After that strange transition, I noticed several people around me whom, of course, I didn't recognize.
There were two men and three women?
Judging from their clothes, I guessed they came from the same planet as before I was dragged here.
After observing them for a while, I turned my gaze toward the group of knights in the distance. I noticed one of them approaching us.
The knight who came closer wore different armor than the others. He seemed to be their leader.
When we were only a few steps apart, the knight made a strange gesture and greeted us respectfully.
"Oh, heroes who were destined... Welcome to our world. Forgive our rudeness earlier, but... I beg you, please help us!"
"..."
Heroes? Wait! Why can I understand the language that man is speaking?
I need information! For now, I'll just observe.
After a brief silence, one person raised his hand and began asking the knight questions.
He was a skinny man wearing a long-sleeved checkered shirt and dark blue pants.
"Excuse me, is this really another world? Am I a hero? Am I going to defeat the Demon King and get beautiful women as my wives?"
The man asked enthusiastically, making everyone frown.
Even the knight frowned after hearing that question.
"Ah, before I answer, let me introduce myself. My name is Grif De Murte, a knight of one of the human kingdoms, JATUMHEIM."
After introducing himself, Grif continued.
"As for the hero's earlier question—yes, this is a different world from your previous one, and you are heroes whose arrival was foretold by the great witch... As for the other questions, I'm sorry, I don't know the details. That is why His Majesty himself will explain it to you. Please follow us to the royal capital of Jatumheim. We've already prepared transport to take you there."
After hearing Grif's words, we exchanged glances and agreed that it would be better to hear the explanation directly from the king.
With our consent, Grif led us to a luxurious horse-drawn carriage. The carriage bore a banner embroidered with a design of crossed swords.
According to Grif, it was the crest of the Jatumheim royal family.
The emblem symbolized the founder of the Jatumheim Kingdom, who was said to be a dual-sword wieler.
The moment I stepped inside the carriage, I suddenly felt something strange on my skin.
Looking around the carriage, I was surprised to see that the interior was larger than it appeared from the outside.
Could the technology of this world already have reached the stage of space manipulation?
"What's with this carriage? Why does the size feel wrong?"
A well-dressed man from our group entered the carriage and said that.
Hearing his confusion, Grif explained.
"This carriage has been imbued with spatial magic by the royal court witch, for the royal family's comfort."
Hearing the word "magic" from Grif made everyone's eyes widen in amazement.
"O-Oh, so that's it. Magic really exists in this world."
""Really?""
"YAHOO, MAGIC IS REAL!!"
"...."
Magic? What's that? Could it be some sort of spatial control device? It seemed like I was the only one who didn't understand.
"Excuse me!"
That voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
I turned to see the person who, like me, had been silent all this time, approach and speak to me.
She looked like a teenager, short in stature with a plain face, short black hair, wearing plain white clothes with black pants and black shoes.
Hmmm, no matter how I looked at it, she was a girl, but why was she wearing men's clothing? Was that the custom in her world?
"What is it?"
"Wooah! That robotic effect in your voice is so cool! Oh, pardon me, my name is Shirakawa Haru. As you can see from my uniform, I'm a student."
With sparkling eyes, the girl introduced herself politely.
Since she introduced herself, I introduced myself too.
"Oh, nice to meet you Shirakawa Haru. My name is Flitz, you can call me that. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Ah, no, I was just curious about the costume you're wearing, Flitz-san. Don't you feel hot wearing that helmet all the time?"
It wasn't hot at all, but she was right, it wasn't good to wear it constantly. So, I began removing it—of course, with my own hands.
I knew that the gap in technology between me, this world, and their previous one was huge. I didn't want to raise suspicion.
For now, I'd let them assume I came from the same world as them.
"Phew, it was a bit hot, actually. Thanks for worrying about me, Shirakawa Haru."
"....."
After I removed my helmet, Haru fell silent and stared at me seriously.
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"A-ah, no, it's nothing. By the way, Flitz-san, you're a foreigner, right? Is Flitz your real name? I thought it was just a stage name."
A foreigner, huh... I guess I'll go with that background.
"Yeah, something like that. Since we're both people from another world, let's get along."
I extended my hand as a gesture for a handshake.
Damn! That was a reflex, a habit from my planet.
Seeing me extend my hand, Shirakawa Haru grasped it. It seemed they had the same custom on her planet too.
"Yes, let's get along."
We shook hands with smiles.
I asked Shirakawa Haru about the strange sensation I felt after entering the carriage.
"Shirakawa Haru..."
"You can call me Haru."
Since she requested it, I obliged.
"Okay, Haru, did you feel anything strange in your body?"
"Strange? No, not at all. Why do you ask, Flitz-san?"
Hmm, I see. So only I felt it?
"No, it's nothing, I was just asking."
"O-okay."
She looked at me with a puzzled expression but didn't press further. Was she starting to see me as strange? Hopefully not.
At that moment, the carriage began moving toward the castle Grif had mentioned.
**********
After several hours of traveling through the wilderness, we finally saw a large city. It was surrounded by tall stone walls, several meters high. In the center of the city stood a towering structure with multiple floors—it had to be the castle we were headed for.
At the city's entrance, carriages and people were lined up waiting to get in. Some knights appeared to be checking them as part of a procedure.
When they saw our carriage, the knights dropped what they were doing and rushed toward us.
One of the knights said respectfully:
"We've received word that royal guests would be arriving. Please, this way."
With that, we were allowed to enter the city without waiting in line.
Inside the city walls was pure liveliness.
Stalls lined the streets, people interacted with each other, laughter filled the air, citizens of various races were everywhere, and children ran around while their parents scolded them.
Though not exactly the same, the vibrant energy reminded me of old memories.
I smiled at the thought. It had been a long time since I had seen something like this.
"Something amusing?"
"Ah, I was just recalling some old memories."
"I see."
The one speaking to me was Fujita Kaito, a middle-aged man with a few gray hairs.
He looked neat in a black suit. His face was stern, but his voice was soft and friendly.
During the journey, the six of us had introduced ourselves to one another.
The blonde woman with large blue eyes was Agatha.
The mature black-haired woman with a gentle look was Kushida Mio.
And then, across from me was a man...
"Haa~"
"..."
I smiled awkwardly at him.
His name was Renaldi. He had a skinny frame, shoulder-length black hair, and tanned skin.
The way he looked at me with a sigh—it all started from my conversation with Haru.
We had been talking about my suit, which Haru thought was just a costume.
Haru believed I was wearing an anime- and game-style costume, something they called cosplay.
When Renaldi overheard, he joined the conversation.
At first, Renaldi enthusiastically talked about the world they called "Otaku," but after hearing my clueless responses, he realized I didn't understand any of it.
That's when he became gloomy, muttering things like, "What kind of cosplayer doesn't know anything about this or that?" or "I thought I'd found a kindred spirit."
And so, he looked at me the way he did now.
"Haa~."
Hearing Renaldi's frustrated sigh, I could only remain silent.
"...."
Well, I could understand. Anime and games were his hobbies, so of course he'd be happy to meet someone with the same interest. Unfortunately, that person wasn't me.
Even though my planet also had things like cartoons and games, I was still a novice in that area. Besides, the cartoons or games from their planet would definitely be different from mine.
More importantly, based on Haru's comments about Agatha and Renaldi's names, it seemed they really were foreigners. Unlike me.
**********
After walking through the streets under the curious eyes of the townsfolk, we finally arrived at the castle gates. I saw Grif step down from his carriage and invite us to follow.
"Please, come with me to the guest room."
After leaving the carriage, we followed Grif into a certain room.
knock knock
"Pardon me, Your Majesty, the guests have arrived."
"Let them in."
We could hear a deep voice from within, responding to Grif.
"I can only escort you this far. The king is waiting inside. Please, go in."
After hearing Grif's words, we exchanged glances. With a nod, we opened the door and entered.
Inside the room were various furnishings, several luxurious sofas, and a finely crafted wooden table.
On one sofa sat a muscular older man dressed in elegant clothes. He had blond hair and purple eyes. With that oppressive aura, he had to be the king of this kingdom.
Behind him stood two figures who seemed to be his guards.
A woman with crimson eyes and fiery red hair, and a man with narrow eyes and black hair.
Both wore black armor decorated with golden engravings, swords hanging at their waists.
"As the representative of the people of Jatumheim, I, Cyrus Bel Forgh, welcome you, heroes from another world."
The man who introduced himself as the king then spoke with a regretful expression.
"Forgive my selfishness. You must be tired from your journey here, but I truly wished to see the faces of the heroes who were destined."
Our faces, huh... Considering his guards were fully armed and the strange energy I sensed in this room, hmm...
I had learned some things about magic from Haru during our journey to the city.
Magic was said to be a fantastical miracle usually only found in fiction. But here, magic really did exist.
That's why the people of this world could create that enchanted carriage, even though their technology was otherwise primitive.
With all these precautions, the king was clearly wary of us, beings from another world. He wanted to gauge whether we were friend or foe.
"No, it's fine, Your Majesty. We understand."
It was Fujita who responded to King Cyrus's apology on our behalf. Perhaps because he was older than us, he took the responsibility of speaking for us.
"HAHAHA, good, I'm glad to hear that. Please, have a seat."
Hearing Fujita's words, Cyrus laughed in relief and gestured for us to sit.
"You must be wondering why you were brought to this world. I will explain what I know, slowly."