Introductions and Interviews
Part 1: Felmenia and Lefille
On a certain day at his base in the imperial capital, Yakagi Suimei was sitting together with his best friends Shana Reiji and Anou Mizuki. They were all seated on one side of a long table, facing the door to the room and with their backs to the window. It looked like they were preparing to give job interviews.
“Okay... Next person, come on in.”
There wasn’t an ounce of enthusiasm in Suimei’s voice as he called out to someone in the hall, who quickly opened the door and entered. It was Felmenia Stingray, looking somewhat nervous. She stood before the three friends, took a deep breath, and—in an unexpected turn—pulled up her hood and pulled out her staff, which she rarely ever used.
“I’m Felmenia Stingray, sixteen years old! I’m a former court mage of the Kingdom of Astel, and actually a former mage in general! I’m a beginner who’s only just taken my first steps on my magickal journey, but I’m aiming to become a great magician capable of both chanting and fighting!”
“Why do you sound like you’re about to sing and dance for us...?”
Felmenia was so cheerful that it completely detracted from the serious stage she’d set. And, eyeing her with a completely indifferent stare, Suimei didn’t fail to comment on that.
Really, Suimei had no idea how things had come to this in the first place. It was only just the other day that he’d revealed his secret identity as a magician to Reiji. Shortly thereafter Hatsumi had arrived, and now Mizuki was finally back to normal too. Life in another world had simply been one long string of unexpected developments recently, and it was getting hard to keep things straight.
As such, Reiji had suggested that everybody reintroduce themselves. It was a nice, friendly way to make sure everyone was on the same page. Of course, with Mizuki around, things could never be that simple. She’d put her own spin on Reiji’s idea, and suggested they make things a little more interesting than just boring old self-introductions. And that, in a nutshell, was how things had escalated to their current state.
“Was that alright?” asked Felmenia.
After reintroducing herself, Felmenia lowered her hood and looked to the faux committee for feedback. Mizuki spoke up first, giving her a wink and a thumbs up.
“Yeah! Good job, Felmenia-san! That’s exactly what I wanted!”
“Th-Thank you very much, Mizuki-dono. What do you think, Suimei-dono? Reiji-dono?”
“Um, yeah, I think it’s great that you’re so cheerful.”
“No, no, no. It’s all wrong. The cheer doesn’t match your vibe at all. You looked so serious and cool at the first, you really gotta stick with that. Or just go cheery from the start and skip all the edgelord mage stuff.”
“Erk...”
Felmenia looked utterly grief-stricken under the weight of Suimei’s criticism. Reiji couldn’t help noticing, and turned to his best friend.
“Hey, uh, Suimei... aren’t you being a little nitpicky?”
“Hell no. This is serious business for a magician. I’m doing her a favor.”
“Okay, okay! We’ve got more to go, so let’s have the next in line!”
Urged on by Mizuki, who was in all too high spirits about this, Felmenia moved to an empty seat in the room as the door opened once more. As for the next victim on the chopping block...
“I’m Lefille Grakis, a swordswoman from Noshias to the north. I carry the blessing of the Goddess Alshuna, and can use the power of the spirits. I also have full confidence in my skill with the blade. Allow me to demonstrate— HYAH!”
Lefille moved calmly and briskly through her introduction before she whipped out her sword and began swinging it around.
“Wh-Whoa, Lefille-san! We’re indoors here!”
“Oh, sorry. I got a little too into it.”
Seeing Reiji’s panic, Lefille immediately put away her giant blade.
“Lefille-san really is talented with a sword... Oh, ooh! You can also use that sweet red wind, right?!” Mizuki inquired enthusiastically.
“Indeed. You mean Ishaktney’s Red Gale, no?”
With those words from Lefille’s mouth, a sparkling crimson wind whipped through the room even though neither the window nor the door were open.
“Wow! That’s so cool!”
Mizuki was frantically clapping in excitement like she was watching some staged magic show. Meanwhile, a much calmer Reiji turned to Suimei.
“That isn’t magic, is it?”
“Hmm? No, it’s a mystery called telesma. Unlike magicka, it’s not based in theory. It’s something classified alongside mana as a sort of energy?”
“Suimei-kun, that all sounds really complicated, but the point is that it’s amazing, right?”
“Ugh... You’re being really liberal with this, but yes. It’s something that all modern magicians desire, and it would be no exaggeration to say it’s also our natural enemy.”
“Hear that, Reiji-kun, Lady Mizuki? So if you ever wish to chastise Suimei-kun, feel free to let me know. I’d be happy to be of service.”
“Ahaha... Yeah, maybe sometime... Haha...”
“Ooh, ooh! Me! I want to chastise Suimei-kun right here, right now!”
Mizuki still had a rather large chip on her shoulder over Suimei hiding the fact that he was a magician from her, and was accordingly eager to take Lefille up on her offer immediately. Seeing that Lefille was nodding like she was about to agree, Suimei knew he had to get a word in edgewise.
“Oh, Lefille, you left out a tiny little bonus feature of yours. Y’know, becoming tiny and all that.”
“That’s absolutely not relevant!”
And so, with Lefille’s introduction and interview over, the committee moved on to its next victim.
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