“When will they call for me,” I wondered aloud?

Upstairs, I could hear the chattering of the saints and Father Korrinn as he instructed them. I had retreated back to my room, periodically working out and reading through ‘Lotte’s Magical Refinement Scenario’, as I waited for someone to ask for my presence. Or just ask me to do something

Literally anything. I was bored. Bored out of my goddamn mind. I was certain that, at some point, I would be called to answer any questions they had for me. It was only obvious. The easiest way for all of us to get closer would be through getting to know each other. I was ready for the arduous process of trying — and subsequently failing — to explain anything they asked me about my time on Earth. Yet hours had passed, and no one had come to fetch me.

I was bored. Definitely, certainly, one-hundred percent bored. The most surefire way of defining boredom in a dictionary by this point was to take a picture of me and put it beside the word. Nothing could stave it off right now. I wanted to work, but I had received no instruction to do so. I wanted to grow my strength, but my methods of doing so were woefully limited currently. I wanted to talk to someone, but the only person available was Milet, and god forbid I try to hold a conversation with her after what happened earlier.

Placing my hand underneath my eye, I took a look in a mirror. How does one define ‘droopy’ anyways? My eyes didn’t droop, they held themselves up quite well. They looked a little tired, with prominent dark circles underneath, but was that really enough to give me such a strange nickname? Was that really how others saw me?

Don’t get me wrong, my image isn’t particularly important. I wasn’t a vain person. But droopy… It was a poignant insult for some reason. It touched my soul in a way no insult had before. I had heard plenty of insults throughout my life. Bastard, loser, cross-eyed weirdo — my eyes were not crossed, so this never made sense — fuckface, etc etc. Yet, droopy-eyed…

As I leaned closer to the mirror, I heard footsteps approaching from outside. Tired of having people knock on my door for today, I decided to walk out first. I stepped outside, where I was greeted by Kereth right outside my door. We had almost bumped into each other as I left, but I barely took a step back in time.

“Rain! Father Korrinn is asking for your presence in the classroom! Come, come! Oh, and I hope you don’t mind me sitting in too. I can’t hold my curiosity at this point!” His expression was dripping with excitement, his mouth grinning like a cartoon character eyeing their favorite dessert.

Too lazy to reply verbally, I nodded. We started down the hallway towards the classroom. It was the first door on the right down the hallway opposite the one to my room. I cleared my throat as we approached. Kereth practically threw the door open as we made our way inside. Was it really that hard to control his excitement? Other worlds aren’t actually that interesting. Get some religious nut to summon you if you really want to find out that much.

I wasn’t entirely sure what attitude I should take with them today. It was the first time I’d speak with all of the saints at once, so it left me leery towards how I should establish our relationship. The safest bet would be to become something of a friend, maybe a mentor. Showing off a bit of knowledge while appearing to be friendly and unassuming would be an easy ticket to getting closer to everyone. With a decent reputation, I could place myself into critical situations where required, and once I had built enough trust I could start going off on my own.

I could. Reasonably, I should. Yet, something made me uncomfortable about that fact. Being friendly, while it wasn’t foreign to me, didn’t feel correct. Wouldn’t there be some sort of disconnect when they saw my true personality inevitably peer through the veil? Causing unneeded concern would only make future interactions harder to handle, with my lacking social skills. I sighed.

I could hear the kids clamoring in their seats as I took my place beside Father Korrinn at the front, gossipping aloud as their eyes locked onto me. I had already met a few of them, but I was still mostly unfamiliar with the others, even with the few interactions I may have had with them in my past life.

Six students, and one priest, sat in desks dotted throughout the room. Most were dressed in the saint’s outfit, though I saw a certain familiar face in a neatly-ironed traditional priest’s robe. Noticing my gaze, she gave me an enthusiastic wave.

Hadn’t we fought just earlier? I suppose I could only give a hearty thanks to childhood naivete. I watched them shuffle around, chatting to each other as they looked me over. Each desk, aside from where Kereth sat, was covered with various materials. Books, pencils, erasers. For just a moment, they seemed like model students. Maybe they wanted to take notes on what I had to say.

“Rain! Did you get beat up a ton in your world cuz of how scrawny you are?!” Before I had given an introduction, and before Father Korrinn bothered to introduce me, a question came flying my way.

It’s my own fault for having expectations. I’ll blame it on Heira being the questioner.

“Heira, quiet. Focus on writing your apology letter. Feel free to add three more pages to it as well,” Father Korrinn reprimanded her immediately. While I listened to her murmured grumbles, he turned to me, briefly bowing before facing the leering audience once more. Seeing Heira’s frown made me want to chuckle.

“This is Rain, the man summoned by the summoning ritual yesterday. Give your greetings.” At his words, everyone stood in perfect sync, bowing ninety degrees. “Be seated.” And seated they were.

I was impressed by his control over them. It felt like I was back in the barracks, receiving the day’s orders from my superior. Father Korrinn’s commanding tone and unblinking frown almost made me want to follow his commands myself. The oppressive atmosphere in the room felt like it would choke me if no one spoke up.

“It’s nice to meet you all. As mentioned, my name is Rain. I’m not entirely sure what my duties will be from here on, but I’ll do my best not to get in anyone’s way.” Once again, I tried to smile, and once again, I failed. As I prepared to speak again, I heard the door beside me slam open, almost hitting me.

“Excuse me! Mind if I come in?” Milet, already walking into the room, requested to witness today’s spectacle. I’d feel touched if I didn’t suspect that she just wanted to see me flounder around. I fixed my hair that was blown around by the force she put into opening the door as I looked her in the eyes.

“Sorry to interrupt, but there’s no way I could miss this, right?” She winked at me as she walked to the back of the room, choosing to lean against the back wall rather than sit at one of the few remaining desks. I closed the door and gazed at the back of the room. I focused my sight on a specific painting in the back rather than any individual person, not wanting to look at anyone in particular.

Regrettably, that plan failed when Milet moved herself directly to the left of said painting. I ignored her.

“Is that everyone,” I asked? When no one spoke up, I decided to continue. “So be it. I don’t really have much to say on my own though. My understanding is that you all had some questions for me, so just ask away I guess. I don’t really care what you’re curious about, as long as it isn’t absolutely ridiculous.” I shot a glare at Heira, enunciating my words, as I caught her out of the corner of my eye looking up at me. Yelping, she turned her head back down, scribbling away on her paper. My gaze turned again to the poster in the back.

In the front, someone raised their hand. Yhan was first, asking, “What do you think so far? Of us, I mean.” My eyes shut for a moment, pretending to think. Opening them, I focused on Yhan.

“Just a bunch of kids. I get that you’re saints or whatever, but should I care about that sort of thing?” His eyes trembled at my words. Was that surprising? I could hear a few of the other kids whispering to each other, quiet enough to where I couldn’t pick up on what they were saying. I wanted to gauge their reactions, but now wasn’t the time. I must build a certain image.

“It’s not a big deal. You’re kids, you can’t argue that. And I’m an adult. One from another world, no less. It would be stranger if I did care, don’t you think?” Laying my reasoning out, I tried to soothe their minds. Yet they hadn’t stopped their chatter. Was that not what bothered them? That’s fine.

“Next?”

On the left side of the room, in the back, a girl raised her hand. Her black hair was neatly tied in a ponytail, her bright expression beaming with interest. I pointed at her, and she stood up in response, giving a slight bow. Her eyes, the color slightly obfuscated by the glare from her glasses, were pointed directly at my own.

“Hello, sir. My name is Cleo. I wanted to ask, you seem fairly familiar with certain aspects of our world. Your mannerisms seem fairly similar to ours. Could I take that as where you come from having a similar focus on politeness as our country? Or is this something specific to you, as a person?” She was polite and well-spoken. Cleo shied away from others, spending most of her time reading strategic manuals or books about war history. I never put much focus on her during my time as a paladin, since she stayed in the library the vast majority of the time. I’d probably take a similar stance this time too.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Not exactly, no. In fact, the country I’m from places very little importance on respect, especially physical acts of respect. Rather, it’s considered something you glean from the other person as you get to know them. A meritorious mark of acknowledgement from both parties, so to speak, rather than a societal norm.”

“Is that so? Then where does your knowledge of our customs come from? Your bowing is fairly close to how we are taught, if not a bit lackadaisical in the execution.” Keen eyed, huh? Her sharpness was something many paladin recruiters would fight over having under their care. Making a mental note of this, I formulated my response.

“Just adapting to the environment. It’s nothing special.” Simple and sweet, just how one needed to respond to the smart ones. The less given, the less they had to work with after all.

“Is it really possible to manage something like that just by observation?”

“It is.”

“I… see. Thank you for answering, sir. Sorry if I gave you a hard time,” she finished, taking her seat after another brief bow.

“Thank you for the interesting question. Next?”

The next to raise his hand was the boy sitting beside Yhan in the front. He seemed a bit young. His mellow face gave the impression that he was fairly sweet. A flower left to grow in the soil, taken care of by all who saw it. His blonde, curly hair accentuated that feeling even more, adding to his innocence. A natural beauty, maybe? If he went to school, he’d easily end up as one of the most popular boys there. I should be thankful he was stuck here. Who knows how many boys and girls would end up with inferiority complexes seeing someone like this sit beside them every day?

“Umm, hello. My name is Taylor…” His head was lowered to where I couldn’t see his face as he spoke his name. I don’t get why, but whatever.

“Nice to meet you, Taylor. Your question is?”

“Well. I was just curious, but… You don’t hate us for what we did, do you…?”

At Taylor’s question, the room went silent. I could see Milet, standing beside the painting I was fixated on, pursing her lips at his words.

So his personality was like that, huh? To lack confidence despite being a saint, it struck me as odd. I could rectify it in the future though. For now, all I needed to do was assuage his fear.

“Not particularly. I can’t say I’m happy about it, per se, but I’m not displeased either. This might strike you as odd, but many people from my world dream of visiting other worlds. It’s not something that particularly interests me, but I find it hard to be mad when I’m taking a desirable opportunity from those who would love to be in my shoes right now.” I answered honestly. Well, semi-honestly, really. For clarification, I no longer hated them.

“Really? People know about other worlds where you come from?! Even we only learned about it through some crumbling book, that’s incredi—”

“No, you’ve got the wrong idea. No one knows about things like this. It’s just a fantasy, like what you’d read in a novel penned by some underground author. The fact that something like this is real, well… It’d catch anyone off guard.”

“Oh! It’s just like people wanting to be a hero here!”

I nodded to him. “Similar, yes. Actually, it might be the exact same. After all, anyone who’s whisked away to a world from a fantasy novel would inevitably end up wanting to be the hero of that world, too. They want to feel special, as if they were summoned to the world with a purpose in mind.” I had started to speak frankly with him. It wouldn’t be much of a problem to say this much.

“Does that include you, sir?”

“No. I don’t think of things so grandly.” Was I lying, or telling the truth? It was hard to gauge my own emotions. Rather than wanting to be a hero, I was just necessary for now. Anyone could take my place if needed, but I didn’t want anyone to have to. I was willing to shoulder the burden of the future on my back alone if need be.

“In my case, I know exactly who summoned me, and why I was summoned. How could I get such strange ideas in my head? Unless you want to give me some grand mission today?”

“Oh, oh!! I’ve got one! Rain, I order you to—”

“Silence, Heira.” Before she could even finish speaking, Father Korrinn shut her down. The other kids began to laugh at Heira, while I turned my attention to Milet. I could see her mouthing something towards me while I was answering Taylor’s last question, but I couldn’t make it out. Even while my attention was taken off the ongoing conversation, I still couldn’t particularly make out what she was saying. Her stupid grin wasn’t helping either.

Let’s just focus on the painting. I don’t need her chiding expression getting in the way of my ability to think properly.

Beside me, I heard Father Korrinn clear his throat prompting everyone to settle down once again. “Does anyone else have any questions? Something pertinent and valuable, ideally?” Heira really was getting the short end of the stick, even if she only had herself to blame.

For a moment, no one said anything, nor did they raise their hand in response. It seemed like they were lost in thought. Did they really run out of questions already, or did they aspire to only ask something they needed to know, rather than what they wanted to? I guess it makes sense if I take into account what Father Korrinn said at the end, but was it really necessary? I could answer anything.

In the end, Milet ended up being the one to speak up. “What kind of women do you like, Rain? Oh, sorry, I shouldn’t assume. Do you like women?” I wanted to be pissed off at her question, I really did. But in the end, anything worked so long as it helped the kids think of something new to ask.

“Yeah, I do. I’ve never really thought about my type though. It’d be a little inappropriate to talk about in front of the saints, don’t you think?”

“Inappropriate? They’re all teenagers, what’s the big deal? I’m sure they’ll all go out and try to find a partner in time, so why not give them some confidence? Hearing someone so confident in themselves speak so assuredly about his preferences will surely give them a bit of courage.”

Yeah? I might have believed your bullshit if you didn’t look like you’d burst out laughing any moment from now. What sick pleasure did she get from messing with me? I need a way to observe my damn reactions so I can understand what makes this so funny.

“I guess you raise a good point…” I went silent, realizing that what she said wasn’t completely baseless. I think I hated that fact. “Well, with the way I look, I can’t be too picky. Preference-wise, I guess I’d want someone who can…” I stopped before finishing.

“Who can…?” Milet repeated

I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it before. Never in my life had I considered the idea of my ideal romantic relationship.

No, that wasn’t entirely accurate. I’m sure I had thought about it when I was younger, before coming to this world. Any teenager would think about a cute boy or girl they’d meet and imagine asking them out, wanting to take them on a date somewhere that would leave them both with a fond memory. I wasn’t dumb enough to not know that. A sweet romance, filled with sugar and love, was something anyone in the world with a normal brain would wish for at some point or another. It was almost assured they’d even have a specific person in mind at the time.

But I didn’t remember anymore.

“A woman who can support me in my interests. I’m fairly simple, I suppose.” I lied. I wonder if my heart would hurt had I been asked this several years prior.

“Simple, indeed. I can’t blame you for it though.” She left it alone with that. Had she picked up on my displeasure? She didn’t pursue her question anymore. I inwardly thanked Milet for her impressive perception.

I won’t deny that I was still a little displeased, but at least things left off on a decent note. Before I could say anything, someone in one of the back desks raised their hand just above their head, limply.

“Do you like your name? I like it.” It was Marie this time. She was a simple girl, so I didn’t need to particularly think when talking to her. It was like this even in the past.

“It’s fine. I don’t have much attachment to names, but I’ll gratefully accept what was given to me.”

Her hand fell back onto the desk as I finished speaking. As her hand fell back down, Heira immediately shot her hand up. “Oh, me! Pick me!! I’ve got a really good question, I promise!”

“Heira!” Father Korrinn seemed to have had enough of her antics, but she just raised her hand higher in response.

“I’m serious, I promise! Promise! Pick me, Rain!” No one else was holding their hand up anyways, you brat. I nodded. “Okay, so, listen! You’re going to be staying here while Father Teres and whoever else goes off in a couple of days, right?”

“I suppose I am, yes.”

“Soooo, are you going to help us with our homework? Father Korrinn has a bunch of stuff planned for us during his absence, but what if we have trouble?! We need someone to teach us if we don’t understand, you know?! And, well… No offense, but besides Milet, the others here aren’t very” — Her gaze bounced to Kereth for a moment before looking back at me — “Educated. Do you know what I mean?”

No one said anything at her words. I mean, how could we?

How do you respond to something so rude? So stupid? It had caught everyone perfectly off guard. I could see Kereth’s stupefied expression settled firmly on the back of Heira’s head. Milet was… Do I even need to say it? I couldn’t see her face, but her hands were wrapped around her gut like she had a stomach ache, her body bobbing back and forth. Even Father Korrinn seemed to have missed the timing to reprimand her from how absolutely callous her question was.

This… Was this the cruelty of youth?