Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

T/N: Edited 10/27/24.

Dorothy’s hands, which had come close to me at some point, cupped my cheeks.

When did she get here?

I swear she was just in the bakery, but in the blink of an eye, she came all the way here. It’s as if she already knew I was following her.

“Eugene.”

Dorothy caressed my cheeks once again.

Her hands were cold. Just as my body was cold, Dorothy had her bare hands exposed to this cold.

However, for some reason, I felt her touch was warm.

Of course, it was a momentary impression.

“Ugh. It’s cold.”

A small reaction that came out reflexively.

Hearing that well, Dorothy flinched her arms and slowly let go of her hands.

Her expression was still as stoic as ever, but was it my imagination that I felt perplexity in her eyebrows and the corners of her mouth?

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to confirm if my guess was correct.

“Who are you? Why is an officer caressing an Imperial kid?!”

The middle-aged man raised his voice again.

It was surprising that he could shout even after seeing the dark green officer’s uniform and epaulets *1.

“State your rank and name.”

No, it seems he’s also a soldier.

Dorothy stepped forward in front of me and parted her lips.

“Loyalty. I’m sorry, but who are you?”

“Huh?”

“I’m meeting you for the first time. I have no obligation to do that to someone who is not my superior or subordinate. If you’re expecting a salute, I must politely decline.”

Her characteristic monotonous tone pressured him.

When Dorothy took a serious attitude, he began to look noticeably embarrassed.

A correction was necessary. That man is neither a current nor retired soldier. He’s probably a merchant’s family member who came to do business with soldiers or a relative of a young officer.

His scheme to assert his pride even while bluffing was exposed in an instant.

The middle-aged man’s expression was greatly distorted.

It was even more so because those who had been eagerly denouncing me until just now were also looking at the middle-aged man with cold eyes.

Around that time, Dorothy turned her head back to me.

“Come on. Let’s go home.”

“…Yes.”

Things got tangled up one way or another.

I couldn’t even achieve my original purpose. Furthermore, I got caught in the middle of unnecessary trouble.

Still, for some reason, Dorothy’s gaze seems much softer.

Satisfied with that, I followed Dorothy and walked.

That’s when it happened.

“Where are you going?! You bloodline of barbarism!”

The middle-aged man’s roar rapidly approached.

Thump. Thump. 

The middle-aged man who had chased after me with heavy footsteps reached out his hand.

Since he was in front of an officer, he didn’t seem to have any intention of hitting me.

But he showed signs of grabbing my head and doing something with it.

It’s similar to when he hit my head with a cane. A method solely to humiliate.

“……”

Dorothy took a stance without any separate weapon against the middle-aged man who suddenly approached.

It was a preparatory motion for military martial arts. Her demeanor told me that she hadn’t earned her epaulets in vain.

Couldn’t she easily subdue a single middle-aged man swayed by anger?

But this is a problem I brought upon myself.

I couldn’t ask for Dorothy’s help.

The opened hand approached.

“You filthy Imperial bastard!”

The next moment…

Slip!

“Wh-whoa?!”

The middle-aged man flew up as if he had stepped on ice.

If he were a winged bird, he would have landed gracefully, but unfortunately, he was a person with a bulging belly.

Thud!

With a grand sound, he sprawled out in the middle of the main road.

“Ugh….”

It went according to plan.

[Rotation].

I activated magic using only imagination without the aid of a grimoire, casting an invisible spell, and it made him fall over.

His center of gravity was so high that he fell over with the slightest force. Probably because of his belly fat.

Snow is falling from the sky. It’s common for someone to slip on the snowy road.

In other words, the middle-aged man ended up in a pitiful state of making a fuss by himself and then falling over.

“Sigh. As expected.”

His wife and their three children, who were watching the unsightly scene, quietly frowned.

Meanwhile, my gaze met Dorothy’s.

Dorothy knows I can use magic. She seemed to be asking, ‘Did you do that?’

As if she roughly grasped the situation, her sharp eyes slowly softened.

I opened my mouth with a hollow smile.

“Benjamin must be waiting.”

Dorothy nodded.

We stood side by side and headed towards the duplex house. The harmonious home of the Oslo family.

My nape felt cold.

As soon as I opened the door, warm air spread out with a whoosh.

“…!”

It was different from the warmth of the bedding. It wasn’t the warmth created by blocking the cold, but a sensation like basking by a bonfire.

What on earth is this?

“I’m back.”

“You’re here. I lit the fireplace.”

Benjamin was sitting on the living room sofa, waving his hands excitedly.

And.

There really was a bonfire in front of the sofa!

…No, it wasn’t.

There was a fireplace in the middle of the living room wall. Flames were flickering inside its hearth. It was quite a curious sight for me, who had learned its purpose through a dictionary.

So this is how warm it gets. Won’t the fire spread or anything?

While the curiosity bug bit me, the cold went away thanks to the warmth that seeped in.

By the way, Benjamin didn’t seem surprised to see me return with Dorothy.

Was it all within his palm, no matter how much I flew or crawled?

“I’m back. I’ll go upstairs.”

I lightly greeted and stepped on the stairs leading to the upper floor. But a voice that suddenly flew in tried to stop my steps.

“Hm? No. Come here and rest while warming up by the fire.”

It was Benjamin.

“Yes?”

“Heh heh. It was cold outside, wasn’t it?”

The old man laughed playfully.

“I told you to finish your studies early during the day and come down. Let’s make today a day off.”

It wasn’t just Benjamin.

Dorothy poked my back, which was scratching my head with one foot on the stairs, towards the living room.

‘What?’ I was about to ask but suddenly realized I hadn’t decided on how to address her yet.

Poke. Poke.

“Wait a minute, don’t leave yet.”

In the end, I helplessly plopped down on the sofa.

Now that I was sitting, it felt quite nice.

Flicker—

Sparks fly between the flickering flames.

Sitting on the comfortable sofa and watching it, I felt a sense of stability enveloping me for some reason.

“I’ve been watching you study hard all this time. You really seem determined to master it in just one month.”

“Well, that’s right.”

“Working hard is praiseworthy. You’re doing well. But…”

Benjamin looked at me and slightly raised the corner of his mouth.

“Rest is just as important as working hard.”

“……”

“It’s the first day of the new year. Take a break, at least, on the New Year’s Day celebrations.”

An unfamiliar word popped out of Benjamin’s mouth.

“New Year’s Day celebrations?”

“Huh? What? You don’t know?”

“Is it a Federation custom?”

When I asked, Benjamin made an expression that was difficult to describe.

“Well… It’s similar. Even if it’s called a celebration, there’s nothing special. Just resting and eating, that’s all.”

As he said, we had dinner as usual. Except for the warmth, thanks to the stove, the atmosphere was quite ordinary.

Is that why?

When Benjamin called me to the living room again, I couldn’t hide my surprise.

On the small table in front of the sofa.

There was a neatly folded long-sleeved shirt. And a stylish necktie was rolled up on top of it.

It was a high-quality fabric shirt and necktie. The fact that even I, who had no eye for it, noticed its quality, said it all.

I gasped.

“What is this?”

“It’s a gift. The highlight of a New Year’s party is the gift presentation ceremony.”

“…But I didn’t prepare anything.”

“HAHAHAHA! You’ll be the only one shivering like a wet puppy in front of the fireplace.”

Benjamin laughed it off.

“In life, there are times when you receive. Don’t make the giver feel awkward.”

I suddenly felt embarrassed. Some words popped out of my mouth.

“Oh. Should I try it on?”

“Well said. Go change and come back.”

Oops.

I just had to grab this.

In the end, I headed to the storage room with the long-sleeved shirt and necktie. It was already too late when I recalled that I was someone who struggled to even button a shirt.

“Darn it.”

I managed to put on the shirt with difficulty.

But no matter how hard I tried, the necktie ended up looking like a boa constrictor strangling my neck.

Dorothy, unable to watch any longer, personally tied the necktie for me, and only then did I finally look neat.

“……”

The gazes of Benjamin and Dorothy felt strangely piercing.

“Oh. It suits you well.”

Benjamin gave that assessment without any playfulness, and Dorothy also nodded.

I felt like crawling into a mouse hole and sat back down on the sofa.

“That’s not all.”

At that moment, Benjamin pulled out another set of clothes from behind the sofa.

This time, it was winter women’s clothing. It seemed to be a gift for Dorothy, but for that purpose, it was quite excessively flowy.

“Who wears an officer’s uniform when going out? Wear pretty clothes, too.”

“I refuse.”

Regarding what happened afterward, it would be good to summarize it as Dorothy’s face was filled with disgust.

After Benjamin was rejected like that…

Dorothy stepped forward.

After rummaging through her handbag a few times, Dorothy returned to the living room with two scarves of different colors. I thought she hadn’t bought anything at the clothing store, but I was wrong.

Scarves with neat patterns embroidered in white on black and gray backgrounds, respectively.

Dorothy handed me the black scarf.

“Try wrapping it around.”

I wrapped the scarf in a clumsy manner. It was much easier to wear than a shirt or necktie. I felt a cozy sensation.

At some point, Dorothy was also wearing the gray scarf.

The atmosphere became cheerful even without conversation. Dorothy flashed a smile with her eyes.

Meanwhile, Benjamin said:

“Dorothy. Where’s mine?”

“There isn’t one for you, Oslo.”

“Don’t be like that… Is there really none?”

With those words, his voice tone dropped a level. He was genuinely disappointed.

By the way, Benjamin’s disappointment only faded after he later discovered that the cane he had left in his study had been replaced with a new one.

Anyway…

I received a lot of gifts.

As I was sitting on the edge of the sofa with an awkward look, Dorothy, still wearing the scarf, started busily preparing something in the kitchen.

A moment later, she returned with something on a plate.

It was a round bread.

A bread with a hole in the middle and a somewhat mysterious color.

“What is this?”

“A donut.”

Dorothy slowly opened her mouth.

“It’s a sweet bread. I was worried you might not like sweets, but it seems you do.”

Ah.

No way.

“That. Are you talking about this morning?”

“Yep.”

I felt deflated.

Was the purpose of that intense stare to check if I was eating the sweet marmalade well?

If I had known the truth behind the incident would be this absurd, I wouldn’t have gone outside.

“Hahaha….”

However, that wasn’t the only reason I let out a powerless laugh.

What is all this?

Warmth and gifts. Kindness and consideration.

Aren’t they treating me like family?

Family is a special title. It cannot be obtained easily.

Because it cannot be regained easily, it is precious.

Then, why are Benjamin and Dorothy doing this much for me?

I couldn’t just gloss over it.

I organized my thoughts well and asked the two of them. Benjamin and Dorothy looked at each other.

Their expressions weren’t as surprised as I thought.

“Hmm. Where should I start explaining this?”

Benjamin, who was making a contemplative sound, suddenly threw a glance at Dorothy.

“Can I tell him?”

“Yes.”

What could he tell me?

Before I could start pondering, Benjamin offered the answer.

“My wife, Susan, couldn’t have children when she was young due to an illness. Now, we’re both too old to have them.”

In other words.

“Dorothy is an adopted daughter. I have five daughters under my care, but they’re all children born from the heart.”

“…!”

“If I were to unravel all their stories,  each of them would fill a book. I’m that kind of guy in the first place, so that says it all.”

Suddenly, Benjamin’s palm came to mind.

A life similar to asceticism.

“I think family is nothing special. If you live under one roof, bumping into each other, that’s family, what else could it be? There was a time when I used to attach unnecessary meaning to family, but looking back, it was all pointless.”

The flames inside the fireplace slowly flickered in Benjamin’s eyes.

“Oh boy. I was about to ramble on about boring stories. Let’s stop the chatter here.”

He smiled softly.

“For today, it’s more important that you taste that donut and rest well. It’s a gift Dorothy prepared for you. I’m sure it will be delicious.”

“……”

I picked up a fork.

Crack.

The thin sugar coating on the donut crisply splits.

I scooped up a piece I cut and put it in my mouth.

“Wow.”

It was the first time I learned that bread could be fluffy. Along with the melting texture, a blissful sweetness came from the sugar spread on the donut.

Soft and sweet.

That was all.

One fork was enough to warm my whole body with the cozy warmth.

“……”

Indeed, family seems to be nothing special.

Time flew by quickly, and it had already been a month since I stayed at the duplex house.

My skills in Frauvian had improved by leaps and bounds, but unfortunately, I failed to surprise Benjamin. It ended with a refreshing laugh and a simple “Well done.”

I didn’t mind. Rather, I preferred it that way.

In any case, from that day on, I began to receive Benjamin’s teachings in earnest.

And.

#January 27th. Snow.

Winter in the Empire rarely sees snow.

It rains a lot, but it doesn’t snow much. Not only is sleet *2 uncommon, but it was a situation where ankle-deep snow was considered a heavy snowfall.

Therefore.

It took three years for me to see snowflakes fluttering outside the window again.

T/N

An epaulet (read/pronounced as is) is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as an insignia of military rank. These are attached to the uniform, and one is placed on top of each shoulder.
Sleet is a mixture of rain and snow.