Overpowered Archmage Doesn’t Hide His Talent

Chapter 5 The Young Master

“Wow. You live in such a nice place? It looks like you have a lot of money, so why didn’t you stay in the dormitory?”

The luxurious mansion was enough to give the girl an idea of the wealth it held.

The emblem of a burning sword engraved in several places added a touch of elegance.

The boy responded with a question.

“Dormitory?”

“Yeah, the Merhen Academy dormitory facilities are amazing. There are a lot of perks, so why didn’t you stay there?”

“Why didn’t you stay there?”

He answered her question with another question, which felt unfair. The girl cleared her throat.

“Well, you know… It just turned out that way.”

“So did I.”

“That’s sneaky.”

She checked her outfit once more. Now that she thought about it, compared to Flan’s clothes, hers looked rather shabby.

As they approached the front gate, Becky couldn’t help but be impressed.

She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t envious. She wanted to live in a place like this.

“Wow… Do all the students at Merhen Academy live like this? They must be really rich…”

Becky muttered to herself as she looked at Flan.

The boy still had an unreadable expression on his face.

Even though she had escorted him home, there was something strange in his gaze—more curiosity than relief, as if he was looking at someone else’s house.

No way.

“Flan, this isn’t your house, is it?”

Just as he was about to answer,

“Who are you?”

A clear and firm voice rang in her ears.

When she turned her gaze, there stood a maid with red hair.

Her sharply cut bob seemed to reflect her personality.

The confidence she exuded made it clear she was likely the head maid, though she looked very young.

…Maybe even around Becky’s age.

Regardless, she seemed to be the head maid. A golden pin near her chest indicated her rank.

“…Who are you?”

She asked again.

The first question had been directed at no one in particular, but this time, it was aimed solely at Becky.

The girl bowed politely and spoke.

“Hello. Flan couldn’t find his way home, so I brought him here.”

“Young Master Flan couldn’t find his way home?”

The maid’s voice was laced with suspicion.

“Please, come in, Young Master.”

As the head maid nodded, another maid came over and led him into the mansion.

The boy complied without a word.

Now it was just Becky and the head maid.

In the cold atmosphere, Becky stood frozen, but then she began to realize why she might be under suspicion and waved her hands frantically.

Compared to these people, who exuded luxury, nobility, and formality, Becky, a commoner, looked rather scruffy.

Just being there probably seemed inappropriate.

“I just met him today.”

“You just met today.”

Ah, did that sound even more suspicious?

“We’re not involved in any way. Really.”

The head maid narrowed her eyes before slightly lowering her head in a formal gesture.

Her faint smile was as beautiful as a work of art, but it wasn’t warm.

It felt more like a polite dismissal, so Becky hastily bowed as well.

“Ah, yes! Goodbye!”

She had no intention of staying where she wasn’t welcome. She quickly left the premises.

As she walked home.

And walked some more.

Suddenly.

“…!”

She stopped in her tracks, startled.

She recalled the emblem she had seen at the mansion as if she were in a trance.

The image that lingered in her mind was of the burning sword. No matter how she thought about it, it didn’t seem like the emblem of a magic family.

Yeah, it was definitely a knight family’s emblem.

Knights and magicians were natural enemies.

For someone born into a knight’s family to become a magician was even more incomprehensible. Especially someone with exceptional magic skills.

The girl murmured to herself without realizing it.

“…What on earth are you?”

◈

Head Maid Katarina had a lot to do.

First of all, she needed to ask Flan why he hadn’t responded to the summons from his sister, Scarlet Judith.

“Where is my room?”

But to her surprise, Flan spoke first. And it was an astonishing statement.

He seemed completely unaware of the mansion’s grave atmosphere and remained calm.

“…Young Master, have you been drinking?”

“I haven’t.”

“You brought a girl you met today into the mansion.”

“I just escorted her.”

His tone and demeanor had changed drastically, but it wasn’t something that could be attributed to alcohol.

She was curious about what had happened, but she lost the staring contest with Flan.

His gaze was genuinely that of someone looking down on a subordinate, and she unknowingly bowed her head.

Katarina quietly informed him of his room. Then, she quickly gave instructions to a few other maids.

“Has he found some kind of confidence?”

She wondered if the Young Master had brought something that could change the tense atmosphere in the mansion.

She looked over the documents the other maids had handed to her.

The documents, stamped with the Merhen Academy’s seal, were filled with subjects and rankings like Elements, Summoning, Destruction, Support, Manipulation, and Alchemy.

[F]

That was the grade Merhen Academy had given to Flan.

F was the grade given to the lowest-ranking students. It basically meant he had barely scraped by to pass the academy’s admission.

“What could he be so confident about?”

She crumpled the paper and hurriedly threw it into the trash can. If the higher-ups saw it, they would surely throw a fit.

“…It’s going to be really tough from now on.”

The Judith Family was in the calm before the storm.

◈

“It’s decent.”

I laid my exhausted body on the bed. Although the softness enveloped me and lightened my body, my mind didn’t feel the same relief.

The only fortunate thing was that I had finally sorted out my thoughts.

What I was experiencing was undoubtedly real. And from now on, I had to live in this body.

I couldn’t understand it, but I had accepted it.

So, what should I do now?

“I should do what I want.”

Even if something strange were to happen again one day, I decided not to be afraid. Even if I were afraid, there was nothing I could do about it.

Yeah, so I should do what I want. I got up and stood in front of the mirror.

If I had simply been reborn, I would have pursued whatever I wanted, but since I had essentially taken over someone else’s body, my curiosity was piqued.

What did this boy want to do?

It had been a long time since I had last pondered over a career path.

Kaplan had always known exactly what he wanted and what he needed to do to achieve it.

Observation and analysis were some of his strengths, so he began to examine the various things in the room.

Around the spacious room, there were pieces of armor and swords hanging around, collecting dust.

‘The family emblem was a burning sword too.’

It seemed this boy was born into a knight family and naturally took on the destiny of a knight.

“How pitiful.”

But then again, the study was filled with books about magic. There wasn’t a speck of dust on them.

At that moment, the corners of my mouth twitched slightly.

The life of a knight imposed upon him versus the path of a magician he wanted to follow. The clash and rebellion between destiny and desire.

At the very least, I welcomed this kind of rebellion.

My curiosity was piqued even more.

I started pulling out the magic books that the boy seemed to have studied diligently and laid them on the floor one by one. My hand brushed against a strangely thin notebook.

A thin diary. Anyone could tell it was a journal.

I didn’t have a bad habit of prying into other people’s thoughts, but this one stood out among the worn-out books, making me naturally curious.

The boy flipped to the first page.

Only one sentence was written.

—I want to become a Grand Magician. Absolutely.

As soon as the words registered in my mind, I let out a small laugh.

“A Grand Magician, huh.”

If the boy had dreamed of becoming a swordsman, I wouldn’t have been able to fulfill that wish. I had no interest in swords.

But what a coincidence this was.

The boy had a goal that aligned quite well with Kaplan’s.

“To become a Grand Magician with this body… once again.”

There were so many things to do to become a Grand Magician. There was a lot to prove, and it would take a long time.

But despite that, it intrigued me.

At one point, I had mentioned that it would be fun if the time came to prove myself again against a mysterious opponent in the Magic Tower.

Yes, it would be fun.

“I wonder how hard he tried to rebel.”

Flan reached out to the magic books the boy seemed to have studied diligently.

If it was something I already knew, it was interesting because it was familiar, and if there was something new in this world, it was fun to learn about it.

That’s how I had always lived. Now that I was so much younger, there was no need to be in a hurry.

Snap.

I snapped my fingers, and five books floated in the air.

I clasped my hands behind my head to form a pillow, adopting a comfortable posture as I examined them simultaneously.

I read through the parts where the boy had marked with stars, adding my own annotations as I went.

The sound of pages turning filled the room, and the waves of magical knowledge washed over Flan’s thoughts.

“This is it.”

This was his kind of fun.

◈

The sun had just begun to rise.

Flan was still immersed in

his reading.

Although he had initially sought out his home due to exhaustion, the basic textbooks he hadn’t read in a long time were quite enjoyable.

Ah, to be precise, it was fun to trace the boy’s struggles with the basic textbooks.

I even read them while soaking in the bathtub.

Books about the world were also quite intriguing.

As expected, in terms of magic, the core principles of this world were almost identical to those of his original world, but its culture and trends seemed quite different.

But, more than anything.

‘Even in this world, the relationship between magicians and knights is a mess.’

Even in a different world, magicians and knights didn’t get along. After all, their paths were so fundamentally different.

As I got lost in my reading, morning arrived before I knew it. Someone knocked loudly on the door.

“Young Master.”

Flan was still in the bathtub. It was too much of a hassle to step out of the bathroom and open the door.

“Young Master?”

A moment later, there was the sound of the door opening. It seemed they had let themselves in.

“It’s time for breakfast, but where could he be? Young Master. Young Master!”

The loud voice was quite irritating. Flan opened the bathroom door with telekinesis.

“Young Master, would you like your breakfast…”

Katarina, who had entered with a neutral expression, froze.

She quickly turned her head away.

“I’m here.”

“Oh, yes. Ah… You’re in the bathroom. Ah, um. I have something to report. Yes. Because of breakfast. Yes.”

Katarina’s face turned slightly red. Having spent her life working, she wasn’t used to seeing a man’s body.

“Don’t worry too much about it.”

How could she not be concerned? The sight of Flan in the bathtub was something the head maid couldn’t bear to look at.

She spoke while keeping her head turned away.

“Anyway… Breakfast is ready. Miss Scarlet returned last night. You’ll be dining together.”

“Hmm.”

Flan pondered for a moment, resting his chin on his hand.

Eating among knights could be quite suffocating. He briefly considered just asking for the meal to be brought to his room.

Katarina glanced sideways to observe the Young Master deep in thought.

His demeanor was quite different from usual.

There was an overflowing sense of dignity and refinement. It wasn’t something that could be explained by simply saying he had matured or grown up.

It was as if he had become a different person.

Anyway, she once again surveyed the room.

Her movements were sharp. It was natural since it was Katarina’s job to anticipate and address any issues that might arise from the mansion’s “higher-ups.”

Soon, the head maid’s gaze fell on the magic books scattered across the floor.

“Young Master, did you stay up all night reading magic books?”

“I did.”

“Magic books…”

She pursed her lips with a subtle expression.

“As the head maid, I may be overstepping my bounds, but may I say something?”

“Go ahead.”

“You’ve been classified as the lowest-ranked student at the academy.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes. Perhaps it’s time to take up the sword again. Even if Miss doesn’t offer her assistance now, she might at least start treating you as her brother, or at the very least, as a person.”

Flan scoffed as he rose from the bathtub. He then walked out of the bathroom.

“No need.”

Disregard, disdain, contempt—he had already experienced these things once, so they didn’t bother him.

What he learned from going through it was that there was no need to be overly concerned.

“Oh, my. Young Master.”

Meanwhile, Katarina quickly covered her face with both hands.

But then she peeked through her fingers, watching Flan as he dried himself and got dressed.

It wasn’t that she liked him or had any ulterior motives. She was just curious.

‘What’s different?’

It was still the same body she knew as Flan’s. His tall, slim frame hadn’t changed at all.

Although he had a naturally broad build, having been born into a knight’s family, the important thing was that he hadn’t grown any larger.

Yet, there was something different.

Today, that body seemed exceptionally imposing. The usual sickly and timid appearance was nowhere to be seen.

“Perhaps you should leave now.”

At the low command, Katarina was about to leave the room in a daze, but she suddenly remembered what she had come to say. She almost left without saying it.

“If you don’t leave, I’ll make you.”

Flan had fully dressed his lower half but was still bare-chested.

As Flan gently tried to push her out, Katarina grabbed his hand, still with her head turned away.

“…Young Master! People call you the disgrace of the Judith Family.”

She spoke with her eyes tightly closed. No matter how strange the situation, she had to fulfill her duties.

“If you continue practicing magic, the family won’t stand by idly. You may no longer be considered a member of the Judith Family.”

“What’s your reason for telling me this?”

“Because I’m worried. I’ve been by your side since you were a child.”

“Is that so.”

Flan nodded. But it wasn’t a nod of agreement.

He raised his chin instead. The rebellious spirit within Kaplan, not Flan, burned too brightly to simply let this pass.

“Tell me, what is this family’s reputation like, given its success with the sword?”

“…Excuse me?”

Katarina’s face showed her confusion.

“If this is a family that proves its worth with the sword, then everyone should work even harder. Go tell them that.”

“What… are you saying?”

The head maid looked around nervously, as if someone might overhear.

But Flan just chuckled, as he often did.

“They might wake up one day to find it has become a magic family.”

Flan gave her a mocking smile before heading out for breakfast.

“You… Young Master! Miss Scarlet will be joining you for breakfast! You must not say such things during the meal!”

Behind him, Katarina’s flustered voice rang out.

Of course, he paid no attention to it.

“Shall we go?”

There was a mountain of things to prove.

In other words, yes.

This was fun.