Ivan’s POV

“AHHH, what the hell!?!?”

I rolled around in my bed while spewing profanities every now and then.

As to why?

Back to the moment earlier.

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“Let me introduce myself. My name is Selena Blackwinter, the second princess of the Blackwinter kingdom,” she declared, “Today, I gathered you all here to explain why you had been summoned.”

Even though they didn’t know any Blackwinter Kingdom or some kind of the sort, just because of her presence alone, the solemn atmosphere began to pervade even deeper. But it seems that I was wrong.

They began to whisper things like, “Were we kidnapped to fill in the substitute roles of some TV show?” “I think so…” “But man, look at the sheer size of this castle and all those decorations, how much money do you think they had burnt?” “Dunno, probably enough for a normal family to live comfortably for seven generations straight!”

These guys… I am rendered speechless. But, looking at their conjectures, it was quite plausible.

Unfazed, the princess looked at us in the eyes, she said, “First of all, do you know what heroes are?”

That idiot immediately answered, “Heroes are people who fight for justice!”

“Yes, you’re right. They are brave existences that will help people in times of need and give hope for those in despair.” She stopped, looked at us again, and continued, “Then, do you all wish to become heroes?”

...I don’t like where this conversation is going.

Without a pause, that idiot said again, “Of course! It’s my dream to help every people in the world!”

I rolled my eyes at his words.

The princess smiled, but her tone became serious, “Even if you have to kill people to achieve your dreams?”

Stunned. That idiot’s mouth was agape and was at a loss for words. We were also the same, why did she ask this kind of question out of the blue? Is this also a part of the TV show?

“Let me rephrase that question. If a noble was found out for his crimes like funds embellishments and heavy oppression, thus creating a poor economic condition at his fiefdom, must he be executed?”

He hesitated for a moment before finally replying, “I’m not so sure about that, but at least, they should atone for the sins that they had committed.”

“So, is that a yes or a no?”

“...It’s a… yes?”

She laughed at his answer. Not out of derision, but because she found it funny.

With a hand under her chin, she sweetly said, “Well, back to the topic again. I must congratulate you all.”

“...? What for?”

She laughed and said, “For becoming heroes, of course!”

“WHAT!?” All of us exclaimed, surprised.

Wait, wait, wait, what the hell is she talking about!? Us? Heroes? Hey Princess! I’ve never agreed to this! Look, they are also unwill--

“We’re heroes! Heck yeah!”

...Should have figured it out earlier. I forgot that they are idiots…

Unable to depend on those idiots, I could only ask a question myself. The question that has been bugging me since I arrived here.

“Umm, so, princess, what do the heroes do?”

“Fight monsters and defend the nation, of course,” The princess lightly said.

Monsters? What monsters?

That idiot quickly cut in, “Huh? Monsters? What do you mean by that?”

The princess puzzledly said, “Of course those monsters, what else?”

As she said so, a holographic projection of a savage looking beast was envisioned from her hand.

“Wow! It looks so cool!” That useless girl blurted out excitedly, “Is this a new CG?”

...Not a second after, she immediately covered her mouth. Apparently, she regretted it quite deeply. Will she get lashed on by the director?

“Pardon me, but what is this seegee that you speak of?” The princess questioned.

“U-um, nevermind…” That useless girl muttered.

Ooh, so close. It seems that the developer had already taken this kind of situation into account and gave the actors a prior briefing.

However, our idiotic friend here did not read the mood and still pressed on that topic

“Princess, perhaps, is this not a TV show?” He hesitantly asked.

As expected, the princess’ face turned into a frown. Just as I was about to enjoy the show of him getting lashed on, her reply made me restless.

“...What is this teevee you’re talking about? Does it have any connections to the seegee that you mentioned previously?”

Hey, hey. I’m pretty sure that this should be the moment where the director comes in and say “Cut!”, but where is he? Don’t tell me…

A ridiculous idea immediately formed in my head. I wanted to dismiss it, but for some reasons, I couldn’t!

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

That idiot’s face, however, was still as fine as usual, even holding a bit of excitement.

“That is to say, is this real?”

“What do you mean?” The princess’ face was bewildered.

“Eh, umm, how do I say this…?” That idiot was also clearly troubled.

Unable to suppress the anxiety inside my chest, I said, “Based on the world map, on which area are we right now? Also, that summoning thing. What did you mean by that, princess?”

The princess’ response was, “We’re in Hiems, the capital of the Blackwinter Kingdom. To be exact, on the Tempus Continent. Although, I’m pretty sure that you wouldn’t know anything,” paused and continued, “Also, you all here were pretty much summoned using magic. Is something the matter?”

Deadly silence.

“...?” The princess looked at everyone’s eyes that are filled with confusion.

The one with the slim athletic body, Lyra, fearfully asked, “Umm, can you please show us what magic is?”

The princess made a ‘?’ face and then it turned into one of realization. She smilingly said,

“Of course.”

She opened up her palm and droplets of water began to condense above it. Then, from its original ball form, it froze and turned into a big snowflake.

It was very pretty. However, I wasn’t in the mood to appreciate it. That means that my conjecture hits the mark perfectly...

Seeing our trance-like state, the princess opened her mouth and said, “What? Haven’t seen enough yet?”

She waved her hands, and in but an instant, multiple holes with the size of a normal window each opened up on the walls. Looking at the sight outside, it was currently midnight and was snowing really hard.

Next, with a wave of her hands again, those holes closed up. The princess observed our expressions before asking, “Say, did magic not exist from where you all came from?”

With difficulty, that idiot said, “It.. does not.”

Then, we all explained the situation and circumstances of our ‘world’.

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“I see. So magic was just a fictional thing, while technologies like carriages without horses and guns were the creations of ‘science’ that you spoke of?” She nodded with great interest, “Also, you thought that you all were kidnapped to be used as ‘actors’ in an entertainment play?”

“Basically, yes.”

Thus, the silence and awkwardness began to prevail once again. I want to hit that one hell of a princess real bad, but don’t do that right now, me.

I took a large breath in and out. Calm down. Calm down. Nothing good will come out if I do that.

A while later, the princess opened up her mouth and said, “...To be honest, we never wanted to summon people like you from other worlds as heroes, as it was supposed to be one of our last resort. However, the worsening conditions in both financial and military aspects of this kingdom finally gave us no choice.”

She hesitated for a while before continuing, “If this condition keeps deteriorating, then I believe that the kingdom will end during my father’s reign. So, my question is, do you all still want to become heroes?”

Silence. Nobody answered. Hmm, that’s strange. This idiot, for once, clearly thought about the consequences of his choice.

Then, with a resolute gaze, he said, “I will. I definitely will become a hero! If there are no heroes, then what will become of this kingdom’s fate in the future!? Therefore, for the safety of its residents, I will definitely become a hero and slay evil!”

How amazing. I rolled my eyes at his speech.

The princess, with small tears in her eyes, said, “...Thank you.”

He looked at us with shining eyes that practically said ‘Let’s become heroes together!’

I have so many things to retort to, but I suppressed it inside as it wasn’t the right time to give him those snide comments.

Then, Lyra raised her hand and asked, “...Aside from slaying monsters, will we also be killing… humans in the future?”

Finally, someone who thinks quite ahead unlike that brain dead idiot.

“Yes. It is inevitable. Despite the existences of those monsters, the threat of wars is always present.”

Hearing her answer, Lyra’s face paled before continuing to ask, “Then, right now, are we allowed to change our decision and go back home…?”

She replied unhesitatingly, “I will respect your decisions regardless you become a hero or not. However, the summoning magic that we used is a one-way transfer only. That is to say, we are unable to return you to your homeland. Also, even if there is a way, we wouldn’t be able to transfer you right away as the cost of summoning is around ten years worth of our kingdom’s magic stone mining results.”

Hearing her answer, except mine and that idiot’s face, their faces paled greatly. Unable to contain his resentment, that hoodlum hit the table and snapped.

“Don’t joke around! What do you think of us!? Your act of summoning people is just a disguised kidnapping! We’re just a bunch of high schoolers, and you want us to f**king kill!? Not only those dangerous looking monsters, you also want us to kill other humans!? Are you crazy!? You just said that you will respect our decisions and now you’re telling us that we can’t go back home!? Aren’t you just a f**king hypocrite that forces us to become heroes no matter what!?”

Woah, one hundred points for ya, boy. To think that you actually still have some common sense left within that idiotic brain of yours. I am astonished. To be honest, I feel the same as you right now, but, it’s not as if there’s no way out, so I held back myself from stating the ‘facts’.

Of course, the guards, upon hearing his choice of words, began to emit some sort of scary aura, but the princess held them back with a wave of her hand. She said nothing. But, the look in her eyes clearly conveyed ‘I’m sorry’.

“Tch!” He clicked his tongue as he couldn’t come up with anything better. I am a hundred percent sure, if it wasn’t for those guards, he would have lunged straight and given the princess a good beating.

After that, we were all escorted back to our rooms by the maid that literally came out from nowhere. My heart almost fell off when a maid suddenly called me from behind. When we entered, there wasn’t anybody else except us and I’m pretty sure that the doors weren’t opened during the talk. So, where did the maids come from? Such a mystery.

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So, that’s the gist of what happened. This whole magic, monsters, and war thing are just beyond my comprehension. It feels like a dream. Yesterday, I was just a normal high school student with a slightly abnormal lifestyle. Now, I’m suddenly in another world, forced to become a hero and was tasked to fight monsters and humans.

That blue haired princess didn’t even bother explaining what those monsters were. Also, regarding wars, is there any justice or evil? In the first place, war is just a method to determine disputes over resources. The winners will continue to strive on, while the losers will just become another name recorded in the annals of history.

This development is just too much for my poor brain. But, it’s not as if I had a choice in the first place, no? I hugged the pillow in my hands even tighter.

Heroes. Magic. Monsters. War.

That princess only demonstrated the smallest prowess of magic. From her words earlier, I can see that the technologies in this world didn’t really develop well. Instead, it was replaced by magic.

One example of such thing was the light bulb in my room. It seems that it was using magic, rather than electricity, to function. There was only a small switch with no cables to turn the lights off and on. I’m quite baffled as to how it works.

...Magic, huh? Considering that even a weird thing like summoning that couldn’t be explained with science exists, I reckon that magic could be used as weapons, just like firearms. But, why would the kingdom summon us then?

Wouldn’t they be better off creating weapons with that ten years worth magic power or something? Except…

I narrowed my eyes. Except, the value of heroes far exceeds that ten-year magic mining whatever. If that is true, then wouldn’t that mean heroes are probably equivalent to tactical level weapons or better? So, are heroes or better yet, humans with great war potentials, summoned from another world to be used as tools of war?

...huh?

A realization dawned on me. Does it mean one hero could fight more than a hundred enemies simultaneously? That is to say, one person with a great strength is more valuable than a hundred cannon fodders?

But, how? Magic?

If I assume that by using magic, a person is akin to a moving missile launcher, then it makes sense perfectly! But, why do they have to summon people from another world? In the first place, is the usefulness of magic that great?

Ahh!! So confusing! I scratched my head while rolling around in my bed incessantly.

Rather than thinking about these matters, I might as well just sleep and ask her tomorrow. It won’t change my decision anyway...