Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

Click.

Grace quietly closed the door of the Student Council Room and stepped out of the Student Council Building.

In the end, she had become an unwelcome guest who was driven out.

She wasn’t disappointed by that treatment. She had expected it.

Perhaps it was because she had come to know the joy of conversing with a friend.

Whenever she craved conversation, it had somehow become a habit to visit the Student Council room with a topic to discuss, only to be dismissed by the irritable Vice President Gustav, who was sensitive due to fatigue. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

If you asked other Student Council members to do such a thing, they would refuse in horror.

However, for Grace, who had been filled with unfounded confidence since the start of the semester, it was as easy as eating cold rice.

Anyway.

As she walked down the steps of the main entrance of the Student Council building, Grace became lost in thought.

Something was strange.

Usually, it was Vice President Gustav Mach who would send her away, but today, the Student Council President herself had directly issued the dismissal.

“What is this……”

Moreover, her expression seemed somewhat stern. It was a disconcerting situation for Grace, who wished to become closer to the respected President Julia.

Had she been disliked?

No. That was going too far.

She racked her brain. What was different from usual?

Fortunately, while Grace’s range of human relationships hit rock bottom, as a trade-off, her intuition was quite good.

Her eyes quickly lit up.

“Teaching Assistant Oslo?”

Was mentioning that name the problem?

The probability was high. Usually, the President would either agree moderately with the topics she brought up or have no reaction, but today was different.

A little.

There was a hint of firmness in her gaze, even if just a little.

Teaching Assistant Oslo had only graduated early, but he was the same age as Vice President Gustav. This also meant that he had spent his undergraduate years with the President.

Had something happened between the two of them?

“Hmm……”

After pondering for a moment, she sighed.

There wasn’t enough evidence to make any inferences. She knew too little about the person called Teaching Assistant Oslo.

“Alright. Let’s find out.”

Her decision was quick.

The very next day, Grace began to investigate Teaching Assistant Oslo.

She wanted to know more about this person who might be her destined partner and who might have some kind of relationship with the President.

She thought while thinking, ‘This is totally like a scene from a romance novel.’

#May 14th. Slightly cloudy.

…And Grace Brown fell into deep disappointment before even a week had passed. She absentmindedly listened to the [Understanding Literary Genres] lecture with her chin resting on her hand.

There was a good reason for this.

Teaching Assistant Oslo.

That is, doctoral student Eugene Oslo turned out to be an uninteresting person beyond Grace’s imagination.

Both [Mathematical Magic Studies] and [Polarity Magic Studies], the lecture classes he was assisting with, were major courses for second-year students and above, so it was impossible to meet him in person.

She could only collect rumors from seniors, but the reason Grace lost interest so quickly was that the content of the rumors was consistent.

Gray hair.

Top of the class for three consecutive years.

Bookworm.

Somehow, it never deviated from these three statements.

If the rumors were true, it painted a very different picture from her friend’s description of “a person over six feet tall, good at studying, and kind.”

Isn’t he just a magic student who’s taciturn and only interested in studying?

A wild goose chase.

That short phrase echoed in Grace’s mind.

“……”

“What are you thinking about?”

In the midst of her daze, the female student sitting next to her spoke up.

It was hard to call her a friend, but they had become acquainted by often sitting together in the [Understanding Literary Genres] lecture.

[Understanding Literary Genres] is famous for being boring. As chatter prevailed in various corners of the lecture hall, this female student seemed to have an itchy mouth as well.

Wanting to respond to that mood, Grace spoke without much thought.

“Do you know Eugene Oslo, Teaching Assistant Oslo?”

She didn’t expect an answer. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Even seniors didn’t know much about this person. How would a freshman know?

However, contrary to her expectations, the female student immediately nodded.

“Of course I know.”

“…Oh, really?”

“Yes. He’s the person involved in that famous ‘wheelchair incident’, right?”

“Wheelchair incident?”

This was the first time she had heard of it.

As Grace tilted her head with wide eyes, it was the female student’s turn to ask.

“You didn’t know?”

“No.”

“How could you not know that?”

With those words, the female student began to speak passionately in a voice quiet enough not to be caught by the professor.

A story that started in this [Understanding Literary Genres] lecture hall and has been passed down like a legend.

“Two years ago, just before the summer semester midterms—”

Freshmen still immersed in romance wanted to know much more than old and sick seniors and, therefore, knew more.

As she listened to the story, Grace had to doubt her hearing several times.

Not only was each anecdote as passionate as if it had jumped out of a romance novel but there was also a considerable gap between the ‘Julia Müller’ in the story and the Student Council President she knew.

“There’s even an eyewitness account of Teaching Assistant Oslo carrying the collapsed President in his arms and running across the campus.”

“…!”

That’s impossible.

By now, Grace had completely forgotten about destined partners and whatnot and was fully immersed in the story.

Such a resolute and elegant Student Council President.

Who would have thought there was such a secret history?

While a romantic narrative starring these two people was hazily forming in Grace’s mind…

The female student covered her mouth and lowered her voice even more.

“And this is just a rumor, but…”

“Y-yes.”

“I hear that lately, the President occasionally visits the research building. Could it be a continuation of that incident?”

It was a story that was hard to ignore.

Tailing.

Although it was clearly a criminal act, Grace Brown, an avid reader of romance novels, considered tailing as something she definitely wanted to try at least once.

So, she did as she wished.

After hearing the aforementioned rumor, Grace repeated the act of sitting in the Student Council room every day.

This time, she even handled council-like work to avoid suspicion.

Of course, Vice President Gustav would criticize her at every opportunity because she was slacking off. But she didn’t even glance at that blonde troublemaker.

Student Council President Julia Müller.

She spent her time focusing solely on her movements.

Finally, the moment she had been waiting for arrived.

The President quietly mumbled something, then picked up her silver wand and rose from the President’s seat.

“I’ll be away for a moment, so please finish the approval work until then.”

“Yes.”

Click, Thud.

The moment she heard the sound of the door closing, Grace lifted her head.

This is it.

The President always specified the reason when she left her seat. Like attending a meeting or submitting documents.

This time, she had been vague about the reason.

Grace waited for about a minute and then immediately stood up from her seat.

“I’ll be going too, Vice President!”

“What? No, if you’ve started work, you should finish it before leaving.”

“I’m sorry!”

“You’re not even listening.”

Leaving behind the Vice President, who let out a deep sigh, she left the Student Council room.

Finding the President wasn’t difficult. At the edge of her vision, far away, there was someone heading somewhere, lightly tapping a wand.

Following the swaying dark brown hair, Grace tailed the President.

After walking like that for about 20 minutes…

“…!”

The research building really came into view.

It was truly exciting from the standpoint of someone who had tailed her.

But the President didn’t particularly enter the research building. She just sat demurely on a nearby bench. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

By then, Grace had also hidden behind a nearby building, holding her breath.

And time passed.

Considerably.

About an hour had passed. Just as Grace was trying to stifle a yawn, the President suddenly stood up from the bench and began to move away from the research building.

She watched with wide eyes.

“Huh?”

There was no mistake.

She was leaving the research building.

Without doing anything, she’s just going to leave?

It was a sudden situation. While fumbling behind the building, unable to do this or that, Grace had to open her eyes wide once again.

“♬♪――”

The President was turning back and returning.

She returned with an indifferent expression as if she had just arrived at the research building.

And.

As if timed, a gray-haired man slowly walked out of Research Building 3.

Grace saw it.

The moment when the gaze of Teaching Assistant Oslo, who looked like he had come out for some fresh air, met with that of the President, who had suddenly returned to the research building after exhibiting strange behavior.

“Oh my, what a coincidence. Is everything alright in the research lab?”

“What about you? Looks like Student Council work isn’t as busy as I thought.”

“Who do you think is increasing the workload right now?”

She eavesdropped on the conversation between the two while sitting down in the shadow of the building.

“Wow……”

This is crazy.

This is real.

Grace was in awe.

None of the romance novels she had read so far were this realistic.

The President’s voice, expression, and gestures had all completely changed from when she was sitting in the President’s seat. So incredibly lovely…

Although the conversation itself was just ordinary small talk, Grace’s face had somehow turned red.

She covered her mouth with both hands and endlessly eavesdropped on their conversation.

Endlessly.

She felt she should secretly cheer them on.

That was the only thought that came to mind.

She didn’t feel like spreading rumors at all. Grace wanted to fully enjoy the relationship between the two from an observer’s perspective.

Although the means of tailing was somewhat uncomfortable, anyway.

The frequency of the President’s visits to the research building was roughly once every three or four days.

First, she would visit and then kill time for a while, timing it to when Teaching Assistant Oslo would come out for some fresh air, pretending to have come by chance.

Then, they would have trivial conversations.

It was a repetition of this.

For the first couple of times, she listened to their conversations with a bright red face.

It was a meeting of a handsome man and a beautiful woman, and to a woman’s ears, the subtle coquetry in each of the President’s words was even more clear.

However, after about ten days, her impressions began to change slightly.

The President never entered the research building. As if there was something frightening inside.

Teaching Assistant Oslo was a man so oblivious that he believed the ‘coincidental meeting’ without suspicion up to three times.

Above all, there was hardly any expression of emotion in the conversation between the two. You know, those embarrassing words like ‘I missed you’ or ‘I like you.’

Why do they only show actions that won’t reach each other without expressing themselves?

Around that time, Grace changed her evaluation of the President.

If she’s doing this without any feelings, it’s a terrible thing.

And if she’s doing this despite having feelings, she must be an extremely foolish person.

Then came a certain day.

#May 24th. Rain.

The day before the summer semester midterm exams.

As always, the President made her way to the research building.

Being the Student Council President or a 4th-year student doesn’t exempt one from exams. There might not be any crucial exams, but that certainly doesn’t mean it’s leisurely.

Nevertheless, the President headed to the research building with an umbrella. 

Half-entranced, Grace followed behind. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

She completely forgot about her own exam worries.

A moment later, Grace saw.

“――♬♪”

The sight of the President sitting on a soaking wet bench with an umbrella, swinging her legs and humming a tune.

An hour and a half passed in that state.

Her body is gradually getting cold. She stops swinging her legs, smiles gently, and leaves the research building just like that.

That day, Julia Müller did not return again.

“……”

Grace watched all of this unfold. And once again, she changed her mind.

She needs to be helped.

I want to help her.