Rental Magica Volume 1: Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - The Magician's Offer

1

"Aaah, president onii-chan is deaaad~"

"Hey there, that's not the proper way to leave the physical realm now, is it?"

""""Meowowow, meeeooow!""""

One after another, Mikan, Nekoyashiki, and Nekoyashiki's cats tapped him on the head.

"... P-please.... forgive me."

Lying prostrate on the ground, Itsuki was at the verge of death, and finally managed to move just his finger.

He was at the mansion.

On Itsuki's overturned wooden desk had been a massive pile of documents, beakers, pyramidal flasks, some machine that looked like a microscope, and a parched monkey's arm. All of this was now on top of him. From underneath the veritable trash heap, only Itsuki's head remained, albeit barely, untouched.

"Even though you're not done with studies and examinations?" Honami chided roughly, knocking on the stack of documents.

"Ah... yes, I know...!"

"Then finish reading from 'Hand of Glory' to 'The Book of Albertus.'"

Recovering from his near-death experience, Itsuki shook his neck and took the old book into his hand. It was close to a conditioned reflex now. With emptier eyes than he had when he was under Adelicia's control, he continued to read the Grimoire.

--Since then, a week had already passed.

In that time, Honami, who had transferred to the same class as him, gave him a rough education. It consisted of teaching regarding both his presidential duties and magical studies.

Itsuki was now forced to devote himself to his studies, as he was followed in and out of school with nowhere to run.

"What kind of stuff are you reading?" Nekoyashiki asked from behind him in a relaxed manner.

"He's got no talent," Honami declared. "He tried basic spells and affinities, but he sucks at everything. He probably wouldn't even be able to do anything with ten years of studying. Give him twenty years and he might be able to call on a low class spirit, though it still might not be satisfactory."

Having this said right behind his back was a little irksome. What was he studying for, then?

"Heheheh, I thought that since he could see ghosts and monsters, he would have the makings of a genius, but it doesn't seem to be so, does it?"

"Rather than genius, it seems like just genes. Something close to a kenki or a jougan, I'd think."

"There is the legend of the kenki becoming a powerful mountain wizard, you know."

"Isn't that itself an exception to an exception? There's no logic to it, so you can't include it into the calculations."

"What if we gave him some kind of elixir or spirit drug? Honami-san, aside from Celtic magic, you know Witchcraft as well, correct?"

"Of course I've already tried that stuff. I've tried from Mandragora root to bat wings boiled in mercury to mashed toad intestines to just plain old Magnesia solution. Not one thing brought about any positive response, so I'd suffice to say he's just got no brains."

Yes, he had truly come close to death when he was forced to eat live aconite by Honami. He had never thought any of those kinds of things would ever enter his mouth.

"Well, rather than magic, we'll just have to make sure he focuses exclusively on presidential work."

"I see. If that's the case, from where should we start? We have one set for studying, but..."

Standing up, Nekoyashiki opened up the closet.

Looking at it horizontally, Itsuki saw several books lined up inside of it.

"First get something to push the main points into him. We can consult with Director Hazel too, but I'd start with all twelve volumes of 'Detailed Exposition of Economic Values - General Remarks' and all six of 'Mosaic Organization Structure: Basic Theory.'"

It was the first time he had even heard of textbooks being divided into volumes. They all had bindings so thick that it was not unthinkable that he could club someone to death with them. To make matters worse, just looking at a page out of them made his brain burn up.

"... Um, you said it would be okay if I just signed and stamped..."

Itsuki tried raising a pitiful voice of resistance, but,

"Did you even consider what you were signing up to do when you stamped?"

Honami's Ice Blue Eyes became even icier. They were probably even colder than the Cocytus of Greek legend.

"Other than holding the major vote, you'll have to know the company's economic status and relative value compared with other companies. As for magic, if you don't memorize how to apply your employees' individual abilities, we'll never get work, and even at the best of times be stuck with no jobs."

Her supple finger pointed at Itsuki, stabbing through his heart.

Incidentally, the businesses in front of <Astral>'s office consisted of a fortune-telling center and a recruitment agency for an occult magazine.

That is to say, 90% of their income came from these establishments.

"Since we rent out magicians, I call us 'Rental Magica.' Ehehe, it sounds sort of cool, doesn't it?" said Mikan, puffing out her chest.

She seemed to have come straight from elementary school, and she carried a red schoolbag over her miko outfit. --No, she must have changed clothes in the office or something.

"So? What do you do, Mikan-chan?"

"Since I'm a miko, I get hired for groundbreaking ceremonies and festivals and stuff. That's why I'm aaalways busy in the summer."

"I see. Yeah, there are a lot of festivals in the summer, huh? So do you always come here?"

"Yep. Though, if I wasn't here, president onii-chan would have been made into food for Ultros, wouldn't he?"

"Y-yeah, forgive me for that..."

Itsuki weakly waved his left hand. In his right hand, he held open the "Economics Even You Can Understand--How to Save and Use Money" book that Honami had lent to him (Honami had needed to lower the level of difficulty quite a bit for his sake).

"Meow."

"Meowoww."

"Hunh?"

The office cats were pulling at the bottom of his pants.

Being pulled along, he came to a desk with a fashion magazine placed on it. The cats pointed to the open magazine and meowed, waving their tails.

"Nekoyashiki-san, this is--"

"Aah. It's my most popular 'Nekomata Onmyoudou ・ Nekoyashiki Ren's Cat Fortune Telling.'"

Nekoyashiki, who was sitting next to him, raised his head.

"... I see."

He somehow understood quite well. He seemed to be pretty popular. His personality didn't really show through in his photo, though.

Looks like there are hardships no matter what kind of world you live in.

He had a strangely familial feeling.

Nekoyashiki, with his cats on his knees, pressed his brush against his cheek. On the desk in front of him a heavy-looking inkstone was enshrined with some Japanese papers.

He was apparently in the middle of making "spell seals."

Lightly waving his brush across the papers, he made several talismans.

"Are these for work?"

"No, I send them as presents to my readers. I draw five names from the people who send in the questionnaires and give them these."

"Huh, presents..."

Itsuki dropped his chin. He was way off.

Nekoyashiki smiled at his look.

"President--what do you think about magicians?" he asked.

"Huh? Umm... I still don't know anything about them at all..."

Well, from the start, none of them looked very magical. At least not before what he saw in the park. He didn't understand the different kinds of magic very well either.

"I suppose it's best to be honest. So, I'll change the question a bit. What is the need for magicians in the modern world?"

"Eh?"

Itsuki blinked at suddenly being asked such a basic question.

"Er, um... I guess they exist out of necessity?"

"Ahaha. A no-holds-barred response. I like that. If you think about it normally, there's really no need for them at all. If you need to fly, you use an airplane. If you need to talk to someone far away, you use a telephone. And if you need a familiar, there's always Sony's AIBO. Those robots are much cuter and functional than your typical magical beast, aren't they? Oh, but of course, cats are the exception."

Putting emphasis on the last part, Nekoyashiki then made a solemn expression.

"--But magic, just by virtue of being magic, can destroy the world, you know."

Nekoyashiki declared with all the sharpness of a katana.

"..." Itsuki gulped involuntarily. "Is there really magic that powerful?"

"No. Because there is a human limit to spell power, all magic has its limits. For example, in the current world, the greatest flame user in the current world is Ismail Talib, a master of Islamic Djinn Magic. However, even he would only be able to burn down a single city at his limit. Furthermore, there would need to be a lot of costly preparation before anything as such could be accomplished. It would probably be safer and smarter to just drop a napalm bomb on the city."

Nekoyashiki took a small sip of his green tea. It was apparently cold, as he made a disgruntled look.

"B-but, monsters made with magic are pretty amazing aren't they?"

"Ah, I see where you're going with this. Things like Kabbalah Golems and Homunculi do indeed have power greater than that of humans. The best and best known are <Goetia>'s Mathers family's 'Seventy-Two Demons.'"

Hearing the familiar name, Itsuki's face became stiff.

"Oh, what's the matter?"

"N-no, it's nothing."

Adelicia ・ Lenn ・ Mathers.

That was the name of the girl who now sat to his right during class. Thought it was difficult for him to admit. Perhaps it was because of Honami, but she hadn't given him any trouble. Still, he could, from time to time, feel the terrible sensation that a pair of green eyes was glaring at him.

... The best, huh...

As Itsuki half admired her and half feared her, Nekoyashiki continued his discussion.

"However, there is a limit even to the best rank demons. No matter which road the summoner takes, they can't outdo their natural ability while still being able to completely control the monster. There are ways for summoner-type magicians to make their work more efficient, but it just makes things more likely to work rather than guaranteeing anything."

"... Then, what was that magic that you said could destroy the world?"

"Oh, that--"

As Nekoyashiki nodded, the black, old style phone next to the support pillar rang.

Taking the receiver to his face in a flash, Nekoyashiki answered.

"Thank you for calling. This is the magician dispatch company <Astral>--eh? Oh, I see. Yes. Yes, yes. Understood!"

Slamming the receiver back on the stand, Nekoyashiki whirled around.

"President! Urgent request!"

"Eh? Don't tell me it's another monster extermination!" Itsuki responded in a panic.

"No, it looks like a magazine writer is out with a cold! If we hurry, there seems to be an alternative manuscript. We have to take a quick trip to the publisher and write it directly."

--Well, that seemed pretty peaceful.

"U... understood. Let's go."

Itsuki gave a tired laugh and turned his back to Nekoyashiki, who was placing his cats in a furoshiki and setting it under his shoulder.

Before exiting the door, he turned around.

"That's right. About what I was saying earlier--"

"Hm?"

"The most dangerous magic is--when the magician becomes the magic himself," Nekoyashiki said, narrowing his eyes into crescent moons.