“No, no, nothing like that. I was in a bit of crisis, so I did it unconsciously. It’s something that only happens on occasion,” Suimei answered, the smile on his face matching her own.
The aforementioned “Roha-san” was the claymore-wielding man from earlier, huh. He’d beaten him so quickly that he’d been unable to gauge his abilities; perhaps he was actually a person of some renown in the guild? Not wanting to draw too much attention, he’d attempted to hide behind a facade of modesty, but it seemed his actions had been misunderstood.
“Hmm… From what I know, though, magic isn’t something as temperamental as you make it sound…”
She frowned as she thought hard. What Suimei had said seemed off to her. Her words demonstrated that she knew quite a bit about magic.
In that case, what should he say to dispel her doubts? He didn’t want to leave a bad impression on her, so he decided a suitable explanation was warranted.
“…Incantations aside, it’s possible to activate magic in other ways. Moreover, the magic I used wasn’t anything amazing.”
“Really?”
“It’s common knowledge, you know?”
This would likely prevent further inquiries. Rather than appear a suspicious individual who was clearly hiding secrets, it was better to give what appeared to be a plausible explanation.
Dorothea wasn’t likely to dig deeper than that, and indeed she did not. Instead, she changed the topic.
“Suimei-san, you sound just like a lecturer on magic. —Do you mind if I ask something? If not by incantation, then how else can magic be activated?”
“That’s a secret.”
“Hmph. You’re surprisingly stingy, Suimei-san.”
“Are there really people that expose their secrets so easily?” Suimei replied with a shrug.
Dorothea seemed to accept that answer.
“I guess that’s true,” she said, before switching topics yet again. “…I have to say, though… While Roha-san is definitely a rather impulsive person, but sudden incidents like the one earlier sure have been happening a lot more lately.”
Dorothea’s remark seemed intended to alleviate some of the blame Suimei may have placed on the guild staff. This led Suimei to ask a question of his own.
“…There are really that many people who play pranks?”
“Yeah, there really are. There are those who approach the reception window dreaming of the adventurer’s life despite not having the least bit of combat ability, as well as more unpleasant types who only care about the advantages of guild membership. I think it might be due to the Hero’s appearance, but starting from three days ago, there’s been a lot more of them.”