Overpowered Archmage Doesn’t Hide His Talent

Chapter 44 I’ve never gotten that feeling from you. Not even once._

Questioning gazes were directed at me.

It was only natural. After all, a familiar-faced woman was clinging to my chest with her face buried in it.

This was already the second time something like this had happened to me in this world.

The first time was with Yusia, who had the scent of cotton, and the second was right now, with Trixie, who was too drunk to even stand on her own.

“How… could you leave me out like that? I’ve been showing you way more interest!”

Annoyance welled up inside me, and it was irritating.

I scrutinized Trixie’s appearance anew.

The tight uniform she wore clung to her body, revealing her curves, and her lake-like deep blue eyes stared at me unfocused.

When a woman like this becomes a nuisance, it’s nothing but trouble. A charming woman is already troublesome on her own, but her bumbling followers make it even worse.

There’s nothing good about anyone witnessing a situation like this.

“Hey, Flan. Is there something going on between you and Trixie…?”

“Right? Trixie, just calm down for now.”

Becky and Louis cautiously spoke up.

Yusia blinked her eyes a few times, then suddenly made a comment.

“Miss Trixie~ Are you upset because we didn’t include you in the Glow-in-the-Dark Puzzle?”

Louis quietly covered Yusia’s mouth.

I started to trace back the reason why things had turned out like this.

[ ▶ Then come back after defeating Flan. ]

.

[ ▶ She’s just my student. ]

And then, I remembered the few responses I had sent Trixie not long ago.

The reason she had declared herself my student was simple.

It was annoying to deal with Trixie contacting me all day long, and I also wanted to clear up any misunderstandings about me being a scout.

However, I had to acknowledge Trixie’s passion for learning.

Thus, I pondered over a way to meet with her and teach her, and this was the method I came up with.

“I can do better! I’m going to do better!”

…It seemed Trixie had liked the idea of the teaching auction more than I had anticipated.

I didn’t expect her to come running to me in a drunken state. Perhaps I had underestimated her desire to learn.

Humans. Especially women, are truly incomprehensible beings.

I looked around.

Louis, Becky, and Yusia… All three of them had invisible question marks floating above their heads.

“Louis. I’ll postpone the advice until later.”

“Huh? Oh, okay. Don’t worry about this side.”

Louis and the other students headed inside the Magic Tower, and I took a moment to gather my thoughts.

Trixie’s talent was by no means bad. She had enough potential.

However, for her talent to truly blossom, she would need the right environment.

Just like how flowers bloom in their own season.

“Trixie.”

After finishing my deliberation,

I slowly opened my mouth.

“Is this the best you can do?”

—

Trixie stared down at her poor, unfortunate toes.

She knew she was acting like this because of the alcohol, that she couldn’t overcome her impulsiveness… She was aware of it all.

“…I can’t accept it. I just can’t.”

But she couldn’t accept it.

The intoxication of pritia was causing her emotions to overflow.

The name of her family alone was enough to make other magicians tremble—‘Fritz’. And she was the eldest daughter of that family.

On the day when her mother, who believed without a doubt that she would become a Grand Magician, suddenly passed away,

Trixie had crumpled at the slightest breeze, and the downpour had weighed especially heavy on her during the funeral. It was there that she had vowed to become a genius.

She was proud of the life she had led since then.

Genius. Genius. Genius… The word echoed incessantly in her ears.

That’s why it was even harder to accept.

The path Flan was walking, which seemed more like that of a genius than her own, and the way Mr. Guidance neglected her…

She couldn’t understand any of it, didn’t want to understand, and, in a way, was afraid to.

The truth was, Trixie might not be a genius.

All this time, she might have been under some kind of misconception.

Perhaps, even though she hated to admit it to death, the real genius was someone else. And that genius was simply ignoring Trixie right now.

“What is it that you find hard to accept?”

His voice was as cold as could be. Enough to sober her up a bit.

Trixie slowly opened her lips.

The one thing she couldn’t accept.

“I….”

“Yes?”

She clenched her fists tightly, squeezing the words out as if from her very lungs.

“I’m a genius. I have to be. Then why is Mr. Guidance only responding to you? Why is he only teaching you?”

“A genius, you say.”

Flan clicked his tongue.

“I’ve never gotten that feeling from you. Not even once.”

“…”

Trixie jerked her head up at those words.

Flan felt more unfair than anything.

She couldn’t stand the way he acted like he was above her, as if he were superior, just because of Mr. Guidance.

“You… You shouldn’t be saying that.”

She bit her lower lip hard and continued.

“If it weren’t for Mr. Guidance… you’d be nothing. If he had focused on me, I could have been the representative.”

“Trixie.”

Flan’s voice was as cold as ever.

“Are you even a magician?”

Words she never expected.

His thunderous response rang in her ears.

Their eyes met in the air.

In those red eyes, the complete opposite color of Trixie’s, there was a hint of contempt.

“Walking alone is a basic virtue for a magician.”

Those words stung like the tip of a knife.

“Furthermore, your mood shouldn’t dictate your behavior.”

Each word was like a sharp pain.

“Don’t aim to be a genius. Aim to be a magician. Otherwise…”

This was the first time she had heard such things from someone else.

“You’re just a fool pretending to be a genius.”

And he was nothing more than a fellow student.

Yet, there wasn’t a single word from him that she could say was wrong.

“What’s left in actions done just for show? Do you really think that’s what makes a genius?”

Her head was spinning. Not just because of the alcohol.

“I’ve heard the stories. He showed quite a bit of interest in you.”

“…!”

Mr. Guidance had been interested in her. Those words made Trixie’s eyes widen.

A shiver ran down her spine. She stared blankly at Flan.

Flan was still looking down at Trixie.

“But what do you think he would say, seeing you drunk like this?”

However, she suddenly realized that there wasn’t just contempt in his red eyes.

Trixie felt it.

Flan also wanted her to meet Mr. Guidance.

“There may be only one peak, but there are many geniuses. And not every genius grows without failure.”

Trixie inhaled and exhaled deeply.

Her suffocating breath.

Only now did it begin to ease.

“Will you really face him with such a pitiful attitude?”

Trixie quietly shook her head.

She had been foolish and reckless. Her actions were nothing more than a childish tantrum fueled by alcohol.

He wasn’t wrong.

If she were truly a top-tier magician, if she were truly a genius, she would never behave like this.

“…Fire.”

At last, Trixie spoke.

Once she started, it wasn’t hard to continue.

“Let’s duel with fire elements.”

“Fire, huh? The standard will be power, then?”

Trixie nodded.

“Yes. I’ll beat you and become his student.”

“That’s a good idea, Trixie. We’ll do it after the Sports Competition.”

Flan also nodded. Then he straightened his clothes.

As he passed Trixie, he muttered in a low voice.

“I won’t tell him about today.”

Trixie was left alone, silently going over the conversation that had just taken place.

The pain, fear, anxiety, jealousy, and frustration were already gone.

“…A fool pretending to be a genius.”

Trixie simply repeated those words over and over.

She would never give up, even if it killed her.

But she would no longer strive to be a fool.

—

Two days until the Sports Competition, Merhen Daily editorial department.

At this point, with the Sports Competition just around the corner, there wasn’t a single moment of rest in the editorial department.

In the office, where a heavy atmosphere lingered, Sephia sighed deeply, rubbing her forehead with her hand.

“What the hell is this supposed to be?”

The reporter she was addressing scratched his head awkwardly.

“I just thought it would be easier to get the work done this way…”

“So, just because it makes your job easier, it’s okay to handle things like this?”

Sephia irritably tapped the articles that were piled up on the table.

[ * Yvonne, How Perfect Can She Get… ]

[ * Yvonne’s Overwhelming Victory. The Greatness of ‘Chivalry’ ]

“The Sports Competition hasn’t even started yet, and what are you doing? It’s a rule at the Merhen Daily to only publish verified facts.”

“Chief.”

The reporter cautiously opened his mouth.

“Honestly, we all know this is how it’s going to turn out. With everything we have to cover, we need to get a head start on

some things.”

“Look, if it’s going to be like this, I can’t work with you!”

But then, it happened.

Sephia’s Trivia flashed with a blue light. She opened it with an irritated expression.

She furrowed her brow, checking the message for one second, two seconds, three seconds….

Then, her expression relaxed.

[ * Violet ]

[ ▶ The representative for the 1st-year combat category has been decided. ]

[ ▶ Flan will be participating. ]

[ ▶ The registration just got finalized. ]

Closing her Trivia, Sephia let out a faint smile and murmured.

“Actually, maybe I can work with you.”