I Became a Magical Genius After Regression

Chapter 23

When he went to the reception room, Manwellin was waiting.

The atmosphere was not good for some reason.

Usually, even when he pretended to be serious, he couldn’t hide his lively nature.

“Welcome.”

“Yes, good morning.”

“It’s nothing special, I just called you to introduce someone.”

“Who is it?”

“My younger sibling. The young lord of this territory, and the person you will serve from now on.”

At Manwellin’s words, Randel nodded inwardly.

It was a bit different from what he had expected on the way, but the young lord was someone he had to meet eventually.

“Ah… then I should meet him. Where is he?”

“Follow me.”

Randell walked down the corridor following Manwellin.

Through the window in the corridor, the sound of shouts could be heard.

Looking that way, he saw knights training with trainees in the training ground.

“Even in this cold weather, everyone is working hard… huh?”

Behind the knights, attendants were standing holding a screen.

Underneath it was a small boy, probably the younger lord Manwellin had mentioned.

But there was something unusual.

“Is it uncomfortable to watch?”

Manwellin asked.

He seemed to know why he was asking.

The young lord was sitting in a wheelchair, unable to use his legs.

“Hmm…”

Randell let out a small sigh.

It wasn’t a big deal for a noble’s son to have a physical disability.

But only if it wasn’t in this territory.

Here, the northern winter is cold and harsh. Moreover, monsters frequently appear, so physical strength is naturally emphasized.

In other words, a lord with charisma is needed.

But with that appearance…

“His legs are not good. Is it a temporary injury, or is it permanent?”

“Permanent.”

“Was it congenital?”

“No, he fell from a high place when he was young. I should have watched him better…”

Manwellin’s self-reproachful muttering made Randell shrug.

He had heard that Manwellin in his previous life also had physical discomfort, but he didn’t know it was to the extent that he couldn’t walk.

‘But what does it matter.’

Randell said calmly.

“I don’t mind.”

“Really?”

“I’ve seen so many people with something wrong with them that it doesn’t really affect me anymore.”

Randel’s longest job in his previous life was as a mercenary.

Mercenaries were, in a way, a gathering place for the disabled.

They spent their days slashing at each other and hunting ferocious monsters, so it was rare for anyone to retire normally.

Missing a few fingers or an eye wasn’t even considered a disability.

You had to lose a leg or an arm for people to think, ‘Ah, this guy’s life must be a bit inconvenient.’

‘Even then, they all lived well with prosthetic legs and eye patches… The young lord has plenty of money, so it’s much better.’

Then Manwellin spoke softly.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Everyone says that, but their expressions were rotten. But you seem genuine.”

“You can believe me.”

“I believe you, hahaha.”

Manwellin kept laughing, seemingly pleased about something.

In fact, half the reason Manwellin was so obsessed with the position of knight and the sword was because of his younger brother.

Of course, he didn’t like the idea of a political marriage, but if he had to, he could do it.

But what would happen to his brother if he got married and moved to another territory?

As mentioned, the North respected strong individuals.

If his disabled brother became the lord, it would be hard to earn the vassals’ loyalty, so Manwellin wanted to become a knight to support him.

‘You live a tough life too.’

Randel shook his head and followed Manwellin.

Since the lord’s mansion wasn’t big, they quickly reached the training ground.

“Ahem.”

Manwellin cleared his throat as he approached.

Then the young lord and the attendants looked this way.

The young lord smiled brightly when he saw Manwellin.

“Sister! You’re here?”

“Yes. Narden, what were you doing?”

“I was just watching the trainees’ training. They’re the people I’ll be leading in the future.”

“That’s a good attitude.”

“But it’s what my father said.”

So-youngju answered, twisting her body as if embarrassed.

Since he was a pretty boy, it was quite a cute sight, but Randel couldn’t help but give a bitter smile.

‘He’s not material for a lord.’

Seeing it this way, even if there hadn’t been a territorial war, this territory might have fallen anyway.

No, maybe it wouldn’t have, thanks to Manwellin?

Randel organized his thoughts and stepped forward.

“Young Lord, nice to meet you. My name is Randel.”

* * *

There are three main ways to become a knight.

The first is to learn swordsmanship from a knightly master and awaken mana.

The second is to achieve merit or prove one’s skills.

The third and most common way is to enter the knight order as a trainee and receive training.

But it wasn’t easy.

In the first place, the knights themselves had bad personalities.

So, training under them, giving up everything, was quite tough.

They called it a trainee, but in reality, it was practically a servant slave.

Nielsen was one of those trainees.

“Nielsen, you’re training hard again today.”

“My skills are lacking, so if I don’t do this, it’s tough. Thank you for the encouragement, Sir Knight.”

“Yes, your posture has improved a lot, so keep it up.”

“Yes, sir!”

Eighteen-year-old Nielsen had spent most of his teenage years as a trainee.

His father, who ran a small merchant group in the territory, had sent him in as a connection, but Nielsen was sincere.

Since he wasn’t the eldest son, he wouldn’t inherit the merchant group anyway, so if he didn’t become a knight, he would be penniless.

Nielsen had no intention of ending his life that way.

So he worked hard and became the best among the trainees.

Sometimes, he even received praise from the knights like this.

“But I don’t see Trainee Fallon?”

“Fallon… returned to his hometown two days ago.”

“Why? He had quite promising qualities.”

“He said it was too hard, that he couldn’t endure it.”

“Good grief, why are trainees these days so weak-willed? This is already the third one this year.”

“I will work harder to make up for their share.”

“Alright, I’ll be watching.”

“Thank you.”

Nielsen said with a sly smile.

The secret to becoming the best among the trainees wasn’t just in his skills.

In fact, Fallon had to rush back to his hometown because something happened to his parents.

They were attacked by assailants… of course, they were hired by Nielsen’s father.

Others had similar fates.

Suddenly falling off a horse and getting injured, getting food poisoning, having something happen at home, and so on.

‘If I’m going to do it, I might as well be the best.’

He planned to become a knight as quickly as possible, gain influence, then drive out his brother and take over his father’s merchant guild.

The ultimate goal was to grow the guild and become a noble.

‘But lately, things haven’t been going well.’

So far, everything had been smooth.

In just a few more years, he would be knighted.

But recently, things had started to go wrong.

The attention that had been showered on him as the promising talent of the territory suddenly stopped one day.

From the knights to the lady he admired, Lady Manwellin, everyone was looking at just one person.

It was the mage, Randell.

‘No, he’s not even a mage.’

Can you even call a 1-circle mage a mage?

A 1-circle mage was useless. They could only make fire or water.

They were just people who could be killed with a single slash of a sword.

‘He said he caught a hobgoblin? Nonsense.’

Even he couldn’t guarantee victory against a hobgoblin.

Moreover, hobgoblins always had goblins with them.

How could a 1-circle mage catch that?

Then there was only one conclusion.

‘Someone must have killed him and just cut off his head.’

There was no other way to explain it.

‘That swindler b*stard…’

He couldn’t bear the injustice when he thought that a lowly commoner had cheated and taken all the attention.

‘I want to teach him a lesson, but there’s no way.’

But the opponent was a fledgling wizard.

There had to be some point of contact to pick a fight and steal the attention, but there was no chance to meet.

So, he spent his days just swallowing his anger.

That’s what he thought, but…

An opportunity came.

“My name is Randel, young lord.”

The guy appeared at the morning training of the trainees that the young lord was observing.

Even the knight who was teaching the trainees stopped the training and looked at him.

Everyone wanted to see what the rumored wizard boy looked like.

Nielsen instinctively realized that the time had come.

And he stepped forward and said.

“Young lord! I have something to say!”

* * *

“Are you the wizard I’ve only heard about? Nice to meet you.”

The young lord seemed genuinely pleased, not just saying it.

It seemed that it was just his personality rather than recognizing Randel’s value.

‘For a noble, he has a peculiar personality. Very good.’

Not all nobles were rude and cruel.

But the probability was about one in twenty.

It was fortunate for Randel and his family that these few were the lord and the young lord of this territory.

“You’ve been watching the training.”

“I come by sometimes. Watching the trainees makes me feel reassured.”

He said that, but it seemed he was envious of the trainees of his age who could move freely.

But then it happened.

“Young Lord! I have something to say!”

Someone ran out from the trainees’ side and spoke.

It was a brown-haired boy, and the knights who were teaching him looked flustered, as if it was an unexpected action.

‘This territory’s strengths and weaknesses are showing at the same time.’

Randell chuckled as he watched the scene.

In another territory, no one would dare to do such a thing in front of the young lord.

Instead, it shows how flexible and deeply bonded they are. The young lord even knows the name of a mere trainee.

“Nielsen, it’s been a while. What’s the matter?”

“First, I apologize for my rudeness to the young lord.”

“It’s okay. Go ahead.”

“It’s just that I heard that this person is the wizard who caught the Hobgoblin.”

“That’s right, I heard the same.”

“I was so filled with respect when I heard the rumor. So, I personally want to witness the magic. Would you allow it?”

The young lord had a puzzled expression at those words.

Usually, when trainees say things like that, they mean they want to spar.

But if it’s a spar, does he mean to fight a 1st-circle wizard with a sword?

He wouldn’t stand a chance.

Or does he genuinely want to see the magic?

“What do you mean by that?”

“I want to show how a knight responds to a wizard. Since you learned magic on your own, shouldn’t you experience it once?”

Manwellin, who had been quietly listening, laughed out loud.

Wasn’t it an intention to humiliate that genius in front of everyone?

‘Did they cross the line because we were too lenient?’

What made Manwellin even angrier was the attitude of the knights next to him.

They didn’t stop the trainee they were teaching from doing this.

The intention was clear.

They were uncomfortable with such a wizard becoming a topic of conversation in a territory where the knights held significant influence.

Even though the wizard was still a fledgling, who knows what the future holds?

Of course, Manwellin, as a knight, had also subtly sensed such an atmosphere while training together.

But he didn’t expect it to be this blatant.

‘These b*stards…!’

Just as Manwellin, whose insides were boiling, was about to step forward.

Randell stepped forward first.

“This looks fun.”

Everyone looked at Randell at those words.

“Randell, what are you saying…? Maybe later, but not now. You’re still in the 1st Circle, aren’t you?”

“I know.”

“Then why are you doing this? I’ll make sure to warn this guy properly. I want to see how big his guts are.”

Manwellin glared at Nielson with cold eyes.

Nielson broke into a cold sweat at Manwellin’s reaction, which was sharper than he had expected.

But he couldn’t back down here.

He gritted his teeth and spoke even louder.

“Isn’t it different if he’s a genius? I will only defend, not attack!”

“Shut that mouth!”

Manwellin, who usually joked around with the trainees, growled seriously, and Nielson shut his mouth.

If he went any further, he might get kicked out.

But fortunately, Nielson’s provocation wasn’t completely ineffective.

“I’m really okay.”

“…?”

“From the moment I arrived here, I didn’t like the way he was glaring at me.”

Randell said with a sly smile.

It was an event that had to pass at some point anyway.