Isekai Mahou wa Okureteru! (LN) - Volume 2 - Chapter SS1

Bonus Short Stories 

Have Some Candy: Say, “Aaah”! 

Within Alto Schloss, the Society’s headquarters in the Harz Mountains of central Germany, Suimei was in his room with his partner, the magician Hydemary Alzbayne. Currently, there was a variety of healing magicka items lined up on top of Suimei’s desk, and with sluggish—or rather, outright exhausted—movements, he was treating the fresh bruises and wounds on his face and arms. 

As for Hydemary, having brought in some antique furniture from her own room, she had taken up in a corner of Suimei’s room and was elegantly enjoying some tea. 

“Owowowowow…” 

Enduring the light sense of cauterization, Suimei smeared ointment over his open wounds. Watching him, Hydemary lowered the teacup from her mouth and set it aside as she called over to him. 

“Suimei-kun, you’re certainly outdoing yourself, aren’t you? Diving into something like close combat training as a magician… I believe it would have been sufficient just to learn the fundamentals, no?” 

“Hardly. To become strong, that wouldn’t be enough.” 

Just earlier, Suimei had requested to practice with his father’s good friend who just happened to drop by headquarters. He was the best among the armed combat specialists in the Society, Georg Bettendorf. And as to be expected, Suimei was rendered completely tattered by the encounter. 

“Well, whatever you do is your choice, but you know, getting turned into a worn-out rag time and time again like that… seems a bit useless.” 

“Yeah, well, sorry for being a worn-out rag.” 

Though Suimei spitefully spat her words back at her, Hydemary acted as though it didn’t concern her. She simply threw a different question at him. 

“In any case, you’re certainly strange in that regard. Normally, a magician would pursue the mysteries to the exclusion of all else. Something like actual combat would be completely secondary to that. So isn’t throwing yourself into something so needless the sheer height of futility?” 

“You sure have some nerve to say that after picking a fight the moment we met.” 

“A magickal showdown and combat are different, no? What you did with Lord Bettendorf was practice for a scenario where it was assumed that there were lives on the line.” 

She certainly had a point. And looking at it like that, Suimei could understand where she was coming from. 

“So, going back to what we were talking about earlier, why is it that you think magicians need to learn to engage in close combat in the first place?” 

“Isn’t it precisely because we’re magicians? We greedily want to take in as much as we can get, right?” 

“Is that so? To me it seems that it’s precisely because we’re magicians that we should abstain from overdoing it, I must say. Frankly speaking, not caring for one’s appearance is inelegant. I think one should act bearing their station and capabilities in mind.” 

“Sooner or later, you won’t be able to say that anymore.” 

“Hmph.” 

And just as Suimei thought Hydemary was only responding with indifference, she started making actions like she was pulling on something. As she did, Suimei’s body was raised into the air like someone had lifted him up. 

“Whoa! Wh-What the hell are you doing?!” 

“No matter. Just stay still.” 

Saying that, Hydemary began moving her hands like she was manipulating a marionette. And as if Suimei was being directly controlled by those minute gestures, he limply danced through the air and was brought down in the chair across from her. It was quite the rough way of getting him to take a seat. 

“Let me ask you this: are combat techniques really that necessary to us?” 

“…Well, isn’t it obvious that they are?” 

“Why is that? Is the Society that violent?” 

“It’s not just the Society. Those who call themselves magicians generally can’t keep themselves out of conflict. We have to subjugate apparitions, and we often butt heads with other magicians.” 

“Is that so? Well, setting aside the matter of apparitions, I don’t really understand this talk about other magicians. If a magician is your opponent, wouldn’t it be fine to just have a normal battle with magicka?” 

“I’m saying that not all magicians are sensible guys who will back down just because they’ve been put in their place magically speaking. They say if you’re not careful, you might get your head cut off in your sleep.” 

“How dimwitted. If everyone was just a genius like me, it would be fine…” 

“Don’t just casually call yourself a genius, damn it.” 

“Am I wrong?” 

“Well, you’re not, but still…” 

He couldn’t deny it. Hydemary was indeed a magickal genius. 

“Well, I think I can finally understand what you’re trying to say. If I feel like it, maybe I’ll also learn some combat techniques.” 

“From Lord Bettendorf?” 

“I’ll pass on asking him. No matter how charming a gorilla may pretend to be, a gorilla is still a gorilla.” 

“…What kind of evaluation standard is that? All I hear is slander, you know?” 

“Well, setting that aside…” 

As she spoke, Hydemary served Suimei his share of tea and candy. 

“Here, you have some too. They’re candies I bought from a high-end store, and tea that I personally brewed myself.” 

Ignoring what Hydemary was saying, Suimei thanked her for the treat and brought a piece of candy to his mouth. 

“…It’s good.” 

“Of course it is. Both the tea and candy were hand-selected by me, after all.” 

“Oh wow, how impressive…” 

“Suimei-kun, that doesn’t sound anything like gratitude. Frankly, aren’t you making fun of me?” 

“I don’t wanna hear it from someone who’s always so candid.” 

Paying her criticism no mind, Suimei focused on snacking. After a few bites and sips, he realized that Hydemary was staring at him intently. What did she want? 

“For this kind, it’s normal to split it into its different parts and eat it, is it not?” 

“Hmm? Oh, have you never had one before?” 

“Correct. I haven’t had this one yet.” With that, Hydemary opened her little mouth wide with a soft pop. “Aaah!” 

“…Huh?” 

“Like I’m saying, aaah!” 

“…” 

Hydemary had her eyes closed and looked like she was waiting for something. Was she telling him to feed her? 

Well, she is a six year old child, I guess… 

She wasn’t shy at all about being fed. It had only been six years since she was born, so since she was effectively a child, she simply may not have thought twice about such gestures. With a sigh and a shake of his head, Suimei picked up a piece of candy. 

“…Here.” 

“Hom!” 

Taking into consideration her small form, Suimei picked out a small candy and tossed it into Hydemary’s mouth. Without really smiling or anything, she simply began chewing on it. 

“Aaah!” 

Finishing the candy, Hydemary once more opened her mouth in a reserved matter, patiently waiting for another piece. 

“…Here.” 

“Hom!” 

Again, as she chewed on the candy, she didn’t give off a single hint that she was happy to be doing so. 

“Is it good?” 

“Mm. It’s quite tasty. It had just the flavor that I imagined it would.” 

If she was content, Suimei thought she should at least let it show a little. Although, as a homunculus, it very well may have been asking too much for her to show the same expressiveness as a human. 

“But…” 

“But what?” 

“I heard that the taste changed if fed to you by a member of the opposite sex, but I guess that isn’t true.” 

“I-I see.” 

“It’s just…” 

“…?” 

“Being fed… feels a little different from normal. Mm, it’s not bad.” 

She vaguely appeared to be in a good mood. And one way or another, this girl may have become considerably more human.