The Slippery Mage

Let's return back to eighteen and a half year ago.

At the same time a boy was born in Vassel, a girl was also born in a small village in Stormwind. It's actually not that far from the border between Stormwind and Vassel but Miroslav didn't know where to look for Cornelia.

Cornelia was born as a daughter of a normal family who was barely surviving. Both parents work together as farmers. But they could only barely survive in such a poor village. Even worse when their daughter, Cornelia, was born.

The parents didn't know that Cornelia was a reincarnator and it's also a secret that Cornelia decided to not tell anyone. So even when they leave Cornelia be most of the time, Cornelia never made any fuss. And as both parents were the only child of their own parents, they didn't know how to handle a child.

There were also no other children the same age as Cornelia so they thought that they were doing fine rising Cornelia even though it's just Cornelia moving around and thinking by herself already as a baby.

It was when Cornelia heard the news from a merchant she realized that she was born in a world of the novel she read in her previous life. Unlike Miroslav who was in despair because he knew the future, Cornelia was excited. Because she knew what will happen and she believed that everything will be fine because in the novel the protagonist defeated the last boss and she believed that there's a happy ending afterward.

But because she knew about what kind of world she was reincarnated into, she wanted to learn more. Especially about magic. This was the world she loved to read as a novel after all.

So when her parents left her alone, she visited a house of a smart man in the village. That man used to be a travelling merchant but he retired and lived alone in the small house. He was happy to teach Cornelia how to read and write since he was lonely. He also let her borrow some books he possessed.

Meanwhile, her parents thought that it's normal for a kid to suddenly learn how to write and read. They didn't know that a kid needed to be taught by their parents when they themselves learned from other people but forgot about it because it was many decades ago.

So when they had their second child, Julian, they were flabbergasted and they finally asked for other villagers' opinion about it. And finally, they believed that Cornelia was a genius.

Because of that, Cornelia's parents decided to focus more on Cornelia while ignoring their second child. Even Cornelia herself rarely interacted with her brother. But she did care about Julian like when she read him book to sleep.

She just thought that her parents could take care of Julian. Even when Cornelia started taking over the chores of the house, she believed that her parents loved Julian.

It's thanks to her taking over the duty of cooking that Julian managed to live. If not for her, even her parents wouldn't cook an extra meal for Julian. They really believed that a dead child is better than having extra expenses.

"I want to attend Dahlia Academy!"

That's what the young Cornelia said. So the parents spent a lot of money to find someone who could teach her something. Anything. And they spent it all to hire a tutor who taught her magic. Just for one time. But that's enough for Cornelia to learn everything else on her own because of her talents which she didn't even know yet at the time.

Then after saving up more money, her parents finally gave Cornelia everything they have to pay for the tuition for just one year. They sent her off with a happy smile on their face hoping that Cornelia will be the one who took them out of poverty.

Cornelia passed the exam easily. And in Dahlia Academy, all students who passed the exam will have their talents appraised. That's when Cornelia learned her two great talents that Miroslav used conveniently in the game. Studying talent and talent in all magic elements.

In the game, these two talents didn't help Cornelia to be the strongest mage. But it helped her to learn all kind of magic quicker than other mage so she's useful in the early to the middle part of the game. By the later part of the game, other mages will have stronger magic for Miroslav to play.

Meanwhile, back in her village, her parents had financial problem with all their money gone. And finally, half a year later, coincidentally around the time Miroslav finished his training, they sold Julian for money. It's enough for them to pay for Cornelia's tuition for the next year and with one less mouth to feed they didn't have to spend more money.

As for Cornelia, she lived her dream academy life. She knew what will happen but she didn't interfere much with them because she knew the protagonist could handle them.

She's just like any other girl in that academy. A girl who loves socializing with other girls and talk about what's trending. And with her experience as a teenager for the second time, she could handle conversation well. This makes other girls, especially commoners, look up to her.

A happy girl who didn't know that her brother just got sold and would be bought a few days later.

But she still didn't know the effect she had in this world. Things have taken different turns because of her existence. Because she's a beautiful girl.

Some of the students in the academy, the boys, many of them have crushes on her. And she believed that rejecting them was fine and won't change the future much. That's true. But that's also because the students who can change the future from what she knew in the novel haven't approached her yet. They didn't want to approach her and be considered by her as one of the many who fell for her so easily especially since they knew that other boys have attempted to get closer to her.

This will also be a problem for Miroslav to handle once he became close enough with Cornelia and they're sticking together a lot when Miroslav starts attending Dahlia Academy. But that's for the future.

It's just any other day for Cornelia. She believed that she could just hang out with her friends while learning magic. She believed it when her parents told her that she didn't need to find a job to get money even though students from the academy are allowed to be adventurers and take missions when they're not in class. She just hung out with her friends until someone approached her.

A good-looking man was approaching her when she's out together with her friends. Her friends were shrieking looking at the handsome man and when they noticed he's looking at Cornelia, they smiled and pretended to have something to do as they leave believing that he could be a good match for her. But it's something totally different than what they had in mind. They didn't know it.

"Excuse me, Miss Cornelia. Miss Sabine over there has something to tell you," the man says. He was one of Duchess Johanna's subordinates stationed in Dahlia and now worked under Felix, Sabine, and even Miroslav when he needs it.

Cornelia was confused because she also expected a confession that she will reject. But she followed the man to Sabine's table before the man left.

"You're looking for me?" Cornelia asked.

"Yes. Well, not me. Someone has a message to send you and because he's busy with something I have to relay it to you," Sabine says.

Cornelia thought that it's a rich man using his subordinates to confess to her. She sighed but let Sabine continued anyway.

"Please tell me the message," Cornelia said even though she knew she won't give any reply.

"London."

Cornelia listened the first word and she had a surprised expression on her face. But it's more of confusion than surprise.

"Paris, Rome."

Cornelia listened to the second and third words. This time, she knew she didn't mishear it. They were famous cities from her previous world.

"Hollywood, Anime."

Now Cornelia listened to two big source of entertainment from her world. She knew exactly what those two things are.

"And Football. The person who sent that message would like you to visit the library tomorrow afternoon after class if you're available. I'll wait for you at the entrance of the academy tomorrow and guide you then," Sabine said as she stood up and left. She didn't bother to get a reply from Cornelia. She knew enough that Cornelia knew about the names she mentioned by seeing Cornelia's expression alone.

London, Paris, Rome, Hollywood, anime, and football. She knew them all. And when Sabine mentioned Football, she instantly thought of a sport where two teams consist of eleven players each kick a ball to put it inside the goal. Something that Miroslav would be happy to hear.

"…There's another one like me?"

She never thought that there would be any other just like her. But she started smiling knowing that there's someone who came from the same world as her.

Keeping a secret put a burden in her heart. She thought that she would never tell this secret to anyone. But now she found out that there's another person who share the same secret as her. She's happy that she finally had someone she can share a secret with.

And the day of the meeting is the day when she finally realized that she needed to grow up.