... Okay.

I'm awake and everything wasn't a dream. Or, I already came to that conclusion, but now it's definitely true.

Well, that one thing probably was one, but we'll ignore that for now. It looks like this really is reality, not some vivid dream... although, I kind of came to that conclusion yesterday.

That sucks. Just, in so many ways, this sucks. Sure, who doesn't want to delve into their fantasies every once and a while? But, fantasies should stay just that, fantasy. And this one might just be terrible. Think about it, we're, well, 'heroes' here. Sure, that sounds great in concept, but that's just the same as it was on Earth.

Plus, think about it. From the looks of it, this is some kind of medieval world, one without the qualities the present day had. No advanced technology, no decent health care, and terrible politics... okay, that last one isn't actually that far off from what we're used to, but it's probably way worse here.

Well, I haven't actually opened my eyes even with my time awake, it's a habit or something like that...

And to what I am to place my vision first on, but the face of a certain overly muscular person looming directly over me. Togeshi.

Yeah, that was horrifying, I nearly jumped up out of fear and headbutted the man. However, I kept my cool, and now I'm just confused instead of hurt... physically.

"Oh, uh, hey, Yuu! I was trying to get you to wake up but, uh-- looks like it worked! You're awake now!" Togeshi backed up, scratching the back of his head as he spoke.

"You almost gave me a heart attack while you were at it..."

He chuckled, "Heh, sorry about that, man!"

I sat up, but our short conversation was quickly interrupted by Akane.

She cleared her throat, trying to bring the attention onto her, "Togeshi, you do realize why you tried to wake up him in the first place, right?"

"Ehh... no?"

"Ugh," Akane let out a sign, visibly mentally exhausted, "Those knights or whatever told us we were to meet with the king. The old man, Mugra, I think."

"Oh, yeah! I remember that now! Okay, but, what's with you? You're acting all serious and stuff, super ominous." Togeshi had a point, Akane was a more laid-back person, but she seemed to be particularly on edge at the moment.

"I don't know how you two are so calm... This is real, you know? Although, you being the same as usual is to be expected from you, Togeshi." She smiled somewhat, it was nice to see... as in, I mean, it was nice that she wasn't-- Nevermind.

"Hey! what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm sure you know exactly what I mean."

They're arguing. It happens all the time, so, there's no need to worry about it. It never persists or even turns into something bad, just a friendly disagreement. However, while they're busy doing that, there's something I want to check

So, I mumble to myself, "Status", and what would you know, the blue screen returned; this time, with something new. Or, a skill, I mean.

Divine Protection... what a strange name. I'm asked if I want more information on it, I answer yes.

Skill Divine Protection Skill Abilities: Protects against Sin and Soul Altering effects. Notes: Does not protect the soul from being harmed.

And an even stranger explanation. Short, still, like that 'System' skill. I have absolutely no idea what it means by Sin or 'Soul Altering effects'. It's all way too vague... Pride, is a sin, isn't it? No, that's probably not related... probably.

That reminds me, there's actually something I wanted to ask the two of them.

"I don't mean to interrupt your friendly dispute, but what did your guy's status say?"

"Eh? What in the world do you mean by that?"

"Uh... yeah, I'm with Togeshi here."

Oh, right. That makes sense. What sort of weirdo would even think of doing what I did? Let's ignore how I'm indirectly calling myself weird.

"Right. Say 'status'." I didn't give either of them a better explanation, they'll find out when say it.

"Okay..."

Both of them complied... and nothing, for me, at least. It looked like they were both surprised, to say the least. I'm guessing only the person the status screen belongs to can see it. That's useful for me, but I'm a bit disappointed I can't see other people's information... okay, that came off way more creepy than I meant it to.

"WHOA! H-HEY, YUU, WHAT THE HELL'S THIS THING?!" Togeshi was seemingly extremely surprised to see the screen come out of nowhere, jumping back a bit.

"What in the world..." Akane's reaction was a lot tamer than his, perhaps telling of both of their personalities.

They both stared at the screen for a little bit, reading it up and down... that's when the door came flying open, two armoured people coming rushing in.

"WE HEARD YELLING! IS EVERYTHING ALL RIGHT?!" One of them yelled, one with younger features and a slightly higher pitched voice. I believe these two are the same ones from before... I think their names were mentioned before, but I'm not sure.

The three of us awkwardly stared at them, as if we were caught doing something unpleasant. Well, we weren't, but it still was a bit awkward.

"Oh, no, we're fine! Sorry!" Akane answered, clearing her throat, "Elfierl and Oparl, right?"

Ah, she remembered their names. Well, she always did have a great memory; it's not really a surprise she knew them.

"Thank Alhara... we have to be on guard, after all, even if the summoning was supposed to be a secret, you never know what could really happen," The older of the two let out a sigh of relief, "I'm honoured you remember our names, we're actually big fans of your predecessors. We hope you live up to them."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

That's a bit of a weird thing to say... but it does lead to some questions. Just what exactly does he mean by predecessors? It seems like a bit of a strange subject to bring up out of nowhere. Perhaps there's been Heroes before us? Or maybe he's talking about something more specific.

"Predecessors...?" Akane was wondering the same thing it seems, questioning the man.

"Oh, right. You three only got here yesterday. Sorry about that." The older knight rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling before continuing, "See, before you all, there's been a lot of generations of Heroes before. The summoning ritual is something of a blessing from the gods, and it's been passed down ever since. So, each Hero usually has a specific thing they specialize in, but there's always the Mage Hero, and it looks like that's you this time. If you're wondering, the first Hero was this guy called the Hero of Light. The man who gave hope to humanity."

Well, that's good to know. I thought that might be true, but it's interesting to know the least. What I couldn't have even guessed is that the Heroes usually specialize in something.

The Hero of Light... on that note, didn't I have the light attribute? Weird.

"Okay, I guess that makes sense... wait, but how'd you know that's who I am?"

"Er, see, I have this skill called 'Appraisal', let's me see other people's status. A useful skill to be sure, and nobody really expects a nobody like me to have it." The man smiled, while the younger knight merely nodded for some reason.

Now, that's a skill I'd like to have. How strange that I thought I would want to be able to do that just minutes ago.

"Ah... I see." Akane didn't have anything to say after that, and it looked like the conversation was over.

The younger knight - I'm assuming his name is Oparl - coughed a few times, trying to get Elfierl's attention, "it was nice talking to you, but we're on guard duty! I get you're old, but that's no excuse to forget about work!"

Oparl practically dragged Elfierl away, and I could have sworn I heard an 'I'm not that old!' somewhere along the way.

... that was certainly interesting. Still, we got some information out of it, so I'm glad we got to talk to the two. Either way, there was something I needed to ask Togeshi and Akane.

'Uh... so, did either of you two have any weird skills?"

"You move on quickly... now that you mention it, I have this one called 'System' and another named 'Sloth'. There's also this one that's called 'Divine Protection'." So, Akane has all the same skills I do. Well, apart from this Sloth thing.

"Oh, yeah! I have those skills too! But, I have 'Envy' instead of 'Sloth'. Pretty weird huh?" And Togeshi's the same...

Pride, Sloth, Envy. Those are all sins, aren't they? And Divine Protection protects against sin... This is getting weird. There's more I want to know, but I'll just ask them later.

"Alright... well, we should get going, shouldn't we?"

Leaving the room, we proceeded to be guided through this veritable maze of a castle by Oparl and Elfierl. They really did seem like nice guys. Kind of reminded me of my Dad and older brother.

... let's just move away from that topic.

Anyway, we eventually reached this room. Surprisingly, I know. It wasn't that throne room, though. It was smaller, although, I couldn't entirely tell from out here.

"Ahem..." Elfierl became serious, or, that's what it looked like, "His Majesty waits inside. Do make sure to treat him with the utmost respect. You may be the Heroes, but he is still above you in rank."

Hm, yeah, that made sense. I guess the King would be a pretty important guy, and as such, he would deserve respect and stuff. Although, personally, someone has to show results to be respected. He hasn't really seemed too special to me, but I have just met him. So, he could be an impressive ruler, but I'll have to wait and see. Either way, yeah, I should at least talk to the guy in a respectful tone.

The two knights opened the door, and what do we see, but a certain bearded man sitting upon a chair.

The King. That was obvious, wasn't it?

"Good morning to you three. I hope you had a good rest." He spoke with that seemingly kind tone he did before too. He did seem like that honestly, but I couldn't be completely sure.

Seriously, though, even though he looks old and stuff, that's just in the face. He has the body of a bodybuilder, and that's not even mentioning how tall he is. Even while he's sitting down, he's almost as tall as me. Not Togeshi though, he's freakish tall as well.

On that note, Togeshi responded to the king. "Hell yeah, I did! Those beds were surprisingly comfortable! I expected them to be sorta unpleasant, but it was like sleeping on a cloud! Or, or, a marshmallow!"

Togeshi threw talking to the king with respect out of the window, just as I expected. He's just like this. He was right, though. I didn't mention it because it didn't seem too out of place, but those beds were as comfortable as the ones on Earth... you know, maybe more. You wouldn't expect that from how this place looks. I guess that's fantasy for you.

"Well, I'm not sure what a marshmallow is, but I'm glad. The silk comes from a northern town named 'Quendest', it's easily one of the world's top manufacturers of clothes and such. you may visit the place someday. That is, if you accept my request."

Quendest, is it? I'm interested, to say the least.

"Is it really a request if we're... trapped here and stuff?" Akane brought up the obvious. How exactly were we supposed to get back to Earth? It seemed impossible... unless...

"Trapped? Hm... that's not completely true."

"Wait, really?!" Togeshi seemed surprised, but that was the same for all of us.

"Yes. My daughter, the first princess, is currently studying summoning magic. She's perhaps one of the top summoners in the country, and was the reason we were even able to bring you here. Still, it wouldn't be possible without the use of spatial magic... that's beside the current point. She's trying to rework the spell to be able to send you between worlds instead of summoning. That's part of the reason I decided to take the rash decision to summon you three... perhaps though, it really was the wrong choice..." That's honestly really a relief to know. There's still a chance for us to go back... even if small.

Actually, maybe I should say something.

"I don't think it was a bad decision. It's obvious you're looking out for your people; I can't blame you for wanting them to be safe."

"Hm... it seems the ones from your world are quite wise, you especially. It's a relief to see none of you angry. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if you despised me for this." You know, he seemed like a nice guy. Maybe we could trust him. I didn't actually doubt him that much, mind you.

"... I had a question, actually," Akane quickly changed the topic, "you said it was strange there were only three of us. Why?"

"Ah, that's a good question. The spell was developed to summon five heroes, to take their bodies and soul from one world, then transfer them here. Yet, it seemed to malfunction. Our Court Mages have been in a disarray trying to figure out what went wrong. Perhaps it was the fault of us rushing, but, from the looks of it, everything went perfectly. It makes me wonder if something went wrong on your side, not ours."

Hm... something going wrong on our end. Interesting wording... I've got nothing. Although, perhaps the stuff that happened before... yeah, probably not.

"Excuse me, It seems I've gotten a bit off track. You've had a good amount of time to think about it. However, please tell me if you need more. Just realize we do not have much left. So... your answer to my request? No, your answer to this kingdom's need?"

Well, I can say he has a way with words. But, that probably comes with the whole, being a king thing.

Still, I feel there's only one answer.

"Yes."

"Heh, hell yeah! There's no way I'd ignore somebody who needs help! That's just not how I roll!" It seems Togeshi felt the same way.

"Well, I don't really have a choice if they're both agreeing to it."

It seems we all thought the same thing.

The king let out an earnest chuckle, "I thank you. I don't know what we would have done if you had declined. The enemy we fight is a strong one... which brings me to my next point. As you are now, you're quite weak. Now, for level one, you're all at least above average, but, that's not exactly enough." He moves on pretty quickly, although, it may be a bit of a hit to the ego to be literally called weak, even if it was somewhat sugar-coated.

He continued, "The Adventuring Guild is something I suggest. However... to become an adventurer can be a difficult thing, and I've heard they're upping the difficulty this year. You must be trained, and quickly at that. In two months, the Guild is issuing their yearly registration. Every year, they do something different, even I, with all my resources, have no way to know. Either way, you'll have to be much stronger than you are now. Draila has some of the greatest instructors on this continent, I'm sure it'll go well."

I can't help but feel everything is about to become a bit more difficult for the three of us...