I'm a Genius After All
I’m a genius after all. I stopped in front of the restaurant, stroking my chin. This was the place I’d arranged to meet Akia.
Before stepping inside, I glanced up at Ash while fleshing out the plan that had just occurred to me. He looked painfully awkward, as if he couldn’t decide where to put his eyes.
Come to think of it, I still hadn’t introduced the two of them. I’d been too busy calming Bright down… or rather, yelling at him.
“Ash? A bit late, but say hello. I’ve mentioned him before. This is the idiot senior who keeps asking me to marry him—Bright Keniyan. He graduated top of his class from the magic department. A 3-Class Master. Pretty useful talent, if you ask me.”
“Jeanie, I’m 4-Class now……”
“Yeah, don’t care.”
I smiled brightly.
Ash looked like he’d been personally wounded.
“Jeanie……? Was that really necessary……?”
“Hah…… Being scolded with a smile…… It’s so thrilling. I’m so happy! Jeanie!”
Ugh. Disgusting.
“I missed that expression too……! I thought I’d never see it again!”
Ash, being the picture of normalcy, still didn’t understand what kind of man Bright was. What a waste of a decent face—turned out he was quite the pervert.
The fact that he never backed down no matter how much I scolded him made him a formidable opponent.
“That’s enough, Senior. Keep acting creepy and I might just kick you out.”
“That’s too much! We just met!”
“So what? My life ran perfectly fine without you around. Whether you’re here or not makes no difference.”
“……Ugh, I love it when you’re mean.”
Sigh. Pervert…… I let out a long breath and walked into the restaurant.
The city was packed with people, as usual, but I easily spotted my companions sitting by the window. As I headed straight toward them, I introduced Ash to Bright as well.
“Senior? This plain-looking guy is the leader of the party I’ve been indebted to. His name’s Ash, a swordsman. If he felt like it, he could kill everyone here and walk away without getting caught, you know?”
“Impressive! Nice to meet you.”
“Y-Yes? Jeanie! What kind of introduction is that?!”
“Knowing everyone’s combat capabilities is important, isn’t it?”
Ash seemed to have received some cultural shock from Bright, who enjoyed being insulted, but he appeared to have forgotten how I’d introduced him.
I stood beside Chad and introduced the rest of the group.
“Huh? You’re here?”
“Who’s that?”
Standing beside the large table where food had already been served, I pointed to the men who greeted me one by one.
“And these are the rest of the party. Starting from here—Chad, Enk, Gail. This is Akia, the doctor I’ve been indebted to. She’s not officially part of the party, but we traveled together for a while.”
“What? Jeanie? Did you get hurt somewhere?”
“Nah, I took some height-growth medicine.”
“Oh! I thought you’d gotten internal injuries or something. You scared me.”
“And there’s one more—Lox—but he’s not here. He’s a pain in the ass. I hope he doesn’t come back, but he probably will soon.”
The party members, who had been in the middle of their meal, looked flustered at my sudden appearance and introduction, nearly spitting out their food.
“Ah, hello……?”
“Uh…… You said you had an acquaintance nearby…… Is that him?”
“Yeah, Bright Keniyan. My senior from the academy. Senior? Say hello. These are my friends.”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Bright Keniyan. Jeanie’s friends are my friends. Though Jeanie often says friends are like enemies.”
His eyes were red and swollen, his voice hoarse. Anyone could tell he’d been crying a lot. Bright’s sudden appearance was enough to turn the atmosphere chilly.
“Senior here is the eldest son of the most famous—no, the only—mage family in Dmitry. Some people say he’s an idiot but a true genius. I don’t believe it, though.”
“……Why are you introducing him in such detail?”
“Because we might be traveling together for a while.”
You can’t spit on a smiling face. Besides, my smile was this proud and radiant.
“With us……?”
“Yeah.”
“This is another one of your schemes, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“……You didn’t even get his permission, Jeanie!”
Chad was the one firing off questions, and Ash delivered the final blow.
Sigh. They really had such normal ways of thinking. People need to be flexible.
“We need at least one magic-type in the party anyway, right? Didn’t you realize that this time? How could we kick away a talent that rolled right into our laps?”
“No, but his own opinion……”
“Huh? What? What are we talking about? Is this about me?”
“Senior, these friends are short on members, and conveniently, they don’t have a mage. You’re a mage, aren’t you? Perfect fit, right?”
“Jeanie…… Even if you say that, a precious mage……”
“Fine. I don’t know what’s going on, but I just need to help, right? Just traveling together? That’s easy.”
There were a few more things Ash needed to know about Bright—like the fact that he’d do anything I told him to.
Otherwise, why would I have even considered him as a fake marriage candidate later on? He had his own merits.
“Jeanie, just give the order. I’ll do whatever you say.”
See? This was the posture of a well-trained attendant after nine years! His liver and gallbladder had already been devoured by me!
“Jeanie! I’ll find my own companions. I don’t need this kind of help!”
“……Are you ignoring my sincerity right now?”
“You know that’s not what I mean!”
“You said you like me, didn’t you?”
“That has nothing to do with……”
“Then do as I say. Like Bright.”
Bright does it, so you should too. Ash looked flustered at my silent threat, then flustered again by Bright’s sociability.
Bright had his strengths, but also weaknesses. When it came to me, he wasn’t exactly sane.
“Ah! So you were my comrade all along! How wonderful!”
“……Comrade? What comrade?”
“People who love Jeanie! It’s called Jisahmo, though Jeanie says it sounds like a laxative name and told me to stop using it.”
“Stop using it!”
“In that case, I must help even more. Jeanie is too precious to be loved by just one person. I really don’t understand why everyone doesn’t like her. Lately, people have started liking her just because of rumors, like a trend, but I don’t approve. That can’t be called true love!”
This was also why it wasn’t dangerous to pair him with Ash……
“Do you know Jeanie’s birthday? Do you know her favorite method of torture? Want to take my quiz about what’s good about our Jeanie? I made a survey right here……”
“Bright, that’s enough.”
While I was barely holding back the runaway Bright, I could clearly hear Chad and Enk whispering.
“Another weirdo rolled in……”
“Are all geniuses like this……?”
“My mom told me not to hang out with weird kids.”
Before the anti-mage-recruitment faction could form, I needed to teach them one more advantage.
“Ahem! Don’t be surprised, everyone. There’s one more benefit to accepting Senior as a teammate!”
Already a precious mage, and a young one at that—quick at chanting, knowledgeable in both offensive and communication magic—but his true value lay elsewhere!
“This person, despite appearances—”
“……?”
“Is a noble! And not just any noble—the direct heir of a count’s family! How about that? We can use it when we get to Tumdra! A free pass!”
A count’s status was high enough that even a baron’s title could be beheaded on the spot for insolence without much punishment. The gap in power between nobles above and below the count rank was enormous.
To commoners, they were truly untouchable beings.
“Jeanie! If it helps you, I’m truly happy! I’m so glad I was born a noble!”
[With Bright around, Master seems like a normal person.]
“……Hik.”
“Why isn’t everyone happy?”
I brought a noble! Well, he kind of rolled in on his own.
Why was Akia trembling? Did she have a fear of nobles?
I’d heard there were quite a few commoners like that, but this was my first time seeing it. I was a noble, after all.
‘If she knew there’s even a member of the imperial family here, she’d faint with her eyes open.’
Not just Akia—everyone had lukewarm expressions. I’d known for a while that their perception of nobles wasn’t great, but moments like this made me acutely aware that I belonged to the privileged class.
In a society with a rigid class system, the temperature difference stemming from birth existed everywhere, and to commoners, nobles were never a welcome presence.
If they didn’t abuse their power or oppress and torment others, that was already a blessing—unopposable, literally the ruling side.
From the perspective of those who had to be ruled, unless they craved power themselves, nobles were people best avoided.
“Jeanie.”
And there were the imperial family members who ruled over the rulers.
I stared at Ash, who called my name with a worried voice.
He, too, seemed uncomfortable with the topic of nobles—though for the opposite reason from the others.
He seemed uneasy about the fact that he himself was royalty.
“Noble status isn’t meant to be used like that.”
“When else would I use it? Power exists for the sake of the unfortunate.”
“……Don’t just attach random meanings. It sounds plausible, but…… coming from your mouth, the intention feels twisted.”
The brat was sharp.
“Think about it! How unfortunate would that be? Coming all this way only to miss Tumdra—I’d be the most pitiful person in the world!”
I’d raised my voice to lighten the mood, but a sudden curiosity struck me.
In the Path of the Trial, the prince thoroughly hid his identity and gathered companions through adventure.
But when, where, and how did he reveal his true identity to those companions?
And how did he earn their forgiveness?
What if, in a worst-case scenario, they turned against him out of anger at being deceived and abandoned him? Would that become a handicap because he failed to earn their trust?
The Path of the Trial ultimately came down to a simple, clear method: the companions each prince gathered would fight 5-on-5, and the side with more wins proved their trust and strength to claim the throne.
But what if even one of them turned away in disappointment……? What if they refused to fight for the prince?
‘I’ll need substitutes prepared for that possibility.’
I’d been thinking too optimistically again, as usual.
It wasn’t enough to gather just five people. We needed more. Chad, Enk, and Gail weren’t just lacking—they were severely lacking.
Even adding me and Bright didn’t ease the anxiety.
If even one of them harbored resentment and turned away, Ash would become a pathetic loser. So this was why “trust” was one of the key points of the Path of the Trial.
The feeling was quite different from learning the theory in textbooks versus being thrown into actual practice.
“Um…… By the way, Jeanie? Just in case, do you know?”
I was worrying about someone else—very unlike me—when Bright started bothering me. He knew perfectly well how much I hated worrying about myself.
“Know what?”
“The fact that your family received the count title thanks to you. After that incident, His Majesty the King bestowed many rewards.”
Was he assuming I wouldn’t know because I’d been wandering outside instead of going home? Bright continued with a cheerful expression.
“The Crowell name will open doors anywhere on the continent. The Keniyan family can’t even compare now. With your family name, forget just Tumdra—anywhere will roll out the red carpet for you.”
Of course. I wasn’t just a national hero—I was a hero to those notoriously picky nobles too. Usually, heroes were viewed with suspicion or contempt by nobles, but I was different.
How many high-ranking nobles had I saved? Too many to even remember. Including the imperial heirs, and even the Emperor himself. As long as they were grateful to me, my world wouldn’t end.
“Uh…… Why is the Crowell family suddenly coming up here?”
Good point, Chad. Using your head for once. Bright answered innocently.
“Because Jeanie is Jeanie Crowell, of course? The only daughter of the Crowell family, the light of this era, the one who shines on her own, the one even dragons loved! The genius Spirit Master that Drike Academy is so proud of!”