Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

The harbor of Oslovya undoubtedly holds a unique scenery to the extent that a hundred out of a hundred first-time visitors to the harbor area would be amazed.

However, unless one is a tourist, not many people marvel at the harbor scenery anew.

After staying at an inn for about a week, one stops being startled by the sudden blasts of ship horns, and after about two weeks, one finds oneself treating the harbor scenery like any ordinary field.

And before long, even the regret for losing that sense of wonder towards the harbor fades away.

It’s a pity, but conversely, that familiarity is the very source that sustains a port city.

If the thousands of people engaged in seafaring, fishing, distribution, tourism, and the like were to gape in awe every time they looked at the sea, work would be constantly delayed and paralyzed.

Therefore, the people above the harbor loved their own insensitivity.

[ MV James Eddington ]

If they weren’t insensitive, they would have been staring blankly at that steamship making a thunderous noise right in front of them, completely forgetting their own tasks.

HOOOOOOOONK—

The ship’s horn blares and shakes the eardrums.

A passenger ship, one of the three largest in this harbor in terms of size, has entered the port.

That enormous vessel began its operations, ignoring the exclamations of travelers.

It delivers people and news. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

The inanimate ship doesn’t need to care about who’s on board or what news it contains.

And so, the ship continued to disgorge its contents. As ordinarily as ever.

#January 10th. Slightly cloudy.

“Hey, Dr. Oslo.”

There’s one thing I’ve realized recently.

It’s the fact that people can become infinitely stupid for the most trivial reasons.

I proved this fact personally.

I was proving it even now. As I turned around to see who had roughly patted my back, I felt puzzled.

Dr. Oslo?

Did they just call me that?

It was such an awkward title that, for a moment, I thought they might be referring to one of the other six ‘Oslos’ I’ve known in my life. Or, maybe Louise had finally changed her surname.

Half in doubt, I turned around and let out a deep sigh.

“Senior Johannes.”

“Oh, ‘Senior’?”

“…Dr. Born, sir.”

“You should drop the honorifics too.”

“…Dr. Born.”

“That’s right, Dr. Oslo. I look forward to working with you today as well.”

I had to suppress the urge to sigh deeply in front of someone else.

Look at that playful face.

The upturned corners of his mouth and his wide-open expression.

He had changed so much that I almost doubted if the person in front of me was really Johannes Born, who used to live steeped in fatigue. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

There was no one in this lab who didn’t know why Johannes was so happy.

It’s because his name had gotten longer, just like mine.

But I had no intention of going along with his mood, so I responded with a sigh in my voice.

“What’s with that way of speaking, senior? It doesn’t suit you at all.”

“I know. That’s why I’m practicing.”

“Pardon?”

“The professor’s way of speaking, I mean. You should practice, too, just in case. You’ll surely become a professor someday, and to show professorial dignity on the podium then, you need to get used to it in advance. Don’t you think so, Dr. Oslo?”

“Putting aside the premature excitement, I’m not quite ready to be called a doctor yet.”

“Stop being so modest.”

“…”

I couldn’t respond with a smile to Johannes’s playful laughter.

Because it wasn’t modesty.

If Eva Torricelli, who had left her seat out of frustration from hearing the wordplay of the two gleeful doctors, had heard this, she would have been furious, but I still couldn’t call myself a doctor.

Johannes had followed the general process of obtaining a degree, publishing papers in journals for three years.

But that wasn’t the case for me.

I was only in my first year, and even if the Frauvian Federation University of Magic had approved it, it was too much to expect external recognition.

“I’ll go along with you after my dissertation passes the review for the ‘Magic Studies Yearbook.'”

“Hmm, so that’ll take about a week?”

“Yes. In a week, since we’ll have the same degree, I’ll give you all the senior treatment you want one last time. How’s that, Dr. Born?”

“Hehe, we’re really childishly cute. But I can’t stop laughing…”

Johannes even shed a few tears from laughing so hard.

I smiled bitterly as I watched him, knowing that the fuel for that laughter was the years of hard work he had endured.

As a wave of laughter spread…

Knock, knock. 

Click—

The lab door opened with a perfunctory knock.

Johannes, who was standing with his back to the door, seemed to think it was Eva Torricelli who had pulled the handle.

So, he turned around with his face still blooming with laughter, and soon, I could see Johannes perform the feat of evaporating his full-faced smile in the blink of an eye.

I said.

“Professor?”

A large figure fills the doorframe.

Klaus Müller looked down at the two of us.

His majestic golden eyes glanced at Johannes and then immediately fixed on me.

“It’s about time we leave.”

“…Am I going too?”

“Just to the train station.”

Then Professor Müller left the lab.

His back view, wearing a cloak and carrying a large bag, looked very much like a traveler, which was natural. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Because today was the day he was leaving Frauzen to attend a meeting as a reviewer for the ‘Magic Studies Yearbook’.

While there might be room for debate about whether carriages or trains have superior ride comfort, that wasn’t the case with the carriage I was riding in now.

The Müller family’s carriage is far more luxurious than even a first-class train car.

Seeing the interior of the carriage again after about half a year, I wasn’t particularly surprised.

More accurately, I couldn’t be surprised.

Suffocating silence.

I inwardly thanked the carriage’s poor soundproofing compared to its lavish decorations. If it weren’t for the clattering noise, I might have actually suffocated.

The situation was different from when I had private meetings in his lab or study.

No matter how spacious, a carriage is still a carriage.

The interior was much smaller than my room.

I even doubted if this was the same carriage I had once ridden with Julia.

Unlike the subtle feelings from that time, my current mood was that of prey entering a bear’s cave.

Klaus Müller is the reviewer, and I, the dissertation submitter, am not allowed to attend in the first place.

So, he must have asked me to accompany him because he had something to say.

As I was inwardly questioning, ‘Why did he call me if it’s going to be like this?’ and ‘Could it be?’ Professor Müller slowly opened his mouth.

“There will be good news soon.”

Good news.

“…Do you mean the dissertation passing?”

“Look forward to it.”

With those words missing quite a few sentence components, Klaus Müller closed his mouth again.

I didn’t have the mental strength to fill in the blanks of the sentence like solving a puzzle right now.

Because this was the result of interpreting his silence: ‘Don’t you have something to tell me?’

As if affirming that guess, silence returned to the carriage.

I’ll admit it.

Whatever Professor Müller’s intentions are, I have something I’m nervous about. It’s a recent matter, and it didn’t seem like Julia had tipped him off about it in advance.

Should I tell him? Or should I hide it?

Which among the two was right was clear.

“Hoo…”

With a deep breath, I straightened my posture and looked at him.

He was still gloomy but with a somewhat clearer gaze looking out the window.

“Professor Müller.”

I fixed my gaze on his familiar-colored eyes and parted my lips.

“I have started dating your daughter, Julia Müller.”

Surprisingly, the reaction wasn’t dramatic.

His golden eyes just deepened a shade. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Professor Müller remained silent for a moment without taking his eyes off the window as if he trying to digest my statement.

It was after a few seconds that he opened his mouth.

“Since when?”

“About two weeks ago.”

“…I see.”

Professor Müller’s behavior was literally like that of a beast…

…in the sense that it was difficult to tell what expression he was making and that his mere presence felt intimidating.

However, when I faced him a moment later, I discovered a bitter smile hanging on his lips.

“I can’t bring myself to congratulate you. I hope you understand.”

“Yes. I understand…”

“Also, I hope you understand that I need to give you advice instead of congratulations.”

“Advice, you say?”

He nodded and said:

“Yes. I hope you continue a wholesome relationship.”

“A wholesome relationship…”

For all the surprise at his choice of the word ‘advice,’ the actual content of the advice was quite puzzling.

I answered honestly.

“Of course, we will have a wholesome relationship, but…”

“My explanation was insufficient. The Müller family is not in a hurry for an heir; that’s what I mean.”

“Pardon?”

It took exactly five seconds to understand those words.

And after six seconds had passed, I drew in a sharp breath.

“Hup— Cough!“

My breathing rhythm was thrown off.

By the time I realized that I could choke on air alone, I was already unable to stop coughing.

Good heavens.

To deny a concept, one must first recall that concept.

That rule embarrassed me. I didn’t have a mirror, but I knew without looking what color my face must be. It must be flushed red…

However.

Professor Müller’s expression, which I saw after finally calming my breath, was infinitely serious.

Serious enough to make me read beyond the superficial meaning of his words.

Not long after, I felt a chill in my chest.

Professor Müller’s elaboration turned my speculation into certainty.

“As you know, my daughter’s body is not suitable for bearing children. I’m not talking about the old aristocratic way of thinking that measured a woman’s value by her ability to produce heirs. I mean that a child could conversely threaten the mother’s health.”

“…I am aware of that.”

“Although she’s gotten much healthier, childbirth is still an issue that requires twice as much caution as for others. Therefore, if you have any unwholesome intentions, you must make me a promise here and now.”

Professor Müller leaned his massive upper body forward.

He was about to open his mouth, then closed it again.

Through that hesitation, I could tell. Even this adult was considerably shaken.

I wanted to ease his burden.

“…Rather, I’d like to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“Is it really alright for someone like me to be with Julia for a lifetime?”

The carriage answered the question for us.

Screech—

Clunk.

The carriage stopped in front of the train station.

The tension created by words dissolved with just a light impact.

Professor Müller seemed to shake off his burden with a deep sigh.

Judging by the faint smile on his lips…

“Of course. It seems my evil friend is known for raising his children well.”

“…Hahaha.”

“I’ll stop spouting opinions that are worse than those of a quack doctor. As advice from a father of one child, it would be good not to stray too far from my daughter’s side. You might end up having to resolve a misunderstanding over fifteen years, like some old man.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good then.”

Immediately after finishing the conversation, Klaus Müller got out of the carriage without hesitation and headed for the train station. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

The ‘Magic Studies Yearbook’ review, which was to be held in northern Oslovya, would take about a week to finish.

Until I go to the train station to pick him up again, I should do my work.

And I had one scheduled task.

Thump, thump, thump—

“Hey. Are you in?”

Frauvian Federal University of Magic Auchlimé Research Institute, Experimental Wing.

“You’re here, theorist.”

In one of the labs there, Werner, who looked ragged enough to amaze even a former beggar like me, greeted me, covered in all sorts of soot.