky."

To my left, there was a grand platform. It had a few dazed people that standing there in modern clothes, like the ones on me. There was a guy and two girls, they were wearing casual clothes. After a few blinks, he was looking at me curiously, which was a bit embarrassing given my strange position. He seemed quite concerned.

"Are you ok?"

As he said that, the two pretty girls were looking at me as if my existence was a joke, though I couldn't blame them for that. It felt strange to be surrounded by various pretty girls yet only feel welcomed by this random guy. If this was a game his charm would probably be max.

After standing up my face turned to the blond-haired girl, she was whispering with the woman beside her and then turned back to face us.

"Alright, I would like to welcome everyone here, I understand you are confused about what is happening right now, but I hope you realize this is not a dream."

The boy on the platform was quick to respond, he seems to adapt quickly.

"Were we summoned to another world? Will we have to fight the Demon King?"

The blonde-haired girl looked at him with a neutral look as he asked.

"Yes and no. You were summoned but there is no need to fight the Demon King, regardless, I will go into more depth later. We should introduce ourselves, I am known as Ela of the house Enberos."

Wait, what?... Why were we summoned then? The maid perked up and had a friendly smile.

"My name is Mildred Aryana, may I know your names?"

The guy on the platform was a bit flustered, but he quickly straightened up and replied.

"Hi, my name is Ned."

The two girls had black hair, one was a bit taller than the other and they seemed quite close.

"My... my name is Alyx"

"Um, um..."

The smaller girl was nervous, avoiding eye contact, and held Alyx's hand tightly, Alyx spoke up for her.

"She is my friend, Erin."

Everybody turned to look at me. Seeing my lack of a response, Ned spoke up.

"What's your name?"

My name? Ah, that's simple it's… what was it again? I...

"I don't know."

Ned seemed a bit confused and was at a loss for how he could salvage this awkward situation.

"You... don't remember your name?..."

The corner of Ned's lips twitched.

"How about we just call you Jay?"

Ah, well a name does seem necessary.

"Alright, please call me Jay."

It seemed most people did not care about me, while Ela seemed a bit irked from my actions, but she moved on.

"Follow me, everyone, we will have a banquet and you may ask me about your concerns."

Ela left and Mildred followed behind her after winking at us.

Ned, Alyx, and Erin came off the grandiose platform and walked down the steps. After they got off, my steps hurried on behind them. My lungs forced in a deep breath, the air was particularly refreshing and even slightly sweet to breathe in. As we were led down a hall that had a nice red carpet, Ela started to explain the situation to us.

"Firstly, the Demon King was dealt with by a hero 3 centuries ago and in the end, the hero was able to set up a peace treaty among the demons and so today we coexist with them."

The world... is at peace? Ned said what was on my mind.

"So... why were we summoned?"

Ela opened her mouth, but Mildred energetically piped up first.

"It is because every decade we have a celebration in the honor of the hero that saved humankind."

Erin had tugged the sleeve of Alyx, Alyx promptly crouched down next to her. Erin whispered something to her. After which, Alyx asked Mildred a question.

"So after the celebration, we will go back to our own world? How long will this celebration be? I hope we can limit it to a few days, we have things we need to do back in the real world after all."

Mildred looked back with an awkward smile on her face.

"Well... you will be here for a year."

She quickly followed up seeing most of our jaws drop.

"Don't worry, not much time in your world should pass, at most a few hours. This is the best we can do since the summoning circle needs at least a year to be ready to send you back. In reality, the actual celebration will be in your last month, for the first eleven months we will accommodate you, providing you with what you need to live comfortably."

Alyx let out a sigh of relief and expressed her appreciation.

"Thank you, it seems like we will be in your care."

Ah, well that seems to be more reasonable.

Upon pondering it a question formed in my mind. Although I've heard of stories of heroes and such, if you think about it realistically humans are naturally weak creatures that were never made for combat in the first place.

"Say, how did the first hero defeat the Demon King?"

Ela proudly spoke of her knowledge in history.

"As all summons do, they inherited natural powers contained within the place from which they were summoned that allowed them to naturally manifest upon being summoned. The first hero had powers that allowed her to create objects out of thin air. It is known that she gave a gift that convinced the Demon King to step down and make peace."

Wow, sounds like the hero did something legendary.

Wait, more importantly... doesn't that mean we all have powers?

"Does this apply to us as well? How do we know what powers we get?"

Ela hesitated to respond.

"Theoretically yes, however, something went wrong with the summon so I cannot assure you. For the summon only one person should have been summoned, that person is sir Ned."

Wait... how did she know it was supposed to be Ned?

Ned was surprised, he patted his chest.

"I suppose I am lucky then, it sounds quite lonely to be the only person in a new world. There wouldn't be anybody that could understand what you were going through or how much you missed life from your original world."

Ela was silent, but we had soon arrived at a hall that looked quite extravagant and had a long table with a wide variety of foods like bread, cheese, cabbages, and many different foods that were unrecognizable. Mildred gestured towards us.

"Please take a seat."

There were five total seats, four along the long sides and one at the far end. Hmm... there are six people so someone will have to stand. Normally with one summon, there should've been plenty of food and seats. Ela realized this as she told Mildred to stand beside her after she took the seat at the far end. Mildred was a little unhappy but was understanding.

After my hand used the fork to put some food in my mouth, it gradually kept going faster and faster. My hand suddenly froze, the other three were not really eating.

Sweat started to form on my forehead.

Were they not eating because of me?

Ela furrowed her brows.

"Is the food not to your liking?"

Ned spoke up on behalf of us.

"Well, we are used to foods that have various seasonings, oils, and spices."

Ela raised an eyebrow.

"These were all finely made with salt and pepper. What is lacking?"

Ned shook his head.

"It's not that these foods are poorly made, they are great but we are used to eating other things. I can recognize these foods are from what we would call the Asian parts of our world, however, we are not used to eating these types of foods."

Ela nodded.

"I see, apologies for the poor service, what do you prefer out of these foods?"

Ned pointed his hand at various foods.

"Personally, I am fine with eating the bread, cheese, vegetables, and ham."

Ned then looked at me and the two girls.

"What about you guys?"

Alyx just dismissively responded.

"Same as Ned."

Alyx nodded after she had said that. To me all the foods were fine but for whatever reason, my mouth could not form those words.

"Uh yeah, same as everyone else."

Mildred raised her hand and brought attention to herself.

"I will see to it so your meals are properly taken care of."

Ned stood up from the table and bowed.

"Thank you, Mildred."

Mildred blushed just a bit.

"It is simply what I am obligated to do."

We were taken outside, the sky was a bright blue and the sun was shining softly. The air was clear and refreshing. Perhaps the village filled with nature was what caused it. There was a cobblestone road and a decently big carriage waiting for us. Ela got into the carriage and turned to us.

"We will take this carriage to my palace, where you will be living from this point forth."

Mildred came on the carriage after the rest of us got on. The inside had nice seats that were cushioned with red velvet pillows. Ela motioned to the carriage driver and we started to move. Mildred clapped lightly to bring attention towards herself.

"When we get to the Enberoes palace, you can do what you wish outside. Please, make sure to get back before nightfall and cause little trouble."

We nodded and expressed our thanks.

My eyes drifted outside the carriage and there was a breeze that went past my face.

It seemed like it was going to be quite a relaxing time, a world in peace, free food, and being able to live free of charge in a palace!