Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

Knock, knock, knock—

Sally gently knocked on the door with her tiny hand.

It was Lena’s room.

If it were the room she shared with her twin sister, she would have flung the door open without knocking, but with Lena, it was different.

Sally knew that Lena, who had finished her graduation ceremony, was living an even busier life than when she was a student.

The door opened quickly.

“Who… Oh, Sally?”

“Lena, can I come in?”

She asked carefully, implying whether Lena was busy now.

Fortunately, unlike Ellie, Lena showed the generosity of an elder.

Lena, who had wrapped a cute bear-patterned blanket around Sally’s shoulders like a cape, smiled gently.

“Come in.”

“…Wow.”

Unlike Ellie, Sally wasn’t the type to roam around the Oslo family home.

She only moved between her room, the kitchen, and the living room, rarely entering other people’s rooms.

That’s why she couldn’t help but be surprised the moment she crouched on Lena’s bed.

There were so many dolls.

Every time she turned her head, she saw big and small teddy bears. There was even one as tall as Sally when seated.

“…Woooow.”

Although she preferred books to dolls, that didn’t mean she disliked dolls.

Sally’s mouth slowly opened.

Unable to bear the sight, Lena sat on the edge of the bed and chuckled.

“Want to hug one of the dolls?”

Nod, nod.

“Pick one. There are more on the shelf in the back.”

Indeed, there were cute dolls lined up on the back shelf as well.

After pondering for a while, Sally chose the doll she liked the most and hugged it tightly. A cute rabbit doll.

Lena’s expression then changed to something indescribable.

How should I put it, an expression mixed half with embarrassment and half with shyness?

“S-Sally?”

“…?”

“How about that one instead of that doll? The huge teddy bear. It would be super soft to hug.”

“…I like this one.”

The white, fluffy fur was soft. It also smelled nice, so Sally had no desire to hug another bear doll.

Finally, Lena, looking as if she had given up on something, spoke again.

“So, Sally. You have something to say, right?”

“Ah.”

She had forgotten.

Recalling her original purpose, Sally asked the usual question.

Lena responded with a serious expression.

“You’re asking if I’m a genius?”

“…Yes.”

“Some might say so. Why are you suddenly curious about this?”

To Lena, who agreed so readily, Sally explained the whole story with her clumsy words. The incident from a week ago, not being able to read books anymore, the differences between Ellie and herself, and such things.

Then Lena frowned and muttered. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

“What a terrible person.”

“…?”

“No, don’t worry about it.”

Lena patted Sally’s head once and spoke again.

“If life were a race, a genius could be said to be someone who can run faster than anyone else. What do you think, Sally?”

“I can’t run fast.”

“Yes. There are plenty of people who are slow runners and many who just walk.”

“Then… what should I do?”

In Sally’s view, she was undoubtedly one of the ‘walking people.’ Her actions were slow, and she liked to read the same books over and over again.

Would she be left behind forever?

It was when she hugged the rabbit doll tighter in anxiety.

Lena answered as if it were obvious.

“What should you do? Just keep moving forward, whether you walk or run. Where you’re heading is much more important than how fast you’re going.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. And from what I can see, Sally, you’re doing very well.”

Is that really true?

Although it was a warm statement, it seemed that something still remained unresolved in her heart, even with Lena’s logic.

As she was enjoying the feel of the rabbit doll for a while…

Suddenly, she became curious.

She must have thought a lot to come up with such a clear answer. Then, what is Lena running towards now?

“Lena.”

“Yes?”

Sally, who had called her name for no reason, walked briskly across the bed to Lena’s desk.

“Oh, wait.”

Ignoring Lena’s attempt to stop her, she scanned what was on the desk.

The open notebook was filled with difficult words like ‘Eastern Telegraph Bureau Business Expansion Plan,’ ‘Investment Plan,’ ‘Plan for Establishing a Research Foundation in Frauzen,’ and so on.

Next to the notebook, a book was neatly placed upright.

Sally read its title.

“52 Solutions for Shy Children…”

“Ugh.”

What’s this?

There was even a bookmark stuck in the middle.

“Um, Sally? Can you leave now?”

When she turned around, Lena, whose face had turned completely red, was trying to send her out while pretending to be composed.

It was a completely different appearance from when she was giving advice, as if she had mastered life just a moment ago.

Looking at that, Sally smiled mischievously like her twin sister.

Lena is most natural when she’s flustered, after all.

Sally, heading to the storage room downstairs to consult another genius, stopped right in front of the door.

The door was slightly opened.

Eugene rarely closed his door. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

When she had asked before, he would say something like, ‘Still, an open space is better,’ which was hard for Sally, who liked cozy spaces, to understand.

As always, she peeked inside through the half-open door gap.

And discovered Eugene sitting at his desk, deeply immersed in reading a very thick book.

“…!”

Reading such a thick book.

He must surely be an incredible bookworm.

Sally retreated and quietly moved away from the storage room.

As an avid reader herself, she couldn’t tolerate interrupting someone during reading.

In the end, unable to get Eugene’s answer, she finally headed towards Susan, who was knitting on the sofa.

Plopping down next to Susan, she opened her mouth.

“…You know.”

“What is it, Sally?”

Sally explained the whole story again, as she had done with Lena. Having consulted and spoken about it several times already, her tone was somewhat dry.

Susan listened to all of it attentively.

“…What do you think?”

“Hmm…”

After a moment of silence, Susan didn’t answer.

Instead, she put down her knitting and hugged Sally.

“You’ve been struggling a lot, haven’t you?”

As Susan said this while patting her shoulder, Sally felt her heart ease in a strangely comfortable way.

Only then did she realize. She hadn’t fallen into some logical trap, she had simply been hurt.

Just like any other child her age.

Sally slept soundly first. After sleeping well, the next day, around two or three o’clock, she sat on the sofa again and opened the usual book.

And so, she finished reading the novel Eugene had given her for the seventh time.

It was still interesting, and it would continue to be interesting in the future.

Although Sally had spent a rather unpleasant week, there was an unexpected gain as well.

It was discovered that Eugene was as much of a bookworm as she was.

As a result of this in-depth conversation, Sally often visited Eugene’s storage room when she wanted to just read quietly.

She felt a sense of kinship with Eugene, who was always reading thick books whenever she knocked on the door.

Then, one day, she suddenly realized that she hadn’t asked Eugene about the genius thing.

It was just after she had realized that even reading a novel twelve times can become somewhat boring.

Bored, Sally asked Eugene, who was taking a break from reading, as he sat beside her.

“Eugene.”

“Yes?”

He looked at her.

“Are you a genius too?”

Perhaps surprised by the sudden question, Eugene’s eyes widened for a moment.

Then, with an awkward smile, he answered.

“Well…”

For some reason, Sally thought that answer was cool.

“Then, if someone asks me, I’ll say ‘well’ too.”

“…?”

Eugene made an expression as if not knowing what was what, but he smiled slightly and patted Sally’s head.

Time passed like that.

Sally didn’t discriminate between types of books, and she would read anything that was called a book.

After finishing the novel Eugene had given her, she picked up a poetry collection. And was immediately captivated.

While she was deeply into poetry, Eugene spent his time reading extremely thick books.

When Sally had read all the poetry books in the house three times each, she looked at Eugene’s profile. Seeing him read so diligently, he must surely enjoy it, but why does he look like he’s suffering? [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

So, she asked…

“What kind of book are you reading?”

“…I’m not sure if you can call this reading.”

“…?”

It was much later that she realized that instead of words, the thick book was full of symbols and mathematical formulas.

Time passes, and tastes change.

…But it seemed there were also things that didn’t change.

When she came into the storage room with Ellie’s biology reference book, which she had stolen out of boredom, Eugene was invariably reading a thick book.

When Sally, who had learned various things at school, was critiquing a short story collection from a rhetorical perspective, Eugene was still holding another thick book.

His taste was so consistent that even when she was secretly peeking at a red-covered book she had stolen from Louise’s room, it was obvious that Eugene would still be flipping through a thick book.

And.

Two years passed.

#February 17th. Clear.

Until another new year came, the thickness of Eugene’s books didn’t change.

Sally grew about half a span taller.

Accordingly, the thickness of the books she carried around also increased.

Eugene seemed to have grown a bit taller, too, but his books probably hadn’t gotten thicker. If they got any thicker, they would be closer to blunt weapons than books.

Thinking such thoughts, Sally entered the storage room carrying a drama commentary book as thick as her forearm.

“…?”

Something had changed.

The view of Eugene sitting at his desk hadn’t changed.

After pondering for a long time about what exactly had changed, she finally noticed the change outside the window.

The flower buds that had been hiding all winter had finally bloomed.

Perhaps they were trying to announce the start of spring a little early.

A pleasant smile formed at the freshness of the flower petals.

At the same time, Sally realized that a desire she had never felt before had taken root within her.

Rather than reading, she wanted to write.

“…”

Anyway, that’s a story for after this enjoyable reading session ends.

As always, she tapped Eugene’s shoulder.

“What are you reading?”

Along with the light tone, she looked over Eugene’s shoulder at his desk.

Sally’s eyes widened.

It’s thin.

Very. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Would it even be twenty pages thick?

As she was surprised by the change in reading taste that had seemed like it would never change, Eugene smiled awkwardly and said.

“I’m not reading, I’m writing. A practice thesis.”

In his hand, he was holding a pen.

It was a day in Eugene’s fifth year, three and a half years since he had stayed with the Oslo family in Frauzen.