Overpowered Archmage Doesn’t Hide His Talent

Chapter 52: How can there be such an idiot…

Chapter 52 – How can there be such an idiot…

The aftermath of the match was huge, and so was the hassle.

Among them, the most annoying ones were the reporters, including Sephia, whom I made all back off.

I did agree to give them an exclusive interview later… but that was easy. I needed some peace of mind right now.

In front of the library. I checked the list of papers I borrowed.

“Study on the Limits and Factors of Healing Magic” 

“Research on the Formula for Implementing Observation” …

I had always been interested in healing magic, and the other papers were for manifesting my unique ability as magic.

Something inaccessible by magic.

To others, my unique ability might seem like that, but to me, it still felt like an ‘undiscovered unknown magic’.

In other words, I was interested and excited to research it.

But then, there was a rustling noise next to me. 

I turned to look.

“Ah!”

Our eyes met and a loud reaction popped out. 

I was used to the distinctive white hair and golden eyes by now.

Yushia opened her mouth.

“Sir Flan, I’ve been looking for you~”

“Why.”

Yushia smiled and flicked her index finger.

“First of all, to congratulate you on your victory. I watched the whole match with my fist clenched!”

“How many more are there?”

She flicked her middle finger as well.

“Second and last! While you were playing, there was a sinister aura outside the stadium.”

Yushia confidently patted her chest.

“It must be the trace of a villain or a blood demon. I will! Until the midterm exam next week! Stick to your side and protect you.”

Midterm exam.

Come to think of it, the midterm exam that I bet with Scarlet, the knight of the remnant flame, was already around the corner.

“…Yushia, what did you see with your fist clenched?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t need anyone’s protection.”

“But this is my job! Just think of me as air and act as usual.”

I gathered the papers and books and stuffed them into my arms. I had to go back to the dormitory to get rid of them.

But then I noticed that Yushia had a small bag dangling from her waist.

“What’s that?”

“A glow-in-the-dark puzzle. But I won’t do it.”

Yushia smiled.

“I also know how to separate work and play. Of course, it’s a shame not to do it when we have three people together…”

“Two. You can’t even count properly, what are you going to do?”

Yushia tilted her head.

“Huh? We are three.”

I followed Yushia’s gaze. 

And sure enough, I could see another person standing next to us.

Hailey.

I didn’t even know she was there. Our eyes met in midair.

“…”

Then Hailey looked somewhat restless.

She used to glare at me all the time, but now she couldn’t even look me in the eye.

While that was going on, Hailey suddenly opened her mouth.

“Hey, Flan.”

I just turned my head and looked at her.

I was so busy, I didn’t like her hesitating attitude.

So I unconsciously frowned.

“…”

After a brief awkward silence. Hailey shook her head.

“No, never mind… Sorry. See you later.”

Hailey turned her back and almost ran away from the spot.

“Uh… Miss Hailey?”

Yushia briefly looked at Hailey’s back as she quickly moved away.

“Sir Flan, what’s wrong with Miss Hailey?”

“It’s none of my business. You mind your own too.”

“Ah. I see.”

Yushia didn’t ask why. 

She just nodded when I told her to.

Since we were talking, I checked my trivia.

Tricksy, Becky, Sephia… all kinds of contacts were pouring in. 

It would be busy for a while.

When I took a step, Yushia took a step. 

She was like a bodyguard.

With no choice, I opened my mouth again.

“Yushia. Do you want to keep me safe?”

“Sir Flan! Of course!”

“Then… I wish you would crush these guys a little.”

I handed Yushia three papers.

“Oh! What is this?”

“Summarize the main points. You can ask me if you don’t understand anything in between.”

Yushia nodded with a sparkle in her eyes.

“Yes!”

I looked straight into her eyes and added.

“Be sure to crush them and seize the victory.”

“Yesss!”

Her face, which answered loudly, showed a serious enthusiasm.

She was determined to crush the papers.

◈

“You lost, didn’t you?”

At that word, Scarlet’s hand, which was receiving the documents, stopped.

The Knight of the Flame, Scarlet, quietly stared at the other side. 

There was the leader of the Mystic Valley, Elysis.

“The outside atmosphere was crazy. Here and there, all I heard was that the Knight Academy lost.”

Scarlet snatched the documents from Elysis’s hand with a thud, making a sound.

Then Elysis shook his hand in the air.

“Did you feel bad? The story just now.”

“Think about it yourself. Just remember, it’s your responsibility to handle it.”

“You must have felt bad.”

Elysis stretched out.

“I hate those villains~ They suddenly appeared and I gave up watching the game and chased them, but then something happened in that game?”

“You must have seen the game through the visual record.”

Scarlet’s red eyes turned to Elysis. Her eyes were still burning quietly.

“Oh, you noticed? The Knight of the Flame is different.”

“I received the documents. I’ll go now. No, get out.”

“No.”

Elysis sneaked up to Scarlet.

“It’s our job to give you the list of the students we marked, but it’s also our job to listen to the story.”

“What story.”

“That’s obvious. This game, what did you think of it, Knight of the Flame?”

Scarlet rolled her eyes for a moment. She seemed to swallow her anger barely.

A moment later, her mouth opened.

“I need to hear your opinion first. Elysis.”

“My opinion… Let’s do that. But on the condition that you also tell me your opinion.”

Elysis nodded and continued.

“Should I start with praising Ivan? His swordsmanship was neat and without any waste. He even showed us the awakening of his unique ability.”

Ivan’s name was still on the Mystic Valley’s scout list.

His skills were not at a low level. However…

“…But, well, he lost. To Flan.”

Elysis scratched the back of his head.

The skills that Flan showed through the visual record were far beyond Elysis’s expectations.

It was awkward to express what to say.

“I feel dirty.”

Scarlet muttered, making a face.

“You look like that. Because Ivan lost? But, your opinion is not over yet.”

“I lost, I lost. I don’t intend to deny the result.”

“Then what makes you feel dirty… I don’t know how to be spiteful. Right. Can I smoke here?”

Elysis took out a cigarette from his pocket.

But the next moment, Scarlet snatched it and put it in her mouth.

The cigarette lit up just by her breathing.

“…What’s wrong? You quit smoking.”

“Are you unhappy?”

“No. It’s fine, just tell me what made you feel dirty.”

“First, the fact that the knight dropped his sword.”

Scarlet recalled the end of the game. 

Ivan was so shocked that he dropped the sword he was holding.

She would never have done that.

She would have endured, endured, and endured… And if she couldn’t endure, she would have cut herself, who was weak.

“But, honestly, you understand how he felt, don’t you?”

Scarlet bit down on her cigarette at Elysis’s words.

“Flan copied Ivan’s swordsmanship exactly. How shocking must that have been for him?”

“That too, it’s disgusting.”

Elysis stuck out her tongue as she spoke, as if she was amazed herself.

“Magicians have been researching a lot of strategies to win against knights in battle. There are quite a few that come to mind right away. Let’s see…”

Elysis’s eyes wandered in the air.

“First of all, magicians are absolutely disadvantaged in close combat.”

For magicians, magic to maintain distance is essential.

It goes without saying that attacks are carried out from a long range.

“Right.”

Elysis let out a hollow laugh, as if she felt ridiculous.

“But Flan didn’t use any of the existing methods in the fight?”

“He didn’t use any of the existing methods…”

Scarlet nodded quietly at Elysis’s words.

The cigarette was already blackened by the intense heat.

Breaking the ground to make the opponent lose their footing, making them see illusions and cut the wrong thing, using summoned creatures to buy time for chanting…

Flan didn’t use any of the typical methods that come to mind when you think of magicians in this battle.

“He copied the opponent’s swordsmanship and fought back. That’s a very rare case.”

It couldn’t be anything but rare.

Even if you put aside the practicality issue and think about it, replicating the opponent as they are is something that only high-ranking magicians can try.

Scarlet’s face became serious as she listened to the story.

She asked casually.

“He saw Ivan’s swordsmanship for the first time, right? Are you saying he copied it on the spot?”

“Huh? Yeah? He’s a commoner-born magician.”

A commoner-born magician.

That one word had a lot of meaning behind it.

Magicians are basically a profession that always suffers from financial problems, and commoner magicians naturally have less experience.

They wouldn’t have had a chance to watch someone else’s swordsmanship.

“He has exceptional comprehension and observation skills.”

“What if he himself had swung a sword before?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m asking.”

Scarlet’s eyes widened and sharpened.

Elysis looked at her for three seconds, then shrugged her shoulders.

“I’m sorry, I just said something ridiculous. Aren’t we talking about Flan right now? Us.”

“Yeah.”

“It doesn’t make sense. It just doesn’t.”

Elysis shook her head vigorously.

“What if he summoned a puppet based on his own swordsmanship?”

Elysis spun her index finger next to her forehead.

“Then he would have the same level of swordsmanship as Ivan. Does that make sense? A magician?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

Scarlet nodded.

But on the other hand, neither side made sense.

It was nonsense, as Elysis said, that Flan had sword skills at Ivan’s level, but she couldn’t accept that he was also outstanding in magic.

Elysis bit her tongue as if she regretted it.

“I should have scouted Flan then… That was really the best bargain.”

She muttered for a while, then Elysis suddenly looked at Scarlet and chuckled.

“The knight department must be busy now. What are you going to do? What if you say you want to participate in the subjugation event from the magic department?”

“Subjugation. Subjugation.”

Scarlet frowned.

Unlike the one-on-one battle, the subjugation event is a four-person team.

Magicians have strong personal preferences, so they don’t fit well with making teams in the first place, and the subjugation event has been the exclusive property of the knights.

“…Just leave it alone. I’ll smash it to pieces.”

Scarlet clenched her fist.

The clenched fist trembled. As if to crush everything that was caught.

“It’s just a joke. The magic department wouldn’t do such a thing. No way.”

Elysis, who had been giggling for a while, suddenly narrowed her eyes.

“No, no. Flan might… He might say he’ll go.”

“Then, literally, he’s crazy to do that.”

“He has more faith in himself than you can imagine. Don’t you remember? What did he say about his victory?”

How could she forget?

It’s just that much of a thing for a magician to beat a knight.

Flan’s voice, who said that, was still vivid in her ears. Scarlet clenched her fist without knowing it.

“…Originally, being arrogant is a magician’s specialty.”

“But, no one says Scarlet is arrogant, right?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Then, with a meaningful smile, Elysis looked over Scarlet.

“Flan and Scarlet have a strange resemblance. Will you be a cocky guy, or a peerless magician? I want to watch.”

“Elysis.”

Calling her name in a cold tone, Scarlet leaned her face toward Elysis.

At a distance where the breath touches. Scarlet’s face was very serious.

“…Even after your body is torn to pieces, will you be able to say that?”

“Why are you like this? It’s not such a bad thing to say.”

Sweat began to form on Elysis’s face.

It was not sweat from tension or fear, but from Scarlet actually blowing heat.

Then suddenly, Elysis glanced at her watch and narrowed her eyes.

“Oh, it’s here again…”

The two women finally parted.

Scarlet sighed deeply and asked.

“Another villain?”

“Well, I don’t know if it’s a villain or a bloodsucker. It’s been increasing lately.”

“Why are they bothering us, whether it’s a villain or a bloodsucker?”

“It’s probably a bloodsucker. There’s a story going around these days.”

With a slightly playful smile, Elysis asked Scarlet casually.

“It’s a very high-end information, do you want me to tell you?”

“If it’s nothing special after hearing it… I think I’ll be angry.”

“Ah~ really. You’re so sensitive today.”

Elysis clicked her tongue.

“Of course, there are higher ones among the bloodsuckers. Princess or something. Anyway, she’s especially eyeing an artifact.”

“But.”

“But~ someone snatched it away and he seems to be around here. Actually, I don’t know that well. Whether he touched it, snatched it, a student, a professor, or just a guy living nearby, a mine…”

Ha, Scarlet snorted at the absurdity.

“Are there such idiots… I don’t have to see it, it’s the work of a low-level villain.”

“Maybe so? Anyway, I have to go. It was a nice conversation.”

Scarlet nodded once, and Elysis disappeared.

Without a word, Scarlet took out a letter from her bosom.

[Dear Scarlett, the Lord of Udit wants to have a luncheon. Please visit with the master.]

The date written was next week.

By then, Flan’s midterm evaluation would be over.

“…”

She would have torn it to pieces.

She would have done that for sure.

“It’s something I have to check for myself.”

This time, she didn’t.