The king's final words echoed through the throne room like distant thunder—heavy, impossible to ignore, and terrifyingly real.
For a few heartbeats, no one moved.
Then the room erupted.
Dozens of voices overlapped as Roman's classmates stumbled into frantic conversations. Panic, outrage, disbelief—every emotion spilled freely into the gilded air.
"W-We can't go back...? Ever?"
"This has to be a joke—someone tell me this is a joke!"
"Highschool students!? He expects highschool students to play hero!?"
Roman watched it unfold quietly, crimson eyes steady, expression unreadable. Chaos never rattled him—not on the track, not in the ring, and not now in a throne room in another world.
Beside him, Jordan was the exact opposite.
Jordan paced in quick, frantic strides, fingers tugging through his curly hair. "Bro, bro, Roman—this is insane. This is literally insane. My parents... our families—what are they gonna think? We just vanished! Poof! Gone! Are they gonna think we ran away? Got kidnapped? Man, this is wild—this is actually wild—"
Rin leaned against a marble pillar, arms folded, her voice a calm counterweight to Jordan's panic. "His explanation about mana wasn't baseless. If our bodies are saturated with it now, trying to force us back to a world with none... the king might be right. The result would be catastrophic."
Jordan froze mid-pace. "Rin. Not. Helping."
"I'm not trying to help," she replied. "I'm trying to understand."
Roman tuned out their bickering for a second as he scanned the room again. His classmates weren't adjusting well—not that anyone could blame them.
Lena stood near the back, hands clasped to her chest, whispering reassurances to a trembling girl beside her despite her own fear.
Darius towered near the center, jaw clenched, his presence alone enough to make some of the panicking students settle.
Talia hopped from group to group, cracking jokes that were half-hearted but still helped slow the rising tide of fear.
Evan tried mediating arguments that broke out, soothing tempers as best he could.
Nora was muttering to herself, eyes bright with a concerning amount of scientific fascination for someone trapped in another world.
It was chaos—but familiar chaos.
Highschool chaos.
Just... transplanted into a throne room with stained glass murals and armed guards.
In the middle of it all, Aiden—the class representative back home—stood talking quietly with Darius.
Aiden's voice was low but commanding in its own gentle way. "Darius, can you try calming down the others? They'll listen to you more than anyone else."
Darius let out a slow breath. "...Yeah. I'll try."
Roman respected that. Leadership under pressure wasn't easy.
Not like his approach—silence until he had something worth saying.
Meanwhile Jordan had resumed pacing. "Roman—man, we need a plan. A plan! Do we just... live here now? Work here? Fight monsters? Pay taxes? What's the workflow for being abducted??"
Rin rolled her eyes. "We were given an explanation. And we were offered resources. The king said new clothes, housing, support... He's making it as comfortable as he can for people who were, essentially, kidnapped."
Jordan threw his arms out. "Oh great. A courtesy fruit basket for the abducted. That makes everything better!"
Roman inhaled slowly, then finally spoke—his voice low, steady, the grounding force both of them needed.
"Jordan. Rin."
Both stopped and looked at him.
"...For now," Roman said, choosing his words with care, "let's not cause any trouble. We don't know anything about this world yet. Or what's waiting for us outside these walls."
Jordan's shoulders slumped. Rin nodded, thoughtful.
Roman continued, "The king's offering help. Clothes... a place to stay. We should take it. We need a base. A place to think. We can figure out the rest later."
Jordan exhaled sharply, rubbing his face. "Yeah... Yeah, okay. I don't like it, but okay."
Rin gave Roman a small approving look. "Practical as always."
Roman didn't react to the compliment—not outwardly. Internally, though, he was relieved they agreed. He wasn't used to leading, not really. But with everything falling apart around them... someone had to be calm.
Someone had to stay steady.
And Roman had always been good at keeping steady.
Even when dropped into another world...