“It’s nothing. With enough practice, anybody could use one to split something like an ogre clean in two.”
Suimei was sure that he misheard her. In fact, he was going to pretend like he’d never heard her say something like that so casually. There was no way anyone could split a fortress-smashing giant in two with just practice. That claim blew the humility she had shown when she attributed the victory over the ogre to her companions earlier clean out of the water.
If it was true, she must have seriously been holding back during her guild evaluation. With that kind of skill, she would be a match even for the sword masters from Suimei’s world. Frankly, she was dangerous. While Suimei was thinking such rude things in secret, Lefille would be the one to pose him a question this time.
“Did you have anything drilled into you as a child, Suimei-kun?”
“I didn’t hear that, I didn’t hear that... Huh?”
“Suimei-kun? What’s wrong?”
“Huh? Oh, uh, hrm... For me, well, you know, it was this.”
Finally catching on to the change in topic, Suimei made a gesture to answer her. In a rather obvious way, he gathered dense mana into the palm of his hand. Lefille replied as she came to understand his meaning.
“Magic, right? You’re a mage, after all. I should have known that...”
“Yeah, but at first, it was all utterly incomprehensible. Family and all...”
“It was... incomprehensible?”
Suimei briefly paused to contemplate his answer before replying with a troubled laugh.
“Yeah. When you were taught swordsmanship that had been passed down for generations, Grakis-san, what was it like for you?”
“Hmm... Well, it was something with quite a long history, as you said. I was frequently lectured at length about why it was important for me to learn it and carry that on. So much so that it made my ears bleed.”
Heritage and strict discipline as a means of passing down instructions was something quite common in the history of swordsmanship. But not everything worked like that. Suimei recalled when he first started down the path to magicka. When he was just a small child, his father had led him to the single room in the house with a locked door. And then...
“My father didn’t talk much, so I did not get anything like that. ‘You must memorize this,’ was all he had said to me in the beginning. That was how it started...”
“Without any reason?”
“Well, there was more or less a reason. But that reason wasn’t something that a child could understand. And my father had no intention of talking about it, either. It was considerably later that I would actually hear what it was.”
As he talked about it, Suimei’s mind naturally drifted to recalling that day. The day he came to learn the reason as he progressed through his life as a magician. If it hadn’t been for that day, his father would have carried the truth with him all the way to his grave. Thinking about it now, perhaps it was just that teaching him magicka was all his father felt like he could do for him as a parent. Knowing that clumsy man of a father, it was entirely possible.
“And you were alright with that?”
“Yeah. Learning magicka was interesting, after all. I never hated it. But, well, thanks to that, my life was soon overflowing with all sorts of hardship.”
“Is that so?”
As Suimei glanced over at Lefille, it seemed that something he said had amused her greatly. She was stifling a laugh.
“...Is something the matter?”
“No, I was just thinking that it’s a pleasant surprise to meet someone so similar to myself.”
“I can agree with that if you mean we’re both wise to the world.”
“Wise to the world, huh?”
Lefille gave a nod as Suimei hit the mark. On her path as a swordswoman, surely she’d faced her own share of hardship. Lefille then seemed to recall something in particular, and then spoke up again.
“That reminds me, Suimei-kun... In the end, what rank did you get?”
“Oh, that? They settled it at D-rank.”
“D...? Why? I faced those same men one after the other and received a conditional B-rank. After taking them both on at the same time, how could you be a D-rank?”
“Well, the thing is...”
Before Suimei could finish, Lefille seemed to come to her own conclusion. She narrowed her eyes and a chilling voice came from her ever-smiling lips.
“I see. Even a large guild that operates all over the world is subject to that kind of negligence. Hmph. To think that they would manipulate information just to protect their own honor...”
“Wha...?”
“Isn’t that it? That’s the only thing I could think of that would explain it.”
“No, well, I guess it is possible to interpret it that way... But, well, it wasn’t really...”
“No, I cannot accept that. Let’s protest at the branch office in Kurant City. Don’t worry, I will go with you. If the receptionist tries to brush you away, I’ll testify as a witness and have them redo your rank evaluation.”
Lefille sounded quite serious, and was getting carried away with herself. It was entirely somebody else’s problem, yet she was willing to go that far. She certainly seemed restless when she felt an injustice had been done. She was acting like she intended to take action as soon as they arrived in town, but to Suimei, it was unnecessary.
“Ummmm, actually... The reason was because I requested a D-rank after the match. I had them lower the rank myself.”
“Lower it? Why would you do that?”
“Dorothea said that I would become famous, so I was a little hesitant.”
“That’s... Are you sure? In Kurant City and Nelferia, wouldn’t a higher rank be more convenient? There’s not actually a single advantage to having a lower rank, is there?”
“I don’t plan on living so dangerously that I’ll be relying on the Twilight Pavilion for my income, so it’s fine.”
“...Then what do you plan on doing in Kurant City and Nelferia?”
“Well, I plan on gathering all sorts of information.”
“Information?”
“Since I come from the east, there is still a lot I do not know about. I was thinking of studying.”
“...”
“Is that not a good enough reason?”
As Suimei gave a completely harmless reason for his action, Lefille went silent. Her clear eyes were looking at him as if she could see through him. It was like she was analyzing the difference between what he said and what was showing on his face.
“Is something the matter?”
“I was thinking that what you said just now was a lie... No, that’s not quite right. It wasn’t a lie, but you also weren’t speaking the truth.”
“...Why do you think that?”
“Woman’s intuition.”
“Well, if that isn’t shady...”
“Heh, that was just a joke. Even so, I’ve always had an eye for judging people. It’s reached the point that I’m able to see through the words of others to a certain extent.”
Lefille started with a boast, and leaned in emphatically towards Suimei to make her conclusion.
“I don’t want to think that you’re lying, but you do seem like the type that’s hiding some kind of secret. I get the feeling that’s what’s really going on.”
“Perhaps.”
Faced with Lefille’s keen insight, Suimei shrugged his shoulders and mustered a vague answer. Just the fact that he had a secret wasn’t something he would stubbornly deny. But then Lefille backed off a bit like she felt she might have overstepped her bounds.
“Well, while that may be true, I don’t really have the right to say anything. I sort of jumped on you, immediately willing to hold you and the guild to my standards for the rankings. Sorry about that.”
“No, please don’t worry about it. I’m sorry for making you worry about me.”
Suimei returned with an apology of his own. Lefille then suddenly put on a grave
expression as she had remembered something.
“That’s it...”
“...?”
Suimei didn’t understand what she was talking about. He worried momentarily that he might have said something to offend her. Reflecting on his actions, Lefille started talking to him as if he were a troublesome person.
“No, I’ve been thinking this for a while now, but I feel the way you talk is a little too reserved.”
“Is that so?”
“It is. I’m only a year or two older than you, and we’re also companions in arms now. Wouldn’t it be alright to speak a little more casually? Exchanging information between the two of us would go much more smoothly that way. And when you call me by my name, Lefille is fine.”
Suimei certainly thought she had a point there. He almost felt like he was getting scolded by one of his upperclassmen for being too formal. And thinking back on it, he and Lefille had spent enough time chatting together that it did seem more appropriate to be casual with her.
“In that case... Are you really sure? Lefille?”
“Yes, much better. You almost give off a bad boy impression, so speaking freely suits you.”
“Wow, the moment I drop the niceties, you sure got mean, huh?”
“That’s not true. That was a compliment.”
“Don’t think you can trick me like that. I’ve never heard anyone use ‘bad boy’ as a compliment.”
“Heehee...”
Seemingly finding their laidback conversation enjoyable, Lefille started laughing. Since Suimei had dropped all pretense, she felt no need to hold back either. It seemed as though this was how she’d wanted to talk with him all along. And as they continued their newly carefree chat, someone called out from the front of the convoy.
“Oh, time for a break?”
“Yeah, around the watering hole over there.”
Lefille let her eyes wander towards it for an instant. Off to the side of the highway in the plains was a simple maintained area. It was something of an unmanned way station that had been established along the road between cities, and was left up to the care of the people who stopped to use it. It seemed this kind of thing was common in this world. When the trade corps spotted it, they immediately turned off the road and headed for it. Reaching the spot with freshly flowing, clear spring water, the convoy began to unload to take a break.
“...Hmm?”
As Suimei and Lefille began to do the same, they realized that someone was calling out to them from a distance. Just on the other side of the spring was a girl wearing a robe waving at them. She was surrounded by what appeared to be her companions. From the looks of it, the girl was a mage and she had a warrior, a swordsman, and an archer in her company. It was a pretty standard party configuration in terms of balance. But apart from that, Suimei didn’t recognize any of them and cocked his head to the side.
“Those are the people who defeated the ogre with me.”
“Ah, your group.”
Suimei nodded at Lefille’s brief explanation. These were fellow guild members from the Twilight Pavilion that had taken the emergency commission with Lefille.
“It was a pleasant experience. It was only for a little while, but we got along well and made a good team.”
As Lefille explained further, the girl on the other side of the spring put both her hands to her mouth like a megaphone. But even then, they still couldn’t actually hear her voice when she yelled. From her gestures, however, it seemed that the group was beckoning Lefille over.
“It looks like they want you to join them.”
“Seems like it. Do you want to come along?”
“No, I’ll pass.”
“Okay, then I’ll see you later.”
With those parting words, Lefille headed over to the girl and her group. It wasn’t long before they were in the midst of a lively conversation and Suimei could see her smiling face.
“Companions, huh...?”
Suimei muttered to himself. To be honest, he was somewhat envious. But he shook it off immediately. This wasn’t the time to be harboring feelings like that.
“I wonder how Reiji and the others are doing now...”
Suimei’s mind turned to his friends as his longing gaze turned upward, threatening to pierce through the sky.
★
Just how long had this fight been going on? As the light reflecting off of his sword vanished, Shana Reiji lunged straight towards his enemy. His enemy spied the fierce incoming charge and let out a bizarre scream. Reiji responded with a straightforward slash from top to bottom. Having drawn out the full herculean strength of the divine blessing he received from the hero summoning, it was a slash like a flash of lightning.
And all that stood in the way of his strike were nails. They were frighteningly huge compared to a human’s nails. They were more like claws, pitch black as if they’d been dipped into the pitch black of the abyss. Reiji’s blade struck them, and they struck back. The sound of the collision between sword and claws rang through the air as they struggled against each other.
“□□□□□!”
The enemy’s bizarre scream assaulted Reiji’s ears violently. Despite being able to speak the language of humans, when their true nature was revealed, they reverted right back to that inhuman tongue. While suffering the grating assault on his ears, five nails came at Reiji from his undefended right side.
Reiji dropped down to evade the attack. It was a wild swing made as if it had been trying to swipe away a detestable insect. There was no real aim to it, and no chance it would hit. Seeing the perfect opportunity, Reiji defied gravity with an upward slash of his dual-edged sword. It was a masterful strike that hurled a great gust of wind with it, but the enemy’s natural reflexes enabled it to get away with only a glancing blow.
“O-Oh Flames! Stain Scarlet!”
Immediately following his attack, a friendly but slightly faltering voice came from behind Reiji. It was Mizuki. She intended to cover for him. The spell she fired was low-level fire magic, a scarlet baptism. When it was invoked with its simple two-keyword phrase, a band of air in the sky began to burn and painted everything red. Without waiting for the air to burst into flames, Reiji looked behind him and leaped backwards.
In the next instant, as if toying with its target, the flame dove towards the enemy while continuously changing its shape. The flame grew more vigorous as it honed in on its target. Fire is often compared to a living being, and right now, it was exactly like a beast chasing its prey with all its might.
“I did it!”
Reiji could hear Mizuki rejoicing behind him, but the enemy before him wasn’t dead yet. Looking closely, he could see its shadow faintly wriggling through the flames. As Reiji readjusted his stance and brought his sword to the ready, the magic flames began to disperse. The enemy swiped away the last of them with its arm. It was now standing atop the embers left behind with its arm hanging out to its side.
It stood tall and proud in the heated haze. This was the last remaining enemy still standing over the battle-torn ground scattered with bodies. Reiji did not know whether it challenged him knowing he was the hero or not, but he knew for certain that this thing was his enemy. What stood before him wasn’t human. No, far from it. It may have had a similar shape and figure, but this beast was the very definition of inhuman—a demon. It even resembled the demons straight out of children’s storybooks.
Within moments, the demon began moving again. Leaving behind a cloud of dust behind it, it accelerated towards Reiji. It was fast. Its speed now could hardly be compared to the way it had been moving before. Reiji could distinctly envision himself being torn limb from limb. With its current speed and strength, it was certain to flick Reiji’s sword away and strike at him. Thus...
“Burn Boost...”
He spread his mana through his body and called forth the elemental power of fire. This was the magic that Reiji used the most. Fire became power the instant he coldly spoke the keywords. It was a reinforcement spell. Flame
s wrapped around his body and granted him strength. And then, with an overflowing sensation of omnipotence, Reiji shot a piercing glare at his opponent.
“■■■■■?!”
All of a sudden, the demon charging towards Reiji gasped and went pale. Up until that moment, it truly believed that it was about to grasp victory. Sadly for it, however, it had misread the situation. It had overlooked the possibility that Reiji could use reinforcement magic, and that mistake would prove fatal.
“RAAAAAH!”
It paid dearly for its negligence. Letting out a surging war cry which drowned out the demon’s bizarre scream, Reiji reaped the charging demon’s head from its neck with his newly activated power.
The lingering flames kicked up a small amount of sand from the ground as they dispersed and vanished. And then, after confirming that there wasn’t a shadow of an enemy left in their surroundings, Reiji let out a sigh.
“Phew... We somehow managed today.”
★
A few days before Suimei departed from Metel, Reiji and company were on their way west to the self-governed state of the Saadias Alliance. This was the first stop on their journey to defeat the Demon Lord. At a glance, this destination didn’t seem to have any relation to the subjugation, but there was a good reason for stopping in.
The hero’s job wasn’t solely to defeat the Demon Lord. It was also necessary to defeat the monsters born from the influence of the demons’ prosperity. Another important role was to visit neighboring countries that were being oppressed by the demon invasion and boost the morale of the people there. Finally, as Reiji was not yet fully accustomed to fighting, it was important for him to accumulate as much combat experience as possible and prepare for the grand battle that was sure to come. And right in the middle of their detour to meet these goals, they were suddenly attacked by demons. That’s what had brought them to the present fight.
Drinking in the blood of the demon, an orichalcum sword gave off an ominous glow. It was the finest weapon in all the Kingdom of Astel, and after using it to deal the final blow, Reiji once more confirmed that all the demons were annihilated before running over to Mizuki.
The Magic in this Other World is Too Far Behind! Volume 2 Page 9