Yamaguchi Kazuko's morning is usually busy and unorganized, as she has to stand in the kitchen the whole day while refining Japanese cooking with foreign ingredients. Today though, she's on a break and is planning to buy a new dress and continue with the plushy she has started a few days ago. This time it's a giraffe, soon she will have an entire zoo.

Unexpectedly, she meets someone she hasn't expected at all in the foyer. “Chidori-chan? Welcome!” It's Toriyama Chidori-chan, one of the girls who joined the combat group! “Where is the rest of your party?”

The girl in question looks a bit strange, a bit too calm and reserved, though she's such a sweet girl. “I've gone ahead, they should be here in an hour or two. Kazuko-chan, you look good.”

This is one of the quotes Kazuko is used to hearing, as she is a bit more massive than the average girl. However, she has grown tired of this false politeness, so she just heaves a sigh and just goes on: “Why are you here though? Do you want to speak with the teachers? I think, Taniguchi-sensei is in Esse right now, but I can show you Saegusa-sensei's room.”

“That would be kind.” Toriyama-chan didn't use to speak so... refined before. “In fact, I would like to know if you already heard about Nobuo-sama.”

“Who?”

“I see. Of course, you haven't. It's not your fault.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You will know soon enough. In fact, we will tell it all of you, but first things come first.”

“Chidori-chan, are you alright?”

“Can I ever be alright again? While I do feel better than ever before, there is the pain. A pain which will accompany for the rest of my life.”

Her eyes are strange, it's like they're burning with religious fervor. Is she now part of some sect? “Maybe you should rest for a while?”

“I can't, but if you want to understand, please gather all of our classmates. Saegusa-sensei can also join, you need to see the truth. You need to understand, what it means to be what we are.” Scary, this Chidori-chan is scary! Kazuko wishes for this to be a bad dream, but now she's involved!

How can she escape? “I think, you should speak to Saegusa-sensei first.” She just needs to dump Chidori-chan there and then she's rid of her.

“You're right, I should talk to her first.”

―○●○―

Saegusa Mamiko is lying on her bed with a wet cloth over her eyes. This is pathetic, she had been wasted yesterday, and she's sure that she forgot about half since she started with that first drink.

This headache. She knows some hangover-drinks, but she's too lifeless to even mix one. She decided to stay in bed the whole day and indulge in some healthy self-pity.

Where did she go wrong? Everything made perfect sense once, but how did she end up in the state she's currently in? She retracts her life's choices, everything was logical. Of course, if she hadn't become a teacher, she most likely wouldn't be in this world, but it's like an earthquake: There is nothing anyone could do.

Just sleep. She wants to sleep. She closes her eyes, her mind becomes blank, she just exists and breathes. After a while, drowsiness settles in, and she really falls asleep.

Until a brutal knock on the door rouses her from slumber, it feels like the fist hit against her head instead. She tries her best to ignore it, but after some seconds, a quick and even louder barrage of knocks makes her give up: “Come in!” Also, please stop knocking!

She hasn't thought this through, as Yamaguchi Kazuko is at the door. “Sensei, Toriyama Chidori-chan is here.” While Saegusa is bathing in embarrassment, hoping that the darkened room will make it hard to see in what state she's in, Yamaguchi Kazuko leaves quickly, while a girl in leather armor steps in.

Toriyama Chidori, she's one of the unremarkable students, that are below average in chemistry. However, this girl isn't how Saegusa remembers her, she's tall! No, she just stands that straight. “Sensei, I've returned for a while.” Is this the influence of being on the battlefield? She speaks much firmer than before...

Wait... slowly, Saegusa-sensei's mind starts to connect the points. This girl is part of Tetsukawa-kun's party! She's here, alive and kicking because Tetsukawa-kun- Shame, pure and unrestrained shame flows inside Saegusa-sensei's spine and face, followed by terror and guilt. Is Toriyama-san here to blame her?

“You look pathetic,” these words are stabbing Saegusa-sensei's heart, as the same draws the curtains, flooding the room with daylight while causing the hungover teacher physical pain. “Do you know already?” The way Toriyama-san speaks is calm, so infinitive calm. “So you do. Why do the others not know?”

“I-”

“Traitor!” This hurts, this hurts so much! “Where were you, when he died! My beloved Nobuo-sama!” Her eyes, they hurt! They're inhuman! How can anyone look at another person like that!?

Saegusa-sensei notices how her breathing is rugged, how she can't get enough oxygen in her brain. “I... I-”

“Excuses, that's what you're good at, right? How about repenting? You're no teacher, you're just a snake. A poisonous, cold-blooded reptile.”

How... how dares she!? Outrageous! This tone, these words, Saegusa-sensei is about to stand up, but wobbles in her knees, as her limbs are dull and aching. Her mouth also has problems forming any coherent sentences. “You-”

“Sensei,” the sudden gentleness of Toriyama-san's voice is frightening. “You first need to be aware of yourself. When you know who you really are, you can see the truth about everything else. I was there, I know it hurts. But it's the pain, that will turn you into someone else, someone better. Nobuo-sama taught me this.”

Saegusa-sensei's mouth flaps open and close, incapable of saying anything. She's crazy! This girl is crazy! The girl the teacher knew is no more, she was replaced by this madwoman. Seeing her classmate die broke this girl!

“You will realize the truth. Before that, I'm here to ask you to assemble everyone in this faculty at noon. Then we'll explain everything, about Nobuo-sama's noble sacrifice, about how this taught us everything. You don't need to do anything, just tell my classmates to gather at noon. I'm sure there is a hall or something similar. We'll do the rest.” Toriyama-san smiles, it's so calm and pleasant, that Saegusa-sensei feels herself freezing up, she's like a mouse under the paw of a tiger, incapable of doing anything.

Toriyama-san leaves, but Saegusa-sensei can't move. Her whole body is paralyzed, her thoughts are running in circles. It's her fault, it's her fault, that Toriyama-san became like this, because it's her fault, that Tetsukawa-san died.

Slowly, her hand wanders to the pocket of her jacket. There is the wine-stained letter of the king. She rereads it, reading how his party saw the portion, where a demon broke Tetsukawa-kun's limbs, making him entirely helpless, incapable of doing anything else but suffering.

There is only one thing she can do. After combing her hair and put on a new set of clothes, she takes the list with the casualties and goes into the lounge and nails the list on the bulletin board. The same goes for the known facts about the KIA, MIAs, and the rogues. Exactly what the king told her in her letter.

Then she goes into her study, she tries to distract her by going through the formulas she has noted there. She can't think straight, she needs like an eternity to comprehend even the most basic chemical reactions. Of course the oxygen of the combustion comes from the air. Still, she needs about twenty seconds to remember this fundamental knowledge.

Finally, the thing she feared the most happened. Akira-kun and Hideko-san coming into her study, the faces distorted by a mix of different emotions. They know. “Sensei...” Worse, they need to talk with her about this.

“It's like you read.” She has posted everything, she hid nothing. Therefore she has no answers for her students.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

―○●○―

One single Japanese girl looks at the letters on the bulletin board. She's an unremarkable girl, except for her very remarkable chin, she's a bit round and to top it off, she's also reliant on glasses. If someone would picture an unpopular girl, she may come up within the first five nominations.

This girl's eyes are glued to the names. So the first one to die was Tetsukawa Nobuo, not the one she had thought. Though to be honest, she has almost forgotten about Tetsukawa by this point. Another name was much more interesting... Katsuragi Kenta. He has suddenly vanished, so she has asked herself where he will appear again.

The boy who had the guts to speak up to Masahiko-kun. Every time she thinks of that boy, her innards are running haywire. He has left Feuerberg for good, she had no chance to give him what he deserves, though she was preparing all this time for his return, she even has secretly trained at night to increase her level.

Sorano Akame, that's the girl's name. Her talent lies in taming, she has trained several dogs at home, same goes for pigeons. It's a hobby of her dad, taking care and teaching of animals to do tricks. While many aspects of training beasts are similar between Japan and this world, she's very adept in this and might become a real asset to the war potential without going into war, so while she's not exactly in the research-group, she's part of the non-combatants.

She has currently only one class except [Student], it's [Tamer], she obtained it after several visits to a fryon-ranch, where the fire-spitting lion-like monsters are trained to be used on the battlefield. If things would work like Feuerberg imagine it, she might just move to the ranch.

However, she has other plans. Because of Katsuragi Kenta. He was at Fort Wächter. She already regretted not joining the combat-group, though she had her reasons at that time. This desire of her is still unfulfilled, she needs to find him!

Sorano has to do some preparations. “Yuuji-kun?” Another student steps forward, looking at Sorano with adoration, the eyes are hollow but ardent, he was the one where she has tested her 'other talents' on.

“Yes?”

“Katsuragi Kenta was at Fort Wächter.”

Yuuji-kun eyes are filled with hollow rage, he bares his teeth while snarling, like a rabid dog. “Katsuragi!!!”

“This is already a cold track, yet I don't plan to stick here for much longer. However, we need some more war potential. How about...” Sorano Akame, in Japan she was unremarkable except for her chin-size. Now she can become the ruler of the world, but before she does that, she needs to repay Katsuragi Kenta. His mean eyes, his wild, longish hair, his belly sticking out, everything about him makes her almost screech.

Nobody messes with Inoue Masahiko that way without any consequences.

―○●○―

Three days have passed since the meeting between Taniguchi and the king. After getting drunk, the teacher started walking back, thinking in his drunken vigor, that he can easily do it. A night's sleep and a bad hangover made him realize, that he did something amazingly stupid. However, his finances and pride didn't allow him to return to Esse to get a coach.

He ran into a group of monsters on the way back, violet snakes, of course he fled in terror. Running away was much easier than he expected. Violet snakes, easy monsters to hunt and kill, something the soldiers would usually ignore when they go out for a monster cleansing. If this is the amount of danger a farmer usually deals with, then this country might be somewhat safe. Not that Taniguchi will ever praise this country in any way again.

Finally, back at the research facilities. Of course, Taniguchi has already decided what he will tell Saegusa-sensei, how he will explain the outrageous injustice that has been around all the time.

He enters his room first, luckily he meets no one in the hallway, so he takes care of his dusty self and tries his best to make himself presentable again. Then he goes to the lounge, only to see the lists on the bulletin board. Was Saegusa-sensei forced to do this or has she lost her nerves? Why is there nobody in the lounge at all?

Having a bad feeling, he goes to Saegusa's study and afterward to her laboratory. No one is here. Is there a meeting? There is that assembly hall... He heads there, and in fact, there are people here. Students of his, Harada Reiji stands at the lectern: “...however, while the pain will stay, it will forge you. Your soul will become iron, then it becomes steel.”

Harada, why is someone from the combat group here? Wait... this drawing! Someone made a perfect picture of a Japanese boy, a noble-looking one, he looks a lot like Inoue-kun, but the face somehow is similar to... that guy, the unremarkable one, Tetsukawa Nobuo! Wait, that's the one who died!

Shit, was Harada part of Tetsukawa's party? There are other students from the combat-group among the few listeners, three more people. For some reason Matsuzawa Hideko is there as well, looking zealously and devoted, then there is Matsukata Shinya, who has a mixture of skepticism and interest on his face, and finally Kanemoto Hiroshi, who looks like he has to visit the toilet.

Where could Saegusa-sensei be? Then he remembers the bar, maybe she's back to drinking. Taniguchi-sensei leaves this scene, hoping that nobody noticed him and heads to the village's bar. There she is, this time she's still busy getting dead-drunk. “Ah... hello.” Like to proof a point, she downs her drink in one and points on the stool next to her.

Following her invitation, Taniguchi asks: “What happened here!?”

“Uh, too much. Tetsukawa-kun's party came back, they're now like sect people, talking about the glory of Tetsukawa-kun, how he saved them, how he was a saint, it's like they're talking about Christ. Then half of the remaining students vanished. Suddenly, overnight. A single letter to Hideko-san from Furuda-kun, saying that he breaks up with her. Now the rest except Yamaguchi-san listen to those... those preachers!”

“Now, now.” This isn't the result of the conversation between Taniguchi and the king, this is entirely unrelated. Why are they're subjected to this kind of mess? “I'm sure the students will calm themselves after they had some time.” While his mouth speaks polite lies, Taniguchi loses more and more hope that things will turn around. However, they only need to endure it until one of the students that picked up the fight against the demon king will slay the same. Then they'll return to Japan, and everything will be back to normal.

Though one thing is nagging Taniguchi's mind, something that is only remotely related to the whole matter, but nonetheless bugs him to a degree, that he can't help but ponder about it: Why would anyone create a cult about Tetsukawa Nobuo of all people?

―○●○―

“However, there is a way to salvation!” Harada Reiji is at the peak of his speech. “Remember, when we were summoned! The ones, who will defeat the demon king will get a wish granted! A wish by the gods, which can be anything, a real, a true wish! Not the excuses of wishes you might imagine, we’re talking about a wish without any rules! Become a god, having the power to do as we want? Possible! Yet this isn't the path we should take, as it's the path of hubris. No, we don't want to rule, we don't want to punish! We want to salvage! We'll return to our world, as long as anyone of us is able to defeat the demon king. But the one who does it will get a wish, and this is what I'll wish for: To revive each of our classmates and teachers that died in this world! We will return altogether. Returning people from the dead may be a sin in this world, but it's not in our world, no, this is the power every doctor is striving for! As we will leave this world, the taboo will also be gone, it isn't a taboo in the first place, as the gods will grant our friends their life back! Nobuo-sama wouldn't want to be revived by himself, he always thought about others first!”

The rest of Harada's party agrees loudly: “““Nobuo-sama!!!””” After a talk with the chancellor, it's so clear what they need to do. He remembered Harada about this wish, trying to keep him motivated without realizing the simple truth about what this wish entitles: Everything.

“We don't need to fear death, as long as someone with the same wish is carrying the torch, death is just a roadblock! We don't need to hold back with the ones that might hinder our purpose, as we'll be away soon enough. Even if they're our other classmates, we can just kill them, as they come back again anyway, only to finally see the truth!”

Harada truly believes everything he preaches, same goes for those, who have witnessed Nobuo-sama's noble sacrifice. They all realized, what should have been obvious from the beginning, but their hubris and egoism have blinded them.

Being summoned into this world isn't punishment, it isn't a curse, it isn't something to be afraid of. It's a divine quest, it's the process of cleansing, it's the path to enlightenment. This worldview is something he wants to share with everyone, that's why he's here. He'll also seek out the other combat parties. After that, he will talk to the citizens of Feuerberg and other countries: Salvation isn't so small to only include a limited number of people.

―○●○―

A few days have passed since then. Saegusa Mamiko sits in her study, all on her own, as her assistance is currently preparing for an outing. An outing with Harada-kun and his party, to increase her level. Saegusa is also about to partake in one, but she decided to stick with the soldiers the king sent to them for this mission.

Currently, only Hideko-san has actually joined Harada-kun, but the others have at least an open ear and will join them for that monster hunt. Except for Yamauchi-san, she will join the teachers. Two hunts per week, in this world a week is ten days, so one hunt every five days. That's the current official schedule to keep everything as it is, as long as Saegusa sticks to this, she will keep her funding and her livelihood, in the hope that a higher level will allow her to make a breakthrough.

However, she'll do her first monster hunt much later, now she wants to tidy up this place to keep her anxiety in check, as she has the ongoing desire to scream like a coward, run away, and piss her pants while doing so. She knows mentally that running away won't help, she has already displayed, that she's practically worthless in this world, so she can either agree to have these hunts or make a living as a laborer or try to find a husband to marry. She still had that little piece of pride not shred!

She always tells herself, that she'll be fine with the monsters, that she's a hero after all, but the late Tetsukawa-kun was a combat-trained hero, who was much stronger than her, and he died. Of course, she has protection with the soldiers, and the monsters will be relatively harmless, but she can't help herself, she feels afraid.

So she tidies up, as her bad drinking habit that has been developed over the course of a few days will make it only more likely for her to be killed. Ah, she remembers those notes. She had written them when she was unhinged by meeting Toriyama-san after all that time when she mentally disconnected with everything, the moment she posted the lists.

Seriously, even now she's more composed than back then. These inkspots are all over the paper because she scribbled around while she couldn't figure out some of the most fundamental things in chemistry, she-

Wait. Wait, wait! Wait-wait-wait-wait! This... At this moment, Saegusa's feelings of fear are replaced by shame and self-blame, as she can't help but feel like she has been a complete moron all the time.