Chapter 2: No way back home

"You were all summoned here by the will of our all-powerful mother, the goddess Romia. She is the goddess of creation, and she is the one who created this world.

"The demons have begun sending small platoons to attack various locations on human territory, and the long-disappeared dungeon gates have reappeared in this world."

"This is clearly a foreshadowing of the upcoming catastrophe. We prayed to the goddess, and she sent you to save us."

"So, with the powers she granted you, you must protect humanity and lead humanity in this war against the demons."

The Pope spoke politely, but there was an underlying tone of certainty and authority in his words, as if he wasn't explaining us but rather passing judgment on the situation.

There was not even a hint of respect, or care for our opinions in his words, it was like he gave us orders as if they were something we were obligated to do.

The fact that we had no choice and were helpless in this situation was confirmed to me after hearing his speech.

"Is this a joke or what? How can we fight in a war when it is so dangerous? You guys summoned us against our will, and now you want us to fight the demons in battle. We have our family waiting for us, so please send us back right away."

Suddenly, standing up from her chair, Mayuri shouted at the pope.

She was the leader of our school's Discipline Committee and an honorable young lady who upheld the law and morals.

She had curly, long brown hair, blue eyes, and sharp eyebrows that gave her face a strict appearance.

She always punished people who broke the rules, and she never hesitated to help people who really needed help.

Many students looked up to Mayuri as a role model and big sister, and even as she spoke, many of them were nodding their heads in agreement.

All of the people in the room were deeply affected by her words, with the exception of the Pope, whose expressions of indifference did not change as he spoke.

"We completely understand what you're going through, but unfortunately, we can't send you back."

Everyone fell silent upon hearing those words, their biggest fear came true, and it took them a while to comprehend what the Pope had said.

After a few moments of silence, an overwhelming feeling of despair filled the air as the reality of what had been said began to sink in everyone's heads.

"Why can't you send us back? Wasn't it you who brought us here?"

Mayuri wasn't ready to back down from her demand, and she still shouted once more.

"Please, resend us right away."

She looked around the room at all of the other students and saw the same determination in their eyes.

However, the pope just shook his head at her as if he too was "helpless" about this situation.

"You were all summoned by the goddess Romia's will and powers, we are merely mortals. If we had the ability to summon people from another world, we could have defeated the demons long ago."

Mayuri's legs lost their strength at those words, as she stumbled and dropped down on her chair.

Tears formed in her eyes as she let out a deep breath.

A situation like this was like dropping a bomb on the students, exploding the emotions they had been suppressing the entire time.

"This is terrible! This can't be true. You're lying, so send me back. Send me back."

"Yes, send us back."

"Mama, I want to go back."

...

…

Everyone started crying and panicking, as if a chain reaction had occurred, but the Pope remained calm, watching them from afar and letting them express themselves.

After a few seconds, I saw the pope look around before focusing on Mayuri, Theresa, and a few other students who were still calm.

I was able to get a clearer picture of the pope's face as he looked deeply into their eyes.

He probably gave each student an individual grade based on their mental toughness, social status, political weight, ability to handle unexpected situations, ability to adapt, and so on.

And, when he was done analyzing everyone,

Slam!

After banging on the table in dissatisfaction, he started speaking.

"Please keep quiet and behave. Let us eat first before we continue to debate and reach any conclusions. We knew you heroes were going to be hungry, so we prepared a feast for you all."

Clap! Clap!

The door on the opposite side of the room opened, and the maids, pushing large carts full of food, walked in at the exact same time the Pope clapped.

They were real women—not those cursed men dressed up as women for cosplay like back on Earth, but beautiful real women in maids' clothes who were the object of every man's fantasies.

Boys with high levels of hormones who had been causing a commotion just moments earlier suddenly quieted down and turned to look at the maids with adoration in their eyes.

The maids also smiled kindly at the boys and began to serve them food.

Surprisingly, the food here was the same as it was on Earth: rice, potatoes, various types of curries, and so on, which made all of us wonder.

"Suprised?"

Noticing our reaction, the pope asked with a meaningful simile, but without expecting our reply, he started explaining.

"You don't have to be surprised. Let me tell you, this isn't some old fantasy world you guys are thinking about. It's the same as the one you all came from."

"Of course, some changes are unavoidable, like the presence of magic and other things that came about because of it, but I promise you that everyone will be able to fit in easily."

Hearing such news made almost all the students breathe a sigh of relief, and why wouldn't they? At least now they don't have to be too far out of their comfort zone.

The appearance of the maids drew my attention as well, but then all of a sudden, a spooky and chilly feeling crept up from behind me.

"Ouch!"

The sudden pinch on my waist from Theresa brought me out of my daze.

"You have me. Don't look at them."

Theresa had a pouty face, which made me chuckle inwardly. She was acting like a wife even before we were married, and it truly warmed my heart.

"I am sorry. Seeing them for the first time distracted me for a moment."

She nodded at me, so what I said must have made her feel better.

When I looked around, I saw that the other girls were also giving angry looks to the confused boys.

It was then that I realized what was happening here.

I took a sideways look at the Pope and saw that he was grinning like an old grandparent watching his young grandchildren play in the park.

Although there was nothing wrong with his expressions, my heart felt uneasy.

Since I was transferred to this location, I have been experiencing a sinking feeling.

While I had experienced this feeling before, the intensity of it this time nearly made my body tremble.

This feeling of dread was compounded by the joyous expression on the Pope's face, which seemed to suggest that he was pleased with something sinister.

At one time or another, everyone felt a similar sense of melancholy and coldness that always appeared to us just before something bad was about to happen.

Most people usually ignore and take that feeling for granted, but ever since I was a young child, whenever something bad was about to happen to me, I would always notice this sinking feeling.

Slowly, gradually, as I began to notice it, I became incredibly sensitive to this sensation, and with a clear head, I realized that it wasn't impossible to anticipate the danger ahead of time in some situations.

It was an absurd proclamation by me, but if we all looked back on our lives, we would all find instances of absurdity and nonsensical happenings that sometimes defy logic.

I experienced a similar sensation and knew that something terrible was about to happen to me.

The pope may have seemed laid back, but the game he was playing was anything but that.

He was subtly affecting everyone's thoughts.

First, he showed us that he was in charge by giving us hope and temptation for riches and wealth.

Then, he crushed us with the harsh reality that we were stuck here.

Finally, he tempted the boys by promising them that these women would be theirs if they agreed to follow him.

He was thus exploiting the boys' vulnerability and curiosity, which made them more susceptible to his manipulation.

The maids' influence was a powerful tool that enabled their master to bend the boys to his will.

'Manipulative Bastard'

"Let's get the feast going."

The pope's words startled me out of my speculations, and I made the conscious decision to repress my thoughts for the time being.

While the others were cautiously eyeing the food, the Pope lifted his fork, and without waiting for anyone else, he began to eat.

Suddenly,

Clink!

Turning my face towards the sound that was very close to me, I saw Theresa and a few boys calmly devouring their meal.

Then, as if she felt my and the other students' gaze on her, Theresa put her spoon down and spoke,

"Use common sense. It is not poison. Even if they summoned us by force, it would be pointless if they only poisoned us at this point. If they truly intended to harm us, they wouldn't have to engage in such games."

Theresa responded with her customary cool and collected justification.

Even I recognized the futility of refusing the food that was placed in front of us.

At some point, even if not right away, we would need to eat to survive.

There wasn't any other choice.

'However, as humans, we are all plagued by this sense of rejection.'

In a sense, we were all kidnapped against our will, and the only option we were given was to fight in a war against those dangerous demons.

Therefore, refusing food was sort of our way of protesting and expressing ourselves.

Unfortunately, Theresa restarted eating, and everyone else followed suit by picking up their utensils, so the frail and pointless struggle soon crumbled to an end.

The food here was similar to what we normally eat on Earth, but it tasted so good that it even put some five-star restaurants to shame.

Soon after everyone had finished their meal, a group of knights in full silver armor appeared and "politely" requested that we follow them.

There was no request for our permission because their intimidating aura was enough for some students to follow them, and when one moved, others followed like a flock of sheep.

Following the knights and the pope, while walking down the hallway, some groups of beautiful maids also passed by, bowing respectfully to us.

The maids and other servants always had awe and respect in their eyes whenever we passed by them, and this only served to boost some students' already inflated egos as "heroes."

"Now only God knows what kind of future awaits us."