"Ugh!"

By the time I realized it, my face was kissing the ground—or more like I woke up by smashing my face into the ground. Seriously, couldn't there have been a better way to summon me? I'd really like to have a long talk with someone about that.

Looking around, I see familiar and unfamiliar faces all staring at me. Everyone is silent, making the situation super awkward.

Besides me, there are eight classmates—four boys and four girls. Additionally, there’s a girl dressed like a priestess and an old man in similar priestly robes.

There’s a huge magic circle drawn on the ground. The air feels cool, like we’re underground, and everything—the floor, walls, and ceiling—seems to be made of stone.

"What... is this?"

"It seems the last hero has finally appeared."

As I looked around in confusion, the girl in the priestess outfit, standing at the front, stepped forward toward me.

"Mizumoto-kun, I presume?"

"You’re here too? ...Wait, aren’t you super late?"

The ones who immediately reacted were Shimizu Masayoshi, a central figure in our class, and Manaka Hitoshi, a gamer. They both seemed surprised, though Manaka’s broad grin is a bit creepy.

My classmates all have different expressions as they look at me. Some are smirking, and I can’t help but frown.

"We’ve already explained most of the situation, but we can't stop now. Even if you don’t fully understand, just touch this crystal for now," the old man in priestly robes said.

"Haha, I’m really looking forward to seeing what job you get."

Manaka's comment made me frown even more. Job? …Isn’t this supposed to be about skills?

Come to think of it, I didn’t ask the god what kind of world or country I’d be summoned to, but the system here seems different.

"It’s supposed to show a job based on what you’re good at."

Manaka sure is talkative today. Maybe gamers get hyped in situations like this?

Anyway, I’ll go touch the crystal. When I placed my hand on the crystal next to the old man, it glowed faintly and then quickly dimmed.

"Whoa! No way! You're jobless!"

"Hahaha! There’s someone worse than Rio! This is hilarious!"

Manaka burst into laughter, and Kyoka Hino, a girl with dyed hair, joined in, pointing at Yuzuki Rio and laughing. Looks like Yuzuki was at the bottom of the ranks here... and now it’s my turn to take her place?

"Uh..."

"Alright, let’s move on. Everyone, please follow me," said the priestess girl, leaving the room.

Not wanting to be left behind, I followed her. As I walked alongside Yuzuki, who was looking down, I realized I’m shorter than her—and probably the shortest among all the classmates here. Why couldn’t they have summoned a smaller girl instead?

"Hey, Yuzuki-san, I’m pretty confused. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Uh, sure."

Her shoulder-length hair swayed as she answered. She had a slightly chubby figure and a gentle, soft atmosphere, but her face now seemed shadowed with worry. Apparently, her job is “Mage,” but the display was faint, meaning her aptitude is low.

The priestess girl’s name is Lily Arclight, and she’s the third princess of this Arclight Kingdom. The old man is the high priest, named Selvista Regret. After summarizing their story, it turns out to be a typical scenario: a demon king appeared in the northern demon kingdom and started attacking, and now they want us to defeat him.

"I see... So basically, they kidnapped us from Earth and are sending us to the battlefield. What a lousy country."

"Ehhh..."

Yuzuki-san looked shocked at my blunt comment. No matter how they frame it, this country is a criminal state by Japan's standards.

"And the part about being able to return to our world if we kill the Demon King? That sounds especially fishy."

After all, the god told me, “It’s not impossible, but there’s no point.” Who am I supposed to believe—the god or this kingdom? And any country that resorts to summoning heroes is already suspicious.

"So, what are we going to do?"

Her gaze was skeptical, and I couldn’t blame her. We hadn’t spoken much before, and it's not like she would suddenly trust what I had to say.

"That’s the problem..."

While I do want to run away, it’s dangerous to leave when we don’t know anything yet.

"We also don’t know what this kingdom’s intentions are."

"Their intentions?"

"Yeah. Whether they want to treat us like slaves or actually pay us properly, or how they plan to deal with us ‘jobless’ folks like me and you."

"D-Don’t lump me in with you—"

"Of course, they’re not going to straight-up admit to treating us like slaves. Even if they explain things, it’s hard to trust what they say."

I cut her off and kept talking. Even if you don’t get the "jobless" label, there’s no guarantee it’ll be safe.

"...That’s true."

As we were talking, it seemed we’d reached our destination. The third princess opened a door at the end of the hallway, and we all followed her inside.

It was a large conference room, with a long table that could seat around twenty people.

"Please take a seat, everyone."

Once the third princess and the high priest sat at the head of the table, my classmates and I took our seats as well.

"Now, we’ll discuss the future plans for those whose jobs have been identified," the third princess began, her words carrying a strange undertone.