41 – Directionality
When someone is too startled, their body stiffens. It was a fact first realized on a collapsing gangway.
I didn’t expect to experience that realization again in this manner.
“Huh.”
I stood frozen in the doorway, blinking rapidly.
For a moment, I wondered if I had come to the wrong house, but no matter how much I pondered, this was unmistakably the Erlich residence at 15 Kram Street.
So, to sum up the current situation in one line:
There’s a stranger in the living room.
Well, to be precise, not exactly a stranger.
With those red locks, fiery gaze, and sturdy physique, it was unmistakably Professor Louise Erlich from the Magic University.
The description needed correction.
In the living room, there’s Professor Louise Erlich.
“…….”
Why is there a professor in the living room?
More importantly, why half-naked?
In the midst of trying to grasp the situation by mobilizing my brain to the fullest, forgetting even to breathe, I pondered.
“Who’s there?”
Louise turned towards me.
Without any intention of covering herself.
The loosely draped gown had already lost its function as clothing.
I immediately closed my eyes, thinking that wasn’t enough, and used one hand to cover my eyes.
After barely managing to close the front door, I said with a pleading tone, “Could you please wear proper clothes…?”
But.
“What’s this? Why does this guy have our house keys?”
Louise didn’t scream or move away. Instead, she began to approach me step by step.
I panicked and tried to escape, only to be blocked by the front door.
“Um, excuse me?”
“Huh. Where have I seen this face before… Ah.”
Louise exclaimed with a tone of recollection.
“50 points?”
And at the same time.
“Unniiii! What on earth are you doing?!”
Lena’s scream echoed throughout the house.
“Eugene, cover your eyes properly!”
Soon, I could hear Lena’s thumping footsteps as she dragged Louis up to the second floor.
My legs gave out.
I collapsed at the entrance and opened my eyes, which I had instinctively shut. It was because, even with my eyes closed, that petite figure unconsciously came to mind.
I admit it. I have an unnecessarily vivid imagination.
I’m twenty years old in the spring.
It could be possible.
*
In conclusion, Louis Ehrlich was indeed the same person as Louis, the eldest daughter of the Oslo family.
“Heh, sorry. So you’re Eugene. I showed you such a sight.”
Dinnertime.
From Noble mtl dot com
Now, finally dressed in proper attire, Louis sat cheerfully at the table, laughing.
One of her arms rested on my shoulder.
This meant two things. That Louis was the owner of towering heels nearly ten inches high, and that despite my desperate attempts to resist, she had eventually taken the seat next to me.
“hahahaha…”
I smiled awkwardly and avoided eye contact.
I couldn’t look straight ahead. Lena was glaring at me with a sharp gaze right in front of me.
Whether she knew about my troubles or not, Louis patted my shoulder and spoke.
“There are only five women in our household, you see. I did hear that a young man had joined us, but it had been so long since anyone new came into the house that I completely forgot and went about my usual routine without thinking. After I showered, I didn’t even bother to put on any clothes and just walked around the living room like I always do.”
“Sister… what are you talking about?”
“Lena, don’t look at me like that. It’s just a rule that if you want to get close to someone quickly, you have to share some personal stories.”
Louis said that and looked at me.
“Isn’t that right?”
An expression that seemed to say ‘I can see right through you.’
But if I answered even slightly wrong, I felt like there would be something other than tea leaves in my teacup tomorrow morning.
So I avoided answering with a slight shrug.
It was uncomfortable, but there seemed to be plenty of conversation going on among the other family members, so I didn’t feel the need to join in.
The first one to speak up was Susan.
“Louis, did you check out of the dormitory for faculty members?”
“No. I must have started school too, so I stopped by to see everyone’s faces. I’m just staying for one night and leaving.”
“Still, come visit at least once this week. I’ll forget what our daughter looks like.”
“hahahaha, yes. Now that my research is mostly finished, I’ll come visit more often.”
Even with all this back and forth, there was still a ten-year age gap between Louis, the eldest, and Lena, the third child.
Even if his words seemed harsh, it seemed like he was quite dependent. Instead of getting angry during the meal, Leonardo started discussing work-related matters or sharing trivial concerns.
Listening to their conversation, I whispered to Susan.
The twins were not at the dining table.
“Where are Ellie and Sally?”
“I put them to bed early. They really like Louise.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to let them meet her then?”
“They usually don’t like it. Especially Ellie. Can you imagine her chattering all night next to Louise?”
Is their affection that deep?
Well.
I glanced at Louise and reaffirmed.
The overwhelming presence I felt during the magic university lectures is gone, and now she feels like a friendly older sister rather than a formidable professor.
Yeah. I almost forgot, but when you think about it, I’m currently in a dual role as a professor.
It’s better to be treated as an armrest than not knowing whether the food is going into the mouth or the nose when one is fully tense.
“hahahahaha!”
Every time Louise laughed heartily, a faint smile hung on my lips.
It somehow resembled Benjamin’s laughter. Despite the initial impression, a rough warmth emanated from her.
Yeah. The first impression is the problem. Because of that, my mind is still confused.
“Oh.”
Benjamin crossed my mind.
There was something I wanted to ask Louise.
“Professor.”
“Call me ‘nuna.’”
“…Nuna, then. There’s something I’m curious about.”
Louise looked at me with a questioning expression as if asking, ‘What is it?’
Her expression was so playful that I ended up asking in a casual tone.
“Are you married?”
“Huh?”
“What?”
“What are you saying?”
Only after the tranquil mealtime silence settled did I realize how overly concise my question had become.
*
“Oh, my name?”
After the meal, Louise, understanding the intent behind my question, burst into hearty laughter.
“hahahahaha! Just ask like that!”
Seeing her laugh with tears streaming down her face made my heart race.
After a hearty laugh, Louise, still wearing a reminiscent expression, said,
“Alright. Eugene. Shall we go to my room for a chat?”
“What?”
“My room. Second floor.”
Louise casually gestured towards the stairs.
On the second floor.
Since I started living in the storage room, I rarely went upstairs. And even if I did, I had never entered someone else’s room.
With Lena, who strongly dislikes anyone, especially me, entering her room, the second floor naturally became a forbidden floor for me.
Before nodding my head, I glanced at Lena.
Lena, sitting at the table with her arms crossed, had her usual sullen expression, but as our eyes met, she quickly turned her head.
“You don’t really need my permission, do you?”
“Well, still.”
“…Don’t enter my room.”
After obtaining this kind of non-permission, I followed Louise and went up the stairs.
“Come in. It’s a bit messy, though.”
Louise’s room was right in front of the stairs.
To put it bluntly, the scenery inside the room was very chaotic.
There’s no way Susan, who has a meticulous personality, would leave her room like this. That means Louise must have messed up the room like this in just a few hours.
Ignoring the underwear rolling on the floor, I closed the door as I entered the room.
Louise naturally sat on the only chair and crossed her legs, while I wandered around looking for a place to sit and eventually sat on the edge of the bed.
As I brushed my hair aside, Louise slowly parted her lips.
“Why are you curious about why it’s Louise Erich rather than Louise Oslo?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. Where should I start…”
Louise clenched her jaw.
“Yujin. Since you came all the way from the Empire to learn magic, it’s safe to say that you aspire to be a magician, right?”
I answered somewhat seriously.
“You absolutely must not mention that anywhere.”
“Of course. Anyway, do you remember what I said in our first lesson?”
The first lesson.
I remembered.
“Magic is a vector, directionality is important. Things like that, right?”
“Yes. That’s why I chose to be Louis Ehrlich. And also because I haven’t gotten married yet, you know? I’m still a young twenty-nine-year-old.”
Regardless of the additional remark, I thought slowly.
What does directionality have to do with a name?
Fortunately, Louis started explaining again.
“In fact, I could have been Louis Oslo. But I just decided to keep the old adult Ehrlich.”
The old name.
“Don’t ask for details. You know as well as I do that it’s our unwritten rule not to ask about what happened before we became a family.”
I nodded cautiously.
Louis, who regained her smile, smirked and extended her hand.
“Well, I may have unnecessarily set the mood, but the truth is simple. I wanted to shed my name as a magician, but there was already an ‘Oslo’ in the academic world.”
“Ah.”
As soon as I heard those words, the face of an old man came to mind.
Benjamin Oslo. The self-proclaimed washed-up theoretical magician.
However, easy acceptance did not come.
Was it because of Oslo’s attached formula or some kind of effect?
As a person who usually never boasted, even though I was Benjamin’s disciple, I didn’t know at all what kind of research Benjamin had conducted.
As I said that, Louise, on the contrary, made a surprised expression.
“Eugene, don’t you know what Benjamin’s achievement is?”
“Embarrassingly, no.”
“You’re like a foolish old man… Even if I don’t tell you, you’ll find out on your own. Anyway, if I were Louise Oslo, people wouldn’t be able to distinguish whether the great achievement was Benjamin’s or Louise’s, right?”
Louise smiled slyly.
What was contained in those eyes was undoubtedly passion and ambition.
“I will leave my own mark in history.”
“….”
“People might think I’m arrogant. But this is my desire and the direction I’m going.”
She looked straight at me.
“Eugene, I mentioned it in class, but I’ll emphasize it again. If you’re going to live as a magician, it’s good to firmly establish your own direction.”
“Direction, you say?”
“Yes. This is a world where it’s easy to lose your way.”
Direction.
Just when my concerns deepened, Louise smirked. It seemed she didn’t want the atmosphere to become heavy.
Thud—
Louise placed both hands on my shoulders and said.
“Take your time to think. I’m going to publish a paper soon, you know? This time, I’ll leave my mark in history, so watch closely.”
“…hahahaha. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
“Hmm!”
Louise laughed heartily.
*
A few weeks later, a paper was completed under Louise’s name.
The title of the paper was “A Study on the Influence of Magic Fields on Radiation.”
Since it had not been officially published, it was uncertain whether this paper would leave a trace in the history of magic.
However, one thing was certain.
The number of auditors in the [Type 2 Magic Practice] course I was taking had significantly increased.
To the point where there was no space to even move.
Red hair flew around in front of the chalkboard filled with notes.
By witnessing this sight, I could make predictions. Perhaps in the near future, Louise’s efforts would bear fruit.
“Now, if you turn to the next page—”
I imagined such a scenario.
