Reincarnated as a Genius Mage

"That's the summary."

I massage my forehead.

How on earth did I even get involved with all this in the first place?

I let out a soft sigh. "So? What do we need to do?" I ask.

"It's simple. You see, the fifty in our troop aren't weak at all. In fact, they're quite strong because they've been through countless battles with me and they didn't die. They just have.. problems. Alberto and I were looking for ways to fix these problems before he passed away yesterday. But for now, I think just returning their morale would be enough to progress with the troop battles."

"And how do you suppose we do that? Bringing their morale back?"

He stands, his right hand balancing on his waist. I sit on the sandy ground, holding my knees with my arms as I look up at him.

"Hmm, I've never really thought about that.."

He's caressing his beardless jaw, looking down with narrowed eyes and a wrinkled forehead.

I think I have an idea. And if it works, I can achieve what I want and what's good for them at the same time.

"I remember something. Back at the mercenary guild in Ludia, there was a period of time when I trained every early morning til night for a year straight. As mercenaries saw me, I don't know if they got motivated or just curious, but more and more started coming to the training grounds to train. And like that, the mercenaries in the mercenary guild that were known for slacking off began taking training seriously. Doesn't this give you some kind of idea?"

His lips curl up, and his eyes narrow as he smiles, "you're quite a charismatic presence aren't you."

I shrug.

"But you're right. That.. that could work." His voice is no longer low. It's now high, and his eyes have become more clear. "If we follow your story.. hmm, but it took one year. And we have just two weeks until the troop battles."

"That means we have two weeks of stupidly hard training to complete."

His smile widens more, "I think I like you, Blank."

I pause, staring at him with my lips curved in a grimace. "You do realize that sounded.."

"I'll rephrase. I find you, Blank, to my liking."

Okay, that's enough.

I stand up immediately. "I'm gonna go train."

He lets out a soft chuckle behind me as I walk away from him.

Hm? What are those footsteps? Are they horses or humans?

"Blank!! Yo!!"

Oh. Jeriq.

I turn my neck, and I see Jeriq running from the distance. He holds something in his hands.

"What is it?" I ask as he runs past George, and gives him a small nod. George nods back.

"Phew. I went looking for you in your tent, but I couldn't find you there." He speaks in a low, raspy voice as he catches his breath.

"It seems you've been running for a while now. Clear your throat." I speak.

"Ahem! Forget about that.. here, take this!" He says as he hands the thing covered with rags to me.

"Uh.. what is that?"

"Just take it."

Does he want to harm me or something? Or a prank of sorts?

I furrow my brows, glaring at his bright, cheerful smile. Then I let out a soft smile.

This guy can't harm me.

I take the object in his hand.

I feel the frame, and I immediately recognize it.

My lips widen as I slowly remove the rags covering the object.

"It's.. my Chakram." I mutter.

"Damn right it is. K ordered me to give it to you when I went to tell my mentor Laran goodbye." Jeriq says.

My eyes never leave the Chakram. It hasn't changed. Not at all. It's still the same, just, the handle isn't wooden now. The handle that divides the diameter of the chakram is made from metal.

I clutch the handle tightly, raising the Chakram up face level to take more glances at it.

"Now that's more like it." I whisper to myself.

"Oh. Did you know that our mentors and the General and a few other Levarian Generals are going to Elyrus to take down the third Orcan general?" Jeriq asks.

I shake my head. "I didn't. K only told me he was going on a mission today."

"I see. You didn't even tell him goodbye before he left."

"... It's not my fault. I was sleeping."

He just stares at me with a disappointed expression.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. It's his fault. Or maybe he didn't do anything wrong and I was just being a jerk, but hey, the me from four hours ago probably had a reason." I just shrug.

"You're so shameless."

"I know."

"A nice weapon you got there, Blank. What's it called?" George, who walked down to our position, asks.

Jeriq looks at him with a slightly surprised expression.

"I call it a Chakram." I reply to him.

"That means it doesn't have a name." Jeriq tells George.

George just smiles and pats Jeriq's head. "Cute."

Jeriq looks at me, and I do the same. Then we both look at George.

"Captain, today you've been.. do you perhaps swing that way?" I ask George.

George frowns, then his face straightens as he lets out a dry laugh.

"Ha.. haha! No. Pfft.. no, I like women." George says.

I nod. "Ah~ sure."

Jeriq also nods, and shifts an inch away from George, and he whispers into my ear, "he's totally gay."

I nod, confirming Jeriq's words.

George waves his hands at us, "Wait. You guys don't believe me right? I know you.."

"No. I totally believe you." I speak, giving him a thumbs up as I drop my Chakram on the ground.

Jeriq shakes his head. "I don't."

George gives up, and just lets out a sigh, waves his right hand and slowly walks away. "I'm gonna go have breakfast. Blank, don't forget what we discussed."

I nod. "I won't."

George leaves. I turn to face Jeriq, and he smiles at me, I smile back.

He brings his knuckles closer to my chest, and I join mine with his. A fist bump.

"Totally got him." Jeriq says.

I just let out a soft chuckle. "Yeah. Totally did."

"You want to train?" He asks.

"You know me." I reply.

He scoffs, "of course I do."

I immediately sit on the ground, in a lotus position, ready to begin mana breathing.

I hope that I've at least relieved George's grief to a certain degree. He's the leader, and the pillar. Without the pillar, a building cannot stand.

"Then I'll train too." Jeriq says.

I nod. "Suit yourself."