A young man steps out of a cab onto a familiar street corner. He's wearing a red t-shirt and black jeans. His face isn't overly attractive or plain but the perfect balance. After taking a deep breath he says "how much I've missed being home." A slight gust of wind blows through his spiky hair. Wrapped around his arm by his elbow is a black scarf that sways in the gentle breeze. 

After pushing up on his glasses and securing his briefcase bag. He makes his way down the street. "Ten months huh…" he's suddenly interrupted by a guy around his age wearing a black and white blazer with black pants. His bright smile is a sight for sore eyes. "Hey Eric." 

"Kazuma." After meeting up they do a high five that turns into a hand shake. 

Kazuma has spiky brown hair and an attractive face that most girls would fall for.

Compared to Eric's average looks. 

"Finally back from America huh?" Kazuma asks with his bright smile. 

"Well…" before he could finish he's interrupted again. 

"Eric!" A female voice energetically yells towards them. 

"Rizu." Eric says seeing a young woman running towards them she's wearing similar clothes to Kazuma. The only difference is she's wearing a skirt and has a black scarf tied around her arm. 

Her long black hair sways wildly as she makes her mad dash towards them. She can only be described as a cute girl. 

"You're back." She says, grabbing his hands. 

"Almost I have one more trip to make. It should only take a week. But for a few days I'm back." Eric says with a smile. 

"Huh…" both of them look disappointed hearing that. 

"How about you stay with me till you have to go?" Kazuma asks. 

"Sure." Eric says, patting him on the shoulder. 

"I'm coming too." Rizu interjects. 

"Of course." Kazuma adds. 

"I bet you have some good stories right?" She asks. 

"A few." Eric says with a devious smile. 

"Say Rizu you're acting normal today huh?" 

"Eric." Kazuma shakes his head. 

"What do you mean Eric?" Rizu slowly turns her head towards him. 

"Well ten months ago you were still a chuuni." 

Rizu explodes into rage and embarrassment. "We don't speak about that. OK!"

"Haha okay okay." Eric and Kazuma laugh. 

From below a small glowing circle full of symbols expands around them. "Spirit circle?" Eric is surprised to see it. "Summoning…" he can read the structure of the circle. 

A flash of light blinds them then their vision goes dark for a few seconds. In the darkness Eric can see a sequence of symbols flying towards him. He avoids it then his sight returns. 

The first thing he sees is the floor coming at him. He lands steadily and takes a knee. From behind he hears two loud thuds.

"Ow!" Rizu yells out in pain having landed on her butt. 

"Ah damn…" Kazuma is right there with her feeling the same pain. 

Torches illuminate the room from what they can tell it's made of stone bricks with solid stone as the floor. 

Below them is the circle containing the runes engraved into the floor. 

Three pillars of stone seem to be the support keeping the room from collapsing. On further inspection there is no door. 

"Is this a magic circle?" Rizu asks with bright eyes. 

"It looks like it." Kazuma bends over to inspect the circle. 

"Ooh this is similar to a book I read. Three heroes were summoned to fight a demon lord. After they defeated it they became famous and lived handsomely for the rest of their lives." Rizu is full of excitement.

"But they don't return home." Kazuma interjects. 

"Rizu, is there a story that has the heroes go home?" Eric asks. 

"No. Well there was one but I'm not going to test it."

"What was it?"

"Well when they died they woke up back in their world."

"Yeah we're not testing that." 

"So how does it go from here?"

"Well after being summoned a high ranking person will walk in with a group of knights and ask us to vanquish the demon lord." She says getting way too excited. 

"That sounds fun." Kazuma says. 

"Or we were summoned to the demon lord's palace and we're about to enter a combat scenario. But that means one of us has a secret power. I'd be pissed if one of you guys had powers and you didn't tell me about it."

A bead of sweat runs down Eric's face. 

"Woah what's this?" Kazuma asks, looking at his arm. He sees a tattoo of runes and symbols. 

"Wah I don't want a tattoo." Rizu squirms looking at her arm. 

Eric checks his arms but he doesn't have the marking. He remembers seeing that sequence flying towards him. 

Rizu slams her fist into the pillar out of frustration. A cracking sound is heard and a chunk of the pillar is destroyed. "Huh?" She's confused. 

"Are you okay?" Kazuma asks. 

"Yeah. I feel kinda weird but I feel strong." She answers. 

"Now that you mention it, so do I." Kazuma says, making a fist. 

Suddenly the wall in front of them glows and then a gust of wind blows through the area. Now there is a doorway. 

After feeling a different power other than spiritual, Eric readies a spell. 

"Welcome hero…" the female voice trails off seeing three people.

She turns to the other two that walked in with her. 

There are two Knights accompanying her. One is a tall guy in silver plate armor with a full face helmet. The other is a young woman wearing bulky crimson armor. Her head is exposed. She has blonde hair with a streak of crimson. Lastly is the first Girl she appears slightly younger than the female knight. She's in a lavender dress that compliments her silver hair. 

"Geoffrey, Lila?" 

"Princess Rebecca, it seems you've summoned more than one." Geoffrey has a confused look on his face the same as the others. 

"Just continue princess." Lila smiles. 

The princess turns towards Eric's group again. 

"Ahem Heroes I'm sure you have questions and we will answer them in due time but first allow me to welcome you. I am Second Princess Rebecca Kynz ." She says, slightly lowering her head. 

Kazuma and Rizu seemed shocked hearing that a princess is in front of them. They immediately kneel before her. Eric on the other hand isn't having any of it. 

"My name is Shiro Kazuma but call me Kazuma." 

Following Kazuma Rizu introduces herself. "I'm Suzukaze Rizu but Rizu will be fine."

Lastly is Eric. Short and sweet he says "Eric Kazumitsu."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Rebecca and her entourage say. 

"My name is Geoffrey Mills I am the commander of her highness's Royal Guard."

"I am Lila Astor, acting commander of dungeon eradication." 

"Yeah yeah I don't have time for you. Tell me where we are and how to return." Eric demands. 

Rebecca reels back from his glare. 

Geoffrey steps in. "Listen here you are in her majesty's presence." 

"I could care less now tell me how to return home."

"All questions will be answered in time." Lila says, stepping forwards as well. 

"Well this is how I see it. You've summoned us from our world to here. From what I know about these situations you'll want us to fight some kind of oppressive force. Is it demons?"

Rebecca stares at the ground feeling reluctant to respond.