The curtains of the night had fallen, and the sky had been covered in darkness.
At a certain room of the royal castle, the owner of the room was looking out the window wearing a nightgown.
“The hero summoning succeeding was a happy happening, but it has become slightly problematic.”
The owner of the room speaks this out to no one in particular with a grieving tone.
“Where’s the guy in question?”
“Looks like he has been placed in the janitor’s room of the storehouse.”
“I see, that’s why that place… At any rate, they did quite the blunt action there. Those people really are hopeless.”
The room’s owner once again sighs, and the silver haired maid standing at the back of the room simply nodded silently.
“If we mistake our way of dealing with this, this country might fall… How scary.”
But the room’s owner suddenly changed her tone and laughs as if having fun.
“Is he that big of a deal?”
“I have never seen a human with that much power.”
“Is that true?”
“Yeah. To the point that the current heroes can’t even compare… even the knights of this country -no, even the past great warriors, or who knows, maybe even the Demon Lord wouldn’t be an opponent to him. He is the very definition of a monster.”
She answers the maid in a light tone, but she didn’t show any expression to the point of being scary. She simply looked outside the window, clenching her fists.
The place she was looking at was a place that’s not visible from where she is, at the storehouse where things like daily tools and tablewares are stored, the room’s owner simply continued to look.
“I will create a chance to meet him tomorrow.”
“That’s…wouldn’t it be dangerous?”
“I want to avoid any sort of antagonism.”
She adds ‘we also need to confirm what kind of person he is’, as she moves away from the window.
“Ah…”
“—Your Majesty.”
But her vision wavered and she was about to fall, and the maid managed to properly support her body.
“I am okay… I simply got a bit dizzy.”
“Please rest for today.”
“…Right.”
While being supported by the maid, the room’s owner -the Queen- recalls the sight from before as she heads to the bed with slow steps.
The queen has magic eyes that allow her to see the ability of someone as light. Since she can gauge the strength of someone by the color’s light and shade, she is a priceless treasure in a lot of places, but just this one time, she cursed her own magic eyes.
‘To think it would be on that level’.
What was reflected in those eyes of hers was a powerful colorless light. It was flickering in a rhythmic manner like a pulse, and lighted up the pitch black sky as if it were morning.
The queen watched this novel sight with fascination. And then, after realizing what this meant, her legs were trembling in fear.
‘It might be the return of the Calamity that is spoken of in past records’.
In order to investigate this, the queen had resolved herself to confront this monster tomorrow.
☆☆ ☆☆ ★★ ☆☆ ☆☆
One day after.
I rub my eyes at the light entering the place, and I was surprised for a second at the sight that was reflected right after waking up.
“…Ah, right.”
I was summoned to a parallel world.
“Hngh~”
To wake me up, I stretched once. I slowly get up from the bed and walk to the window.
As I listen to the creaking of the floor, I open the window.
My vision was mostly filled with stone walls, and a sky without a single cloud. I could hear the chirping of birds close by, and after inhaling the air of this comfortable morning, I headed to the closet to change, and that same creaking noise was made as I did so.
Well, it can’t be helped.
A six tatami run-down apartment. That’s my first impression of this room.
Yesterday, I came to a parallel world dragged in by the hero summoning, but I honestly thought I would be thrown out of the castle immediately. That’s how those kind of scenarios go, after all. The useless type of character would be treated unfairly and awaken to their power.
But their treatment was pretty normal which caught me off-guard, and I was pushed the difference between me and the heroes.
First of all, the heroes would have at least two personal maids, but I only get one, moreover, a maid in training. Well, I don’t really care if she is in training though.
From what I heard, that maid in training was the one who cleaned this room.
Her name is Erin. Age 15. A cute kobold girl.
By the way, droopy ears are justice.
Even I, who am more in the cat rather than the dog side and am a fox lover, had my heart stolen by those ears. And the fluffy tail that came out from the rear of the maid clothes was the best!
“…Hm?”
While I was thinking that and had taken off my shirt, I heard someone running over here from outside.
This room is at the corner of this building’s first floor. And in the first floor, there’s no other person aside from me. Or more like, this is supposed to be a storehouse for daily tools and those kind of things, and the room I am staying in was originally the room the janitor lived in.
Last month, the previous janitor had retired from old age, and the new janitor had apparently died a few days ago from an unfortunate accident.
To think I would be staying at such a room… No, it is not because I am scared of ghosts, okay? I have met a lot of existences that are scarier than ghosts after all. And in reality, the scariest of them all are actually living humans.
There’s nothing as scary as human greed.
There’s no doubt the steps are approaching this room.
You could count the number of people who would come to this room. And there’s only one who would come this early in the morning.
The steps had slowed down slightly, but the doorknob was turned in a hurried manner.
“Hngh~, it doesn’t ope—hyaa!”
I heard a dull sound, and then, the door was opened grandly with a *bang* and a single maid with ragged breath came into the room.
“I am sorry for being lat—”
The maid looked this way while rubbing her forehead, but she suddenly was at a loss for words and stiffened.
“Ah, good morning. Erin, is your head okay?”
“…”
*There’s no answer, it is just a corp*—wait, that’s not it. What’s the matter? She is looking at me all stiffened. Is there something… <DQ ref.>
Ah, I see.
My upper half is exposed.
“I see, Eris is already at that age huh. Onii-chan is happy.”
“Eh? Ah, I-I’m truly sorry!!” (Erin)
Erin had come back to her senses, and with a bright red face that went all the way to her neck, she went rushing out of the room so fast it felt like she would make a *fwoosh* sound effect.
I could hear the groaning of Erin along with the sound of the door closing, but I suppose she is okay.
“My name is Eris. My trait is having a hard head.”
Is what she said in her self-introduction after all.
In a lot of meanings, I was wondering if she is alright in the head.
“Okay, let’s change quickly.”
I used the groaning as BGM while changing into the clothes that were prepared for me.
☆☆ ☆☆ ☆☆ ☆☆ ☆☆
Leaving the storehouse I was staying in, I infiltrate the castle -I mean, step into the castle together with Erin, and head to the cafeteria.
“M-Makoto-sama… o-over here.” (Erin)
While watching the back of Erin who is guiding me, I check the state of the surroundings.
Since this is the corridor to head to the cafeteria, there were a lot of people coming and going. Knights, maids, and I even saw people that looked like civil officials, but they all slowed their walking pace when they saw me.
With interest, as if probing, as if ridiculing; there were many types of gazes directed at us, but the target was me.
Well, I don’t mind people talking behind my back, and I do think I don’t have such a weak mental strength that would make me flinch over something like this. But well, if real harm does come my way, I won’t hold back in bringing retribution though.
They do say ‘an eye for an eye’ after all.
“Erin.” (Makoto)
“Y-Yes?” (Erin)
Erin straightened her back and turns around nervously.
It is most likely not my imagination that I see fear in her face. Her back figure as she walked ahead also had fear coming out after all.
“What’s your recommendation?” (Makoto)
“Eh?” (Erin)
“I was wondering what cafeteria food you would recommend.” (Makoto)
I tried rephrasing my question to Erin who was dumbfounded, but Erin seemed to be acting weird.
“U-Uhm, my recommendation would be…Uhm…Ehm…” (Erin)
“For now, just calm down.” (Makoto)
“Wan…” (Erin)
She was so flustered that I ended up petting her head. Of course, I don’t forget touching her droopy ears. I can tell that she doesn’t dislike it after seeing her tail waving.
This is so refreshing. The best kind of healing is right here.
But this reaction, and the reaction of the surroundings…there’s probably some sort of circumstance with Erin.
She seems to have an air-headed element to her, so she might be a troublemaker. Well, there’s other possibilities too though.
“S-Sorry.” (Erin)
“Why are you apologizing?” (Makoto)
“Uhm…for making Makoto-sama experience such a displeasing thing.” (Erin)
While trying to choose her words, Erin lowers her head with a face as if she would cry at any moment.
“I think the reason we are being looked at is because of me, you know?” (Makoto)
“N-No…it is because I am a kobold. It is not Makoto-sama’s fault.” (Erin)
Because she is from the beastman race, huh.
Yesterday we had a bit of a talk after the self-introductions, but now that I think about it, the maid that seemed to be her senior and had guided Erin had left quickly.
She seemed to be somewhat cold-hearted towards Erin, so maybe there’s racism towards the beastmen in this country.
“Meaning that beastmen are being discriminated?” (Makoto)
That’s why I didn’t put it vaguely and asked straight.
“T-That’s not it!” (Erin)
“It is not?” (Makoto)
Hm, this is unexpected.
“It was only recently that Kobolds were acknowledged as beastmen.” (Erin)
“…Acknowledged?” (Makoto)
“Yes. Kobolds were originally considered demons.” (Erin)
This is indeed unexpected.
It is true that, because of games, Kobolds have a strong impression of being monsters, and I do remember fighting a number of them and they were mostly considered monsters in the parallel worlds I was in.
Well, there were types in the kobolds I met. The ones that were completely animal, and the ones like Erin that have dog ears.
The animal types can’t speak or understand words, so they were mostly hostile, but the beastmen type can speak and it is possible to communicate. Because of this, it is easier to make a friendly relationship.
Communication is truly important.
“50 years ago, the Demon Lord of that time had a natural death, and conflicts to decide the new Demon Lord arose. In the middle of that strife, the patriarchs of the kobolds had decided to make an alliance with the Beastmen nation.” (Erin)
An alliance, huh. That’s quite the bold move there.
Anyways, the Demon Lord died a natural death. Then, it must be that disease…
It is impossible for Demon Lords to die from normal diseases after all.
“Of course, we received criticism from the demons, and the beastmen and humans were strongly opposed to it. In the past, there were apparently instances where we would kill each other no questions asked the moment we saw each other. B-But now, finally, the kobolds have been acknowledged as beastmen!”
“So that’s how it is.” (Makoto)
“There’s still a lot going on, but around 10 years ago, we managed to get residential rights, so I am able to work in the castle like this. It truly feels like a dream come true.” (Erin)
10 years ago. Meaning that the kobolds had to endure suffering in those 40 years. And in the surface, it looks like they have been acknowledged as beastmen, but the other side of it is that there’s still racism remaining.
It is silly, but in this world, it must be the common sense.
The ‘views’ that are seeped deep in you after a long time won’t be going away so easily. If you want to change that, you need the resolve to make the whole world your enemy.
And that’s something that the Kobold patriarchs managed to do 50 years ago. They had the resolve to make the whole world their enemies, and the world acknowledged them. But there’s still people that don’t.
That’s what all these many gazes filled with animosity are.
“Are you having fun in your job?” (Makoto)
“Yes.” (Erin)
That dazzling smile was proof that she truly was having fun in her job.
If she understands a variety of things and can still bring out a smile like this, it must mean that she is positively strong.
“Well then, please tell me your recommendations, Erin.” (Makoto)
“Eh, ah…Uhm…” (Erin)
I urged on the suddenly flustered Erin and headed to the cafeteria in a comfortable pace.
☆☆ ★★ ★★ ★★ ☆☆
Why did something like this happen?
After a night, the boy -Takahashi Yuichi- had regained his calm and was holding his head.
The rooms that were prepared for the heroes were the guest room for nobles. Many extravagant articles decorated the room, and with two personal maids for each of them, they had their bed and meals taken care of.
Their meals were mostly taken at their own rooms, and from morning, they already had extravagant food filling the top of the table.
Yuichi got agitated by this, thinking ‘I honestly don’t know if I can eat this much’, but he didn’t try to eat the food.
Because the problem wasn’t that.
The plan of today is to have an audience with the queen, and then, have a talk about the plans from now on. Thinking about that, pain ran through his stomach and made him rub it.
“I am…a hero…” (Yuichi)
Because of how sudden it was, his mind was currently a mess.
Yesterday was a regular day with a free day from school, but because he had club activities, he headed to the school in the morning, and there, he met with his childhood friend -Kusuhara Miki- and her friends Katsuragi Shiori and Asagi Kaede.
All three of them participated in club activities, and they coincidentally ended up together in their way home.
They were all having casual talk about how coincidences like this can happen, and when they passed by the convenience store, they apparently were thirsty or were hungry, so they were planning on buying something in the store.
That might have been where fate branched.
When Yuichi’s group had arrived at the automatic door, it opened, and inside there was a young man in a jersey rubbing his eyes as if sleepy.
He heard Shiori raising her voice from behind, but that voice suddenly got cut off.
No, that’s not all. Every single sound in the surroundings had been cut off and, wondering if something had happened, Yuichi looked around.
In an instant, a massive storm of light surged, and his vision had been dyed golden, and with that, a sense of floating in the air and dizziness. While holding in the desire to puke, fear steadily began to control his body, and his body stiffened as it did so.
He was already unable to understand what was happening. He simply continued to shout the names of his childhood friend and her friends in this world without sound.
And then…
“Ah, again huh…”
Light bursted, and his body began to disperse slowly into particles of light, and just before his consciousness was cut off, he felt like he heard that voice.
“Yuichi-sama, are you not feeling well?”
The maid that was on standby behind him had noticed the state of Yuichi and called out to him.
“Eh, no…I am…okay.” (Yuichi)
“Is that so. But if you don’t feel well, make sure to tell us at once, okay?”
Yuichi returned a vague response, and the maid directed a gaze filled with grief and a slight smile as she worried for the well-being of Yuichi.
Yuichi froze for a bit after seeing those entrancing eyes of hers, but he soon returned to his senses, and hurriedly averted his eyes in embarrassment.
“Now then, please enjoy the meal before it cools.”
“R-Right.” (Yuichi)
A small laugh leaked out after seeing his state in this place where only Yuichi and the maids are in.
That’s why it was easy to know from who this laugh was from.
But Yuichi was unable to notice that he was laughed at when he himself was writhing in embarrassment and hurriedly ate his food, while keeping at the side of his mind the desire to request eating together with everyone else since eating alone felt distasteful.
At the back of Yuichi, the eyes of the maid smilingly looking at him had a tint of amusement, and at the same time, was distorted in a devilish way.
He never noticed the small bottle that was hidden in her hand.
The curtains of the night had fallen, and the sky had been covered in darkness.
At a certain room of the royal castle, the owner of the room was looking out the window wearing a nightgown.
“The hero summoning succeeding was a happy happening, but it has become slightly problematic.”
The owner of the room speaks this out to no one in particular with a grieving tone.
“Where’s the guy in question?”
“Looks like he has been placed in the janitor’s room of the storehouse.”
“I see, that’s why that place… At any rate, they did quite the blunt action there. Those people really are hopeless.”
The room’s owner once again sighs, and the silver haired maid standing at the back of the room simply nodded silently.
“If we mistake our way of dealing with this, this country might fall… How scary.”
But the room’s owner suddenly changed her tone and laughs as if having fun.
“Is he that big of a deal?”
“I have never seen a human with that much power.”
“Is that true?”
“Yeah. To the point that the current heroes can’t even compare… even the knights of this country -no, even the past great warriors, or who knows, maybe even the Demon Lord wouldn’t be an opponent to him. He is the very definition of a monster.”
She answers the maid in a light tone, but she didn’t show any expression to the point of being scary. She simply looked outside the window, clenching her fists.
The place she was looking at was a place that’s not visible from where she is, at the storehouse where things like daily tools and tablewares are stored, the room’s owner simply continued to look.
“I will create a chance to meet him tomorrow.”
“That’s…wouldn’t it be dangerous?”
“I want to avoid any sort of antagonism.”
She adds ‘we also need to confirm what kind of person he is’, as she moves away from the window.
“Ah…”
“—Your Majesty.”
But her vision wavered and she was about to fall, and the maid managed to properly support her body.
“I am okay… I simply got a bit dizzy.”
“Please rest for today.”
“…Right.”
While being supported by the maid, the room’s owner -the Queen- recalls the sight from before as she heads to the bed with slow steps.
The queen has magic eyes that allow her to see the ability of someone as light. Since she can gauge the strength of someone by the color’s light and shade, she is a priceless treasure in a lot of places, but just this one time, she cursed her own magic eyes.
‘To think it would be on that level’.
What was reflected in those eyes of hers was a powerful colorless light. It was flickering in a rhythmic manner like a pulse, and lighted up the pitch black sky as if it were morning.
The queen watched this novel sight with fascination. And then, after realizing what this meant, her legs were trembling in fear.
‘It might be the return of the Calamity that is spoken of in past records’.
In order to investigate this, the queen had resolved herself to confront this monster tomorrow.
☆☆ ☆☆ ★★ ☆☆ ☆☆
One day after.
I rub my eyes at the light entering the place, and I was surprised for a second at the sight that was reflected right after waking up.
“…Ah, right.”
I was summoned to a parallel world.
“Hngh~”
To wake me up, I stretched once. I slowly get up from the bed and walk to the window.
As I listen to the creaking of the floor, I open the window.
My vision was mostly filled with stone walls, and a sky without a single cloud. I could hear the chirping of birds close by, and after inhaling the air of this comfortable morning, I headed to the closet to change, and that same creaking noise was made as I did so.
Well, it can’t be helped.
A six tatami run-down apartment. That’s my first impression of this room.
Yesterday, I came to a parallel world dragged in by the hero summoning, but I honestly thought I would be thrown out of the castle immediately. That’s how those kind of scenarios go, after all. The useless type of character would be treated unfairly and awaken to their power.
But their treatment was pretty normal which caught me off-guard, and I was pushed the difference between me and the heroes.
First of all, the heroes would have at least two personal maids, but I only get one, moreover, a maid in training. Well, I don’t really care if she is in training though.
From what I heard, that maid in training was the one who cleaned this room.
Her name is Erin. Age 15. A cute kobold girl.
By the way, droopy ears are justice.
Even I, who am more in the cat rather than the dog side and am a fox lover, had my heart stolen by those ears. And the fluffy tail that came out from the rear of the maid clothes was the best!
“…Hm?”
While I was thinking that and had taken off my shirt, I heard someone running over here from outside.
This room is at the corner of this building’s first floor. And in the first floor, there’s no other person aside from me. Or more like, this is supposed to be a storehouse for daily tools and those kind of things, and the room I am staying in was originally the room the janitor lived in.
Last month, the previous janitor had retired from old age, and the new janitor had apparently died a few days ago from an unfortunate accident.
To think I would be staying at such a room… No, it is not because I am scared of ghosts, okay? I have met a lot of existences that are scarier than ghosts after all. And in reality, the scariest of them all are actually living humans.
There’s nothing as scary as human greed.
There’s no doubt the steps are approaching this room.
You could count the number of people who would come to this room. And there’s only one who would come this early in the morning.
The steps had slowed down slightly, but the doorknob was turned in a hurried manner.
“Hngh~, it doesn’t ope—hyaa!”
I heard a dull sound, and then, the door was opened grandly with a *bang* and a single maid with ragged breath came into the room.
“I am sorry for being lat—”
The maid looked this way while rubbing her forehead, but she suddenly was at a loss for words and stiffened.
“Ah, good morning. Erin, is your head okay?”
“…”
*There’s no answer, it is just a corp*—wait, that’s not it. What’s the matter? She is looking at me all stiffened. Is there something… <DQ ref.>
Ah, I see.
My upper half is exposed.
“I see, Eris is already at that age huh. Onii-chan is happy.”
“Eh? Ah, I-I’m truly sorry!!” (Erin)
Erin had come back to her senses, and with a bright red face that went all the way to her neck, she went rushing out of the room so fast it felt like she would make a *fwoosh* sound effect.
I could hear the groaning of Erin along with the sound of the door closing, but I suppose she is okay.
“My name is Eris. My trait is having a hard head.”
Is what she said in her self-introduction after all.
In a lot of meanings, I was wondering if she is alright in the head.
“Okay, let’s change quickly.”
I used the groaning as BGM while changing into the clothes that were prepared for me.
☆☆ ☆☆ ☆☆ ☆☆ ☆☆
Leaving the storehouse I was staying in, I infiltrate the castle -I mean, step into the castle together with Erin, and head to the cafeteria.
“M-Makoto-sama… o-over here.” (Erin)
While watching the back of Erin who is guiding me, I check the state of the surroundings.
Since this is the corridor to head to the cafeteria, there were a lot of people coming and going. Knights, maids, and I even saw people that looked like civil officials, but they all slowed their walking pace when they saw me.
With interest, as if probing, as if ridiculing; there were many types of gazes directed at us, but the target was me.
Well, I don’t mind people talking behind my back, and I do think I don’t have such a weak mental strength that would make me flinch over something like this. But well, if real harm does come my way, I won’t hold back in bringing retribution though.
They do say ‘an eye for an eye’ after all.
“Erin.” (Makoto)
“Y-Yes?” (Erin)
Erin straightened her back and turns around nervously.
It is most likely not my imagination that I see fear in her face. Her back figure as she walked ahead also had fear coming out after all.
“What’s your recommendation?” (Makoto)
“Eh?” (Erin)
“I was wondering what cafeteria food you would recommend.” (Makoto)
I tried rephrasing my question to Erin who was dumbfounded, but Erin seemed to be acting weird.
“U-Uhm, my recommendation would be…Uhm…Ehm…” (Erin)
“For now, just calm down.” (Makoto)
“Wan…” (Erin)
She was so flustered that I ended up petting her head. Of course, I don’t forget touching her droopy ears. I can tell that she doesn’t dislike it after seeing her tail waving.
This is so refreshing. The best kind of healing is right here.
But this reaction, and the reaction of the surroundings…there’s probably some sort of circumstance with Erin.
She seems to have an air-headed element to her, so she might be a troublemaker. Well, there’s other possibilities too though.
“S-Sorry.” (Erin)
“Why are you apologizing?” (Makoto)
“Uhm…for making Makoto-sama experience such a displeasing thing.” (Erin)
While trying to choose her words, Erin lowers her head with a face as if she would cry at any moment.
“I think the reason we are being looked at is because of me, you know?” (Makoto)
“N-No…it is because I am a kobold. It is not Makoto-sama’s fault.” (Erin)
Because she is from the beastman race, huh.
Yesterday we had a bit of a talk after the self-introductions, but now that I think about it, the maid that seemed to be her senior and had guided Erin had left quickly.
She seemed to be somewhat cold-hearted towards Erin, so maybe there’s racism towards the beastmen in this country.
“Meaning that beastmen are being discriminated?” (Makoto)
That’s why I didn’t put it vaguely and asked straight.
“T-That’s not it!” (Erin)
“It is not?” (Makoto)
Hm, this is unexpected.
“It was only recently that Kobolds were acknowledged as beastmen.” (Erin)
“…Acknowledged?” (Makoto)
“Yes. Kobolds were originally considered demons.” (Erin)
This is indeed unexpected.
It is true that, because of games, Kobolds have a strong impression of being monsters, and I do remember fighting a number of them and they were mostly considered monsters in the parallel worlds I was in.
Well, there were types in the kobolds I met. The ones that were completely animal, and the ones like Erin that have dog ears.
The animal types can’t speak or understand words, so they were mostly hostile, but the beastmen type can speak and it is possible to communicate. Because of this, it is easier to make a friendly relationship.
Communication is truly important.
“50 years ago, the Demon Lord of that time had a natural death, and conflicts to decide the new Demon Lord arose. In the middle of that strife, the patriarchs of the kobolds had decided to make an alliance with the Beastmen nation.” (Erin)
An alliance, huh. That’s quite the bold move there.
Anyways, the Demon Lord died a natural death. Then, it must be that disease…
It is impossible for Demon Lords to die from normal diseases after all.
“Of course, we received criticism from the demons, and the beastmen and humans were strongly opposed to it. In the past, there were apparently instances where we would kill each other no questions asked the moment we saw each other. B-But now, finally, the kobolds have been acknowledged as beastmen!”
“So that’s how it is.” (Makoto)
“There’s still a lot going on, but around 10 years ago, we managed to get residential rights, so I am able to work in the castle like this. It truly feels like a dream come true.” (Erin)
10 years ago. Meaning that the kobolds had to endure suffering in those 40 years. And in the surface, it looks like they have been acknowledged as beastmen, but the other side of it is that there’s still racism remaining.
It is silly, but in this world, it must be the common sense.
The ‘views’ that are seeped deep in you after a long time won’t be going away so easily. If you want to change that, you need the resolve to make the whole world your enemy.
And that’s something that the Kobold patriarchs managed to do 50 years ago. They had the resolve to make the whole world their enemies, and the world acknowledged them. But there’s still people that don’t.
That’s what all these many gazes filled with animosity are.
“Are you having fun in your job?” (Makoto)
“Yes.” (Erin)
That dazzling smile was proof that she truly was having fun in her job.
If she understands a variety of things and can still bring out a smile like this, it must mean that she is positively strong.
“Well then, please tell me your recommendations, Erin.” (Makoto)
“Eh, ah…Uhm…” (Erin)
I urged on the suddenly flustered Erin and headed to the cafeteria in a comfortable pace.
☆☆ ★★ ★★ ★★ ☆☆
Why did something like this happen?
After a night, the boy -Takahashi Yuichi- had regained his calm and was holding his head.
The rooms that were prepared for the heroes were the guest room for nobles. Many extravagant articles decorated the room, and with two personal maids for each of them, they had their bed and meals taken care of.
Their meals were mostly taken at their own rooms, and from morning, they already had extravagant food filling the top of the table.
Yuichi got agitated by this, thinking ‘I honestly don’t know if I can eat this much’, but he didn’t try to eat the food.
Because the problem wasn’t that.
The plan of today is to have an audience with the queen, and then, have a talk about the plans from now on. Thinking about that, pain ran through his stomach and made him rub it.
“I am…a hero…” (Yuichi)
Because of how sudden it was, his mind was currently a mess.
Yesterday was a regular day with a free day from school, but because he had club activities, he headed to the school in the morning, and there, he met with his childhood friend -Kusuhara Miki- and her friends Katsuragi Shiori and Asagi Kaede.
All three of them participated in club activities, and they coincidentally ended up together in their way home.
They were all having casual talk about how coincidences like this can happen, and when they passed by the convenience store, they apparently were thirsty or were hungry, so they were planning on buying something in the store.
That might have been where fate branched.
When Yuichi’s group had arrived at the automatic door, it opened, and inside there was a young man in a jersey rubbing his eyes as if sleepy.
He heard Shiori raising her voice from behind, but that voice suddenly got cut off.
No, that’s not all. Every single sound in the surroundings had been cut off and, wondering if something had happened, Yuichi looked around.
In an instant, a massive storm of light surged, and his vision had been dyed golden, and with that, a sense of floating in the air and dizziness. While holding in the desire to puke, fear steadily began to control his body, and his body stiffened as it did so.
He was already unable to understand what was happening. He simply continued to shout the names of his childhood friend and her friends in this world without sound.
And then…
“Ah, again huh…”
Light bursted, and his body began to disperse slowly into particles of light, and just before his consciousness was cut off, he felt like he heard that voice.
“Yuichi-sama, are you not feeling well?”
The maid that was on standby behind him had noticed the state of Yuichi and called out to him.
“Eh, no…I am…okay.” (Yuichi)
“Is that so. But if you don’t feel well, make sure to tell us at once, okay?”
Yuichi returned a vague response, and the maid directed a gaze filled with grief and a slight smile as she worried for the well-being of Yuichi.
Yuichi froze for a bit after seeing those entrancing eyes of hers, but he soon returned to his senses, and hurriedly averted his eyes in embarrassment.
“Now then, please enjoy the meal before it cools.”
“R-Right.” (Yuichi)
A small laugh leaked out after seeing his state in this place where only Yuichi and the maids are in.
That’s why it was easy to know from who this laugh was from.
But Yuichi was unable to notice that he was laughed at when he himself was writhing in embarrassment and hurriedly ate his food, while keeping at the side of his mind the desire to request eating together with everyone else since eating alone felt distasteful.
At the back of Yuichi, the eyes of the maid smilingly looking at him had a tint of amusement, and at the same time, was distorted in a devilish way.
He never noticed the small bottle that was hidden in her hand.
