The universe has a weird way of playing around. How else would you explain getting yanked from your goal only to reach a dream like a fantasy castle like this?

Heck, if I wasn’t well-versed in the fine arts of anime, I would probably be panicking around looking at what looked like a medieval court. A huge open space with columns and rich-looking tapestries peppering the whole area surrounding the huge glowing circle full of runes on the ground and the crowd around it. In this crowd, though, two people from this crowd were many times as eye-catching as the others.

On the throne, a burly middle-aged man with short blonde hair and a good-looking bushy beard wearing a luxurious robe of golden and red colors under a set of lightweight armor and furs as ornamental as his crown. And by his side, a, for a lack of a better word, well-endowed woman with silvery long hair, a sculpture-like face, and wearing a loose dress of fine red and silver cloth with an abnormal armpiece made of metal and encrusted with multicolored gems.

The others were well-clothed people without much to notice about them other than how they fit in the bright and ostentatious room, so they didn’t matter.

They stood far away from me and from the guy that got me here, likely to be safely away from whatever they summoned as, as it was obvious to me, this spell circle was some sort of summoning magic. They were hiding behind the wall of very authentic-looking knights and some robed people that, if my bet was right too, were mages. Safely away as I would prefer to.

Again, all this only brought two options to my mind: I was either in an isekai, or some very invested LARPers had decided to kidnap me for ransom.

And for all that was sacred, and against my best wishes, I was hoping for it to be a kidnapping!

If it wasn’t, then I would be stuck as the useless bystander that gets roped into the summoning... The one that ends up falling into all kinds of trouble for the sake of being edgy later on, you know? The suckiest of all roles if I had to say so, even when I already had it in the real world.

Why me being the protagonist isn't an option, you ask? That's very simple...

How would I be a protagonist when a stupid standard anime protagonist was staying right in front of me?! The person standing tall in the middle of the stupid summoning circle with all eyes on him while I’m on the ground behind him.

“Who are you people?” The obvious proper protagonist asked everyone else with a harsh voice and a stern expression. A reasonable reaction considering how sudden everything was. I mean, at least he should still be alive and well on some scenic modern building right now.

This person, Hayato Fukuzawa (or would be Fukuzawa Hayato the right way to say it? Japanese is hard…), wasn’t someone I had much contact with, but I knew him well enough. The guy had everything from terrible parents to being bullied later on added to being hardworking enough to turn it all around. He was even famous in his neighborhood now by going from a frail small kid to a buff and well-off handyman just by working very hard.

And since, other than that, he had a generic face, white shirt and pants, and absolutely nothing more! It was easy to see who was the generic self-insert of this story.

Or at least that was all I could see in this situation.

Meanwhile, I’m the girl who tripped along the way to this place and is now quietly waiting on the floor. I'm not hurt, but no one seems to care about me. In fact, are these people ignoring me? I mean, I’m used to that, but even here?!

That’s kinda sad. I guess I’ll present myself to myself then…

Who am I? No one important, though I know many who are. Background? Wouldn’t call it very happy or fulfilling, but I had money and traveled a lot to study. Special skills? I guess I can memorize things well, a good skill for tests and that’s kinda it. Biggest achievement? I once punched someone so hard, I broke my own arm while the other person didn’t feel much... I know the person was an abnormality, but that was something impressive still.

Unless I’m way too biased to my own side, the only real thing I can be proud of is my looks and how well I work on it. I’m pretty much a perfect article and none can take it from me!

Not the biggest assets or some outrageous curves, but enough to be nice to the eyes and strike that perfect balance. A well-rounded, although a little sharp face plagued with a lifelong mean look, which still gained me some secret fans and a declaration or two. And the jewel of the crown, even if only to myself, my perfect blonde hair with eye-catching locks and chiseled drills! A perfect fit for that rich girl with an obnoxious laugh look. Very fitting and very well done, though hard to maintain without the right tools.

It was pretty much what I was looking for in my third high-school debut, and I did a good job if you asked me. Was a nice way to mark my limited freedom, though it didn’t do much. A good match to my natural frown and aura, and to most of my background and personal preferences. All in all, the most perfect looks and someone who can make it work.

It was likely my magnum opus, although it didn't have many other projects to compete with.

I never managed to nail the laugh, though…

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Or the part about using my ridiculous wealth…

Or get a following like that kind of character would…

I also didn’t have my shoes right now for some reasons, so it wasn’t that perfect now…

I think it’s better to stop thinking about this, and not only because the deeper I go into that, the worse it gets. It was actually because, while I was keeping low and being ignored, the guy I decided to leave all the troublesome things for and the king started a discussion.

It took a while for Hayato to calm down, but he understood the situation after settling down. I was sure he wasn't that uncultured to not get it either way, so it was expected. And due to that, there was an info dump going on now.

“You see, Mr. Hayato, we brought you here as a last resort to a growing problem in our world...” The king continued in a serious tone that made the whole room feel stifling. “We need you to be a hero and defeat the demons that threaten our civilization.”

“As I said, I’m a simple student, Your Highness. I’m good at solving problems, but all I do is deliver things, take care of pets, or other odd jobs...” The person receiving a full-fantasy experience tried to shrug off the best offer someone could get, going further while I was cursing him in silence. “Being a hero, or fighting demons, or whatever else, isn’t something I can do.”

“That, my boy, is where you are wrong. The artifact used to bring you here is one of the last relics from the Age of Gods. An artifact that brings what is most needed to safeguard the future of the kingdom.” The sturdy old man continued while making his words sound more and more reasonable. “And right now, what we need is, once more, someone who can save us. We pooled as many resources as we could for it, and you are what we got. You only need to see that you can now...”

“Still…”

“I understand you may miss your home, and that risking your life for people you do not know is worrisome, but hear me out first.” The king interrupted his reluctant hero before he could say anything else. “First, this is no permanent arrangement. It may take a while, and it would hurt the royal coffers, but we can send you back, we shall even do so as fast as possible if you do have no powers as you claim. And of course, you will not work for free, I may reward you properly.”

“I see…” Hayato stopped to think for a moment since the offer was getting better as time passed. “Can you tell me how you would see if I have these ‘powers’ then?”

“We have a tool for it, but I would like to ask you to wait until tomorrow so I can have it prepared... Although, this is only an excuse to let you rest a little and enjoy a banquet we prepared.” The king smiled for the first time during the whole conversation, likely as a way to dispel the heavy aura in the room. “Eat, rest, and think a little. Tomorrow, after you have time, we will see if you are indeed a common student or if you can be much more than that. How does that sound?”

It sounds as if you are a very manipulative and calculating old man, that was how it sounds. Not that I would ever say something of the kind to the king’s face... It was already worrying how much they were ignoring me, so I could bet that sending me directly to the guillotine wouldn’t be hard.

Again, I knew very well what would happen with the tag along to the more ‘official’ protagonist before the edgy part of the story. And for my own limited sanity, I would like to avoid even getting close to any edge more than I already did.

Still, as it seemed everyone was getting ready to finish the conversation and leave everything to tomorrow, I sadly had to draw attention.

“Excuse me…” I slowly got up while trying to sound as innocent as possible, which still managed to get everyone to jump in surprise and draw their weapons. Heck, the whole feeling of the room changed just by having me present myself. Were these guys actually not seeing me until now?! That’s so mean! And is that guy over there trying to exorcise me?! That’s even meaner!

Even Mr. Hero was staring at me as if I suddenly popped out here like a ghost. C’mon, everyone, there’s no need to be so violent.

“Hands up, girl!”

“Here you go!” I surrendered myself in a moment after hearing the nearest knight shout his orders. “S-so… What if we calm down a little?”

Yep, I was expecting this all things considered... But having a bunch of swords pointed at you feels scary as heck! Worse than some knives or even a gun, and I'm used to these. Even the fresh hero seemed to be surprised and ready to fight. The frigging queen moved in front of her husband as if to protect him! And her hands are glowing! GLOWING!!!

C’mon, isn’t it a little too mean?! Ignoring me is fine and all, but they’re acting as if I’m some enemy! If it wasn’t for the swords and the now standing still king glaring at me, I would even feel bummed by it.

“So, girl, from where did you come from?”

“Huh? Same place as him. You know? Another world? I kinda tagged along with the whole summoning spell thing… Maybe?”

“Oh…?” The king frowned with a raised brow, but then called the queen closer and shared whispers with her before asking the guards to lower their weapons. “There is no precedent to this, but let us start with your name, young girl…”

“Really? Easy like that? Now that’s…” I started to blab around but had to stop soon after seeing how everyone else was looking at me, so I upped my game and got in a proper stance to my looks. “I mean… The name’s… The name’s Illia. Surname doesn’t matter and my background is so irrelevant it’s sad. A pleasure to meet you… your Highness?”

That was my best shot at not panicking anymore, so I was hoping they would either laugh or take it straight and not kill me. The not kill me was the key here. Dying like this would be too worthless, even to me. Luckily though, and before the silence could go too long, the easy-to-trick hero recognized me.

“W-wait! You! The roof?! Emi...”

“That was me indeed, big boy! Nice to properly meet you, Mr. Busybody… Or Mr. Hero fits better now?” I shot my best smile as I interrupted the guy who was a moment away from saying more than he should, and then tried to rush away to avoid any risks. “Can we go rest and leave the talk for later, though? I’m quite sure you people have things to talk about without us around too, right? Right? Please say right.”

I wasn’t sure if I was being too overkill or if my appearance was just that surprising, but everyone in the room seemed too baffled to react. Even the king himself seemed unsure of what to do for a moment.

But only for a moment.

“It seems our new guest is a little too tired, so it would be wise to continue the talks tomorrow. We can then see if this was really a sad mistake or something else…”

Then, with a hand motion, the king who I forgot to remember the name dismissed everyone in the room. It was perfect to me, so I didn't even care for the fact that two armed guards were scouting Hayato and me away. They seemed nice enough and didn't look that bad too, so it was all fine. We even went to the massive nice-looking room filled with food that the sneaky king surely didn't prepare beforehand.

Again, nothing that I would ever complain about.

In the end, I ate as much as I could, wasted a lot of time on the royal bath, and then slept for the next twelve or so hours. Even if I was very worried about being kicked away the next day, I would still not waste such a good chance… I mean, this is still a dreamy situation.