Second incarnation of the god of creation:
Side story: A brief encounter with Rin.
Three days had passed since Haruto was mysteriously summoned into this new world.
The sky was dyed an orange glow, as the sun began its rise. Light filtered through the gaps of his curtains, illuminating the room.
Haruto's eyelids twitch slightly as the light reflects off his face, promptly arousing him from his sleep.
Although he still felt sluggish, he quickly raised his upper body. His black hair was messy, his clothes were rugged after waking up. His gaze wandered around the slightly unfamiliar room in a daze.
It was a large and spacious bedroom you would usually see in a fancy hotel in the modern world. No, this room was decorated even more extravagantly than those hotels.
"... This place, oh right, this is my room inside the royal castle."
On his way home from school, he was suddenly whisked away and sent into this unfamiliar world. He suddenly arrived inside the kingdom of Watanabe, one of the major nations on this continent.
Here he saved the second princess, a young woman whose beauty was comparable to that of a goddess; he was then allowed to stay inside the royal castle as a reward for his meritorious achievement.
It was a strange event that logically speaking, should've been realistically impossible.
Although he had heard of stories about the protagonist being summoned as heroes to save ruined countries, and gaining the affection of the country princess, those could only be regarded as mere fantasies and nothing more. And Haruto never regarded himself as a hero, but—
He couldn't turn his eyes away from the reality before him now. He had indeed been summoned.
Although his summoning was different from the ones of the heroes, there was something uncanny about its sudden occurrence.
Even after searching through various books with the help of princess Scarlett, he hadn't been able to find any event that matched his sudden summon in history.
So far, the hero summon was the only summoning phenomenon to even take place, three hundred years ago. Since then, no such occurrence had ever been recorded.
Back then, the demon lord, Lucifer had led his demon army to attack the various countries around the world. But the four elemental goddesses took action, summoning four heroes each with special weapons capable of controlling one of their respective elements.
Together they had defeated the demon army and had sealed the demon lord along with his army.
Since then, the goddesses taught the leaders of various nations the method of the hero summoning, but no such thing had happened again after those three hundred years.
"I wonder what makes me so different."
He mumbled to himself. He had learnt the other day that he possessed a tremendous amount of mana, and good affinity with the natural elements of nature when compared with the citizens of this world.
Although he didn't understand why that was the case, He felt hopeless about his situation, he was in an unfamiliar world, with no means of returning home.
The first thing that entered his head was the possibility of never meeting his parents again, which left him with a sorrowful expression.
His parents were always working, and never had any time for him, but despite that, he cherished them both. The thought of never seeing them again made his heart ache.
"No, I can't give up yet! If there was a method of summoning individuals from other worlds over to this one, then... There had to be some methods capable of sending me back. No matter what that method is, I'll definitely find it."
He exclaimed, although it was merely wishful thinking, it was the only thing he could do to keep himself going. Removing his bed covers, Haruto stood up and fixed his messy black hair.
It was only yesterday that he attended the royal academy along with the second princess, Scarlett Watanabe. Today was a day of rest, and he didn't have any classes, but now that he was wide awake, he couldn't go back to sleep.
"Maybe I should get an early breakfast, or something."
He said, approaching the entrance door. The door opened up with a creak, as he stepped out, his footsteps echoing through the silent vast hallway of the royal castle. His eyes wandered towards the writing written on the door signs, but—
(I can't read any of this!)
He thought, his face twitches slightly. Back in his high school, he had excellent grades in literature classes. But now he was completely illiterate. The situation was so ironic he couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly at himself.
If he couldn't rely on the instructions, then he could only find the kitchen himself. Which brings us to our new problem.
(Wh-Which way was it to the kitchen again?)
He wondered in confusion. Although three days had already elapsed, it was naturally impossible for him to have already memorized the layout of the royal castle. It was simply too vast. He could either go left or right, after debating for a while—
"I guess I'll go left, then."
Without any indication of the area the kitchen was located, Haruto decided to take a random direction, he walked even if he was headed towards the wrong section, he could simply ask for directions from anyone he encountered along the way.
"The more distance I travel, the more I'm reminded of how big this castle is."
He muttered in amazement. Although it was impossible to measure just from a glance, the castle seemed as big as a thirty-story building.
The ceiling was decorated with shiny pale blue crystals, which occasionally release sparks from the magical energy in the atmosphere.
Haruto was glancing around the surroundings as he strode along.
Back in his original world, he never would've ever imagined he would one day be touring through a real castle, something he would only see in movies.
So far, he hadn't encountered any servants or staff. The sun had just risen, it was only natural that there weren't that many people out and about.
Clang!
As he walked along, the sound of metal echoed through the area. Subconsciously drawn to the sound, Haruto approached an open balcony which towered over the garden that was located at the rear of the castle.
A group of young knights could be seen swinging around their swords as they sparred together. Their movements were refined and elegant.
Each of their swings were sharp and precise, the sound of metal clashing echoed through the vicinity.
However, they kept the movements of their bodies at minimum, evading the blades with little effort.
Haruto's eyes widened slightly as he was captivated by their movements. Although he had no experience in swordsmanship, even his amateur eyes could tell how advanced their training was.
"This sight really does give the image of fantasy, huh."
He mumbled aloud. But just then—
"Sir Haruto?"
Someone's surprised voice called out to him from behind. Turning his head, he was greeted with the sight of a young lady who was neatly dressed in maid clothing with short shoulder length blonde hair. It was Scarlett's personal maid, Rin.
"Oh, lady Rin, g-good morning."
He replied, in a flustered tone.
"Good morning to you too, may I ask what you are doing here, I didn't expect you to be up so early."
Her beautiful voice carried no intonation, and her stoic expression was unreadable. Although he had interacted with her on a few occasions, he knew she wasn't the type to express herself from her facial expressions.
"I woke up early and wanted to get breakfast, but I got lost along the way."
He scratched his cheeks, as he confessed sheepishly.
"... I see. Since you haven't been here for very long, it's only natural you'd still be unfamiliar about the layout of this castle, it was the same for me, back then."
Rin said, in a monotonous voice. Her expression soften slightly at the memory.
"Hm, you too?"
Hearing her words, his eyes widened in surprise. For a moment, he was captivated by her rare seen smile.
"Indeed, as you already know, I'm not a noble, but a commoner who was elected to serve her highness directly. But setting that matter aside, if you had gone right, you would've seen the kitchen after walking a few blocks."
She said, a slightly uncomfortable look appeared on her face, before she smoothed over her expression.
"Ah, it was the other direction, I knew it."
Haruto grumbled to himself, regretting his mistake. Although he was interested in hearing Rin's past, his face fell from the realization that he could've long arrived at the kitchen if he had gone the other way.
"Fufu, let's go, I'll make you a warm meal."
After observing him silently in amusement for some time, Rin offered, walking ahead.
"Th-Thank you very much!"
He said, following after her departing figure.