“TEST, TEST! CAN YOU HEAR ME?” Takuma shouted at one of my classmates who was outside the room, waving at him.

My classmate waited for a second before crossing his arm, shaking his head in denial before entering the room again, “I couldn’t hear you, Takuma. No sound came out of the room.”

“Perfect, thanks for testing,” Takuma said with a smile, before turning to Nishio. “‘Sovereign of the Elements’, that skill name really fits you. Thanks for putting it up, Nishio-san. I didn’t know that [Air Shield] was a soundproof barrier.”

“It doesn’t allow air to enter nor exit, so it’ll be hard to breathe after a bit,” Nishio said nonchalantly as if it was obvious. “However, none of us are very proficient with sensing mana nor do we know if the church has a sound probing spell or tool. This should help prevent random eavesdroppers, though.”

“Don’t worry about it. Not much we can do about it when we’re still stuck here. We just have to accept the consequences if the church is willing to listen in,” Takuma stated with a frown.

“So, what do you suggest, Akanishi-san?” still sitting at his table with his posse, Daisy spoke up once everything was in place for our assembly to begin uninterrupted.

“Ahh, of course, I’ll come to that in a moment, however, as everybody has voted democratically to use our first names, I would ask you to use my first name: ‘Takuma’,” Takuma spoke.

I might not like him but his argument was sound. Adapt to our new surroundings, something that I ought to do, too.

“Regardless of how we feel about this new world, it can’t be denied that we must compromise on a few things,” Takuma continued. “The church wishes to use us as figureheads. They might have given us a job to kill somebody, but you of all people should know that they won’t hold back on using us to further their influence. After all, aren’t you the son of one of our country’s top prosecutor, F-”

“Akabane,” Daisy interrupted.

This sudden interruption in Takuma’s speech must have caught him off-guard as he had a clear “huh?” face on, slightly twitching his smile in annoyance. Everybody around me also starting whispering and talking with each other, showing concern that this might derail the original intent for this meeting.

Is the same thing as last time about to happen?

“…Maybe I was a bit stubborn. I concur that it might prove useful in the long run to use our first names to build up trust, especially with dignitaries. Everything points to this country being similar to medieval Europe,” Daisy spoke with a sigh. “I will start addressing everybody with their first name, as you wish, Takuma-san. However, I won’t allow you to use mine. I am Akabane, to you.”

And there we go again. Daisy, being trained by his father to become a prosecutor, is usually the first person to start arguing about stuff. Considering how he gave up so quickly, he must have internally known that he shouldn’t be debating about this, that Takuma gave sound arguments.

So, what’s wrong with him now, though? Despite agreeing to call everybody else by their first name, he himself isn’t willing to? It’s not like nobody knows it. So, what’s his deal?

I’ve also noticed during the vote that he and his posse were the only ones who didn't raise their hand, disagreeing with the idea. Why is he so against anyone calling him by his first name? He never minded it in the three years that we’ve known each other at school.

Then, again, why should I care? If it makes him uncomfortable, then should I maybe switch back? Using his first name might annoy him even more than “Daisy”, he he.

“Uhhh, may I ask why?” Takuma asked with a frown. “Akabane-san, you should know this already, but we’ve been kidnapped and transported into a foreign country. They’ve kept us imprisoned and under constant watch for eight months while plotting whatever they wished to do with us once they set us into the world. This is what this ‘Quest’ is supposed to be. If there is a time that we, Japanese, should stick together, then this is the time.”

“…Japanese, huh?” Daisy swept his pure white bangs to the side, thinking for a moment before continuing speaking. “If you insist, then call me ‘Light’ from now on. I will not compromise any further than that. Either Akabane or Light, however, I won’t allow you to use my first name.”

Urgh, he’s looking at me now…

My whole body shivered for a moment, chilled to the bones from that guy’s stone-cold glare. His last words were probably directed at me as he wouldn’t stop staring.

Oh great, now his posse is looking at me, too. I don’t need those yes-men causing me trouble.

“Just nod. Don’t cause trouble, Tatsuya,” Kyouya whispered next to me, leaning close to my ear.

“Yeah, I know,” I responded, then made a short nod to tell Daisy that I wouldn’t do it.

Squinting his eyes for a moment, he adjusted his glasses and then turned his head back to Takuma’s direction, prompting his party to do the same. Well, I can’t use his first name but he said nothing about “Daisy”, right?

I’m planning to change myself, but I won’t let go of my grudge. He and his family don’t deserve anything but my contempt. I bet every single of his family members are selfish, egotistical, narcissistic, and arrogant.

…Yeah, let’s stop that train of thought. Thinking this way isn’t healthy. Speaking of family, I hope mine is doing alright.

“…Alright, ‘Light’. You don’t seem to want to speak about your reason, so I’ll let it go,” Takuma threw his hands in the air, having given up. “Anyways, let us get back to the main topic, alright, everybody?”

With that issue quickly dealt with, the noise in the dining hall quietened down. Still, the tension inside the room hasn’t waned one bit. Clenching fists, racing hearts, deep breathes, many signs indicated that everybody was nervous.

Skills like [Enhanced Auditory Sense] and [Enhanced Vision] didn’t give me superhuman senses. It’s more like they improve periodically because you strain them to become better. I couldn’t hear most of the things I just described but what I could do was to predict what was going on with everybody. It also helped that I was feeling the exact same thing.

I really don’t want to do this…

"Now, I know everybody is afraid," Takuma started. "We experienced killing when we were in the dungeon. I can understand how some of us haven’t gotten used to it yet. After all, ending another living being’s life is an uncomfortable thought, especially when we’re about to fight against other humans.”

At those words, I suddenly heard somebody’s breathing accelerate. Turning my head to the side, I saw Haruka hugging herself, shivering madly in total terror. Her wide-open eyes were looking down to the ground, slowly becoming wetter and wetter.

I guess this was a normal reaction for her. She wasn’t able to kill a single monster when we were in the dungeon and she was about to be sent into a battlefield to subdue a bunch of criminals. This was the reality of the situation.

I wanted to comfort her somehow, but I was hesitating. It felt awkward for me to try and I didn’t know what to say? “It’s ok, I’ll protect you”? No! Not only is that extremely cliché but how can I say that when I myself am not very comfortable about the whole idea of killing a human? It would be hypocritical of me to do so.

As I was worrying about how to handle this situation, Kyouya move to her right side and took her hand, holding onto her small hands as he whispered, “Don’t worry, it’ll be ok.” Surprisingly, Asaka, who was standing next to Haruka, started stroking her back while keeping her eyes at Takuma, seemingly trying to act distant.

…Urgh, why can’t I just go and say something? Anything.

“However, I ask you to strengthen your resolve,” Takuma continued his speech. “We can’t avoid it. I’ve spoken with the Knight-Commander, we will be sent into battle regardless of how much we complain or struggle.”

A commotion began to form as Takuma spoke of this fact, as my other classmate questioned him on it. They asked stuff like, “We’re all around level 15 to 25, right? They can’t expect us to be ready for it, right?” and “Hey, Takuma! Are you telling us that he didn’t accept your idea, huh?!”

It was expected that the four other parties would be mad about it, but it also seems like he hasn’t informed his party about it yet. Emotions ranging from anger, denial, and fear were evoked in everybody, as their hope of avoiding this Quest was quickly crushed under the reality that Takuma just admitted.

“Please, everyone! Please, quiet down and give me your attention,” Takuma tried to diffuse the situation but utterly failed. "I know that you aren't pleased to hear this from me, but we have little time left until our departure, so please allow me to talk about my plan!"

“We didn’t come here to listen to your half-baked plans, dude,” a headstrong sounding voice came from Daisy’s direction, belonging to one of his posse: Ryuji Enokida. “Everyone expected something more than what you just told us. If we aren’t allowed to sit out of this, then that means that nothing changed about our situation. We have to fight for our life, so any plan you’re trying to spout out is meaningless.”

“Ryuji-san is correct, Takuma-san,” Nishio suddenly spoke up. “It might have been presumptuous of everybody to believe we would be exempt from the quest without any evidence, but why else would you call for a meeting? Any plans you would suggest won’t be effective compared to the experienced knights of the church.”

While our two parties weren’t sure how good the other knights were, we did know that Yorshka was not only a battle-hardened warrior but an experienced field leader, too. She might work for the church, a reason to distrust her, but I rather work with somebody that I already know, compared to somebody like Takuma.

Not only have we never fought together, in fact, we’ve only fought against each other. Training in the church also included spars between everybody and every time this guy won against us; he always used those moments to parade himself. Why would I want to work with somebody like that?

“I understand that everybody is disappointed, but that’s why I’ve called in this meeting in the first place!” while it hasn’t cooled down completely, it was quiet enough that we could hear Takuma speak. “We were never able to get away from our current situation, anyways. Has everybody already forgotten that these are the people who were willing enough to evoke some magical summon just to call for people from another world to help them? They are willing to send students to solve their problem, send us to kill some demon lord straight out of a fantasy novel.”

Realizing what he meant with those words, everybody stopped speaking. Maybe the reason was naivety for why we held onto that tiny bit of hope, any chance to avoid doing something unpleasant.

“Unity. That is why I called everybody to join me today. Unity as a class, as Japanese, as humans from Earth,” Takuma further spoke. “We can’t avoid what will happen. Everybody, all of you wish to return back to Earth, correct? To our homes, to our families?”

Everybody nodded.

"See? That is our goal. That is why we have trained until today, to become stronger so we can face the hardships before us. Our ticket back home will be filled with trials and tribulations, things that wish to stop us from fulfilling our top priority: to get back home alive," Takuma then spread his arms, trying to appear taller. "As one of the top students of Shirako High and also your classmate with the title of [Hero], I only wish to bring back everybody before me back to Earth. However, I can’t do this if we don’t steel ourselves. Not only do we have to work together to overcome every challenge, but we need to finally accept one single part of this new world.”

"Takuma, you can't possibly mean-?!" Aiko burst out a response.

“Yes, Aiko, that is exactly what I want to say,” Takuma took a short breath before saying exactly what nobody wanted to hear. “We all need to learn how to cope with killing. We have to learn how to kill properly.”

For a single moment, everything was quiet. Nobody took a breath and all seemed frozen in time. As if it was a spell, Takuma's words petrified us as we were dumbfounded at what we have just heard.

And then, everything exploded.

“Kill?! Are you crazy?! That’s murder!”

“Kuck, I can’t even make killing those kobolds feel like in anime, at all. How am I supposed to do this with…other humans?”

“…I guess I was being a bit wishful. Never would I have thought that I would one day shoot at a person with a bow…”

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don’t want to murder. I don’t want to murder! I don’t want to do this, Papi!”

Whether it was from my party or the others, nobody was an exception of panicking. Frankly, I was already getting a stomachache from thinking about the moral impact this would have on me, once I actually have to do it.

“Everyone, please, calm down! It doesn’t do you good to be this dismayed!” Takuma shouted into the mass.

“…Yes, everybody please calm down!” Aiko, after hesitating a bit, came to Takuma’s aid.

"Please, everybody! We can't have a proper discussion if everyone speaks among each other!" Tamae-san also said, doing her best to resume her duties as one of our class rep.

"Let us hear Takuma out first before panicking! This is not proper behavior for Shirako High students!” being our second rep., Nishio also felt compelled to bring back order.

It took those four a total of ten minutes to have everybody not shout anymore, however, the general mood hadn’t gotten better. The depressive air that clouded this mess hall was suffocating.

"Now, I know that everybody isn't willing to harm another human but what can we do? We will be forced to do it regardless of how apprehensive we are," Takuma continued after he got everybody's attention again. "Think about it, if one of the bandits were to attack you, then would you want to hesitate at that moment? What if one of your friends were about to be attacked, could you move in their defense at that moment?"

While some were able to keep their eyes at Takuma, some could only cast theirs down, unwilling to answer.

Making a frown due to the silence, Takuma continued, “This will not change in the future, so I believe that all of us have to start changing our mindset. Does everybody remember the feeling when you leveled up? That exhilarating feeling? I want everybody to start thinking of it whenever you need to kill, to protect yourself in self-defense as-”

“Hold it!” coming out of nowhere, Daisy suddenly jumped on his feet and shouted, moving closer to Takuma. “What sort of rubbish are you trying to feed our fellow classmates, huh? I can understand why you are trying to have people accept the reality of this world, but what is this nonsense? Exhilarating feeling? Leveling up? Cut your bullshit, Takuma!”

“F-Light? What are you talking about? Can’t you see that everybody is having trouble with this troubling fact? We need to start growing out of our current state and finally adapt to everything. We aren’t in Japan anymore,” Takuma responded. “Killing is part of the culture of this world and some random thug wouldn’t hesitate, so we should-”

“‘We should murder him in self-defense’? Is that what you’re trying to say?” Daisy asked flabbergasted. “I honestly have no words for you, for someone who would drive his fellow man to perform bloodshed. I will endorse you in your attempt to rally everybody to learn how to fight to keep themselves and those around them safe, but I will not allow you to make murder into some sort of sport. Every criminal deserves to be judged under a fair process under the eyes of justice.”

"Justice? Oh, are you trying to spout out those nonsensical ideals of a prosecutor? Hello, Peolynca to Light. This isn't Earth anymore!" Takuma shouted. "Don't scold me on trying to help everybody get into a proper mindset. I want everybody here to make it back to Earth and the only way to do that is to face reality. We need to kill. Monsters to level up and humans to defend ourselves. Anything else and we endanger what matters most here: our lives."

As I predicted, those two are arguing again…however, compared to the last time…

“What about the moral consequences of all of this, huh? Not everybody is mentally strong enough to handle the act of murder, evident of our trip to the dungeon,” Daisy argued. “Do you have any idea of how lasting this will be to everybody’s minds? Psychopaths, that is what we call a person that doesn’t feel any remorse anymore when they perform an illegal act, something completely against human nature.”

“Oooh, how dreadful…but I’m sure everybody in here is smart enough to not fall that far. Tell me, while you continue rambling about your perfect image of a human being, what happens when one of us gets injured…or even dies, all because they were unwilling to kill, huh?” Takuma said, shocking everybody in the room. “You, as a future prosecutor, should know how criminals are. They are a pest to our society and a constant danger to upstanding citizens like you and me. Why should I value their lives over people that are important to me? Tell me, Prosecutor-san.”

“Isn’t it obvious? To keep yourself mentally healthy, of course.” Light drew closer to Takuma, only the length of an outstretched arm away from each other. “Go on about your aggressive tendencies about staining your hands with blood. Whether they are guilty or innocent, you as a human have no right to judge somebody else to death. That is the role of the community, the combined democratic opinions of sound-minded individuals who have inspected every single fact and evidence. Murder…should only be used as a last resort.”

They stared at each other, having nothing more to say as they have exhausted every single argument they had. Neither was willing to bend to the other’s demand as that would not only damage their pride but make themselves look weaker to the other.

It was no surprise that they weren’t willing to compromise. Both have prideful personalities with obvious hints of arrogance and also narcissism. Believing themselves to always be correct.

From an objective standpoint, neither of them incorrect. Both Takuma and Daisy looked at the situation while being under the heavy influence of their personal ideals and mottos, but both also considered everybody around them.

Who is correct? I don’t like the thought of killing but I don’t want to die.

“Enough, you two!” while I contemplating my own issues, Nishio walked towards the two and put himself in between them, pushing them away. "You two have made your point so drop this ridiculous stand-off."

“Tch…Nishio-san is correct. I have made my point clear to everybody,” Takuma then turned his sight back to us, the rest of the class. “I have talked with my supervising knight about a plan to make our fight easier on us. If anybody acknowledges what I said, then join me.”

“Hmph, I too have a suggestion to everybody who wishes to listen,” Daisy also said, as if he was challenging Takuma. “If you still worry about whether you should kill or not, then come to me. If you are on the fence then it would be wise to stick with non-lethal methods, something that I can offer. If possible, I would like to ask the aid of our two [Saint Candidates], so may I ask Aiko-san and Asaka-san to join me? It will not take long, I promise.”

Hearing that, Takuma mumbled “Tch, you bast-" before walking out of the room, literally stomping his feet. He also made eye contact with Aiko, probably telling her not to accept Daisy's offer.

With Takuma gone and Daisy also leaving the room with his posse, the mess hall started to disperse also. Which left only my party and Tamae-san’s behind.

“Well, I knew that would happen, but it seems the two of them were more productive this time,” Kyouya said.

“Nah, as if. They were able to end it without a literal rant against each other this time, but that was only because of the situation back then. We were just kidnapped, after all,” Daichi remarked. "This time though? Those idiots tried to assemble everybody under their own banners but failed spectacularly, literally confusing the whole class and probably causing a split. Well, either way, I was willing to join whoever gave me the chance to kill, anyway."

“Are you serious, Daichi?!” I shouted in response. “Even now, you still want to murder people?! I can understand monsters, but are you that hungry to make yourself seem like the top fragger-”

“Now, shut the fuck up, Tatsuya,” Daichi interrupted me. “This is why you are a pussy. You can’t see anything in front of you because you lack imagination and drive. You know you should kill because it’s the best way to keep yourself safe, but you also know that it’s wrong, hesitating to choose a side. Take it from me, you dipshit, I want to survive this whole farce of a ‘Holy Quest’. Leveling, magic, murder, all of that crap is a way for me to achieve my goal. Besides, are you an idiot or what? Just because I can and know how to end somebody’s life, doesn’t mean that I’m willing to go on a murder rampage. Murderhobos are uncool, you retard.”

With a short “see ya”, Daichi walked out, following Tamae-san’s party and Asaka who wanted to return to her room to catch up on sleep. Kyouya, wanting to escort the still shivering Haruka to her room, also left the room, leaving me behind…all alone.

‘"ust because I can and know how to end somebody’s life, doesn’t mean that I’m willing to go on a murder rampage." That’s what he said, huh?

Can I really do it? I want to see my parents, again. I want to see my uncles and aunts, again. I want to see my grandparents, again. And fucking hell, I have to go back to beat my cousins’ ass in that one video game…

I have so much to live for, I don’t, I can’t die here. I’m already making them worry about me, I have to go back to tell them that I’m alright!

With those thoughts, I left the dining hall and went to the practice field, only understanding that I had to get stronger, regardless of what my choice will be in the future.