Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

The swaying figure eventually became a tiny dot and finally disappeared from view.

By the time she came to her senses and chased after the afterimage, Eugene Oslo had already abruptly left the campus of the Frauzen Federal University of Magic.

Of course, she couldn’t know this automatically.

When Julia, who had been darting around the campus for a while, declared her search abandoned, two huge pillars stood tall around her.

Julia leaned against one side of the Gate of Knowledge and breathed heavily.

Her chestnut hair flowed powerlessly down her shoulders.

“Phew, really.”

Although her knees quickly trembled due to the continued lack of exercise since graduation, her walking was accomplished through her unique magic [Walk Assistance] rather than muscles anyway.

Feeling the disparity between her sturdy legs and depleted stamina, she sighed self-deprecatingly.

If Frauzen had been a land of hunting and gathering rather than the headquarters of magic, Julia would have starved to death long ago. Because she couldn’t catch such a slowly fleeing prey.

“It’s one thing if he ran away saying ‘try to catch me,’ but he just left like that?”

Due to his back view fading like milk mixing into tea or sugar melting, she didn’t even think of chasing him.

As a result, she only lamented being left alone at the University of Magic.

In the end, Julia chose the only option available.

Going home.

This outing was a secret one, not even notified to the head maid. Therefore, she had to return to the Müller mansion on two legs and a cane without a carriage.

Perhaps due to the added feeling of disappointment with each step…

The first thing Julia did upon returning to her room was neither wash up nor eat, but sit at her desk and write a letter.

[ If you do this one more time, I might just show up at your house without warning ٩(๑`^´๑)۶ ]

[ P.S. Just a small curiosity, but is your room soundproof? ]

[ Julia Müller ]

“The address is, hmm. Research Building 2, Room 412, Frauzen Federal University of Magic.”

Even after sending the letter, Julia couldn’t fully assuage her disappointment.

He even broke their promise – a hug when meeting, a kiss when parting.

She wouldn’t let him off easy next time they met.

While Julia was contemplating exactly how not to let him off easy, it didn’t take long for those plans to come to naught.

Two days later, in the morning…

“Excuse me, Miss.”

“Head maid. What brings you here at this hour?”

“Well, you see.”

The moment she received the returned letter that should have arrived at the research lab, she was so flustered that she forgot all her disappointment.

With her amber eyes wide open, she checked the envelope.

[ Return to Sender ]

[ Reason: Recipient Not Residing ]

“Huh?”

Something was amiss.

#October 5th. Cloudy.

The misalignment wasn’t Julia’s alone.

When Benjamin, who had fallen into an untimely nap in a private room at Frauzen Hospital, opened his eyes with severe coughing, he heard a knock.

Benjamin naturally expected the person knocking to be a doctor or nurse making rounds, but this expectation, which should have been correct, was betrayed as nonchalantly as it was natural.

Click―

The door of the hospital room opened.

Despite the clear intrusion of an uninvited guest, a smile appeared on Benjamin’s lips.

Because there are welcome uninvited guests in this world too.

“Lena.”

However, Lena’s expression wasn’t as bright as Benjamin’s.

As if overwhelmed by hiding her urgency, Lena sat down in the chair with somewhat scattered movements and immediately opened her lips.

“Benjamin.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what’s going on with Eugene?”

“I do.”

“…!”

Lena’s mouth fell open.

Was it because of the affirmative answer? Or because she didn’t expect to get an acknowledgment so quickly?

While it was unclear which it was, Benjamin decided to go along with Lena’s attitude, which seemed to have come to believe that all conversations should consist of the main point in the time they hadn’t seen each other.

He grinned and asked back. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

“Lena, you know your question doesn’t sound like a question, right? When you asked ‘What’s up with Eugene?’”

A shadow fell over Lena’s face in an instant.

Soon after, Lena explained with an expression that seemed to mold ‘I thought so’ with her features.

“He disappeared overnight. It seems he’s gone somewhere. Even when I inquire with the Frauzen Federal University of Magic Research Institute, I only get perfunctory answers.”

“What did the Research Institute say?”

“They say he’s been appointed as a lecturer at the University of Vals and has transferred there.”

Lena sighed and held her forehead.

“Something’s strange. To accept the lecturer position he had put on hold after days of deliberation, and now of all times. Even if he accepted, his appointment isn’t a process that happens so quickly. And above all…”

“Above all?”

“…People claiming to be from the Military Hospital came to the house to get consent for providing a new medicine. Saying it would be administered to you, Benjamin.”

A pleading gaze reached Benjamin.

“If you know anything, please tell me. We all gathered for the first time in years, I can’t tolerate this.”

Benjamin silently smiled slightly and looked at Lena.

The fourth of one son and five daughters.

She has a nature that saves money but doesn’t try to spend it. Diligent, but sometimes excessively so to a fault. Cherishes family but is clumsy in dealing with those outside the family.

If asked herself, she would say she grew up just the same as before, but Benjamin could tell.

“You’ve become honest, Lena.”

“…”

“I didn’t agree to the confidentiality clause because I knew this would happen.”

“What, do you mean?”

“It means I just stayed quiet when asked to keep it a secret. I’ll have to help that boy when he writes contracts later. Lena. He’s sure to make mistakes.”

Lena tilted her head for a while before leaning forward.

“Please tell me what happened to Eugene.”

Life is a series of choices.

Benjamin acknowledges that this is true.

But he didn’t revere that proposition as if it were the truth. If life were nothing but a crossroads, it would be a maze, not life.

Life is an endlessly unfolding plain, and Benjamin cheers for those who choose to forge through the plain in any direction.

“That’s just a saying. Kehe, cough!”

“Oh, should I get you some water?”

“It’s fine. It’ll subside soon.”

Waving off Lena, who was flustered by the sudden cough, Benjamin steadfastly continued his explanation.

A while later, Lena left the hospital room biting her lower lip. And ran towards home.

Julia newly learned that nothing makes a person as uneasy as a returned letter. Of course, there was nothing to be happy about in that realization.

On the other hand, what the returned letter didn’t know was that this realization made Julia act instead of agonizing.

At dusk when twilight was falling… [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Julia, who had been sitting blankly on the bed, thought as she got up leaning on her cane.

I should go visit. Where?

The Oslo family.

“I’ve been rejected once more, so, yes. I should go.”

With a nod as a signal, Julia quickly finished her preparations.

She dressed neatly, checked the remaining mana in her brooch, then took some refreshments as a gift and quietly slipped out of the mansion.

She deliberately didn’t bring a carriage. While it would be fine for a brief stop, it would be inappropriate to leave a carriage parked for long in the residential Kram Street.

Thus, slowly walking along the streets dotted with mana lamps, Julia became lost in thought.

What could it be?

“Hmm.”

Did something happen at home?

Certainly, if that were the case, it would make sense for him to ignore her and pass by, but it’s not a reason to leave the research lab.

In the first place, if it were such a matter, he would have explained the reason.

As Julia continued to ponder the reasons for Eugene’s behavior, she felt her head becoming tangled like a skein of thread.

“No matter how I think about it, there’s no reason for him to leave like that…”

Leave?

Julia suddenly raised her head.

An utterly ordinary evening scene of Frauzen came into view. Various pedestrians of all ages and genders. Families walking hand in hand. And soldiers marching in formation.

She opened her eyes wide and fixed her gaze on one corner of her vision.

It was a familiar outfit.

It felt as if a terrible cold was combing her heart.

“It can’t be.”

It’s an unfounded assumption.

Because Eugene, a magic scholar, and soldiers have no connection to each other.

While Julia was convinced of this, she gradually increased her walking speed.

“It can’t be, it can’t be.”

Why?

Why are soldiers walking around in Frauzen? Why was Eugene wearing those clothes?

“No.”

Why did he caress her face as if trying to remember it, and embrace her as if trying to remember her warmth?

Did Eugene, leave?

“No!”

Crunch―!

A sound that shouldn’t be heard came from her thin ankle.

The twist that started from her ankle eventually shook Julia’s entire body.

For ordinary people, walking is a collaboration of one’s physical memory and subconsciousness.

But for Julia, who walks through her unique magic [Walk Assistance], it was an entirely rational operation, and because of this, the turmoil in her heart made her stagger more than a sprain would.

Thud. 

She struck her cane down hard.

Thanks to that, she barely managed not to fall, but…

Clang!

The tin can that slipped from her hand rolled noisily on the ground, spilling its contents.

Amidst people’s gazes, scattered high-quality butter cookies, and the burning pain rising from her ankle, Julia bit her lip. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

“No…”

She can’t stop walking. Not here, not now.

Julia walked. She walked limping.

It was rather fortunate that she sprained her ankle at the entrance of Kram Street.

After walking with her weight heavily on her cane, Julia was able to find the familiar duplex house.

Just before knocking on the door, she stopped that hand.

She was a complete mess. Not her appearance, but her heart.

Unlike her appearance, she couldn’t tidy up her heart.

In the end, Julia stood by the window, suppressing any signs of her presence. She listened to the voices flowing from inside the house.

Soon, a very small voice was heard.

―…seems like it.

―Then… is… going?

It wasn’t clear.

As she leaned in a bit more to listen…

“Lena.”

The only familiar voice, Lena’s voice, brushed past her ear.

―Since Eugene never talks about himself, there might be more that Benjamin doesn’t know. House arrest or the Research Institute, even I have a headache now, but…

Dangerous words were heard.

Her body trembled. Probably due to the cold.

Lena concluded.

―…To sum up… Eugene got caught up in the trend of expelling people of Imperial origin, and in that process, he probably made what he thought was the best choice. That’s what I think.

The strength left her hands.

People of Imperial origin.

Who?

No.

There’s only one person.

“…Ah.”

It must be a severe sprain.

Unlike her intact legs, [Walk Assistance] cannot reflexively absorb shock.

Is it a serious injury? The affected area swelled up quickly, and her focus blurred.

Thud―! 

The cane that fell from her hand rolled on the ground.

―…Is someone outside?

She sensed danger, but couldn’t run away. Julia felt the strength leaving her legs.

She closed her eyes and quietly accepted the fall.

And…

“…?”

Even after five seconds passed, she felt no pain other than her throbbing ankle. Why?

Because someone had caught her from behind and lifted her up like a cat.

When she turned her head while dangling, red hair tickled Julia’s cheek. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Julia asked: 

“Who are you…?”

“Your sister-in-law.”

Louise Ehrlich said while carrying Julia.

“You should be more careful, future sister-in-law.”