The old man stood up from his throne and raised his hands into the air.
"Heroes from a different world! Welcome to the land of Astria! I am King of Astria, Jonathan the Second. You've been summoned into this world for a second chance in life!"
Gabriel was frozen in place. He didn't know whether this was an illusion of his dying brain or the twisted joke of an afterlife.
"Excuse me," The boy next in line turned to him. "Do you know what is happening?"
He was a teen in a blue school uniform. He had blonde hair and blue eyes.
Gabriel was just as confused as this stranger. He raised his hands as if to show his innocence and shook his head.
"Don't tell me you've never seen an isekai!" The man on his other side joined the conversation.
He was a few years older than Gabriel. He wore a green hoodie with the words "Otaku" printed in orange. He had short, black, messy hair that was in dire need of showering.
"Uwah!" The young boy cried out in excitement. "This is just like my favorite anime!"
"God, this is a dream come true!"
Gabriel stood between the two sparkling young men and listened to their strange words. Isekai? Anime? Gabriel read many of the books in Lord Lazar's library but none had such words inscribed in them.
The king walked down from his throne. The woman and child followed him next to six highly-armored guards. The old man stopped before the confused five and spoke with a much clearer voice.
"I am sure you are all very confused. Don't worry. This is neither a dream nor a nightmare. If you may, let me invite you to a more private area where I can explain the reasons for your arrival."
"You're a king, right?" The overly enthusiastic otaku grabbed and forcefully shook the king's hand. "My name is Naomi! I come from Japan and my hobby is collecting manga and–––"
The guards pushed him away and pointed their spears at the otaku. The king was speechless at first, but he hushed away the guards with a smile.
"Welcome to our world, Naomi. I look forward to working with you!" He properly shook the man's hand. "Now if you may, follow me into another room."
The masses cheered them on as they left the throne room. Gabriel was still in a state of shock, which was fueled more by the fact that he has never seen humans so excited about his arrival. If anything, he was more used to them attacking head-on and crying as they slowly die.
The king led them through many long corridors. As they got farther from the joyful crown, the corridors became longer and more decorated. Gabriel was quick to realize by various portraits that this place must've been a castle. What he found interesting was that they had been walking for quite a while and it seemed like the place had no end. This castle was at least thrice the size of the one in Lord Lazar's realm.
Eventually, they arrived at what appeared to be a negotiation room. Bookshelves surrounded the walls and the long black-wood table amidst the room. The king sat on the long end of the table while the five summoned sat on the opposite side.
"My apologies for the loud welcome. It is a tradition of ours to greet the summoned heroes with fanfare."
"There are more people like us?" The otaku asked.
"Yes, but that is not important now. I believe you must be confused, some of you might even be scared."
"That's not true!" The otaku raised his voice but the young blonde quickly shut him up by covering his mouth.
"The truth is, all five of you have died. The reasons for your deaths might vary, but all five of you have passed away. You should be dead, and in your previous worlds, you are. It is only thanks to our hard and painful work that your souls were saved and you have been reborn in this world."
Suddenly, someone raised her hand.
"Excuse me, but there has been a mistake!"
It was a young girl, seemingly still an early teen. Her wavy black hair reached down to her waist where an oversized orange pullover began. She had the face of a jack-o-lantern on her chest. Other than that, her only unique feature was a pair of black thigh socks.
The king was not caught off-guard by this situation. It looked like he was quite experienced when it came to comforting the dead.
"You must be Miss Pepon, correct?"
"Yes. My name is Son Pepon and I'm one-hundred-percent sure I didn't die."
Even though she bore a serious attitude, Gabriel could sense the distress in her voice.
"Miss Pepon, only the souls of the dead can be summoned. To conduct a summoning is very expensive and it required incredible amounts of mana from our greatest mage. To rip out someone's soul and bring it into our world is as impossible as for an ant to defeat a giant."
It was a strange metaphor, but Pepon understood. She sat down into her chair and gazed at the table with trembling eyes. Naomi leaned over to pat the girl's back.
"It must be awful to die so young."
"Huh?"
"How old are you? Thirteen? Twelve?"
Pepon's teary eyes morphed into a frown and she kicked the man in the face. The guards immediately reached for their weapons. Even the king was surprised.
"I'm thirty, you moron!" She yelled.
"What?! I thought for sure you were a loli!"
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"A loli? Who says that word out loud? What are you, some kind of pervert?!"
Pepon savagely rushed down Naomi, who had quite little to suffer. The guards immediately held her back, but even those few punches that landed were not enough to cause him any pain.
While this was happening, Gabriel noticed something. The king said five people were summoned into this world, including him, but only the four of them had made their presence known. There was a fifth person in this room who remained calm, collected, and completely silent.
To his left, after the blond schoolboy, there was another young man. He had dark hair and eyes. He wore a black coat above some ordinary white clothes.
What immediately caught Gabriel's attention was that unlike the rest of them, this man had weapons. Two black scabbards on both sides of him, a sword handle sticking out of both.
"Excuse me!" Gabriel jumped up from his chair. "Who is that man and why does he have a weapon?"
His sudden outburst surprised everyone. Even the king was speechless for a moment. The awkward silence was broken by the fifth man, who stood up and answered for himself.
"Suzuki. My name is Honda Suzuki. These swords are the extensions of my soul." He turned towards the king. "Your Highness, if I may! I noticed that my clothes differ from the ones I wore before my death. Is it safe to assume our bodies are different than that of our previous lives? No, might I go even further, have we been reborn as the idealized image of our soul?"
The king was speechless, again. Suzuki's knowledge was incredible.
"Y-Yes! You are right, Mister Suzuki!"
"Ah, I figured. There used to be a mole on my left hand, but it's not there anymore."
The rest of the summoned checked their body. Suzuki was right, they've lost all insignificant features they had.
"Ah, I still have my lucky spot!" Naomi looked over his shoulder.
Pepon leaned close to check it.
"Huh?" She recoiled. "What's so lucky about that?"
"It looks like a star! I learned it from my favorite anime that this means I have hidden powers."
"It looks like a bird shat onto your shoulder."
"What?!" Naomi pulled away. "You're just jealous!"
While these two were fighting, and the blonde schoolboy tried calming them, Gabriel's eyes were still on Suzuki. Something felt off about that man and especially about his weapons. They were hidden by a scabbard, but Gabriel knew they weren't any ordinary swords.
Suzuki saw the suspicion in Gabriel's eyes.
"Excuse me!" Suzuki raised his hand. "I believe it's only fair if we start with the same amount of knowledge. May we have everyone's name read out loud? I believe some of us haven't given a proper introduction yet."
The king nodded. It was only fair that everyone gets to know the other's name.
"I'm going to say everyone's names. When it's your turn, stand up and introduce yourself!"
So, it began.
"Zato Naomi!"
"Yes! My name is Naomi and I'm going to be the greatest hero of all time!" He raised his fist into the sky.
"Son Pepon!"
"That's me! And I'm still one-hundred-percent sure this whole thing is a mis––" Her stubbornness was cut short by the king.
"Stewart Lovecraft!"
"Yessir! Please, call me Stevie!" He smiled.
"Honda Suzuki!"
"I pledge my sword to you, Great King!" He bowed.
Only Gabriel remained. He wasted no time and stood up before having his name read out.
"My name is Gabriel." He put a hand on his chest. "I have no family name."
It seemed like everything was fine, up until he said his name. For some reason, that made the king remain silent for a moment, almost as if something was wrong.
He wasn't the only one with a unique reaction. The brown-haired boy, who previously sat beside him on a throne, was just as surprised by Gabriel's name. His eyes sparkled with a mysterious intent, and shortly after he left the room.
The king cleared his throat and continued with the same confidence as before.
"Great heroes, I feel fortunate to have met you. Astria is threatened by a great danger that is unlike anything you have ever met. Though I cannot aid you in battle, I will do my best to help you prepare for the outside world. It is not just the future of my kingdom, but also the fate of all mankind that depends on you!"