A Genius Mage Hides His Origins

2 – Eugene

In the end, they didn’t leave until the sun had completely set. Until then, it’s said that they continued to be beaten.

Beeep— The ringing in my ears doesn’t seem to stop.

Remy seemed to have shouted something threatening, vaguely. Of course, I didn’t hear it properly. Did that guy seriously think someone who’s about to get beaten would have the leisure to listen to another person’s story?

Whatever, it doesn’t matter.

First, I need to get up. Even though my whole body is throbbing, lying on the street is not an option.

Fortunately, my arms and legs moved. Seems like nothing is broken.

“Ugh.”

I forced my body, now a rag, to stand up.

After spitting out the dried blood in my mouth, I leaned against the wall.

Excruciating pain. Trying to endure the pain, I breathed heavily, and suddenly realized.

The corners of my mouth had risen without me knowing.

“….”

Eventually, I couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.

“Pfft. hahahahaha.”

Suddenly bursting into laughter made people on the street look bewildered. Glances like ‘Is he crazy?’ were thrown my way.

Well, if someone gets beaten up and laughs like a maniac afterward, they’d probably think that person is insane.

But there was a definite reason for my laughter.

First, the hidden spellbook within the embrace was not exposed.

And.

“[Ignition(move)].”

Stretching the arm upward, softly uttered the ignition spell. Simultaneously, envisioned.

Enter.

Move.

Shoooosh—

A faint sound is heard. The sound of something parting the wind.

Caught it without missing the falling object.

Jingling! A cheerful sound resonates. The arm was throbbing madly, but now it was enjoyable enough to cover that pain.

A hefty coin pouch.

It belonged to Remi.

“Heh. The guy who fancies money, beating people and stealing the measly coins in beggars’ pockets, the pickpocket who dared to go for my back pocket is sloppy.”

The circumstances were like this.

A coin purse in the raincoat pocket. Money pouches are usually tightly hidden because of pickpockets, but even flying and soaring pickpockets don’t touch the outlaw Remi.

Thanks to that, it was clearly exposed.

Activated during the counterattack, the Type 1 spell [Ignition], swiftly entering.

Swiftly lifted into the air and roughly placed on the building railing.

The process was too rapid, and Remi, focused on beating me, didn’t realize that the money was gone.

Even the people on the street would only think, ‘Something fell from the railing,’ and wouldn’t imagine that I cast a spell.

Originally an honest man and a shrewd entrepreneur, Eugene never stooped to pickpocketing. However, the situation demanded such nimbleness that he operated his magic more deftly than ever, without a twinge of conscience.

It turned out to be a wise judgment, as the coins in my hands attested.

Loosening the drawstring of the pocket, I counted the coins within.

A total of twenty coins.

…Twenty-one shillings.

Ah.

“Today is a party.”

How many loaves of bread can this get me?

In the end, I gained a profit of twenty-three shillings. Though the money in the tin was taken, just having two coins in the back pocket and twenty-one shillings in the pocket was enough to fill a hungry stomach and have some left over.

That’s it. With the money for bread, I couldn’t afford other foods I hadn’t been able to eat.

Like meat, for example.

Sadly, pork or any other meat was out of reach. Because I’d starve the next day.

But I could at least get my hands on grilled fish.

Just imagining the fragrant scent of grilled fish made my mouth water.

The satisfaction of protein and the sweetness of fat vividly resonated. I’ll finally get to taste it after several months….

Oh no.

Not now.

I hastily gathered the coins and scanned the surroundings. By now, Remy might have realized she lost her pocket.

I lurked around for a while. Fortunately, there was no sign of the pickpocket.

“Good.”

Now is the time to get up. The pain has eased a little thanks to the rest.

It was the same car that was headed to the market.

“……”

I looked around again.

A strange sensation.

The gloomy scenery, no different from usual. Dark streets and people with dark faces, the sky that had started to gather clouds again, it was a painfully ordinary landscape of post-war times.

However, there was something slightly unfamiliar in that gap.

Eyes drawn towards it. The end of it was directed towards an old man leaning against a wall near the opposite building, reading a book.

Between unfamiliar people and familiar scenery, what the old man was emitting was.

A sense of familiarity.

That person.

I feel like I’ve seen him once.

An old man with white hair engrossed in a book, casually leaning his cane against a wall. Judging by the hat he was wearing, it seemed like he came from Pravia, but his posture leaning against the wall seemed somewhat awkward.

That appearance felt strangely familiar.

I quickly recalled the memory.

Just a few days ago.

On a rainy day, the person who saw me using magic. We met eyes while I was happily running with the umbrella as a shield.

However, instead of dispelling my doubts, they only deepened.

That old man. Hasn’t he been in that same spot since noon?

“No way.”

Sinister speculations arise.

Has he been watching me all along?

If that’s really the case, things have become a bit complicated.

“……”

The Federal crackdown is not limited to magical items. Anything with the word ‘magic’ attached to it is confiscated.

People are no exception.

Just like there is a reward of fifty pounds on a spellbook, there is also a bounty on a magician.

Unlike the potential threat of a spellbook, a magician is a tangible threat, which is why the bounty is much higher.

A whopping two hundred pounds.

However, it is illegal to capture a living person. Evidence is needed. The reason Lemy is not insisting that I am a magician and only trying to take the spellbook is because of that.

But the old man witnessed me using magic.

Just moments ago. No, maybe even three times.

Witnessing is not only excellent testimony but also evidence in itself. It was a well-known rumor that there was a magic machine that could ‘reproduce what it had seen’ in the army.

My chest sinks coldly.

The chill has penetrated deep inside me.

If the old man’s intention is really the bounty, I had to choose between escaping or subduing him right now. The spellbook will be burned mercilessly, and there’s no way I’ll be treated well as a magician.

“Damn it….”

First, I need to confirm the truth.

In this excruciatingly painful situation, it was even difficult for me to be certain about my own judgment.

I began to closely observe the old man. For about twenty minutes.

Then he came to a conclusion.

“Could it be a misunderstanding?”

The old man didn’t even glance in my direction, engrossed in his book. It’s not like it wouldn’t be reasonable to look at least once in twenty minutes.

Visibly just an ordinary white-haired old man.

Perhaps he was absent-minded. The fact that he had been here since noon might be the reason his memory was blurred due to getting smacked around.

Moreover, even if he had witnessed spellcasting, there shouldn’t be any problem. It’s hard to believe the Frauvea soldiers would readily accept the rumor that a beggar is a wizard.

“Sigh…”

As the tension released, a sigh escaped involuntarily.

I had wasted too much time.

I turned my steps towards the market without hesitation. Anticipating a feast of bread and grilled fish. And then.

“Ah.”

Our eyes met.

*

When I headed to the market with a coin purse, most of the shops were already closed. Especially the delicious bakery had run out of stock long ago.

Now that the sun had set, returning from under the bridge, only tasteless and hard rye bread was stacked to my right.

Crunch―

Even so, my mouth watered.

After fasting for three days, even a rock seemed appetizing, let alone bread. Right now, even the hard rye bread was the epitome of delicacy for me.

Of course, that’s not the only reason.

The smell of oil!

When the damp scent of flour wafted from the right, the pungent smell of thick oil emanating from the left stimulated the appetite as if going insane.

The power of two grilled fish was so overwhelming…!

Gurgle—

It was difficult to stop the saliva from flowing any longer.

Swiftly rinsing one fish in the river with bare hands, then with a crunch.

A loud bite.

“…….”

Chew, chew, chewing on the fish flesh.

It was tough.

Due to the lack of much juice, there was no hint of tenderness at all.

There were plenty of thorns too.

The fish itself wasn’t fresh, and the taste of overcookedness pervaded the mouth.

“…….”

Nevertheless, it was ecstatic.

No words could describe it. If forced, tears might come out.

Warm grilled fish was invincible.

Crunch. Crunch. Gulp.

It was a luxury to pick out the thorns. As if reluctant to waste even the bones, I devoured the grilled fish hastily. The sweet taste of oil on the tongue after weeks felt like a rapid injection of vitality into the withered body.

In an instant, one fish disappeared.

Before all the oil in the mouth washed away, I quickly took a bite of the whole wheat bread.

The bread tasted good by this point. It was like damn carbohydrates. When I had to eat only hard bread for months, it was so tiresome, but now that I had it with fish after a long time, it was surprisingly delicious.

“Sigh….”

After finally devouring three pieces of bread and grilled fish, tears and all, my mealtime came to an end.

I’m full.

I knew very well how big of a happiness that was, based on my experiences over the past few years. I was happy now.

Then, future me should be happy too.

After finishing the meal, it was always time to settle the bill.

“Let’s see. Two grilled fish, ten shillings. Six pieces of bread, five shillings.”

There were eight coins left in my coin purse.

Even after devouring this much, I still had eight shillings left.

“Thank you, Remi.”

No better way to make a profit. Thinking that, I rubbed all eight coins with my oily hands.

And put every single one of them into the piggy bank.