Overpowered Archmage Doesn’t Hide His Talent

Chapter 36 “I’ll let you exclusively report on my true identity.”

Thump, thump, thump—!

Someone urgently knocked on the door. I used telekinesis to open it.

As expected, the one knocking was Sephia. Her orange bangs were a mess, probably from rushing over in such a hurry.

“Ah, Student Flan! We’re seeing each other more often than I thought?”

As soon as the door opened, Sephia burst into the room.

She was drenched in sweat, but her green eyes were still shining brightly.

I used telekinesis to bring over a chair for Sephia to sit on. She sat down and glanced around the room.

“Wow… Are student rooms usually this nice? The dorms I know don’t look like this.”

“That’s not the issue here. Isn’t it too easy for you to come and go? You’re not even a dormitory student.”

“Don’t underestimate my professional spirit. I once did an interview right outside a bathroom stall, you know?”

“That’s not professionalism; it’s a nuisance.”

“Well, it’s legal coverage, so I wouldn’t exactly call it a nuisance. Anyway, Student Flan, that’s not important right now…”

Sephia banged the desk with her palm, leaning in close to my face.

“That scoop! The one I almost missed! At this speed, it seems like I didn’t miss it, right?”

The perfume mixed with her sweat had a strangely familiar scent. It reminded me of Violet’s fragrance.

In any case, I nodded. It would turn out to be an excellent decision that Sephia had rushed over here in two minutes.

“You caught it well.”

“Phew… Thank goodness. Do you know how urgently I came?”

Sephia sighed in relief, and her emerald-like eyes began to sparkle.

“If it’s alright with you, I’d like to get straight to the point. As a journalist, I can’t stand the anticipation!”

I didn’t intend to drag out the preliminaries either.

But before that, there was something I needed to clarify.

“Let me ask you a few things first. How are the representatives for the combat events chosen from the Magic Department?”

“Hmm… Answering that question isn’t difficult at all.”

Sephia looked at me with a meaningful smile.

“But after I answer, I can definitely expect to hear that scoop, right? No matter how much I trust you, I’d be really hurt if this were a false tip.”

“I guarantee it. It will definitely be a headline.”

“Great. Normally, you’re supposed to receive information upfront, but I’ll make an exception just for you, Student Flan!”

With a bright smile, she continued.

“The method of selecting representatives for each event is simple. There’s a committee of professors from the Magic Department, and they vote to decide. Quite democratic, right?”

“What criteria influence the votes?”

“Is there even such a thing? Usually, they just pick whoever has good grades or comes from a prestigious family.”

Unconsciously, I frowned.

If what Sephia said was true, then the selection process was practically at the whim of the professors.

“I don’t see why they consider the family background.”

The Magic Department’s win rate was extremely low.

If they were defeated in front of everyone, it would be an immense humiliation.

What benefit could a magic family possibly gain from this?

“They scratch each other’s backs.”

“Scratch each other’s backs how?”

“The family gets the honor of having their member selected as a representative, and the professors get to leave a favorable impression on that family.”

“The honor of being selected, not the honor of winning?”

The logic baffled me, so I asked again. But Sephia nodded nonchalantly.

“Yes, the honor of being selected. After all, hardly anyone expects the Magic Department to beat the Knights Department, right? Maybe my sister is the only one who does.”

As soon as I heard that, my temples began to throb.

I had forgotten. These people had such a pathetic mindset.

They didn’t even expect to win; they were just happy to be selected as representatives. This was the current state of the magicians at Merhen Academy.

It was beyond pitiful—it was utterly disgraceful.

“Is it possible for the representative to be replaced?”

“All it takes is a change of heart from the professors. They can always re-vote!”

So, there was room to change the representative. That was the only piece of good news I had heard so far.

“Sephia.”

“Yes, I’m listening, Student Flan. Now that I think about it, it’s a bit funny. Why am I even using honorifics with you?”

“The condition for getting the scoop is simple. I’ll post a public notice, and I want the Merhen Daily to distribute it as an extra edition.”

“I’m curious about what this public notice might be. Could it be what I’m imagining?”

“I’m going to denounce the professors. They should first establish a proper selection process. How well can a representative chosen based on family and grades alone really perform?”

“Hmmm~”

Sephia tilted her head and then leaned a bit closer.

“Hey, Student Flan.”

“What is it?”

“Now that I think about it, the story you told me last time… You really meant it, didn’t you?”

When she put it that way, there was nothing I could say. I had never uttered a single lie.

Sephia spoke up again.

“Oh, why? Don’t you remember? You said you’d change the mindset and power structure of the magicians. All of it.”

“Yes, I did. And I meant it.”

“Wow… So you were serious? I thought it was just the youthful ambition of a young magical genius!”

Sephia tilted her head to the side.

“Alright! I think that’s a great attitude, and I support it! But even so, it’s hard for me to accept your request.”

With her bright green eyes now calm, she continued speaking.

“First of all, the public notice itself would be a massive challenge. It would create a significant stir in the school’s public opinion.”

Sephia explained, counting off on her fingers.

“Secondly, even if the public notice is distributed as an extra edition, the next issue is the content. How many people will actually agree with what you write, Student Flan?”

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

“How can I not worry! If there’s a lot of backlash, I’ll be the one who has to face all the criticism. The Merhen Daily’s Magic Department section has its name on it, you know.”

Finally, she held up three fingers.

“And thirdly, this is the most important point!”

Sephia’s expression became serious.

“How significant will the scoop you promised me really be? Unless the information you provide is truly ‘headline-worthy,’ I can’t easily get involved in something like this.”

“So, you want the information first, to put it simply.”

“That’s about right! I’ll decide whether your information is worthy of being a headline after I hear it.”

She added with a sly smile.

“Oh, and don’t worry too much, okay? If I decide not to go along with your proposal, I won’t publish the information you provide as an article. I promise!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I’ll solve all three of your concerns at once.”

I unfurled a large, white sheet of paper in midair and began moving three pens simultaneously with telekinesis.

Sephia watched the scene with curiosity.

Scratch, scratch—

The writing didn’t stop, and the sound of pen tips scraping across the paper filled the room.

Soon, half of the paper was covered.

The surface was filled with geometric patterns.

“…Agora Board.”

Sephia muttered quietly.

She was correct. This was a problem I had posted on the Agora Board, along with its solutions.

A look of shock began to spread across her face.

Although she seemed unaware of it, her mouth was slowly gaping open.

“Sephia.”

I softly spoke her name as I continued to fill in the remaining half of the paper.

“You only need to follow my instructions.”

But Sephia wasn’t focused on my words. Or rather, it seemed she couldn’t focus.

“If you follow my lead.”

Her eyes were glued to the paper. Her expression had already turned into one of pure astonishment.

“…Someday.”

By the time Sephia’s face had gone completely pale, the remaining half of the paper was also filled.

Nearly a thousand characters and figures on the paper formed something close to art.

“I’ll let you exclusively report on my true identity.”

There was no response.

Sephia simply stared blankly at the paper.

◈

Sephia’s expression was blank when she returned to the editorial office.

It was an emptiness close to void and futility. She seemed to be standing in such a place.

“Oh, Chief, is something wrong?”

A junior reporter, who was carrying coffee, noticed Sephia and tilted his head in confusion.

It was natural. It wasn’t common for the chief of the Merhen Daily to look so dazed.

“I’m fine.”

“Fine? You look like you’ve lost your soul. Did you make a deal with a demon or something?”

“Let’s try to be reasonable. Reasonable.”

“There’s a possibility. Even as a demon, I think you’d still go around reporting, Chief.”

After dismissing the junior reporter, Sephia approached the whiteboard that took up an entire wall of the editorial office.

As she neared the board, she recalled Flan’s words.

—The mindset and power structure of magicians. All of it.

Flan had clearly stated his ambition to change all of it.

For reasons unknown, he harbored intense dissatisfaction with the current system.

It wasn’t just a

rebellious or cynical attitude. He held a grand cause of his own.

And his determination to achieve that cause seemed stronger than anyone could imagine. To think he’d even use the chief of the Merhen Daily… What exactly was he planning?

“Huh?”

As she pondered, another person naturally came to mind.

Violet, Sephia’s sister.

Not long ago, the joint meeting between the Knights Department and the Magic Department had infuriated Violet.

Sephia still vividly remembered how her sister trembled with rage at Scarlet’s attitude toward magicians.

“Come to think of it, my sister also loves the idea of change.”

This structure where knights rule as the dominant force disgusts her. Someday, I will see the imbalance of power overturned….

Sephia had heard her sister mutter those words countless times.

“They’re alike.”

Flan and Violet were complete strangers, yet somehow they seemed similar.

Sephia tilted her head in confusion as she stood before the whiteboard.

This whiteboard was known within the Merhen Daily’s editorial office as the “time bomb.”

And it lived up to its name.

The time bomb was a board where materials that could become exclusive or special reports were gathered, and it was currently divided into four sections.

Sephia carefully examined it, running her fingers over it.

A Judith family member attending the Magic Department, the mysteries in the Magic Labyrinth, the mysterious genius of the Agora Board who overwhelmed Trixie….

“All of these articles… revolve around just one person….”

Sephia looked at the whiteboard with renewed reverence.

She couldn’t even begin to fathom the scale of the impact this time bomb would have when it exploded.

One thing was certain—the magnitude would be unprecedented.

“He’s truly a gem, this person.”

Flan Judith.

To Sephia, he was starting to feel like a precious jewel.