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The Four Penguins of the Apocalypse

“A boy who uses magic, you say?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Benjamin’s sudden request to Dorothy, after showing up at the garrison, was to help find a certain boy.

 

To summarize his explanation, which came with a hearty laugh, it was roughly this:

 

He had found a genius.

 

He wanted to have him.

 

Help me.

 

And then he looked at her confidently.

 

“……”

 

She almost let out a rebuke without realizing it.

 

But she quickly composed her expression.

 

It was nothing new, after all.

 

Any young person would become Benjamin’s target the moment he discovered a hint of genius in them. Such eccentricities of Benjamin were all too familiar.

 

No wonder his nickname was the “Genius Collector.”

 

“What kind of person is he?”

 

“A boy around fourteen to sixteen. Gray hair. Probably a beggar or an orphan, something like that.”

 

“Not his personal details. I mean his genius.”

 

“Ah, that.”

 

Benjamin answered confidently.

 

“I saw him use Type 1 magic [Disc], and well, he was good at it. Even changing angles in all directions.”

 

“You know as well as I do that magic isn’t just scribbling. It needs theory, axioms, and necessity.”

 

“If it’s a sphere, it’s a sphere. If it’s a disc, it’s a disc. Establishing the necessity for magical power to take such a form is the first step of magic.”

 

“That’s why magic is a natural science.”

 

“Magic, by its nature, juxtaposes theory and imagination, so imagination alone has limits, and theory alone tends to become too rigid.”

 

“But that boy achieved coexistence of both. Probably self-taught.”

 

“It’s the realm of talent and instinct. It’s not something you can achieve just by stacking degrees like a tower.”

 

Dorothy found herself asking back. So what?

 

“What if I teach him directly?”

 

“That kid could probably imagine the blueprint of a five-story building.”

 

“So help me find him. It’s fine if you help privately, but if the army moves…”

 

The war began.

 

Father stroked my head and comforted me. It’ll be alright, Eugene.

 

News arrived. The landing operation itself succeeded, but within a month, supply lines were cut off. Half were annihilated, and half surrendered.

 

Father picked me up on his back and soothed me. You don’t need to worry, Eugene.

 

The harbor was filled with warships. Mana-powered speedboats surrounded the country, and heavily armed Federation troops began to advance.

 

Father took my hand and set off on the refugee path. Your dad’s full, so you eat this bread, Eugene.

 

Flames rose everywhere my eyes could see. The sound of cannons roared. Cannon fire like thunder. Lightning struck in the dry sky, and countless gunshots poured down like a shower.

 

Father hid me under a bridge. Stay there for a while. I’ll go get something to eat.

 

And then.

 

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat―!!!

 

“……”

 

I opened my eyes.

 

It was a nightmare I had dreamed countless times. Though I no longer shed tears, cold sweat still covered my entire body.

 

Even though all the content of the dream was fake, it felt incredibly real.

 

The face of ‘Father’ was always blurry. Of course. I had been an orphan since birth. The content of the dream was merely a clever patchwork of events from the past few years.

 

I had always been alone. Me.

 

When feeling groggy, washing one’s face is the remedy.

 

I blinked my eyes and tried to get up.

 

“Not yet.”

 

Thud.

 

Pushed by someone, I fell back onto the bed.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Your wound hasn’t healed yet. You need to keep lying down.”

 

A somewhat familiar voice.

 

A rough gesture.

 

Each element awakened my mind. Warning of danger.

 

The bounty hunter old man was looking down at me.

 

I sat up abruptly and shouted.

 

“Y-You, you’ve finally kidnapped me. Did you want the bounty that badly?”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“Don’t try to deny it. Bounty hunter.”

 

“Oh? That’s quite a nice title, though.”

 

Poke.

 

The old man raised his arm and pressed his thumb firmly against my forehead.

 

With weakness dominating my entire body, I fell back without a chance to resist.

 

And so I was back in the sickbed.

 

The old man clicked his tongue.

 

“A sick person shouldn’t be moving around.”

 

“……”

 

“I’m not a bounty hunter or anything like that, so you can relax. Let’s introduce ourselves. What’s your name?”

 

“…Isn’t it proper for you to give your name first?”

 

“Well, you’ve been taught well, I see.”

 

The old man chuckled.

 

The answer didn’t come immediately. More precisely, it wasn’t in the form of language.

 

The old man thrust a book in front of my eyes.

 

“Here. Your magic book.”

 

“Give it back!”

 

No wonder I had felt something missing.

 

Regardless of my shouting, the old man kept holding the book in front of my face.

 

“Alright. But before that, read the text in the bottom right corner of the cover. It’s the author’s name.”

 

“I can’t read that writing.”

 

“Don’t lie.”

 

“Really, I can’t.”

 

The old man’s expression suddenly turned serious. I couldn’t guess why.

 

“This is beyond my expectations… You’re saying you mastered the Auchelimé transformation just by looking at my scribbles, without reading the explanation?”

 

“What are you talking about? Don’t mutter things only you understand.”

 

“No. Never mind.”

 

He shook his head and then placed the magic book on my chest.

 

The old man chuckled and said,

 

“Benjamin Oslo. The quack magic scholar who wrote this magic book.”

 

I had to doubt my own ears.

 

“Really?”

 

“Have you been fooled all your life?”

 

I had indeed been fooled all my life.

 

But judging from the old man’s tone, it seemed to be the truth.

 

I opened my mouth with a half-dazed expression.

 

“…Eugene.”

 

“Yes. Eugene. Nice to meet you.”

 

The old man forcibly grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously as if to shake hands.

 

That’s when I realized.

 

“Ugh—”

 

The wound near my shoulder was much worse than I had expected.

 

#December 20. Rain.

 

“Become my disciple.”

 

“No, thank you.”

 

It took two days to get up from the sickbed.

 

By then, I had roughly figured out this space. A two-story house where the old man, Benjamin, lived with his daughter.

 

When I learned that his daughter Dorothy Oslo was a Federation Army officer, I immediately considered breaking the window and running away.

 

But after hearing that she had nursed me while I was unconscious, I gave up the idea of escaping.

 

Above all, it was Dorothy who handed me food at every mealtime. She seemed to know much better how to persuade people than the eccentric old man Benjamin.

 

And now, two days later, I was about to leave this house after bowing deeply in gratitude.

 

But.

 

“What do you mean by becoming your disciple?”

 

I was caught right in front of the front door.

 

The old man, blocking the door with his body, crossed his arms and said,

 

“I saw you using magic.”

 

“…Is this a threat? I thought you said you weren’t a bounty hunter.”

 

“It’s not.”

 

“Then what is it?”

 

“You were good at it. Magic.”

 

“Huh.”

 

I was so dumbfounded that a strange sound came out.

 

I protested seriously.

 

“If you really are the author of this book and a renowned magician, I would gratefully accept that offer. But I don’t trust you yet.”

 

After all, Benjamin’s essence was that of an eccentric old man with a daughter who was a Federation Army officer. Even now, I found it hard to shake off the thought that all this might be a trap.

 

Above all,

 

“I’m going to the Federation someday.”

 

“To Fraubia?”

 

“Yes. I’ll learn there directly. That’s my dream, and I’m saving up for the fare. I can’t waste time living as your disciple or whatever.”

 

‘Fare, huh.’ The old man sighed.

 

“Eugene. You’re not talking about eighty pounds, are you?”

 

“That’s right, but…”

 

“……”

 

Benjamin was silent for a while, then slowly continued.

 

“That. You won’t be able to board. They only take Federation citizens.”

 

I already knew that much.

 

I confidently retorted.

 

“I heard the Eddington takes Imperial citizens too. I plan to board that.”

 

However, Benjamin’s expression didn’t change a bit.

 

If anything, it became more serious.

 

“A free trade permit issued before the war. An ID stamped by a military officer of colonel rank or higher, a university professor, or a high-ranking Federation official. Or money that could even sway the esteemed Sir James Eddington. If you have any one of these, you’re right.”

 

“……”

 

“If not, listen to me. Sir Eddington is just generous to free trade merchants. There are quite a few ships that don’t even allow that.”

 

It seems the rumors were distorted. The old man shook his head and let out a sigh.

 

Is it true?

 

“I don’t lie.”

 

As if seeing through my thoughts, Benjamin added a word.

 

But it wasn’t much help.

 

Because I could feel from his tone that those words were true.

 

Thud. The strength drained from my arms.

 

Five years.

 

Five years.

 

For five years, I had saved desperately. All to afford the fare to Fraubia.

 

How many days had I starved? How painful had it been? How many beatings had I taken?

 

And yet, how hopeful those days had been.

 

“……”

 

To think all of that had been in vain.

 

I slowly sank to the floor. It was because the dream I had held onto for five years was starting to crumble.

 

How can the world be so cruel?

 

Just as a part of my heart was about to collapse,

 

“You look pathetic.”

 

“…!”

 

“Did you hear my words through your ass?”

 

Ha ha ha ha, Benjamin laughed heartily, pointing to himself.

 

“I, Benjamin Oslo, a former chair professor unceremoniously fired from the magic university and a washed-up theoretical magic scholar.”

 

Then. He stretched out his arm and pointed at me.

 

“You, I already said I’d take you, a nobody beggar Eugene, as my disciple and teach you magic.”

 

“……”

 

“Don’t sit down just because you can’t board one measly ship. You’re not going to live your life sitting down, are you?”

 

Benjamin grabbed my shoulders with both hands and lifted me up. He was so strong that he raised my body in one go.

 

“You’re skin and bones. How old are you?”

 

“Sixteen…”

 

No. It seems my lightness played a part too.

 

I cautiously parted my lips.

 

“Are you… really going to teach me?”

 

“You finally believe me. That was quick.”

 

Benjamin patted my shoulder. It was the side without the wound.

 

“You have talent. No doubt about it.”

 

“…!”

 

“But you’re still just a raw gem. I’ll polish you into a jewel that even Federation people won’t dare to look down upon.”

 

A strange light flickered in the old man’s eyes.

 

“I’ll ask one last time.”

 

It was heat.

 

An enormous will that hadn’t completely faded even at over sixty years of age.

 

That fierce flame seemed to burn over to me, using his gaze as a fuse.

 

Benjamin extended his hand.

 

“Will you become my disciple?”

 

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