Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

I got scolded terribly.

There’s no other way to express it. When the nurse found out that a severely injured patient who needed absolute rest had stayed up all night with an open wound, she poured out her reprimands without hesitation.

Before long, the wound on my calf was neatly sutured, and as if that wasn’t enough, the nurse practically fixed my body to the hospital bed.

Also, there was one more person who could scold me for my pathetic state.

“I didn’t misunderstand, did I?”

Lena blinked her sleepy eyes as she looked back and forth between Julia and me.

Both of us were in terrible condition.

Of course, I was pale due to the reopened wound, but Julia was also dozing off without a sound, crouched in a corner of the cramped hospital room.

Understandably, she was so dumbfounded, seeing this scene as soon as she entered the room in the morning.

I have no excuse even if I had ten mouths, but I nodded anyway.

“You understood correctly.”

“A severely injured patient who fell out of bed, and a caregiver who’s been exhausted from worrying for five days, stayed up all night writing a paper. Is this what you’re saying I understood correctly?”

“……”

“Really.”

Lena was about to raise her voice but bit her lower lip slightly.

When sitting on a hospital bed, you can take in the expressions of those visiting the room at a glance.

So, even if you don’t want to see them, you end up seeing them.

I could see her eyes glancing toward my hand and leg.

Lena asked in a quiet voice:

“Doesn’t it hurt? Please be honest.”

“It hurts quite a bit. It feels like my leg was slashed with a knife and then the deep parts were cauterized with a branding iron.”

“That’s too honest……”

She shuddered, apparently imagining the sensation I described.

I smiled gently.

“I’ve just realized that if I’m not honest, I’ll suffer greatly.”

“…Sigh. As long as you understand.”

“More importantly, Lena.”

“Yes?”

“There’s something I want to ask of you.”

After hearing my explanation, Lena let out a sigh.

The barely completed draft paper the two of us had written is in Julia’s hands.

Even though I only explained to her about sending it to the Federal Government, she seemed to understand the situation roughly. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Lena nodded briefly.

“It’s urgent, right?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll have to hear the explanation later. Leave the document delivery to me… Yawn.”

A big yawn erupts.

The fatigue that had built up due to my collapse must have reached its limit.

“Ugh.”

I added one more request to Lena, who was awkwardly avoiding my gaze.

“You should probably head back soon. Also, if possible……”

“Ah.”

“Take Julia with you.”

At the end of my gaze, Julia was sound asleep.

Soon after, Lena approached Julia with small steps and gently tapped her cheek.

[Walk Assistance] seems difficult to use while half-asleep, so it was about three minutes later when Julia finally stood up from her seat.

Julia checked the sunlit window and the completed draft paper in her hand, then slowly approached the hospital bed.

Her chestnut hair, draped like a curtain, tickled my cheek.

As her amber eyes sparkled like jewels in the morning sunlight, Julia silently kissed my forehead.

“…Phew. I’ll guarantee the quality of the paper. Don’t worry and rest.”

“Okay.”

“Our meeting once a week. You haven’t forgotten, right?”

Julia smiled affectionately.

“I’ll visit every week, so welcome me properly.”

With those final words, the two left the hospital.

The cramped, white hospital room regained its original solitude.

Early winter. As sparse clouds and bare tree branches poorly decorated the view outside the window, I closed my eyes.

“If I can just get through this…”

I barely met the submission deadline.

Now there’s only one thing I can do.

I can only wait for a reply, hoping that the Federal Government will recognize my usefulness.

Although I’ll be in the hospital for the rest of this year, if I can get through this, I’ll be able to enjoy a lively atmosphere during next year’s New Year’s Party.

I’ll be able to give her the ring sleeping in the box.

With these thoughts, I drifted off to sleep.

Even without the fatigue from staying up all night, once left alone in the hospital room, sleep always becomes one’s best friend.

So, I kept falling asleep as the wound healed and the bandages were changed several times, and each time the clock hands leaped forward.

Two weeks was not a long time at all.

Knock, knock―

I opened my eyes to the sound of a dignified knock.

“Yes. Come in.”

When the owner of the knock sound entered the room right after…

I widened my eyes and called out the name of the unexpected visitor.

“…Lieutenant Colonel Deitrich.”

Just because hospital staff generally wear white doesn’t mean visitors have to wear white clothes too.

But looking at the dignified appearance of Odilo Deitrich sitting next to the hospital bed, I naturally thought. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

A military officer’s uniform doesn’t match the hospital at all.

I spoke in a stiff tone.

“Has the draft been approved?”

“I hope you don’t consider an officer of the Federal Military as some sort of messenger, Dr. Oslo.”

Lieutenant Colonel Deitrich, who had taken out his pipe, looked down at me.

Although we were meeting after two months, my relationship with him wasn’t the kind to miss or be happy about a reunion.

Rather, I should be wary.

If he were to light tobacco in this small hospital room, the smell would linger for over a week. With that meaning, I narrowed my eyes and looked at the pipe.

But the Lieutenant Colonel didn’t even take out a matchbox, let alone put tobacco in the pipe; he just fiddled with it.

An act to calm an unsettled mind, which I, too, knew well.

The reason he was doing this anew was obvious.

Lieutenant Colonel Deitrich, who had scanned my physical condition, opened his mouth.

“You wrote the paper in that state?”

“Yes. I asked an acquaintance to write it for me.”

“I see. Let’s get to the point.”

Lieutenant Colonel Deitrich lowered his gaze.

“Regarding the draft you sent… If you’re asking whether the Federal Government has approved it as an achievement, then yes. But.”

I continued the Lieutenant Colonel’s words.

“If that was all, you could have informed me by letter or telegram. Why did you come in person?”

“The game has changed.”

“What?”

“Calm down and listen. It’s turned out favorable for you.”

The Lieutenant Colonel turned his pipe horizontally once and said:

“Doctor. It seems the Federation government has judged that the ‘Magic Scholar Eugene Oslo, who overcame trials for the Federation despite suffering an unfortunate accident,’ is more valuable than the ‘Magic Scholar Eugene Oslo who defected from the Empire’.”

“…Pardon?”

“In simple terms, by getting injured, you’ve earned the value of a couple of papers.”

Sometimes, abstracted explanations make understanding more difficult.

I stroked my chin with my left hand and fell into thought. A magic scholar who overcame trials is more valuable, he says.

Suddenly, I recalled where the accident occurred.

At the Frauvian Federal University of Magic…

An explosion accident occurred at a place with a status close to an academic holy land, even in Frauzen, the mainstream of magic studies.

Two people were severely injured. Werner Ross Diemann, who is currently receiving VIP treatment in the Federation, and Eugene Oslo, who has caused a stir in the academic world with the submission of two papers and the disclosure of his origins.

So, the current situation is…

“A kind tragedy, isn’t it?”

“Thank you for saying it for me.”

The lieutenant colonel continued.

“No matter how many dozens of articles are written about what kind of paper was written, they probably won’t gather public attention as much as the author being ‘severely injured in a major accident’. I didn’t know influence could be gained in this way.”

An institution at the pinnacle of power, like the government, would not make decisions based on sympathy.

It must be an extremely practical and vulgar judgment.

“If I may ask for reference, has a related article already been published?”

“Yes, it has. An article about the academic war has been published, and work to establish justification to counter the Empire’s claims is also in progress. This is to absolve the Federation’s ethical debt to the Empire. If the positions of both sides become equal, negotiations will likely begin with high probability. There’s no benefit in creating more tension beyond that.”

“Well…”

Coincidence encompasses both unexpected luck and unexpected misfortune, and the proportion of each is usually not equal.

I answered, trying not to show my bitter feelings.

“It’s a frighteningly favorable situation. Is this all you have to convey?”

“Of course not.” [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

“That’s a relief.”

“I don’t understand why you’re relieved, but.”

The Lieutenant Colonel took a deep breath and looked at me closely again.

“Although the game has changed, your position and mission remain the same.”

“Writing papers and gaining attention in the academic world. Now it includes ‘overcoming trials’, I suppose.”

“That’s right. To maximize that portrayal, you need to attend an academic conference as soon as you’re discharged.”

“An academic conference?”

“I showed a copy of your draft to Lieutenant Zeller. I don’t understand it well, but that friend of mine was astonished. Have you written another paper that will shake up the academic world this time?”

“The paper’s title is ‘Initial Theory’. It’s better to lower your expectations.”

“You need to shake it up.”

An immediate answer.

“Ten months is too long. I hope you finish your rehabilitation in about five months. By then, you need to attend a conference held at the University of Magic, and, along with presenting the completed paper, declare to the entire Federation…”

Lieutenant Colonel Deitrich lifted the corners of his mouth very slightly.

It was a conspiratorial smile.

“…that a genius has been born.”

“…Isn’t this staged drama too grandiose?”

“If you don’t like it being staged, then become a genius. Then it would no longer be a lie. At that moment, you will have completed your mission.”

The Lieutenant Colonel put his pipe back and stood up.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave. I hope we don’t meet again.”

“Yes. Please go ahead.”

The conversation ended.

It was a conversation that left me bewildered in many ways, but I tried to calmly organize my thoughts.

The Federation has decided to use the accident.

Instead of pressuring for results, they want me to shake up the academic world again at the conference in May.

And to do that, I need to complete rehabilitation by then.

“Haha……”

It was a simple conclusion that made me laugh involuntarily.

Yes. I’ll become a genius for them.

A genius magic scholar recognized by everyone in the Federation.

Then…

Lieutenant Colonel Deitrich, who was about to leave the room, turned back to look at me.

Unless it’s a lover, a soldier having something left to say is not usually welcome.

I cautiously asked.

“Do you have something else to say?”

“No. It’s a personal request.”

“A request?”

Lieutenant Colonel Deitrich smiled slightly.

With the most good-natured face I’ve seen so far.

“It would be quite moving if my grandson ends up studying magic using a book you’ve written.”

Did we joke about something like that when I returned to Frauzen?

A book written by me, huh…

It naturally brings back old memories.

Last time it was just a joke, but…

“I’ll consider it positively.”

“That’s the worst answer for a soldier.”

Lieutenant Colonel Odilo Deitrich’s strange farewell wish that we wouldn’t meet again seemed likely to come true.

A peaceful hospital life continued.

And peaceful is not synonymous with boring.

Julia really did come to visit once a week, and the Oslo family took turns visiting to see my face from time to time. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

When the twins visited, I had quite a struggle calming their tears, but that too was enjoyable in its own way.

<…That’s good news.>

I also received occasional news from outside.

It brought a comfortable smile back to me.

When I suddenly got tired of the white room and looked out the window, the winter sky was shattering and fluttering.

The world turned pure white again.

#April 11th. Clear.

Four months have passed.

I left the hospital room, stumbling while leaning on crutches.