I Became a Magical Genius After Regression

Chapter 3

The next day at noon.

After a late breakfast, Randel headed to the village square.

The village was small, and so was the square.

It was just a small open space where people could gather.

‘Let’s try to revive these hazy memories.’

To Randel, this village was a place of memories. Not from 1 or 2 years ago, but from 27 years ago.

Naturally, his memories of who he was close to and what he did at that time were vague.

“Well, it’ll come back to me after a few days.”

Muttering to himself, Randel entered the inn right next to the square.

The village was famous for its herbs and animal skins.

So merchants who wanted to buy those items visited regularly, and the inn was for them.

Of course, as is common in small villages, it also served as a tavern.

“Is anyone here?”

Randel called out, seeing the empty counter.

Since it was a poor village, everyone was working hard at this time of day.

Naturally, there were no customers, and the innkeeper seemed to have left as well.

“Ah! Just a moment!”

Just as he was about to leave, thinking no one was there, a girl came running out from inside.

“Oh? Randel! What brings you to our place?”

The girl, whose face was covered in freckles, greeted Randel cheerfully as soon as she saw him.

But Randel couldn’t respond immediately.

He didn’t remember the girl’s face.

“Uh? Ah, I… just came for a drink.”

“In the middle of the day?”

“There’s no work today.”

“You usually don’t even touch alcohol, this is unusual. Wait a moment. I’ll bring it right away.”

The girl said that and disappeared into the kitchen.

She seemed to be around the same age, so Randel spoke informally, and fortunately, she seemed to be his peer.

‘Hmm, that’s strange. There’s no way I wouldn’t remember…’

Randel, sitting on the chair, touched his lips and groped through a corner of his mind.

It was a small village with less than 200 people in total.

As such, there were only a few people around Randel’s age.

At most, maybe 20?

So everyone remembered each other clearly.

They played well together and fought really dirty too.

But strangely, he had a faint memory of that girl.

‘If I keep thinking about it, I might remember.’

While Randel scratched his cheek with an ambiguous feeling, the freckled girl returned.

The girl handed Randel a glass of beer and a handful of seeds to snack on and asked,

“What were you thinking so deeply about?”

“Nothing much. Thanks, I’ll enjoy it.”

“Call me if you need more. I’ll be peeling potatoes.”

“Sure.”

The girl wiped her wet hands on her patched apron and disappeared inside again.

‘Well… I’ll remember someday.’

Randel smacked his lips and went out to the table outside the inn.

As he sat there sipping beer, several people started to recognize him and greeted him.

It was going according to Randel’s plan.

“Oh, Randel. Are you playing around in broad daylight?”

“Yes, sir. My big brother told me to take a break today.”

At first, he was worried about not remembering faces.

But Randel, who was confident in his theoretical scores at the academy, managed to vaguely recall who was who after exchanging a few words.

‘Phew.’

After about half a day had passed, Randel was now able to recover most of his past memories.

However, just as much, an undeniable fatigue was deeply etched on Randel’s face.

It wasn’t because he was tired.

Having experienced all sorts of wretched things during his mercenary life, would he be exhausted by something like this?

It was more of a mental issue.

‘This is really, a terrible thing to do.’

Memories are inherently continuous.

It means you can’t just recall only what you want.

When you recall one thing, other related memories inevitably surface.

‘That man just now will make a fortune by harvesting expensive herbs. That young lady will get married next year, and that person will survive a deadly fever…’

The futures of the villagers Randel talked to, and the knowledge only Randel knew, things like that.

But the truly sad thing was.

Knowing such things was meaningless.

Because.

‘Except for a few, they will all die from a goblin attack.’

Even the man he just talked to last, Randel had to personally make a grave for him.

Randel had found and collected his body, buried under the burnt-down house.

‘This is disgusting.’

That was why Randel showed such deep fatigue.

And then it happened.

“Hey kid, is this the tavern?”

As he downed the remaining beer in his mug with a heavy heart, a man stopped in front of him and asked.

When Randel turned his head, he saw three men.

Even though he looked like a 13-year-old boy, Randel had wandered the continent, gaining all sorts of experiences until he was 43.

With just a quick glance, he had already taken in all the characteristics of the three men.

‘They must be the escort mercenaries of the visiting merchant group.’

The men had short swords, daggers, and crossbows at their waists.

Moreover, their faces were marked with scars and burns, giving them a fierce appearance.

The personalities of such guys were obvious.

Fearing that something troublesome might happen, Randel answered in a slightly timid voice.

“Ah… yes. This is an inn and tavern…”

“Really? Hey, let’s go in.”

The mercenaries immediately disappeared inside.

Randel glanced at them and then looked away.

Mercenaries were everywhere, no matter where you went.

And there was nothing more natural in the world than mercenaries entering a tavern.

Now was not the time to worry about those guys.

It was time to enjoy these days that had come like a miracle.

Randel shook off the gloomy thoughts he had been having and looked at the sunlit village.

‘It’s peaceful.’

Children running around in a group, so happy about something.

An old man trimming herbs he picked yesterday in front of his house.

Women preparing a snack.

Those scenes couldn’t be warmer.

‘Yes, let’s think of this as a chance to rest.’

Randel’s life had never been smooth.

He wandered in shock after losing his family and was held back several times at the academy.

After barely graduating, he joined the wizard guild where his master belonged, but he was eventually kicked out from there as well.

‘After that, I just wandered around aimlessly.’

Did he go crazy after experiencing too much in such a short time?

It was hard to get along with normal people.

The only ones he felt comfortable with were the mercenaries who had half lost their minds from living by the sword.

Naturally, Randel spent most of his remaining life wandering.

So this rest felt unfamiliar yet joyful to Randel.

The best thing about returning to the past.

Was being able to see his family again, and being able to rest so peacefully like this.

But that was only for a moment.

It seemed Randel was not destined to rest peacefully.

“Hey, wait a minute! Let go of this!”

From behind Randel, a sharp girl’s voice was heard from inside the inn.

‘That’s just my fate, I guess.’

Randel muttered to himself as he turned around.

* * *

Through the half-open door of the inn.

A mercenary was seen grabbing the arm of the inn girl.

It was the very girl who had warmly welcomed Randel.

The mercenary, whose face had turned red from drinking, spat out curses at the girl.

“You damn! What’s so hard about pouring a drink? Are you that expensive?”

“I’m not that kind of person!”

As the situation escalated, the girl’s father, who was preparing snacks inside, rushed out.

He pleaded with the mercenaries, trembling.

“Please, sirs! She’s my daughter. She’s not that kind of girl.”

“What do you mean she’s not? She can start now!”

“Hey, old man. Do you want to die?”

“……”

Randel watched the scene and then turned his head away.

Having a bad temper was a common trait among mercenaries. There was no such thing as a good-tempered mercenary.

But even they usually kept within bounds.

If they committed serious crimes like murder during a mission, they would be permanently expelled and hunted down by the mercenary guild.

That’s why they paid fees to the guild.

Those guys would probably stop after causing some trouble.

‘The innkeeper seems to be handling it well.’

He was an innkeeper who had been running the place for a long time.

There was no way he didn’t know what Randel knew.

Even now, he seemed troubled on the surface, but there was a hint of composure in his pleading gestures.

He would probably end it by giving them a few free beers.

But then it happened.

Thud.

A strange sound echoed.

“……?”

Something appeared in front of Randel’s eyes.

They were incomprehensible characters.

[Qualification 2│Mercenary Processing]

∥Mercenary 0/3

∥□□ Access Rights

∥Magic Arrow -10 seconds

∥Small Amount

“What is this……?”

Randel blinked and muttered.

* * *

Swoosh, swoosh.

Randel had been rubbing his eyes continuously since a while ago.

But it was in vain. No matter how much he rubbed, the characters in front of his eyes did not disappear.

That wasn’t all.

Even if he shook his head or looked elsewhere.

The characters stubbornly occupied a corner of his vision no matter what he did.

“Seriously, all sorts of strange things are happening.”

Randel grumbled as he looked at the obstructive characters.

At first, he was genuinely surprised.

It was only natural to be startled when characters suddenly appeared in front of his eyes and wouldn’t disappear.

But he soon regained his composure.

The reason was simple.

‘Well, people can even return to the past…….’

Just yesterday, he had returned to the past, a full 27 years ago, after dying.

Compared to that, a few characters floating in front of his eyes were not surprising at all.

It was like seeing a frog with six legs?

Surprising, but imaginable.

‘But why did this suddenly appear?’

The most plausible hypothesis was, of course, magic.

Someone had cast a spell on Randel.

But there was no way a wizard could exist in this rural area. Even if there was, there was no reason to cast it on Randel.

Above all.

‘I’ve never heard of such a spell in my life.’

Even if his circle was low, he was still a wizard. He knew all the spells that existed in the world.

Especially since Randel knew spells that didn’t exist now but would be created in the future.

Because he had returned from the past.

So, the answer was the same this time.

‘The God’s Box must have done something again.’

It must be the effect of the artifact called the God’s Box.

Now that he knew the cause, it was time to find a way to eliminate it.

Randel calmly examined the letters again.

First, the title and the first sentence.

∥Mercenary Disposal

∥Mercenaries 0/3

‘The content is simple. It’s like a mission of some sort? If the number is 3… it means to dispose of three mercenaries. But why is the qualification 2? I’ve never seen 1 before.’

But the real problem was the next part.

∥□□ Access Rights

∥Magic Arrow –10 seconds

∥Small Amount

‘What is that? Are those missions too? Judging by the word “small amount,” it seems like a reward.’

If it’s not a reward but missions, there’s no answer.

Reduce the casting time of Magic Arrow by 10 seconds?

Even before the regression, he had devoted his life to it but failed.

‘If it was something that could be done just because it was told to… I wouldn’t have lived as a half-baked wizard because I couldn’t cast it.’

Moreover, he hadn’t even learned magic yet.

‘But why suddenly tell me to dispose of mercenaries… Ah!’

Randel’s mouth dropped open as a memory suddenly came to mind.

Now he understood.

Why the girl who was his age was not in his memories.

‘Was it these guys?’

There was a major incident in the village a while ago.

It was an incident where mercenaries killed two villagers and fled.

At that time, the enraged hunters of the village pursued and captured them.

Even though they were mercenaries, they weren’t anything special, so they were dragged back, riddled with arrows shot by several hunters.

‘And the victims from that time…’

They were the father and daughter of the inn that Randel was now looking at.

He vaguely remembered it, and it seemed that they couldn’t spend their childhood together after that incident.

“Ahh! Let go! I said let go!”

Randel snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of the scream.

One of the mercenaries was now grabbing the girl’s hair and dragging her up the inn stairs.

“W-wait! Sirs…!”

The innkeeper, realizing too late that these were truly madmen, clung to their pants.

But there was no way a pot-bellied man could handle mercenaries who lived by the sword.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

The innkeeper was struck in the jaw by one of the mercenaries and collapsed.

It was clear at a glance that his condition was serious as he lay on the floor foaming at the mouth.

“Ah, Dad!”

“I told you to come quietly, you wench.”

The girl struggled as she saw her unconscious father, but it was in vain.

The mercenaries laughed, seemingly amused by something.

But in doing so, they failed to notice.

The boy who had passed by the inn earlier.

“Inhale.”

He took a deep breath in.

“Exhale.”

As he exhaled.

Swoosh—

The world resonated with him.

That was the exclusive privilege of the chosen ones.

The flow of mana.