I Was Mistaken as a Genius Mage in a Game

A familiar carriage ceiling.

It was the same military carriage ceiling I had been staring at for the past week.

The faint sound of rain echoed against the military carriage ceiling, covered with a tarp over dry wood.

Humidity filled the air, and the wood creaked in various places.

"You're awake."

Alter Heindel greeted me with a benevolent smile as I groaned, awakening with a sound unbefitting of my age.

The elf, Lir, who sat across from him, also said something to me in a small voice, but my mind was still too foggy to make out her words.

It was probably just a greeting… nothing important enough to ask her to repeat.

"If you can manifest Bloom at such a level, then surely your Bolt must be quite refined as well. Was there a specific reason you chose to use Bloom on the young dragon? Bolt alone should have been sufficient to take it down."

"…A dragon is still a dragon, regardless of age. I thought it would be far more efficient to use my full power from the start."

I massaged my throbbing temples with my thumb as I answered.

For someone who had just woken up, it was a fairly convincing excuse.

"Dragons are certainly dangerous creatures… but with your abilities, you could have subdued that dragon without resorting to such a risky spell as Bloom."

Alter looked at me as if I had swatted a mosquito with a flamethrower instead of a fly swatter.

"…I wanted to showcase the magic I am most confident in. You seemed eager to test me, after all."

I forced my sluggish mind to come up with the best possible justification as I met Alter’s curious gaze.

And, even to myself, it was a pretty decent excuse.

"…Indeed, your talent has been confirmed. The rumors were not exaggerated."

Alter finally seemed to accept my reasoning, stroking his white beard with a chuckle.

"I apologize for testing you, Bin. The rumors were simply too absurd, and I needed some proof."

With his head of white hair, he gave me a slight bow in apology. I quickly bowed in return, assuring him that it was only natural to be skeptical—I would have done the same in his position.

"Hearing that puts my mind at ease. Thank you."

"It is an honor for me. After all, the famed Magic Tower Master, Alter Heindel, personally came to teach someone like me!"

"What does a Magic Tower matter when I have the chance to teach a genius who only appears once in a millennium? Bin, you truly don’t realize how extraordinary you are."

"Yeah, well… thanks. Yeah, sure. Haha…"

…Extraordinary, my ass.

I barely suppressed the sigh rising from the depths of my chest and forced an awkward smile.

***

Day 11 of the expedition. Around 2 p.m.

I focused on absorbing the various magical theories Alter was teaching me, trying to refine my skills as much as possible.

The creaking and rattling of the carriage were grating on my nerves, but I couldn’t afford to waste this valuable time by getting distracted.

"Reciting a spell's name isn’t the only way to refine and accelerate magical calculations. This is known as spell chanting. By vocalizing certain words that aid the calculation process, the brain can more easily materialize the magic."

Even as my head throbbed and my limbs screamed in protest, Alter’s words rang crystal clear in my ears.

It was a strange sensation. The rain and the carriage’s rattling should have made it difficult to focus, yet I absorbed every word he spoke, as if they were being engraved into my mind.

"Even if two mages use the same spell, their chants may differ. The human brain functions uniquely for each individual, so even when performing the same calculation, there will always be variations in emphasis and omission… For example…"

Having grown somewhat accustomed to my cursed endurance, Alter lectured for exactly two hours before finally concluding with, "Time’s up."

Lir was reviewing her notes, reading over what she had transcribed, while I leaned back against the carriage wall, utterly drained, and quietly closed my eyes.

The tarp covering the rattling carriage flapped violently against the heavy rain.

Despite the distractions, my mind automatically began organizing the key points Alter had taught me today.

Summarizing the two-hour lecture, the main takeaways were as follows:

Chants are not just for show—they enhance the power of magic.

The words used in a chant vary from mage to mage, even for the same spell.

A mage must personally craft their own chant.

The core principles that Alter had emphasized over and over again during the lecture were now deeply engraved in my mind, as if tattooed there.

It was a fascinating sensation.

Was this what it felt like for naturally gifted students when they learned subjects like literature or mathematics?

Lucky bastards.

"Scout for a campsite! The rain will make it dark soon!"

Unlike usual, the squad leader ordered his men to start looking for a campsite early.

Before long, the scouting unit returned and led us to a suitable clearing.

Pushing through the dense forest, we emerged into an unexpected open area. Judging by the rusty swords and cracked plate armor scattered about, it seemed this place had been used as a campsite by many adventurers and soldiers before us.

"…The surrounding trees obscure visibility, but if we delay any longer, night will fall quickly. There’s no choice. We’ll camp here tonight."

With the squad leader’s decision made, the soldiers swiftly got to work setting up tents using tarps, poles, and iron stakes.

As seasoned elites, they completed the temporary camp in less than thirty minutes.

Following the squad leader’s guidance, Lir, Alter, and I moved into one of the newly erected tents.

The makeshift tent’s ceiling was so low that one couldn’t stand upright, but thanks to near-perfect waterproofing, no water pooled on the ground or seeped inside.

On a night like this, with torrential rain lashing down, being able to sleep on dry ground was an immense stroke of luck.

I offered a brief word of thanks to the squad leader before stepping inside the tent.

“Go in first. I’ll fetch dinner.”

Alter spoke to Lir, the elf standing behind him in the rain. She glanced between her mentor and me, sitting inside the tent.

“Would you like to get it instead?”

“W-what? No, no. Absolutely not.”

Lir vigorously shook her head beneath her large hat in firm refusal.

…What on earth were those two talking about?

“Then wait inside.”

“…….”

Resigning herself to the order, Lir lowered her head and carefully crawled into the tent.

Shortly after, Alter shut the tent flap and walked off somewhere.

'It’s probably too wet to start a fire… which means tonight’s meal will be bread instead of stew.'

I absentmindedly considered tonight’s rations.

I just hoped the bread wouldn’t be too hard. My absurdly weak body had jaw strength barely half that of an average human.

“…….”

An uncomfortable silence settled in the tent.

Come to think of it, over the past week, I had barely spoken with Lir.

As Alter’s protégé and a more experienced mage than me, she probably had valuable knowledge to share…

“This is our first time alone together, isn’t it? Feels a bit awkward, huh?”

I smiled and initiated conversation.

If Alter vouched for her skills, getting on her good side might net me some useful magic tips.

“…Warm.”

Lir hesitated, her large eyes darting around the tent before she finally lowered her head and quietly muttered.

“Hm?”

Her voice was too soft to hear over the rain pelting the tarp.

“…….”

She buried her face in her chest, fingers trembling as she hesitantly covered her ears.

Her ears were burning red, as if she had a fever.

“What’s wro—?”

“Th-thank you!”

Lir suddenly shouted, her voice cracking.

“…Huh?”

I could only blink in confusion at her outburst.

Thank you? For what? And so suddenly?

“Uh, what?”

I thought I had misheard her and asked again.

“F-for teaching me it’s polite to remove my hat! And for encouraging me to apologize… I wanted to say thanks, but we never had time alone…”

“…You could’ve just said it anytime, you know?”

Anyone would think she was confessing some grand secret. It was just a casual tip and some light encouragement. She could have mentioned it after any of Alter’s lessons.

“It’d be embarrassing if Alter heard!”

Lir buried her head deeper into her chest and yelled.

…So screaming wasn’t embarrassing, but saying ‘thank you’ in front of others was?

Was she shy or just overly proud?

Make up your mind already. This was confusing as hell.

“…Is something wrong?”

“Hrk…!”

Alter returned from the quartermaster, looking perplexed as he heard the sudden shouting. He pushed aside the tarp covering the tent entrance.

Lir held her breath, yanking her hat down to completely cover her face at his arrival.

…I almost asked if she really needed to hold her breath, but I gave up. No matter what this elf said, I probably wouldn’t understand her logic.

“Nothing much happened.”

Alter glanced between me and Lir, then sighed as if he had figured out the situation. He hunched down and stepped into the tent.

Reaching into his robe, he pulled out large pieces of bread from the quartermaster’s rations and handed them out.

And then—

“All troops, assemble immediately!”

The squad leader’s urgent call for formation rang out.