Became The Greatest Genius In History

Chapter 5 – Genius (3)

Felix was quietly suppressing his anger alone.

‘Now that it’s time to leave, you seem to have no respect.’

To think he would suffer such humiliation from the youngest who had never even rebelled before.

Enduring the throbbing pain at the back of his head, Felix glared at Esther.

That kid had always been passive and timid.

With his insignificant talents compared to the other siblings, Esther had always been good prey for Felix.

Even at the bottom, there was a lower bottom.

Felix didn’t possess any particularly special talents either, but he was superior compared to Esther.

-Hey, trash!

-It’s surprising that we’re from the same family. Can someone who hasn’t even mastered basic magic walk around proudly as a Tristida star?

-Don’t introduce yourself as a Tristida outside. It’s embarrassing.

-Vermin!! Cripple!! Stay at the bottom where you belong!!

Whenever Felix tormented Esther, the other siblings would laugh at the sight.

-He’s going to cry at this rate.

-That’s fitting treatment for trash.

-I agree.

Only Haniel refused to join in the bullying atmosphere.

-Felix, stop it right now.

People often say that crabs stick together.

It was ridiculous how children from the same mother’s womb took sides with each other, but to Felix, Haniel wasn’t an opponent he could easily deal with like Esther.

Her magical talent was genuine.

It was comparable to Ethila Bedford, one of the academy’s all-time geniuses.

She was intelligent and wise, with a gentle yet strong charisma.

If she hadn’t been born with a frail body, she would probably have had a higher standing than Uriel now.

Well, even so, that was as far as Haniel could go.

The sickly Haniel wasn’t always by Esther’s side.

Felix filled his inferiority and superiority complexes by bullying his younger brother.

His normally cold brothers and sisters would pay attention to him whenever he tormented Esther.

His own existence, more shabby than his other siblings, would be hidden.

Esther is the bottom.

He is the foothold that Felix can stand on.

That fact would never change.

Or so he had thought….

‘The mana environment necessary for the Hellfire Recreation was researched in Lab 531-FR conducted 30 years ago. In areas where special properties of mana are distributed during the process of dismantling highly concentrated mana…’

What on earth am I seeing right now?

Why is Father looking at that guy with interest?

Why is that guy living up to Father’s expectations?

Why are my siblings listening to Esther’s story with wide eyes?

Esther Tristida is worthless.

Esther Tristida was incompetent.

Esther Tristida was supposed to be a lesser being than Felix Tristida.

It felt like a dream.

Esther was such an impressive person?

‘I can’t believe it….’

‘…that concludes my presentation.’

Esther’s presentation ended after 30 minutes.

It was a discourse impossible without extensive knowledge.

Everyone present, even Haniel, found it difficult to understand Esther’s explanation.

‘……’

Everyone remained silent.

Porto looked satisfied.

‘Good. Excellent.’

Esther received praise that Felix had never received before.

It was a clear anomaly.

Porto took a deep breath.

He spoke to Felix with an ice-cold voice.

The reason he had placed Felix’s turn below Esther’s.

‘Felix.’

‘Yes….’

‘You scored 0%. You brought a completely wrong answer. What you brought was not only incapable of recreating hellfire, but was nonsensical formula that couldn’t even light a match.’

Felix felt his heart sink.

‘H-how is that possible… I-I clearly went to a fire school magician introduced by my second brother…’

Jeffer subtly avoided Felix’s gaze.

‘B-brother!! You clearly said you would share the answer with me!!’

‘Did I? My memory has been quite foggy lately.’

‘How can this be!! This contradicts the promise you made two days ago!!’

Felix’s reputation was poor.

His skills and talents were better than Esther’s, but his personality was so terrible that even the servants working in the mansion didn’t like him much.

If his reputation was rock bottom among those living with him in the mansion, how would it be outside?

Since he had neither physical strength nor magical aptitude, he paid a large sum to purchase the answer from Jeffer, but…

What Jeffer gave Felix was a paper with perfect wrong answers, more worthless than a blank sheet.

‘F-father… I-I’ve been wronged!!’

‘Judging credit, reputation, and the people around you are also qualities necessary for a family head!!’

The stern rebuke fell.

Felix’s body trembled with Porto’s anger.

‘Among all the children gathered here, you’re the only one who brought a 0% result!! How dare you raise your voice when you should be the most ashamed!?’

‘F-father!!’

‘Remove this fellow at once!!’

Porto called for the soldiers waiting outside.

‘I’m a dropout…? Am I being sent to the battlefield like this…? Fighting against vicious demons, telling me to die on the battlefield…?’

Felix reaches a state where he cannot think rationally.

Naturally, his gaze turned toward Esther.

The malice and hatred boiling deep in his chest made him furious.

‘Esther!! You!!’

Felix lunged at Esther.

‘How dare you!! You of all people!!’

His voice was so possessed by evil that even his cold-hearted brothers were bewildered.

‘Die!!’

Felix tried to grab Esther’s neck.

Although his skills were insignificant compared to Kenneth and Uriel, he was a man with enough strength to break the neck of the weak Esther.

‘Esther!!’

Haniel’s scream was heard.

“Automatic protection program initiated.”

“This will take optimal actions for the owner in the current situation, and nothing beyond that is possible.”

Felix’s vision spun around in an instant.

Esther had used Felix’s own strength to throw him to the floor.

It was a smoothly executed movement.

‘Oh….’

‘That was perfectly executed.’

Uriel and Kenneth quietly marveled.

‘……’

Esther looked down at Felix.

As if he wasn’t even worth having a conversation with, like an insect.

‘Ah, ugh……’

Felix’s rampage ended there.

Guards who rushed in instantly dragged Felix away.

Their attitude was not that of escorting a young master, but closer to that of prison officers transporting a criminal.

Porto opened his mouth as he watched his son being taken away.

‘Esther.’

‘……’

‘Why have you been hiding your strength until now?’

Esther maintained his silence.

For a long time, there was no answer from him.

Porto tried to interpret Esther’s silence in his own way.

And the conclusion he reached was.

‘Until now, there was no reason to reveal his strength.’

It was confidence that if he wanted to, he could claim the position of family head anytime.

The most promising successor to the Tristida family had just been born in this family head’s chamber.

The stars gathered in this place glared at the newly emerged competitor.

‘I thought the succession would be a fight between Kenneth and me, but this is unexpected.’

‘…Don’t tell me he’s been holding back to firmly imprint his image as the successor to father today? What a frightening guy.’

Esther Tristida looked up at the ceiling.

‘Shit, that scared me.’

AI these days has good performance.

I almost had a heart attack.

***

The six Tristida siblings have become five as of today.

Brother Felix has been dragged into the hell called the battlefield.

Honestly, I thought he got what he deserved.

It felt refreshing, like watching a school bully who had tormented me countless times fall into the abyss.

‘Past self, are you watching?’

That Felix you hated so much has disappeared from the Tristida mansion.

‘Ugh, I’m exhausted…’

Between the squabbles with Felix and the conversation with Porto, I’ve used quite a lot of mental energy.

And when I left the family head’s room, I received some unsettling glances from my siblings, which unintentionally weighed on my shoulders.

Honestly, how could I have known this would be such a big issue?

I also didn’t know that Nob AI would be this high-performing.

‘Still, I’m really fortunate not to have become a soldier…!!’

I didn’t have big ambitions.

Unlike my other siblings, I had no intention of becoming the family head.

I hope to enjoy a leisurely life, freeloading at the mansion forever.

The potential of Nob AI was limitless.

Seeing how it solved difficult magic problems with ease, I could probably make deals with magicians using it.

If I got involved with scholars studying difficult disciplines like mathematics or science, I might even become quite wealthy.

‘Young master.’

‘Dalfi.’

Dalfi was waiting for me in front of the room.

‘You don’t need to talk about what happened in the family head’s room.’

‘Really?’

Well, Felix was certainly making a scene.

Even the servants working outside the mansion had turned their gazes through the windows.

While I don’t know who scored highest on the succession test, everyone could quickly figure out who had failed.

‘I have a question for you, young master.’

‘Yes?’

‘Have you been pretending to be an idiot all this time?’

Honestly, I might not trust others, but I could trust Dalfi.

The only person in this mansion I could be certain was on my side was this impertinent maid standing before me.

I could probably tell Dalfi about Nob AI.

‘Ah, about that…’

Before I could open my mouth, Dalfi held something out.

Swoosh-!!

I stared at the neatly unfolded newspaper.

The letters caught my eye.

“Monthly Justina – February Issue”

“The Millennium Problem that tormented magicians finally solved!! The solver is none other than a 15-year-old boy from Tristida!?”

I blinked my eyes.

‘What?’

What on earth am I looking at right now.

Could that possibly be about me…?