I Was Mistaken as a Genius Mage in a Game

The darkness lifted, and light returned to her vision.

Warm, humid air enveloped her. Sunlight pierced through the tree leaves and illuminated her skin as the sound of rotten branches or pollen sizzling from the lightning crackled faintly in the distance.

Before her, Trián sat on a rock, catching his breath.

Although he hadn’t shown it inside the dungeon, it seemed the expedition had been quite overwhelming for him too.

"...Where’s Rex?"

"He’ll be out soon."

As soon as the words left his mouth, a wounded orc’s arm began to emerge from the dark entrance of the cave.

Rex, starting with his massive body, stepped out onto the ground, stepping on rotten branches as he walked.

On his hand was the artifact I had given him.

‘The Calling Horn.’

A top-tier artifact, competing for the number one and two spots in the essential gear list for barbarians.

Unlike the 'Red Crystal,' which had a rather tame effect, this artifact could change the tide of battle with a single use.

There was even a joke in the community that barbarian training was split into two phases: before and after acquiring the horn, due to the artifact’s fame.

Clang.

Rex, with the high-performance artifact capable of turning the tide of battle, appeared with the horn filled with gold.

Rex's first use of an artifact was to fill it with gold!

"Even in the midst of all this, you still wanted the treasure? Rex, you really are more materialistic than I thought."

Trián sighed as he looked at Rex, who had filled the massive horn with gold coins, standing it up vertically.

"...No, it was your orders, General."

Rex’s creaking prosthetic arm blocked the narrow opening of the horn to keep the gold coins from spilling out.

Rex, with both hands sealed, tried to explain himself. But with him carefully holding the gold with both hands, he looked like nothing more than an "orc crazed by greed, forgetting his body’s suffering."

Rex looked at me with a disgruntled expression.

"Hmm..."

I had tried to brush it off as a joke about the horn, but he really couldn’t read the room.

Well, I suppose the nice ones usually lack a bit of awareness, right?

"Rex. Everyone loves gold. There’s no need to be ashamed. The courage you showed in the dungeon should obviously be rewarded with gold... I hope you’ll be a bit more confident."

And of course, teasing the nice ones is the most fun.

"What?! No, General!"

Rex’s eyes were full of panic. Seeing him, who had remained calm even in front of demons and giant spiders, flustered by a few playful words was rather refreshing.

"When are we returning?"

As I smiled, thinking about teasing Rex, Lir interjected, grabbing my robe. Her eyes, distant and unfocused, made her look quite unsettling to me.

"Let’s go back quickly."

What’s wrong with her eyes? They’ve been like this since earlier.

"Well... yes. Rex needs proper treatment, so..."

"Quickly. I need paper and a pen."

I thought she was worried about Rex’s wounds and poison, but suddenly she was asking for paper and a pen, leaving me speechless.

...Did she really get struck by lightning?

Bzzzt—

I didn’t know what to say, staring blankly at Lir, when the ringing in my ears began again.

I tried to touch my head to ease the headache, but at that moment, everything went dark, and my legs started to wobble.

Ah, right, 5 minutes.

My body was pulled toward the ground by gravity, and my last memory was crashing down.

"...Ah."

The sun had already set. Before me was the familiar, almost boring ceiling of a military carriage, and I could hear the sounds of dwarven soldiers working.

"Hey! We’re running low on wood! When will you send more?!"

"Dammit, Blue Anvil! Did you put the rebar in right? If the finishing goes wrong, are you going to be responsible for tearing it down and rebuilding it?!"

The dwarves were busy finishing up the roofs and walls of the nearly completed armory and barracks. As I watched them, my gaze turned to the squad leader, Velua, who was sitting at the entrance of the carriage.

"Are you awake?"

Velua looked down at me, smiling his usual broad smile, his back illuminated by the moonlight.

I had always been greeted by Lir whenever I woke up, so this was quite a new experience.

"...How’s the work progressing? Were there any issues?"

"Well... A couple of times, the demons sent mutated creatures for reconnaissance. But it was just reconnaissance, no major incidents. Probably, with a high-ranking mage like Alter here, they didn’t dare attack easily."

"Where’s Rex?"

"His wounds were quite deep. We gave him basic first aid, but for proper treatment, I thought it’d be best to send him to the capital to meet a skilled priest, so I sent him back first."

It was a shame I couldn’t say goodbye, but... well, we’ll meet again someday.

If not, I could always invite him to the capital. It would be nice to have tea together.

"Don’t worry too much, he’s a tough one. His injuries are serious, but he’ll be fine."

"I know Rex is tough. But where are Trián and Lir? We were supposed to see Dajin tomorrow..."

Boom!

A sudden flash pierced the starry sky, tearing through the black heavens. The thunderous roar shook the carriage, and the dwarves dropped the screws they were holding, muttering curses under their breath.

"..."

"..."

Velua and I stared at each other in silence.

"...Could that be?"

"Yeah, since you came back, she’s been running off with a pen and paper, always experimenting with something."

...If she was training, she should have done it far away. Every time she used magic, thunder struck. It was causing trouble for the workers.

Was this what it felt like when your daughter misbehaved in public?

I sighed in embarrassment and quietly apologized to Velua.

"...She’s not normally like this, I’m sorry."

"Haha! Mages doing odd things is nothing new! Honestly, that’s what makes them look like proper mages, it’s kind of a good sight!"

Velua laughed heartily as he stepped down from the carriage.

"Still, it’s getting late! Training is good, but don’t you think it’s time to bring her back?"

"...Me?"

I asked Velua with an expression that clearly showed my annoyance. He wanted me to bring her, after just waking up from a near-comatose state? Wasn’t that a bit much?

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

"Lir is probably expecting you to."

Velua looked at me with an expression of disbelief, then lowered his voice slightly as he spoke.

Ah.

Given Lir’s personality, she might feel uncomfortable if someone else came to get her.

"Unexpectedly thoughtful, huh?"

"Well, I am a wife of a household, you know. If you have any worries about your relationship with Lir, feel free to talk to me. I’ll help you out with all my heart."

I had never heard the term "wife of a household" from him before.

And I still didn’t understand what Velua being married had to do with Lir’s personality.

What kind of problems could arise between me and Lir, anyway?

...Did this dwarf have a drink or something? Half of what he said sounded like nonsense.

"Yeah... well."

I couldn’t exactly rebuff someone offering help, so I awkwardly smiled, got up, and brushed off the blanket.

When my feet touched the floor, my calves screamed in pain, and my body wobbled.

I took a deep breath to cope with the sharp pain in my bones, then looked back at Velua.

"...What’s Alter doing?"

"He just went to sleep. He stood watch for about 50 hours without resting until Bin returned. Don’t even think about passing the responsibility to Alter."

"But seriously, I can’t walk..."

"It’s part of the job, you know. Do you think it’s easy to win people’s hearts?"

So what’s this dwarf going on about?

"Hah... yeah, well... I understand."

Pushed by Velua’s insistence, I dragged my wobbly legs like a fawn and set off on the arduous journey.

Boom!

Boom!

From less than 100 meters away, enormous lightning streaked across the black sky, coloring it in blue, white, and purple.

"...Aaaaah, stop!"

Through the thunder, Lir’s pained scream echoed.

I dragged my heavy body toward the source of the scream and slowly walked.

Soon, through the fallen trees, I saw Lir.

The trees around her had been struck by lightning multiple times, turning into fine ash that scattered in the air, and Lir’s pale face was covered in sweat and ash.

Her fingers, holding a staff, were torn, with blood flowing from the wounds, but she seemed to pay it no mind.

"..."

In the moonlight, a few pens, their ink long used up, and bundles of parchment were scattered around her.

"Disqualified. Disqualified? No, that’s not it..."

Lir was frantically writing something on the parchment, then scratched it out with her pen, repeating the process of editing it, as if it wasn’t good enough.

She didn’t even seem to notice that I had approached, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) completely engrossed in whatever she was doing.

I watched her, picking up and setting down parchment repeatedly, feeling an odd sense of kinship.

‘...I used to do the same when I wasn’t sure what to write.’

It felt like watching myself when inspiration was fleeting in my mind.

Back then, I would scream in my one-room apartment, throw tissues around carelessly, and get warnings from my landlord.

I knew that feeling better than anyone. The sensation of being so close to something incredible, but not quite reaching it. That itch you couldn’t scratch, the frustration of not knowing where to reach.

I, too, was an aspiring artist in my past life.

...Well, technically, I was just an aspiring one.

Anyway, that kind of frustration can’t be solved by someone else.

I quietly watched Lir, lost in her creative frenzy, beneath the moonlight.

Though I felt bad for Velua, who had asked me to bring her, I couldn’t disturb this moment of struggling with inspiration.

This moment would become an invaluable asset to Lir’s future, after all.

...And besides, seeing another side of Lir, usually so composed, was quite amusing.