Chapter 16 Summoned Heroes？？？
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Mm… where… am I?”
Maya’s lashes fluttered as her eyes blinked open, and for a moment her mind lagged, like an engine that refused to start. She’d been in the classroom—she remembered the chalk smell, the droning teacher, the sleepy hum of afternoon—then a flash of light so blinding she hadn’t even had time to scream. And now… this.
Instead of desks and windows, an endless stretch of strange land rolled out before her. Jagged mountains knifed up from the horizon like dark teeth, and above them spread a sky stained in colors no sunset on Earth had ever dared to show. The sight was so alien it punched the breath right out of her.
”Welcome, heroes from beyond. We thank you for answering our summons.”
The voice sliced the stillness—smooth, commanding. Maya jerked her gaze up—and froze. A small group stood before them in robes so ornate they almost glimmered. Even without understanding a single custom here, just looking at them proved this was not her world.
”Heroes…?” she whispered.
Her heart thudded like it was trying to break out of her ribs. She darted a glance at her classmates; their faces were just as pale and wide-eyed. Maya clung to her bag strap and muttered, “W-what… is going on?”
While Maya struggled to string her thoughts together, Morita—the ever-practical class rep—stepped forward. “Excuse me,” he said, his voice trembling just a little, “what exactly do you mean by ‘heroes’?”
The tallest of the strangers, standing at the center like a pillar, smiled. “Our world stands on the brink of ruin. Evil spreads like a plague, and we lack the strength to stop it. So we performed a ritual… to summon champions from another world. That is you.”
Maya’s pulse spiked. Champions? Chosen ones? She scanned the others; their expressions mirrored her own—fear, confusion, disbelief knotted together.
”Wait… no way. We’re just students! We can’t fight in some war!” a boy blurted, his voice cracking.
The robed strangers didn’t flinch. “True. As you are now, you have no power. But in this land, each of you holds a sleeping strength. The power of heroes resides within you.”
Maya’s breath hitched. Power? In her? She’d failed gym three times.
”Yesss! Isekai cheat powers, let’s gooo—!” one of the glasses guys fist-pumped so hard he nearly elbowed someone. Maya shot him a sideways look, but her eyes were already dragged back to the center.
The speaker was a girl—about their age, maybe younger—wrapped in flowing priestly robes that shimmered like moonlight. Something about her—the way the air seemed to bend around her, the gravity in her gaze—tied a knot in Maya’s stomach. Obvious, now: she was the axis they’d all been pulled into.
”You have a choice,” the girl said gently. “Accept this power and fight to save our world… or deny the fate given to you—and be captured as rebels.”
A choice, she said. But it felt like being offered one door in an empty hallway. Maya wanted to laugh, except her mouth was too dry.
”No…” someone whispered. “Can’t we… go home?”
Every face flicked toward the voice—and Maya’s chest twisted, because she wanted to say the same thing.
”…We do not possess the power to return you,” murmured one of the older priests, bowing his head as if ashamed. “But… if you gain the Goddess’s favor, there may be hope.”
”The… Goddess?” Maya echoed faintly. Gods were fine for fantasy novels. But real? In a place where her sneakers still had classroom dust on them?
”Yes,” the girl said, voice soft as falling snow. “She who created and guards this world. Meeting Her will not be easy. Many trials await you. Endure them, and perhaps She will guide you home.”
”Trials…” Maya mouthed the word. Around her, other students winced. The idea of suffering through trials just to maybe be heard by some unseen deity felt like a sick joke.
”Is that… the only way?” someone asked, voice trembling.
”Yes,” the priest said, bowing again. “But the trials will also awaken your power. The strength of a hero lies sleeping inside each of you. It may be the key… to return.”
Maya bit her lip hard enough to sting. That morning she’d been doodling cats in her notebook—now she was supposed to save a world. Return home by becoming a hero. She couldn’t tell if this was real, or if her mind had broken.
”Previous heroes saved this world,” the priest added. “They met the Goddess, and She returned them to their home.”
The words dropped like stones in her chest. A rehearsed story, designed to push them forward? Maya didn’t know. She only knew her classmates were already nodding, fear softening into something like hope.
”But… we don’t even know how to fight…” someone murmured.
”Your power is already within you,” the priestess-girl said firmly. “It will awaken. And we shall aid you.”
There was no space to argue. No room for doubt. Maya’s hands curled into fists at her sides.
”…If we fail to defeat this evil?” she asked quietly.
”Then our world will perish,” the girl answered without hesitation. “But with the Goddess’s blessing, you will not fail.”
Said so lightly, as if failure weren’t real—yet the weight in Maya’s stomach only grew heavier.
”You must be weary from standing out here,” the girl added at last, her tone shifting like silk. “Please… follow me.”
And just like that, their feet began to move. None of them spoke. Maya followed, mind spiraling, feet numb against the cobblestones. She didn’t know which way was safe. Maybe there was no safe way. But right now… she had no choice except to follow.
*I just… have to go along for now…*
She told herself that as she walked through this impossible place. Everything screamed foreign: clean-cut stone towers, roadside flowers glowing faint blue, people in flowing tunics speaking a language that danced like windchimes. The truth pressed in—this was no dream. This was real.
*I’ll be okay… somehow…*
Her whisper stayed locked inside. Around her, her classmates wore the same tight, brittle looks. She wondered if their hearts were screaming too.
Then, at last, it rose before them—taller than anything Maya had ever seen. A castle.
”Welcome to the Kingdom of Alfheim,” the girl said, turning to face them. “In the name of First Princess Almea, I greet you, Heroes.”
Thunder rolled through Maya’s chest. The truth snapped into place: the girl who had led them wasn’t just a priestess—she was royalty. It explained everything—the calm grace, the way even the air hushed around her. Knowing it still sent panic spiking through Maya’s ribs.
”Princess… Almea…” she breathed.
Almea only smiled. Behind her, the massive gates loomed like mountains, ranks of knights in gleaming armor at the ready, their swords silent and sharp at their sides.
”You must be exhausted from such a sudden journey,” Almea said warmly. “Before anything else… please allow us to appraise you.”
She lifted a hand in a graceful sweep. The gates opened—heavy, slow—spilling light like molten gold across the stones.
Maya swallowed. Her legs felt like glass. She stepped forward anyway.
They had no choice but to follow her.
No one spoke. Whatever waited ahead, it felt like the only path left was the one Princess Almea walked—her steps sure on white marble, their sneakers squeaking faintly behind her.
”Now then, everyone,” Almea said softly, turning with a sweep of her long sleeves, “please place your hand upon this crystal, one at a time. It will reveal the gift the Goddess has granted you.” [t/n: *Appraisal Crystal*—a ritual device that displays one’s class/skills, first mention only.]
The words slipped from her lips as smooth as water, yet they carried the weight of something absolute.
One by one, Maya’s classmates stepped forward. The crystal—like a lump of frozen starlight—breathed a faint, misty glow. When the first boy, a tall athlete, pressed his palm to it, the glow brightened into sharp, pale blue. Letters floated up like fireflies.
”‘Swordsman’… huh.” His voice cracked with awkward pride. He tried to smother the grin tugging at his mouth and failed.
Next was a timid girl who could barely look at the pedestal. The instant her fingertips brushed the surface, a gentle green ripple wrapped her before the word appeared: “Healer.” She gasped quietly, then smiled as if her heart had just unclenched.
And so it went. “Mage.” “Sharpshooter.” “Forest Guardian.” Each touch painted the crystal a new color, each title glittered in the air before fading like smoke. Awe and fear tangled in their whispers.
Then it was Maya’s turn.
Her throat tightened. She stepped forward on legs that didn’t feel like hers, stopped before the pedestal, and lifted her right hand. The surface was cool as glass beneath her palm.
Light flared.
”…Huh?” She squinted as the glow burst bright—almost too bright. Slowly, letters surfaced. Her heart lurched.
”‘Shadow’…?”
The word hung there like a drop of black ink in clear water.
Whispers rippled through the hall. Her gift didn’t sound like anyone else’s—didn’t look like theirs, either. Wrong? No—unknown. Unease crept cold through her ribs as she pulled her hand back and stared at her fingers as if they weren’t her own.
*No one else saw it, did they…?*
Behind the word, something had glimmered—another faint shape, almost hidden. A single flower-name: *Lily* [t/n: lit. kanji 百合, “lily,” first mention only]. Later, replaying it in her head, the two fused into one: *Shadow Lily*.
The name curled inside her like a secret she wasn’t sure she wanted. She hadn’t tested it. She hadn’t asked anyone. Easier, for now, to let the tide carry her—keep her doubts quiet, her hands still.
* * *
”We were chosen,” Morita Kazuo declared, his voice ringing against the high stone arches. “For the sake of Alfheim—we’ll fight!”
Maya flinched. Kazuo stood like a hero from a poster, back straight, eyes blazing. His own appraisal still echoed in her mind: “Commander.” It fit. People just… fell into step behind him.
He’d asked to gather everyone “to talk strategy,” and now they sat scattered through an ornate lounge, school uniforms crumpled against plush chairs like mismatched pieces in the wrong puzzle.
”Yeah… Kazuo could probably pull it off,” someone murmured. Heads nodded, eager to believe.
But something still twisted in Maya’s chest. It wasn’t his leadership. It was everything else—the talk of saving a world they didn’t belong to. And her so-called gift: *Shadow*. She had no idea what it meant, how it worked, whether she’d even live long enough to find out.
”We need to train first,” said Kudō Kōichi, the new Swordsman, leaning forward. “Drills. Basics. Get our footing.”
”No way, that’s too slow. We should jump into real fights—a dungeon or something. We’ll learn faster,” argued Kimura Takeshi, the Forest Guardian. “Experience is the best teacher.”
”That’s too dangerous,” said Nozaki Sumire, the Healer, shrinking in her seat. “We don’t even know what we’re doing. If someone gets hurt—if someone dies—”
”We don’t have time to sit around!”
”But if we rush in, we could get wiped out!”
Voices rose, sharp and overlapping, like swords clashing in a too-small room. *Training first.* *No, real combat.* *No, find another way.* Kazuo tried to cut in with his Commander voice, but no one listened—they were too tangled in fear and bravado.
Maya sat still, watching the storm whirl around her. She couldn’t even pick a side—her mind kept blanking. She didn’t know what her gift could do. What could she possibly say?
*If only Kanata-kun were here.*
The thought hit so suddenly it made her chest ache. Kanata, who always saw through the noise, who could unknot messes with a single quiet sentence. She could almost hear him, calm and certain.
”What’s the right move here, Kanata-kun…” she whispered.
No answer came.
*
In the end, they ran out of time before they ran out of arguments. No one gave in. The air felt thick as wet wool when Kazuo finally stood and clapped his hands.
”Let’s talk again tomorrow. We’ve got the feast tonight, and everyone needs to get ready.”
Right. The royal feast. The King of Alfheim himself had invited them—summoned heroes, honored guests. The words felt unreal just thinking them.
The girls were already being whisked off to “prepare,” which apparently involved an army of maids. The boys grumbled about that, of course, but filed out anyway. Tomorrow’s debate could wait. Tonight was… whatever this new life was turning into.
Maya drifted back to her assigned room like a leaf in a current. Inside, a small team of maids bowed and began dressing her in layers of soft, silken fabric, their hands quick and gentle. She let them move her like a doll, staring blankly at the canopy overhead. No matter how many times she replayed it all, she couldn’t make it feel real—being summoned, being called a hero, being given some mysterious power. She couldn’t even find the edge of what she was supposed to do.
Her sigh misted in the lamplight.
*
The feast glittered like something from a dream.
Light spilled from chandeliers high overhead, warm and golden. The vast hall blazed with candles, flowers, crystal goblets, banners heavy with gold thread. Long tables groaned under towers of food—roasted meats, spiced fish, jewel-bright fruit, pastries layered with cream. Music floated in the background, soft and bright as starlight on glass.
The royal family waited at the head table. The King himself stood to greet them, his crown catching the light as he spoke. “We thank you from the depths of our hearts, for lending your strength to our kingdom.”
His voice rolled like distant thunder, slow and deep, and Maya felt it vibrate in her ribs. For the first time since they’d arrived, she saw the weight of what they represented reflected back in someone’s eyes.
They were important here. Terrifyingly so.
Almea sat poised beside him, a soft smile lighting her face. Even in this storm of gold and silk and light, she was still the calm center. Her gaze swept over them like a warm breeze, and somehow, that alone steadied Maya’s breath.
Plates clattered gently as course after course arrived. The food was absurd—each bite melting with flavors she’d never even tasted before. Maya’s eyes sparkled as she nibbled at a sugared tart, forgetting for a moment how her hands had been shaking earlier.
Around her, her classmates loosened. Laughter rose in hesitant bursts. Kazuo was already making the rounds, chatting up nobles and guards alike with that easy grin, like he’d been born to it.
Maya watched him and tried, just for a second, to imagine what she was supposed to become here.
The answer didn’t come.
So she smiled faintly, and let the warmth and light of the feast wash over her, just for tonight.
* * *
The sun climbed lazily over the ramparts, spilling warm light across the courtyard.
By the time Maya dragged herself out there, most of the class was already buzzing like they’d chugged three cups of coffee. Or maybe adrenaline. Probably both.
The training grounds stretched out behind the royal barracks—a wide square of packed earth, ringed with battered wooden dummies, warped target boards, and rusted racks of blunt practice weapons that looked like they’d been dragged out of a museum. The air smelled of dust, sun-warmed iron, and a faint tang of magic that made the hairs on Maya’s arms stand up.
”All right, listen up!”
Morita Kazuo’s voice cracked across the field like a whip, even though he was literally standing on an overturned barrel to look taller. His silver ‘Commander’ crest glinted in the sunlight like he’d polished it twice before coming out.
”We’re gonna run through everyone’s gifts and see what we’re working with. Got it?”
”Sir, yes sir,” someone muttered, more sarcasm than spirit.
Kazuo ignored it, arms crossed like he was about to pose for a fantasy military calendar. Maya half-expected him to start smearing dirt on people’s cheeks for dramatic effect.
Kudō Kōichi stepped up first, rolling his shoulders. “Guess I’ll go. Might as well set the bar.” His Swordsman aura shimmered faintly around him—like heat rising from stone. He grabbed a practice blade, gave it a lazy twirl, and lunged.
*CRACK!*
The sword slammed into the dummy’s chest hard enough to send splinters flying. The impact echoed like a firework.
”Whoa—!” someone yelped, ducking instinctively. Even Kazuo’s jaw dropped for half a second before he caught himself and started clapping.
”Okay, yeah, that’s… decent,” he admitted, clearly struggling not to sound impressed. “Next.”
Sumire Nozaki approached like she was walking into a job interview. She clutched her staff close, the green glow in her palms soft and tentative. But when she touched it to the dummy, the shattered wood knit back together in a slow shimmer—splinters slipping back into place like time itself was rewinding.
A soft gasp rolled through the group.
”That’s amazing,” Maya said before she could stop herself.
Sumire flushed all the way to her ears. “It’s nothing…”
Then Kimura Takeshi—the self-declared Forest Guardian—grinned, sprinted at the nearest wall, and vaulted straight up like a human grasshopper. He landed in a crouch atop the beam and spread his arms theatrically.
”Field work,” he said. “Obviously.”
”Show-off,” someone grumbled, but a few people clapped anyway.
One after another, the class revealed their powers. Sparks danced across fingers. Mini-tornadoes whooshed into being and vanished again. A boy tagged ‘Sharpshooter’ casually flicked pebbles into a target from halfway across the yard—without even turning his head.
It was chaos. It was ridiculous. And it was kind of amazing.
The fear that had been strangling everyone yesterday seemed to be lifting—burning off like morning fog under the rising sun.
Then all the eyes turned to her.
Maya’s stomach did a slow roll.
”Um…”
Kazuo hopped down from his barrel, boots puffing dust. “Come on, Maya. Let’s see what ‘Shadow’ can do.”
Her mouth went dry. She could feel their stares crawling over her skin like static. *Shadow Lily* still whispered at the back of her mind, delicate and dangerous. Showing it off felt like trying to peel open her chest in front of them.
But hiding wasn’t an option.
She stepped forward. The earth crunched beneath her sneakers. The sunlight cut deep shadows around her ankles as she knelt and pressed a hand to the ground.
Nothing happened.
Then—
Her shadow wavered. Like it had turned liquid.
Gasps snapped through the circle. The dark peeled from the dirt and curled up her arms like black silk—soft, weightless, alive. Ribbons of shadow wrapped her wrists, coiled around her shoulders, fluttered in the breeze like ghostly petals.
They looked like lilies. Ink-black lilies blooming from her skin.
”Whoa…” Kōichi breathed.
”That’s so creepy,” someone whispered.
”Cool, though,” another murmured.
Maya rose slowly, the shadows swaying with her like breath. Her heart pounded in her ears, but somehow… she felt steady. Like the darkness was holding her up.
Then, just as gently, the lilies melted away—dissolving into wisps and snapping back down into a flat shadow at her feet.
Silence.
”…Okay,” Kazuo said at last, trying to sound brisk but not quite hiding the awe in his voice. “That’ll… do.”
Heat rushed to Maya’s face. She ducked her head, hands trembling, trying not to grin.
She’d done it.
For real.
She’d actually done it.
And maybe—just maybe—this crazy, impossible place didn’t feel quite as far from home anymore.
Notes:
• Maya – Cheerful brown-haired girl, naturally charming and social, Kanata’s classmate and morning conversation neighbor.
• May – Blonde, soft-eyed shrine girl. ch14–15. Gentle and pleading (“Please… just let us go…”), timid but loyal, relies on Mina’s strength. Came with Mina to save Sara, but was disarmed and bound by Kanata as his captive maid.
• Morita – Kazuo’s Family Name.
• Almea – First Princess of Alfheim, poised and graceful, leads and guides summoned heroes, embodies calm authority and divine favor.
• Kazuo – Silver-haired, confident class rep, natural leader and strategist, takes charge of classmates in the summoned hero scenario.
• Kimura – Gou’s Family Name. The Ranger.
• Sumire – A healer preparing to mend classmates, supporting the team during training.
• Nozaki – Sumire’s Family Name. A Healer.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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