Isekai Mahou wa Okureteru! (LN)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Do not Forget the Promise Made at the Adventurer’s Guild

It was a few moments before Suimei met Lefille. For the purpose of returning to his own world, he had departed from Astel Kingdom’s royal castle Camellia and was now standing before the main street of the capitol city Metel. After leaving the castle, Suimei had headed straight for a clothing store. He had purchased clothes for the purpose of walking around town normally and was now completely relaxed.

"… Alright, no matter how you look at me, I’m now completely a normal citizen."

After confirming that he perfectly blended in with the people around him, Suimei let out a sigh of relief. It had left him quite uncomfortable to walk around in his school uniform in the middle of a town and people who looked straight out of Middle Ages Europe. For this reason, once he had noticed the gazes of others, Suimei had headed immediately towards a clothing store. He had originally intended to sell his schoolbooks first, however he changed his plans and instead used the money he received from the prime minister Gless to buy clothing. Suimei used the surrounding youngsters around his age as reference and bought clothing to match them. They were definitely normal clothes, however they weren’t quite comfortable to wear. It should be obvious when compared to modern clothing, but the more important factor for Suimei was to blend in.

"So, next is the Adventurer’s Guild…"

As Suimei adjusted the sleeves on his new clothes, he began heading towards his next destination, the Adventurers’ Guild. His next goal after buying new clothing was to obtain identification papers. It was great and all that he had left the castle to live on his own, however his current situation was no different from a vagrant. In this case many inconveniences would come up in his travels. Just like in the modern world, even the fantasy world held the concept of identification. However, unlike the modern world, they could only judge another by their identification and outer appearance. A lack of proper proof of ident.i.ty would be a far more lethal mistake than in modern society.

Since Suimei was intent on leaving Astel, it was not something he necessarily needed right away. However if he was in a situation where he could attain one, then he believed he should do just so. According the books from Camellia’s archives, unlike other guilds, it seemed that the Adventurer’s Guild allowed anybody to register. For the other guilds - such as the Merchant’s Guild and the Craftsman’s Guild - it was generally necessary to have prior experience and a reference to register. However the Adventurer’s Guild did not require any of that. It was an organization which only required the clothing on one’s back - though that may be putting it a little bluntly. Basically as long as one had the ability to do the work, anybody was fine.

However to prevent it from becoming a job with no guarantees, if one were not trusted than the jobs entrusted to them would be trivial. Since pretty much only dangerous jobs are requested of the guild, it was obvious that a normal person would have no place in taking on any requests. Suimei also had the alternative of going to the Mage’s Guild, however in the case of an emergency they were used as a military force for the country. This did not match up with Suimei’s intentions. Therefore the only place he could acquire a guild card from was the Adventurer’s Guild.

(I ended up following the standard route in the end huh…)

As Suimei was absentmindedly thinking of such things and walking down the street, he had arrived at a place which seemed to be the Adventurer’s Guild. In front of him was a building which, much like the other buildings in the area, was a two-story wooden building. On the front of the building, a large placard with the words Twilight Pavilion written on it was placed above the door like some sort of restaurant or bar. In front of the door was two guards in plate mail. The construction of the building did not differ much from the other buildings, however the amount of s.p.a.ce it occupied differed greatly.

This city from another world was surrounded by a twenty metre tall wall to defend against invading monsters and foreign aggressors and prevent them from easily entering. Because of the wall, the amount of land allocated to the town was restricted. Therefore the buildings were quite depressingly cramped together and each building was not allotted much land. Upon seeing the amount of s.p.a.ce the Adventurer’s Guild occupied, one could understand just how important it was to the country.

Upon looking at his surrounding, Suimei could see that unlike the other neighbourhoods he had been walking through, this area was spa.r.s.ely populated by dangerous looking people. It was just like characters out of games or anime from armoured men dressed like warriors to slender male and female mages wearing robes much like Felmenia’s. There were even men carrying large claymore like swords. In modern j.a.pan they would all be people who would be arrested for violating the swords and firearms control low. However in this world they were all considered objects necessary to their livelihoods.

Suimei found this a little comforting. Just from stepping into this territory, he was able to savour a slight tingling in the atmosphere. To feel like this from just being in the middle of town was quite refreshing. After finishing gazing at his dangerous surrounding, Suimei headed towards the door to the Twilight Pavilion. The two guards standing on each side of the door had not said a single word to stop him, so it seemed that this was the correct place after all. One of the guards gave Suimei a nod and raised his hand to invite him in. Taking them up on their invitation, Suimei opened the door and headed inside.

And so, inside this establishment which was frequently talked about in fantasy worlds, was a layout which seemed to suggest it had formerly been a bar. Though aside from the Middle Ages themed bar where they served alcohol, there were also general goods stores and a.s.sembly areas. Surely the bar had become the Adventurer’s Guild. Suimei was pondering about whether or not this was the case as he headed further into the building. The Twilight Pavilion truly was close to the image he had in his head.

In the front there was a reception desk where clients seemed to be consulting with the guild staff along with a bench to line up for it. At the side were what appeared to be informational magazines as well as a bulletin board with requests pasted all over it. And then occupying the majority of the hall was the layout resembling a bar. There were tall circular tables and lower long tables for larger groups. In the corner was a mountain of oak barrels. Despite it being quite early in the day, dangerous looking types were noisily drinking away what appeared to be beer and wine.

(It’s still the middle of the day and they’re all getting drunk. It’s not like there is some sort of event going on.)

Suimei was making a small voice in either admiration, exasperation or a mix of both. As he was doing so he went further in while looking to the side. As he arrived at the long bench before the reception desk he spotted instructions posted along with writing materials on a table. Suimei followed the posted instructions and headed towards the end the queue, and there ― he encountered the crimson haired girl, Lefille Grakis.

★

― As Suimei named himself at Lefille’s request, she had bowed her head down quickly.

"I see, Suimei-kun right? Sorry for having you go along with this incomprehensible oracle."

"No, I don’t mind. But are oracles from the Salvation Church something that happens often?"

"Yeah, that’s right. I go to the church quite a lot and once in a while received an oracle which left things at my discretion. However it is rare for the oracle to be such a concrete matter like this time, I wonder what is the deal with that?"

"Heeeh…"

As she sighed about her ordeal, Suimei uttered a small breath in neither admiration or indifference. He recalled that the church’s revelation had also informed the whole country to take action. And now a revelation was also directed to guide a single person. He could not tell whether these subjects whose goals could not be understood were simply the whims of a G.o.d or the hobby of the one giving out the oracles. In any case, as long as the oracles were not a simple scam by the bishops, it was possible that it was some sort intervention from a paranormal existence using spiritualism as a foundation, or it could be something closer to divination or fortune telling.

"With such a revelation there’s no way to tell what will happen right?"

"Really. It bothers me that I have truly no understanding of what the G.o.ddess is thinking of."

"Wasn’t it dangerous to speak of such things?"

"The thickheaded bishop isn’t here. Also the G.o.ddess would surely forgive such a small ― "

"Will the next person please come up?"

In the middle of Suimei and Lefille’s conversation, a voice called out to them from the reception desk. Now that they took a look, the one who had been sitting beside Lefille was not there anymore. It did not need to be said who the next person she was referring to was.

"It seems that my turn has come."

"That’s right, take care."

"Yeah, I hope that your commission gets quickly resolved."

As Suimei was seeing her off, she returned these words as she walked towards the reception desk.

"…?"

Suimei was wondering just why she would say such a thing. While he was pondering on this mystery, after a small conversation with the receptionist, Lefille began filling out some doc.u.mentation and was then led through a door further into the building. It was probable that she was going to be interviewed by someone else further inside. The reception then called out for the next person in line. As he heard the voice calling him over, Suimei stood up and walked to the counter.

"― Welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild, the Twilight Pavilion’s Metel Branch… Ummm, is this your first time coming here?"

"You can tell?"

"Yeah, you’ve been looking around the guild for some time now like you were interested in all sorts of things. The first time people come here they are all like that. So, what is the nature of your request today?"

"No, I’d like to register please."

As Suimei said this, the receptionist seemed to have misheard him.

"… What?"

"Sorry, I’d like to register as a guild member please."

"U-umm, could you please repeat that one more time?"

"Like I’ve been saying, I’d like to register as a guild member please."

Was it perhaps that she was bad of hearing? Even after repeating the same phrase three times, the receptionist for some reason was putting on a grim expression. She began to rub her brow with her fingers and after a short while let out large sigh as she began speaking in a polite yet irritated tone.

"Umm… Excuse me, but are you saying such a thing while being aware that this is the Adventurer’s Guild the Twilight Pavilion?"

"That’s right, is there something strange?"

"Umm, everything is strange right?"

"…?"

Suimei could feel a cold breeze at the sudden change in personality from the previously approachable and polite receptionist. He had now idea what was going on. As if to push Suimei further away, she even threw in a warning.

"… If you’re s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around, I would like to ask you to take back your words quickly. I don’t have so much free time that I could stand here bantering and listening to your jokes."

She had suddenly gotten angry. It was strange. Why was this? According to the pattern from the novels he had seen from Mizuki, registering at the guild was a quick affair where after a short conversation he would receive his registration immediately. Certainly it wouldn’t go exactly like it did in fiction, but Lefille had also just registered without any issues coming up. Just what was different between the two of them? While Suimei was trying to figure out what kind of mistake he had made to irritate the receptionist to such an extent, he noticed the presence of someone approaching him from behind.

"Oi, kid."

"…?"

A bold and angry voice came from behind him, as he turned around to face it he saw a large man about ten to twenty centimetres taller than he was standing there. The man gave off a clear impression of a warrior. He started speaking to Suimei in an overpowering, angry voice.

"You… You just said you wanted to register right?"

"Y-yeah. That’s right…"

"I see. If you admit that what you said was a joke right here I’ll let you off. So get out of my sight and go home."

It was another warning, or rather a final warning. The veins on the man’s forehead were popping out visibly as he vented his anger at Suimei. However Suimei still did not understand what the problem was and could not possibly just leave at this point. Registering at the guild was his first step into this world. It was something he must do no matter what. For that reason Suimei decided to act in a way to not further stimulate the man before him and took on an amicable att.i.tude.

"Like I’ve been saying, I really do want to register like the girl who had just done so before me."

"Are you seriously saying that you p.r.i.c.k? With that kind of spindly body, are you saying that you can fight on the same level as us?"

"Yeah."

It should have been obvious. If Suimei did not have at least that much confidence in himself he would not have come here. It would be a different story if he was joking around like they were implying earlier, but that was not the case here. Also there were plenty of mages around, his body should be a completely secondary concern, it did not make any difference that he was slim. The things that this man was saying to him just didn’t seem to line up correctly. The man seemed extremely dissatisfied at Suimei’s nonchalant reply and had become even angrier as he made a grand display.

"D-don’t screw around and bark out such stupid s.h.i.t you brat! This is a place where warrior and mages gather! It isn’t a place for a punk like you who is a complete stranger to fighting to step into you hear me!?"

"Mu? Even I have a reasonable amount of experience with fighting…"

Suimei was deep in thought. As he was talking, he had finally realized that something was wrong. He remembered just what that man had said, warrior and mages. It was certain that this was a place where those types gathered. There should have been no problems there. The problem was just how they judged people to fit into one of these two categories, this was the important point that he had overlooked.

"Warrior and mages you said, I’m also… AAAH!?"

As he repeated the words that came out from the man’s mouth, Suimei finally came upon the answer. Just a short while ago, he had bought brand new clothes to blend in as a perfectly normal citizen. Of course these clothes were chosen to match the people who lived everyday peaceful lives within the city. They were clothes worn by people who had nothing to do with violence. Now just imagine if someone dressed like that walked into the Adventurer’s Guild claiming they wanted to register. Thinking about it normally their reaction was quite natural and correct. This was another world. Unlike Suimei’s world, the people here could only judge others by their external appearance. Suimei had completely forgotten just what it was that he was wearing.

"― Dammit. It’s the clothes. I completely got carried away with the clothes I bought…"

It was far too late for Suimei to let out a sigh at his failure. All that stood before him was a gaze filled with hostility and anger, and the relentless, pitiless eyes of the surrounding crowed.

★

Currently, Yakagi Suimei’s situation could be explained in a single phrase: ‘not very good’. The previously cheerful receptionist was now scowling at him angrily. The man before him was now shaking due to his irrepressible anger. Even in his surroundings, people who appeared to be guild members were slowly gathering as they bantered between one another while making fun of him.

(Uwaaa, I really magnificently screwed this up…)

Suimei let out a groan as he had truly and completely messed up on such a grand scale. To be honest, he had completely forgotten about his outer appearance. Certainly after having it pointed it to him, it should have been obvious. He had chosen to look as ordinary as possible, so his figure truly did look like it had absolutely nothing to do with violence. On top of that he also had the generally slender figure of a j.a.panese man, it was not strange that those who saw him would a.s.sume he was unable to fight.

Suimei’s lack of understanding with regard to this world’s standards had completely backfired in his face. In his own world fighting techniques and tools were a dime a dozen. Having a good body build was only a slight advantage. Because of this fact, he had not noticed the trap before him. This was without any doubt his own mistake. However, it was also true that he could not just give up on the registration and back off like they were telling him to. He had to obtain a guild card for purposes of identification and was also hoping to find some proper lodgings as well. However even if he went and bought a weapon and returned, it would certainly be of no use. They had all definitely remembered his face now that things have escalated so, if he left and returned later they would surely just send him back again. Suimei was thinking up a plan on just how he would break out of this deadlock as the man engulfed in anger began moving towards him.

"… Hey punk, you have confidence in your skills right?"

"I did say something similar to that earlier on, but if I didn’t have any confidence in myself I would not be standing in this place."

"I see. In that case, I’ll put your skills to the test."

The man seemed to have reeled in his anger as he said this and reached for the large sword on his back. Seeing this, the receptionist suddenly started to panic as she tried to restrain him.

"Pl-please wait a moment! No matter how far he’s…"

"It doesn’t matter. This guy also said he came here to seriously register right?"

"H-however it is strictly prohibited by the guild for a member to carelessly resort to violence against a citizen!"

"Nope, this ain’t just careless violence. Besides the guild prohibits violence against regular citizens. This guy is a registration candidate, so he ain’t just an ordinary citizen. In that case, there should be no problems giving him a little test right here right?"

"That… certainly may be the case, but…"

"You’re also serious right punk? Then there’s no problems right?"

"Well yeah."

Suimei did in fact agree with what the man was saying, however he was still unable to stop himself from sighing. It in fact turned out as he expected. In this kind of situation it was only to be expected that he would have to use force to get through it. Now it was only a matter of how exactly he should deal with the man―

(Well, it’s not like anyone like those fanatics from the Holy Inquisition would be around here. It’s a world where magic is used in the open after all. There’s no reason to completely conceal it…)

In the past few days, Suimei had frankly completely changed his mind on how exactly he should carry himself while in this world. At first he had thought that he should completely conceal his magic just as he had done in his own world ― however the people of this world lived completely normal lives right alongside magic. If he was faced with magic, he could only defend and counteract with magic of his own. It wasn’t a situation where he could easily go about completely concealing his abilities at all times. Also, in this world the Holy Inquisition - a gathering of fanatics who believed only the miracles brought by their splendid G.o.d could be allowed in the world, the natural enemies of the ones known as magicians - did not exist in this world. The reasons for Suimei to conceal his ability to use magic were just disappearing one after the other. All that was left to worry about was having his techniques stolen by mind-reading spells and the like. However with the level of development that this world had reached in magic, they certainly did not have the knowledge to do such things. Thus Suimei came to the conclusion that using magic to a certain extent would not pose any problems.

Naturally he felt that it would be better if he could resolve his current situation peacefully. However when he thought about it, this situation where he faced off against a guild member was the perfect chance to clear up all misunderstandings and break through the deadlock. As Suimei made his resolve, the man lowered his gaze at Suimei like he could not accept it at all.

"Punk, what are you just standing there stupefied for? Do you have no sense of danger?"

"That’s simply because I’m not in a dangerous situation."

"Even before me?"

"Yeah."

Suimei responded in a cool manner. To him this level of threat was absolutely nothing compared to his previous experiences. He had experienced true scenes of carnage, completely flooded in overpowering pressure and oppression. The man standing before him could not compare at all to the master swordsmen from his own world in terms of ability. Also compared to the fanatical hatred from the magician hunters who held absolute faith in their G.o.ds, the hostility he felt before him might as well have been a pleasant breeze. When he thought back to the times he was surrounding by large groups armed to the teeth with firearms or to the times he had faced off against the grotesque beings known as apparitions, the danger of his present situation might as well have not existed.

The man standing before him just couldn’t stand up to his previous experiences. Suimei could only admit that he had been exposed to an abnormal amount of ridiculous situations, but even so the pressure before him was truly nothing more than a relaxing breeze. Though just how did the man see him after seeing his calm composure? Was he looking at a brat’s provocation who knew nothing of the world? Or perhaps was he seeing a man who was hoping he would stop after putting on a brave front? As Suimei was used to concealing his ident.i.ty, he always completely suppressed the mana leaking out of his body. This surely did not help in this situation.

"Fu… I’m starting. Show me you can stop or dodge this― "

The man spoke like teacher as he announced the beginning of the test. It seemed even with all his anger he truly did intend this as an actual test. Contrary to Suimei’s expectations he was actually somewhat levelheaded. While briefly thinking of such frivolous thoughts, Suimei began focusing on the matter before him… The man was grabbing the sword on his back and intended to swing it down as he drew it. In that case the timing and trajectory would be simple. Suimei focused on the hilt of the man’s sword and began optimizing his mana with the intent of concluding everything in an instant. As if he was simply brushing aside an insect in the air, Suimei snapped his fingers.

"Buugwhaaa!?"

And then a surprised sound filled the surroundings as the air gave off a light explosion… His scream did not contain a hint of cuteness. After the small air explosion, the man flew back into the air and onto the floor as if his body had been tremendously light. The sword which had been the focal point of the explosion had slipped out of his hands and flew out far behind him. After a short time, the sound of the sword hitting the ground filled the air along with the man’s groans.

"Ugah! W-when… F-f.u.c.k! W-what just…?"

At the abrupt impact to his body, he seemed to have lost track of what had happened at all. He looked around and slowly grasped his situation.

"Fuu, eh…?

From the receptionist standing right behind Suimei, he could hear an idiotic voice of bewilderment. Her surprise was quite the gap from the one who had just been yelling at him about bantering and making jokes. Anyways this was surely because she had no idea what had just happened. These was no way she would. It seemed the crowd shared her surprise as they all stared at him with round eyes… After a short while, the receptionist finally spoke.

"Umm, just what was that?"

"A magic spell."

Suimei answered without a hint of bragging in his voice. As he had finally understood, the man held his head in pain and looked up at Suimei.

"Magic…? Without chanting or a keyword…"

"Yeah."

"R-really…?"

"Well yeah, I didn’t do anything else after all."

Suimei simply gave a frank reply as the man looked for confirmation once again. After seeing this reaction, Suimei came to the realization that Felmenia’s reaction was in fact normal in this world. It seemed that the ability to not only invoke magic without a chant, but to omit the keyword used as the activation sequence of magic itself was in fact something that was worthy of being shocked here…

Ceremonial magic. In some cases also called courtesy magic or ritual-like magic. It was one of the systems of magic. It was magic, however it held a completely different implication from other magic systems such as numerology and astrology. It was terminology used for the type of magic which was invoked simply by performing a predetermined action or by properly reciting a chant. In modern terms, it was also called manual magic. To react as if it was a predetermined law upon an action or chant applied to many magic. Summoning magic was the extreme example of this. The circular dances of Sufism, ninjutsu, Ying and Yang ceremonies and Buddhist seals all fell under this category. It was very likely that all the magic of this world were activated based on predetermined words as well and would all fall under this category.

This magic that Suimei had just used also completely fit into the category of ceremonial magic. It was an attack magic that he had performed the ceremony for before hand and tied to the action of snapping his fingers. Thus he was able to activate it at any time. It was plain, simple and well organized which made it easy to use. To use such a simple magic without requiring a keyword was completely normal to Suimei.

"Then, you are…"

"Yeah, that’s right. I apologize for explaining a little late, but I am in fact something like a mage…"

As Suimei apologized for his late introduction, the surrounding crowd broke out into surprised murmurs.

"A mage with that kind of appearance…!"

"I’ve never heard of magic without a chant or keyword…"

"Oi, don’t tell me he’s actually some kind of amazing mage…?"

(Aah…)

He had gone too far. All he did was snap his fingers like always. In terms of magic, performing a spell with a simple action had been very popular so Suimei had never thought of it as amazing. There was also the fact that he had to choose an attack that would not excessively harm his opponent right on the spot so all of this simply couldn’t be helped. While ignoring the reaction of everyone around him, Suimei turned towards the receptionist while shrugging his shoulders.

"Do you not believe me?"

"N-no, it’s isn’t that I do not believe that you can use magic. But if you’re a mage why are you not wearing a robe or carrying a staff? Are they not indispensable items for a mage?"

"Huh? Are they really something mages have to carry around?"

"… No it’s not exactly like that, but looking at the trend among mages it does seem to be the case."

"So it doesn’t matter right? It isn’t my hobby to carry myself around like those out-dated mages."

"…"

Perhaps because of the way he had said it, the receptionist was now simply staring absentmindedly at him with her mouth open. And as if to reprimand him for saying something ridiculous, she finally snapped.

"I-it isn’t your hobby!? Aren’t they necessary to accurately control your mana and defend against magic!?"

"Certainly robes may generally serve that purpose, however a staff is not really necessary. It may be obvious to use one as an aid for performing an extremely complex spell, but to simply accurately control your mana it should be obvious that one should be able to do that without any help. The ones who cannot do so are simply third-rate."

"Uaaah…"

As Suimei gave out his harsh conclusion, the receptions let out a groan for some reason. Just how strongly did she hold to her belief that robes and staffs were absolute necessities to those who wielded magic in this world? Felmenia had also not used a staff so Suimei did not think it mattered all that much but it seemed that it had not been the case. Certainly in ancient times, the staff was an indispensable tool for magicians. According to history books this dated back to ancient Egypt where they wielded staffs carrying characteristics of the G.o.ds as a symbol of authority. In Celtic civilization the staffs used by the druids were also quite famous. In the modern age the one that comes up would be Mather’s Lotus Wand. The origin differed between all the different systems of magic, but magicians did compensate their strength using it as a magic tool.

It wasn’t as if Suimei hated such old-fashioned things. He also wasn’t making fun of the image pa.s.sed down since ancient times. But it was still true that they had seemed inappropriate for modern magicians. In the first place magicians were the type to go against the flow to chase after mysteries. Even so they lived in a world driven forth by the advancement of science. It could be said that it was necessary for them to grasp new concepts. Magic staffs had been replaced by magic guns. Robes had given way to suits and jackets. It was true that history was important, but it was also important to think of creating a new image. That all being said, Suimei did in fact create a bit of an misunderstanding with the receptionist before him.

"Ah, my apologies. I truly did not realize that my appearance would be so important."

Suimei had said this timidly while bowing his head, the man he had just fought answered in a slightly fl.u.s.tered manner.

"N-no, it’s fine. I also jumped to the wrong conclusion, sorry."

"I truly appreciate that you say so… So I take it you no longer mind about my registration?"

"Yeah. If you’re a mage then I don’t got any complaints. I’ll leave the rest to her."

Suimei walked up to the man and lent him a hand. He grabbed the hand to pull himself up and pointed his finger at the receptionist. Following his finger, Suimei spoke to the receptionist.

"So, how about it?"

"Y-yes. There are no problems with regards to your registration. I apologize for having been so impolite."

"Aah, there’s no need to humble yourself so much… This time it was all my fault after all."

The receptionist was bowed down while humbling herself because she had thought that she had failed by not properly being able to judge Suimei’s abilities. As Suimei tried to lighten the mood in a diligent manner, she simply apologized once more. With this the surrounding crowd all returned to what they were doing beforehand. The man he had just fought also gave him one more apology and returned to work without another word.

"… Umm, then I have a blank form for you here. Please fill in all the necessary items."

As she said this she pulled out a piece of paper with fields for the minimum amount of personal information needed for registration. Suimei did not have any problems filling in any of this information. Using the nearby feather pen and inkwell he quickly finished filling in the form and handed it back to the receptionist. The receptionist inspected the form briefly before speaking once more.

"Suimei Yakagi-san… It may be impolite of me but it certainly is an unusual name."

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

Suimei returned her statement with a bitter smile. Even in j.a.pan they would say the same thing to him as Suimei was an unconventional name to give a baby, in the end all he could do was laugh about it.

"So, Suimei-san, I’d like to confirm with you once more. Would it be correct to list your occupation as a mage?"

"Yes."

"Incidentally, what attribute do you use?"

"… Umm, do i have to say it?"

"It is part of the regulations so please allow me to confirm it. Of course as it is personal information we would not make any of this public, alright?"

"U-uuuun…"

"Is something the matter?"

The receptionist tilted her head to the side towards Suimei’s reluctance. For her, asking such a thing was completely reasonable. Now that he thought about it carefully, he recalled a conversation back in the castle while he was being told about magic by an excited Reiji and Mizuki who had just begun learning. They had said something ridiculous along the lines of the attributes a mage could use were determined at birth. Since he had heard such a story from two people who could use every attribute it seemed like completely nonsense… But setting that aside, the guild would need to grasp just what kind of magic their members were capable of, it was natural for them to ask. Suimei came up with an answer while still making a difficult face.

"My specialty… well it would be the fire attribute…"

"The fire attribute? But the magic you had used earlier wasn’t the fire attribute…"

"A-aah. I can also use magic with the wind attribute."

"I see. Suimei-san holds two attributes right?"

"Y-yeah, well…"

Suimei was only able to return an ambiguous answer as the receptionist gave him a great smile. Just like he had said, Suimei was especially good at magic using the fire attribute. However that only meant he was slightly better at magic which used the fire attribute, unlike Reiji and Mizuki’s story he could also use many other kinds of magic.

His actual specialty was Kabbalah numerology ― it took all of the world’s matter and phenomena and interpreted them as enumerations of numbers and numerical formulas making it possible to peruse them as if they were in a book. By combining these numbers with magic he could manifest the idea held behind the numbers, be it fire, water, lightning or solidifying liquid. With the correct spell and the requisite amount of mana, it was possible to recreate any of the world’s matter and phenomena as magic. It was a fact that the magicians of his word would generally never speak of the magic systems and attributes they were unable to use as to not expose their own weaknesses…

(Attributes huh…)

Ever since arriving in this world, he had a feeling that they had placed far too much importance on this aspect of magic. It was true that for magic the fundamental four elements, or the five elements as well as the wu xing (five elements of traditional Chinese philosophy: wood, fire, earth, metal, water) were important components for elementary theory. From there it was possible to come up with the correlation that the water attribute was strong against the fire attribute, however that in no way meant that because one could use the fire attribute that they were unable to use the water attribute.

Of course a natural affinity to certain types of magic existed, but fundamentally all humans had the potential to handle any attribute. There were individuals who had magics that they were not very good at, thus they would choose to simple not use certain attributes. It was similar to how many people were able to light a fire using a match but unable to do so using flint. In simple terms that person would be able to use the match, but was not very good at using the flint.

If one were to interpret the match and flint as different systems of magic, the act of creating fire could be accomplished in many ways. It could be done by borrowing the power of a devil or G.o.d or some other paranormal existence. Like Suimei does it could also be done by using enumeration of numbers to manifest the phenomenon itself. The results of using the stars or tarot cards for divination could result in fire appearing. It was also possible to create fire using runes or Ying and Yang techniques. It was a simple matter of techniques that people were good and bad at.

Thus if there was a magic technique one had an apt.i.tude for, they would be able to manifest the corresponding attribute. There was no way there would be an attribute that was impossible for someone to use. To Suimei who had touched upon many different systems of magic as a modern magician, there were certain attributes which he found hard to handle. But that was the extent of his inabilities.

However there were also people who would only learn a single system of magic and would end up being unable to use certain attributes. If Suimei thought about it using this train of thought, then it would somewhat explain how this world treated attributes as something people could or could not use. It was very likely that the magic system used by Reiji and Felmenia was the major, if not only, magic system used by the people of this world, which would explain how this situation came about.

"By the way Suimei-san. Are you able to use recovery magic?"

"R-recovery magic?"

Suimei raised his voice at the sudden question. The receptionist once more made a confused expression and continued.

"Are you perhaps not aware of it?"

"No, I do know of it…"

He understood, but the nuance of the words recovery magic was just too vague to him. Back in his world the words healing magic and spiritual treatment were used, he could not help but feel a little uncomfortable with the general categorization of recovery magic. Suimei could guess that healing magic was an important ability, which would explain why the receptionist would ask such a thing. The ability to heal oneself as well as others at the scene of a battle was definitely an indispensable power. It goes without saying that even in his own world, throughout history, the number of magicians with a strong ability to perform healing magic were chronically insufficient.

"… Yeah, I can use it. It should be to the degree that it is second to none."

"I understand."

As Suimei nodded back to her, the receptionist finished filling out the form, she cleared out her throat and began speaking in a business like manner.

"Ehem, excuse me. Well then, after this we will have Suimei-san evaluated and appointed a rank between F and S based on your ability. The explanation for how rank is evaluated will be given by the person in charge of such matters afterwards. Suimei-san, could you please go through that door and take a seat on one of the chairs within? We will be with you shortly so please wait a moment."

As she said this she turned around and waved her hands towards the door behind her. Following her instructions, Suimei headed into the room beyond the door.

★

After being told about the upcoming evaluation from the receptionist, Suimei headed further into the guild and took a seat in a chair that was present in the pa.s.sageway he had arrived in. The pa.s.sageway was illuminated by what looked like lanterns hanging from the ceiling and gave off a slightly lonely feeling. It certainly reminded Suimei of another scene… a hospital waiting area in the middle of the night.

Despite being in another world, Suimei held onto these feelings triggered by the appearance of the pa.s.sageway as he was sitting and waiting. Before long the door at the end of the pa.s.sageway opened up and someone had appeared. It was a girl with soft and wavy light-brown hair. Similar to the receptionist, she was wearing the uniform for the guild staff members. As she arrived in front of Suimei, she c.o.c.ked her head to the side and began speaking.

"― Ummm, Suimei Yakagi-san… right?"

"Yeah… Yes."

As Suimei gave an obedient nod, the girl put on a brilliant smile.

"Excuse my behaviour. I am the one in charge of guiding the new guild members, my name is Dorothea. It’s a pleasure to meet you!"

"A-ah. I look forward to working with you."

Suimei responded politely as he had with the previous receptionist towards the energetic girl who saluted him. While holding onto his impression of just how different she was from the ones outside, Dorothea put on a candid smile and continued speaking.

"Ah, it’s fine if you speak normally. We’re similar in age too, let’s get along with a carefree att.i.tude."

"… Is it alright? That kind of thing?"

"It’s fine it’s fine. It’s easier for you to talk this way, it is also my job to lighten the tension from our brand new guild members who are about to take an evaluation you know? Well, from the looks of it, it may have been unnecessary for Suimei-san."

"Y-yeah… Then, once again, it’s nice to meet you."

"My pleasure!"

As Suimei responded as she wished, Dorothea replied full of energy. She then yelled "Then let’s go!" and began walking slowly down the pa.s.sageway. Suimei followed after her. As if she suddenly remembered something, Dorothea turned around and asked Suimei a question.

"Umm, I had a look at your registration form. Suimei is a mage holding both fire and wind attributes right?"

"Yeah, well more or less."

"Fufu, you’re awfully modest huh. Didn’t you just send Roha-san flying using magic without chanting let alone a keyword? Aren’t you actually a super skilled mage~?"

"Not at all. It all happened so suddenly that I lost myself in the situation and used it by accident."

Suimei responded to Dorothea’s smile with a harmless smile of his own.

"… Well just like you saw, Roha-san is quite quick-tempered. Recently that kind of thing has been happening a lot and he would just fly into the mess. It couldn’t be helped, but we’ve done something inexcusable to Suimei-san. I’m sorry."

"… Do people screw around and play pranks that often?"

"Yeah, they do. There are those who come up to the reception desk having only admired adventurers but without having a single fragment of ability and also those who are only looking for the benefits of being a guild member with malicious intent. It must have been an effect of Hero-sama appearing. For the past three days the number of these type of people multiplied quite significantly…"

It must have caused quite a lot of trouble to the guild members. Dorothea had mixed in a sigh as she talked about the situation. It was certainly true that the hero summoning which was performed because of the attack by the demons on Noshias would suddenly inspire the people who had been cowering in fear. Suimei was not sure how the people of this world commonly viewed the hero. However if it was anything like the blind devotion he witnessed in the castle, his existence would be directly linked to humanity’s victory. The hero’s existence in this case would certainly cause some people to go slightly crazy. It’s was a troublesome situation, however this would also be the major cause of the earlier matter at the reception desk.

"So are there many adventurer hopefuls gathered where we are headed?"

"No, Suimei-san would be the last one receiving his evaluation this morning. I’m sure almost none of them are still hanging around."

"… I see."

While Suimei was nodding, Dorothea changed the subject.

"By the way Suimei-san, did you see the figure of Hero-sama during the parade?"

"Well, pretty much, I got a small glimpse of him…"

Of course he didn’t mention that he had been seeing it every day… There was simply no reason for him to say this. Dorothea made an expression of admiration and continued.

"He was called Reiji-sama right? He carried such a marvellous atmosphere that I can’t even put it into words. As one would expect of one called a hero. I hear the heroes from previous summonings were also similar to him in that they were the very embodiment of earnestness and righteousness."

Dorothea came to a casual stop and closed her eyes, she was probably remembering the parade. It seemed she also found hope from the image of the hero burned into her mind. Suimei who did not spend his everyday life alongside them did not quite know if the hero was a symbol of hope for sure, however it did seem to be the case for this girl. It was probable that the general opinion of the people matched hers, so Suimei decided to ask.

"Does Dorothea think that the hero will defeat the Demon Lord and the demon army?"

"If Hero-sama’s extraordinary powers described from hearsay are true, I do think it is possible."

"Hearsay?"

"Does Suimei-san not know of them?’

"It’s a bit embarra.s.sing, but not very well."

Suimei was not actually ashamed of it, but he would at least act that way superficially. The ones talking about the hero would likely be the general populace. Much like Dorothea was making that kind of expression, there was sure to be many people who did the same while telling stories and fairy-tales about the hero from another world. Dorothea had mumbled ‘… that’s unexpected,’ to herself before telling Suimei about it.

"Regarding Hero-sama’s power, there are only the descriptions from history books, stories and oral tradition pa.s.sed down through the ages. In the few times that the word had fallen into a crisis, Hero-sama would be summoned to our world. The fights that Hero-sama took part in at those times were terrifying. There was the one who fought a giant who was so tall that he could reach the heavens and split it clear in two with a single sword strike. Or the one who cornered the tyrant gripped by insanity by flying through the sky on the back of a black beast. Or the one who struck down a Demon Lord with a holy sword. Just from what was pa.s.sed down to us, there are all sorts of stories."

"Heeh."

The things she was talking about were quite interesting. Not only was the contents of her stories interesting, they were also matters that deeply involved Reiji and company. There’s no way that Suimei wouldn’t be interested. He would have to investigate further into this another time.

"What does Suimei-san think?"

"Hm?"

"Regarding Hero-sama defeating the Demon Lord. Does Suimei-san believe he can accomplish it?"

"… I wonder. If the current hero truly possesses the power that Dorothea had just told me of, then it may just be possible. Though I wonder if it is truly like that."

"Oh, you think he can’t?

"No, I think it is too naive to think that just the presence of the hero will change the situation between defeat and victory. I also think there’s something strange about deciding that victory is impossible in the first place…"

As expected, as Suimei was aware of the circ.u.mstances he was filled with anxiousness. A battle was not such an easy going thing that it could be won simply because one had received a strong power. Suimei closed his eyes as he worried about these things as Dorothea puffed up her cheeks and spoke.

"It would be better not to say such things outside. Hero-sama is on the same level as Alshuna-sama’s envoy. If the people from the Salvation Church heard you, you would be in for a long sermon about all kinds of things."

"Haha… I’ll be careful."

She had brought up a sermon. Lefille had also said something similar, it seemed that for the people of this world, a sermon from the Salvation Church was dreadful enough to use as a threat. From now on it would be a good idea for Suimei to keep these thoughts in the corner of his mind. Dorothea then completely turned her expression around from when she was giving Suimei a stern warning.

"Well, it certainly is as Suimei-san says. The people from the guild are not so optimistic either… Well returning to our previous talk, because of that influential figure, the number of applicants spurred on by fanaticism who applied to the knights, regular army and our Twilight Pavilion had all multiplied quite extraordinarily in the last few days compared to before…"

"So that would explain why the receptionist had gotten all tense and tried to turn me away when I came in dressed like a completely normal person."

"Yeah. Suimei-san, I think you should at least acquire a staff. I don’t how it will be after you receive a guild card, but a hopeful new applicant who did not even carry a weapon asking to register at the counter was unprecedented."

"It’s as you say, I’m reflecting."

Suimei was truly embarra.s.sed that he did not think things through thoroughly enough. It was completely like a country b.u.mpkin who could not see anything around him. While Suimei was lamenting at his mistake in his mind and bowing to her weakly, Dorothea thrust out her chest.

"It’s good as long as you understand. In other word it’s all good."

Dorothea had exclaimed this with complete satisfaction.

"So Suimei-san. Do you have any other questions."

"Then one more. What exactly will I be doing for an evaluation?"

This was the thing Suimei had on his mind all this time. In the novels Mizuki had shown him, at the time of the guild registration, the visitor from the other world would place their hand on a mysterious crystal ball and it would measure their magic ability. However would that really be the case here as well? As Suimei was wondering about this, Dorothea was making an expression like she was waiting for Suimei to ask all along, and answered vigorously.

"Naturally, it’s a fight!"

Just what was natural about that…

★

Shortly after Suimei heard about the method of evaluation from Dorothea, they pa.s.sed through another doorway into a large room which resembled the interior of a gymnasium.

"I see, the reason the building takes up so much s.p.a.ce is because of this facility."

"Yes. This is the largest guild office in the country after all. We’ll at least have a proper place for training."

"A training ground huh… Even so there doesn’t appear to be any people here?"

As Suimei had stated the s.p.a.cious training grounds was completely devoid of people. He had heard that the number of applicants had increased drastically and thought there would be some present here, however the only human presence he could sense was in a room further into the building.

"The second training ground is used for evaluations in the morning, so there won’t be anyone training at this time. I believe the person who was evaluated before Suimei-san is in the room further inside filling out the required doc.u.mentation."

"I see."

Suimei gave off an indifferent reply and felt that something below his feet was out of place. He lowered his gaze and decided to ask Dorothea about it.

"Hey, the materials used here, aren’t they a little weird?"

"Yes, I’m surprised you noticed. This training ground was built using advanced magic resistant materials. Magic is shot around this place quite a lot after all, so it was designed not to break from it."

"A magic resistant material?"

"Yes. It was a very recent discovery. Within all of Metel this is about the only place using it. Ehen~"

"Heeh. To this such a think existed…"

Suimei was completely ignoring Dorothea who was acting excessively proud while admiring the material. Though he was ignoring her, he was gazing at the floor with deep interest. The materials that made up the wall and floors looked like a simple construction of wood and stone. But to think it was actually a material resistant to magic. In the other world it was possible to produce a similar material after spending time to treat the material with magic so it wasn’t that uncommon. However for a material to naturally posses resistance to magic without the aid of a spell grasped his interest deeply. While Suimei was gazing at all the surrounding walls, Dorothea once more welcomed him to the training ground and spread out her arms.

"I had said this once already, but this will be the place where we hold your evaluation. We will pair Suimei-san up with a guild member of our choosing and hold a match right here. After observing the way you fight, we will a.s.sign you an appropriate rank."

"Hey… Theoretically, just theoretically, is there an evaluation method that does not involve fighting?"

"That’s a difficult question. In return I’ll ask you, is there a simple way other than fighting to evaluate you?"

"No, I got it. That’s certainly how it is…"

"So you understand right? Then―"

While Dorothea was trying to move the conversation forwards, a presence on the other side of the door further into the room had started to move towards them. Alongside the sound of the door opening, a single shadow appeared. After spotting Suimei and Dorothea, the person in question called out to them. The sound of their voice was like the ringing of a clear bell, a pleasant voice carried over to them on a gentle wind.

"Could that be… Isn’t it Suimei-kun?"

"Aah, Grakis-san. It’s been a short while."

The person coming from the door was the one Suimei had made an acquaintance with earlier due to peculiar reasons, Lefille Grakis. Suimei gave out a weird reply to her as she walked over with her vivid , shiny, long red hair swinging around behind her. After closing the distance between them she put on a puzzled expression and began talking.

"Why are you here?"

"Right, it seems I’ll be taking an evaluation to determine my rank."

"Mu…? But, weren’t you here at the guild to put in a request?"

"Ah…"

Suimei finally came to an understanding from Lefille’s surprised expression. When they parted from each other before the reception desk, she had said ‘I hope that your commission gets quickly resolved,’ and now he finally figured out what her misunderstanding was.

"No, in fact I’m also a registration candidate. Ah, by the way, even though I look like this I’m a mage."

"So that’s how it was. I hadn’t seen you carrying any weapon and was sure you were here to make a request…"

"… Sorry, really. Really sorry. I’ll be careful from now on."

"Why are you apologizing so much?"

"… No, don’t worry about it."

Naturally the conversation had moved towards this topic. To get one’s just desserts is something that is often said. After hearing similar things repeated to him since his mistake, Suimei was just sinking further into his mind. Seeing that the two of them had recognized each other, Dorothea began to speak.

"Do the two of you know each other?"

"Not really, we had just met in front of the reception desk earlier."

Dorothea gave an understanding nod to Lefille. Suimei then jumped back into the conversation.

"Grakis-san, what about your evaluation?"

"Yeah, it had just finished a moment ago."

"How was it?"

"Umu, about adequate I would say."

She had replied with closed eyes and a daring smile. Which means that it wasn’t her evaluation that was adequate, it was more likely that she got by with an adequate margin. She didn’t give of a single hint that she was tired or breathing raggedly. Seeing this, Dorothea gave off an expression halfway between astonishment and bewilderment.

"To say about adequate with those two as your opponents… They’re both quite skilled among all of our members you know?"

"Is that right? I just moved around as usual though?"

"Just as usual huh. It’s a real shame that Lefille-san won’t be staying in Metel."

Hearing these words from Dorothea, Suimei casually turned towards Lefille.

"…? Where is Grakis-san headed?"

"Aah, that’s―"

"Ummmmm, I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation but~ it’s about time to start your evaluation, is that alright?"

It seemed that Dorothea was pressed for time as she cut off Lefille in the middle of her reply. They had spent quite a lot of time talking since Suimei and Dorothea met after all.

"Yeah. I’m ready at any time."

"Understood. Then… Rikus-san and Enmarph-san! If you will!"

Dorothea raised her voice towards the room further into training ground. Responding to her call, two people walked through the doorway. One was a man carrying a two-handed sword while wearing leather armour who appeared to be a warrior. The other was a man carrying a staff in one hand and wearing robes, a mage. These were surely the opponents that Dorothea had been talking about for the evaluation.

"There’s two of them?"

"Yes. From here we will have Suimei-san have a match with one of these two. Rikus-san is a warrior and Enmarph-san is a mage. They’re both completely different types, however they are also both quite skilled and should serve well in measuring your abilities."

"Hmmm…"

While Dorothea was explaining, Suimei had been scrutinizing the people who were still approaching from a fair distance. Mana, presence, prowess. He could not sense anything from either of them that would put him on guard. After a short time, they finally arrived before Suimei, and immediately the warrior-like man started speaking to Suimei with words filled with irritation.

"So you the newbie?"

"Yeah."

"Name and occupation?"

"My name is Suimei Yakagi. I’m pretty much a mage."

Towards the excessively high-handed att.i.tude directed towards him, Suimei ended up replying in a very blunt manner. To this brief response, the warrior-like man, who Suimei a.s.sumed was Rikus, gazed at Suimei in frustration.

"Ah? What’s with the pretty much?"

"It’s just a matter of my personal feelings. There’s no reason to pay that much attention to it."

"Ha… I see."

For some reason the man named Rikus was being awfully haughty towards Suimei. He was probably irritated and in ill humour about Suimei talking back to him, but still he was being a bit too blunt. The mage called Enmarph, though silent, was also giving off an atmosphere like one would be electrocuted from just touching him. And then for some reason, Rikus turned towards Lefille.

"… You, you’re still here?"

"Yeah. I was just talking to these two a bit."

Upon hearing this, Rikus’ brow had twitched. For a while now, Rikus had been making a scary face reminiscent of the Nioh (two angry, muscular guardian statues found at Buddhist temples), and after his short facial twitch stopped, he returned his glare towards Suimei.

"You, are you an acquai
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