Suimei turned toward the voice. Standing there was a muscled man with at least ten or twenty centimeters on him. At first glance, he seemed almost like a small mountain. On his back, he carried a claymore, and his limbs were thick as tree trunks. This man was apparently a warrior.
Following up his roar, the man continued in an enraged, threatening tone.
“You little brat. Did you just say you wanted to join the guild?”
“Ah, yes I did.”
“Is that so. Well, for now we’ll just pretend it was a dumb joke. Get the hell out.”
A word of advice, and an ultimatum. The veins in the man’s forehead throbbed as he forcefully told Suimei to leave.
I have no reason to leave, though. Joining the guild was the first step toward exploring this world, something necessary for him to fit in in their world.
To that end, Suimei couldn’t afford to anger the other party.
Doing his best to keep his calm, he countered, “But the girl just earlier wanted to join the guild too.”
“You’re seriously still talking? Even while looking like that, do you really think you’re on the same plane as one of us?”
“Yes, I do.”
That was indeed the case, after all; what of it?
If he hadn’t had confidence in such a thing, then he wouldn’t have come in the first place. If he’d retreated after the cold reception just now, then that’d be a different story, but he had no such intentions. Plus, he’d seen other magicians around here, so it didn’t seem like it was because he was lacking in physique. Even if he was relatively slender, that shouldn’t have been a problem. He honestly couldn’t understand what it was that he was seeing differently from this man.
However the man, seemingly no longer able to stand Suimei’s calm assurance was infuriated.
“Do you think this is a joke, you punk? This is a place for warriors and mages, not some moron who doesn’t know the first thing about battle!”
“Eh? I’ve been through my fair share of life-and-death crises, though…”
Suimei was referring to the fact that in his tenure as a magician he’d experienced life-and-death combat more than once. As he spoke, however, something the man had said resonated with him.What was it that guy just said? Warriors and mages. That this was a place where such people gathered.
That part was fine. But as he considered how they set about determining who met such a standard, he suddenly realized what was wrong.
“Warriors…? Ahhhh!”
When he’d purchased his current set of clothing earlier, he’d used those around him as reference. It went without saying that these were people who passed their days peacefully within the walls of the city. They, of course, did not wear armor nor did they carry weapons.
If he thought about it that way, then were anyone who looked as he did to attempt to join the guild, they’d warrant just the reaction he’d gotten. This was a different world, and not the one he’d come from. Here, judging someone by their outer appearance was the norm.
Indeed, Suimei had made a terrible miscalculation when it came to how he was dressed.
“—Craaaaap. I bought the wrong clothes!”
His realization had come too late. Now that things had reached this point, regret was unproductive, for it would do naught to dispel the irritated, hostile gaze lancing through his body.