Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

The meal at the exhibition hall ended quickly.

The special dining area set up for the World Expo had evolved to somehow accommodate the flood of visitors, making a leisurely meal impossible.

There were still many things to see, but due to the nature of a day trip, we had to move quickly.

There were many excuses, but the real reason was different.

“……”

“……”

I, who didn’t know when to let go of the hand I had once held, remained in that state for about 20 minutes, and as a result, the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

As a result, the menu selection was quick but messy.

“How about that?”

“It looks delicious!”

The meal we ended up choosing was bread with grilled sausage that could be eaten conveniently.

“…It’s quite good.”

“…It is, isn’t it?”

We were able to finish the meal more satisfactorily than expected.

After that, we continued to look around the fair, naturally drawn to the eye-catching buildings.

[ Palais des Machines ]

A massive gallery made entirely of iron and glass.

The glass palace, named the ‘Machine Hall’ for the various machines placed inside, took over two hours to explore. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

In front of an engine as big as a house, Julia commented:

The next place we headed to was the Magic Technology Hall, which was quite a sight to behold.

For example, a device that stores and reproduces sound on a waxed cylinder.

<……>

<……>

Or photographs with color tones made using a special photosensitive agent.

There were familiar yet fascinating things like wireless telegraphs using wireless communication.

Thus, half-dragged by Julia, I came out of the Magic Technology Hall and looked up at the sky, which had changed color at some point.

The sky was divided into two colors. Blue and red.

It meant that a lot of time had passed.

It also meant that there wasn’t much time left until our departure time for the train.

Julia looked at her wristwatch and said softly:

“We should return to the station no later than an hour from now.”

“Then we should probably go ride that.”

“And by ‘that’, you mean?”

Instead of opening my mouth, I answered by spreading my fingers.

Julia followed the direction my fingertip was pointing with her eyes and soon let out a small exclamation.

“Ah……”

A 250-foot-high (T/N: ~76 m) steel wheel that slowly rotates while carrying people.

To name it, the Ferris wheel stood there towering.

“Why did you suddenly grab my hand?”

“Didn’t you hear what the guide said? They said that for safety reasons, companions should hold hands tightly―”

“I don’t think they meant to hold hands like this……”

“What does it matter? It’s much safer since our fingers are intertwined― Ooh.”

Clunk!

“…That startled me. Surely it won’t collapse, right?”

“Who knows.”

“At times like this, isn’t it normal to coolly say, ‘It’s okay, I’ll protect you’? Try that next time.”

“I shouldn’t trust the person who told you about that being a ‘normal’ thing.”

“Are you insulting our student council junior just now?”

“……”

“I’m joking. Ah, the wind is blowing. This makes fixing my hair meaningless.”

“It’s fine.”

“Pardon?”

“‘You’re pretty even when disheveled’… Hey, aren’t you laughing a bit too much?”

“HAHAHAHA, hahaha, hoo. Oh, no, my, my stomach hurts……”

“You said this was normal.”

“I, I didn’t think you’d actually do it, hee hee……”

“Just look at the sunset.”

“Okay……”

The Ferris wheel rotates.

Its vertical speed reaches its peak shortly after departure, and thus, the rotation becomes an ascent, sending us up there to the edge of the sky.

Even though we’re only about 250 feet away from the ground, many things change. The wind speed, the temperature, and the view. The view had the most significant change.

The entire sky was dyed in sunset colors, and we were entering into the sky. The late summer, just before turning into autumn, became a warm breeze that scattered Julia’s hair and tickled my cheek. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

After ascending for a while, it was now time to reach the top.

The moment all passengers eagerly await. As if to cater to such an audience, the top of the Ferris wheel is when the vertical speed is the slowest.

An eternal moment.

Julia closed her eyes in the twilight.

“I wish time would flow slowly, at least for now……”

When we finished our simple dinner, the clock hands pointed to 7 PM.

It was time to head back.

With a now slightly more natural motion, Julia held my hand as she boarded the train and yawned softly.

“Yawn… It was indeed a bit rushed. Who knew not getting permission for an overnight stay would come back to bite us like this.”

“Did you get permission for the trip itself?”

As far as I know, the Müller family is quite closed off, so I wouldn’t think they’d easily permit a day trip with an unrelated man.

Julia gave a clear answer with a bright smile.

“A day trip is no different from just going out, right? Would I need permission for that?”

“What about the professor…?”

“Father is absent.”

“Huh.”

Julia was indirectly saying that she had set out on this trip without Professor Klaus Müller’s knowledge, ignoring the protests of the head maid and the other servants.

It seemed that the relationship between father and daughter in the Müller family remained unchanged.

When we entered the first-class compartment after the ticket inspection was over…

Blink, blink.

I noticed that the brooch on Julia’s chest was blinking blue without fail.

I asked:

“Julia. That brooch.”

“Hm? Ah.”

“Do you have enough mana remaining?”

“It should be fine. After what happened last time, I switched to one with a larger mana storage capacity.”

At the same time…

Click―

The light from the brooch completely disappeared.

Julia’s body didn’t immediately collapse. As she used her leg muscles with her unique magic, she gained a bit of strength.

Still, her delicate body was slowly descending.

I gently caught her and sat her down in the seat, then said:

“So?”

“I switched it, but it seems it was defective.”

Whether it was truly defective or simply because we had moved around too much, the result that the magic power was exhausted remained unchanged.

Julia, seeing my gaze, joked:

“Don’t worry. My leg strength has increased a lot, so if I use a cane, I can walk quite a bit, and by the time we arrive, there should be a carriage waiting in front of Frauzen Station.”

“……”

“If worst comes to worst, Eugene, I’d like you to carry me on your back.”

“It’s fortunate that there’s a carriage.”

I thought I heard a small ‘tch’ sound, but I ignored it and sat across from Julia.

Then Julia glared at me and tapped the seat next to her.

Silent pressure.

It would be quite difficult to endure that gaze until we arrived in Frauzen.

In the end, pretending to give in to the urging, I sat down on Julia’s left side by the window.

“This is nice.”

“Is it?”

“Yes. It’s warm……”

Her voice was tinged with undisguisable drowsiness.

It was understandable.

From the preparation for the train journey to today’s activities… Considering Julia’s physical strength, it must have been quite a forced march.

Her amber eyes were slowly blinking.

“You can sleep if you’re sleepy.”

“No, we should talk. Don’t think about falling into magic studies fantasies again. We finally sat next to each other……”

Was the last thing she said her true feelings that came out due to drowsiness?

I pretended not to hear it.

That’s because Julia started nodding off less than ten minutes after the train departed.

Also, it was quite enjoyable to fall into fantasy in the quiet and dark first-class compartment.

Julia had already fallen asleep, her head bowed. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Perhaps more fatigue had accumulated in that small body than I had imagined.

Clunk.

The train shook just then.

I reached out my arm to gently stop the sleeping Julia from falling over.

“Mmm……”

After straightening Julia’s upper body, I let her head rest on my shoulder.

I won’t deny that there was a bit of self-interest involved.

Then I looked out the window.

The distant scenery doesn’t change dramatically. Therefore, it was difficult to perceive, but the train was surely speeding along at a rapid pace.

A space where only the breathing of two people and the train noise existed.

In it, I quietly sank my consciousness. Deeply, even deeper.

Julia told me not to think about magic studies.

But I didn’t want to. It was impossible from the start.

Because it had already become inseparable from my life.

Unlike matter, thoughts have no limits and can expand endlessly. The train was also a subject of this.

The only important thing is that it’s moving fast.

It’s not at all important that it’s currently running at 80 miles per hour (T/N: Approx. 129 kph) or that the height of the ceiling is about 8 feet (T/N: Approx. 2.44 m).

What would happen if the train’s speed approached the speed of light infinitely? What if the ceiling’s height was not 8 feet but 1 light-second? All of that was free in my mind.

I thought, filling myself with the warmth felt on my right shoulder.

Light.

The most common concept in this world.

It’s not a coincidence that I came to look at it from the perspective of a detective chasing a criminal.

It was inevitable.

It starts with the Müller-Oslo equations.

The propagation speed of the wave derived from it is 1/√(μ_0 *ε_0). *1 It was a constant.

An unchanging number.

It would be understandable if physical quantities like mass or dimensionless quantities were constants, but it was strange that speed was a constant.

It means that the speed of that wave is constant regardless of who, when, or where it is observed.

The name of that wave is light.

Once, scholars estimated that the speed of light was infinite. That estimation was dispelled when the speed of light was actually measured.

Then, scholars wanted to know the medium of light. However, the experiment to find that medium, called the “aether,” failed.

Then.

It doesn’t make sense at all.

What if the speed of light is finite and unchanging at the same time?

“……”

As I endlessly expanded my thoughts, the train inside me started to accelerate, emitting fierce smoke.

A train running with a roaring sound.

When its speed reached just one step short of the speed of light, I took out a mirror from my pocket.

What is a mirror? It’s an object that reflects light to show my face.

But will my face still be reflected in the mirror when the train is running at a speed comparable to the speed of light?

My face will still be reflected—if the speed of light truly remains constant. 

But in that case, something else must change. What?

“Everything……”

When my thoughts reached that point…

The familiar view of Frauzen Station was already visible in my sight.

We had arrived.

Carrying Julia on my back without waking her up was tricky but not impossible.

In fact, when the fatigue of the person being carried is extreme, the tricky task becomes a simple one.

There’s no need to hesitate in doing a simple task.

I carried Julia on my back, grabbed the cane, and got off at the platform.

As I went straight out of the station, as Julia had said, the usual carriage was waiting in front of the station. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

The coachman waved his hand happily when he saw us.

“This way!”

“You’re from the Müller household, right?”

“Yes. I was waiting as instructed by the young lady… Oh my, she’s sound asleep. Let’s get in for now. The young lady’s instructions were to take Mr. Oslo back to the main house as well.”

I nodded.

There’s no reason to refuse if they’re offering to give me another luxurious experience.

“Where is…?”

“Keep sleeping.”

“Mmm……”

I sat the still half-asleep Julia in the carriage and then sat down comfortably myself, and with a “Giddyup―” sound, the carriage departed.

It’s not fair to compare it with the train we just rode, but the carriage is also fast enough to be more than sufficient for riding in the city.

We’ll arrive at the Müller mansion soon.

Maybe the head maid will greet us. Once I hand over the sleeping Julia, my job will finally be done.

I won’t be able to say goodbye, but we’ll be able to meet again soon, so I decided not to be disappointed.

Clop, clop.

As I was listening to the sound of horse hooves, it seemed I fell asleep for a moment, too.

The carriage had already reached the gate of the Müller mansion.

As expected, the figure of the Müller family’s head maid could be seen outside the window. Her face was unforgettable due to our quite impressive first meeting.

Feeling reassured by this, I opened the carriage door.

“…Hm?”

The expression of the head maid, who should always be solemn, is dark as if troubled.

She also seems a bit restless.

I was trying to assess the situation while pausing in the middle of carrying Julia.

Unlike the mana lamp-lit main gate, the garden of the Müller mansion was full of darkness.

A giant cloaked in darkness was walking out from there.

Through the sight of the head maid and other servants all bowing deeply at once, no, even without having to guess from the circumstances, I recognized him at a glance.

Professor Klaus Müller, who finally stood under the light, opened his mouth.

“Doctoral student Eugene Oslo. Explain.”

T/N

The constant μ_o (pronounced miyu sub zero) is the magnetic constant (4*pi x 10^-7 H/m), while the constant ε_o (epsilon sub zero) is the electric constant (~8.854 x 10^-12 F/m). This details the equation for the speed of light propagating in a vacuum (that is, c in free space) as related to both the magnetic and electric constants and, therefore, all electromagnetic waves. Its derivation is short but needs prior knowledge of Maxwell’s equations and gradient and curl operations—the former being a topic I am personally not confident in—so I’ll leave it to you to check it out yourself if you’re interested.