Chapter 1

The day I got summoned to this world was the best day of my 18 years of life. Now, after months of practice, rough training, and studying, I'm finally... being sent home...

I pleaded with the princess as she led the way to the summoning chamber, alongside her royal guard and the instructor of us heroes, Sir Lawrence. Guards followed behind us. It was embarrassing, but this was the last chance I would have to change her mind. "Please, princess. I know I can be useful. I'm sorry for arguing with the other heroes, but I'm improving in my lessons, and... I... I don't want to leave. Please. Even if you let me become a soldier or something. I don't need to be a hero, just... don't send me back."

I fought to keep the tears back. Nothing was waiting for me back home. I had worked my butt off under Lawrence’s brutal training, but no matter how hard I tried, the other heroes left me behind. Owen was making friends with nobles and living the good life in this world, Ryan was loved by everyone and partied all the time, Chris excelled at everything he did, even Sarah started to pull away from me when I started to drag her down in her studies of magic. It felt like I worked twice as hard and saw less than half the results they did.

She stopped, and the guards followed suit. When she turned to look at me, my heart lept for joy, before plummeting back down again as I noticed the look of pity in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Mr. William. Honestly, if it weren't for my regretful advocacy, you would have been sent home weeks ago. I wanted to believe in you, and seeing how badly you wanted to help, I decided to let to try and prove yourself. However, it's time to face reality. You have no relevant skills, no useful past life knowledge, despite months of training, you still have not manifested a blessing, and now your envy of the other heroes is starting to cause problems for everyone. We are at war, Mr. William. I would feel horrible if something happened to you. Not to mention how the other heroes might react if one of their past friends... Anyway, please don't make this any harder than it has to be."

She turned and continued walking. The guards followed her. My throat stung as I fought, again, to hold back the emotions. I'm useless, so I'm being sent home. Even in another world, I'm still just a burden.

I followed them the rest of the way with my mouth shut. When we reached the summoning chamber, the guards opened the massive double doors for us, but didn't enter. They closed them behind me as I entered last. It was just myself, the princess, Mr. Lawrence, and two guards whose names I didn't know by the inner door. Light streamed in from the stained-glass windows that depicted 4 faceless heroes. No room for a fifth.

The room was circular, with the middle of the floor containing a large and extremely complex magical circle etched into the floor. The outer rim of the room was raised above the rest, with two elaborate thrones beneath the window. The last time I was here was the highlight of my life. I never imagined I would be back feeling the opposite.

The princess walked toward the window until she stood in front of the thrones as Lawrence went to the center of the room.

"Now, Mr. William, if you would please step into the magic circle next to Sir. Lawrence, so we can begin." She said calmly, but I could sense a hint of impatience.

Her words echoed off the high walls. So did the sound of my footsteps as I approached the middle of the room with my head low. I didn't want to look at anyone. I didn't want to see how they were looking at me. Were they laughing at me? Maybe they felt bad for me. Or maybe they were just happy I would be gone soon. Lawrence worked hard as an instructor for the 5 of us, and I let him down, and even though we just fought, I also felt bad for letting my friends down.

I got to the center of the circle and closed my eyes tight. Next time I opened them, I would be back home. Or maybe back in the library, depending on how this returning magic worked. If it were anything like being summoned, it would be over quickly.

"Goodbye, William. Sir. Lawrence, do it now, please." The princess spoke in her usual gentle way. It sounded professional, but also cold, like she didn't care one way or another.

I braced myself for the light. All the time I had spent here flashed through my mind. So many amazing memories and so many more regrets. I would do anything if I could just stay here...

However, instead of a bright flash and a tingling feeling, I felt a sharp pain in my neck. I opened my eyes to see I was lying on the floor. Wait, was I? But I could see my body was still standing there. As it slowly leaned forward and fell flat, I realized what had happened. I was just a severed head.

"Good work Sir. Lawrence. You two, guards, take his body below. Even though he wasn't granted a blessing, he was still summoned. If he still counts as a hero, his organs and bones will be extremely valuable as magical components."

""Yes princess!"" The guards said in unison.

Everything started to go dark. What was going on? Am I... dead?

…

"Ugh! Princess!? William... he...!" One of the guards shouted from right next to me.

I pushed myself up onto my knees and immediately reached for my neck.

The princess stumbled back as she spoke, "Wha-?! Sir. Lawrence! Surely you didn't miss?"

"No, princess. I... we all saw his head roll." Lawrence spoke as he drew his sword again.

I looked around the room. Everyone was frozen in place, staring at me. I definitely just got my head cut off, right? Why am I fine? Am I actually dead, and this is just a cruel joke in my mind? But everything feels real. Especially the pounding in my heart. This fear. I stood up and backed away from Lawrence as he pointed his sword at me. It was still dripping with blood. My blood.

"Sir. Lawrence, make sure of it this time!" The princess's command startled us all.

"Y-yes, princess!" Lawrence responded as he moved to close the distance between us.

I continued to back away towards the two guards, but they kept their distance from me.

"W-wait! Stop! Why are you doing this?"

No response. He stepped in and raised his blade above his head. Remembering the training HE taught me, I tried to dodge. I stepped left. Too early. He read it and quickly changed the angle of the attack, slicing across my face and deep into my chest. I fell back, screaming in pain and grasping at the open wounds pointlessly. I pushed away with my feet as Lawrence got closer and raised a hand against his sword. He brought his blade down like it wasn't even there.

This time, dying hurt a lot. It burned and stung so much, all I could think about was screaming in pain. My vision of Lawrence went red, then got darker... and darker. I was almost relieved when my mind went fuzzy and the pain stopped.

"AHH! P-Princess! Again!" One of the guards yelled.

I awoke again. This time with a sharp pain in my head. Instinctively, I reached for the gashes on my face and chest. Nothing. My shirt was torn, but that was it. I must've been getting carried by the guards towards the far door in the room when they dropped me, because I was half way there. How long was I out?

Lawrence and the Princess stood together in front of the thrones and looked over to me immediately. I got to my feet fast and turned to run across the room back to the door I entered through. I didn't know why this was happening, but I wasn't going to stay and find out.

Lawrence quickly ran to intercept me, but I would make it to the door before him. He stopped and placed his hand on his second sword sheathed on his right side while taking a stance. I knew even before he grabbed the blade what that meant. His radiant armament.

"NO! You can't risk damaging the magic circle!" The princess yelled.

Lawrence clicked his tongue in annoyance, but changed his stance.

I pushed off the floor, fueled by fear and adrenaline. The door was a few feet away when a booming sound and gust of wind came from where Lawrence had been standing. Suddenly, he was standing in front of me, sword raised. There was no way I could even try to dodge. He brought his sword down, and things went dark instantly.

…

The princess gasped a few feet away and covered her mouth with her hands as she spoke. "That's... not possible. Not even divine resurrection magic can..."

I heard one of the guards react as well. "M-Monster! Demon!"

I opened my eyes to see Lawrence staring down at me with a look of both horror and disgust.

But much worse than that was the sight of my own lifeless eyes looking down at me from the severed head under Lawrence's arm. I was stunned. Staring at myself. That was me. My head. I was dead. Who am I if that's me?

He threw the head aside and drew his sword again. It rolled and came to a stop with its eyes looking back at mine. My eyes. I couldn't help but stare. Surely, this was just a nightmare. It had to be. Or I was already dead. What had I done to deserve this? I was in hell.

The sword came down again.

…

This time, I awoke to darkness. I had a splitting headache and could feel blood running down my face. Did he not kill me this time? There were voices around me, but my arms and legs were bound together behind my back. I tried to scream, but there was a rope holding cloth in my mouth. As I struggled and moved around, I realized I was inside a box or something, with a bag over my head. I started to panic. What was the worst-case scenario? Is this a coffin? Are they going to bury me alive?

"You two, take him below. Lawrence, inform Dr. Borscht of this peculiarity. Take that head with you, too, but don't let anyone else see it." I could hear the princess talking.

"Yes, princess." The guards responded as I felt my container be lifted.

"What will you be telling the others? The heroes can't know of this. If they ever find him..." Lawrence spoke as I was being taken away.

"Well, obviously! I'll think of something. For now, we should stick to the story that we sent him home. The heroes have no reason to visit the dungeons anyway. Wait! Lawrence, take his sword."

The guards stopped moving me. Footsteps approached, and the sound of a sword leaving its sheath could be heard.

"Bring it here."

"Princess? What do you plan to do?"

"Just give it to me!"

...

"Princess!?"

"Ahh!"

"What are you doing?!"

"If anyone asks, William begged desperately not to be sent home. He became irate and crazed before drawing one of the guard's blades and attacking me. Sir. Lawrence, you were able to disarm him and restrain him so we could send him home."

...

"You! What happened here today?" She shouted.

One of the guards carrying me stammered, "H-huh!? Um..."

She sighed loudly before asking again.

"Lawrence, what happened here?"

"Ma'am. The hero, William, utterly refused to be sent home. You did your best to keep him calm, but he became enraged and attacked you. I was caught by surprise, but quickly moved to restrain him. I'm deeply sorry for my hesitation. It won't happen again, and I am grateful for your limitless mercy in forgiving me."

"Good. Now you two. What happened here?"

"Th-the hero... he... didn't want to be sent away. He stole my sword and attacked you with it. Sir. Lawrence was able to stop him and send him home."

The other guard repeated the same story before they were both dismissed. As they carried me away, I could hear just a bit more.

"What will you do if they find him? They'll know it was a lie, Princess."

"Was it? If that happens, leave it to me. The heroes aren't as smart as they like to think they are."

The door closed.