Chapter 17

"Stay there."

‘Damn, I wish you hadn’t stood up.’

However, against my wishes, Oscar turned around as if he had been waiting for it.

Dad put me down and approached Oscar.

"What did you just say?"

"I said it was a waste of time dealing with a fool."

"Huh."

Dad burst out laughing, then clenched his teeth.

"Apologize. To my daughter."

"Rather, I should be the one to apologize for wasting my precious time. I’ve spent one hour and thirty-seven minutes so far."

"Who kept you? The Archmage didn’t need to come in person. You came uninvited."

"Because I had expectations. When I heard it was ‘that’ Enock Rubinstein’s daughter."

Oscar added, raising his chin arrogantly.

"But you turned out to be no different from any other disappointing parents. Do you know how many people apply for the Genius Program at the Mage Tower?"

"..."

"They all go crazy over some trivial numbers. They’re all filled with baseless hopes that their children will be geniuses. It’s quite amusing."

"Hey, I couldn’t do what she did when I was seven. Who can solve that at that age?"

"I did. Exactly at seven."

"..."

Dad seemed at a loss for words.

"...Apologize."

"No."

"Really, what is it with manners...!"

"Enock."

Grandpa intervened, trying to mediate the tense atmosphere.

"Archmage, I was the one who contacted you about my granddaughter. I’m sorry if she didn’t meet your expectations. Let’s leave it at that and go back."

"Ah, is that so? It seems you’ve aged, Lord Nordic. I can see no trace of the keen insight I once admired."

...That lunatic.

He really has no respect for anyone.

"Archmage!"

Dad couldn’t hold back and raised his voice.

Grandpa, worried that Dad might strike, grabbed his arm tightly.

At that moment, I was silently reciting a spell in my head.

‘Hold it. Hold it. Don’t say anything, Lilith. There’s nothing good that will come from it. Please.’

‘Why not? Why should I hold it? Should I just let him be rude to Grandpa?’

The rational part of me telling me to hold back and the impulse to flatten that arrogant nose were battling inside me.

"Anyway, I welcome your return to the system. Your daughter is just another mediocre talent, so don’t have any false hopes. Spend the next seven years rebuilding the family you’ve neglected."

...Is he really going to push it to the end?

Something snapped in my head.

The impulse won.

"Dad, wait!"

I ran up and grabbed Dad’s pants before he could get angry.

Then I said to Oscar, who was looking down at me with a condescending eye,

"You solved it when you were seven?"

"Yeah."

"Genius."

"Right. You’re a mediocrity."

"I’m glad I’m a mediocrity. If I were a genius, I wouldn’t learn manners at the Mage Tower. Dad would be sad if I grew up to be as rude as the Archmage."

"...What?"

Oscar’s expression suddenly turned blank.

Dad flinched, then laughed.

"Yeah, that’s right. As long as our daughter grows up healthy and well-mannered, that’s all we need."

"Give me five more minutes."

I said, not avoiding Oscar’s persistent gaze.

"I’ll try the problem again."

"You?"

"Yes. If I get it right, apologize to Dad and Grandpa for being rude."

"..."

Silence fell.

After a long pause, Oscar smirked and replied.

"Fine. Go ahead."

"Thank you for agreeing."

I walked back to the blackboard.

Dad, flustered, said,

"Lilith, Princess. You don’t need to push yourself."

While I was rereading the problem on the blackboard.

‘Are you crazy? You are a fool.’

My rationality returned.

The impulse I couldn’t control had led me to do something huge.

If I solve this, I’ll be called a genius.

And I’ll be evaluated on higher-level problems to test my understanding and cognitive abilities.

How far can I pretend to be a genius, knowing the answers to problems I’ve already learned as an adult...?

‘No, no. But I did complete higher education in my previous life, right?’

I was a liberal arts major, but I was still a well-rounded talent... not a genius, but a capable person.

I even tutored in math to pay off my student loans.

For the record, the high school student I taught went to Soul University’s Department of Mathematics Education.

‘Yeah, let’s go for it. I’ve already crossed the point of no return.’

I picked up the chalk.

In the silence of the room.

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of the chalk on the blackboard became clear.

I thought of scenes from countless movies where geniuses solve problems on the blackboard without hesitation...

Of course, they are real geniuses, and I’m just pretending to be one.

‘Since I’ve decided to play the genius, let’s do it well!’

What’s life for?

I put on a thick face and acted without hesitation.

I never stopped moving the chalk and finally put the last period.

Then I put the chalk down and turned around.

Robel, Dad, and Grandpa...

Their eyes were bulging out of their sockets.

"Wh-what did I just see... No, what... Duke? What is that?"

Robel, rubbing his eyes, asked Dad, who was standing next to him.

"..., I don’t know."

Dad shook his head, his mouth agape.

Oscar had a strange expression.

"Archmage."

I shook the chalk dust off my hands and said,

"I’m seventeen."

* * *

Oscar Manuelle is just rude.

He knows very well what manners are.

He bowed 90 degrees to Dad and Grandpa, admitting he had been rude, as he had promised.

The victory felt too easy, and there was no excitement or satisfaction.

All that was left was regret for my reckless actions.

"Ah, life..."

Sitting alone in the study, I stared blankly into space.

"What have I done?"

I just wanted to see Oscar’s irritated face...

But his eyes shone with madness, as if he was satisfied to have found a genius.

‘He’s definitely a lunatic.’

He even had dinner at our house and offered to teach me personally.

Of course, I accepted, thinking it would be a good opportunity to try to recruit me since I now had a connection with the Archmage.

Creak.

"Surprise."

I jumped at the sound of a chair being pulled out and turned to see Oscar, who had finished eating.

"Ugh."

"..."

"I ate well."

Oscar burped loudly and patted his stomach.

‘What, what is this?’

If he didn’t have a handsome face, he would be completely unlikable.

Oscar smirked at my bewildered expression.

‘...What? He seems like a different person.’

He had a completely different aura from before.

"Let’s study a bit more."

Oscar nodded, and paper and a pen flew to my desk.

"Wow."

"Isn’t it amazing?"

"Yes."

"There’s a concept called coordinates in every space. To create a magical formula, you need to be able to express this concept mathematically."

Ah, the mathematical representation of space...

So, it seems you need to understand up to the vector concept, which is part of advanced education in the natural sciences, to create magical formulas.

‘Magic is quite systematic, it seems.’

I became a little interested.

Vectors are something I can handle with my current knowledge.

"Do you know numbers less than zero?"

"Are there numbers less than zero?"

I feigned ignorance, and Oscar, chuckling, wrote on the paper.

3 - 5 =

"Try it."

"Hmm."

Oscar seemed to be trying to teach me the concept of negative numbers.

I could pretend to think for a moment and then give the answer.

I bit the tip of the pen and looked at the problem, and Oscar muttered,

"...Small."

"Huh? What’s small? The number?"

"No."

I turned to see Oscar smiling strangely.

"I mean you."

"..."

"Too small."

I was stunned.

Oscar, propping his chin, examined me carefully and added,

"For a seven-year-old, you’re... strangely small."

"..."

Thump.

I felt my heart drop.

Yeah, I was smaller than my peers.

And there was a reason for that.

‘Does this guy know something?’