First day of school, and I already feel tired," I mumbled under my breath as I walked down the hallway towYour Highness, we just got a report—we lost the cargo!" shouted the queen's most trusted servant.
"The demons attacked our shipments and killed all the knights. We are losing this war. What shall we do?"
The queen looked down at her hands for a few seconds, then stood up and said, "Let's go, Mirell."
"Uh, yes, Your Highness," she replied.
They walked out of the throne room and down a long hall. A few seconds later, they opened a door leading into a large open chamber with an altar in the middle. A priest and several followers were there, almost as if they were waiting for the queen.
She looked at Mirell and said, "I've been saving up my mana for a while now, just for this moment. I'm going to summon a hero to help us defeat the Demon King!"
With determination, she stretched out her hand and began chanting a spell.
Mirell watched as a green circle started spinning around her queen. She stared in amazement until a thunderbolt struck the altar, causing a lot of smoke and shattering all the castle's windows.
When the smoke cleared, all Mirell could see were five human-shaped figures standing behind the haze left by the lightning.
ard my class.
"Hey, Kazumi! Wait up!"
Turning around, I saw a blond-haired guy running toward me.
"Uhh, hey John," I said lazily.
He looked at me for a second before we started walking together.
"So Kazumi, what did you do over the summer?" he asked, breaking the silence.
"Well, I played video games. A few days later, I went to the beach with Minori. Then Mom came to my apartment that same day. The next day, she took me to stay with Grandpa, and I spent the rest of the summer there," I explained.
"Damn, your summer sounds pretty boring."
"Yeah, I know."
We headed into class and chose our seats next to each other.
"So, what did you do in America?" I asked.
"Well, um, where do I start? I did a lot of things. Like, one day after landing, my family had a welcome party. We reminisced a bit, and the next day went camping. Long story short, I went on a lot of trips."
John was from America but moved to Japan when he was fourteen. We met and became friends since we were in the same class.
"Hey, Kazumi, you look a little pale. You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Didn't sleep last night."
"Oh... so what happened with you and Minori?"
"What are you talking about? Nothing happened!"
"Really?" He smirked. "Then why are you acting like something happened, huh?" he asked again.
"For the last time, nothing happened, Johhhnnn!" I said trying to sound impatient but is failing
"Fine. I'll ask her myself."
"Fine, go ask her," I said.
He looked at me for a while before letting out a deep sigh.
"Kazumi, when are you going to get a girlfriend? You only get to be 17 once, so live it to the fullest. Soon, you'll be working and won't have time for fun..."
"Really, dumbest speech ever," I said, a bit annoyed.
Bell rings.
"Teacher's late on the first day, huh?" said John.
"Way to set an example," I said sarcastically.
"Yeah," he said, laughing. "Oh, by the way, I checked the list-Minori is in our class too. Too bad for Shuka though."
"Best friends separated, huh?" I said.
"Well, Kazumi, this is your chance."
Just then, both Minori and the teacher entered the classroom.
"Good morning, class! I'm terribly sorry for being late. I had a flat tire while driving, so I had to stop to fix it." He immediately hurried to the board and said, "So, my name is Mr. Takahashi. I'll be your homeroom teacher for the rest of the term."
The rest of the day was pretty boring. Nothing happened other than Minori inviting John and me to join her, Shuka, and another girl named Shinome-we didn't know her-to become members of the Roman's Club, which was created to search for ghosts, aliens, and all that stuff.
Of course, I was hesitant at first, but John knew my intentions and spoke up, saying we'd go.
"They said the club meets in 2C," John said on our way there.
"Well, I don't care," I replied uninterested.
"Come on, don't be like that," he said.
After about two minutes, we arrived at the door.
"Okay, Kazumi, don't mess this up."
Opening the door, we saw the three girls talking.
"Kazumi! John! You're here!" Minori shouted happily while hugging us both.
"Yeah, we promised, didn't we?" she then smiled, leading us to a seat.
[30 MINUTES LATER]
Sitting there felt like hell. I wasn't sure how I was going to survive this, though I guess I made it through.
"Kazumi, what are you thinking about?" John asked.
"Nothing," I responded.
"Come on, Kazumi, don't make it so obvious. Smile," he whispered.
I forced a small smile and started listening again.
They weren't doing much since it was the first day. They only talked about how to get more members, and then Shinome, a girl with long black hair, suggested we start making posters instead of just sitting here thinking up dumb ideas. We all agreed to do that the next time we met since we were out of time.
"Wow, it's finally over," I said to myself while walking through the door.
Just then, John came pulling me back inside.
"Where do you think you're going? Help us clean up."
I turned around, letting out a laugh to ease the awkward atmosphere. It was pretty obvious I didn't want to be here. I decided to help Shuka put a box on the shelf since she was a bit shorter than average.
[5 MINUTES LATER]
We were all finished. John was putting a desk back in order. We all exited the building when I heard John say, "What the-"
Turning around, all I could see was a green circle around him with strange symbols spinning inside.
"I can't move," he said, struggling to get free.
"Help! Somebody help! I can't move!"
I immediately rushed toward him and started pulling, but he wouldn't budge.
Just then, Shuka, Shinome, and Minori ran over, looking puzzled.
"Don't just stand there, help me!" I shouted.
They pulled too, but John still didn't move.
The circle grew wider and soon covered all of us.
We all tried to break free but couldn't move.
Then the whole world disappeared.
After a few seconds, I was standing on what felt like invisible ground. Shocked, I started looking around but couldn't see or feel anything.
Then John, Shuka, Minori, and Shinome appeared next to me, all looking frightened and puzzled.
"What's going on? Where is the school? Whe-where are we?" Shuka asked.
I was too shocked to say a word.
Looking into the distance, I saw a light forming in the darkness. Suddenly, our surroundings became visible. There were things like stars and all.
"So tiny," I said to myself.
Just then, a woman appeared before us.
"Hello, young ones," she said with a pretty smile.
"Haaagh, oh my God, she's so hot," John muttered, staring at her.
I saw him simping over the woman.
"What's going on?" Minori asked.
The woman looked puzzled for a second, then started counting. "One... two... three... wait, five of you!"
"Oh no! Queen Eresilla!" she said with a worried look.
With a wave of her hand, she summoned something like a hologram. We saw a woman-unconscious-lying on the floor, surrounded by knights.
"How did she do that? Don't tell me she's a witch," Shuka asked quietly, scared.
"Hey, witches aren't real, remember?" John said, trying to reassure her.
"A-Aren't we looking at one, she?" Shuka stammered.
"I am not a witch," the woman said.
"You four aren't even supposed to be here," she pointed at me, Shuka, Shinome, and Minori.
"What do you mean by 'you four'? What about me?" John asked.
"You were the chosen one, not them," she replied calmly.
"MISTAKE!" I shouted.
"Yes. John was the chosen one," she said.
"Chosen for what exactly?" John asked.
"To be a hero."
"HERO!" we all shouted.
"Yes, but you four tried to stop him from being summoned, so Queen Eresilla was forced to use most of her mana to summon all of you," the woman said.
"How do you know all this?" Minori asked.
"I'm responsible for choosing who gets summoned."
"So you're like a goddess or something?" I asked.
"Yes," she replied.
"Then what's so special about John?" Shinome asked.
"Time is running out. I will answer your questions in time."
With a wave of her hand, the green magic circle appeared and teleported us.
"Huh? Is this smoke? Can't see anything."
Stepping out of the smoke, I saw knights surrounding a woman who looked unconscious.
"So this is the world I'm supposed to be a hero in?" John said calmly.
End