Surrounding me was a world of darkness.

There was no sensation on the tips of my fingers, nor anywhere else on my body. However, I couldn't shake the deeply rooted feeling that I was still falling.

Time passed, and in this pitch black world with only my thoughts, I couldn't tell if it had been seconds, days, or even years. However, suddenly-

CRASH!

Like a lightning strike in the midst of a rainstorm had struck right beside me, l was overwhelmed by a brilliant flash of light. A heartbeat later, I fell face-first on a marble platform.

"Ugh..."

I groaned as I got to my knees, prepared to stand up when suddenly.

BAM!

An object suddenly hit my back with a force that felt like a truck, sending me sprawling back to the ground. If I hadn't trained my body to the extent that I did, I likely would've broken a rib at the very least, if not worse.

Rubbing my stomach as I groaned once more, I glanced behind me only to see a familiar sight.

"Eh?!"

I sighed as the girl before me jumped back and pointed at me in shock. Her straight brown hair tied up into a ponytail, her emerald eyes were wide as her mouth was agape. It was the girl from the bridge, the one who had tried to stop me.

Looking closer now, she really was quite beautiful. She looked like she could have been an actress on Earth, possessing a well proportioned, athletic figure and a cute face. It looked like she played sports, which would probably benefit her here.

"Y-you're the jumper! Where are we?"

As she looked around frantically, I merely poked her on the forehead with a finger.

"First of all, I'm not a jumper. I wasn't trying to die or anything, I was trying to get here."

"And where exactly is here, Mr. "totally not a jumper"?"

I propped myself up on one hand before getting up from the ground. 

"I think I already told you that more than once, but I guess it can't hurt to say it again. We're in another world."

"What the hell do you mean by tha-?!"

Just as she was about to finish her sentence, the girl was interrupted by the sound of a door slamming open. Seeing how she jumped in fright at the sound, I couldn't help but laugh a little, something that got me a vicious glare from the girl in return.

Turning to the direction that the sound came from, I simply waved. Standing in the doorway was a gorgeous girl with light blue hair and a stunning figure, the epitome of the "isekai princess" trope. Though she wore a simple white dress, it was honestly hard to know where to look. However, I only smiled in a relaxed fashion.

The bridge girl opened her mouth to speak again, only to get cut off as the girl before us bowed with tears pooling in the corners of her eyes.

"Heroes, thank the gods you've come! Please save our kingdom!"

In the face of her desperation, I walked up to her and gently placed my hand on her head.

Surprised, she looked up at me with big, ruby-colored eyes. However, I simply smiled confidently.

"Don't worry princess, just take me to the ruler of this country and I'll do whatever I can!"

As I finished speaking, it seemed that the bridge girl managed to shake free of her stunned state.

"Hold on a minute, somebody explain what's going on here!"

Grabbing my shoulder and forcing me to turn and face her, my fellow "hero" looked to be on the verge of tears as well. Though in all honesty I felt it was mostly her fault that she ended up in this position in the first place, I wasn't the kind of person who enjoyed making girls cry. Since that was the case, I turned back to the princess.

"Seeing as she's confused, Princess..."

I lingered on the word for a short while, prompting her to tell me her name.

"Ah! I am Princess Elena Drake, pleased to make your acquaintance."

The princess curtsied while introducing herself, flustered. Her cheeks were tinged slightly red.

"Nice to meet you as well, I'm Jonathan Moriarty."

The princess' gaze shifted from me to the bridge girl, who curtsied somewhat awkwardly with her skirt.

"I-I'm Amber Grace."

As the bridge girl, Amber, shifted back up to stand, her face was tomato red. It seemed she was embarrassed by her own awkward curtsy, though I thought that if that was the case she shouldn't have done it in the first place.

"Anyways, now that we all know each other, can you explain to Amber what's going on?"

I put my hands in my pockets as I spoke, though I already had my suspicions as to what she was going to say.

"Y-yes! M-My kingdom, the Belvis Kingdom, is in grave danger. Demons have been attacking our soldiers on the country's borders, and my father believes that war is inevitable. He tasked my two elder sisters and I with using the ancient summoning magic to bring heroes from other worlds to aid us in the war, but until now we were unsuccessful..."

As she went to continue speaking, Elena began to tear up again.

"My elder sisters... their bodies were unable to handle the strain of the summoning ritual, and they passed away. I had thought all hope was lost, that when it was my turn tomorrow I would fail as well... but then you appeared! The mana that surrounds you, it's not of this world, so you must be the heroes the legends speak of!"

Amber looked at me with wide eyes as she listened to Elena's explanation, her face solemn.

"A war..."

I nodded as a forced smile spread on my face. It wasn't often that things made me this angry, but I would have to stay calm for now. If it was really as I thought, things would be over soon enough without me even needing to leave this castle.

"It seems the King wants us to take part in war, I believe we should have a discussion with him..."