A dark passion could be seen filling Suimei’s eyes as he spoke, and Reiji was left at a loss for words.
“I’m kidding…”
“S-Suimei…”
“I really am kidding. If I hated you, why would I have gone out of my way to keep your company for the last six years? Just think about it.”
“Th-That’s right. Th-Thank god…”
Hearing that Suimei and Mizuki were on his side, Reiji now let out a sigh of relief. And while the three of them were having that exchange, the blue-haired girl called out to them with the dignity of a graceful princess.
“Um, excuse me. I apologize for the interruption, but would you mind speaking with us?”
“Oh, of course.”
Reiji politely agreed, and the young woman with blue hair and a prominent forehead gave a graceful bow before introducing herself.
“I must truly apologize for calling you forth so abruptly. I am the second child of His Majesty King Almadious Root Astel, king of the Kingdom of Astel. My name is Titania Root Astel, and here with me is the one who strove to bring you here on this occasion…”
As if to show she had someone else to introduce, the girl with the large forehead, Princess Titania, lightly turned to the side. The robed girl she was speaking of took a single step forward.
“I am Court Mage Felmenia Stingray. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
This was the young lady the princess had called “White Flame” in their earlier conversation. She had beautiful silver hair that reached her waist with neat braids hanging down next to both her ears. Her slightly angled eyes seemed to convey a sense of pride. She made a lasting, intense impression, but she also had some rather charming, likeable features. As befitting someone who called themselves a court mage, mana was fluidly flowing through her body. The same was true for the princess, but this woman seemed far more adept at its control.
Wait, this woman is the one who summoned us here? That son of a…
Before him now was the person responsible for their current predicament. Feeling nothing pleasant at making her acquaintance, Suimei grumbled to himself. Once the girls finished their introductions, Reiji stepped forward and politely returned the gesture.
“Thank you for such a courteous greeting. My name is Shana Reiji. If it is more common here to put the surname last, then please feel free to call me Reiji Shana. These two with me are my good friends. To my right is Mizuki Anou, and to my left is Suimei Yakagi.”
Exactly when did he learn to be so formal? Princess Titania and Court Mage Felmenia responded quite admiringly to Reiji. They were rather dignified themselves, but they seemed to be pleased with Reiji’s manners. When she had the chance, Mizuki stepped forward next.
“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mizuki Anou…”
When she was finished, Suimei took a step forward too.
“I’m… Suimei Yakagi.”
He kept things short and sweet. He didn’t really have anything else to say, and he could tell this was the kind of situation where he should avoid saying anything imprudent. Titania then passed her gaze over the three of them, and closed her eyes as if deep in thought. And then…
“Reiji-sama, Mizuki-sama, and Suimei-sama, correct? The reason that we have summoned you under such circumstances… You see, there’s something that we must ask one of the three of you.”
“What is it?”
“We need you to destroy the Demon Lord Nakshatra, the leader of the demons who currently threaten the peace of this world.”
The moment Princess Titania said those words, the three friends all gave each other knowing looks. Suimei was then the only one that put his hand on his forehead and looked up at the ceiling like he wanted out.
★
Summoned to another world, greeted by a princess and a court mage, then asked to save the world. It was practically textbook. The three friends were able to keep up appearances on the surface, but each of them truly felt like they’d had their legs knocked out from under them.
“Man…”
“Wow…”
“Oh my god…”
In the end, they weren’t able to keep it together after all. Each one of them broke into a different kind of sigh. They now looked like they were at their wits’ end from the shock of it all, and Titania began questioning them in a somewhat bewildered tone.
“And so, I must apologize for the abruptness of it all, but which among you is the esteemed hero?”
“Um…”
“That’s…”
In response to her question, Reiji and Mizuki looked at each other with troubled expressions. There was no way they would know if they were heroes or not. How could they? As far as they knew, they were just ordinary civilians. If anyone had asked them if they were heroes otherwise, they certainly would have said no. As such, there seemed to be no answer to the question posed to them now. But they couldn’t just stay in the dark; things would never progress that way. And so Suimei decided to step in.
“Can I ask something?”
“Yes, please feel free to ask anything you see fit.”
“Is there something that would indicate who the summoning target was? Like a sign that should prove that one of us is a hero?”
“Proof of being a hero? A sign, you say?”
Suimei nodded, and Titania looked over to Felmenia. Felmenia met her gaze and nodded, then turned towards Suimei to give him an answer.
“Yes, there is such a thing. The hero who is summoned by the ritual is given divine protection by the Elements upon crossing worlds, and should house tremendous power within their body. In other words, one among you should feel power flowing within you unlike anything you’ve ever experienced… Does one of you not match that description?”
“If that’s how it is, I think that would be me. Since coming here, I’ve felt like I became much stronger—stronger than I could have ever imagined.”
The soldiers in the room began whispering amongst themselves and let out a collective “oooh” at Reiji’s response. It was true that Reiji seemed to be the only one who’d gotten any power when they were transported, but be that as it may…
She said “by the Elements,” didn’t she?
Suimei scrutinized the girl’s words internally. Elements, elemental, elementary… Such words in the world Suimei was from were used to describe chemical elements, or more esoterically, the four or five arcane elements. Earth, water, fire, and wind made up the traditional four, and including the void made it a more conceptual five. These words and the things they represented played an extremely important role in magicka.
Yet the way Felmenia had phrased it made it sound like she was referring to a living being. Even though magicka could work hand in hand with spiritual religious faith, and even though the core of its practice was calling on spirits for power, the nuance was a little strange.
But they were in another world now. There was no guarantee that things worked exactly how Suimei would expect them to. If they were identical, there would be no need for the division between worlds in the first place. There had to be some reason these two worlds were separated—something that made this one different. Perhaps the difference was Elemental…
“So then you are the esteemed hero?”
“Well… Yes, I think so.”
While Suimei was ruminating over the Elements, Titania’s intoxicated eyes fell on Reiji. It appeared she had some special feelings for this “hero.” Of course, it didn’t hurt that he happened to be quite handsome. Seeing her looking at him like that, Reiji was somewhat taken aback. Even more so when Titania suddenly grabbed his hand.
“Hero-sama, though it is truly presumptuous of me, please… I’m in your hands!”
“H-Huh?!”
“Y-Your Highness?!”