I GOT SUMMONED IN A PEACEFUL WORLD

PEACEFUL WORLD PART 3

The silence in the room was thick enough to choke on. It was Kusunoki Aoi, the black-haired girl with a spine of steel, who finally broke it. Her voice was calm, but her knuckles were white where they gripped the edge of the table.

[What…] she began, her gaze fixed on the princess. [What is going to happen to us?]

Princess Lillianna placed her hands flat on the table, a gesture of supposed transparency. [First, I swear upon my name and the honor of the Albert Duchy that no harm will come to you, or to the Hero Mitsunaga. You have my word.]

[Albert Duchy?] I echoed. A new piece on the board.

[My apologies. I failed to properly introduce my station. I am Lillianna el Symphonia of the Albert Duchy. I hold the title of Archduchess within this kingdom.]

Luna, standing at her shoulder like a sharp-eyed shadow, decided this was the moment for a full briefing. [Her Grace is also half-sister to the reigning monarch and fourth in line to the throne. An oath on her house name is tantamount to an oath from the crown itself.]

An Archduchess. Fourth in line. The magnitude of it was staggering. This wasn't just a noble; this was the inner sanctum of power. And power, in my experience, was never given away freely.

[Incidentally,] Luna added, her tone dry as dust, [Her Grace is twenty-two. In Symphonia, it is customary for women of her station to be wed by nineteen. Her continued unmarried state is a subject of some… discussion.]

Lillianna’s composure cracked for a fraction of a second. [Luna. The context.]

[My apologies. I merely thought it time to move beyond ‘Milady.’]

[We will discuss your definitions of ‘context’ later.]

The exchange was bizarrely humanizing. It revealed a crack in the royal facade, a dynamic I could file away for later. But it didn’t make me trust them. If anything, it made me more wary. A powerful, potentially underestimated princess and her brutally honest aide? That sounded like the setup for a political thriller, not a fairy tale.

[To answer your question, Miss Kusunoki,] Lillianna continued, steering the conversation back with visible effort. [Your most pressing concern is likely your return. Please, set your minds at ease. You will be able to return to your world.]

A small, choked sound came from Yuzuki Hina. The shorter girl with the chestnut hair looked up, her eyes wide with a fragile hope. [R-Really? We can go back?]

[Yes. It is just that… well…] Lillianna’s hesitation was a masterstroke, draining the momentary relief from the room. My mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario: You can return after the Demon King is slain.

But her next words were different, and in some ways, more terrifying.

[The summoning circle requires a vast amount of energy and precise stellar alignment. It can only be activated again after one year has passed.]

[A… a year?!] Kusunoki gasped.

The two girls were reeling from the timeframe. But my focus was locked on the princess. One year. Not "until you complete a task." Just… a mandatory waiting period. It was lenient. Suspiciously so. Why go through the trouble of summoning a hero if you were just going to let the tag-alongs loaf around for a year and then send them home? It didn’t add up. Unless we weren’t just tag-alongs. Unless we were something else.

[But… my volleyball tournament…] Yuzuki whispered, her voice small.

[Hina-chan, priorities…] Kusunoki murmured, squeezing her friend’s hand.

[I understand this is a profound shock and inconvenience,] Lillianna said, her voice dripping with contrition. It was a perfect performance. [During this year, you will be our honored guests. You will want for nothing—shelter, food, protection. It is the very least we can do.]

[Thank you,] Kusunoki said, her voice layered with a complex mix of gratitude and deep-seated unease. I merely nodded, playing the part of the resigned bystander.

[Furthermore,] Lillianna added, her tone brightening artificially, [as recompense for this disruption, you will be granted a boon upon your return. Wealth, knowledge, minor magical artifacts… we are prepared to be generous.]

A reward. Of course. The classic payment for silence, for compliance. Kusunoki’s eyes narrowed slightly; she was sharp enough to sense the transaction hidden beneath the charity.

Luna, who had silently provided us with cups of water, stood impassively. Her gaze, however, kept flicking to me, as if assessing my stillness.

[For now,] Lillianna concluded, rising from her seat, a clear signal that the audience was over, [you must be exhausted. Luna will show you to your chambers. Rest. We will speak more tomorrow.]

We were dismissed. We followed Luna out of the room and into a labyrinth of torch-lit hallways. The air was cold, smelling of old stone and beeswax. The grandeur of the castle felt less magnificent and more imposing now, the tapestries looking like faded banners of forgotten wars.

Luna stopped at a heavy oak door. [This will be your room, Miyama-sama.]

I offered a terse nod and stepped inside. The room was exactly as promised: a bed, a table, a window. A gilded cage. The door shut behind me with a soft, final thud, leaving me alone in the silence.

I waited until the sound of Luna’s footsteps faded entirely. Then, I walked to the window and looked out. The courtyard below was empty, the moon casting long, skeletal shadows. A year. A boon. Honored guests.

The pieces didn't fit. A kingdom desperate enough to summon a hero from another world wouldn't just house and feed three useless extras for a year out of the goodness of its heart. We were a liability. A secret. Or… an opportunity.

I leaned my forehead against the cool glass, the events of the day replaying in my mind. The failed summoning, the separate briefing for the Hero, the princess’s averted eyes when she mentioned the one-year wait.

My own habit, the one that made me zone out so completely, had a flip side. When I finally focused, I saw patterns others missed. And the pattern here was clear: we weren't just guests. We were assets in a game we didn't understand, and Lillianna had just made her opening move.

The hook wasn't the Demon King. It wasn't the quest. It was the terrifying, simple truth that dawned on me in that quiet room.

They had no intention of ever sending us home.