Emilia could only whisper in shock and confusion not understanding the voice's words. Who was a sage candidate? Why were they talking to her?
Before she could question herself more, the light grew brighter, as if covering her entire world in blank white.
"Cap'n! I can't see shit!"
"Natsuki-san, hold on!"
"What's happening, I suppose?!"
"KYAAAAAAAA!"
As the bright light filled the carriage. Emilia could only hear the screams of her friends and fellow members of her camp as they were attacked by something outside of the cart.
Even though the situation should have evoked some amount of fear in her, the half-elf could only feel a slight warmth washing over her. It was as if the cold air blowing past the divinely protected cart had suddenly turned into a warm summer breeze.
She was protected and safe, unafraid of this confusing turn of events.
Suddenly, the light dissipated from around her, freeing her from the white empty world.
Opening her eyes, Emilia looked around her with a bewildered expression.
"Wha…?!"
The silver-haired girl looked around her with an expression of complete bafflement and confusion. "How did we get to such a place?" She wondered as she gazed at her fallen friends and the new world they appeared to have dropped in.
Around her, was a closed-off room with no doors or windows. Rows of comfortable expensive-looking chairs filled the room from beginning to end. It seemed that Emilia and her camp were dropped right in the front row while the rest of the room laid behind them. However, their eyes were far more focused on a strange object embedded in the giant wall before them.
An illuminating light broke through the darkroom from within the palatial window placed inside of the wall.
Emilia slowly turned around. Confusion and fear filled her face as she gazed at the rows of seats behind her.
Her mouth agape from shock, she could do naught but stare at the appearances before her.
"Ta' fuck is happening, my amazin' selfs wasn't in here!" A blonde gruff-looking kid shouted in fury as he looked around frantically in confusion.
"Calm down Garfiel-san!" Otto voiced in concern as he stood up from the floor and placed a hand over his panicking friend's shoulder.
The two boys looked over the rest of the room with shock and surprise, noticing what the half-elf sitting beside them had, seconds ago.
There were many other factions present in the room. Garfiel didn't know any of these weird looking bunch but his sight was quickly drawn towards a faint light at the very back of the room.
The small presence of the light vaporized, revealing a person sitting in its place. A person Garfiel knew all too well and was shocked to see.
"Ram!?" The boy shouted his surprise, shocking Emilia and Otto as they looked up at the last row.
Finding a pink-haired girl in a maid uniform, looking around in confusion and puzzlement.
"What's the meaning of this?!" Ram growled out as she noticed a bunch of other occupants sitting around her as well as her own camp sitting right in the front row below her, she didn't know how…. but she blamed that black-haired buffoon for this one.
As she looked around some more, trying to see if there were any other people in this room with whom she was acquainted, she noticed a faint light ball appearing beside her for an instant before vanishing into the air and leaving a person sitting in its place.
A person she was very well acquainted with;
"Roswaal-sama?!" Ram uttered in shock as she witnessed her master appearing right beside her in this strange place in a matter of seconds.
The colorfully dressed man with clown makeup on his face simply blinked in utter disbelief as he took a moment to gaze around him. His expression transformed into a thin unreadable line as recognized the identities of all those around him.
"Now isn't this interestiiiiiiing…" Roswaal mused to himself. smiling softly at his shocked maid and glancing in the direction of his gathered camp sitting far away from him.
"It seems we've all been teleported agaaaaainst our will." The mage mused once more in a tone filled with excitement and wonder as he noticed the other occupants that filled the seats of the room other than the members of his camp.
Other than the Emilia camp, it seemed that all four other royal selection candidates and some of their trusted allies were seated in the room with a seating arrangement that placed each faction away from one another.
Some of these people looked bored to be here, he noted as he scanned everybody sitting before him.
Emilia noted Ram and her sponsor's presence in the same room and moved on to look at the person sitting behind her.
The half-elf couldn't believe her eyes.
"Felt-chan? You're here as well?" Besides the overwhelming sense of happiness at seeing the little blonde who had been once a thorn at her side before her, Emilia couldn't hide her extreme bafflement and little understanding of the situation.
The little scarlet-eyed blonde seemed to have taken a much more laid back approach than the silver-haired girl as Felt met Emilia with a confident smile and a welcoming wave.
"Hey, Big sis! Glad to see ya safe and sound." The blonde anarchist smirked cheekily as she greeted her big sis.
Emilia shook her head softly and smiled towards the small candidate, happiness for their reunion settling in once again. "Glad to see you're doing fine as well, Felt-chan. I hope you haven't been stealing anything lately."
The blonde winced and narrowed her eyes at the teasing lady. "Oh come on! I apologized for that didn't I?! And besides, I got this shitty job at the selection nonsense because of my crime so consider it punishment enough."
Emilia softly chuckled as she turned from the blushing Felt towards the person sitting right beside her. A dashing red-haired young man dressed in the uniform of the royal guard sat beside the little girl wearing a charming smile that filled the area around him with an aura of comfort and overwhelming calm.