Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

When people are overwhelmed by shock, their bodies freeze up. It was a fact I first realized in a collapsing mine shaft

I didn’t expect to feel that realization again in this way.

“Uh.”

I blinked, frozen in the position of having just flung open the front door.

For a moment, I thought I had come to the wrong house, but no matter how I looked at it, this was definitely the Oslo family’s home at 15 Kram Street.

So, to describe the current situation in one line, it was like this:

There was a stranger in the living room.

No, to be precise, it wasn’t a stranger.

That red hair, those passionate eyes, and that toned physique were undoubtedly of Professor Louise from the University of Magic.

I had to correct my description.

Professor Louise Ehrlich was in the living room.

“…”

Why is the professor in the living room?

More importantly, why is she half-naked?

I was in the middle of using my brain to its fullest capacity to understand the situation, even forgetting to breathe.

“Who’s there?”

Louise looked in my direction.

…Without even thinking of covering her naked body.

The hastily thrown-on robe had already lost its function as clothing.

I immediately closed my eyes, and thinking that wasn’t enough, I covered them with one hand.

After barely managing to close the front door, I pleaded:

“Could you please put on some proper clothes…?”

However.

“What’s this? Why does a boy have our house key?”

Far from screaming or moving away, Louise started striding towards me.

I was so startled that I tried to run away, only to be blocked by the front door.

“Um, excuse me?”

“Oh. A face I’ve seen somewhere… Ah.”

Louise exclaimed as if she remembered.

“50 points?”

Simultaneously.

“Sister! What on earth are you doing?!”

Lena’s scream filled the entire house.

“Eugene, cover your eyes properly!”

Soon after, I heard the sound of Lena stomping and dragging Louise upstairs.

My legs gave out.

I crouched down at the entrance, almost collapsing, and opened my eyes. Keeping them closed only made that modest figure unconsciously appear in my mind.

I’ll admit it. My imagination is unnecessarily wild.

It’s the spring of my 20th year.

I suppose these things can happen.

In conclusion, Louise Ehrlich was indeed the same person as Louise, the eldest daughter of the Oslo family.

“Phew, sorry about that. So you’re Eugene. I showed you something you shouldn’t have seen.”

At dinner time.

Louise, now properly dressed, laughed heartily at the table. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

One of her arms was casually draped over my shoulder.

This implied two facts: that Louise was a tall person, close to 5’ 10”, and that despite my desperate refusal, she had ultimately claimed the seat next to me.

“Haha…”

I laughed awkwardly and averted my gaze.

I couldn’t look straight ahead. That’s because Lena was glaring at me with fierce eyes.

Whether she knew or was oblivious to such distress, Louise kept patting my shoulder and continued speaking.

“You see, in a house with five women… I heard the news that a boy had newly joined, but it’s been so long since I came home that I forgot and acted as usual. It was my routine to wander around the living room without clothes after taking a bath.”

“Sister… What on earth are you talking about?”

“Lena. Don’t look at me with those eyes. You know, to get close to someone quickly, you need to share an intimate story or two.”

Louise said this and looked at me.

“Right?”

An expression that seemed to embody the phrase ‘staring intently.’

…But if I answered even slightly wrong, I felt like tomorrow morning, there might be something other than tea leaves in my teacup, so I vaguely brushed off the answer.

Besides being awkward…

Even without talking to me, she seemed to have a lot to catch up on with the rest of the family.

Susan was the first to speak up.

“Louise. Have you moved out of the faculty dormitory?”

“No. The semester has started, so I just dropped by to see the family. I’m planning to stay just for one night.”

“Still, try to come at least once a week. I’ll forget what my daughter looks like.”

“Haha, alright. The research I was busy with is almost done, so I’ll visit often.”

Despite everything, I suppose this is what it means to be the eldest daughter.

Looking at her like this, she seemed quite dependable.

“…”

…Although she was still using me as an armrest.

The pleasant dinner time continued.

There was an age gap of nearly ten years between Louise, the eldest, and Lena, the third child.

Despite her harsh words, it seemed Lena relied on her quite a bit. From the middle of the meal, instead of getting angry, Lena started consulting about work-related matters and sharing minor worries.

While listening to their conversation, I whispered to Susan.

The twins weren’t at the table.

“Where are Ellie and Sally?”

“I put them to bed early. They both love Louise too much.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to let them meet her then?”

“It’s not just ordinary love. Sally might be okay, but Ellie would probably chatter all night long by Louise’s side.”

Is their affection that deep?

Well.

I glanced at Louise and reaffirmed.

The intimidating presence I felt during her lectures at the University of Magic was gone, replaced by the atmosphere of a friendly older sister.

Right. I had forgotten, but come to think of it, I’m currently dining with a professor.

Isn’t being treated as an armrest better than being so tense that I can’t tell if the food is going into my mouth or nose?

“Hahaha!”

Every time Louise laughed heartily, a faint smile appeared on my face, too.

It was somewhat similar to Benjamin’s laughter, I’d say. Unlike my first impression, it was full of rough warmth.

Right. The first impression was the problem. That still puzzled me.

“Ah.”

Speaking of Benjamin, I remembered.

There was one thing I wanted to ask Louise.

“Professor.”

“Call me Big Sis.”

“…Big Sis Louise. There’s something I’m curious about.”

Louise made an expression as if asking ‘What is it?’

That expression was so comical that I ended up asking in a light tone.

“Are you married?”

“Huh?”

“What?”

“What did you say?”

Only after silence descended on the pleasant dinner time did I finally realize that my question had been too abrupt.

“Oh, my name?”

After dinner, Louise, who had finally understood the true meaning of my question, burst into laughter.

“Ahaha! You should have just asked like that!”

Seeing her laugh to the point of shedding tears, I felt my face burning with embarrassment.

After a bout of laughter, Louise, still with a flushed face, said:

“Alright. Eugene. Shall we go to my room and talk?”

“What?”

“My room. On the second floor.”

Louise casually gestured towards the stairs.

The second floor.

Since I started living in the storage room, I hardly ever went up there, and even if I did, I had never entered anyone’s room.

Given Lena’s presence, who extremely disliked others―especially me―entering her room, the second floor naturally became a forbidden floor for me.

Before nodding, I glanced at Lena.

Lena, sitting at the table with her arms crossed, still had a sulky expression, but when our eyes met, she quickly turned her head away.

“You don’t need my permission, you know?”

“Well. Still.”

“…Just don’t enter my room.”

After receiving her “permission,” I followed Louise up the stairs.

“Here. Come in. It’s a bit messy, though.”

Louise’s room was right in front of the stairs.

The room’s appearance was, to put it simply, quite disorderly.

There’s no way Susan, with her meticulous personality, would have left the room in this state. This meant that Louise had managed to make such a mess in just a few hours.

Entering the room, I tried to ignore the underwear scattered on the floor as I closed the door.

Louise naturally sat on the only chair, crossing her legs, while I searched for a place to sit and eventually perched on the edge of the bed.

Brushing her hair back, Louise slowly opened her lips.

“You’re curious about why I’m Louise Ehrlich instead of Louise Oslo, right?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. Where should I start…”

Louise stroked her chin. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

“Eugene. Since you came all the way from the Empire to study magic, I assume without a doubt that you aspire to be a magic scholar, right?”

I answered somewhat seriously.

“You absolutely must not tell anyone that.”

“Of course not. Anyway, do you remember what I said in our first meeting?”

The first meeting of the class.

I remembered.

“Magic is a vector, and direction is important. Things like that?”

“Yes. That’s exactly why I’m Louise Ehrlich. Besides, I’m not married yet, you know? A young 29 years old.”

Regardless of the added comment, I thought slowly.

What does direction have to do with her name?

Fortunately, Louise continued her explanation.

“Actually, I could have easily become Louise Oslo. But I decided to keep my former surname, Ehrlich.”

Former surname.

“Don’t ask for details. As you know, it’s our unspoken rule not to ask about things before becoming family.”

I nodded carefully.

Louise, regaining her smile, waved her hand with a grin.

“Well, I’ve turned this conversation serious, but the reason is actually simple. I wanted to make a name for myself as a magic scholar, but there was already an ‘Oslo’ in the academe.”

“Ah.”

As soon as I heard that, the face of a certain old man immediately came to mind.

Benjamin Oslo. Self-proclaimed outdated theoretical magic scholar.

…But it still didn’t quite make sense.

Were there any formulas or effects with the name Oslo attached to them?

Since he was the type to never boast about himself, even though I was Benjamin’s apprentice, I didn’t know at all what kind of research Benjamin had done.

When I said that, Louise looked surprised instead.

“Eugene. Don’t you know what Benjamin’s achievements are?”

“Embarrassingly, no.”

“That stupid old man… You’ll naturally come to know even if I don’t tell you. Anyway, if I had been Louise Oslo, even if I had left significant achievements, people wouldn’t be able to distinguish whether it was Benjamin or Louise, right?”

Louise grinned.

What was reflected in those eyes was undoubtedly passion and ambition.

“I’m going to leave my own footprint in history.”

“…”

“You might think I’m ungrateful. But this is my desire and the direction I want to go.”

She looked at me straight in the eye.

“Eugene. As I said in class, I’ll emphasize it again. If you’re going to live as a magic scholar, it’s good to firmly establish your own direction.”

“Direction, you say.”

“Yes. Because this is a world where it’s easy to lose your way.”

Direction.

As my contemplation deepened, Louise chuckled. Apparently, she didn’t want to let the mood sink.

With a thud…

Louise placed both hands on my shoulders and said:

“You can take your time thinking about it. I’m going to publish a paper soon, you know? This time, I’m going to engrave my name in history, so watch closely.”

“…Haha. I’ll look forward to it.”

“Mm!”

Louise laughed heartily.

A few weeks later, a paper was completed under Louise’s name.

The title of the paper was “A Study on the Influence of Magic Fields on Radiation.”

Since it hasn’t been officially published yet, it’s uncertain whether this paper will leave her mark on the history of magic studies. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

However, one thing was certain.

There was a noticeable increase in auditing students in the [Type II Magic Practice] course I was taking.

To exaggerate a bit, it was so crowded there was barely room to stand.

Red hair fluttered in front of the blackboard filled with writing.

Seeing scenes like this makes me predict arbitrarily. Perhaps in the near future, Louise’s direction will bear fruit.

“Now, if you look at the next page―”

I imagine such things.