"Now, may each of you present yourselves before me?"
A deafening silence echoed across the halls at the behest of the king's question, the five of us laying completely still.
"I'm sorry, perhaps you didn't hear me. May each of you present--"
"Who the hell are you to order us around," One of us remarked, their crude attitude vying with the king's regal, condescending tone, "you drag us into this new world without our consent, and then insist we introduce ourselves to you? Perhaps manners don't exist in this world."
The summoned soon revealed to be the black-haired teen cracked a smile, letting out a small 'ha' that prompted even me to laugh a little bit.
A few of the king's guards surrounding the king tensed up at the remark, but the king raised his hand high for all to see, a silence returning to the throne room.
"Yes, where have my manners gone? I am Viral--Viral Henry XII, king of Laronia, and the man behind your summoning here."
The king's tone lacked the previous condescension, but his posture was still upright and his strength through prose was just as regal as it had been beforehand.
His cloak floated, three jeweled signet rings on each hand glinting in the light as the ends of his cheeks rose a little bit, a little bit of teeth poking through.
The aura emanating from Viral almost stole the air from my lungs, my limbs taut and my mouth forced shut.
Clearly, this man was a natural-born king.
"Now, if you may be so kind as to introduce yourselves, I would be more than humbly obliged. I wish to hear your names and purposes."
The first to step up was the black-haired teen, his arms crossed and his face still.
"My name is Lucien, although my friends call me Luci. I'm a high school student, and I wish to become a lawyer."
The king's brows burrowed into a knit of confusion, but he made no further inquiries, only giving a visible nod before gesturing his hand to the next person in line.
The next to speak was the red-haired girl, her eyes burning with a blazing storm of resolution and her fists balled up with such force that one could audibly hear the pressure in a 'skrrrrkkkttt' sound.
"My name is Kaia, but I'm feared by all as Kai! I used to be a college student, but I dropped out to pursue my all-time dream of becoming the demon queen, grahahahaha!"
She struck a pose like a Saturday morning anime villain, her intensity so bright that one could actually discern a blaze surrounding her.
Shortly, murmurs began to spread across the throne room, mentions of 'could it be' and 'there's no way' just barely heard in the scattered gossip.
Kaia's arms uncrossed, her legs slightly folding as she took a step back. Her hands went back to her sides behind her as the murmurs continued.
The king looked around the room, his mouth also hanging a little open while the hand he'd been using as a headrest shifted to the side a bit to accommodate his moving head.
"Well, uh... Kaia, I'm sure 'demon queen' has a different meaning from where you come from, but I would advise you to not use that term so lightly in this world. The position you mentioned is one so notorious that some countries would have you executed simply for mentioning it."
"U-understood..."
The fire surrounding Kaia dissipated, and her face fell to a droop as her arms flopped down to her sides, her vision aimed at the floor.
Looking at how fired up she was just a moment ago, I kind of felt bad.
The king gesturing for the next in line, the yellow-haired guy rose up, his chest puffed out and his chin standing upright.
"My name is Elias, but my family call me Eli. I'm a college student, and I plan on becoming a firefighter someday."
The king gave an additional nod, the contorting of his eyebrows no longer prevalent as they once were at the mention of jobs and constructions in our original world.
"Then, if you may," the king added, looking down towards the girl next to me.
Stepping forward, the girl tips her shoulders down and forward into a bow, her eyes briefly closed for the motion.
"My name is Liora, and I am most excited to help service you and the kingdom."
Wow, how considerate.
"Alright, Lucien, Elias, Kaia, and Liora. Now that we've all introduced ourselves, I believe it is most important that we--"
"Hey, what about me!"
Fist raised in the air, I step forward while gritting the words out through my teeth.
"Hm? Who might you be?"
The king's left eyebrow raised just slightly more than his right, his thumb caressing the meat of his cheek.
"Are you serious, I was summoned to this world by you!"
Booming echoes of escaped air thrashed my eardrums, my temple vibrating mere inches beneath my skin and bone.
All the guardsmen in the room donned different expressions, some having a banal darkness presiding in their face through the lowering of eyebrows and curling of their mouths into slight frowns, while others had a nearly opposite reaction, smirking with a silent disbelief.
The big gasp that'd just filled the room quickly shifted into a bellowing menagerie of gossips and new rumors, some remarks such as 'there's no way' making no effort in staying hidden.
"A fifth hero, huh?"
The only one who'd maintained their composure was the king, looking down upon me with a soft, loosened stare. Giving my best guess, the king seemed to be perplexed but unwilling to offend.
"Alright, then, you may have the privilege of presenting yourself."
A little pissed off at the king's sudden shift from parity to condescension, I step forward anyway, open palms waving into the air.
"My name is Rowan, a college student. Back in my world, I found purpose in making poems, and so it is with this that I wished to be a writer."
A cold sweat ran down along my face as the majorly scrutinizing crowd began to rile down, each utterance I made allowing the room to quiet even more.
Perhaps writers are something valued in this world?
"Okay then, Rowan. Thank you."
The king stood up, waving his hand and prompting the kings guard to all lay on the right knee.
"Now that we have properly introduced ourselves, I believe it is imperative that I explain to you the circumstances."