Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

“You don’t look well. Do you have something on your mind?”

“Eep.”

“Ahaha, I’m not trying to pressure you. Let’s relax together.”

Julia chuckled and picked up the knitting that she had set aside on the sofa.

It was a sight that made one stare blankly.

Loose-fitting clothes and long chestnut hair tied simply at the end without any special technique…

Despite being in her third year of marriage, her beauty hadn’t faded at all but rather seemed more refined.

“…”

Ellie sipped her teacup awkwardly as she chose her words.

She didn’t know how to start the conversation.

Judging by her gentle smile and ongoing knitting, she seemed utterly peaceful, but Ellie couldn’t bring herself to ask questions to her new sister-in-law.

Because ‘leaving’ was probably one of the words she hated most.

As Ellie continued to hesitate, she suddenly found her gaze drawn to the act of knitting itself.

A baby hat was being knitted with gray yarn. Charitably described as familiar, or less charitably as clumsy, the skill suggested it wasn’t her usual hobby. 

It seemed like something done deliberately to create a sense of leisure.

Almost as if, it was being done for prenatal care.

“Oh my?”

“Hmm. What could it be?”

“Um, sis. Are you possibly…”

“Yes.”

She nods before the sentence is even finished.

Her amber eyes shine with a warm light.

“It’s our second.”

“…Wow! Can I put my ear to your belly?”

“Ah, it’s not the time for that ye— Oh.”

Perhaps her tomboyish nature hadn’t disappeared even in the midst of her adolescent worries, as Ellie pressed her head against Julia before she could even put down her knitting needles.

A few seconds after pressing her ear firmly against her abdomen…

What Ellie heard was quite a clear sound.

That is, a growling sound.

“Oh.”

Just as she involuntarily exclaimed, she received a flick to the side of her head.

While receiving a calm lecture about how putting one’s ear to someone’s stomach goes against common courtesy, Ellie noticed that her new sister-in-law’s stomach was as slim as ever.

Julia playfully puffed out her cheeks.

“Really… We only found out recently ourselves.”

“Could it be that brother is starving you…”

“There’s no way that could happen, ahaha.”

It still has a tranquil atmosphere.

In an ambiance that made her understand why this house was famous for its freshly baked bread and subtle rose scent, Ellie realized.

There must be some misunderstanding.

Her new sister-in-law must know the facts that she had heard.

Compared to when her brother might ‘leave’ someday, everything seemed too peaceful now.

He might leave. 

After composing her words while sipping her tea for a while, when Ellie asked about the meaning of this…

Julia, after blinking a few times, burst into clear laughter.

“AHAHAHA! He’s not leaving… He’s not leaving. If he was planning to leave, he wouldn’t be complaining about how difficult it is to get a Full Professorship. Above all, he can’t go anywhere leaving me, who’s not even single, behind. I’ll hold onto him until the edge of the cliff.”

“I, I see.”

“Yes. So you don’t need to worry about having fewer people to listen to your concerns, miss.”

She says this with a gentle smile.

It seems she’s already figured out all of Ellie’s innocent worries.

Julia, who had grasped Ellie’s hand with a gentle touch, suddenly looked into space as if something had occurred to her.

“But, we might leave someday.”

“Eh?”

“We might cross the sea. Of course, our home will be here for life, though.”

“W-when might that be?”

“Well. Perhaps around the time when you stop worrying, Miss Ellie.”

“Ugh.”

“If you keep worrying, he might be trapped in Frauzen forever. Will you try your best for us?”

Those eyes made her deeply empathize with why her brother was captivated by her.

Ellie thought with a slight smile.

Yes. I should try my best.

Dreaming that their time, and by extension, our story, will continue, and also to prove that this world is still sufficiently beautiful.

Just as it’s not easy to reconcile two people who are on bad terms, it’s also difficult to reconcile countries that are on bad terms. Especially if they’ve even fought each other.

However, while people can open up and talk, countries often can’t.

The Federation and the Empire couldn’t be free from this rule.

The two countries were only able to join hands after a few more big and small disputes. The mother and child were reunited, and the rusty, verdigris-coated, damaged copper roof could be repaired. 

And so.

The flower of magic bloomed in the old land as well.

#December 7th. Rainy.

“Ugh. My head.”

Because wandering is youth, youth wanders.

The young man, clutching his throbbing head from a hangover, romanticized his situation like this.

He should try to understand the current situation now that he’s somehow regained his senses, but it wasn’t easy at all. First of all, he didn’t even know where he was.

The young man could obtain two pieces of information.

First, it’s raining, and second, he’s not getting rained on.

Shaa― 

The sound of raindrops hitting the water’s surface and the ground resonated from all around. While the sound of rain outside the window while basking in the warmth of a stove can be so romantic, listening to it while sobering up from a hangover in the cold air made it unbearably damp and gloomy.

The unpleasant sensation helped recall more detailed memories.

The young man was a student.

A student who had come to study abroad in this distant riverside city of Leman, and a young man, who remembered who he was, had nothing to be happy about.

Rather, he frowned. He even recalled that he had to go to a lecture, even at this worst moment.

The young man looked up.

It seems he had coincidentally spent the night under a bridge. What he thought was a roof blocking the raindrops was actually the underside of the bridge.

To attend the lecture, he would have to leave the shelter of the bridge and run into the rain.

There are few things as unpleasant as that.

Ordinary students would skip the lecture in this situation.

But the young man couldn’t do that.

He was in a situation where he might be expelled if he missed one or two more classes.

Getting soaked was better than losing face in front of his parents. He had to go to the lecture even if it meant getting rained on.

But how?

“…”

No time, no exact location, and above all, no umbrella. 

It didn’t seem likely that the professor would welcome a late student dripping with water.

As the young man was seriously considering implicit giving up disguised as deliberation…

Suddenly, something other than raindrops fleetingly appeared in his vision.

The shadow of a person with an umbrella.

A person standing on the riverside walkway waved their arm.

Judging by the direction, it was certainly not to greet an acquaintance on the bridge. The man’s head and arm were undoubtedly pointing downwards.

The young man had only one choice.

“Yes! I see you! I can see you!”

He waved his hand back, even though he didn’t know what it was about.

Then, the figure started walking.

The shadow, as if it was perfectly natural for someone to be under the bridge, chose a suitable slope to descend, and with familiar skill, quickly reached the young man.

There’s little light shining in the cloudy sky.

Therefore, only when the shadow came right up to him did the young man realize it was a well-dressed middle-aged man.

What he thought was graying hair seems to be its natural color.

Hair characteristic of people born and raised in this land.

Only after folding his umbrella and entering under the bridge did the man ask in a static voice:

“You. Are you a student?”

It was certainly a more efficient question than ‘What are you doing here?’

In this Leman, only a fool of a student who had drunk heavily the night before would dare to sleep under a bridge on a rainy day.

The Leman Research Institute.

An institution also known as the Oslo Advanced Research Institute, named after Benjamin Oslo, the father of polarity magic studies, and established by his adopted daughters, son, and their spouses.

Since its establishment, students have become a subject of love and hate in many ways in this place that has gradually grown into an academic city.

While there are students who graduate with excellent intentions and bring honor to Leman’s name, there are also fools like himself who only waste tuition.

This man must know very well which type of student he is.

The young man, meeting the man’s gaze, slightly opened his mouth.

The man’s serious gaze remained unchanged.

“Didn’t you hear? I asked if you’re a student.”

“Ah, yes, I am a student.”

“Leman University of Magic ahead?”

“Yes. While we’re at it, may I ask what time it is now?”

Even though the young man thought his speech was incoherent, the man silently raised his wrist to check his watch.

“It’s exactly 10 o’clock.”

“I’m not, late then. Even though I’m in a hurry…”

“It seems you need this.”

The young man, who had been preoccupied with the ridiculous worry of whether Leman University was to the left or right, considering he was already in his second semester, turned back to the man at that voice and…

…realized that the man was handing him an umbrella.

“If you give me this, what will you do, sir?”

“Well. It’s nice to return to childhood. Also…”

At that moment…

The young man couldn’t understand the sight before his eyes.

A blue circle about three feet (T/N: approx. 90 cm) in diameter was floating above the heads of the man and the young man.

It literally felt like it was floating. 

“[Disc]…”

Type I Magic spell, [Disc].

A spell of a size that wouldn’t be strange to take nearly ten seconds at his level was cast literally in the blink of an eye, without any metaphor.

The man smiled slightly. Perhaps the young man’s expression was quite strange.

“I have this, you see. You should hurry now. It would be troublesome to be late for Professor Diemann’s lecture.”

“Ah. That’s right.”

The young man nodded obediently.

He was too overwhelmed to ponder how the man knew which professor was giving the lecture, or how such bizarrely fast magic casting was possible.

Right now, he was barely able to dwell on the fact that it would be troublesome if he was late.

“Thank you so much, sir. I don’t know if there will be a way to repay your kindness…”

When he took a step out from under the bridge with what he thought was a sincere thank you…

The young man realized that he had left his bag behind at last night’s drinking session along with his wits.

Therefore, he wasn’t holding any textbooks, writing materials, or anything at all.

While it might not matter for other lectures, Professor Diemann’s lecture was a practical one. If you don’t bring your textbook and writing materials, your attendance for that day isn’t recognized.

In other words…

Even if he goes through the rain like this, he’s confirmed for expulsion.

The man seemed to have realized this too.

“Oh my.”

“…I just realized that I left my textbook behind, sir. Please use this umbrella. Well then, goodbye.”

“Wait.”

As the man suddenly started rummaging in his breast pocket, the young man stopped handing over the umbrella and looked at the man.

Not because he was curious about what was in his pocket, but because he was curious about the man’s intentions.

However, a few seconds later, when the man pulled out a magic textbook from inside his coat, even the young man couldn’t help but be surprised.

The man asked:

“Is this the textbook?”

The young man hurriedly checked the cover of the grimoire he received.

《Introduction to Type I Magic 5E / Eugene Oslo》. 

The title and author’s name were the same. There was no doubt.

“Y-yes, it is.”

“That’s good. Hurry along now. Leman University is to the left.”

The young man nodded vigorously and then ran off.

He got rained on for about ten seconds because he momentarily forgot to open the umbrella, but it wasn’t enough to stop the young man’s running.

The gray-haired man…

I… 

…stood still and watched his retreating figure.

The effort of always carrying spare books in my pocket has paid off.

I thought it would be completely useless in these times. Is this what they mean when they say you never know what will happen in life?

I smiled sheepishly and pulled out another grimoire from my pocket.

Unlike the one I handed to the young man, this one was worn and old.

I softly recited the activation phrase.

“[Flowering].”

A single flower appeared in my gloved right hand.

As if it had always been there.

I threw the flower as if offering it to the distant retreating figure of the young man, and moved my steps while operating [Disc]. Even in the heavy rain, my coat didn’t get wet.

I couldn’t delay any longer if I wanted to catch the passenger ship to the Federation on time.

There are many people waiting.

I climbed from under the bridge to the walkway in one breath, but somewhat laboriously.

As I lifted my head to catch my breath, I saw the sky completely blocked by dark clouds.

It was a gloomy sky.

Still.

Just as in my memories, Leman’s winter is utterly dreary, but now I know.

All rain clouds eventually clear.

As if on cue, the sky seemed to want to prove my conjecture.

A gap opened between some clouds and sunlight leaked through.

The light that poured and shattered on the surface of the swollen river coincidentally illuminated the underside of that bridge.

I smiled.

Smiling slightly, I continued my steps without hesitation.

I’m hoping that on my next visit, I’ll be able to share another book.

The End

T/N

Hello! Axiomatic here.

That ends Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins!

We really have come full circle.

My final message, along with the author’s, is in the Afterword.

See you there!