Side Story 10 – The day of Summoning

(Third party’s POV)

(Timeline – on the day the students are going to be summoned to another world)

The students of a high school are doing a play for their cultural festival programme. The first class of the high school student the story of Snow White versus Demon Queen, in which the princess of a kingdom is doomed to her death after the Demon Queen of another kingdom poisoned her with a red apple claimed to contain the elixir of life and the knowledge of life and death. The prince of a faraway kingdom one day visits her kingdom and arouses her up from her state of death after they crystalize her body in a chamber of ice in order to preserve her.

The stage is set in the school hall and has been divided into three parts. One is the battlefield where the demons and human army fight each other, one is the palace where the princess lives and her frozen chamber, and another is the dark manor of the Demon Queen. The show gets a lot of attention from both the students and teachers. Even beyond the school, many people come just to see the stage show. That’s because the people who took up the stage are all popular and beautiful people.

The one to take the role of the prince is a young man with a handsome complexion, making every girl fall for him on their first sight. He also got very good grades in his studies and is guaranteed a place in the national university. He’s also good at sports, especially fencing. Both his parents appear to be a happy and loving family, and he has a younger sister and a dog. He has many friends too and every one of them is also very successful and comes from well-bred families of conglomerates and director of movies, arts, religious bodies, and even the children of politicians and the prime minister's son. He’s the epitome of a good and successful young man.

But everything comes at a price, even success. His drive for perfection is very high, and he sometimes resorts to underhanded means to get what he wanted. There was a time he introduces dirty magazines to a top-scorer and his grades dipped down afterward. There was once has a fencing expert who was his buddy, peer and mentor, and a national champion. He invited him to eat out at a food chain the day before the championship to wish each other the best of luck. The next day during the tournament, he lost to his buddy in the finals and they greeted each other in a sportsmanship manner. The following day, the anti-doping committee reported that his buddy has taken a substance to improve his performance and was caught for doping and stripped of all his medals and titles, the championship title goes to the runner up, and he was unable to overcome the stigma since then. Continuing to sue for his innocence has proven futile, as he has never imagined that the cause of the doping substance in his body is due to his mentee and peer.

The girl that is going to take the role of the princess is one with a beautiful face and a gentle demeanor. She is kind to everyone and is friends with everyone. This, however, is very hard on her personal life, as everyone always depends on her. She is a very dependable girl, but other people always use her kindness to ask for favours from her, and she never rejects their earnest request. This makes her life very difficult, as they always use the catchphrase “Ester can do everything. She is a very dependable girl”. The boys all fall for her charm completely but earned the ire of the girls. There have been many cases where the girls in their ugly game of jealousy, would ask her to do some improbable or downright dirty tasks such as getting them the answer sheet for the exam or push her to clean the toilet for them when they mess up, or even snapping pictures of boys relieving themselves in the toilet, etc. She doesn’t have anyone that stands up for her nor anyone to rely on in school, so the gangs of boys would ogle and touch her and request her help and the girls would come and trouble her with name calling and setting her up for fun. The only person who would stand up for her is the young man who would take on the role of a prince, both in the play and in real life. He would stand up for her and defend her when the others are demanding too much from her or bullying her, and stop them from pushing her around or tell them off. That’s because they are childhood friends from a very early age.

During their younger days, the boy would walk around the neighbourhood with his pet dog, and the girl will be helping with her mom's gardening. The pet dog went to do its business on her plants, and the place stinks and the plants died. The boy caught-up with his pet dog that runs away sneakily to do his business at other people's property without care, and apologized profusely for the dog's behaviour. The dog does a remorseful face and posture, and from there both girl and boy know each other and would often play together at the playground. She would then share with him her problems, as she has no one to speak what is in her heart to. He would then advice her and protect her from bullies and troublemakers. He even once got her parents to change the way they treat her by requesting his own parents to advise them.

The one who would play the role of the Demon Queen, the hunter, the guard, the mirror, the demon army, and the witch are all people that are good friends with the young man. They are all capable young people, good in sports, arts, education, and also well-liked by everyone. The entire play was like having an entire cast of artists in them, all good-looking, beautiful, handsome, popular, and attractive. They are a very coherent group of people who think alike and always looks trendy, going for the latest craze and also trend-setting for their neighbourhood.

The group has rehearsed several times for their performance and is now having their last rehearsal before the real event tomorrow. They are going to perform it like the real event tomorrow to give the performers the feeling of a real live performance. All eight of the people are preparing and they practice life on stage with their costumes, makeup, props, and set items on. This event will be the opening event of the cultural festival, so a lot of effort is placed in making the stage show a success. When the last rehearsal plays start, everything goes smoothly. The equipment works well, and the performance is very realistic.

The Demon Queen sends her army to attack the princess, and the battle rages on. As the princess was commanding the brave warriors to fight the demon army back all the way back to the Demon Queen's domain, a witch appears and gave an apple for the princess, claiming it to bring luck and victory as it contains the elixir of life to combat the poison grounds and the knowledge of life and death to bring an end to the Demon Queen's reign. The witch cut a piece of the apple and took a bite, then give the rest of it to the princess to prove that it's not poisoned. The princess took up the witch's offer, and after eating the apple, the princess felt a great revelation and push for the finishing blow on the Demon Queen. Just as they were approaching the final battle with the Demon Queen, the princess cast a spell of life and death on the Demon Queen only to fell ill and became suspended between life and death herself. The warriors brought the princess back to the palace and recuperate. Unsure of what to do to bring her back, they encase her in a chamber of ice to preserve her. The Demon Queen meanwhile got news of the princess death from the mirror, pushes out with her army and attacked the princess domain. When the Demon Queen is almost victorious and has reached the palace of the princess, a prince arrived and gave a kiss to the princess and saved her from her suspended animation, bringing her back to life.

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When the prince is about to deliver his kiss to the princess, however, the props on the stage starts to vibrate, and the crews at the station start to report that a possible earthquake has hit them. As the early bird supporters and stage crews scramble for safety, a huge part of the stage disappeared, and all eight members on it were missing. The case is covered widely in media and police reports, as the search for the mystery of the people who disappear in thin air continues. Many people mourn for their loss, and every day there are people who went to the site where they went missing to offer flowers and burn incense to pay their respect.

Meanwhile, in the new place where the eight members were brought to, a new event unfolds in their life, one that would change their lives greatly.

The summoning is successful and all of them have been transported to the summoning chamber.

“Welcome to the kingdom of Velodria, O young hero....es, yes. You are summoned here in the hopes of helping one of the last bastions of humanity to fight against the evil entity known as Demon Lord, who brought an untold amount of misery to the people and humanity.” (King Silgemuth, unsure how to respond to the unexpected extra summonses)

“But there were eight of them. Who is the hero then? What do we do with the rest?” (Main general, General Gramont)

“Let the appraiser appraise them, then we will decide from their status. Royal guards, bring the royal appraisal stone out from the vault and place it here. We will confirm the result of the appraisals.” (King Silgemuth)

One of them raises their hands and asks a question, and then the rest joined in.

“Who are you? Where are we now? Why do you kidnap us?" (Aaron appeared calm)

"Do you know who you just messed with?" (conglomerate son that used to have bodyguards threatening the guards)

"If it's money, we have a lot. But if you harm us even a hair, consider your lives forfeited" (deputy prime minister's son cautioned the king)

"Help, somebody!" (daughter of a shipping tycoon panicked)

"Please, let us return to where we came from" (Ester, requesting the king)

"Don't touch us you criminal" (son of the biggest religious group in his old world)

"I may look weak, but I can still crack your skull if it's for self-defense" (daughter of an action movie star)

“Answer them for me, royal announcer” (King Silgemuth)

“The person you spoke to is King Silgemuth, the 11th king of the kingdom of Velodria. You are now in the castle in the capital of Velodria kingdom, the summoning chamber to be exact. You are having an audience of the king, so behave well and follow his orders obediently. In order to return home, you have to defeat the Demon Lord, obtain his jewel, and use it to guide you home.” (royal announcer)

“Can’t you just send us back like how you bring us here? We are also in a rush of time” (Aaron)

“”””””“Yeah, we need to go back like now exactly””””””” (Other transported people)

“We can’t send you back because the summoning spell is only able to bring people here, but it can’t send people back to where they come from. There is a price to pay for such a heavy spell, and we have exhausted something very valuable for us in order to do so, so we expect all of you to work your worth in return. The accommodation here will be sufficient for now, because as of now, we are using a special translation tool to communicate. We will provide tutors to teach you the language of this kingdom, and also coach you how to fight and use magic” (royal announcer)

“You are basically taking us as forced labour to do your biddings of fighting the Demon Lord” (deputy prime minister's son)

“There is no benefit for us to serve you after pulling us out of nowhere to this unknown place. Are you sure this is not some sort of candid camera?” (Aaron)

“Kandidu kamera? No. We assure you that all your needs will be taken care of. As the king of this kingdom, I implore all of you to save us from the peril that has plagued our people and humanity for so long” (King Silgemuth)

"You have got to be kidding me. We need...." (deputy prime minister's son)

Aaron stopped his friend for continuing because he sensed the guards gripping the hilt of their swords.

The appraiser has completed his checking of the summoned people's status and came with the result and showed it to the king, and the people in the room were surprised by the result.

"This man here, Aaron, has the aptitude of a hero. The rest of the summoned people each have unique skills and aptitude to be elite in their own rights. There is one with an aptitude for physical defense and reinforcement, one with an aptitude for physical offense, one with an aptitude for healing and support, one with an aptitude for transport and movement of logistical units, one with an aptitude for physical projectile and ranged attacks, one with aptitude for scouting and far distance observation and quick movement, and one with an aptitude for magic, specifically dark magic, and also physical melee combat and weapons"(Appraisal chief)

“This is great news for the kingdom as we managed to summon a hero along with seven elite members, each with their own unique abilities. Members of the hero party candidates, your duty has been relegated to escorting the hero and his party members to their living quarters and to ensure their happiness and wellbeing and also to answer anything they asked that is allowed within the rule.” (King Silgemuth)

The newly summoned otherworlders begin to ask tons of questions regarding the world and its properties and were told that magic is part and parcel of life here just like an extension of science. The otherworlders would miss their home, urging the people to bring them home for some events, asking about how to charge or plug to electricity source for their walkman, discman, camcorder, VCR, and many other things that the kingdom doesn’t have. There are tons of frictions against the people in the castle due to the move of the kingdom to forcefully keep them here, so the people in the hero’s party and the hero were not loyal to the kingdom and sometimes do what they want to, and the hero party candidates would have to tolerate. Most of those in the hero's party is not averted to using violence, as the world seems like a game or VR to them and has little or no consequence to them once they get to leave this place.

Aaron and the hero's party are initially instructed with general instructors to gain general skills and knowledge. They leveled up in the forest nearby the castle by killing wild beast and monsters that sometimes appear due to condensation and concentration of miasma that affect creatures nearby. There was once a case where miasma gathered and convert an entire cave population into monsters, and the hero and his party subjugate the cave, gathering mana stones from the fallen monsters for use in equipment, enchantments, or used for invoking strong magic. Only Aaron can gain a minuscule boost in stats by absorbing the essence of mana stones, making his growth very powerful and he starts exerting his true potential as a hero. Once Aaron and the hero's party have outgrown their instructors, they begin to undergo a specialized training that is catered differently for each individual based on their aptitude. The king and his royal court are always giving selfish instructions for the hero and his party to quell demons in affected villages in order to make a living here, making Aaron and the rest of his party feeling enmity inside.

The main general, General Gramont, would then make his move by slowly approaching the hero and have a slow talk with him when he's back from missions. He informs the hero that he's the one that suggests the summoning of the hero, and he also has the means to send them back, albeit it would require their obedience to him for the time being. Slowly but surely, Aaron is aligning with the general's agenda even though he is skeptical of everyone in this world, and his attitude and ego begin to get from bad to worse.

The members of the hero’s party do not solely consist of the otherworlders, as they sometimes assign other hero’s party candidate into the team to improve the performance of the team and also to make the hero’s party closer to the people of this world. There is one mage in the kingdom that is quite familiar with the way the hero and his otherworlder party member thinks, and he seems to get along reasonably well with the party. At first, everything seems well and alright, but some enmity seems to exist at the hero’s side towards the mage and is slowly growing larger as he managed to get along better with the cleric in the party. This information is noticed and reported by a spy to the main general, and he smiles like a Cheshire cat alone in his room with a plan to utilize this to his advantage.