I woke up in an unfamiliar room. My mind was a little numb and my memories felt confused.

I look up and didn't recognize the ceiling, so I hurriedly caught the opportunity to make the reference I always wanted to do and said:

“An unfamiliar ceiling.”

Now that I felt an accomplished man, all the memories from before I blacked out started to come back to my mind: Mark's call, the brawl, the circle, the forest, fighting the goblin, and then being rescued by two strangers. All this by itself was unbelievable, but there was also something new that resurfaced in my mind.

Now I recalled what happened after the circle appeared. I remembered I saw something amazing, it was something beyond the human understanding, like all truths in the world being simultaneously revealed; or at least that is the sensation I remembered I had. I sadly couldn't recall any of it but somehow I was still feeling a slight connection to that thing or place or whatever It was.

I also recalled everything that the mysterious voice said:

”Brave child, this world is in peril. If you seek the power to restore peace, head to the capital in the north. Please save us.”

I got up and started walking in circles while thinking.

It was a woman's voice but it didn't sound like someone I knew. Also, the message was quite suspicious, it said some really alarming things without giving any context at all. What the hell, someone or something is trying to destroy the world and you don't say who it is?! And what's with that fishy power giveaway somewhere in the north!? Is it the power of a weapon? The power of a cheat skill? The power to rule them all? Or maybe the power of friendship? And what if it comes with a price?

I don't want the power of friendship, especially if it's with that wannabe hero.

Well, since it was just me and Jane when I woke up, probably we were the only ones transported here. Everyone in that alley was inside of the circle and we may have been split into different locations but then it wouldn't make sense for me and Jane to wake up together.

Anyway, it didn't bother me if Mark wasn't here. I mean, I couldn't say I liked him, but I didn't dislike him either. He was simple, naïve, and quite dumb but he was also earnest and a genuine optimist, the kind that thinks that the world can be made an even better place, not the kind that pretends it's perfect. He was not perfect, but he was much better than most humans. We always have been different, but we somehow also got along, at least until I decided on my new way of life.

But let's stop thinking about it, there could be a way to return to my world, so I might have to see that idiot again. For the time being it's better to try to figure out where I am.

The room was entirely made of wood, with only a window made of clear glass. I remember being saved by two people in medieval attire, but people from the middle ages didn't have the craftsmanship to create such transparent glass. Well, I was transported here and fought a goblin so magic or some kind of mystic power was a thing here; they may have attained some mastery of it and managed to create this glass. Hopefully, I would be able to find a decent grade of civilization here.

I checked the door and it was open, that was reassuring, whoever brought me here didn't want to imprison me. The knife was also back in my pocket, it didn't mean they hadn't bad intentions but they probably didn't in the short term.

They seemed to have been looking for me and when they found me, they seemed to know what was going on. That girl also called me mister hero, did she want to flatter me?

They surely had something to gain from me, now my goal was to understand what it was.

For the time being, I decided to get out of the room and look for my rescuers.

The corridor outside the room was also made of wood. At my left there were five wooden doors on the sides and a metal door at the end of it; while at my right, there was a ladder heading upward.

I climbed the ladder and ended up in an identical corridor, except that, at the end, instead of a metal door, there was another ladder and a blond girl looking at it while muttering to herself.

She didn't notice me, so I got closer until I could hear what she was saying.

“You can do it Jane, you are a brave woman, you'll see that everything is all right. You will go up, and then you will find Henry and the others.”

She then stroked the pose of someone showing off their biceps, there was no muscle in sight here though.

“All right let's go up.”

She said.

I got right behind her and said.

“Where are you going, my brave woman?”

She froze on the spot and slowly turned her head toward me, with a dazed expression, and said:

“Y-y-you, w-what are you doing here?”

“Strolling around, hoping to find someone who can tell me what the hell is going on.”

“Creeping up on people won't help you with that.”

“It won't hinder me either.”

“Ah, forget about it. Why are you so calm? We still don't know where we are. Shouldn't you be at least a little bit concerned?”

“I am concerned but losing my cool wouldn't solve anything. Also, we shouldn't be in danger for now.”

“How do you know that?”

“We weren't killed or imprisoned, they also put the knife back in my pocket.”

“That doesn't mean a thing, yours is just a guess.”

“It's the most probable possibility.”

She sighted

“Anyway, what happened after I blacked out?”

“A goblin attacked, I killed it, then, as we were rescued by two people, I fainted.”

“I see, a gobl.......... A GOBLIN ATTACKED!? Have you gone nuts!? A goblin? You must have eaten some strange mushroom in the forest.”

She didn't believe me, anyway, it's not like I care if she doesn't.

“Now let's go up, a woman as brave as you should be able to climb a ladder, isn't it?”

I said.

“mph”

Jane turned to the ladder and started climbing it first, forgetting she was wearing a short skirt. I didn't try to take a peek though, I could be found out being attracted to her body and that was a weakness she could use against me.

'I have to be extra careful while around girls.'

Then, after she got out from the trapdoor at the top, I climbed the ladder too.

What I saw when I came out left me speechless.

We were apparently on a boat, but there was no sea in sight, just sky all over us. We were in a flying boat.

'They definitely use magic, all right.'

Jane was beside me, watching around her with cold sweat on her face.

“What the fuck does this mean? J-just what is going on here?”

She said.

“Excuse me.”

I heard someone calling us from behind.

I turned my head to see who called us. It was a beautiful girl donning a leather breastplate, with no armour on her arms and no helm, she had a sword strapped to her flank and had a quiver full of arrows on her back but the bow wasn't on her.

“Oh, you are the girl who saved us from the goblins, thank you for that.”

I said.

“You don't need to thank me, mister hero, I am here to act as a guide and protector until miss and mister hero requires it.”

She seemed very subservient toward us, she had too little muscles for someone who decapitated three goblins in an instant, she was also wearing make-up in the middle of a mission. There was a concrete possibility that she was trying to appeal to us because she or whoever sent her had something to gain from it. They had gone all the way, finding us in the middle of nowhere, used a flying boat to transport us and sent a beautiful girl and, probably, a handsome boy as our guides; are we that valuable to them?

While I was thinking this, the guide continued.

“You must be very confused, I am sure you have lots of questions and I will try to answer them as best as I can, but first let me present myself. My name is Alua and I will be your guardian for a while, I'm looking forward to assisting you.”

'Well, first let's ask some questions.'