Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

What adults who often deliver sharp remarks to children with an arrogant tone, like “The world is not a fairy tale,” miss is that, surprisingly, children already know well that the world is not a fairy tale.

Just as adults naturally learn this principle as they enter society, children, too, come to know it naturally.

Children see.

At home, at school, on the streets.

Parents, teachers, passersby.

They see that one doesn’t succeed just for being good, that often, no matter how hard one tries, one may not be rewarded, and that there are those who fall purely due to bad luck.

They see it with those small, bright eyes.

Of course, precocious children, and even those who maintain their purity as they grow up, naturally realize by the time they graduate school…

…that the world is made up of various connections.

And I suspect.

The chestnut-haired female student before me seemed to be the greatest victim of that meager advice.

I saw her surrounded by three or four students with awkward expressions from the first day of school.

“……”

Our eyes met.

It wasn’t difficult to recognize her.

It was because I had just seen her for the first time this morning, and she was quite distinctive.

It’s not for cliché reasons like her hair rippling like a stream or her beauty that would make nine out of ten people turn their heads.

The chair with wheels. That is, the wheelchair.

As soon as I saw it, I remembered.

She smiled gently at me. It’s strange. Although she clearly had a youthful impression, the smile of this unknown female student was full of seductive charm.

Surely, that smile alone must have melted the hearts of many.

However.

I reflexively frowned.

Having already experienced it once this morning, I could avoid being fooled.

That’s not a smile.

Shouldn’t it be seen as a meticulously calculated movement of facial muscles or a mechanical action?

I quickly relaxed my face.

Although it was reflexive, I had responded to a smiling face with a frown.

Sure enough…

The smile disappeared from the female student’s expression.

“……”

“……”

For a fleeting moment, a coldness that only we could understand passed between us.

Immediately after, the silence was broken by an intruder entering the classroom.

“Oh my… Am I a bit late? Well, let’s start the lecture quickly.”

It was the professor.

[Understanding Literary Genres].

It didn’t take much time to realize the essence of this lecture.

Wasn’t it said to be a comfort to students overwhelmed by the difficulty of magic studies?

It was true.

It was indeed a lecture without substance.

When I saw the lecture title, I thought there would be a brilliant lecture providing clear insights while traversing literary genres like poetry, novels, and plays.

“So… where did I leave off?”

The balding old professor didn’t have a very good memory.

Along with his memory, it was difficult to say his lecturing skills were good either.

I remember once hearing from Benjamin that a professor’s main job isn’t lecturing. I could finally understand what that meant.

30 minutes after the start of the lecture…

After repeating “Where did I leave off?” twice and going off on tangents three times during that time, the students’ concentration hit rock bottom.

Then, it was the students, not the lecturer, who quietly opened their lips.

Delightful chatter.

At least that’s more interesting than delving into the forms of ancient poetry, which is unparalleled in its dullness, isn’t it?

Students who seemed to be from the same school started whispering and chatting with each other. I could see it clearly from my seat at the very back of the auditorium.

I quietly began to eavesdrop on their whispers.

Well, what else could I do? My only friend is probably lying on the grass sunbathing by now, having babbled that it’s okay to skip a boring literature lecture on the first day.

To alleviate boredom, I had to at least eavesdrop on others’ conversations.

“I’m sleepy.”

““Where did I leave off?” Achievement unlocked for the third time.”

“Where was the cafeteria again?”

Half of the chatter was literally miscellaneous talk, while the other half was not.

As students usually do, it was about fellow students.

If there was a minor twist, it might be that the subject of gossip wasn’t me.

“Who on earth is that girl?”

“A professor’s daughter.”

“Ah… so that’s why they’re all clinging to her like that.”

“Is she physically impaired? Why is she in a wheelchair?”

Perhaps because there was someone much more noticeable than me in the classroom, the topic naturally turned toward her.

I understood. A beautiful female student in a wheelchair would be a much more interesting topic of conversation than the gray-haired top scorer.

There’s nothing else to do. I continued to keep my ears open.

The chestnut-haired female student’s name was Julia Müller.

There were various other characteristics as well.

Daughter of a professor at the Federal University of Magic.

High-ranking in the entrance exam.

Early admission by one year.

Sickly.

Very pretty, etc.

For the last one, I should clarify in advance that it includes others’ personal opinions.

Anyway, by the time Julia’s name, the girl in the wheelchair, had spread widely inside the auditorium, the lecture ended.

Despite having frowned at me earlier…

Julia’s smile never faded until the end.

“Wow…”

“Let’s sit over there.”

I couldn’t help but be amazed.

What drew even more admiration from me than when I had attended the lecture on Type II magic was none other than the student cafeteria of the Federal University of Magic.

It’s spacious.

It’s pleasant.

And there are many people.

The cafeteria I arrived at, dragging Werner, who had collapsed on the grass, welcomed me with a paradisiacal appearance.

We each took trays with food and sat down at an empty spot.

As soon as Werner sat down, he yawned widely.

“Yaaawn… I had a hard time waiting.”

“Couldn’t you have just come to attend the lecture?”

“I don’t mind if lectures are difficult. The problem is when they’re boring. It’s better not to attend at all.”

“Huh.”

I burst into laughter as I twirled the pasta on my plate with a fork.

It was tomato spaghetti with cheese sprinkled like snowflakes, which looked impressive.

When I put the twirled noodles in my mouth, a savory taste burst out that made the price of 15 shillings not seem wasted.

At least there wouldn’t be any boredom during mealtimes.

Meanwhile, quite a few students around were looking this way.

Most of those who looked seemed to be new students, and the reason was obvious. It’s because the two joint top scorers were having a meal together.

I was gradually starting to see how I was being treated at the Federal University of Magic.

There were roughly three types of people.

First, there were model students who purely treated me as the top scorer of the entrance exam.

Second, like most people in the Federation, students kept their distance from me and only cast glances.

If there was something slightly encouraging, it was that none of the above two types picked a fight with the gray-haired person.

I freshly realized the power of being a student at the university of magic. At least within the school, I might not have to worry about having my origins suspected.

The problem was the third type.

Even now, as I was eating, their sharp gazes were reaching me.

These students reject me somewhat blatantly, though not directly. Moreover, I’m not the only target.

I asked the other object of rejection.

“Werner.”

“Hm?”

“Do you see those guys over there? I don’t understand the principle behind their behavior.”

“Let me see… Aha.”

Eventually, Werner explained with a disgusted tone.

“They’re guys who feel pride in their alma mater even after coming to university. They’re especially arrogant because they have connections with seniors, too.”

“Oh ho.”

“They’re mostly from the prestigious School 1 and School 3. So they might be displeased that I, from School 4, and you, who didn’t even attend school in Frauzen, took the top spots.”

It was surprising news.

It seemed the information that I wasn’t from a Frauzen school was already circulating among them.

“Are there many guys like that?”

“They’re a minority. It’s best to ignore them.”

“I guess so.”

I’m used to ignoring stares.

Easily ignoring their gazes, I searched for another topic.

Ah. Come to think of it.

There was something I wanted to ask Werner, who knows the professors well.

“Werner. Do you know who Professor Louise Ehrlich is?”

“She’s famous.”

It was an immediate answer.

Werner put down his fork.

“The youngest professor in the history of the Federal University of Magic. A rising theoretical magic scholar who has already published more than four papers as the corresponding author. I see you’re taking her class?” [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

“Yeah. [Type II Magic Practice].”

“I’m envious. I wanted to take it too.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t want to attend lectures from early morning.”

“……”

Regardless of Werner’s ruined academic attitude, as I expected, Louise Ehrlich seemed to be a highly promising professor and researcher.

The reason I had this curiosity was simple.

Louise.

That name was familiar.

However, there was one strange point.

The eldest daughter of the Oslo family holds a professorship. If there’s a Louise at the Federal University of Magic, it should only be her.

Why is it Louise Ehrlich and not Louise Oslo?

“Hmm…”

Is it a case of having the same name?

Well. The probability of having two renowned magic scholars and professors from one family is too low.

Vowing to someday attend Professor Louise Oslo’s class as well, I concluded my first day at the magic university.

#April 15th. Slightly cloudy.

It was a terrible misjudgment.

On the evening of the third day after the entrance ceremony.

“Oh.”

Too suddenly, when I returned to the Oslo family home after finishing classes that day, I encountered a red-haired woman in a state of half-undress.

T/N

Hello! Axiomatic here.

As promised, I’ll be posting 5 chapters daily until Sept. 4, effectively completing the novel by then. By tomorrow, I’ll be reviewing Chapters 0-35 and seeing where I could do better. Improvements in these chapters will include consistency in names (e.g. Empire vs. empire), grammar fixes if needed, and the general flow of the story. I’ll also be adding my “watermark” to the earlier chapters to prevent aggregate sites from taking advantage of my work. Doing so will improve the experience of new readers. Hope you’re enjoying the series so far!

As for other announcements, see the pinned comment on the homepage of this novel for the link to the Google Drive for all illustrations. The images are labeled as well for convenience. Join the GalaxyTL Discord to get pinged when I release new chapters by reacting in #novel-roles-f-j, and please do rate and review this novel on NovelUpdates! It helps people find this novel.

Thanks for reading, thanks for patiently waiting, and see you tomorrow for the next five!