Chapter 1

The sound of water splashing, often seen in bathroom scenes, makes one wonder who came up with such an effect. While pondering such trivial matters, I was soaking in an artificial marble bathtub, gazing up at the ceiling of the bathroom. I felt apologetic for not being in a bathing scene with a beautiful woman, a young girl, or a handsome boy. My name is Kita Eiyu. I was a perfectly ordinary second-year high school student at a public school—until a week ago.

Do you know the term "otherworldly summoning"? It's a genre in fictional works where a person from modern Earth is summoned to another world, and the story begins from there. I liked such works as fiction, but I always thought it was impossible in reality. That was until about a week ago.

I was on the train after school, and suddenly I found myself sitting on a magic circle in a room of a white marble hall, my seat having disappeared, leaving me sitting on the floor. The white marble hall was a temple dedicated to the Goddess of Light. An old man, who claimed to be the high priest, and a girl who said she was the princess of this country, told me the usual story: the world is threatened by a demon king.

The story was long, but in summary, it was revealed that the demon king, who was sealed by a hero in the past, was about to be revived, according to the oracle of the Goddess of Light. To prevent the revival or reseal the demon king, or even defeat him completely, they decided to summon a hero from another world. The reason they summoned from another world rather than from this world is that those who respond to the call of the Goddess of Light receive a blessing and gain a miraculous ability called a "Gift." In other words, they rely on the power of the "Gift" to fight the demon king. It would be wise not to touch on the fact that I was summoned without my consent.

Five of us, including me, were summoned to this world of swords and magic. The breakdown was three men and two women, all of whom were strangers to each other. I had considered the possibility that we might be thrown into the world with minimal preparation, like in a game, but the summoning of heroes seemed to be a matter of the kingdom's prestige, and they had thought it through. We were given a month to prepare, including time to awaken our Gifts and prepare for the journey. The temple has the expertise to awaken a Gift within a week at the latest.

Interestingly, the calendar in this world is the same as in ours, with different names for the days of the week, but it still follows a seven-day week, twelve months, and 365 days in a year. I found this to be an incredible coincidence. However, according to the high priest, the summoning ritual uses the alignment of the major time flows, so the matching calendars are not a coincidence but a necessity.

We were entrusted to the temple and subjected to daily meditations, prayers, and other practices whose purpose I couldn't understand. On the third day, one of the men awakened his Gift. His name is Nishizawa Akizuki, a high school senior, one year older than me. He was the most enthusiastic when he heard he was summoned as a hero, and his eagerness might have contributed to him being the first to awaken his Gift. His Gift is "Infinite Bullets," which summons two pistols that never run out of ammunition. It's a contraption that makes you want to apologize to the fantasy world. This world has a magic that creates and launches stone pebbles, and his ability is thought to produce weapons similar to magical ones. After that, he was invited to the castle and didn't return to the temple. According to the high priest, he is preparing for his journey as a guest of the castle.

The next day, on the fourth day, a woman named Nakahana Ritsu awakened her Gift. She was an office lady. She had short, light brown hair, which was probably dyed, and she was quite beautiful. She didn't tell me her age, but from her appearance, I assumed she was in her mid-twenties at most. I didn't think her age was something to worry about, but maybe it was for her.

The following day, another man, Kaminan Natsuki, awakened his Gift. He was a 20-year-old college student. While Akizuki was of a slim build, Natsuki was more muscular and physically strong. Both had good looks, but while Akizuki was talkative and seemed to have a narcissistic streak, Natsuki was quiet and serious. They were quite a contrast. As someone with average looks, I found both of them enviable.

These two were invited to the castle without revealing the details of their Gifts. According to the high priest, it wasn't wise to make the content of the Gifts public, especially since it happened so quickly with Akizuki.

Then, two days later, on the seventh day, I awakened my Gift. I was sitting in the artificial marble bathtub, with the water up to my nose, making bubbles. The bathtub was a bit small to stretch out comfortably, but it was a well-equipped and relaxing space. Despite the presence of magic, the overall civilization level of this world is medieval, at best late medieval. Of course, a unit bath like this wouldn't exist in a medieval-level world.

"Why did I have to awaken such a Gift...?" I couldn't help but complain, looking up at the ceiling again. The Gift I awakened was the ability to take a bath anywhere and anytime. Its name is "Infinite Bathroom."

"Can I really fight the demon king with this?!"

I couldn't help but stand up from the bathtub and scream. Really, how am I supposed to fight the demon king and his evil minions with such an ability...?