Chapter 2

The hero's summoning has already made my existence forgotten, and the nobles and knights are getting excited. They hold hands, pat each other on the back, and rejoice at the renewed hope. Among them, the princess, her cheeks flushed, tightly clasps the hand of the young man called the hero, murmuring, "Sir Hero..."

This state continues for a few minutes, gradually settling down.

The princess, regaining her composure, clears her throat, straightens her posture, and addresses the hero.

"Sir Hero, you will have an audience with my father, the king. Please follow me this way."

The princess leaves the hall with the young hero, and the nobles follow behind. The upper-class knights, clad in ornate armor, also follow, while the remaining knights begin to clean up.

Eh? What about me? Anxious, I call out to one of the remaining knights.

"Excuse me, what should I do?"

The knight looks troubled and calls out to a maid.

"Please show this person to the guest room. He will be leaving tomorrow. And—"

The knight whispers something in the maid's ear, and she nods silently, then guides me. Under the maid's guidance, I pass through the ceremonial hall and a corridor, and am led to one of the rooms in the castle. The corridor we walked through was adorned with sculptures and paintings, and I looked around curiously, having only seen such buildings on the internet.

"You may use this room. The toilet is behind that door. Your meals will be brought to this room."

The room I was shown to was surprisingly simple, unlike the lavish corridor we had just passed through. The room, about eight tatami mats in size, had a bed, a table, a chair, a small closet, and one door at the back, and strangely, no windows. It didn't look like a guest room at all.

"Is this the guest room? Really?"

I ask the maid again, as it's completely different from what I imagined. She only nods.

When I enter the room, the maid immediately closes the door.

Click

Huh? Did I hear the sound of a lock?

I try to open the door to check, but it doesn't budge.

When I check the lock, I realize it can be locked from the outside, not from the inside.

"Damn it! I've been tricked!"

I quickly give up on the door, which won't open no matter how I push or pull, and fall onto the bed.

"Still, why was I summoned in real life, and in a different form from reality..."

I can't understand it at all, so I give up and open the toilet door. Inside, there's a toilet, a sink, and... a mirror. Not a modern Japanese mirror, but one made of polished metal. The face in the mirror is familiar. It's not as impressive as the hero's, but it's the character of a priest I created with great effort on a different account.

"Of course, it's like that..."

Being younger is a good thing, but it's only for one day. I plan to return to my life as a salaryman tomorrow. I lie on the bed, thinking of an excuse for my absence from work tomorrow. Time passes in the room, where no one even knocks. I decide to go to sleep, drinking water from the bathroom to stave off my hunger, as no dinner is brought.

The next morning, I wake up to the sound of the door being unlocked. The maid who showed me to the room yesterday brings in a cart with food.

"Oh!"

Still groggy, I can't even get angry as the maid places the cart next to the table.

"I've brought your meal. I'll leave the cart here."

Then the door is closed again.

"I want to leave the room, but first, I need to eat. I'm really hungry..."

I quickly get out of bed and open the lid of the tray on the cart.

"No way..."

Inside is a single piece of bread and a bowl of soup with already cold vegetable scraps.

However, hunger is the best spice. The dry bread and the cold soup with only vegetable scraps are the best feast for me right now. I quickly devour them.

"It's not enough at all..."

I drink water to make up for the lack of food and pass the time. Then the door opens again.

The men who enter are an older man in a robe and several knights.

"We will now perform the return ritual. The princess is with the new hero, so I will send you back. Although I am not as powerful as the princess, my magic as a court magician should suffice."

"---Yes..."

The princess is already with the newly summoned hero, so the court magician will handle the return. I do as I'm told and put on the robe I was wearing when I was summoned. The knights stand around me, and I follow the older man in the robe. It's clear they are preventing my escape. Still, I can only follow, believing I will return to my original world.

We soon arrive at the ceremonial hall where I was summoned yesterday.

"Stand in the center of the magic circle. We will perform the return spell to send you back to your original world."

I stand in the center of the magic circle as instructed. The court magician begins to chant a long incantation. As the incantation echoes through the room for several minutes, the magic circle on the ground begins to glow.

"---O traveler who has descended upon this land, return to your original world."

The moment those words are spoken, the magic circle is enveloped in a blinding light, and my vision turns completely white.