I woke up to spit drooling down my face.

My body was laying on the ground motionless, my muscles all stiff, unable to fulfill the commands sent from the brain.

My own saliva was uncontrollably streaming down my cheeks as I was struggling to move my face. Finally, I managed to open my eyes.

The sky in front of me was pitch black.

Now I remember.

My memories started flooding back all at once. I was walking back home from a market when suddenly I collapsed and then… The rest was a bit of a haze, a dream that I had. So I guess I did not die after all.

(Ah. So I guess I’m a vegetable now.)

...

But more than that, this really didn’t look like a hospital. In fact, I’m pretty sure it was the great outdoors. It didn’t look like the urban area that I collapsed in, though.

From little I could see without moving my head, I was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Surprisingly, the pavement that I should be laying on was strikingly soft and inviting. If I had to guess, I’d say I was laying on sand. But that was clearly impossible.

Unless… Was I dead after all? Was this some sort of a weird afterlife where you have to lay on the sand unable to move for the whole eternity?..

That doesn’t sound right.

I gather my strength just to try and move my head. What lay in front of me, was something that I should have seen coming. There was no doubt about it, I was somewhere on a beach.

Or should I rather say - what the hell was I doing on the beach?!

Was this some sort of a prank? No, no one would prank a guy who was having a stroke by bringing him to the beach.

So how long was I out? The sky was still dark, so it couldn’t have been that long.

Right, wasn’t it just twenty minutes?

…

...

Oh.

The memory that was blurry in my mind like a forgotten dream, now I could see clear as day. Being engulfed in the light and hearing some voices talking about… Oh.

So it was just a dream after all. There’s no way some divine entity actually made a mistake and took the wrong soul. And then just threw me back as if nothing happened… There’s no way…

I need to calm down. I have to breathe.

I could feel my muscles letting go little by little and sense returning to my body. I was finally able to move my fingers. Hopefully, the rest of my body will soon follow.

“Oi, isn’t that something?” I heard a muffled voice.

Is someone walking by? Did they notice me? I have to draw attention to myself somehow… But my body wouldn’t listen.

“Isn’t that a body?” another one replied.

Soon I heard a pair of heavy steps approaching. Slowly, as if trying to stay unnoticed they closed in on my paralysed body.

“Dead?”

“Alive.”

“There must have been a shipwreck?”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“Should we just leave him?”

“He could be one of ours.”

“His clothes aren’t like anything I’ve ever seen...”

The two continued talking in suppressed voices over my body. This feels distinctly familiar…

“We can’t leave him now. Let’s take him to the hideout, this isn’t our decision to make.”

One of them kneeled over and the next moment I could feel my body being picked up with ease. I may not have been a sporty type, but even so I weigh over 150 pounds, he shouldn’t be able to pick me up so casually as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.

He threw me on his back the way you would a backpack and started going towards the forest that now entered my vision.

Being disturbingly close to another man right now, I could feel just how big of a guy he was. Not just his arms, I don’t think I’ve ever seen shoulders this broad. And he must have been at least 7 feet tall. More importantly…

Why the hell was he wearing metal armor?

Meanwhile, his more reasonably sized companion waved him to stop. He ducked in half and ran ahead to scout. Being able to finally see one of my saviors full body, my jaw dropped open. There was little doubt about it now.

I was found by a couple of crazy people.

What he was wearing was a full body armor, the kind you would expect a knight to wear in the middle-ages. He even had a shield on his back, a sword on his belt and everything. He swiftly ran over to the bushes ahead as if looking for something.

Considering how these guys were behaving, they must have been hiding from someone. Seeing that the path ahead was clear, we continued our quest to return to a so called “hideout”.

My frenzied thoughts were rushing through my brain. Just what in the world was going on?!

Don’t tell me… The dream that I had, could it be, that it wasn’t actually a dream?

Just think for a moment. They were saying something about fantasy realm, or isekai, or whatever. Could it be, that it’s actually some sort of alternative universe?.. Though, wasn’t it decided that I would be sent back to my world? I remember distinctly, since they emphasized not granting me any powers…

Ah. Then again, what am I expecting. For a couple of transcendent beings, those two surely were anything but reliable. If they managed to take my life just because I was standing next to an old person, who’s to say they wouldn’t send me to a fantasy world by mistake? And with no overpowered ability?!

What am I saying, that’s almost definitely exactly what happened!

Just my shitty, shitty luck, I guess…

“It’s us.”

While my thoughts were all over the place, a serious voice of my carrier brought me back. We entered some sort of a cave, well hidden somewhere in the woods.

“Did you see anyone?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

“Commander,” another of my rescuers saluted and took off his helmet. What was underneath it, was a head of thick black hair going all the way down to his shoulders. “The area seems to be clear of Germania’s soldiers it should be safe to spend a night here. However, Jerome...”

After being called, the big fellow (whose name apparently was Jerome) lay me down on the ground.

“We found him by the shore. Looks like there was another shipwreck.”

“You thought he could be one of ours?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Even so, we can’t let him stay here.”

“Y-you… Can’t throw me out either,” I finally managed to speak.

Making sounds was unexpectedly difficult and my parched throat didn’t make things any easier, but I had to speak up.

While we were making our way back to the hideout, I regained some of the control over my body. Not only could I move my fingers, I could also turn my wrists and apparently even talk. Though it wasn’t very loud.

Nonetheless, I had to speak up.

If they start thinking about dumping me, that could turn out to be a huge problem for me. Who knows who else might find me, and if anyone would find me. Fantasy world or not, it was time for me to start fighting for my life.

“Oh? Is that so?” the commander asked without much interest.

The commander was over thirty years of age, with cleanly shaved head and fine black beard. More importantly he had an intense look in his eye, making him a very scary man. Clearly, he’s not someone who’s used to being told what to do and he can’t be easily swayed.

Alas, I’m not exactly spineless either.

“Well, for one thing, I know exactly where your hideout is...” I muttered.

That was clearly a lie. I was too preoccupied to actually notice where we were going. Not to mention I didn’t even know which universe I was in to begin with, not to mention this den.

“And what’s stopping me from cutting your throat?” commander asked, his expression unchanged.

That… Hard to argue with that logic.

“That’s enough, Sir Renig,” a stern, yet soft voice came from within the cave.

The owner of the voice turned out to be a girl, maybe around 16 years of age? It was hard to tell in a poorly lit cave.

“It’s our duty to protect every and each citizen of the Kingdom,” she continued. “So please stop frightening our guest with your scary face.”

“Your Highness!” my two companions from before kneeled, bowing before the girl.

A royalty, huh? At first I was skeptical about being thrown into a different world, but there was little doubt now. Running straight into a royal princess of all people?

Something that cliched can only happen in another world.