32 – The Eccentric
After buying flowers, I returned to the square where a young girl standing in front of a sign was sobbing uncontrollably.
“Waaah!! Sisssster!”
Beside her, an older boy gazed at the sign, his face a mask of numbness.
Their faces seemed familiar, a vague image forming in my mind.
‘Ah… the leads of that play…’
These children were likely her siblings.
Gazing at the boy sitting in a daze, I recalled my own image from eight years ago.
Just out on a compassionate leave from my military service, sitting numbly at the funeral home, staring at my elder brother’s portrait.
My brother had gone missing during his service, and after five years, my family decided to hold a funeral without a body to say farewell.
It seems that I had unconsciously continued to harbor hope that he was still alive somewhere until then.
I think the reason I was so dazed back then was that my brain had temporarily halted other processes while coming to terms with the reality that it wasn’t true.
This child in front of me was experiencing in a mere three days what had taken me five years to endure.
I approached the mourning space and reached over the child’s shoulder to place a single flower.
A brief bow.
Seeing me, the surroundings stirs.
From Noble mtl dot com
He’s a sorcerer.
A sorcerer.
A hero! He’s a hero!
That man?
Mom! Why is the hero a man?
Shh! Keep it down!
In the end, isn’t he the one who died unable to protect?
What nerve coming here with such face?
Watch your words!
He is someone one can break with just a single finger!
Praise, criticism, and criticizing the criticism.
A child’s innocently curious question and a mother’s reprimanding.
All those fly into my ear and fix in my head.
‘Indeed, people’s lives are similar everywhere.’
As soon as I lift my head and swivel body, the people who were buzzing about me ‘gulp’ and avoid my gaze.
-Step, step!
At that moment, I felt someone coming from my side.
“Excuse me, isn’t it Mr. Anderson?”
When I turned my head, a sporty-looking woman with light blonde hair tied into a ponytail catches my eye.
The lively face, slightly pressed by the monocle worn on one side, must be in her mid-20s.
“Yes, that’s right. And who are you?”
When a stranger suddenly acts like we know each other, while I’m completely absorbed in my feelings, with an irritatingly outgoing attitude- my nemesis.
Naturally, my answer turns brusquely.
“Nice to meet you! I am the eldest daughter of Hex, Olivia!”
She has her hand extended to me.
She flashes a refreshing smile and her radiant demeanor shines brightly.
‘Hex… the name rings a bell.’
Was she the one who stepped up for me?
“Er..uh. Nice to meet you.”
I briefly held onto her burdensome hand, immediately letting go.
No, I tried to let go.
“Of course!”
She grabbed my hand, which I was about to let go of, tightly in both of hers and started to chatter with a brimming voice.
“I can’t believe this! Despite being hand in hand with Olivia, no power can be detected! This skill of hiding her power!”
‘It’s because my inherent magic is just that of a mouse…’
“Oh, Olivia! I was skeptical at first when I heard the news that ‘he’ had unexpectedly revealed himself! But now!”
Why on earth is she speaking like this?
“You’re indeed a sorcerer!”
Sorcerer…
I had barely been asked to pretend to be a sorcerer, so it was inappropriate to deny it straight away.
‘I’m not exactly in agreement yet, but…’
“Ah, well…”
“Even Olivia was right there at that spot! At that critical moment, his deeds! That’s when even Olivia’s vision was pitch-black!”
Suddenly, she grabbed my hand and raised it high above our heads.
“Ladies and gentlemen! This here is the magic practitioner, of dragon lineage, a sorcerer and the person who saved our lives!”
“Whoa, hold on a second…”
I was surprised, but her physical strength, from those slender arms, was unimaginable.
I tried to lower my hand, but my hand, caught in hers, was as if stuck in a vise and would not budge.
‘Damn magic…!’
The more I think about it, it can only be a cheat ability.
Everyone was staring at us.
“Reaching level 4 at the age of twenty-four, and entrusted with magic defense at the Magic Department as an associate professor, it’s none other than Olivia to prove him! Ah…! His magic defense was absolute ecstasy!”
She, as if intoxicated, raised one hand high, holding her waist with the other and shivering.
‘Yeah, she’s insane’
I quickly reached a conclusion as I scanned the place to figure out an escape route.
I looked around for help, then winked at Carol, who was standing next to me.
“aaah! His majesty of blocking level 5 magic using only level 1! You’re hardly a match at level 1! With scorn, he demonstrates the difference in class!”
The people around were nodding at her speech as if they were bewitched.
Occasional shouts of “Indeed!” can be heard.
“What on earth is going on… Are they using some sort of magic?”
I find it surprising that such flamboyance could resonate, of all places, in a funeral, their faces tinged with ecstasy.
“If it wasn’t for him! Even this Olivia would have just managed to keep her body intact… Eh? What’s the matter?”
Carol, who had moved without me noticing, had my hand. She was holding the arm of the woman who was holding on to me.
“Madam, our master is rather busy. May I suggest you let go?”
I chimed in as well.
“Miss Hex, this is a funeral. Perhaps it’s best you exercise some discretion now.”
Hex slowly pulled her arm away, releasing my hand, and chuckled.
“Oh, how embarrassing! My apologies, Master Anderson! Truthfully, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you every time we met!”
As much as I wanted to dismiss her immediately with an ‘Uh, no thanks’, it would be rude to treat a daughter of a duke with such discourtesy.
“I’ll hear her out first.”
“What is it?”
Miss Hex bent her body forward to the point where her head almost touched the ground.
“I wish for you to take Olivia as your disciple!”
“Ugh.”
An involuntary detestable noise slips out.
She starts praising again, her head still bowed.
“Please! I beg you! That beautiful shield layered to its limit, 128 folds! To that, you add another 5290 shields to everyone. That extreme outside common sense! I’ve had sleepless nights since witnessing that scene!”
Being who she is, I had a bad feeling she’d latch on to me even if I flat out decline.
So I decided to play my card.
“I may not be one to train anyone but, I’ll consider it. Please submit a formal request to the Anderson family later on.”
‘Gotta use up the family name at times like this.’
I mean, she did summon me arbitrarily. Might as well offload some of the inconvenience on her.
“Oh, really!? I’m so thankful! Everyone, this is the nation’s hero who’ll become Olivia’s mentor…!”
And because she started getting excited again, I forcefully grabbed and shook her right hand.
“Miss Hex! It was nice to meet you. But I have pressing matters to attend to. Excuse me!”
I loudly spoke the departing words so it blurs out her words.
As she suddenly goes quiet, her glazed, wide eyes flutter looking at our connected hands.
I didn’t miss that opportunity, let go of her hand, and quickly left the gathering.
Fortunately, it didn’t come after me.
“Phew… Why are all these magicians like this?”
As I grumble to Carol beside me, she opens her mouth.
“That is…”
“That is?”
“Ah, never mind.”
She cut herself off.
‘Surely, what she’s about to say wouldn’t be something like ‘that’s not significant’, right?’
The prospect of entering the School of Magic became intimidating.
‘It can’t be…’
Denying fervently, I shifted my steps toward my original destination, the potion shop.
—————-
A robust man with dark circles under his eyes trembles holding a beaker filled with blue liquid.
His hair was a vibrant shade of cherry, and he wore small, round glasses that seemed ill-fitted for his face size.
The robe he was wearing also appeared slightly too small for him.
“I-I finally… I finally succeeded…!”
Tears streamed over his dark circles.
“Who knew I had to add just 3 more micrograms of snail fluid…”
Due to this, Joy even ended up inventing a precise dosing magic.
Even the development of dosing magic alone was an achievement that could elevate one to assistant professorship,
Yet Joy put writing that paper aside, as it felt like a waste of time, and poured all her energy into a gender transformation potion.
Finding potential through her brother-in-law and after almost one week,
She finally figured out the perfect blend and, having drank it herself, just transformed into a man.
“All that’s left is to write the paper…! Uh… Uh…? That’s weird…”
She suddenly felt a sudden sick feeling in her body.
“Why am I so… sleepy… The magical energy…”
Feeling as if the magical energy was evaporating from her body immediately, Joy reverted back to her small female form.
The robe that was fitting when she was a man returned to its usual loose fit.
“This is… Not the estimated magic consumption…”
-Thud.
And then, she fell onto the desk in a manner as if fainting.
—–
The door opens and another male part-timer from the potion shop enters.
“Mr. Tyler, I’m going to fill up the magic potion stocks.”
“……”
“Mr. Tyler?”
Just like Joy, the exhausted looking man wearing glasses, surveys Joy lying on the desk.
“Goodness, I told you not to sleep on the desk…”
Although she is younger than himself, because she is a University Assistant Professor, and because of her influence as a noble’s daughter, he treats her with respect even when she is sleeping.
Also, because his own dream is also to become a potion maker, he admires her.
He grabs a worn out cape from the corner of the warehouse, and covers her with it.
“So you were manufacturing magic potions…”
‘To be so passionate to sleep while laying on the desk…’
He wipes his nose once, and lifts the beaker set down before Joy.
“Ah… Did you attempt to improve it..! The color seems somewhat darker.. It’s very fortunate.”
Just in time, five slots in the box of 24 magic potion stocks were empty.
“Judging by the amount in this beaker, it’s just enough for five.”
He pours the potion from the beaker into five cylinders, and fits them back into the slots in the box, then returns to the store.
In front of him was a recently famous person, a sorcerer, and his servant woman.
“I apologize for the delay~ The magic potion stock is ready~”
The part-timer hands over the entire box of magic potions he brought out to the sorcerer’s servant.
“A box of 24 will be 120 gold~.”
The sorcerer’s expression furrowed slightly.
‘Did…did I upset him?’
The part-timer was frightened.
“Wha, wonderful guardian of the kingdom! With the sorcerer’s special discount, it will be 10 gold less! That means it will be 110 gold!”
In an instant, the sorcerer’s expression confusedly changed, but at least he wasn’t frowning.
‘The boss will understand…!’
This was all he could hope for.