Overpowered Archmage Doesn’t Hide His Talent

With a bewildered look, I observed the situation.

A clean cotton scent tickled my nose.

A white girl, who radiantly illuminated her surroundings, was nestled in my arms, like a literal angel.

First, I immediately pushed her away. Because it was a sight that could be mistaken for a reunion of long-lost lovers by anyone who saw us.

She seemed very interested in me. After inspecting my uniform, she widened her eyes.

“Sir Flan, Sir Flan are you also a student of the Magic Department?"

I nodded my head roughly. Her small mouth opened in surprise.

"Uh... Ah, well! Um...!"

However, she could only stammer and couldn't successfully articulate the words. Fearing that she might bite her tongue, I added a word.

"Oh, yes! Th-Thank you!"

- Hah, phew.

The girl took a deep breath, clenched her fist, and opened her mouth again.

“Sir Flan! Are you sure what you just said? Why? Why did you drop your sword?”

In an instant, three questions were directed at me.

It seemed like she originally knew the original owner of the body, but she was the first person to approach me so kindly.

The academy uniform she was wearing belong to the Magic Department. On the name tag, there was only one word written: Yushia.

‘Is she a commoner?’

The girl's appearance was impeccably noble,  but since she had no family name, it was likely that she was a commoner.

Yushia grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously.

"Oh, you don't have to explain the reason! I was just glad~ I'm also a magic department student now!"

"A magic department student?"

"Yes. I transferred, so for now, that's it!"

I remembered when Professor Violet had something to say about the transfer students and took Professor Leonard with her as she left.

It seemed that the transfer student was the girl in front of me.

“Sir Flan! Ah, would you like to have a separate place to talk? I'm sorry for standing here!"

"I'm quite busy."

"Oh~ Then let's just exchange simple greetings for today. By any chance, do you remember what happened before?"

Yushia, still with her sparkling golden eyes was looking at me with excitement. And I was curious about why she showed genuine kindness towards this boy Flan.

However, it was impossible to say exactly what happened in the past and what was going on, so I roughly changed my words.

“I can’t remember very well.”

“…… Ah, ah!”

Yushia was startled and raised her head abruptly.

Our eyes met. Her golden eyes shining like a mirror reflected my image.

Resentment for forgetting something important, disappointment... I thought she would feel devastated by such emotions, but she didn't.

“Sir Flan!”

'Huh?'

But country to my thoughts she rather hugged me once again.

"I'm sorry! It's all my fault for causing you so much harm... I'll help you in every way I can to regain your memories!"

She was treating me with even more sparkle in her eyes than before.

Perhaps she had received great favor from the original owner of my body in the past. So I calmly asked.

"...Help me?"

"Yes! I will be your aide!"

Yushia thumped her chest confidently. Each time her fist touched her voluminous breasts, it made a thumping sound.

“Moreover, there was a rumor that there was a family in the Magic Department that signed a contract with demons. That's why I transferred! Now, I will protect you, Sir Flan!"

“Shh.”

"Euh?!"

Right after hearing that story, I unknowingly pressed Yushia's lips with my index finger. At the same time, look around.

Even though I didn't understand the context, I knew that such a story was not something to be spoken of in front of others.

Fortunately, the surroundings were quiet. I asked with a somewhat serious expression.

"Demon?"

"Yes. It's about the demons that ran wild ten years ago. There's a family that made a contract with them through their souls..."

Right after, I realized that Yushia was not a commoner. It was because this was not something an ordinary commoner would worry about.

She likely concealed her identity during the transfer process. Lowering it would indicate a noble status, while raising it would surpass even that level.

I subtly led her to the answer.

"It doesn't seem like something to talk about lightly. You should consider your own position."

However, Yushia only gave more strength to the arms that embraced me with her jewel-like eyes sparkling.

“Ah~ It’s okay! I’m not interested in competing for the imperial rank. In the first place, I've been lying down for 10 years, and I believe that the older sisters will take care of it.”

The more I listened to her story, the more thoughts filled my mind.

'Competition in the Imperial Family? Isn't she practically saying that she is a princess?'

Yushia continued to speak with a bright attitude.

“Besides, I’m talking to Sir Flan and not anyone else, so it’s okay! I can do anything for Sir Flan!”

"We'll talk about it in detail later, just the two of us."

"Okay~ Just the two of us...  Sir Flan and me! That's great!"

That was when it happened.

-Thud

The sound of something falling was heard. It was right next to me and Yushia.

“Uh…. Ah.”

What fell on the ground was Becky's trivia.

The girl with red hair seemed greatly flustered. Her trembling hands were evidence of that.

I pushed Yushia away and then looked at Becky’s trivia spread out on her floor.

The spells of magic missiles with different circuits were filling up the memo page. I immediately understood why Becky was looking for me.

The non-attribute magic that I used during the practice evaluation. It seemed she wanted to talk about it.

Yushia broke the awkward silence.

"Who is it? Ah, is it a friend of Sir Flan?"

“Sir Flan…?”

Becky murmured that title and looked at me. In fact, I had no response to give her.

"If you're Sir Flan's friend, I'm glad to meet you too! Nice to meet you!"

“Uh…. No, no. Oh, that’s….”

Becky stammered as if something had broken, then quickly picked up the trivia that fell on the ground.

"I'm s-s-sorry for disturbing you."

All of a sudden, with a ninety degrees greeting, Becky left the place after that short word.

Her receding figure seemed somewhat pitiful. She appeared unusually small and somewhat lonely.

While looking at her in that state, I quietly thought to myself.

'She shouldn’t draw those spells like that.'

◈◈◈

Although it was referred to as a "dungeon" in terms of notation, Merchen Academy did not simply throw students into perilous environments without any precautions. Various measures were taken to ensure the safety of students, even within these dungeon-like facilities.

In order to provide more effective training, Merchen Academy boasted a wide array of facilities that closely simulated dungeons. One such facility, known as the "Magic Labyrinth," was the designated location for our exploration task today.

As we gathered at the entrance of the magic labyrinth, a massive black door firmly attached to the ground loomed before us.

'Are we going underground?'

The atmosphere emanating from the door was incredibly foreboding, to the point where it felt almost unnaturally crafted.

"What should we do... Now that we're about to enter, it's scary."

"All the monsters in there are artificially created. Don't be afraid."

"Did anyone forget to bring their scrolls?"

The surrounding students also seemed quite confused. It seemed that fear outweighed excitement.

However, there was a topic that overshadowed that fear.

"Oh well, did you see the Agora board?"

"Of course, I did. Hey, there's no one who hasn't seen it."

“I thought Trixie would lose…. But she solved it after all."

"I envy Trixie's team. How reassuring it must be to have her as a teammate."

On the day of the deadline for Trixie's proposed bet, she managed to solve the problem just last night.

[ ▶ Thanks to you, I solved it! ]

[ ▶ I want to learn more! Hehe ]

Thanks to her, my Trivia had been receiving a flood of messages since last night. It had also become clear that Trixie was the client.

I turned my head and gave Trixie a glance.

Her icy eyes and expressionless face were still the same. She was like a lone wolf wandering on the frozen ground.

After seeing her, I still couldn't get used to the way she speaks in Trivia. I didn't know which side was her true self.

[ ▶ I’ll be sure to send you the book you requested! ]

As the price for teachings, I demanded『How did Healing Magic become the center of controversy?』

Since she accepted it, I would soon get the magic books I'd wanted. A corner of my heart was already satisfied.

"There won't be any vacancies, right?"

At that moment, Violet appeared.

As she yawned and started scanning the students, the students immediately fell silent.

"As scheduled, we will conduct the exploration assessment today. There are a total of 15 teams, but only 10 checkpoints. You all know the details, right?"

Instead of explaining further, Violet pressed her temples with her finger. She seemed very tired.

"As I mentioned before, you can only bring intermediate scrolls, and first gather with your teams."

Since I didn't move, Trixie and Martin came over to me involuntarily.

“I saw you solved the agora board problem. You're amazing as always!~ I spent the whole day talking about you with my friends."

Martin kept muttering incessantly, but Trixie’s gaze was directed toward me. It was a subtle gaze, slightly different from usual, reaching me.

"Now, get ready in order."

When Violet opened the door using telekinesis, a staircase leading to the basement was revealed.

Both sides of the walls were illuminated with torches, which was quite similar to the dungeons in my previous world. It was a part that could be called welcoming if one wanted to.

As I went down, a total of 15 forks in the path appeared.

Each team dispersed to their respective paths, and our team headed towards the one labeled '11'.

As I started going down the stairs without any hesitation, Trixie and Martin followed behind me.

To be precise, it was Martin who followed behind Trixie, who was following behind me.

“The fact that you solved the agora board this time is a hot topic. Rumor has it that some guilds already want to recruit you."

“No.”

"That's right. Do you have any plans for a meal? The exploration assessment is quite demanding. We'll get hungry after it's over, so let's eat together."

“No.”

"Is it not good to eat just the two of us? Then should I bring a few of my friends to join us? They're all very sociable."

Sighing irritably, Trixie turned around. As the person who had to take care of these guys, she naturally stopped in her tracks.

“You.”

With sharp eyes like an arrow, Trixie's gaze made Martin visibly flustered.

"Yes? Why?"

At that movement, a blue flame emerged from Trixie's palm.

Despite emitting tremendous heat, that flame appeared cool and somewhat resembled its owner.

"Just... get lost."

"...."

Martin's idea of the most powerful member of Team 11 would be Trixie von Fritz. Whether he didn't have confidence in withstanding Trixie's blue flame or for some other reason, his mouth shut tight in no time.

With Martin not talking, the only thing left was silence. We finally walked in a quiet environment.

The passage turned out to be much longer than expected, and unexpectedly, Trixie quietly approached me.

Wasn't the crest of the Fritz family Jasmine? As she got closer, the scent of jasmine tickled my nose.

"Ahem."

Walking side by side with me, Trixie cleared her throat.

Then, she spoke in such a small voice that only I could hear.

“*Dangsin.”

I felt a great discomfort from her chilling tone. It wasn't difficult to find the reason.

The address "you" had been reversed to "*Dangsin".

What kind of change had occurred in her heart? Before I could even speculate, Trixie added more words.

"...A scout. That's right."

'Scout.'

I repeated the word "scout" silently in my mind a few times.

Unconsciously, I let out a deep sigh. If she called me a scout, then I must be one of those skilled individuals in a guild who operated undercover as students.

"No."

"I know everything."

'No, you don't know anything at all.'

--- End of The Chapter --

[TL: Dangsin - '당신' - means "you" in a more formal and distant manner.

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