“W-wait! No matter what he’s done, this is still…”
“It should be fine. That guy seems to be getting serious himself.”
“B-but guild regulations strictly forbid acts of violence against a normal person!”
“This ain’t no ‘act of violence.’ Anyway, that’s only against ‘a normal person.’ This brat wants to join the guild, right? Then he’s not a normal person. That means giving him a little test should be just fine.”
“But… even if you say that…”
The man not budging, the receptionist could only stammer a rebuttal. Ignoring her completely, the man prodded Suimei with a question.
“You’re serious, aren’t you? So this is fine?”
“Pretty much.”
Suimei accepted the man’s provocation, but couldn’t restrain the sigh that came. It was unfortunate that the situation had indeed taken this turn, but given the bloodthirsty atmosphere in the room, the need to demonstrate a bit of force was entirely within expectations.
And so he began planning his next move—
Well, at least this isn’t our world. Those Church bastards aren’t here, and this is a world where magic lives out in the open. I guess I don’t need to bother hiding that much…
To be honest, Suimei’s thoughts on how he should approach life in this world had changed drastically over the last few days. At first, he’d planned on keeping his powers as much a secret as he had in his own world. But for these people, magic was a part of daily life. Were he to encounter another opponent who wielded magic, then magic was the most appropriate countermeasure. That it’d occur in a setting without a single bystander was incredibly unlikely. As long as he lived in this world, it was impossible to consider concealing his magic permanently.
Furthermore, magic here was seen as a miracle, a blessing from the gods. Those who saw in magic only a heresy to be destoyed – the Church – were nowhere to be found. Accordingly, any reasons he might have had for concealing his magic weakened considerably. His other concern, that his magic might be seen through and stolen, was similarly a non-concern in this world. Given the woeful state of magic in this world, so unlike his own, as far as he could tell, no one even possessed the ability to understand his magic unless he were to expose its secrets himself.
Simply put, wielding his magic here should be quite safe. Anyway, if he were to successfully become a guild member, his secret would have come out sooner or later. In that case, revealing it now, as opposed to later, made no difference whatsoever.
Although in his heart of hearts, he would have preferred to keep things a secret as long as possible, but as he considered the circumstances, it was also true that the current situation provided an unparalleled opportunity for him to demonstrate that he had the strength necessary to join the guild. He’d end this predicament with the audience as his witnesses.
As Suimei pondered his options in silence, the man lost his cool and shouted.
“You playing dumb or something? You can’t tell the danger you’re in?”
“Well, for that to happen, I’d have to be in danger first, wouldn’t I?” Suimei replied calmly.
Rather, he couldn’t think how else to react. Calmly expressing that he didn’t see any need to worry wasn’t an act.
Although the atmosphere might be rather tense, but a pressure of merely this degree was nothing to feel concerned about. As he had testified to earlier, Suimei had already experienced life-and-death battles on more than one occasion. He was a veteran of combat.
The feeling of pressure coming from the man was simply not on the same level as what he’d experienced back home. Going further still, when compared with the sheer rabid fury exhibited by those who believed in God against the magicians, then “open hostility” of this level could practically be considered goodwill. That didn’t even include the feeling of being surrounded by military units armed with the latest in modern weaponry, nor did it even approach the threat exhibited by those strange existences they called Monsters, and the forces of nature they wielded.