"You are all here to help us against the onslaught of the demons."

....

At this point I had so many questions that I didn't even know where to start.

We get summoned to another world, but the people who summoned us talk about game concepts like tutorials and stats, even outright mentioning their relation to games from our world. We have no information so far about our surroundings except for a few names which basically mean nothing to us, and suddenly they drop the bomb by telling us "Save us from the demons, random people we just summoned without consent!"

My earlier enthusiasm is starting to cool. Black looks too serious to be joking and the people in the crowd behind me are being awkwardly silent, most likely terrified of facing some unknown enemy known as a demon.

So my first question I should ask is...

"And why should we help you?"

Black stared blankly at me, as did Bobby (who was still on the ground), I also heard a few shocked gasps behind me.

Oh... Shit. Did I ask that out loud?

I guess getting summoned to a new world does nothing to ease my exhaustion from lack of sleep, I just said what came to mind. Maybe the first thing you ask of the people who may be your only lifeline in this world should not be, well, exactly what I said.

As cold sweat started dripping down my back, Black's expression twisted into a smile and he suddenly started to laugh. Not just a small laugh either, he was even wheezing a bit as though he heard the best joke ever.

Not really the reaction I was expecting but, you know...

Probably better than immediate execution.

The prince and Shanks were both looking at Black with confused expressions as well, so this definitely wasn't just his standard behaviour.

After a few moments he managed to compose himself while still stifling a chuckle. He then looked at me and gave a wry smile as he spoke in a more jovial tone than before.

"You have quite the backbone, kid. I like that! Most people don't even think about their rewards until way after the initial summon."

He gave a wry smile and turned to the rest of the crowd behind me.

"Don't worry, you will all be rewarded handsomely by not only our own empire but all of humanity. You have been summoned as heroes and will be treated as such through all the human countries!

Wealth, fame, knowledge, political power, depending on your input in the war whether through direct combat or otherwise you can earn and achieve most anything you want.

Does that sound satisfactory?"

He looked at me as he asked the last question with a glint in his eye.

"What if... what if we want to go home."

And then Black's short period of enthusiasm crumbled. The small voice of May completely dampened his light mood. For the first time, Black looked uncomfortable. After a few seconds he slowly eased his mouth open to talk, as though thinking heavily about what was going to be coming out of his mouth.

"I won't lie to you." He said with conviction. "We do not currently possess a way to send you back to your home world."

From behind me I heard a soft sob. I didn't even have to look to know it was May, I didn't want to look.

Black continued to speak with a heavy tone. "I'm sorry. We have been backed too far into a corner and we absolutely had to make use of a summoning ritual for our own survival. Understand that the humans of this world are desperate enough for salvation that we would even bring in those not involved to aid us."

Black then did something unexpected. He lowered his head down, got onto his hands and knees, and put his head onto the ground.

"Even knowing our selfishness" Black said with his head pushed into the ground "I still hope that you will aid us."

May continues to quietly cry in the background, but that was the only sound that was heard. I realized when I looked up from Black that even the prince had his head lowered slightly. I could feel their sincerity, I could empathise with them not wanting to be destroyed by this enemy that threatened their entire world...

But still...

I still feel like...

"That's fucking bullshit!"

I thought for a second that I had opened my mouth without thinking again but it turned out to be Bobby. At some point he had risen back up to his feet and his face was red with fury.

"Who are you to rip me away from my life for YOUR FUCKING PROBLEMS!" Bobby growled. "You take me away from everything in my world; my dreams, my friends, my FAMILY! And you think putting your head on the ground is enough for us to just say 'well ok then Mr Kidnapper whatever you say'. Is that what you're expecting?! Well let me tell you now that you're way over your fucking heads. I'm a fucking asshole through and through and even I can't fathom how selfish what you just asked us is."

Bobby swept his hand behind him at the other summoned people. "Every single one of these people should have a family you tore them away from, yet you look at the ground instead of the faces of the people whose lives you have just destroyed!"

Bobby growled "Lift up your fucking head. Lift it up and look in the face of the girl crying for her family and say what you just said again. I dare you."

There were two things I got from Bobby's outburst that left him struggling for breath at the end. The first is that Bobby was a lot smarter and nicer than I gave him credit for. The second was how selfish my earlier thoughts had been.

I looked for rewards and was excited for a new life. Bobby thought about people like May.

Although his words were... well, extremely rude, maybe he wasn't so bad.

As for Black, he still hadn't lifted his head. After a few more moment of Bobby practically growling he lifted his head with a sigh. He looked Bobby directly in the eyes for a while. Bobby stared back in defiance. Almost made you forget that he nearly pissed himself earlier...

Almost.

"You make a fair point. But let me ask you, do we not have families of our own to protect? Do we have to suffer and die just because the demons are 'our' problem?"

Black's eyes became fatigued, and dark.

"Am I supposed to sacrifice my country just because you don't want to help?"

He moved over Bobby and seemed to tower over him despite his average frame.

"Do you think asking for your support is our only option?"

Bobby began to shrink back, glancing fearfully towards Shanks in the background.

"We would like to be cordial, heap you with gifts, make you the happiest we can in any way we can. However..."

He looked up at the rest of us with his dead eyes.

"This matter concerns our survival. When push comes to shove, we can force you to help us."

It became fairly obvious that the way Black asked us kindly earlier was not due to his generosity, it was simply him giving us the option to do things the easy way instead of the hard way.

"You might be strong due to your summoning, but we can force you under our control before you become fully awakened if that's what you..."

"Grand Gods Black!"

Prince Altru suddenly butted into Black's threats with an astonished and stricken face.

"You tell Shanks not to scare them before we come here and then proceed to say all of these horrible things to them. Fucks sake man look at them!"

Black turned his eyes to the prince, then to us. I looked back and saw fear in almost everyone's eyes. More people were crying now, some stood blank faced like they were going into shock. The atmosphere was the worst. Black's tirade made everyone stricken regardless of their earlier confidence or complaining. Bobby's complexion had turned ash gray.

Which raised the question of why I felt... fine. Maybe I had read too many fantasy novels but it felt obvious that these people were in a corner if they summoned us. You have to expect them to do anything to survive. Hell, as far as they were concerned we could just be tools for their survival, not even human. I've seen that plot device too many times to count. If anything, the fact they asked nicely at first felt more suspicious. This way felt more comfortable to me since it was more realistic and I didn't feel like I was getting duped.

Black's face loosened as he looked at us and I could swear I saw a flash of real guilt for a second, but then it was gone. Black sighed for the umpteenth time and turned to the prince.

"It appears I'm too tired to be appropriately hospitable to our guests right now. I'll leave the rest to you Altru, I'm going to go rest. I've been up for days working on this summoning and it looks like it's getting to me."

He paused for a second.

"Sorry."

I still don't know to this day if he was talking to us or the prince.

Then black wandered down the hallway further into what I assumed was the castle.

"That man can be terrifying sometimes." Altru muttered.

He the turned and gave us a strained smile.

"Sorry about him, he cares a little too much sometimes. After all he... he has reasons to want this war to be over more than the rest of us."

"Let's go somewhere nicer than this dingy place and talk over food, food always makes talking about serious matters easier."

He turned around and waved his hand and the guards got in formation around our group. There were way more than the few we saw earlier, I didn't even see them appear.

"Let's go to the dining hall."

I could feel that the cheeriness in his voice was forced.