Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

T/N: Re-edited 8/28/24.

#December 7th. Rainy.

It’s a gloomy sky.

It’s raining really hard.

It’s not just me; everyone must be thinking the same thing.

‘December.’

It’s been several weeks since the biting cold and damp drizzle have coexisted.

That’s why people don’t really want to go outside.

Especially on rainy days like today, there’s no reason to go out.

Under the dreary sky, the blue river flowing through the middle of the city just adds humidity.

But I had no way to avoid it. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

My home is under a broken bridge.

I had to stay under the bridge to avoid the rain, but the rising river levels brought unbearable humidity.

Today was one of those days.

The river was filled to the brim.

At times like these, even living under the bridge is not safe.

“Damn it.”

I had to leave my “home.”

The choice between getting my shoulders wet from the drizzle or being swept away by the water was obvious.

I rummaged through the canister where I kept my junk.

I had no luxurious items, such as an umbrella.

To begin with, I only had a raggedy old coat, so how could I have an umbrella?

Instead, I only had a small, heavy object.

The treasure that I picked up on the road to refuge.

A small, thick book. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

On the cover was written:

『Basic Magic Textbook – Volume 1 / Benjamin Oslo』

It was a magic book.

Holding the book that gets wet and damaged easily to my chest, I hopped over the rocks of the slope and left from under the bridge.

The rain falls.

Now that I mention it, I don’t really dislike the rain, though I hate the dark sky.

The cover of the magic book is glowing.

It’s because it absorbed mana from the rain and the humidity.

An irony.

To others, these days of having nothing to do and being depressed would be wasted.

But for me, they are precious opportunities to use magic freely.

Sunlight isn’t as efficient after all.

I quickly recited the activation phrase before the raindrops could soak the book.

“[Disc].”

While chanting the spell out loud, I imagine its outcome in my mind.

Hovering in the air.

A blue disc.

Blocking all the raindrops.

My vivid will was established.

The magic book resonated in response.

Then, a blue droplet forms on my outstretched palm.

As I raise it over my head, it slowly begins to spin.

The water droplet gradually flattens out.

In other words, a disc was formed.

At first, it was only the size of a palm, but soon, it started swelling and absorbed the raindrops.

Continuously, continuously. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Eventually, the disc grew large enough to act like an umbrella.

My shoulders no longer got wet.

“Nice.”

An umbrella made of water.

It’s the spell I’ve used the most, so I’m most confident using it.

I ran along the riverside without worrying about losing control of the magic.

I tilted the disc to match the blowing wind.

Setting aside the reality that I had to go begging the next day, I fully imitated the wizards I had only heard rumors about.

There are no people on the rainy street.

Puddles and building debris litter the area haphazardly, with the drenched national flag of the Frauvian Federation occasionally fluttering in the gusts.

That happens on a typical day.

But not today.

In a certain alleyway:

An elderly man who had briefly lowered his umbrella to brush off water droplets from his coat looked up at the sound of running footsteps.

A scruffy gray-haired boy clutching a grimoire to his chest, running through the rain.

And magic.

The old man’s eyes widened.

Their gazes met.

The boy made an expression, almost as if to say…

‘Oops!’

…and the boy ran again.

All the while, the old man stood there, dumbfounded.

He wasn’t stunned because magic was banned in the traitors’ nation, and the boy was using it, nor was he stunned because the grimoire had his name on it.

The old man’s astonishment went beyond those.

He was impressed that the skill with which the boy handled the Type-I magic spell [Disc] far exceeded his own.

Immensely so.

“…Hoho.”

‘Intriguing.’

The greatest theoretical magic scholar.

Chair professor of the Frauvian University of Magic.

The madman who had shattered the statue of the former chancellor erected next to the Father of Magic Studies, resulting in his dismissal a mere two months after being inaugurated as a professor and was exiled to a foreign nation.

The eyes of the one the world calls the “Genius Collector,” Benjamin Oslo, lit up quietly.

T/N

Hello! Axiomatic here.

I’m thrilled to be translating this novel! I wanted to go for another novel similar to my first translation, I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince, as this also has magic and fantasy elements. I love the premise so far and look forward to seeing how this plays out.

I hope you’ll join me for the ride; thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one!

Quick Trivia!

I couldn’t help but notice the equations behind the MC in the novel’s cover art as an undergraduate currently studying Electronics Engineering. Those four are the famous Maxwell’s equations which form the foundation of classical electromagnetics. Unfortunately, as of writing, I am only familiar with the names of each equation but not with their uses.

Based on the image below, the point forms of the equations, in order, are Gauss’ Law, Gauss’s Law for Magnetism, Faraday’s Law, and Ampere’s Law.