Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

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The Eastern Telegraph Bureau.

It was one of only two communication offices in Frauzen and was also a small company compared to the Western Telegraph Bureau.

However, the employees’ morale didn’t seem to be proportional to its size.

Unlike Lena, who started her consultancy as if familiar with the warm welcome, two other new employees and I had to undergo a kind of ‘verification’ surrounded by current employees.

It’s obvious who their gazes were mainly directed to.

The new female employee with a solid impression passed quickly, and even the unreliable-looking male employee got through the initiation ambiguously, but they didn’t extend such leniency to me.

“Hmm.”

“Gray hair? Well, well…”

“Good physique. Good physique indeed.”

“Even so, the Eastern Telegraph Bureau hasn’t fallen so low as to accept someone just because they have a good build.”

Six employees surrounded me and each threw in a comment.

Was I supposed to hear this?

I’ve had the experience of being chased by military troops. I was confident that I wouldn’t flinch at ordinary intimidation, but…

Being surrounded by employees who were all burly and muscular wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience, so I maintained a detached expression and longed for the initiation to end quickly.

Then.

“I brought that person myself, so you don’t need to be so harsh.”

Lena, who was moving a mountain of documents, casually dropped a comment.

Hearing that one line, the employees’ attitudes changed in an instant.

“Oh my!”

“Is that so!”

“What a mistake I’ve made!”

“Hey, what’s your name? Let’s work well together from now on!”

I shook hands six times in succession, dumbfounded.

One thing became clear from this. The employees’ trust in Lena was very deep.

Released from the employees’ encirclement, I saw Lena passing by with a triumphant smile.

Her mouth corners were particularly raised as if she thought she had established the pecking order *1.

I almost felt intimidated for real.

If it weren’t for Lena struggling to move piles of documents, that is.

“Need help?”

“……”

We split the load in half.

Tick. Tack. Ticktack.

Usually, spaces where people gather are filled with voices, but the noise filling the Eastern Telegraph Bureau was not human voices but lively metallic sounds.

It was obvious that this chaotic random noise was the sound of telegraph operators sending telegrams.

Just turning my head, I could see four telegraph operators frantically moving their arms.

However, there was a vast gap between intellectual understanding and practical comprehension.

· –   – · · ·  – · – ·

This, they say, is sending ‘A B C’ using a code system named after some inventor.

It was understandable that they had mastered all the codes corresponding to the alphabet, but I couldn’t help but admire the skill of the telegraph operators who sent dozens of characters per minute with almost instinctive movements.

“These people are the pride of the Eastern Telegraph Bureau, our telegraph operators. What do you think?”

Occasionally, when I was staring at them absentmindedly, passing employees would pat my shoulder and praise their colleagues.

However, my amazement wasn’t entirely directed at the telegraph operators.

The telegraph key. (T/N: The device itself)

I was fascinated by its operating principle.

The structure of the device itself is incredibly simple.

Every time the switch is opened and closed according to the code system, a magic pulse flows through the wire, which is then re-encoded on the receiving end.

What’s amazing is that this simple system is connected across the entire country like a spider web.

How much wire was employed, and how delicate magic tuning techniques were used?

I marveled anew at the Federation’s magic engineering.

I focused on my work while casually memorizing the ticking codes by ear.

Unlike the job of a telegraph operator, which requires skilled techniques, the work I was assigned was close to simple labor.

You could call it a general errand runner.

I moved piles of documents, assisted telegraph operators, and occasionally handled customer service.

When I list out the assigned tasks, it might seem like nothing much, but the difficulty of miscellaneous work stems from the fact that it’s an aggregation of these seemingly trivial tasks.

As the sun was setting, I began to understand why Lena had struggled with recruitment.

Ding ding ding!

“Phew.”

The bell signaling the end of work rang.

Everyone sat down at the table set up on the first floor of the telegraph bureau for a break, so I joined them, too.

It was a deliberate action.

Anyway, as long as I have gray hair, Federation people basically keep their distance from me. So, to settle in Frauzen, I needed to learn how to approach actively.

Employees chat noisily and relieve the day’s fatigue.

As I sat in a corner of the table, I anticipated that silence would fall among the employees who passed by.

However…

“Oh, the gray-haired one Lena brought. Good work.”

“You did your job quickly and did it really well.”

“What’s your relationship with the consultant?”

Unexpectedly, the employees started to speak to me in an easygoing manner.

“Uh, uh.”

“Hey. Ask one question at a time. You’re confusing the newbie.”

“Oh my!”

“What a mistake I’ve made!”

The cheerful atmosphere continued.

How should I put it, the Eastern Telegraph Bureau seemed to have an underlying culture of being ‘welcome if you work well and have a good personality.’

Perhaps that’s why. One of the new employees who had been looking at me with disapproving glances during work had their spirits crushed after being caught slacking off by Lena.

A healthy meritocracy.

It was obvious whose influence this strange company atmosphere was.

I looked up and surveyed the still-busy upper floor.

The second floor of the telegraph bureau had an open center, allowing those on the lower floor to peek at the upper floor.

Lena led the employees with her hair tied tightly and sleeves rolled up.

“She works hard.”

It was when I muttered that carelessly.

Grab.

“She’s a diligent child. The treasure of our telegraph bureau, a treasure indeed.”

Someone put their hand on my shoulder while a strong smell of a pipe tobacco wafted from behind me.

A delicate yet world-weary voice.

As I turned my head to check the owner of the voice, some blonde hair fell and tickled my face.

“Oh my. I’m sorry.”

“…Who are you?”

As I glanced around, I noticed that the expressions of the employees who had been smiling warmly just moments ago had strangely hardened.

Just as anxiety was creeping in, the blonde woman with heavy dark circles under her eyes took a puff of her pipe tobacco and…

Whoosh.

She exhaled into my face and answered.

“I’m the director of the Eastern Telegraph Bureau. Lily Lovelace.”

While some people smoke pipes for style, there are also quite a few true addicts who are only satisfied with strong and bitter tobacco leaves.

Director Lovelace of the telegraph bureau seemed to be the latter.

The smoke was so strong that although the employees greeted the director with smiling faces, they began to leave the table one by one.

Before I knew it, only the director and I were left at the long table.

I wanted to leave, too, but I couldn’t bring myself to do so.

The director’s decadent gaze bound me like a spell.

Director Lovelace took the pipe from her mouth.

“Eugene Oslo. Right?”

Judging by the emphasis on the surname Oslo rather than the first name, this wasn’t simply a question to confirm my identity.

Sure enough…

“Are you… Lena’s brother?”

“Something like that.”

“As expected of a genius family. What kind of genius are you, Eugene?”

I shook my head.

“I’m not a genius. I’m just preparing for the entrance exam for the Federal University of Magic.”

“Magic studies, is it? What a shame to lose such talent. Don’t just up and leave even if you pass.”

The director blew smoke into the air with a seductive smile.

“I’m just an incompetent director relying on Lena, but I’ll grow this company to surpass the Western Telegraph Bureau soon.”

“…I heard the company’s circumstances weren’t favorable.”

“Aren’t you curious about the reason?”

Clank.

Director Lovelace put down her pipe on the table and glanced at the second floor.

At the railing overlooking the entire telegraph bureau, Lena was taking a nap in a nearby rocking chair.

“All I have as a director is my background of coming from a prestigious family and the capital I used to establish the Eastern Telegraph Bureau. It means I’m severely lacking in ability. But that part was resolved when we recruited Lena.”

In other words, there was one problem left.

“External trust. That’s what we lack. Who would want to invest in a company with a director in name only and a consultant that’s a minor?”

“……”

“We’ve gone public, but due to lack of trust, no one is buying our stocks. Even though Lena boasted about profitability… If there were just some precedent of purchases, trading might become more active… Oops, I’ve rambled on with unexpected complaints for too long.”

Lily Lovelace leaned forward to face me.

The scent of burnt tobacco leaves spread faintly like perfume.

“Regardless of her ability, Lena is still young. Both physically and mentally. So if you’re her family, believe in Lena.”

I thought she was just a young figurehead director worn out by fatigue and tobacco, but she turned out to be unexpectedly dependable.

Instead of answering, I gave a slight smile.

Meanwhile, one phrase from Director Lovelace’s complaints kept ringing in my ears.

She said that Lena boasted about profitability.

“The current average return rate for investment brokerage businesses was fifteen percent, wasn’t it?”

The ‘businessman’ inside me began to stir again.

#September 14th. Rain.

Morning.

When Susan and the twins were asleep, and the candle in the storage room was faintly glowing…

Lena Oslo, who was unfailingly handling investment brokerage paperwork, received an anonymous letter.

[Mr. Underbridge]

[ I’m attaching 600 pounds. Please invest it in the Eastern Telegraph Bureau.]

T/N

A pecking order is basically a hierarchy within a group of people.

Edited all instances of Loverace to Lovelace (6/30/24)

Apologies for the delay in this chapter, the chapters scheduled for today will still be published. 

Thanks for reading, see you in a bit!