According to onetheory, the world is an infinite existence. It isn't infinite in terms of size, butquantity. Those worlds are better knownas parallel worlds and are adjacent existences to each other. Regardless of the world used as a reference,all the others will resemble it.
Earth, forexample, is populated with people. Acoinciding Earth, on the other hand, is free of humans. In another example, a police officer on Earthis living an uplifting life. On anotherEarth, said police officer is a hardened criminal lurking in the shadows. In an extreme example, the only differencebetween two Earths is the roll of a die.
Events— in otherwords, "who someone is," and "what happened," are the outcomes of various "if's." Everyone who stops to reflect and go, "whatif I that happened instead?" has their prayer granted in another world.
Discussions aboutother worlds require a different method of thinking. Although, that too can be considered a faultymindset to adopt.
A flutter of azuresparks bursts into existence on the lawn of a certain manor's garden. The true form of the florescent glow floatingup into the air is the shine of magical power, magical light. A line of magical light then slinks acrossthe ground. It draws a circle filledwith countless geometrical patterns.
The light actslike a stray electrical current, breaking through all obstructions. Its shine soon glows so strong, day and nightcan no longer be distinguished. Thatillumination weakens over time and then fades to reveal five figures in itsplace, a sole man and four girls.
The world crossingritual connects the other world and the Yakagi household's front yard withoutany problems and the metastasis magic circle initiates without trouble. Suimei, Felmenia, Lefille, Liliana, andHatsumi safely arrive to Suimei's original world.
Suimei beginsacross the familiar garden. It openlyconflicts with Japanese architecture. Insteadof being laid out in the back, it's placed at the front of the house. In fact, the entirety of the garden was builtin a Western style. A brick path cutsacross it. It's uneven. Some are too highwhile others sink too low. A gardentable and chairs rest on the lawn. Deep wooden grains are running across them fromconstant exposure to the sun and rain. Finally,deeper within along the well-trimmed hedges is a small gazebo. The ivycoiling around it is corroding the frost grey color into green.
It's uneven. Some are too highwhile others sink too low. Deep wooden grains are running across them fromconstant exposure to the sun and rain. The ivycoiling around it is corroding the frost grey color into green.
Small plasterdolls along the edge of the garden add life to it. They appear ready to spring to their feetonce night falls. That said, all of themare capable of moving about regardless of whether night has fallen or notthanks to a built-in mechanism.
Further off to theside is a trap for trespassers. Even hishouse has had to deal with a couple incidents.
Suimei glancesback at the majestic Yakagi household. Throughthe style of Queen Ann, it carries the fragrance of the Taishou era from theMeiji era. Medallions warding againstevil spirits are decorated everywhere, even reaching up the tower on the roof.
His gaze gets lostson the veranda. Behind the frosted glassis the vague silhouette of a rocking chair.
—I'm home.
—I'm home.
A relief born fromnostalgia spreads across Suimei's chest. A clear image of his father, Kazamitsu, sitting in that chair rises tothe front of his mind.
The time is wrong…
The time is wrong…
When they made thetransition from the other world, the sun had still been out. In his world, in Japan, night has alreadyfallen.
Anxiety hitsSuimei. While this wasn't a developmenthe anticipated,
—There's nothing I can do about it.
—There's nothing I can do about it.
He'll be gratefulif the discrepancy arises from nothing more than a time zone difference. A large time gap would be problematic. If the other world's passage of time isn'tsynchronized with Earth's passage of time, then he'll end up left behind by hisown world.
The consequencesfrom such a problem will be massive.
While Suimei praysdeep in his heart that he hasn't become a real life Urashima Tarou, [1] excited voices perk upbehind him.
[1]
Liliana, staringat the city from the garden, is the first to burst forward. Her usual, sleepy, half closed eyes are wideopen as she says, "It's, bright."
The other two,Felmenia and Lefille, are in agreement.
Night in the otherworld is almost pitch dark. Whatalleviates that darkness is light from the moon and stars along with manmadefire. In large cities, magical light isutilized, but only in aristocratic districts so that public order can bemaintained. Its use is not widespread.
Suimei's world isdifferent. In Japan, light is allover. It leaks from the homes of peopleas they live their daily lives, accumulates, and accentuates the city's figureagainst the darkness of night.
The Yakagihousehold is particularly highlighted due to being on a noticeably moreelevated location. As such, the city iseasier to take in from there.
Lefille noticessomething in the sky and glances upward. "Suimei-kun, that light is moving… Is it a star?"
"Hm? No, that's an airplane. It's a vehicle for transporting people."
"A vehicle!? That!?"
Felmenia says,"Su- Suimei-dono? Is not its elevationquite a distance above us…?"
"Well, yeah. The departure and landing zones are farapart, so it travels at about ten thousand meters."
"Te- tenthousand…"
The three from theother world have no trouble grasping the distance. Suimei already taught them his units ofmeasurement.
Lefille turns toHatsumi. "That too… is a machine? Something made from what is called precisemeasurements?"
Hatsumi gives afirm nod. "Yeah, things made like thatare all over this world."
Soon, those fromthe other world move on from the light of the city and the airplane to lookbehind themselves. Felmenia says,"…Then, this here is Suimei-dono's residency?"
At Suimei's nod,the three seeing the house of Suimei's parents for the first time are left in adaze.
Felmenia says,"…This house is quite big."
Lefille says,"It's big."
Liliana says,"It's, very, big."
Hatsumi's tone isalso laced with a bit of amazement as she says, "It really is."
Suimei, havinglived there since birth, has trouble following their lines of thought. The territory is plentiful compared to othersingle houses and the structure itself is for sure wonderful, but it pales incomparison to houses overseas. InAmerica, even ordinary people are able to live in something as ridiculous as adeca house. He says, "You think so?"
That Suimei thinkslike that is because his work in mystery has him flying to every corner of theworld. The three aren't wrong to feelshocked.
Hatsumi releasesan exasperated sigh upon seeing Suimei is still the same as ever. She says, "Doesn't the average house rarelyhave a third floor?"
"Oh, yeah."
Felmenia says,"Excuse me, Suimei-dono? Per chance, isthis house not larger than the one of Duke Hadrias?"
"It would bebigger if you include the garden, but the floor space—"
Lefille's frownsas Suimei rambles on. She says, "Suimei-kun,is your household an affluent one?"
Suimei shrugs ashe says "Well, the social status of my family is all right."
Hatsumi pushes himto the side. "Don't listen to this liar,Lefille-san. Pretty much all the landaround here is part of Suimei's house."
"All the surroundland?"
"Yep, my house wouldn'thave been able to be next door if it wasn't."
Everyone turns tothe neighboring house at Hatsumi's words. There they find the house of her parents, the Kuchiba household. Unlike Suimei's house, it's a perfectJapanese styled house. It even has adojo as a bonus. Both the territory andhouse are large.
Felmenia, Lefille,and Liliana all go wide eyed. Felmeniasays, "So in truth, you are quite wealthy."
"Mo- money andland are essential for magicians."
The importance ofmoney and land are utmost for magicians. For one, economic strength is indispensable for acquiring goods thatwill be utilized as mediums. Furthermore, since rituals are majorly affected by topography and feng shui,securing a plot of land is of maximum priority. To acquire said land, money is necessary. If samurai can be said to pretend to be fulleven without eating, then calling this the antithesis wouldn't be wrong.
Out of nowhereechoes the revving of an engine. Liliana's shoulders jump at the sudden roar and she turns towards whereit came from. "What was, thatsound? It appears, to have, gone faraway."
"Yeah, it wasprobably a bousouzoku, [2] some motorcycle fan. You can hear that sound pretty oftenhere. So, it isn't really something youneed to worry that much about?"
[2]
Having returnedhome makes Suimei reflect, the otherworld was very quiet. Loud sounds likethat barely happened there. Earth,however, is harassed with noise pollution. Having gone for so long without hearing such noise, it feels evenlouder.
the otherworld was very quiet. Loud sounds likethat barely happened there.
As he has suchthoughts, Hatsumi releases a deep sigh.
Is she relieved?
Is she relieved?
Her expression isat ease. All her tension has beenreleased.
She say, "…I'vereturned home."
"Yeah, that reallymakes it feel like we're back. Honestlyspeaking, I still wasn't sure to believe any of this."
Hatsumi puffs outher cheeks and then sighs out all her inexpressible irritation. "Seriously, nothing like an exploding mufflerto really hammer it in."
She then leansagainst Suimei's chest
Suimei says,"Huh…what's wrong?"
"…I'm soglad. Returning home, I always, neverthought I'd come back. Thinking I'dnever see mother again. Therefore…" Hatsumi's cluttered and incomprehensiblewords cut off as she's overcome by emotion.
Suimei gentlystroke her head as he says, "You're right." Her golden hair quivers from the happiness and relief of having returnedhome.
They are not giventhe opportunity to let that moment sink in. From within the house comes a sharp presence of magical power.
Felmenia says, "——This!"
Liliana says, "——!"
They both takeprompt action and exuberate magical power from all over their selves. At the same time, their stares are drawn likestrings towards where the other magical power originated from. At no point, however, do they neglect maintainingawareness of their surroundings.
Both consider thepossibility that the origin of that magical power is a decoy. Such is to be expected of spell casterswho've faced numerous battles. No, they're magicians now.
No, they're magicians now.
Suimei, on theother hand, as the landlord, scratches his head and sighs.
….Well, I more or less expected this to happen.
….Well, I more or less expected this to happen.
That's when thegentle fragrance of rosewood drifts across the garden. The act proves that the owner of the unknownmagical power is not an enemy.
The magical power weighsdown against them and places an oppressive atmosphere over the area. It's so powerful, that a deep violet shadecan even been seen weaving across the darkness of the sky.
A silhouetteemerges against the darkness of the night from the backdoor of Suimei's house.
Suimei places hishands upon the shoulders of Felmenia and Liliana. Through it he tells them there is no need forconcern. The silhouette's outlinesharpens as they calm down. Footstepscan be heard as it comes closer.
The figure soonbecomes clear underneath the moonlight. Appearing before them is a magician [3] . On her head is a crimson ribbon coiled arounda silk hat, she holds a stick with an orb attached to its tip, and wears acrisply ironed, tailored, tailcoat. Sheis a magician. Through her clothing, shepresents the image of a magician.
[3]
Underneath thatattire is a young woman who still retains her innocence. She is around the same height as Felmenia;has long black hair; and beautiful skin that is as firm, smooth, and lustrousas white porcelain. Her thin eyebrowsand nose are accompanied by a pair of gem like eyes which reflect a contrastingradiance of light and dark.
She is expressionless,but her tone seethes with a hidden fury. "Su~i~me~i~ku~n?"
"Yo, long time nosee."
The young womanwith the appearance of a magician before them is, Hydemary Alzbine, YakagiSuimei's disciple, assistant, and familiar.
T/N: I don't know aboutall of you, but when I read that passage at the front of the chapter, my firstthough was, then, in a parallel world,Suimei messed up the transportation ceremony and everyone died a horrible andpainful death.
then, in a parallel world,Suimei messed up the transportation ceremony and everyone died a horrible andpainful death.
I am very annoyedthat this chapter ended here. I wantedto see more interaction with Hydemary. Ibelieve back in the side story when she was first introduced Primo predictedthat Suimei would be greeted with a kick to the face by a stuffed toy afterreturning home. Actually, I wonder, howmany of you are still with me?? This isthe third year since I started posting translations. Not only have we moved sites, but I'm alsoreally slow and sporadic with my posts. Isekai Mahou has even gone through issues of getting picked up by otherswhile I was working on it. After all ofthis, is anyone still here from when I first started??
Now, for those ofyou wondering, I will to be clear, I want to translate chapter 33 beforecontinuing any further on this volume. Afterwards, I will be alternating between here and the earlierchapters. Those translations will fitbetween all my other translations.