She was met with the sight of a single mage cloaked in jet black from head to toe.
The Garden of the White Wall. Next to the obelisk that rose out of its center, Suimei Yakagi stood still with his back to Felmenia, gazing up at the starry night sky that looked like a downpour of twinkling gems. The bluish black of night extended from the earth to the heavens, and from the heavens to the earth. It seemed to stretch forever, but it was lit with the magnificent glow of the moon, which practically animated the stillness of the breathtaking scene. That moon and Suimei were all Felmenia could focus on right now.
But... when had he changed? Earlier he was wearing that blazer of his, but now he was donning a black coat. He was so well dressed and put together that she had to wonder for a moment if she had mistaken him for someone else.
“My goodness... Surely it’s in poor taste to stalk someone like this. That’s behavior befitting the pitiful and foolish stray sheep who know nothing of the truth and providence of the world, you know?”
Suimei’s mouth curved into a broad, daring grin as he spoke snidely. He then turned around casually, like he’d known she’d been there all along. Yes, he looked like he was sneering at a lost child who didn’t know where they were going.
“It couldn’t be... You noticed me?”
“But of course. After darting around behind me like that, it would have been stranger for me not to notice.”
“...!”
Suimei replied in a composed fashion, as if the answer were only obvious. He already knew she was shadowing him. Felmenia was stunned that he had the capability to see through her perfect concealment.
The situation was rather suddenly turned on its head for her. She’d gone from being the cat to the mouse, and she’d played right into the palm of his hand by following him here. Felmenia ground her teeth to the point they were audibly creaking. To think that being made to dance in the palm of someone’s hand was this vexing... It was the first time she tasted such humiliation, and it only fanned the flames of her rage more.
She had been lured in, sure, but she wouldn’t let that be the end of it. She boldly stepped forward and began to question the man in front of her.
“If that is so, you bastard, what are your intentions here?”
“There’s no need to ask such a thing. I’m just taking an evening stroll. I don’t have a curfew, do I? And this time around, I simply thought I would go somewhere I hadn’t been before, you see.”
“Do you honestly think an excuse like that would work on me? If you realized I was following you, then you came here full well knowing that, did you not?”
She didn’t know exactly what or why, but she knew he was playing games with her. She didn’t hesitate to call him out for that, and she didn’t bother hiding her irritation at doing so. When she did, Suimei let out a shameless laugh like a naughty child whose prank had been exposed.
“No dice, huh? I was afraid of that.”
“I’ll ask you again. Why did you come here?”
“Why, you ask? That’s...”
Suimei let out a laugh like a gentle spring breeze was brushing by him. He seemed to be taking exceptional delight in whatever he believed would come next. And then, with eyes that looked like they saw right through Felmenia’s true motive...
“It’s the same reason you came here, isn’t it?”
“...”
“The silent treatment, hmm? I was sure that was the reason, though. Was I wrong?”
With that, Suimei slipped on a pair of black gloves with well accustomed movements. When Felmenia showed no reaction, he spoke up again in a seemingly disappointed tone.
“I never thought that I would be stuck having to do this kind of thing with you. Honestly speaking, I would’ve liked to settle this in a more peaceful manner...”
“How shameless of you to speak of handling matters peacefully...”
That’s right. Suimei was after the king. There was no way he had any intention of handling things peacefully. And when Felmenia pointed that out, Suimei flashed a somewhat self-deprecating smile. Rather than objecting to what she said, he admitted to it.
“Perhaps I shouldn’t speak that way after setting this stage. Thinking about it, there were several other methods that could have settled this peacefully by now.”
“Hmph.”
Did he think it would be alright if he simply confessed? Completely clueless as to what Suimei was thinking, Felmenia scoffed at him. Suimei then looked up at the sky like he was recalling something.
“Is this the second time we’ve talked?”
“It is.”
After curtly replying to Suimei’s question, he grimaced as he continued.
“My, you’re a tough one to love...”
“What of it?”
“Aah, nothing. It’s just some idle chatter. There’s no deeper meaning in it, but... My, my, you really hate me, don’t you? Is it that? Are you still holding a grudge over what happened last time?”
“...”
“Again with the silent treatment.”
Suimei let out a somewhat disappointed sigh, but he wasn’t the only one feeling that way. Indeed, Felmenia had thought him to be a rather upright man. He’d refused to participate in the Demon Lord’s subjugation, but when it really came down to it, he was good-natured and did truly care about his friends. Reiji and Mizuki never had an unkind thing to say about him. Hesitation still lurked in a corner of Felmenia’s heart, but...
“Honestly speaking, I too wished it wouldn’t come to this.”
“You wanted to settle it a while back, you mean? Certainly it would’ve been much quicker with what you cooked up, huh?”
“...?”
Just how had he interpreted what she said? He was nodding as if he’d come to some sort of understanding. She wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but as she looked at him now, something else piqued her interest.
“Be that as it may, you bastard, where did you come up with those clothes?”
She had never seen him in the outfit he was wearing before. In fact, she had never seen anything like it. He was wearing a pitch-black coat with long coattails and an embroidered blue rose on its lapel. A piece of cloth shaped like an inverted sword hung down from the collar of his tightly knit, pure white shirt. He was also wearing trousers the same pitch black as his coat. It was a truly unusual ensemble.
“Hmm? Ah, you mean the suit? I always carry my combat clothing around so I have it whenever I need it.”
“You carry it around? But you had no clothes with you other than what you were wearing the day you were summoned.”
“This was in my bag. You saw that I was carrying that, didn’t you?”
Felmenia heard what Suimei’s tone was really implying: “Try and remember.” He gestured with his hands, indicating the size and shape of the bag to try and jog her memory. Thinking back on it, it was true all three friends had arrived with bags of personal belongings, but...
“There is no way such bulky clothes could fit inside such a small container.”
“...Really? Regardless of how you come at this, isn’t that a little narrow-minded of you?”
The way Suimei shrugged his shoulders in astonishment annoyed Felmenia, but he had a point. He was a mage, so if what he was saying was true, there seemed to be an obvious answer.
“I see... A magic tool?”
“Magic tool, huh? That’s quite a plain way of putting it, but you’re not wrong. It’s a bag that can hold several times its apparent size—it’s one of my favorites.”
Suimei spoke in a slightly boastful tone. Magic tools were objects given some sort of power that would ordinarily be impossible. She knew such things existed, but Felmenia had never heard of an enchantment that could increase the capacity of a container without increasing its size. She couldn’t think of which of the eight attributes would even allow for such a thing. If Suimei did truly have his hands on an exceptional magical tool like that, she could understand why he would boast of it.<
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While Felmenia was admiring the effects of his bag, Suimei fastened his gloves, fixed the collar of his coat, and boldly cut to the chase.
“Now then, the hour is already quite late. Shall we begin?”
Felmenia responded arrogantly.
“Do not say such stupid things, you damned fool. Where do you think this is? This is the Garden of the White Wall, a favorite of His Majesty the King. Do you think for a minute that fighting is permitted in a place like this?”
Yes, this was the Garden of the White Wall. The king’s garden. Laying it to waste with a battle would be a terrible indiscretion. Condemning him for the suggestion, Felmenia challenged Suimei with a sharp glare. Suimei, however, only seemed amused. He answered her with a bold smile as he sneered.
“Hmmmmm? The Garden of the White Wall, huh? It’s a perfectly pompous name for such a gaudy garden, but... are you sure that’s really where we are?”
“What kind of incomprehensible thing are you suggesting? The Garden of the White Wall is identifiable above all else by its signature white obelisk in the center—the very structure you’re standing right next to. The colorful flowers which decorate the garden come from every manner of seed, ordered from all over the entire kingdom. This is His Majesty’s favorite place, and the spire that you can see on my left is— Huh...?”
Not there. She emphatically raised her left hand to point it out, but the grand spire which housed the king’s private quarters wasn’t where it was supposed to be. It was gone without a trace.
Felmenia’s mind instantly plunged into the depths of chaos. Perhaps aware of her inner turmoil, and as if sneering at her inability to say anything further, Suimei made a declaration.
“What’s up? There’s nothing where your left hand is pointing, you know? The spire that houses the king’s quarters and commands a view of the Garden of the White Wall—the one I assume you’re talking about—is over there on your right, isn’t it?”
Suimei exuded an ominous aura. His bangs concealed his eyes as he hung his head, and Felmenia could feel her heart being sucked in by this black devil. His lips peeled back into a foreboding smile that revealed his canines. Felmenia whipped around to see the spire she’d been looking for... right where he said it would be.
“Preposterous... His Majesty’s personal quarters should be on the left side. Why... How is it on the right...?”
Felmenia was aghast at this baffling phenomenon. She could think of no explanation. It was impossible, but she couldn’t deny what she was seeing with her own eyes. The spire was on her right instead of her left.
Just what happened? Doubts swirled in Felmenia’s head, threatening to drown her. The royal family’s spire should have been on the left side of the garden. She hadn’t been invited into the garden but so many times, but she was quite sure that she distinctly remembered that much. She would have sworn to it. So how was it now that it was on the wrong side? And why?
Suimei closed his eyes with a knowing look and explained the mystery.
“Let’s see. There are two answers that come to mind. It’s simple, really. The spire is on your right because either you were simply mistaken in the first place, or perhaps this is not the Garden of the White Wall as you know it.”
“Absurd. Those are both impossible.”
“Are they really? Then how is the spire on your right instead of your left as you remember it? Why is the moon that we’re seeing rising on your right as well? Why are the colorful flowers planted here in the reverse order you might recall? Try answering that for me.”
“Th-That’s...”
Suimei kept talking as if he intended to pry the answer out of her, but she still didn’t know it. It was just as he said. The Garden of the White Wall they were standing in appeared to be entirely reversed, as if its existence was reflected in a mirror.
Even the moon and the constellations... Everything Felmenia could see was inverted. It was as if, without her knowing it, she had lost her way and stumbled into another world.
“Phantom road...”
“Fan tum... Rode?”
Suimei began speaking a foreign language of some kind, which wasn’t automatically converted into the one Felmenia spoke. It must have been something extraordinarily unusual. Felmenia did her best to repeat what he said, sounding it out in words she knew in her own tongue.
“That’s right. This is the inside of a barrier I created. It’s a confined phantom world where anything and everything in the present world is reversed as though reflected in a mirror. Weaving in numbers that do not exist in the world, I created a place that does not exist. In other words, this is a complex number space, so to speak.”
“Wh-What is that? Numbers that do not exist? A c-complex numb-her space, you say? What the hell are you talking about? What did you do?”
Suimei’s explanation only served to fan Felmenia’s impatience. The words she’d never heard before were bad enough, but she had never seen nor heard of such magic before either. Never. Not once. And she was a court mage.
To her, magic was the mysterious power of the Elements: fire, water, wind, earth, lightning, wood, light, and darkness. Since mages borrowed the power of those eight Elements, magic always held one of those eight attributes. That Elemental power gave way to great miracles. Mana was the driving force, the chant called to the Elements, and their power came to the mage in the form of a spell.
But what Suimei had done didn’t play by those rules. It had no Elemental power whatsoever.
“My goodness, it’s that bad...? Well, I said what I did knowing that much. The magicka here is some Dark Ages level nonsense. And the theory seems to be several centuries behind even that... Well, that’s why the language and concepts of it are completely unknown to you, right?”
“This is... You mean to say this is magic? Magic that can change the appearance of the world? Such a thing exists? Without even using an attribute... How could you reflect the entire...”
“It’s not just the looks that have changed, you know... Is it really that confusing? This is just slightly more intricate barrier magicka.”
That was yet another phrase she had never heard. Maybe this mysterious thing he spoke of was some kind of unknown attribute.
“Bury-her magic-ah?”
“What?! We have to go that far back?! Don’t tell me the concept of barriers doesn’t even exist here...”
“Like I’ve been saying, just what are you—”
“Barriers! Barrier magicka! Have you seriously never heard of it?!”
“I-I haven’t! I don’t know what you’re talking about, but that kind of suspicious magic does not exist in this world!”
“N-No... Seriously? I feel like I’m suddenly peerless in this world.”
Suimei looked floored. He held his head up with his hands like it felt heavy. Was the magic of this world that shocking to him? Had he come to the conclusion that it wasn’t even worth his time to try and explain anymore? Suimei let out a grand sigh of resignation.
“Well, whatever... Let’s leave the discussion for later. All that matters right now is that this isn’t the Garden of the White Wall as you know it. It’s a mirror world I created with magicka based on the Garden of the White Wall. This way, even if we sling spells and make a ruckus, nobody will ever notice. It’ll be like it was all a dream.”
“...”
Felmenia still didn’t understand half of what he was saying. The magic he used was a complete mystery to her, but she understood the situation she’d gotten herself in. She’d been lured into a cage. An arena, even. Suimei took her silence as understanding.
“I know it’s above your head, but it seems you’ve at least gotten that much down. Well, it’s important to be able to calmly come to grips with any situation. Now then, it’s about time... Shall we begin?”
“Cut it out. You seem to be quite full of yourself after dragging me into this incomprehensible place, but do you seriously think a bastard with your level of mana could defeat me? I am a court
mage of the Kingdom of Astel, Felmenia the White Flame. I will not lose to a man who cannot face his opponents unless he uses this kind of cowardly, petty trick!”
Suimei tried to lord some perceived advantage over Felmenia, and she roared back at him. She wouldn’t be spoken to like that. She was the White Flame. The mage who arrived at the truth of the flame. There was no need for her to shrink in the face of this man. If it came to a fight, her position was absolute. She’d reduced countless beasts and monsters to ashes before this day.
There was no way she would lose to this young man who barely even had mana. Even if he’d lured her into this strange place, what real advantage did it give him? He was the kind of disgraceful mage who couldn’t fight without such wiles. She had nothing to fear from him.
“Hmph. You insist on prattling nonstop about utter nonsense, but the outcome of this fight has already been determined.”
“Oh me, oh my. You sound awfully confident. But can you really defeat me with your power, I wonder?”
“How admirably spoken. Allow me to demonstrate. I shall show you why I am called the White Flame here in Astel. I shall show you the truth at the summit of the ways of magic, my flame!”
“Huh? The truth?”
Felmenia loudly sang her own praises, and she heard Suimei’s voice turn quite serious at the last bit of what she said. He’d looked like was leisurely basking in the breeze this whole time, but his countenance turned grave now as well. But Felmenia was unsurprised. What she had threatened to use on him was the truth of the flame. There was no way a degenerate mage like him could maintain his smug facade hearing that. And so she began chanting. She was going to manifest that very magic right before his eyes.
“Oh Fire. Thou art imbued with the essence of all flame, but burn unbound by the laws of nature. Now, turn everything in existence to ashes, the white calamity of truth! Truth Flare!”
The moment she recited the final words that served as the key to her spell, a shining white flame swirled around her. It sucked in the wind in the surrounding area, and it gave off heat several times that of any red flame. It was fire that could reduce anything and everything to ashes, the true flame.
The Magic in this Other World is Too Far Behind! Volume 1 Page 13