Chapter 1 - Part 2: Another usual mass summoning
“The seventy-seventh hero has been summoned.”
“Man… this job is tiring. Check that he is alright.”
“He’s alright! He’s alright! I just got careless trying to summon him on the first attempt – his body had been moving too quickly.”
“Must have been a boat moving fast while trapped in a storm. I think that we saved him!”
“Well, that must have been so. Let’s ask the guards to move him to the Goddess’s throne hall. Two more heroes, and, we are done. The other summoners can replace us.”
“Yay~!”
“For now, you can shut up.”
“What’s with that tone~?! Even if you are my assistant…”
Thus, a naïve male assistant, and a lazy female summoner continued summoning people from another world randomly.
Well, naïve?
***
A warm light illuminated my body, as I woke up.
“Mhm…”
Dozens of people were waking up in front of me – of different nationalities, at that.
“…”
I couldn’t say anything.
“Ha?”
“H-Hey!”
“Have I been kidnapped!!?”
“This must be a joke! I was sleeping, and now this?!”
“Where’s the camera?”
“I’ll sue the person who…”
Really, I couldn’t say anything.
That person standing in front of a throne while looking at us from a sizable distance.
I had seen her in my dream. White hairs…
“Dear heroes, thanks for responding to my call,” she voiced out.
Her voice resounded throughout the hall – even if she had not spoken loudly.
“Ma’am, am I going to get money for this?!”
“Which channel will this be broadcasted on?”
“I still have my legally allowed firearm on me. I’m going away from here. If anyone tries to stop me, then, he’s dead,” said someone looking like a gangster.
It felt stupid to try to address her within such a crowd of people.
Who was she?
“You have all been summoned from another world. As heroes, I want all of you to save the Jannat country and, ultimately, this world.”
Hero.
Even if you said that... This number here is a bit too extreme!
“I told you to stop joking around. Didn’t you hear that, bitch?!”
“A hero?!”
“I’ll let you off if you pay a proper sum of money to…”
“Is this a parallel world?!!”
Out of the blue, gunfire was heard.
“The security is lax here. Where are we?” asked the gangster-like person – as he said that, a web started forming around his feet, and, he was suddenly imprisoned up in the air, a barrier nullifying his bullet shots when he tried to break the forming sphere; he had already lost the chance to jump out of the trap.
And, everyone was stunned.
“Let’s ask you!” the host’s words reverberated loudly throughout the momentously huge room, “Do you want to defeat the demon gods?”
As the guard who was injured by the gunfire was being treated by what looked like magic, the man stuck in the sphere continued his barrage by reloading the gun with another canister.
“Thank you! Thank you! Dear goddess! Thank you for healing me from my handicap!”
The voice of someone who had not spoken thus far – the tears falling from his face looked as real as they were profuse. Black hairs, and, green eyes. It indeed sounded like he had previously been suffering from a handicap, as he staggered forward to fall down spectacularly.
“What’s with this treatment?!”
“Why were we kidnapped to serve as free actors?”
“Are we going to die according to the whims of someone at this rate?! I can’t bear the notion of people watching us go to our deaths while believing that we are heroes and stuff!”
“That’s right! We won’t comply! No one will get rich while selling me out!”
But.
Other than a few dissenters who tried to grab the general attention, quite some people had stopped speaking since being summoned; they were looking at the goddess with hungry eyes – eyes hungry for the unknown, for lust, for power, for greed – for things which I could not accept.
The dissenters quietened gradually, as the man who was apparently no longer a handicap, said:
“Great divine goddess, I will kill the demon gods for you!”
“Then, let me hear your promise,” she ordered solemnly.
The goddess levitated in the air, as she approached the man who had said these words.
Levitation.
Everyone – almost everyone – gasped at the sight of her floating body.
“Breathtaking…” mouthed a summoned girl.
There was no longer any doubt about it.
This place was not the Earth that we know.
“I…”
It was truly a parallel world.
***
“I vow, upon these legs which your divinity has healed, that I will always be loyal to you, and, that, I, Elliot Brave, shall slay every single demon god who threatens your realm with his existence. From now on, my whole life shall be dedicated to the eternal holy crusade that I’m honored to take part in. Please, approve of this weak self of mine!”
That’s… a long discourse.
The boy named Elliot Brave started glowing with a blinding light; his hairs turned white, and, an ethereal armor surrounded him before disappearing at a roaring speed.
It was suddenly quiet, almost as if a ghost had appeared, before sound warmed up the atmosphere anew:
“Elliot Brave. Waif who came from a country of ice. I acknowledge your resolve. You shall be known as ‘The pilgrim’. It is a special title which can be given only once in a century. Live up to it, or, your life shall lose all significance.”
Saying this, the goddess looked at the other summoned individuals with motherly eyes; Elliot Brave, the former handicap, said that he was honored, as his hairs returned to being black. However, the atmosphere surrounding him had become even graver, and, his eyes mysteriously flitted between green and blue at odd times.
“Elliot, your strength is recorded on your back. Every man must carry the weight of strength on their back. You are no exception.”
Um…
“Is it my status table?” asked Elliot loudly, with a hint of excitement in his voice.
The goddess froze, before letting out a sigh, and, clarified:
“It is your divine status indeed. You are right. You used to be a gamer, huh? Well, you were a handicapped person, so, that’s understandable. I have expectations for you.”
I looked around myself for signs of revolt – all I saw were expectant eyes – in fact, poor, expectant eyes; these people – the men and women surrounding me – seemed to have led pitiful lives before coming here.
Didn’t they have friends, or, brothers and sisters to worry about?
Also…
What’s with this dumb goddess?
Giving the title of ‘the pilgrim’ to a gamer? There has to be better candidates, right?
Well, that’s not for me. I–
“Aidan Alastair, do you want to defeat the demon gods?”
“Don’t wanna. Return me home.”
As soon as I said those words, my body tensed up acutely. And, my breath was cut short.
“Hu!”
Black smoke started rising from my body while my skin was being burnt alive – or so, I thought; I saw scorched skin, and, I saw a perfectly unharmed surface the next instant; my skin was once again simmering with cracks, and, blood fled from my body as if it were alive.
I tried to keep breathing, but…
“Huu! Huu! Ahhh!”
My scalp was in searing white pain, my hairs ablaze, my hands ablaze when I touched my hairs, and, my voice distorted like a devil’s, as irrational fear took hold of my mind.
“What’s this person doing?!”
“His body looks fine. Why is he screaming?”
“This is as blood-curdling as a real devil’s scream. Eeek!”
Correct.
My body had not caught fire. My body was not exuding black smoke either – but.
…I did not know that.
The blood enveloped my body like wiggling vapor; my skin kept getting creeped out as I screamed from madness.
“Ahhh!!!”
“This person was a bit unlucky. This incident sometimes happens even against my will. He refused to a goddess, after all. He’ll be fine in a few weeks,” said the goddess with exasperation, as she motioned with her hand.
And, two men who looked like butlers, appeared to take hold of me, as I was rushed to somewhere which I did not know.
After that, no one probably had the will to refuse her demands.
