Isekai Mahou wa Okureteru! (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter SS2

A Small Tea Party with Alexis 

On a certain day, Suimei was visiting a certain mansion on the Scandinavian peninsula of Sweden. Upon arriving in Northern Europe, he’d done some quick sightseeing in Djurgarden before arriving at his objective. There, he was greeted by a considerably robust butler and guided to a luxurious garden on the property. 

Sitting down at a circular table in a snowy white gazebo, he had a grand view of the principle residence. As for the reason he was there in the first place... 

“It is good of you to visit, Starlight.” 

He could hear a voice call out to him from the granite path that led to the gazebo. It was noble and ladylike, but also tender. It was the voice of the magicka knight of the Chivalric Order of the Rose Cross, Alexis Van Meizan. Whenever he saw her, she was ordinarily wearing her brilliant white and green armor based on the megingjord, but today, she was wearing a short skirt and had her platinum blonde hair tied up with a single ribbon. 

“How many times do I gotta tell you to stop calling me that before you listen...?” 

“I happen to think it is quite a chic way of addressing you.” 

“Just how is it chic? Anyone who overheard that would just cringe, wouldn’t they? Call me by my name, damn it. I do have one.” 

“Oh my. Then, Suimei, is it alright for me to call you by your first name?” 

“I mean... I don’t really mind, but...” 

“Heehee...” 

Alexis smiled, looking quite delighted. With her acting so differently than usual, Suimei’s heart was racing just a little. Concealing that from showing on his face, however, he tried asking about the meaning behind her smile. 

“What’s so funny?” 

“It is nothing in particular. Frederic, some tea please.” 

“Yes, my lady.” 

At Alexis’s command, the butler who had been standing off to the side poured them some tea. 

“The tea that Frederic makes is simply the best.” 

“Mm...” 

At her recommendation, Suimei took a taste of the expensive-looking tea. While stealing a glance at Alexis as he held the teacup to his mouth, she looked like an elegant and graceful lady. It was throwing him off a little. The tea, however, as she said, was delicious. 

“Suimei, did you come here alone today?” 

“Well, yeah.” 

“Thank goodness for that. If Alzbayne’s youngest daughter or that delinquent little witch were here, there would be no rivalling the noise they would make.” 

Alzbayne’s daughter was Hydemary, but Suimei had no idea who she was referring to with the strange moniker of “delinquent little witch.” 

“Delinquent?” 

“The gun witch with that mean look in her eyes. The one with the kitty.” 

“Isrina? Well, she certainly does look kinda like a delinquent at a glance, but...” 

“What is it?” 

As Alexis gestured for him to continue, Suimei put down his teacup with a slight blush to his face. 

“She only looks like that. Inside, she has an innocent heart.” 

“Hmm? So that sort of girl is your taste?” 

“Huh?! H-How did we get to that?!” 

Being posed with a question like that out of the blue, Suimei was stumbling over himself. Alexis squinted her eyes as if assessing the meaning of his reaction. 

“Oh my. If you panic like that, it only makes it more suspicious.” 

“...B-But they’re not really related, right?” 

“Well, you have a point.” 

With that, Alexis set down her teacup and moved next to Suimei. Just as he was about to ask what she wanted, she leaned forward against the table, resting her heavy chest on top of it. 

“Heehee...” 

She then flashed him a bewitching smile. 

“What...” 

“I have already given you the right to call me by my name, so it would be fine for you to call me Alex, your big sister.” 

“B-Big sister? We’re only two or three years apart, right?” 

As Suimei objected and averted his gaze, the breasts she’d had resting on the table suddenly sprung up and leaned in towards him. As if mesmerized, Suimei couldn’t peel his eyes away. Alexis was a beauty. Moreover, she had an elegance about her today that was completely different from usual. It made her even more captivating. And when she got this close to him, it made even Suimei’s heart throb. However, even so, Suimei pushed back on Alexis’s shoulders. 

“Give me a little space here.” 

“Oh my, so I failed.” 

Alexis took her distance with a dissatisfied look, then revealed an impish smile as she sat back down. 

“Y-You’re... different than usual.” 

“Of course I am. Whenever I meet with you, it is when I am fulfilling my duties for the Chivalric Order of the Rose Cross. At those times, I am a knight. But here, I am a daughter of the house of Meizan. Is it not natural for my behavior to change accordingly?” 

“You’re saying you play roles?” 

“It’s not quite to that extent. It’s just that, as a knight, I must be ferocious. Perhaps there have been times were I was just a little overzealous, but?” 

Moving to counterattack, Suimei threw in a quick quip. 

“You mean always?” 

“Oh my, I couldn’t hear you properly. Did you say something?” 

Alexis smiled as she formed a fist. In the end, that was without a doubt her true nature. And Suimei unconditionally surrendered. 

“Nothing at all, my dear sister.” 

“Very good.” 

Seeing that they’d come to an understanding for now, Alexis nodded with a satisfied look. Her fists were something out of this world. When she threw a punch, the magicka she invoked was a gale of destruction. Even without the divine power of her armor and gauntlet, she could likely blow away a quarter of the mansion. Alexis then blushed a little as she continued. 

“Well, whenever I meet with you, it reminds me of that time, and I become somewhat feverish.” 

“What’s that? What time?” 

“The red dragon subjugation in the Alpujarras.” 

Those words brought back a wave of unpleasant memories for Suimei. Back then, in the Andalusia region of Spain, a red dragon had awakened—a mystical calamity on a grander scale than any in magicka’s history. 

“At that time, when the sky and mountains of the Sierra Nevada were burned bright red, when all had fallen into despair... the beautiful light born of the sparkling stars struck down the enemy of man. It was among the best of the mysteries that man could conjure...” 

“...” 

Alexis was talking about it as if in a feverish dream. As if Enth Astrarle had been used just moments ago. And after she reminisced for a time, she seemed to realize the effect it had on Suimei. 

“My apologies for my lack of consideration. That was when your father passed away...” 

“No, I don’t really mind. But... is that why you call me by that name?” 

“That is correct.” 

“Seriously...?” 

Normally that was where he would make a troubled expression, but Suimei shyly averted his eyes instead. If a magician of Alexis’s level said that it was because she was fascinated by his magicka, he couldn’t help the embarrassment creeping up on him. 

“And that is why I will continue to call you Starlight.” 

“I’m begging you. Please just use my name.” 

Suimei brought his head down to the table weakly. And in response to that, perhaps having decided that they had chatted enough already, Alexis underwent a change of demeanor as she put on the face of a knight. 

“Now, I am considerably late in asking, but what business did you come here with today?” 

“Oh yeah. Here.” 

With that, Suimei took out the letter from the leader that he had in his breast pocket and handed it over to Alexis. 

After this, Alexis would also participate in Suimei’s battle, but that is a story for another time.