I Was Mistaken as a Genius Mage in a Game

Faint morning sunlight slanted through the room’s window.

As time passed, the light creeping through the panes eventually tickled my closed eyelids, forcing me to wake up against my will.

“…Haa, damn.”

The moment I sat up in bed, my entire body greeted me with a sharp wave of pain. My limbs trembled, and even though I had done nothing, I was already out of breath. It seemed that the past two weeks of travel had been especially harsh on my frail body.

Knock, knock.

As I lay there blankly, it wasn’t until well past noon that Alter and Lir finally knocked on my door.

“Come in.”

I spoke without bothering to get up from bed.

I knew it was polite to greet guests at the door, but if I moved carelessly right now, I was certain I’d break something and be stuck in the infirmary for days.

“...Ugh.”

Lir let out a quiet exclamation upon seeing me sprawled in bed like an invalid.

Did she really have to react as if she had stumbled upon vomit on the street?

The lack of manners ran in the Elves royal bloodline, it seemed.

“Well… I suppose we should skip today’s lesson. You… don’t look well.”

Alter, too, paled slightly upon seeing my face.

Was my condition really that bad?

“...Did you not eat breakfast?”

Lir asked, noticing that the morning meal left by the young servant remained untouched on the table.

“I wasn’t particularly hungry… and I didn’t have much of an appetite.”

I hadn’t mentioned it before, but ever since I arrived at this castle, my meals had consisted solely of bland vegetables and dry chicken breast.

It was likely a well-intended effort by the servants to nourish my scrawny frame… but, like all so-called health foods, it tasted absolutely awful.

“The salad’s completely wilted.”

Lir poked at the dried-out leaves and sighed.

“Sometimes, indulging in sweet things helps relieve stress. Even if it’s not the healthiest option. Beer and wine are excellent for stress relief as well, but…”

Alter trailed off, his gaze scanning me up and down.

In this world, seventeen was a perfectly acceptable age for alcohol. Unlike reality, there were no strict regulations here.

That said, drinking was out of the question for me.

With a body this weak, even a sip of alcohol could genuinely send me into cardiac arrest.

Seriously.

“Well, rather than alcohol, it’d be better to have some sweet pastries or desserts. Your brain needs sugar to function properly.”

“Can I get delivery?”

I had no intention of moving from my bed, so I turned to Alter and asked.

“…Do you think that’s possible?”

This 120-square-kilometer fortress was a vital military stronghold filled with high-ranking officials. Even if food delivery existed in this world, there was no way the castle would permit random couriers to enter, let alone allow unchecked external food to be brought in.

With the risk of poisoning or plague, unregulated food entering the castle could lead to a disaster.

“...”

I didn’t really want to leave the castle.

And moving just to eat would probably burn more calories than I’d consume.

I knew it made no sense nutritionally, but that was how I felt at the moment.

I didn’t want to move.

Alter pressed his fingers against his forehead, sighing as he studied my expression. It seemed my thoughts were written all over my face.

Lir gently tugged on Alter’s sleeve, and after a brief exchange of whispers, he finally spoke.

“Judging by his expression, he won’t be going anywhere. But go ahead, tell him anyway.”

Lir took a deep breath. Her face was flushed, and sweat beaded on her palms. What on earth was she about to say to be this nervous?

“I… I know a bakery that sells really good chocolate pizza bread… so, if you’d like, we could go eat together…”

Lir’s voice trailed off as she pulled at the brim of her hat.

I marveled at my own exceptional hearing.

After spending more than two weeks together in carriages and tents, I had apparently grown attuned to Lir’s incredibly soft voice.

“…Chocolate pizza bread?”

My brief admiration vanished as I stared at her, my face blank.

A dish combining chocolate and pizza?

Pizza was meant to be a balance of tangy tomato sauce, savory cheese, and spicy pepperoni. Meanwhile, chocolate was a rich, sweet dessert.

Mixing the three distinct flavors—sour, salty, and sweet—into one dish?

“…At first, I was skeptical too, but everyone who’s tried it says it’s surprisingly good… really. And since people are put off by the idea, the café is usually quiet… the atmosphere is nice, too…”

I frowned, and Lir started rambling, as if trying to justify herself.

…Chocolate and pizza, and it actually tasted good?

How?

Was that even possible?

Creativity, when pushed too far, became absurdity. And most of the time, experimental dishes ended up as disasters.

Yet according to Lir, this so-called chocolate pizza bread was selling well.

If a wildly unconventional idea had been widely accepted, it meant there had to be an intricate balance of flavors backed by a philosophy beyond the comprehension of ordinary minds.

I couldn’t ignore this.

“Let’s go.”

Slowly, I forced my aching body upright.

“A popular chocolate pizza bread…”

As someone who prided himself on his unique tastes, I couldn’t let this slide.

What kind of mind came up with such an outrageous idea? And what exactly did it taste like?

I had to find out.

“Really?!”

For once, Lir’s voice rang out brightly.

I blinked in surprise at her unusually loud reaction.

“…Yes.”

Going alone to eat something like chocolate pizza bread would be a challenge. Clearly, she had been curious but lacked a companion.

With her personality, making friends wouldn’t be easy. If she wasn’t outright bullied, that alone would be fortunate.

I lifted my heavy arm and rang the golden bell.

A young servant entered shortly after.

“I’d like to go for a walk.”

“I’ll make preparations.”

The servant left momentarily before returning, lowering himself to offer me a piggyback ride.

“Climb on.”

Naturally, I did not refuse this service.

…Power was a delicious thing.

“……”

Lir looked up at me, her expression uncertain as I lay on the servant’s back.

So this is what it feels like to look down on people.

The more I tasted power, the sweeter it became.

***

Alter mentioned that he had more research to do on the Bloom Spell and told us to go ahead without him.

It felt a little wrong that the eldest among us was working while we went out to have fun. So, I insisted he at least have a cup of coffee.

“Well…”

Alter stroked his beard, glancing at Lir.

Lir averted her gaze, her eyes darting around nervously.

…What exactly was happening before my eyes?

Observing Lir’s anxious glances and tiny movements, Alter seemed to catch on and nodded knowingly.

“No, just go ahead, the two of you. This old man ate too much breakfast anyway.”

Apparently, Alter had reached the level of being able to read an introverted elf’s thoughts just from her expressions alone.

Not that I envied him. That ability wouldn’t help much with survival.

“We’ll be back. Master, we’ll… bring you a gift too.”

Seated in the carriage, Lir lowered her head through the window, her flushed face showing no sign of cooling down.

Riding a luxurious carriage, we soon left the castle and arrived at the outskirts of the capital. Not wanting to attract attention, we got off some distance away and walked the rest of the way to the café.

My legs screamed in protest, but for the legendary choco pizza bread, it was a sacrifice worth making.

The café had a well-maintained wooden floor and a warm glow from candlelight that filled the space with a cozy ambiance. A young man, likely the owner’s son, played a soothing melody on his guitar in the corner, allowing me a brief moment to forget about war and conflict.

“Two choco pizza breads, one coffee, and one warm milk, please.”

Even though Lir had been the one to suggest coming here, she left the ordering to me.

Before long, our drinks arrived first.

The owner’s wife, who managed the floor, explained that since the bread was baked fresh for each order, it would take some time to prepare.

A unique combination and an almost excessive level of passion…

This was peak hipster energy. The chef here was undeniably a hardcore hipster.

Feeling a strange sense of kinship, I sipped my milk and exchanged small talk with Lir to pass the time.

“If elves are twenty-one years old, are they still considered minors? Or is that like… baby age for them?”

“…We’re adults. After twenty, our aging just slows dramatically. But we don’t grow up any slower than other races.”

“So you’re telling me you’ll look twenty for two thousand years? That’s insane.”

Questions I’d been curious about but never had the chance to ask…

“I heard you’ve been living in the Mage Tower since you were four. Isn’t that way too young?”

“I lost my parents early, so I didn’t have a choice… The war, you know.”

“So you’ve been studying magic since you were four?”

“Well, yeah… I never really had a reason to leave, and magic suits me.”

“No wonder your social skills are a mess.”

“…Aren’t those thoughts supposed to stay in your head?”

We spent time on unremarkable yet engaging conversation, learning bits and pieces about each other’s pasts.

“Thank you for waiting.”

Freshly baked bread was placed on our table mid-conversation. The pizza bread, sitting on a pristine white plate, looked ordinary at first glance.

Pepperoni, tomato sauce, cheese.

Where was the chocolate? Hidden inside?

Pretending to be a normal pizza bread while concealing an abomination within… I liked it already.

I examined it thoroughly, savoring it with my eyes first.

The thought of chocolate lurking within what seemed like an innocent pizza bread was strangely thrilling.

After my inspection, I finally took a bite.

“……”

…Well.

Yeah.

Hmm.

“It’s… peculiar.”

Unlike what I had imagined, the chocolate inside wasn’t sweet milk chocolate—it was bitter dark chocolate.

The salty tang of the pizza bread’s original flavor melded with the bitter chocolate, creating an unusual but not unpleasant experience.

‘…This is less exciting than I expected.’

While the combination was novel, it didn’t quite live up to the apocalyptic culinary vision its name had inspired in my head.

And its overall execution wasn’t exactly groundbreaking either…

“It’s… peculiar.”

Lir echoed my words, her brows slightly furrowed as if unsure how to process the taste.

She seemed disappointed that it hadn’t lived up to the hype.

“It’s… unique. I can see how some people might enjoy it.”

“Wasn’t it supposed to have nothing but rave reviews?”

“M-Maybe the people who didn’t like it just stayed quiet? Hype tends to come from the loudest voices…”

Realizing that her recommendation had fallen flat, Lir started making excuses.

“Hmm.”

I had expected this outcome, to be honest.

Exploring strange and unique restaurants didn’t always end in triumph.

But it wasn’t inedible either, so we stayed seated, slowly finishing our food while listening to the café owner’s son play his guitar.

The bread hadn’t lived up to expectations, but the atmosphere of the café was charming enough to make up for it. Calling this visit a failure wouldn’t be entirely fair.

“Well, this café sells more than just choco pizza bread. It might be worth visiting every once in a while…”

Thud!

Just as we were discussing a possible return visit, a heavy knock rattled the wooden door.

“Ah! Lady Guiner, welcome!”

The woman at the coffee bar quickly set down the cups she had been wiping and bowed deeply to the girl who had just entered.

“……”

The girl, dressed in an outfit covered in lace and frills, slowly approached the counter without saying a word. Judging by her attire, she was from a powerful family.

“What brings you here today…?”

From the woman’s tone, it was clear that this girl was a regular at the café.

It wasn’t surprising—despite the oddity of choco pizza bread, its texture and the contrast between dark chocolate bitterness and the tangy saltiness of ketchup had a certain appeal.

I dismissed the girl from my thoughts and picked up my still-warm cup of milk…

Slap!

Crash!

“……?”

The sharp sound of a slap echoed through the café, followed by the shattering of glass.

The guitar music came to an abrupt halt, and both Lir and I instinctively froze.

The woman, now nursing a reddening cheek, bowed her head deeply to the much younger girl in front of her.

Shards of broken teacups and saucers littered the floor.

The café owner’s son, who had been playing the guitar moments before, gripped the neck of his instrument tightly, his jaw clenched.