2 – Pig…summoning?

“Oooooh!!!”
As the shouts of joy erupted around Rina, she slowly opened her eyes.
It appeared that she was lying on her side in a dimly lit room.
“…It…is a success!!”
It was too dark for her to be able to see what it was that had succeeded, but… she could tell that she was on a cold marble floor. Was this heaven or hell…?
“The summoning has succeeded!!”
A man said, and there was loud cheering.
Had she been saved again? Rina’s eyes adjusted to the dimness and she looked around the room.
There were several men standing as if to surround her. They were all wearing black robes with hoods pulled over their eyes. In fact, she wasn’t even sure if they were all men.
The black hooded figures swayed back and forth in front of the lights that were either from lanterns or lamps.
Rina looked at them dazedly, and then the thought came to her.

…Grim reapers.

“Light.”
One man’s voice echoed through the room, and then the room suddenly lit up as if an electric light had been switched on.
“…!”
It was so bright that she had to squint her eyes. And then she heard a slightly high-pitched voice coming from side of the man in black robes.

“…What…this, this woman is a Saint!?”
Now that it was bright, she saw that it was a beautiful youth with golden hair and blue eyes that had spoken with a trembling voice.
“…It…seems to be the case.”
The man in black robes could not hide his surprise.
“What!”
The boy’s hand shook as he clutched it into a fist and shouted.
“As if a Saint would be this fat!!”
“Yes, but…!”
This must have been a very unexpected thing for the men in the black robes. They seemed confused and frantic.
“I ordered you to summon a Saint, not a pig!!”
He shouted as he pointed at Rina.

…What!? I don’t understand what is going on, but that boy just called me a pig. I understood that veeeeery well.

“However…there is no doubt that we…”
“What about her is a Saint!!”
He was still angry, and he interrupted the man and then pointed at Rina and shouted again.
“We-we cannot say…”
“That is not enough!! You used all of your power to summon a Saint. I am not going to make a report and say we summoned a pig!!”
The boy continued to call her a pig right to her face.

—Snap!!

Something snapped inside of me.
“Shut up!!”
Before I knew it, I was shouting at the top of my lungs.

Are you serious!!
Isn’t this completely ridiculous!?
You brought me here without permission and now you complain.
I’m the one who should be complaining!!

“…!!”
The boy and the others had not expected Rina to raise her voice, and they were stunned into silence.

“…Explain this situation to me.”
Rina demanded what was her given right. She had no clue what was happening.

I had been on a bridge just a moment ago. Of course, it wasn’t a joke or a dream, it was reality. And then a light suddenly spread out and then I was in a place that I didn’t recognize. …Here.

…I don’t even care. But where am I?

“…”
They all looked at each other, but no one moved. And so Rina repeated it in a firm voice.
“…Explain the situation to me!!”

—A few minutes later.

Finally, someone who must have been the leader stepped forward frantically and took off his robes and then explained.

This world was covered in a substance called ‘miasma,’ and once it reached a certain density, monsters would start to appear out of nowhere, and animals in the area would also turn into monsters.
And while killing these monsters could help reduce the amount of miasma, there were apparently seasons where the miasma was extra thick for unknown reasons.
Whenever this happened, a Saint or Hero would appear, and they would purify the miasma and annihilate the monsters.
And yet, there had been no signs of one appearing this generation. If it continued, it was this country, the Valtar Empire, that was the most vulnerable. And so it would be the first to fall.

And then in came this pretty boy.
Prince Egidils would not wait for one to appear. And so he gathered a group of sorcerers to perform a ritual and bring one here by force through the use of summoning. And Rina just happened to be the result of that.

“…So?”
Rina asked after hearing everything. After all, none of that had anything to do with her.
“…So?”
Prince Egidils’ mouth dropped open idiotically. He had not been expecting such an answer.
“…So? I’m a mistake, right? So you’re going to send me back?”
She knew more than anyone that she was not a Saint. And they had also said that she wasn’t.
In that case, it was only right for them to send her back.
“…”
There was a long silence. They all seemed to want to avoid meeting Rina’s eyes.
“…Send me back.”
Rina said as she looked at Prince Egidils. But the prince would not face her and remained silent.
“…Send me back!!”
Rina shouted as if losing control. If she was being honest, she had meant to die. However, not being able to return to Japan, where she had lived with her family, was unbearable.
Perhaps it was too late, but everything she had been holding back suddenly came flowing out.
“…Send me back!!”
Before she knew it, Rina was crying.
She had thought that there were no more tears left to cry after she lost them. But they came pouring now.
And then she recalled the unfairness of having her family taken away, and she took it out on those around her.

…Send me back!! I want to go back!!

…Back to that time.

And then…Rina could do nothing but cry and cry.

Next Chapter

I Decided to Become a Cook at the Royal Palace!