Volume 1 Chapter 1: Homecoming

“Where… am I…?”

When I half-opened my eyes, I found myself in a dim place lit by a single streetlamp.

The bulb was on its last legs—it crackled and blinked, barely lighting the area.

“A… streetlamp…?”

My thoughts slowly snapped into focus. Apparently I was lying face-down on the ground.

I forced strength into my limbs and got to my feet—ouch. No, it’s fine. I can take it.

My head swam. I staggered to a nearby bench and flopped onto it.

It felt like the queasiness you get after a teleport spell.

“Did… I really make it back?”

I opened both palms in front of me and murmured.

The left ring finger and right pinky I’d lost in the final battle were there again. The ribs that had snapped and the shin that had bent were perfectly fine.

My clothes were dusty, but they were the same outfit I’d been wearing when I was summoned.

I clenched my fists, letting nostalgia wash over me.

“Ah… finally. Finally…”

I’d finally made it back to a safe world.

It had been five years since I was summoned to that other world. I remember right up to the instant I was about to land the finishing blow on the Demon King at the far eastern edge of the continent.

“I was so sure it was a lie…”

The only thing I could cling to was the promise that I could return home if I slew the Demon King—a line that sounded more like a threat. Half convinced it was false, I still accepted the human kingdom’s plea and set off to defeat him.

All I ever thought about was going home, even while people hailed me as the Hero. Yet on the road I couldn’t turn away from the endless tragedies I encountered—the beastfolk princess chosen as a sacrifice, the half-demon girl, the elven maidens, the princess drowning in unrequited love. I kept extending a hand, and before I knew it, five years had passed.

At last I faced the Demon King. My heart nearly broke, but I fought with everything I had.

And then, with the oracle priestesses—my party members since the day I was summoned, the ones who supported me through every hardship—we cast our final spell together…

“No…”

No, that wasn’t it.

In the very end, they betrayed me.

At the final moment, every spell was aimed at me.

“I see.”

So that was it. A Hero, the Demon King’s counterpart, is disposable once the Demon King is gone. If you’re going to bury him, do it at the same time, in one breath, to be sure…

The idea that our hearts were connected, like everything else in that other world, was just an illusion. Not a bad punch line, really. Take care, everyone. We won’t be meeting again, so let me at least cheer you on. Or something.

“Whatever…”

The important thing is that I got home.

Let’s see… wasn’t the day I was summoned the first time I got beaten up in front of my childhood friend? I unlock my phone and check the date as the memory resurfaces.

“The knockout tournament, right?”

The bullies’ condition was a string of one-on-one fights—beat even one of them and they’d let me go. What a childish game.

After all the life-and-death struggles of another world, it feels like a cheap farce. Hard to believe I once thought dying would be better than this—and that led to being summoned.

But would anyone normally wish for death over something like that?

During the summoning they’d explained that two things were required: exceptional talent among humans and utter despair with this world.

Oh right, there was my childhood friend being stolen from me, plus the fallout with my stepsister. No wonder I was a mess back then. It’s all coming back.

Three months into high school I was about to break. Beaten up in front of the girl who’d dumped me before enrollment—yeah, that was it. Pathetic, utterly pathetic—and that finished me off…

Anyway,

“Let’s go home.”

Whether it’s the Demon King battle, the party’s betrayal, transfer fatigue, or the beating I probably just took—everything feels like too much effort.

After wanting to come back so badly.

“Hold on.”

What about magic? Magic doesn’t depend on level; it hinges on affinity and mastery. I cast a cleansing spell and a healing spell.

My whole body is wrapped in gentle blue and green light.

“It works…?”

If I can use magic, that means my other-world experience wasn’t a dream.

So this must be a world where magic users already exist.

Or maybe I can use it because I learned the concept over there?

Wait—don’t tell me this is some parallel Earth twist… I should probably test it.

Or, well,

“Whatever.”

I stand, glance at the dark sky, and mutter.