How to Live as a Genius Scholar in another World

Chapter 37 – The White Mage (6)

#Only READ at DarkstarTranslations

—–CROW—– 

“Done!” Francesca announced as I returned to the Mutarat’s Children with my mental state in shambles.  I looked at the robe spread out before me and couldn’t help but admire her work.

“Wow… It’s amazing…”

“Hee hee.”

My response was weak, drained from scrubbing myself clean in the bathhouse and doing laundry back at our inn, but Francesca seemed satisfied. It was a robe worthy of such a reaction.

“It looked a bit plain, so I added some embroidery! I used black thread, so it won’t be noticeable in the dark!”

As Francesca said, the plain black bathrobe-like garment had been transformed. It was now a long cloak and an inner robe, with stylish folds and black embroidery.

At first glance, it looked like an ordinary, albeit stylish robe, but closer inspection revealed the meticulous craftsmanship.

“Thanks, Francesca. I really like it.”

“I made it well because I was thinking of you wearing it.”

I hugged Francesca and kissed her cheek in gratitude. She smiled shyly.

“Oh, I also made gloves with the leftover fabric. Try them on. I heard some people can identify you just by your hand shape.”

“Hee hee.  I have to wear gloves anyway because of my skin color, even if there aren’t any hand-readers around.”

I tried on the black gloves Francesca gave me. They fit perfectly.

“Wow, a perfect fit.  How did you know my size?”

“How? I’ve touched your hands several times.”

No, how could you know from *that*? I had fondled her breasts plenty of times, but I still couldn’t guess her size.

As I mentally awarded Francesca another victory in the “Dwarf Cheat Abilities” competition, she looked at my attire and asked,

“Didn’t you bring your armor? I made this robe so you can wear it over your armor. I wanted to see how it looked.”

“It still smells.  I need to buy some deodorizer or learn some magic.”

“Huh? Nord, you’re going to learn magic too?”

“If I can.”

I tried on the finished robe. Francesca helped me put it on, but it wasn’t difficult to wear on my own.  I stood in front of the mirror, fully dressed.

The mirror in Francesca’s room was made of metal.  It was a common item in this world.

“It looks good on you, Nord!”

“Hee hee. Of course it does.  You made it.  What about the mask?”

“Oh, can you wait a little longer for the mask? It’s my first time carving, so it took some time to get used to it.”

“…Isn’t that it?”

I pointed to the cloth spread out on the bed. The wooden mask next to the sawdust and carving tools was almost finished.

“Yes! I just need to paint it, let it dry, attach the cloth so you can wear it on your head, and add some embroidery! But it takes time to dry, so you can probably try it on tomorrow morning.”

“So the one day you mentioned included drying time.”

“Hee hee. I gave myself some extra time. I’ve never applied dye to a mask before. I don’t know how long it takes to dry completely.”

Fixing the robe and making a mask in just half a day? Francesca’s skill was becoming truly impressive.

“Move around in the robe. Tell me if it’s uncomfortable anywhere.”

“Okay.”

I put on the robe’s hood and looked at myself in the bronze mirror. It looked a bit like a cosplay outfit, but the high quality made it quite stylish.

“Vector—Speak Sternly.”

I activated the Earth Hero’s secret technique. It was a higher-level skill than “Vector—Deepen Voice.”

With this stern voice, rivaling that of a professional voice actor, the dark hero in the mirror exuded an overwhelming aura.

Damn, I could make a killing filming a tokusatsu show in this world.  But the communication technology here was shit.  Fucking flying letters as the fastest form of communication.

“Hmm. I should choose a pseudonym. …How about Arthur Wayne?”

“Arthur Wayne?”

Francesca, wearing work gloves and applying dye to the mask, murmured the name a few times, then giggled.

“Arthur Wayne. It has a nice ring to it. Suits you, Nord.”

I spent a moment wondering if Francesca’s assessment was a compliment or not. It was a compliment, right?

“So, Arthur? How about this for the mask?”

Francesca, having finished painting the mask and attaching a handle to the back, asked. The white beast mask exuded an untouchable charisma.

“Perfect.”

“I’m glad you like it.  So I’ll finish it like this?”

“Please do. How much longer will it take?”

“Hmm, let me see. After it dries, I need to attach the cloth so the dye doesn’t rub off… so if I finish painting this and do the rest tomorrow… it should be… done.”

Francesca’s words trailed off. The reason was that I had started taking off my clothes.

—*Whoosh.*

“I’ll wait. Take your time.”

“…I-I’ll finish quickly.”

Despite her words, Francesca kept glancing at my naked body, slowing down her work. But she managed to finish it that day.

And we thoroughly enjoyed the sex we had started earlier that afternoon.

***

The next day, fully equipped in my costume, I arrived at the Mage’s Guild.

“I expected a tower, following the conventions of this world.”

I spoke aloud to practice my Vector—Speak Sternly technique.

I had assumed the Mage’s Guild would be a magical-looking tower.  But the actual building was surprisingly normal.

‘It looks like a university campus. Triggering my PTSD.’

Guards stood at the iron gates of the guild, and a green lawn was visible beyond.  The guild occupied a large area.

—*Whoosh.*

A gust of wind blew, causing my cloak to billow dramatically.  The sight made some passing adventurers gulp.

—Hey, did you see that guy in black? He looks fucking scary.

—Shut up, asshole! What if he hears you?!

“Why, though?”

I muttered in a stern voice.  It looked cool to me. I hadn’t expected it to be intimidating.

‘Better than being underestimated, I guess?’

I decided to think that way.  A robe could look like anything from a padded jacket to a suit, depending on the quality.  A well-made robe with good fabric was a suit, but a poorly made one was a padded jacket.

If you just wore any old robe, you could end up looking like you were wearing a padded jacket to the convenience store because you were too lazy to get dressed.

Anyway, as long as I didn’t look like a pushover, it was fine. I checked that my brooch was properly fastened and approached the guards.

“Excuse me. I am—”

Just as I was about to state my business, showing my brooch,

“Thief! Surrender!  Hiyaah!”

“Huh?”

A guard’s spear flew towards me, accompanied by a battle cry.

*Swish!*

A swift three-pronged attack!  The spear had no blade, but it aimed for my throat, solar plexus, and balls!!  If I got hit, I would become a breathless eunuch!

The completely unexpected attack almost made me lose my mind, but my reflexes, honed by repeated battles, kicked in.

“Shadow Heaven Style, Jade Stream!!!!”

*Clang!!*

I quickly drew my sword and deflected the spear.  Three-pronged attack my ass, it was still just one spear!  If I knocked it away, the multiple strikes were meaningless!

“Ugh! As expected of a thief, his strength is unusual!”

“But can he defeat the three of us?!”

“Consider yourself lucky we’re not authorized to kill! Thief!”

As I deflected the attack, the other guards rushed forward, aiming their spears at me.  I was dumbfounded.

“You fucking crippled bastards, who are you calling a thief?!”

I didn’t know what kind of misunderstanding they were under, but the only thing I had ever stolen in my life was a classmate’s Zetti chocolate milk powder in elementary school!!

I had been robbed, but I had never robbed anyone!!

I remembered the Digivice I had brought to the school sports day! The legendary Golden Digivice! The miracle item that could turn an ugly Guilmon into a Dukemon!

The ugly face of my classmate, the prime suspect in the Digivice theft, overlapped with the faces of these guards!

Overwhelmed by the resurfacing trauma, I pleaded desperately,

“Guards! I am not a thief!”

“Hah!  What thief would admit to being a thief?!”

“He knows we’re crippled! His information network is impressive!”

“Receive the secret technique of the Sargardis Guards, Three Men, One Spear!!”

“Oh, fuck.”

There was no room for conversation.  Didn’t they do background checks when hiring guards?

“Stop right there, you city guard scum!!”

I prepared to activate Beast Regression.  Fighting three against one, especially against trained guards, without magic was suicide!

If I fought back, I would end up being treated like a real thief.  Because of these assholes, my anaconda was about to become King Ghidorah!

“《To the Sky God (yáǵeswō)》—”

“That’s enough.”

A mage from inside the guild intervened, stopping the imminent clash. He was a gray-haired man with dark circles under his eyes, wearing a shabby robe.

“But, Mage-nim?”

“You must be a visitor. An archaeologist, I presume?”

The mage said, looking at my brooch. This brooch was like a university jacket; only an idiot wouldn’t recognize it. In other words, these guards were idiots.

“Huh?  You mean the thief?”

“A thief archaeologist… a tomb raider?”

The three idiots displayed a fatal blue screen of death in their brains. Like a glitched programming code, they were stuck on “How can he be a thief *and* an archaeologist??”

“Thank you for your assistance.  These gentlemen seem to have focused so much on physical training that their minds have suffered.”

I used the passive skill of an educated otherworldly person, “Look Down on the Uneducated.” The guards’ faces immediately soured.

It was effective. People who worked with their bodies often had an inferiority complex about their education. I wouldn’t normally act like this, but it was fine with these three idiots.

And in this kind of situation, Vector—Speak Sternly was very effective.

“Why the long faces?  Are you upset?  If you’re not happy, come at me.  Come to Carmine. I’ll knock your teeth out. And also, I’m good at lawsuits.”

“…Please enter, scholar-nim.”

Idiots.

I didn’t know why they had mistaken me for a thief, but they had attacked me without warning, so they deserved to be treated like idiots.

Attacking my throat and solar plexus for restraint was one thing, but the balls?  Just because they were brain-dead didn’t mean they should try to make me a eunuch too.

“I’ll be filing a formal complaint about this later, so expect to be reprimanded.”

“…Yes.”

“Tsk, tsk.”

I clicked my tongue and entered the Mage’s Guild grounds.

After confirming my identity, I went inside, and the mage who had helped me disappeared somewhere. I wanted to thank him, but it was a shame.

Left alone, I was briefly lost, then entered the nearest building. It looked like the reception area.

“Welcome.”

A nerdy-looking guy with glasses, looking incredibly stressed, sat at the counter.  He looked like someone who had spent his whole life studying and was now working as a teaching assistant to pay off his student loans.

Why was I making such harsh judgments at first glance? Because the moment he saw me, his expression clearly said, “Oh, fuck, more work.” That fucker, frowning and everything.

I didn’t want to waste time talking to assholes.  I got straight to the point.

“I’m an archaeologist from Carmine University.  I’m here today to consult with the Mage’s Guild.”

“…Carmine University, you say?”

“Is there a problem?”

“No, sir.”

The bespectacled man adjusted his posture slightly after hearing my affiliation.  It wasn’t because he was intimidated by the university’s reputation, but because he wanted to avoid any trouble. Mages were smart.

“May I see your identification, please?”

“Here you go.”

He took my brooch, placed it on some kind of magical device, and verified it.  He cleared his throat and returned the brooch.

“Confirmed.  What brings you here today?”

“I’m seeking advice on the history and symptoms of a magic I discovered in a ruin.  I suspect it’s magic from the Erin era or even earlier, comparable to prehistoric magic.”

“Understood.  I’ll call the specialist.”

I waited in the waiting room for a short while. Soon, a mage who appeared to be a guide appeared.

“I’ll show you the way. This way, please.”

—–CROW—– 

#Only READ at DarkstarTranslations