Transference To Another World And A Sense Of Unease

—Someone was calling out to her.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself beneath a leaden sky, standing in a shadowed meadow. The fog blanketing the grassland made the atmosphere feel even heavier. In short, it was the same dreamscape as always.

But for some reason, she felt as though she could see farther than usual. Was it just her imagination?

Konoha put her brain into overdrive, trying to drag the scenery of her dream out from her memories, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not remember. In the end, she had no choice but to judge by feel.

The method was simple: the distance between Konoha and the girl. The girl standing before her as always was farther away than usual. In the dream, everything behind the girl had always been completely hidden by fog, so naturally, the girl herself served as the reference point whenever Konoha tried to estimate distance. If the girl seemed farther away than usual, then surely that meant the fog had receded.

(That’s right. I wanted to ask this girl her name.)

Even though they had continued meeting for six years, Konoha felt as though some mysterious force had prevented her from ever consciously thinking about it. Yet today, for some reason, that “question” was the very first thing that came to mind.

“U-um…”

“Konoha.”

“…Huh?”

Hearing the girl call her name made Konoha’s heart skip a beat again. Even though she could not see her face, the girl’s clear voice allowed Konoha to imagine what she might look like. The first person who came to mind was Cinderella from a picture book she had read as a child. Then Snow White, the Little Mermaid, Princess Kaguya… There was no consistency whatsoever.

“That’s right… I still can’t tell you my name.”

“—!? Why!? I want to know your name! I want to see your face too!”

Konoha got that far before suddenly falling silent when she saw the girl smile.

“I’m __________, so I’m sure __________. But, Konoha. _______. So someday… someday, I want you to _____________ and take me away.”

The girl smiled brightly. Ah, no. This sensation was bad. She was going to wake up. The dream was ending.

It’s always like this, Konoha thought. Always, always, the dream ended just as Konoha tried to reach out to her. It frustrated her so badly that she sometimes woke up with tears streaming down her face. And then she would forget what had happened.

The only thing she remembered was meeting the girl in the gray meadow and crossing real blades with her. Only the sight of those two Japanese swords flashing through the air was somehow painted in vivid colors. Those two flowing streaks alone continued to give color and time to the world.

But this time, Konoha refused to let that happen.

“No…”

“Huh?”

“I don’t want to forget! I don’t want to forget talking to you in this dream, or your voice, or that expression!”

At that moment, Konoha felt as though she could see even more of the girl’s appearance. Her hair was black with a bluish tint. Konoha still could not make out her face, but that mysterious atmosphere captivated her endlessly. In her hair was an ornament resembling a chain of stars, decorated with blue and silver gemstones.

The girl stood frozen in surprise, but eventually, as though making up her mind about something, she began walking toward Konoha.

Even when she came close, her face remained impossible to see, as though someone had scribbled over it completely with black crayon. Yet the girl who approached and took Konoha’s hand was undoubtedly smiling.

The girl removed the beautiful ornament from her hair and pressed it into Konoha’s palm. There was a faint metallic clink, and Konoha felt its weight settle into her hand.

“U-um, what is this?”

“Keep it. It’s a charm.”

At that moment, her vision began to disappear as though the fog had suddenly expanded. It was the warning sign that the dream was ending.

“W-wait! I’m not done yet!”

Just as the dream faded away, Konoha barely managed to read the movement of the girl’s lips.

“………………I’ll be………………waiting.”

“Ugh… H-huh?”

“Thank goodness! You’re awake, Konoha-chan!”

Konoha woke up enveloped in something soft. Apparently, it was the sensation of Obana Karen’s chest. The comforting embrace of an elegant young lady was apparently formidable indeed, because Konoha nearly drifted straight back to sleep.

“That’s not ‘nearly’! You’re sleeping! You’re sleeping again, Konoha-chan! No going back to sleep!”

“Ugh… Karen-chan’s hand is warm. Zzz…”

“Ahh, Konoha-chan’s sleeping face is this close to me! Is this heaven!?”

Apparently having regained her composure, Karen had returned to normal enough to start bleeding from the nose at the sight of Konoha’s excessively adorable sleeping face. The classmates watching her were slightly put off.

“Thank goodness, Konoha! You’re awake!”

“Kisaki-chan! Waaaaah!”

Konoha threw herself into Sakegawa Kisaki’s arms. At 169 centimeters, Kisaki was relatively tall even among girls, so there was a fairly noticeable height difference between her and Konoha. Secretly delighted that Konoha had relied on her enough to cling to her, Kisaki stroked Konoha’s hair in an attempt to calm her down.

Meanwhile, Karen, who had effectively been “cheated on” in favor of Kisaki, looked extremely displeased. Such a powerful aura of resentment seeped from her that the surrounding classmates took another full meter of distance.

“Thank goodness. Everyone is awake now.”

It was Mogami Sasano-sensei, otherwise known as Sasa-chan-sensei. Having an adult teacher present made Konoha feel even more reassured.

“Sasa-chan-sensei!”

“K-Konoha-sa—bgyahhh!!”

“Thank goodness… Thank goodness…”

Konoha hugged Sasano. Karen and Kisaki glared jealously at Sasano, making her flinch for an instant.

But when she looked down at Konoha’s puzzled expression, her desire to keep hugging the girl easily won out, and she stopped caring about the other two.

“Um, so… where are we?”

From the look of things, every member of Class 1-5 was inside this space. They appeared to be inside some kind of building, and the stained-glass windows and rows of fixed wooden benches made it resemble a church.

There were several other strange things as well. Namely, the people standing before them.

“Ah, it seems the last one has awakened. How fortunate. Now then, may I continue my explanation?”

The people before them were dressed like priests, wrapped in pure white cloth. The man standing at the front wore a gentle smile, but the others had their heads covered by stark white hoods, giving them an extremely unsettling appearance.

“Um, who is this person?”

“Ah, well, he explained things while you were unconscious, Kushibiki-san, so it’d take a while to repeat everything… Actually, I still haven’t completely wrapped my head around it either…”

Sasa-chan-sensei sounded strangely hesitant. Had they really been told something that incomprehensible?

“Please stay calm while you listen, all right?”

“O-okay.”

“Apparently… we’ve been summoned here as a group of ‘Heroes’ destined to save another world…”

“…………………………..Huh?”

Allow the narration to explain. According to Sasa-chan-sensei, the students of Class 1-5 had been summoned to this place, the 【Sacred Kingdom of Parsia】, as “Heroes” meant to save this world. Huh? That doesn’t make any sense? Hmm, that’s troublesome.

“As I said! The resurrection of the 【Demon King】 has been foretold, demons have begun appearing, and the 【demihuman races】 have also begun rampaging, placing us in grave danger! Please, please, we beg you to lend us your strength, honored Heroes!”

“W-what do we do, Karen-chan? I didn’t understand a single thing that man just said!”

“Don’t worry, Konoha-chan. Neither did I.”

From Konoha’s perspective, far too many words completely detached from reality had appeared all at once, leaving her utterly confused. In fact, even Sasa-chan-sensei and the others, who had received the explanation earlier, still had not fully processed it.

“So basically, right? The demihumans and demons in this world have started harming humans, so they summoned us as ‘Heroes’ and want us to defeat the ‘Demon King’ who’s behind everything, right? Damn, this is crazy, seriously crazy. I’m getting pumped!”

A blond boy with his hair slicked back spoke with obvious excitement. His name was Tendo Reiji. He looked like a flashy playboy, but was actually quite the otaku and had apparently always harbored a deep fascination with things like other worlds. He was the boy who had been looking at the new game with Konoha earlier.

“Man, you caught on fast. Figures an otaku would get it immediately. You’ve completely exposed yourself!”

The short-haired, brown-haired boy teasing him was Tozawa Kanto, who often hung around with Reiji. He was a soccer-club member with a similarly flashy appearance and was also one of the central figures in Class 1-5.

“For now, everyone calm down. Konoha’s awake too, so what’s important right now is that we stick together and figure out how to overcome this situation.”

The handsome boy with light brown hair was Shirataka Gatari, the class’s natural leader. He was an all-around great guy, a superhuman who excelled at both academics and athletics. Among the students in their year, people even joked that he was about the only boy worthy of being paired with Konoha.

“Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Now then, allow me to explain something important.”

The suspicious-looking man in front of them began speaking once more. And now it was time for another narration break.

The first thing to hit the members of Class 1-5 was the fact that they “could not return.” Apparently, the one who had summoned them was a deity known as 【Full Moon-sama】, and returning to Japan in their current situation would be difficult until they accomplished this god’s command to “save the world.” For the duration of their stay in this other world, the Sacred Kingdom of Parsia and a religious organization known as the 【Church of the Full Moon】 would apparently support them.

Naturally, Sasa-chan-sensei had been furious. Don’t be ridiculous. The students have nothing to do with this. Send us back to Japan. But she had been flatly told that doing so was impossible, and after various attempts to persuade her, she had eventually calmed down for the time being. Of course, she had not accepted it, and Sasa-chan-sensei still wore an anxious expression.

“So what exactly are we supposed to do? Before we even talk about fighting this ‘Demon King,’ we’re just students. We don’t have any ability to fight.”

Shirataka Gatari’s argument was perfectly reasonable. Wasn’t it strange to summon ordinary students as Heroes? The man answered that question just as calmly, without changing his expression.

“Heroes summoned from another world are granted things called ‘Classes’ and ‘Skills’ by Full Moon-sama. With those, you should presumably be capable of opposing the demons and demihuman races.”

“—!? You expect us to use those to fight?”

“Ordinarily, we would prefer to examine your Classes and Skills as soon as possible… however, you must all be quite exhausted, and naturally, you will wish for time to process the situation. We shall conduct the examination tomorrow. Rooms have been prepared for you within the royal palace tonight. Please rest comfortably.”

Although uneasy at how quickly everything was progressing, Shirataka Gatari swallowed his concerns and continued the conversation.

“Inside the royal palace… I assume that’s where the royal family lives. Is it really all right to allow outsiders like us inside?”

“The upper echelons of the Sacred Kingdom have already been informed. Tomorrow, you will have an audience with His Majesty the King, so we shall notify you of the time later. The royal palace lies above us. Now then, I shall guide you to your rooms, so please follow me.”

Thanks to Shirataka Gatari handling the conversation rationally, they seemed to have cleared the first hurdle somehow.

That said, none of the students could immediately believe a story so completely filled with fantasy, and they felt as though they were being crushed by anxiety and fear. Normally, this would have been where Kushibiki Konoha or Shirataka Gatari said something to calm everyone down, but both of them had remained silent.

Sensing this, Sasa-chan-sensei stepped out in front of everyone.

“Everyone!”

“…S-Sensei.”

Her voice trembled slightly, but she forced the words out with all the strength she had.

“I think a lot of you are probably overwhelmed with fear right now. I’m sure you’re desperately wishing you could go home. But for now, let’s cooperate with these people. If we can’t return, then everyone in Class 1-5 will stick together. Remember the sports festival! Remember the cultural festival! Whenever we’ve united before, we’ve always managed to make things work. Another world won’t be any different!”

“B-but, Sensei!”

“I’ll take responsibility and get every single one of you back to Japan! I promise. So please, trust me! There has to be a way for us to return!”

It was a hesitant speech and, even as flattery, could hardly be called eloquent. Even so, hearing those reassuring words from their teacher, a trustworthy adult, kindled a small flame of hope in the students’ hearts. Shirataka Gatari, Tendo Reiji, Tozawa Kanto, and the others immediately helped raise everyone’s spirits, and the journey toward the palace was unexpectedly lively.

However, a few of the students were worried about “something.”

(Konoha… chan?)

At the end of Obana Karen’s suspicious gaze was one particular person.

Kushibiki Konoha.

For some reason, the girl who was usually overflowing with energy had been overwhelmingly quieter than normal. She looked as though she were brooding deeply over something, making it difficult to find an opening to speak to her.

As for Kushibiki Konoha herself—

(Something feels… wrong.)

She sensed something strange within her own body. It felt as though some incomprehensible foreign presence had entered her, and she could feel her heartbeat accelerating. Her blood seemed to be circulating faster than usual, making it obvious that something abnormal was happening.

(I’m scared… I’m scared…)

Konoha suddenly realized that she was clutching a hair ornament. Several blue stars, the color of tiny hydrangeas, were linked together, adorned with brilliant silverwork in a way that made the ornament look extraordinarily expensive.

And there was something else. Around Konoha’s neck hung a strangely shaped rosary, likewise studded with blue gemstones. The first thing that came to mind was that dream. Yet Konoha could not remember what had actually happened in it.

(But I remember what she said. I remember the last words that girl told me. She definitely said this to me.)

__________I’ll be waiting for you.

At that moment, Konoha heard something inside herself that sounded like the hands of a clock beginning to move. Carrying that mysterious sense of unease with her, Konoha continued climbing the long staircase leading to the royal palace.