Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

When people set out on a journey, they usually pack all kinds of luggage before they leave.

Among them, I often saw cases where two bags weren’t enough, so they brought along a third hand that humans don’t have―called a servant.

In my case, having only brought one bag across the sea, it attracted quite a bit of attention.

I still had only one leather suitcase with a handle as my luggage.

Grimoire. ID card. Change of clothes, etc. All the items inside had their own uses.

In fact, there was also the reason that I didn’t have the financial means to add new items, but anyway, it wasn’t deformed, so what’s good is good.

However, there were a few items that were far from being useful.

The clothes and scarf I had received as New Year’s gifts…

…and the letter left by Mrs. Diemann.

Around the time the train was decelerating for a stop, I was organizing my luggage and started observing that letter.

“Hmm.”

Even now, when I looked at this letter, Mrs. Diemann’s request clearly came to mind.

Mrs. Diemann had most likely been deported.

Now, whether I kept this letter for the rest of my life or threw it away on the street, there was no way for her to know.

Of course, I wouldn’t do that.

…But it was also true that it was ambiguous to promise that

[To Bernhard and Werner]

That was because the only things written on the envelope of the letter were the names of the husband and son.

Finding people with just names, not even full names, would never be an easy task.

“…Time will solve it.”

Screech!

At the same time my body slowly leaned forward, the sound of piping hot steam hit my eardrums.

People dozing off in the third-class cabin woke up one by one from sleep and gathered their luggage with a strange anticipation.

It was an atmosphere I had experienced several times and become familiar with.

The atmosphere of arrival.

Outside the window, the scenery of Frauzen Station, filled with a lively atmosphere, was welcoming me.

I waved back at the children who were running alongside the train, waving at every window, and picked up my suitcase.

Today is August 27th. The weather is clear.

#August 27th. Sunny.

Finally!

As soon as I got off the train, the thought of cheering with a fist raised to the sky completely dominated my mind.

I didn’t put it into action.

To me, Frauzen might be a place where I could achieve my dreams, but to most people, it would be their hometown where they were born and raised and a workplace they go to every day.

As if to prove this, most of the people who got off the train began to disperse to various parts of the city, each with a bored or dry-looking expression.

It was a sight that had been consistently seen at all stations, including Orris Station.

It was proof that the railroad was a practical means of transportation for the locals as well.

But I saw.

The figures of several young men, other than me, looking around with excited faces.

They must be young men who came from other regions with the intention of becoming magic scholars.

The headquarters of magic.

The Federal University of Magic established by Jean-Pierre Auchlimé, the father of magic studies. The city of learning where that historic facility was located.

No matter what anyone said, Frauzen was such an amazing place.

“Alright.”

I straightened my hat and tidied up my clothes.

I didn’t particularly try to hide my gray hair.

I had been digging through grimoires since the distant empire. Now that I had finally arrived in the city of magic and could dream of becoming a magic scholar, the penalty of my hair color was trivial.

Rather, I had an ambition.

“I will become the first gray-haired magic scholar.”

Of course, I would have to thoroughly hide the fact that I was from the empire. It seemed best to quickly get a new ID card with a Federation address as the place of residence.

With that, I stepped out of the station and into downtown Frauzen.

The first impression of the city could be expressed in one word: ‘neat.’

In the case of the Frauvian port city, Orris, and Leman, of the empire, there was a strong sense that the city expanded to suit the natural environment.

However, Frauzen was built on a vast plain surrounded by low mountains.

A thoroughly planned city.

The square-shaped lots and the grid-like main streets traversing the city affirmed that fact *1.

“It will be easy to find my way around.”

I was relieved that I wouldn’t get lost this time.

First, starting from Frauzen Station, I began walking along the largest boulevard that crossed the center of the city.

A straight line connected the station, the square, and the Federal University of Magic.

The three clearly visible landmarks seemed to show the history of Frauzen at a glance.

As I slowly walked toward the center of the city, I became lost in thought.

I hadn’t decided on a destination yet.

In my hand now was a single line of an address, but I hadn’t been able to decide whether I should go there.

[ 15 Kram St., 20178 Frauzen ]

“Hmm.”

The place the address pointed to was none other than Benjamin’s family home.

It was where his wife, Susan Oslo, and four daughters, excluding Dorothy, lived.

“I should visit at least once.”

But what made me hesitate was the question, ‘Is this really the time?’

Benjamin said he had informed his family in the Federation of my existence by letter.

But he probably didn’t inform them that I was coming their way.

I was worried that suddenly visiting without even establishing a foundation for living would only surprise them.

“Maybe it’s better to find a job within Frauzen first.”

I was endlessly pondering when it happened.

Growl!

A clear rumbling sound came from my stomach.

Only then did I recall that during the past month I spent in the coal mine, I had been living with the worst diet.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.

“Here is your steak with Bordelaise sauce *2.”

“Th-thank you.”

A waiter wearing neat clothes and gloves placed a plate on the table.

Unlike that elegant motion, the gaze wasn’t very kind, but what did that matter?

There was meat in front of me.

I was hungry. So I looked around and entered the largest restaurant I noticed. And I ordered as if enchanted.

Just by doing that, I could eat meat.

Having survived for a month on stone lumps disguised as bread and leather disguised as jerky, I momentarily forgot the obvious principle that ordering food would make it appear.

I held the silver-gleaming fork and knife in both hands.

Meat has always been the king of all foods, and grilled meat is the king of kings.

On the plate now, a king wearing a blood-red crown was alluringly lying down.

I couldn’t hold back any longer.

Slice.

Swish. 

I cut the steak, dipped it generously in the sauce, and put it in my mouth.

“…!”

A slight sourness accompanied by an intense meaty aroma. A violent texture, to boot.

It felt like my thoughts were paralyzed.

Isn’t this the most delicious food I’ve ever eaten in my life?

From that moment on, I didn’t stop my arms.

Slice, dip, eat.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was generally one of people happily conversing and slowly enjoying their food, but for me, my only conversation partners were the fork and knife.

I emptied one plate as if covering the eyes of a crab *3.

“Phew…”

An indescribable feeling of satisfaction washed over me.

…If my memory serves me right, I think there was a separate section for ‘Dessert’ on the menu.

Should I order dessert, too?

I was agonizing over it even more than I had agonized over whether to visit the home of Benjamin’s family.

A group of young men flocked into the restaurant and took seats at a table close to mine.

I reflexively cast my gaze at that table.

I couldn’t help it.

The eight or so young men were wearing ‘school uniforms,’ and above all, their topic of conversation was something I couldn’t possibly ignore.

“Thank you for participating in our ‘Dinner Debate for Intellectual Youths’ today as well. I’ll present today’s topic in advance.”

The young man, who seemed to be the oldest among the group, appeared to be the leader.

The young man’s next words made me forget about ordering dessert and made me focus on their conversation.

“Is light a particle or a wave?”

As I put down my utensils and focused on the conversation, I could roughly grasp the members of that bizarre group participating in the ‘Dinner Debate for Intellectual Youths.’

Six ordinary students.

Should I call her a secretary or a recorder? One of them was a female student who wasn’t participating in the debate but was constantly writing something.

Another was a young man who seemed to be a student at the magic university.

Putting aside the fact that the young man’s gaze kept turning towards the female student, it was quite interesting that a magic studies-related debate was being held in an ordinary restaurant in the middle of the city.

“Isn’t light… just light?”

“I think light is a particle. All things are made up of maso particles, right? If you look closely, light will be like that too.”

“I think light might be a wave. Just like sound is a wave. It seems to have the characteristics of a wave rather than matter.”

The level of the debate couldn’t even be considered ‘intellectual’, even as flattery.

Those students know even less than I do, as someone who is very slow to accept the latest theories.

Of course, the university student was clearly different.

“Thank you for your good opinions. The correct answer is a wave. In the double-slit experiment conducted decades ago, when light was shot through two slits, an interference pattern appeared. It’s a characteristic of waves. After that, several more experiments followed and proved the nature of light as a wave. *4“

“Ooh!”

“Lena. Did you write down the explanation properly just now?”

A logical explanation flowed smoothly from his mouth.

As the students were immersed in admiration and applauded, the university student smiled even more pretentiously and shot a look at the female student.

The female student’s expression resembled mine.

Light is simply a wave.

Can we really draw that conclusion so easily?

As I lowered my gaze and twirled my fork, it happened.

A man who was also eavesdropping on the debate right next to me slowly stood up from his seat while muttering to himself,

“I can’t listen to the nonsense of a theorist.”

T/N

This reminds me of my trip to Sapporo in Hokkaido, Japan. The streets are perfectly grid-like, illustrating significant urban planning. Thanks to that alignment, lefts and rights were no longer ambiguous, as landmarks could be associated with street corners.
Bordelaise sauce is a wine-based demi-glace sauce used to partner with steaks. Its ingredients include red wine, bone marrow, butter, and shallots.
Covering the eyes of a crab can be associated with devouring the meat so fast as if to hide something. 
If you’ve taken some form of electromagnetics subject or quantum physics subject, the former of which I’m currently taking, you’d know the duality of light as both a particle and a wave. As previously mentioned, light can be proven to be a wave based on the double-slit experiment. However, we know now that light (as an EM wave), when colliding with a metal surface, can cause electrons to be emitted. Such is called the photoelectric effect, proving that light consists of particles (which we now know as photons) and was discovered by Einstein, for which he was given a Nobel Prize in 1921. I expect to see this be the answer to the debate in the coming chapters.

Hello! Axiomatic here.

Thanks for reading. See you on Wednesday for the next chapter!