The Magic in this Other World is Too Far Behind! Volume 1

by Gamei Hitsuji

  Prologue: The Magician Yakagi Suimei

  Felmenia Stingray was one of the proud court mages of the Kingdom of Astel. Born as the second daughter of Earl Stingray, she was a girl of noble lineage who was brought up without ever knowing want or hardship. After discovering her high mana capacity as a child, she took to studying magic under an old man known as the sage. Even as a young girl, she was considered a genius who peered into the abyss of the ways of magic.

  Ten years passed as she studied magic with the sage. Under his tutelage, Felmenia plumbed the depths of magic that were ordinarily said to take thirty years minimum to comprehend.

  “From this point on, there is nothing more I can teach you. Using your wits, discover your own way of magic,” he’d told her at that point.

  And after that, Felmenia’s life became quite busy compared to her time studying under the sage. For the caliber of her magic research, she was appointed as the youngest initiate of the court mages. The amount of regular work entrusted to her could not even be compared to the invitations to evening parties, unfamiliar jobs, and tea parties with noble ladies she received. Ever since she left the sage’s cave where her time was exclusively devoted to the study of magic, her life had been nothing but a series of new learning experiences.

  Her busy life left her with little time for sleep and brought her hardship like she had never known, but it was so fulfilling that she hardly minded. She already felt a great sense of accomplishment. She felt alive. She was no longer a little noble girl trapped inside a cage like a bird; she felt like she was making a difference as a vital cog of her country. And so she continued her busy but rewarding way of life. Several years after parting ways with the sage, Felmenia made a major discovery. In the middle of one of her jobs as a court mage where she’d been tasked with subjugating a major threat of monsters and demons, she came upon the truth of the flame that was unbeknownst to man.

  Yes, at the tender age of fifteen, Felmenia arrived at the truth. The true flame that all fire desired to be. She discovered that which could burn all things to ashes—the white flame. After trembling with joy for a moment, Felmenia reported this to her teacher and His Majesty the King. She even received words of high praise from both of them for her grand achievement.

  But it wasn’t just the white flame she’d discovered. That was the moment she also discovered value in herself. This was what she truly desired. It was the validation and self-worth she’d been chasing all along. It spurred her forward, and she resolved herself to continue to forge down the path of magic.

  From that point on, Felmenia continued in her magic work, amassing a great number of achievements for her service to the kingdom. From defeating demons in the north, to exterminating an enormous monster enshrined in the desert, to reforming magical scholarship within the country, to her appointment within the Mage’s Guild, which served as a platform for even more academic change... For nearly everything she did, she was showered in admiration from anyone and everyone. The gratitude of the people, the envy of her colleagues, and the words of expectation hanging over her from her father and mother were all the greatest honors she could imagine.

  That was how Felmenia had lived until now. Her prodigious life of achievement eventually earned her the recognition of being the foremost mage in the kingdom, made all the more remarkable by her young age.

  But even Felmenia, who prided herself on being the kingdom’s strongest mage, was unable to lift a single finger against the young man standing before her now.

  The full moon shone down from a darkened sky decorated by the glitter of the stars in the king’s favorite courtyard of Royal Castle Camellia. It illuminated the young man dressed in black, who proceeded to mock her scoldingly.

  “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?”

  This young man who spoke in unfamiliar terms to her was one of the good friends of Reiji, the summoned hero. But unlike the young woman who’d also arrived with them and consented to participating in the Demon Lord’s subjugation together with the hero, this completely plain young man had rudely refused the king’s request and demanded to be returned to his own world.

  With a perfectly straight face, he’d claimed to be a normal person. He said he had no special powers worth mentioning, and for that reason, refused to fight against monsters, demons, or evil. And he especially scorned the idea of being sent after the Demon Lord. Insisting he wouldn’t fight, he demanded to be returned home with all sorts of colorful language. That was a few days ago, after which he’d proceeded to lock himself in the room he’d been granted.

  Overcoming the confusion and fear threatening to crush her after being suddenly summoned to this world, his female friend had loudly announced that she would accompany the hero on his quest. But not this young man. He continued to insist on being left alone and sent home. It was a joke. He was a coward. And a selfish one. How could he even call himself a man? Not just the high-ranking castle officials like ministers and generals, but all of the castle staff down to the lowliest maid and soldier ridiculed him mercilessly behind his back.

  But... what was the truth of the matter?

  Felmenia bet her pride on her white flame, the perfection of fire magic. But it was woefully insufficient to win against this young man, who had dispelled it with a mere snap of his fingers. And now he stood over her, overflowing with tranquil mana that was so overwhelming it felt like it might just turn her to ice.

  “Now then, little miss mage. Is it my turn yet?”

  It was in that moment that Felmenia Stingray learned what her self-worth really amounted to.

  This young man was strong and clever. His plain appearance was a lie. A disguise. He was so sly that the people who looked down on him with pity and scorn were the true fools. He was not to be underestimated.

  No, this young man was a monster who resided far deeper in the abyss of the ways of magic than the sage who taught her. He possessed many secret arts within him that she was no match for as she was now. He had such absurd skill and knowledge that it seemed he could take out even the hero who’d received divine protection in the summoning ritual, all with ease and a scornful laugh.

  There was no mistaking it. He was a mage at the summit of his craft.

  “...Who are you?”

  Felmenia asked him that in a trembling voice. The young man fiddled with something atop his hand with a bored expression and replied to her flatly.

  “The magician Yakagi Suimei.”

  That would be the first time he properly introduced himself.

  Chapter 1: I’m Not Something You Just Summon!

  “Owowow...”

  It had happened so suddenly that there was no chance to prepare, and the price for not being ready was the pain he was feeling in his rear end. Suimei could only leak out his anguish with a pained complaint.

  He had been caught completely off guard. Even though he’d had a premonition that something would happen beforehand, there was just no predicting how suddenly. And without any warning, he hadn’t even been able to make a proper landing. Worse yet, the floor was hard. It felt like stone pavement or tiling. Suimei had fallen square on his bottom, and his tailbone was screaming in pain.

  Suimei wondered briefly what had just happened. But there was no need to think back on it too seriously; it had only happened moments ago. While walking home from school with two of his friends, a magickal teleportation circle had suddenly appeared on the roadside and forcefully sucked them in. Then, after bei
ng teleported, he was rudely deposited on the floor. That was one of the perks of sudden teleportation he could do without.

  ...This is definitely a huge blunder...

  Living in the concrete jungle of the modern world, Suimei had been walking down the secret path of magicka. Though he’d only been at it for a modest twelve years, he’d achieved a certain level of skill and was proud of that. Yet even he, a savvy modern magician, had been caught in someone else’s magicka so easily.

  He had sensed it—seen it right in front of his own eyes, even—but was unable to respond appropriately in time. He’d simply stood there blankly in the single second it had taken for the spell to ensnare him. What could he call such a failure other than a blunder? He was ashamed and disappointed.

  And that only made things worse. Humiliation and pain compounded within him, manifesting as tears in the corners of his eyes. Suimei then looked to either side of him for the friends he’d been with just a moment ago.

  “Owowow...”

  Beside Suimei, who was brushing off his butt, was his friend Shana Reiji, who appeared to be dealing with the same pain Suimei was going through. Reiji had dyed brown hair with every strand neatly styled into place, as well as a sweet countenance and slender figure that could render women weak in the knees. Spotting him, Suimei called out to him.

  “Hey, Reiji, you okay?”

  “Yeah... Somehow. How about you, Suimei?”

  “My butt hurts. A lot. I think it’s broken clean in two...”

  “Hahaha, you too— Wait, Suimei, are you the only other one here?!”

  Reiji laughed brightly at Suimei’s foolish joke, but only for a short moment. He then immediately realized the absence of the third person who had been walking with them, their friend Anou Mizuki, and raised a panicked voice.

  Briefly looking around, it certainly seemed she was missing. She had been with them just moments ago, but was now nowhere to be found. The cylindrical room was enclosed by stone walls and was atmospherically lit by old-fashioned candlesticks. All they could see was a sturdy-looking door across from them, and a pattern drawn on the stone floor beneath their feet—a teleportation circle.

  “Y-Yeah... Mizuki isn’t here, huh?”

  A bit confused himself, Suimei could only mutter in response to his increasingly anxious friend. Reiji’s expression grew dark as the questions continued to mount in his mind.

  “What happened...? And where is this...?”

  “Yeah, I don’t know where this is either. But it seems that someone wanted us here, however weird and rude it might have been. That much... I do kinda understand.”

  “...Could it be because of this?”

  Following Reiji’s dubious gaze, Suimei looked down at the floor where the large magicka circle was and inspected it once more. Inside the large circle, another circle about a quarter of its size was drawn at its edge. The geometric shapes drawn within didn’t conform with the traditional four elements, nor did they conform with the five elements of the Chinese philosophy of wu xing. Words were scribed around the rim of the circle in a language that Suimei had never seen before. He could tell that the circle was similar to what was used with spirit communication and summoning magicka, but it would have to be his secret.

  After all, Reiji was a completely normal boy. Suimei and Reiji had known each other since middle school, but Suimei had never introduced him to the mysteries of magicka that existed in their world, much less revealed the fact that he himself was actually a magician. He was oblivious to such things, meaning everything he could guess about the circle beneath them came from manga and anime subculture—the world of fiction.

  “Probably, right?”

  “Really...?”

  Reiji looked dumbfounded in response to Suimei’s barefaced acknowledgment of such a possibility. Granted, the situation certainly seemed to warrant that level of disbelief. Even Suimei’s expression was tinged with a certain sense of incredulity.

  “Hey, Suimei, doesn’t this situation... How do I put it...? Doesn’t it seem awfully familiar?”

  “Yup. The light novel Mizuki lent me the other day definitely went something like this.”

  “Thought so. This feels like the kind of setup where you’re suddenly summoned to another world and asked to defeat a Demon Lord. Or something like that.”

  “Nope, not doing it. I’m not even considering that a joke right now.”

  Suimei grimaced like his stomach was in pain. Reiji’s expression was riddled with complex emotions, but he managed a somewhat dry laugh.

  “Hahaha... But you know, even though I know it’s impossible, I dunno... I kinda feel like that’s what’s going on.”

  “Reiji, are you being serious right now?”

  “Mm.”

  “Hey, don’t just nod and ‘mm’ me...”

  Exasperated by Reiji’s simple nod and deduction, Suimei averted his gaze for a moment and began to use magicka to analyze their surroundings without letting Reiji catch on. As things stood, he wasn’t fully willing to buy in to such a fantastical straight-out-of-a-book scenario, but if they truly were in another world, something about the place should be different enough for him to tell.

  Though it was impromptu, Suimei prepared his spell and started processing the information it gathered for him. Gravity here was normal, and there was no major difference in the composition of the air. It was insignificant enough to think that they’d just been transported to a different locale. However...

  The mana is thick here... Is it because of this room?

  Mana, otherwise known as aetheric, was the source of mystical power that existed naturally in the atmosphere, and it was particularly dense here. Such density was comparable to that found right on top of ley lines in the earth or within holy temples and circles.

  However, that alone wasn’t enough to convince Suimei that this was a different world, not to mention that it was an absurd idea. It was more likely someone selected a place with dense mana so that they could activate this magicka circle.

  But more importantly, Reiji should have no techniques to observe and no way to perceive the irregularity in mana. If he felt that something was strange, it was likely something else.

  “What makes you say that, Reiji?”

  “Just one way or another, I feel like I’ve become really strong.”

  “Wha...? Aaah, is it that? Did your brain blow a fuse, my dear Reiji-san?”

  “Listen, it’s not like I’m telling you I’m receiving radio waves or something. Just watch.”

  With those words, Reiji reached out of the circle and lightly struck the floor. There was a smashing sound disproportionate to the strength of the gentle blow, and the stone floor shattered to pieces so violently that it sent debris flying.

  “Th-That kind of idiotic...”

  Seeing it happen right before his very eyes, Suimei could only stare in wonder. Reiji may have been the all-around, good-looking, good-at-sports perfect guy, but this just wasn’t right. It wasn’t possible. The requisite amount of power required to render stone to pieces like that... Doing that should have required a good impact with serious weight and force behind it. It literally shouldn’t have been possible with just a poke. This was unreasonable even for a strong, perfect guy like Reiji. Yet in spite of all this, he was acting as if it was all quite natural.

  “See? I did it.”

  “‘See?’ My ass! Don’t move the plot forward in such an ominous direction...”

  It certainly did seem ominous. If this was truly a forced summoning to another world...

  Indeed, Suimei was now sure they’d entered an unknown dimension. Someone with skills that overleaped his had brought them here. The art of physically reinforcing a body in addition to summoning it was no simple ritual, but... Turning that over in his mind, Suimei suddenly realized something else. As a magician, it was only natural that he took to analyzing the mana and any sort of magicka that had been involved. But even so, all things considered, he was the one being extraordinarily
casual about the whole thing.

  “So how about you, Suimei?”

  “...No, nothing seems different for me.”

  He knew Reiji was really asking if he’d undergone some sort of strengthening as well, but Suimei had answered honestly. When he tried clenching his fist and gathering his mana, there was no hint of any change.

  That had to mean Reiji had been the one summoned as a hero to defeat the Demon Lord. There was no point in summoning Suimei here. But just as he slumped his shoulders, the magicka circle beneath their feet suddenly began to glow. Reiji’s expression abruptly shifted to one of unease.

  “This is...”

  “Tch, it’s activating! Are we being transferred again, or maybe...?”

  “Something is being summoned?!”

  Reiji understood the implication quickly. In fact, he hit the nail on the head and put himself on guard accordingly. A magicka circle smaller than the one on the ground then suddenly appeared in the air.

  “It’s coming!”

  “Wah!”

  A voice came from the circle, and Reiji swiftly took action the moment a shadow emerged. He seemed to have realized what was coming out, but demonstrated a level of agility far beyond what he was previously capable of in responding to it. Was it the result of the physical reinforcement? Either way, Reiji managed to catch Anou Mizuki, the girl who had fallen from above without warning.

  “Mizuki!”

  “Wah... Reiji-kun, what...?”

  “Good for you, Mizuki. Thanks to Reiji, your butt was saved.”

  Thus, the three friends were reunited again in this unknown place.

  ★

  “You’re kidding. Seriously...?”

  “Yup, that seems to be the case.”

  After catching Mizuki, Reiji explained their current predicament to her and what he’d deduced about it so far. Mizuki seemed to be thrown for a loop at first, but was predominantly glad that she wasn’t alone. Encouraged by the presence of her two best friends, she gradually came to terms with the current situation. Her willingness to accept it rather than deny it showed both boys that she had some guts.