Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

When I peeked through the gap of the opened door into the room, I couldn’t see anything.

The interior was pitch black.

But for humanity, which has invented the technology to embroider starlight along the streets, darkness is not that frightening.

Therefore, instead of fearing the absence of a light source, I feared Julia’s scolding as I stepped inside the room.

The method to dispel darkness was simple. I took out my grimoire and chanted the activation phrase.

“[Ray].”

Type II Magic [Ray]. 

As its name suggests, it’s magic that shoots out a solid line of light, but it requires laboratory-scale equipment to do so.

Therefore, the soft blue light spread through the space like a mist rather than a ray.

It’s an inefficient and even difficult makeshift mana lamp.

It was more than enough light to secure visibility. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Soon after, I could understand why this room was filled with darkness.

All three windows were blocked by thick curtains.

Swoosh!

When I pulled back the curtains, the cloudy sky was revealed.

Even though it was a gloomy sky, there was light. I quietly closed my grimoire and looked around the room that had regained its light.

A sigh involuntarily escaped.

“They’re……”

As expected, the room itself wasn’t particularly special except for the fireplace. It’s not a very large room by mansion standards.

But the odds and ends placed here would be special, at least in this mansion.

“Family photos.”

There were more than just one or two photos in antique frames. Easily dozens.

I thought it was strange that there wasn’t a single photo in this large mansion.

Considering Klaus Müller’s personality, I had guessed that he hadn’t taken any at all, but it seems that wasn’t the case. 

It seems he had collected all the photos from the entire mansion long ago and put them all in this room.

As evidence, Julia in the photos was young and bright.

Above all, there were three people.

Klaus Müller, Julia Müller, and a woman I didn’t know.

It wasn’t difficult to guess who that woman was.

“……”

I lowered my gaze.

Then, I moved my steps very slowly.

Unlike the first impression of being dark and gloomy, the interior of the room was extremely neat.

It was so clean that it was hard to find even a speck of dust. It looked quite cozy and seemed good for various uses, but in its current state, it looked like nothing more than a periodically maintained storage room.

I looked at each photo placed evenly on the floor and walls.

The people, scenery, and situations captured in the large and small frames were all different, but there was a common point.

They looked happy.

This was true regardless of whether the woman was lying in a sickbed or the child who looked like Julia had fallen down.

Among the frames, there were some that were exceptionally large.

There was a huge frame that came up to my waist.

It’s a family photo with the mansion entrance as the background.

There were nine similar ones, and I estimated that they had taken one each year.

I slowly walked and followed the flow of time.

From the first to the third photo, there were pictures of the couple holding a child.

From the fourth to the sixth photo, there were pictures brightly smiling child sitting in a chair with the couple standing next to her.

Changes occurred from the seventh photo.

The child was sitting in a wheelchair. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

The composition changed in the eighth photo. It was a photo of the father and daughter sitting next to a noticeably emaciated woman in the center.

In the last photo, the ninth, one person was missing.

It wasn’t just the people.

The vitality of the photo, the bright flowers that were vaguely visible, and even the child’s smile had disappeared.

Only the distance between the father and the child remained unchanged.

“……”

Is this why she told me not to enter?

I deeply regretted disobeying Julia’s request. It might be rather petty to have such thoughts now, but still.

There were no more family photos after that.

I occasionally saw separate photos of the father and child, and among them, I saw a face I knew.

After reconfirming several times whether it was indeed that old man I knew, a wry laugh escaped my lips.

“Benjamin.”

An old memory came to mind.

Julia had mentioned that once, but hearing it verbally and actually seeing it felt different.

Benjamin and Professor Klaus Müller. Who would have thought I’d confirm their friendship in this way?

Thinking it would be good to have a person’s testimony if possible, I opened my mouth towards the observer.

The person who had secretly entered through the open door and was watching.

“Head maid, did Benjamin often come to this mansion?”

“…He used to visit once every couple of months. Each time, he also spent time with the young lady.”

The voice came from behind.

Without bothering to turn around, I stood in front of the seventh family photo and quietly asked.

“Could I know this person’s name?”

Silence.

Then the answer came.

“Christine Müller, Mrs. Müller. She passed away about ten years ago……”

Thud.

I closed the door and left the room.

To me, who was prepared to accept any reproach, the head maid neither became indignant nor tried to rebuke me.

Instead, she locked the door and extracted one promise from me.

“Mr. Eugene.”

“Yes.” [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

“Please keep silent about what you saw inside. Especially when you’re with the master and the young lady.”

“…Is that enough?”

“As I said, I trust you, Mr. Eugene.”

When I nodded, the head maid was satisfied with that and withdrew to prepare dinner.

I also headed straight to Professor Müller’s study.

Didn’t he say I was free to browse the books in the mansion, including those in the study?

As he said, the study door was not locked.

In the dark study…

“The mana lamps…”

Even though I wanted to turn on the lights by snapping my fingers like he did, I couldn’t imitate it because I didn’t know the detailed structure of the lamps.

In the end, I had to turn on the lights by pressing each switch one by one.

After wandering around the bookshelves and carrying an armful of polarity magic studies books and papers, I soon settled in a corner.

Turning pages, marveling, and then searching for new books and papers again for hours.

During that time, I was able to understand a little bit about what kind of space this study was.

The study was spacious, and as it was my second visit following yesterday, I saw things I hadn’t seen before.

For example, there were bundles of papers here and there summarizing content scribbled by Klaus Müller himself or Benjamin, in addition to formally published papers and books.

Although the scale and organization were on a different level, the atmosphere of the study was not much different from Benjamin’s study.

What I’m looking at now was also part of that.

Deep in the study, near Klaus Müller’s desk, there was a bookshelf.

That bookshelf had a quite different atmosphere from its surroundings.

In the study that I thought was full of only magic studies-related books, there were also materials from other categories.

As I was skimming through book titles without much thought, I suddenly stopped breathing.

Pathology.

Causes of physical disabilities and their solutions.

Various medical books and even theories about assistive devices like wheelchairs.

“……”

I quietly sighed.

It felt like I had barged into the Müller family’s private history with muddy feet.

As I was inwardly flustered, unable to decide whether I should feel guilty about this fact or, as the head maid had advised, pretend not to have seen it this time as well…

Thud―

At the same time as the echoes were heard from far away, the mansion regained its quiet commotion.

That alone was enough to know.

Klaus Müller had returned.

Early evening. The dining room on the first floor of the mansion.

With Julia not yet returned from the University of Magic, I was feeling extremely tense there.

Clank―

Professor Müller, who broke the suffocating silence by putting down his cutlery, opened his mouth.

“Does the food not suit your taste?”

“Ah, no, that’s not it.”

“Please, eat.”

I wanted to do so. A truly appetizing aroma was wafting from the steak placed in front of me.

However, my arms simply wouldn’t listen.

It couldn’t be helped. As long as I was sitting face to face with my thesis advisor in his house, it was nearly impossible to fully concentrate on the meal…

After finishing such an incredibly awkward meal, I headed back to Professor Müller’s study with him.

“Sit down.”

“Yes.”

It was a similar flow to yesterday.

He said he would postpone the remaining conversation until today, and it seems he really meant it. It was almost the same atmosphere as yesterday when we were discussing my research.

It was strange. If it was just that, there was no need to have me stay at the mansion.

Even if it was an important conversation, it would probably be related to research, and that could be discussed sufficiently at the research institute.

Such expectations of mine were shattered in five seconds.

Klaus Müller said, taking off his monocle:

“Let’s continue the conversation we couldn’t finish yesterday. Two days ago, a letter came from the Empire.”

“…!” [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

“The sender is, of course, your father, Benjamin Oslo.”

“What was the content?”

“He said he might be able to return to the Federation soon.”

I opened my eyes wide.

I had forgotten.

That Professor Klaus Müller was one of the few people who could exchange letters with Benjamin.

I had heard similar things from the Chancellor of the University of Magic about half a year ago, but it wasn’t as specific as what he was conveying now.

Thump, thump.

As my heart rate increased, he opened his mouth once again.

“Listen calmly. It’s not that he’s returning right away. He said he could return in as short as three months, or as long as a year.”

“May I ask why it takes so long?”

“I don’t know the detailed circumstances either. It’s better to just know that it’s due to the unfavorable political situation.”

It felt like cold water was poured over me, but because the previous words were so hopeful, it wasn’t a big deal.

Rather, it helped me regain my composure.

I asked back.

“Is that all?”

“Yes. You can go back now. I’ll have a carriage prepared, so take that to return.”

“……”

The ring on Professor Müller’s hand, which was saying this, shone with a soft golden light.

What I had considered until yesterday as just ‘a ring serving as a grimoire’ had completely changed its meaning within me.

It was after I saw the woman in the photo wearing a ring just like that.

“……”

In the midst of a whirlwind of various emotions, I closed my eyes.

At times like this, what invariably serves as my guidepost is Benjamin’s words.

With my eyes closed, I recalled that night I had reminisced hundreds of times.

In my memory, Benjamin opens his mouth with a chuckle.

And I opened my eyes.

Klaus Müller. Benjamin’s fellow researcher, Julia’s father, and, at the same time, the one who became my teacher.

I see the huge emotional gap buried within him.

A terrible misunderstanding.

I recalled my position.

I’m nothing more than an outsider, not someone who can arbitrarily intervene in family matters.

But it was also uncomfortable to just quietly watch them, with nothing having changed for three years.

Just once.

If I could set up a place for dialogue just once, couldn’t something change?

Coincidentally, I had what could be called the best justification.

I opened my mouth.

“Professor. There’s something I’d like to request.”

“Explain the content and reason.”

“…Do you remember what I declared in front of you three years ago?”

The declaration of direction. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Do you remember the declaration I made that day, shouting that I would complete polarity magic studies, surpass you, and establish an eternally immortal theory?

Fortunately, it seems he hadn’t completely forgotten.

“You mean that empty boast?”

“It’s not an empty boast. Because I’m just about to achieve the first goal.”

Klaus Müller’s gaze intensified.

Amidst that, I continued speaking.

“If my idea is correct, I might be able to not only reveal the meaning of the Müller transformation in the near future but also achieve the connection between polarity magic studies and classical magic studies.”

“And?”

“But the idea isn’t complete enough for a paper yet. So I’d like to stay at the mansion for about three days and occasionally ask for your insights, if you would allow it?”