The Genius Magician Hides His Swordsmanship - Chapter 18

Chapter 18. Welcome, is this your first time at the mage tower? (2)

Noah Grendel. It was her again.

“Oh! Senior?”

Drew smiled gladly.

“Are you out for dinner?”
“Yes! It’s our first day, so we’re going to take a look around.”
“That’s a good idea. Restaurant food is so much better than school meals.”

Drew opened his eyes wide at the words.

“The mage tower’s meal was delicious though! How much more delicious will the restaurants’ food be?”
“Las is famous for its fresh ingredients. It’s a port city, so there are a lot of ingredients that came in by boat.”
“Wow! Then can you recommend a restaurant? Oh, never mind. Would you like to join us if you haven’t had dinner yet?”

Drew’s hopeful eyes shot at Noah.

“Sure, I have something to do, but I gotta eat first.”

Noah’s head nodded.

‘This is making me uncomfortable.’

I couldn’t help but worry. The thought of eating with a descendant of the Pentagram sat uncomfortably at the back of my mind.

[What’s the matter?]

I walked with a small sigh. Noah and Drew had already gone ahead of me.

“Come on, Ian!”

I followed them a short distance into the market and the smell of the sea became overpowering.

“Come eat here, guys! We’ll treat you right!”
“Guys! Come eat here! I’ll be nice to you!”
“It’s the same if you go somewhere else. My place is the best.”

Drew’s head whipped around at the call, the women clapping their hands toward us. He’s not sure what to make of it.
But this little bit of chaos became a part of his inner life.

‘So this is what it’s like to be human.’

It was a kind of exuberance I’d never felt in the dullness of my prestigious life. I took a moment to bask in it.

“Over there.”

Noah pointed to a shop.

“Looks pretty normal, doesn’t it?”

Drew shook his head at the shabby exterior. Noah grabbed our wrists and led us in.

“This is the oldest restaurant here. If we wait any longer, there won’t even be a place to sit.”
“Oh, then let’s get in!”

As soon as we opened the door to the restaurant, the smell of food hit my nose.

‘Oh, this smells good.’

There was a delicious smell that made me smile. It was more than enough to satisfy Oberon.

[Wow, this place has a great atmosphere.]
‘Yeah, it’s so old school.’

The interiors looked like something from a thousand years ago.

“I hear this old-fashioned look is popular these days. Let’s sit down.”

There were only two tables left. We took a seat at one of them.

“What can I get you?”

The owner unfolded a menu with a friendly smile.

“We’ll have this, this, and this.”

Noah ordered for us who are new to this place.

“When you guys try this in a bit, you’ll be glad you came here.”
“Okay senior!”

Drew’s eyes sparkled.

“You don’t have to call me senior. You can just call me noona.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I’m seventeen. Are you fifteen or sixteen?”
“Fifteen!”
“That’s great, you got into the mage tower at fifteen. Not many fifteen-year-olds get in at that age, not even Delemars.”

Drew blushed at Noah’s praise.

“Thanks senior, uh, I mean noona!”

Of course, behind fifteen-year-old Drew’s admission was my help.

“What’s your name?”
“Oh, I’m Drew Gibson.”

Drew gave me a wink.

“I’m Ian Delemar, senior.”
“Like I said, you don’t have to call me senior.”
“Oh, I’m more comfortable with this.”

Noah shrugged her shoulders. I didn’t want to get close to a descendant of the Pentagram. It wasn’t because of the hierarchy.
There may be seniors who are younger than you in terms of age, but there will never be a noona or sunbae who are younger than you.

‘Phew, if I had gotten married in my past life, I would have a daughter her age.’

If you add my past and present lives, I have lived a total of 50 years.

‘I can’t call her noona.’
[That’s right.]

Only Oberon giggled and laughed. Fortunately, the awkward atmosphere disappeared quickly.

“Here it is. Have a good meal!”

It was thanks to the food served by the owner.

“Wow, this place is really great!”

Drew was drooling. Steamed fish, grilled crustaceans and seafood soup.

‘Wow, this is killing me.’

My mouth was watering too.

‘They want me to have this without a drink?’

It was natural for me, who was an alcoholic.

[There’s nothing we can do yet. You’re still in a child’s body. Hold it in until you’re 18.]

‘It’s hard to wait 3 more years. I’ll have to think of a way to get alcohol next time.’

While I thought I was in a dream looking at food like that.
Dreuk!
The shop door opened again.

“Oh, who’s that? Isn’t that Ian?”

Our gazes all turned toward it. Two faces as familiar as banal remarks were entering the place.

“McDuff?”

Drew frowned as he picked up the food.

[Hmm?]

However, my gaze was not on McDuff, but on someone else standing next to him.

‘Beaulay…’

It was another red-eyed boy.

[That guy is Alphonse’s son, right?]

The son of Alphon Delemar, the fifth son of the current patriarch. That is, our cousin, he’s 2 years older than us.

‘He was admitted to the mage tower 2 years ago.’

I didn’t have a good impression of him. No, I just wanted to hit him once, but I was labeled as a cursed child and was often bullied by him.

‘I’ve already met McDuff.’

It would not be an exaggeration to say that McDuff learned bad things from him.

“Ian, even after entering the mage tower, you didn’t come to say hello to your cousin?”

Of course, I didn’t care to meet him.

“Huh? You’re still looking at me like that? It’s been a while since I’ve had to give you some proper education.”

Beaulay approached with a twitch in one corner of his mouth.

“Hyung, punish him properly! He bullied me so much at the academy.”

McDuff was elated with Beaulay as his backer.

‘This guy hasn’t come to his senses yet.’
[The idiot is still the same.]

At first, I tried to ignore it. Because I didn’t want to fight in a crowded place.

“Just leave.”
“Look at what you’re saying, leave? As an adult in the family, I have to give you home training.”

The situation took my breath away.

‘Ugh, what do I do with this guy?’

Beaulay walked to our seats.

“Can you just go?”

Noah’s cold gaze stuck to Beaulay. Although it just was a fleeting moment.

‘What?’

But, apparently, Beaulay’s eyes shook.

“No-Noah? Why are you with them?”

He recognized Noah.

[They must have known each other from before.]
‘I guess so. Their age and year of their admission are the same.’

Noah sat down and shot back at Beaulay.

“Beaulay, don’t even get me started, you’re picking a fight with this kid.”
“…Just who do you think you are! You don’t matter. Get out of here!”
“They’re eating with me right now. If you don’t want to be embarrassed in front of your relatives, why don’t you just leave?”

Mana was at Noah’s fingertips.
Flick!
A small flame formed.

‘Oh my…’

She created a flame, but an even greater than that of McDuff’s. Its color was as blue as water

[It’s blue?]

A blue flame settled on Noah’s palm. Beaulay’s face staring at the flame looked particularly pale.

“…Ah.”
“So? Would you like to go or be humiliated again?”

Eventually, Beaulay took a step back.

“I-I’m here to eat!”

He shouted loudly and headed for the last empty seat.

‘They must have fought before.’
[He’s just as much of a troublemaker since he was a little brat.]

Beaulay took a last glance at me and ordered a dish without saying anything to me.

“Thank you, senior.”
“You’re welcome. Let’s eat.”

Noah picked up her food as if it was no big deal.

‘Blue flames…’

I couldn’t help but be more concerned about her existence because of the blue flame.
A clear blue color.
Because it was a realm where magical talent for fire was allowed only to those who surpassed geniuses.

‘Let me eat first.’

I picked up the food in front of me.
Drok.
The door to the restaurant opened again.

“Welcome…”

The owner, who was about to greet the customer, turned his head as if he didn’t see her.

‘Is it a girl?’

Dull, tangled hair. A scruffy face. She looked about fifteen years old.

“Sir, I need a dollar.”

The girl walked over to the nearest table and begged.

‘It’s such a pity.’

I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her, because I was once like that.

“Go away.”

Of course, the beggar was ignored, and immediately moved to the next table and started begging.

‘I’ll have to give her some money when I get over there.’
[Whatever.]

After a look of compassion for a while. I finally took my first bite.

‘Ha, as expected, this should be with a drink.’

By the time you desperately want a drink, the juice of the fish spreads as if you were teasing your tongue.

“You filthy thing!”

She ended up at the table where Beaulay was sitting.

“I’m so sorry!”
“How dare you come near me!”

Is he taking his anger from Noah out on the girl? Or is it because his mentality has always been like that?

“Ah, help me!”

Beaulay was kicking the beggar mercilessly.

“That wicked bastard…”

Seeing that, Noah murmured in a low voice. Soon after, Noah stood up and walked towards Beaulay.

“Isn’t that enough?”
“Why do you care?”
“There’s no need to hit the powerless!”

Noah pushed Beaulay and approached, raising the beggar to her feet.

“Are you okay?”

Then Noah dug into her pocket and gave her some change. Seeing that, Beaulay also flinched, he couldn’t say anything more.

“Take this and get out of here.”
“Yes, thank you.”

The beggar walked out with a limp like that. Noah glanced at Beaulay and returned to the table.

“Don’t worry about that guy, let’s keep eating.”

However, there was another point that tickled my nerves.

‘Wasn’t she a bit suspicious?’
[I know. I don’t think that was just an ordinary beggar.]

Because of her movement, as Beauray kicked her, every time his feet touched her, she twisted her body to minimize her shock.

‘It’s partly because of Beaulay’s poor kicking, but that wasn’t the normal movement.’

She wasn’t even hit, she was deliberately pretending to be hurt. Although she couldn’t fool my eyes.

[Well, maybe she did it on purpose, there’s no harm in getting involved.]
‘Yeah, I guess I’m just reading too much into it.’

It must be because of the habit of war, where you have to live with your nerves on edge all the time. Thinking so, I lifted my head.

‘Then let’s try the food again.’

 

* * * 

 

“I got a place to stop at, so I’m going this way. See you later.”

After finishing the meal, Noah headed inside the market.

“Phew, Thanks to noona Noah, I ate well. But, the sunbae named Beaulay was very scary. I didn’t know if the food passed through his nose or his mouth.”

Drew expressed fear with various sauces smeared around his mouth. But overall, he was very well-fed.

“It’s better not to get involved with those kids.”

It was time to get out of the market alley.

“Oi, cursed bastard.”

As soon as we stepped out of the alley, the ones who greeted us were Beaulay and McDuff.

‘Somehow, they ate quickly and then ran out…’

They must have been deliberately waiting for us to separate from Noah.

“Who are you to come to the mage tower? Do you really think you are good enough?”

Beaulay came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder. As expected, he didn’t seem to want to let go easily.

“Go on your way. I’m busy.”
“What? What did you say?”

Beaulay’s face crumpled up, and then he pulled me by the collar.

“There’s no Noah here to help you. And you are here acting all haughty?”

The glimmering eyes of the boy were not scary at all.

‘Ugh, he’s so annoying.’

It was obvious that it made me feel uncomfortable. But I couldn’t just yell at him. I had something to check before that.

“Among the rules of the mage tower, are there any punishments for classmates who use violence against each other?”

At that question, Beaulay burst into laughter. He then gave more strength to the hand holding the collar.

“Are you trying to report that I grabbed you by the collar? What would happen? As long as you’re out of the mage tower, it will not intervene. Do you know what I mean? There’s nothing to protect you in this city. You will have a taste of it.”

One corner of his mouth curled up at those words.

‘Oberon.’
[Hm.]
‘Did he just say there was nothing wrong with having an accident?’
[Uh-huh.]
‘Then I’m going to have to take care of him, aren’t I?’
[If you ignore it, you aren’t Adonis.]

Beaulay screamed at my ridicule.

“How dare you make that face? I’ll give you some education today.”

He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me to one side.

“Smile and follow me.”

McDuff, seeing what was happening from a distance with his mouth open, was wondering what was so exciting.

‘Okay, let’s educate both of you today.’

I wanted to make it clear who is above and who is below. They needed to get hurt for a hierarchy to be established.