27 – Quilt
Nothing is given to the world for free.
When facing my enemies under the bridge, I believed in the inductive proof of this proposition.
A coin. A piece of bread. One true friend. The warmth of a single candle. A hug and a drop of affection.
To obtain those things that others casually possess and are born with, regardless of their size, a price was needed.
However, amidst this belief, I encountered an exception.
The Oslo family.
They generously bestowed affection without expecting anything in return.
I once thought that their affection was directed only towards talented children, but after learning about Benjamin’s peculiar talent and hobby, ‘hiding books throughout the city,’ I quietly accepted the exception.
Returning to the present.
“Rena treasures her family too much, that’s why she refuses.”
While looking at Susan, who drew a bitter smile, I thought. An exception is just an exception.
The world still doesn’t give anything for free.
Trust is no exception.
I closed my eyes and opened them gently.
Nineteen years old.
I engraved in my mind that I had reached an age where I had to prove myself trustworthy.
As I was organizing my thoughts, Susan started to worry, putting her hand on her chin.
“By the way, Eugene. Can you go upstairs for a moment?”
“Yes?”
“We couldn’t prepare an empty room yet. Our eldest daughter, Louise, is staying at the university because of her professorship. It might be uncomfortable for you since it’s a girls’ room and right next to Lena’s room, but I think you’ll have to stay there for now.”
“Uh, is this Louise person a university professor?”
“Yeah. Eugene, she’ll be like your older sister.”
So she came from a family of professors.
I also thought Lena was unusual, but now I could clearly see that the nickname “genius collector” I had casually heard from Dorothy was not an exaggeration.
Anyway.
I glanced up the stairs for a moment.
A sign.
Susan didn’t notice, but she couldn’t deceive my senses, honed from a rough life.
The reason I felt a momentary hesitation earlier must have been because Susan wanted to send me upstairs.
I let out a faint laugh.
It doesn’t matter anyway, since nothing that Lena worries about will happen.
I had something to keep an eye on.
“Susan, what kind of room is that small room over there?”
“Ah, the storage room. There are two of them, one in use and one empty. Why do you ask?”
“I want to use the empty storage room on the upper floor.”
Susanne looked concerned.
“Are you serious? It’s narrow, and the insulation isn’t great.”
“It’s fine.”
I replied with a grin.
“I like small rooms.”
It was a sincere sentiment.
A small storage room. There was no better place to take the first step towards building trust for the future.
August 28th. Slightly cloudy.
Trouble arose from the start.
“Just a moment.”
It wasn’t about the room.
Aside from a bit of dust, the storage room was just the right size, and with the money earned from the mine, I was able to furnish it with a small bed and desk, transforming Reman’s house into a cozy space reminiscent of home.
The reason I was racking my brain was due to a broader issue.
Why did I come to Prussia?
Visiting the ancestral home in Oslo was incidental; my true goal lay elsewhere.
The Federal Magic University.
Enrolling in the university, spending days in study and camaraderie with fellow students—that was the very reason I secretly crossed the sea and embarked on a long train journey to reach Prussia.
Wasn’t admission to the Federal Magic University the beginning of the dream I had long cherished?
After finishing tidying up the room, my first instinct was to look into the recruitment guidelines for the Magic University.
― The recruitment guidelines for the Magic University?
― Yes. Do you know where I can find them?
― Come to think of it, it was mentioned in the letter that you came here to learn magic… If it’s about recruitment guidelines, you don’t need to search outside. There should be copies in his room or Louise’s room.
One may have been demoted, but still, a professor’s household.
Susan quickly found the documented recruitment guidelines and handed them to me.
― Stay strong.
With words of encouragement, I returned to the storage room and unfolded the recruitment guidelines.
“This is quite a predicament.”
That’s the current situation.
There were two major problems.
First. Tuition fees.
Describing the exact amount is meaningless. I can’t afford it.
Working tirelessly in the mines for a month, I earned roughly eight hundred pounds at best.
Even though it was a considerable sum, it was nowhere near enough to cover a semester’s tuition at the Federal Magic University.
Fortunately, it seems that those who excel in the written exams are granted full scholarships, so somehow aiming for a scholarship is the way to go.
[Written Exam Date: 1899. 11. 1]
Second. There are only two months left until the exam.
In reality, this was the biggest issue.
To enter the Federal Magic University, I, who had acquired basic knowledge through Benjamin’s makeshift education and self-study in subjects like mathematics, had to compete with students raised under the Federal’s systematic education system. I had to achieve top grades or something close to that in the notoriously challenging written exam of the Federal Magic University through fierce competition.
Just two months.
“……”
My mind went blank.
At times like this, I had a habit.
Whirr.
Unconsciously, I rotated the pen from my right hand, still untouched by ink.
The skill I acquired during three years of being stuck in front of a desk. Pen spinning.
Suddenly, memories of the past came to mind.
I once, for no apparent reason, had Dorothy try pen spinning, thinking she, with her extraordinary physical abilities boasting strength, flexibility, agility, and the like, could easily do it.
“Something difficult.”
I tried to imitate it several times during my demonstrations, but Dorothy could never follow along, just as I couldn’t replicate her specialty, swordsmanship.
A skill only attainable by those who held a pen for a long time.
I realized once again.
This trivial pen spinning showed how much effort I had put in over the past three years.
“……hahahahaha.”
Laughter escaped involuntarily.
Yeah. What’s the big deal? I can do this.
I decided.
The boy under the table had indeed traveled all the way to Prussia for a whopping eight years.
The disciple of theoretical magician Benjamin Oslo and the Empire’s top student.
I won’t leave my desk until Eugene Oslo’s name is engraved at the top of the Federal Magic University admission list.
September 1st. Cloudy.
“Uggugggeut.”
With a stretch, Lena, at the age of eighteen, a student not yet graduated, got up.
Lena’s mornings were early.
Despite the burden on her petite shoulders, being a student who had not yet graduated, Lena paid no heed to her heavy eyelids and began spreading various documents on her desk.
“Ms. Loveless, two hundred pounds. Mr. Pauly, four hundred fifty pounds. Divide in half and allocate to the shipping company and the magic lamp company…”
A master of administration, accounting, and investment.
Lena Oslo, who, through extreme time management, secured the position of the youngest counselor in the entire nation, had recently started a new venture in investment brokerage.
For her, it was a business that required labor, even if it was just rolling a small amount for practice for adulthood. In addition to her studies and counseling duties, she had to save even the time for sleep to fully dedicate herself to her work.
It wasn’t all bad.
From Noble mtl dot com
The fact that she had not encountered anyone working harder than herself throughout her life played a significant role in Lena’s self-esteem.
Recently, with the elimination of the counseling position at the debate forum, thanks to the increased time for other tasks, Lena’s mood wasn’t too bad even though she woke up early in the morning.
It shouldn’t have been bad.
“I don’t like it.”
But it was bad.
All of this was because of a man with gray hair.
Eugene Oslo. Gray hair. A towering figure with a parasitic aura on his large frame. Suddenly, he became a member of the Oslo family, occupying a corner of the house as a stranger.
Curiosity-filled twins Ellie and Sally seemed on the brink of madness about this ‘brother’ they had never seen before, but Lena felt the opposite.
Annoying.
To Lena, Eugene was an intruder who had invaded the paradise called Oslo with muddy feet.
The fact that Eugene was an imperial didn’t concern her. All the children of the Oslo family had experienced unwarranted hatred and persecution.
The problem was trust.
Trust comes from ability.
If you lack ability, you must make an effort.
It had been a week since Eugene started living in Oslo.
During that time, Lena rarely went downstairs except for bathing and meals, but every time she saw Eugene, he seemed half out of his mind, locked away in the storage room.
What was he doing in there?
Those aspiring to be magicians in that era were always like that. They rode the current, flaunting their vanity, but in reality, they made no real effort.
“…Flower magic. That was certainly impressive.”
He was a fool to have expected that.
No matter how hard Lena tried, she couldn’t imagine accepting Eugene as a member of the family.
Lost in her thoughts, she momentarily put down her pen.
“I should check the mail.”
The weather was cloudy.
It was still early in the morning, and with no sunlight, the house felt a bit chilly.
A time when everyone was asleep. Lena, with a blanket draped over her shoulders, quietly descended to the lower floor.
Before opening the front door, she glanced toward the storage room.
With disheveled hair, she wore only a blanket over her pajamas. She opted for this casual attire to avoid any mishaps that might occur if she were to encounter Yujin in her current disheveled state.
As she reached for the front door handle, she froze.
The storage room door was slightly ajar.
The faint light seeping through from inside caught her attention.
“……Huh!”
Lena, trying to suppress a strange sound from escaping, covered her mouth with her hand and nervously surveyed her surroundings with dilated pupils.
Silence.
Instead of signs of life, only the pre-dawn stillness filled the house.
Maybe she just opened the door and fell asleep.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Lena quickly gathered the letters that had arrived in front of her mailbox, then quietly closed the door.
As she was about to return to her room, curiosity got the better of her in the predawn hours.
“……”
The morning curiosity prompted Lena to move.
What on earth is Yujin doing?
He’s probably fast asleep anyway. Even if she were to peek through the slightly open door, he wouldn’t notice.
Like a ghost, Lena approached the vicinity of the storage room and sneakily peeked inside through the crack in the door.
The interior of the storage room was extremely modest.
Neatly arranged bedding and flickering candlelight.
Beside the bed, a travel bag and a slightly disheveled stack of books on the desk seemed to be the entirety of his belongings.
And most importantly, Eugene was asleep with a pen in his hand, lying face down on the desk.
“……”
Pathetic.
Could it be that he’s preparing for the Federal Magic University exam?
As the most prestigious institution in the Federation, students applying to the Magic University stay up all night as if it were a regular meal.
To fall asleep at the desk meant a significant lack of determination for success.
Then suddenly, Lena noticed one strange thing.
The bedding was too neat.
It wasn’t just neatly organized; there was no sense of use at all from the blanket, sheets, and pillow.
No way.
“You haven’t slept for four days straight?”
Repeatedly studying until exhausted at the desk and falling asleep?
Lena was astonished.
That’s not something a person would do.
“……”
Lena slowly opened the door and stealthily entered.
Setting aside everything else, she looked at Eugene’s hand.
Because a person’s life is etched into their hands.
And Eugene’s hands were.
It was suffocating.
A deeply tanned skin. Beneath the countless scars engraved on the back of the hand, a calloused palm, as if holding a pen, occupied its place. To make matters worse, whatever task had been undertaken left the entire hand strangely numb.
Effort.
Traces of undeniable effort were painted all over the significant hand.
“…Not pleased.”
Sigh. It was the moment when the wind blew, extinguishing the candle, as I was about to step out of the room.
Eugene, shivering from the cold, reflected in Lena’s eyes.
*
Morning.
Realizing that I had fallen asleep, I abruptly rose from the desk and found a blanket flowing down from my shoulders.
