When Ayumi woke up from her slumber, she was confused for a moment upon seeing it wasn’t the ceiling that she was used to. Before she could panic, she was greeted by a familiar calm voice close to her bed.
“Good morning, sleepyhead. How was your sleep?” There he was, smiling warmly at her, Takahashi Enryu, her one and only older brother. “Mmm… morning, Ryu-nii. Hah~ it would have been a good day if we weren’t in this whole unknown place, wouldn’t we?” She complained under her breath as she slowly raised her body into a more comfortable sitting position.
Her brother laughed for a moment before saying, “That it is. But I’m quite thankful since I can see this side of yours again.” Seeing as she couldn’t understand what he was implying, he decided to give her a hint by repeatedly tapping his pointy finger at the side of his lips.
Subconsciously, Ayumi moved her hand toward her right cheek and immediately felt something wet touching her hand as realization hit her. With a blush on her pouting face, she quickly wipes the drool off her cheek while mumbling under her breath. “You should have told me earlier…”
“Now that you’re fully awake, it’s time for us to go.” Enryu said as he slowly stood up from the seat.
“Go? Where?” Though she was confused by his words, Ayumi slowly moved her legs to her left until her feet touched the ground, prompting her to stand up before walking toward her brother.
“The dining hall. A maid came knocking on our door while you were asleep, she said we have to be there but didn’t answer why when I asked. There’s no need for the guessing game since it’s obviously for yesterday’s matter,” Answered Enryu. Ayumi nodded her head in agreement to her brother, however, she couldn’t help but get restless upon thinking that they would be forced to fight.
As if noticing what she was feeling, a solid arm wrapped around her shoulder before her whole body was slowly pulled into a warm hug. “Don’t worry. No matter what kind of conclusions today’s meeting will reach, I won’t allow them to send you to battle. Never.” ‘However, I don’t mind taking your place so long as your safety is secured, afterall it is my responsibility to take care of you despite…’ Enryu decided to keep the thought only to himself.
After a few minutes of walking, the two finally arrived at the dining hall filled with students, and few maids here and there, helping with the chores. As if sensing their presence, a few students throw a glance at the two for a moment before they resume eating the food in front of them. Especially Isamu, he had thought Enryu wasn’t included in the summoning since the latter was being quiet the whole time, but now that he can see it clearly with his own eyes, that wasn’t the case.
Back to when the princess explained the reason for their summoning and before, he was too focused on his classmates that he forgot Ayumi completely. He once imagined being a hero, slaying demon after demon before finally the final boss, Demon Lord. While on the way, he would pick ups girls into his growing harem. In the end, he would live as an Emperor of a rising Empire, starting war until every Kingdoms and Empires united as one.
That did cross his mind while listening to the princess’s explanation. He wasn’t a narcissist, but he believes that he can make it reality. Just like Enryu, he felt something within him after being summoned to this world. He can faintly feel power coursing through his body. It’s a power he never knew he had up until then.
With this power, perhaps.. as if sensing the gaze on him, Enryu suddenly started looking at his surroundings and immediately caught Isamu staring at him. Isamu swiftly looked away while clicking his tongue as he thought of any possible way to separate the two. It wouldn’t have been a problem if it was back in their world, but in this world, rather than separation, the two would most likely stick together all the time. Isamu began to think that being summoned to this world might not be a good thing after all.
Once he and his little sister were seated around an empty table, two maids silently stepped toward them before putting the tray of food on the table and just like how they appeared before them, they also left without a sound. By looking at their conduct since then, Enryu concluded that they are undoubtedly professional maids! Completely different from the fake maids in Maid Cafe in his previous world.
The food given to them was simply bread and soup. It was nowhere enough to fill the young students, but no one seems to be complaining just yet. Breaking his own bread into two pieces, Enryu only took a small piece of the two and left the other pieces onto his little sister’s food tray with an encouraging smile before the latter could reject him.
While the two were eating, student after student walks into the dining hall. Even the once empty seats on their table were filled up by Ayumi’s friends soon after. By then, Enryu was sure that everyone was already in the dining hall.
When everyone has finished eating their food, none seems to be intending to leave anytime soon. Enryu guessed they must have also been informed ahead by the maids just like him.
It wasn’t hard to assume today’s topic might be the continuation of yesterday. After all, the teacher stubbornly insists that she doesn’t want her students to be sent to a bloody battlefield where the risk of losing their life was quite high. Enryu also agreed with her. In the first place, they should have handled their problem on their own instead of pushing it all on ‘Heroes’. Why can’t the people of this world be Heroes on their own? Why does it have to be people from another world?
But as expected, Isamu was the first to go against his teacher. After all, to be a hero is the dream of every high schooler. Recently too, there have been a lot of comics and novels about this same topic in their previous world. It’s been a hot trend for a while then.
Enryu also enjoyed reading them in his free time, so in a way, he understood why Isamu would agree in helping the princess. However, now that he experiences the same thing as the character in the book, he would rather this whole thing remain in the book instead of turning reality. After all, this world is much harsher to survive than their previous modern world. Magic, monsters, demons, and lastly Gods, they exist.
If the previous world Enryu only needed to be worried about having enough money to have a peaceful and quiet life, then now he has to become stronger or he will end up becoming a cannon fodder. If he were alone, he wouldn’t worry much, but his little sister was also summoned to this world alongside him.
