Overpowered Archmage Doesn’t Hide His Talent
Chapter 124:

Translator: MarcTempest

Proofreader: naturallyInconsistent

Chapter 124 – There’s a girl who seems to like Flan a lot.

I returned to the dormitory of the magic department.

“Huh?”

Becky, who seemed to be waiting for me, spotted me from the end of the corridor and ran up to me.

She bombarded me with questions: where I had been, how I was feeling, what I had done with my time… I ignored most of them.

“Leave me alone.”

“How can I not care about you?”

Becky snapped back at me.

Our eyes met in the air for a moment.

Then her face turned as red as my hair, and she quickly looked away.

“…I was just curious. Just curious.”

Becky tapped the floor with her toes and said.

“It looks like you didn’t have much homework lately.”

“W-what does that have to do with anything?”

Around that time, Louis and Trixie joined us. 

After seeing the three magicians in good shape, I skipped the greetings and went straight to the point.

“The group interview will be organized by the royal palace.”

All the noise disappeared.

Becky, who had been tapping the floor with her toes, Trixie, who had been watching us with her arms crossed, and Louis, who had been smiling as usual. 

They all stopped and stared at me.

“Due to the high level of interest, the scale of the interview has also increased. Just understand that for now.”

Becky pursed her lips like a goldfish.

“Wait, wait a minute. What does that mean? Will our faces be everywhere?”

“Yes.”

“…!”

Becky put both hands on her cheeks and opened her mouth wide. Her expression clearly showed what she was thinking.

Not much time had passed since the victory of the tournament, but there had been some definite changes in the meantime.

Now, if you open a trivia, you can easily find our names. 

No, it would be strange if they weren’t there.

It was only natural. We had won the Hunting competition, after all.

The most talked-about thing in the magic department before was a few papers, so the adjective ‘unprecedented’ that was often attached to us was not an exaggeration at all.

“You don’t have to be nervous. It’s not hard.”

What I need for the construction of the magic tower is money.

Magic is independent of the public’s attention. 

If I prove myself with my skills, that’s all that matters. But to gain financial benefits, I need some support.

‘The group interview will be that opportunity.’

Students, nobles, and even the royal family. 

The upper-class people who are looking for a place to invest all day long.

With various interests involved, the group interview is a chance and a stepping stone for the construction of the magic tower.

48 hours after preparing diligently for the group interview. 

The day of the group interview finally dawned.

◈

The interview waiting room inside the palace.

Dozens of officials were busy running around, with three hours left until the interview.

The public’s interest was high, and even the second princess was looking forward to it, so today, even the smallest mistake was not allowed.

“I think it would be better to change the location of the interview. It would capture the beauty of the palace better if we do it in the garden.”

“Then you have to check right away if we can use the garden. And the magicians haven’t arrived yet?”

“Not yet. But they will soon!”

“It’s a disaster if they’re even a second late. Do you know how many people are interested and how much money is at stake? Don’t you dare be late!”

“I’ll check again right now!”

While the bureaucrats were busy checking the place and schedule, in another place, the bureaucrats in charge of the progress were reviewing hundreds of pages of interview plans.

“Progress, progress… Irene is in charge, right?”

“Yes.”

At the words of one bureaucrat, Irene swept her reddish hair back and answered. 

She was looking over dozens of interview plans at the same time.

“It’s the first time we’re bringing magic department students to the palace. But they’re freshmen, so they’re young. You won’t have a hard time handling them, Irene.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s easy or hard. What matters is if we can get the content that people want.” Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ ɴøvᴇl_Firᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“Well, to get the money back, we need to make it interesting first…”

The bureaucrat bit his tongue.

It was a natural concern. 

The modification device needed to broadcast the situation in real time was extremely expensive to make, maintain, and activate.

“It seems like it would be very easy to get the money back, don’t you think?”

The bureaucrat tilted his head at Irene’s words.

“Irene, are you saying the same thing as the finance officer?”

“Flan is the one who made this whole deal, right?”

“Well, yeah. He’s the starting point.”

“I’ve always talked about magic in the interviews I’ve done at the academy. But today, I’m not going to talk about magic at all.”

Irene slammed the pile of interview plans on the table, making a loud noise. Then she said,

“It’s right to talk about personal lives. That’s what people want.”

“Is it fun? Is it confirmed?”

“Of course. The everyday stories are more interesting, you know.”

Irene smiled with a satisfied face.

“One of the female representatives, she seems to like Flan especially.”

◈

The Imperial Palace.

The ‘Hall of Observation’, a place built in the air solely for looking down at the palace. 

The second princess, Aurora, was there.

Her crescent-shaped pupils, buried among her jet-black hair, were directed at the busy officials.

The attendant next to her rubbed his head.

“Your Highness. The preparations are going well.”

The group interview was expected because of Aurora, so the attendant had to report quickly and watch her mood.

“The palace is noisy after a long time.”

But fortunately, Aurora muttered in a tone that seemed to be in a good mood.

She looked down for a while.

Then the second princess opened her lips as if she remembered something.

“By the way… Yeah, the third one is also studying at the magic department, how is she doing these days?”

I swallowed hard at Aurora’s careless remark. 

I knew nothing good ever happened between her and Yushia.

“Y-you mean Princess Yushia?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself. You’re in the magic department, right? You must have some contact with that Flan guy.”

“Yes. I suppose I do…”

The princess blinked slowly as she spoke.

“Flan’s future is unreadable. So is everything related to him. It’s very strange.”

“Yes. I remember you saying that.”

“Lately, there are also some parts of Yushia’s future that are unreadable. What do you think that means?”

“That is…”

I tried to find a suitable answer, but Aurora spoke faster.

“It’s not a hard question. It means Flan is getting more involved in Yushia’s future.”

“That is, well… Could it be temporary? The third princess seems to be focused on her studies, and the academy is a place where you move around a lot while taking classes, so maybe they just met by chance…”

“Enough. Enough. I was just curious.”

She clicked her tongue and smiled with her lips curled.

Even though the conversation ended like that, I glanced at Aurora nervously.

Fortunately, there was nothing wrong. Her expression seemed even brighter than before.

Just when I was about to relax.

“…!”

Suddenly, right next to me, Aurora stared at me with a stiff face.

“Ah, aah!”

She ordered me, pointing at my butt.

“I have to steal Flan from her. Find a way.”

The second princess, Aurora’s competitiveness and possessiveness.

*

There was no exception, even if the target was a ‘human’.

◈

As the sun was setting, the woman opened her eyes and quietly recalled her memories. 

The duel was fair. It had left one winner and one loser.

“…”

Scarlet, the Knight of the Flickering Flame.

She was the loser.

She stared blankly out the window.

The fragments of the sunset were gathered up, and darkness slowly spread over the world. 

A lot of time had passed since the duel was over.

She had not inflicted any harm on her opponent. It was a complete defeat, not even worthy of being called a loss.

It was unbelievable, but it was true. 

She could not accept it, but she had to. 

It just felt so unreal that this situation seemed like a dream.

Scarlet walked shakily towards the mirror.

Her body had not fully recovered yet, and she had not eaten anything recently.

Her legs did not move as she wanted, and she almost fell several times, but she managed to stand in front of the mirror.

There was a harsh reality there.

Her hair, covering her face in a mess, her body of a loser, a failure who could not become a knight of the blazing flame, was laid out in front of her as if to mock her.

She gazed at the horrible sight and collapsed.

She had no thoughts. She did not even know what to think.

She just trembled.

Then, by chance, the key she had received from the lord caught her eye.

“Ah…”

She quietly picked it up.

Scarlet thought, while shaking with pain.

…Now, it was time to visit the annex.

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