Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

Nothing is given for free in this world.

When I lived under the bridge, I thought I had inductively proven this proposition to be true.

A single coin. A piece of bread. A true friend. The warmth of a single candlelight. An embrace and a speck of affection.

To obtain those things that others are born with without any effort, a price is required, big or small.

In the midst of that, I encountered a counterexample.

The Oslo family.

They bestowed affection for free without any concern.

At one point, I thought that affection was only directed towards a talented child, but after learning that Benjamin’s hobby and work was the strange donation of ‘hiding books in various parts of the city,’ I meekly accepted the counterexample.

Returning to the present.

“Lena cherishes family so much that it’s a problem.”

While watching Susan draw a bitter smile, I thought that a counterexample was just a counterexample.

The world still doesn’t give anything for free.

Trust is also subject to that.

I gently closed my eyes and opened them again.

19 years old.

I engraved in my mind that it was now the right age to prove trust.

As I was organizing my thoughts, Susan started pondering while resting her chin on her hand.

“By the way, Eugene. Will you go upstairs for now?”

“Pardon?”

“I couldn’t prepare an empty room. My eldest daughter, Louise, is currently eating and sleeping at the university due to her job as a professor. It used to be a girl’s room, and Lena’s room is right next door, so it might be uncomfortable, but I think you’ll have to stay there for now.”

“Th-that Louise person is a university professor?”

“Yeah. She would be your older sister, Eugene.”

A family of professors.

I thought Lena was also extraordinary, but now, I could clearly realize that the nickname ‘Genius Collector’ I had briefly heard from Dorothy was not for nothing.

Besides that.

I glanced upstairs.

A presence.

Susan didn’t seem to notice, but it couldn’t deceive my senses, honed from a rough life.

The reason I felt a flinching presence a little while ago must be because Susan was trying to send me upstairs.

I gave a faint smile.

The thing Lena was worried about wouldn’t happen anyway.

I had something in mind.

“Susan. What kind of room is that small room over there?”

“Ah. It’s a storage room. There are two of them; one is in use, but the other is empty. Why do you ask?”

“Instead of staying upstairs, I want to use the empty storage room.”

Worry appeared on Susan’s face.

“Are you serious? It’s small and probably isn’t well-insulated.”

“It’s alright.”

I replied with a grin.

“I like small rooms.”

It was a sincere statement that couldn’t be more true.

A small storage room. There was no better place to take the first step in building trust.

#August 28th. Slightly cloudy.

A problem arose from the beginning.

“Wait a moment.”

It wasn’t a problem related to the room.

The storage room was just the right size to live in, except for some dust accumulated, and when I bought a small bed and desk with the money I earned from the coal mine and placed them inside, it was reborn as a cozy room that reminded me of the house in Leman.

The reason I was holding my head was because of a more macroscopic problem.

Why did I come to Frauzen?

Stopping by the Oslo family’s main residence was just a secondary objective; wasn’t there a true goal I had for coming here?

The Federal University of Magic.

Entering the university and spending days of study with fellow students was the very reason I secretly crossed the sea and embarked on a thousand-mile journey by train to reach Frauzen.

Wasn’t my admission to the Frauzen Federal University of Magic the beginning of the dream I had longed for?

Immediately after I finished arranging the room, I first wanted to learn the guidelines for admission to the university.

They’re a family of professors, although one was demoted.

Susan quickly found the documented admission guidelines and handed them to me.

Returning to the storage room with a word of encouragement, I unfolded the admission guidelines and…

“This is quite troublesome.”

There were two main problems.

First. Tuition.

There’s no point in specifying the exact amount. I can’t afford it.

The money I earned from working to the bone for a month in the coal mine was roughly 800 pounds.

Although it was a considerable sum, it was far from enough to cover one semester’s tuition at Frauzen Federal University of Magic.

Fortunately, it seems that those who achieve excellent scores on the written exam are given a full scholarship, so I should aim for a scholarship somehow.

[Written Exam Date: 1899. 11. 1]

Second. The exam is two months away.

In fact, this was the biggest problem.

In order to enter the Federal University of Magic, I, who had built a foundation of knowledge such as mathematics through Benjamin’s makeshift education plus self-study, had to obtain the top score or a score close to it on the notorious written exam of the Federal University of Magic through a bloody competition with students who had grown up under the Federation’s systematic education system. (T/N: Whew.)

In just two months.

“……”

My mind went blank.

There was one habit that emerged at times like this.

Whirl.

I unconsciously twirled the pen that had not yet been dipped in ink on my right hand.

Pen spinning. A skill I acquired while being stuck at a desk for three years.

Suddenly, a memory from the past came to mind.

There was a time when I had Dorothy, who boasted exceptional physical abilities such as strength, flexibility, and agility, try pen spinning for no particular reason, thinking she could easily do it.

Despite watching my demonstration and trying to imitate it several times, Dorothy was unable to do it in the end.

Just as I couldn’t imitate Dorothy’s sword techniques, her specialty, she also couldn’t reproduce my pen spinning.

A special skill that only those who have held a pen for a long time can do.

I realized anew.

This trivial pen spinning showed how much effort I had put in over the past three years.

“…Hahaha.”

Laughter naturally came out.

Yes. Can do this?

I made up my mind.

The boy from under the bridge had come all the way to Frauzen, taking eight years.

The disciple of theoretical magic scholar Benjamin Oslo and the Bayel Empire’s number one loner.

Until I carve the name Eugene Oslo at the top of the Federal University of Magic’s list of successful applicants, I will not leave this desk.

#September 1st. Cloudy.

“Ugh.”

Lena, who abruptly woke up, sat up while stretching.

Lena’s mornings are early.

18 years old. Although she was still a student who hadn’t even graduated from school, the responsibility on her small shoulders was immense.

Sitting at her desk, despite her heavy eyelids, Lena began to unfold various documents.

“Mr. Loverace, 200 pounds. Mr. Pauli, 450 pounds. Divide in half and put it in the shipping company and the magic lamp company…”

A master of clerical work, accounting, and investment.

Lena Oslo, who had even landed the position of the youngest consultant at the telegraph bureau through extreme time management, had recently started a new investment brokerage business.

In her own way, she claimed it was practice for when she became an adult in the future while working with small amounts, but in any case, it was a labor-intensive business.

In addition to her studies and work as a consultant at the telegraph bureau, in order to also engage in investment, she had to thoroughly save even her sleeping time and immerse herself in work.

It wasn’t all bad.

The fact that she had never discovered anyone who worked harder than herself played a big role in forming Lena’s self-esteem.

Thanks to the recent increase in time she could allocate to other things after quitting her consultant position in the debate society, Lena’s mood wasn’t too bad despite waking up early in the morning.

It shouldn’t have been bad.

“I don’t like it.”

But it was bad.

All of this was because of one gray-haired man.

Eugene Oslo. Gray hair. Tall stature and a face like a parasite. A stranger who suddenly joined the Oslo family and occupied a corner of the house.

The curiosity-filled twins, Ellie and Sally, seemed to be dying to know about this ‘older brother’ they had never seen before, but Lena was the opposite.

He was annoying.

In Lena’s eyes, he was no different from an intruder who had invaded the paradise called the Oslo family with dirty feet.

The fact that Eugene was from the empire was not a concern. All the children of the Oslo family had experienced unfounded hatred and persecution.

The problem was trust.

Trust comes from ability.

If you don’t have the ability, you should at least put in the effort.

It had been five days since Eugene started living with the Oslo family.

During that time, Lena didn’t go downstairs except when washing or eating, but whenever she saw Eugene, he always seemed half out of his mind.

Shutting himself in the storage room, what on earth was he doing?

The creatures called magic scholar hopefuls these days were always like that. They boasted and put on airs while riding the trend, but in reality, they made no effort.

“…The flower magic. That was certainly impressive.”

She was a fool for having expectations.

No matter how hard she tried, Lena couldn’t imagine accepting Eugene as a member of the family.

Due to the many stray thoughts, she put down her pen for a moment.

“I should check the mail.”

The weather is cloudy.

It was still early morning, and without sunlight, the inside of the house was a bit chilly.

At a time when everyone was asleep, Lena quietly headed downstairs with a blanket around her shoulders.

Before opening the front door, she glanced towards the storage room, having messy hair and wearing pajamas with just a blanket over them. It would be a disaster if she ran into Eugene in this disheveled appearance.

Then, she froze with her hand on the front door handle.

The door of the storage room was opened slightly.

Because she noticed a faint light leaking from inside.

“…Eeek!”

Covering her mouth with her hand to prevent a strange sound from escaping, Lena looked around with trembling pupils.

It’s quiet.

Instead of any presence, only the silence of dawn lingered in the house.

Did he just leave the door open and fall asleep?

Sighing in relief, Lena hurriedly gathered the letters addressed to her from the mailbox and quietly closed the door again.

As she was about to return to her room like that…

“……”

The curiosity of dawn made Lena move.

What on earth was Eugene doing with his life?

He would be asleep anyway. Even if she peeked through the gap in the door, she wouldn’t get caught.

Approaching the storage room like a ghost, Lena glanced inside through the door crack.

The interior of the storage room was extremely plain.

Neatly arranged bedding and a flickering candlelight.

The travel bag placed next to the bed and the books slightly cluttering the desk seemed to be the entirety of his belongings.

And most importantly, Eugene was asleep with a pen in his hand, face down on the desk.

“……”

It was pathetic.

Could it be that he was preparing for the Federal University of Magic entrance exam?

As the best prestigious school in the Federation, students applying to the Magic University are the type to stay up all night as if it were a regular meal.

Falling asleep face down on the desk meant that he severely lacked the determination to pass.

Then suddenly, Lena noticed one strange thing.

The bedding was too neat.

It wasn’t just the level of being neatly arranged.

The blanket, sheets, and pillow. There was no sense of use in any of them.

Could it be?

“He hasn’t lain down even once in five days?”

Did he continuously study at the desk until exhaustion and fall asleep on the table for five consecutive days?

Lena was appalled.

That’s not something a human should do.

“……”

Lena gently opened the door and tiptoed inside.

Putting everything else aside, she looked at Eugene’s hands.

Because a person’s life is engraved on their hands.

And Eugene’s hands were.

A sight to behold.

Underneath the back of his hand with greatly cracked skin and countless scars, there were palms full of calluses that anyone could tell were from gripping a pen. To make matters worse, his entire hand was strangely blackened as if he had been doing who knows what kind of work before coming here.

Effort.

The traces of effort that couldn’t be hidden were painted all over his large hands.

“…I don’t like it.”

When she was about to blow out the candle and step out of the room…

Eugene, shivering from the cold, was reflected in Lena’s eyes.

Morning.

Realizing that I had fallen asleep, I abruptly got up from the desk and discovered a blanket sliding down my shoulders.

T/N

Hello! Axiomatic here. Great news! 

Fellow translator Ruminas has just donated 2 Bonus Chapters to my Ko-fi! Do check out his translated novels, most notably, Just Because I Have Narrow Eyes Doesn’t Make Me a Villain! This means there will be two chapters on both Saturday and Sunday. 

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