I Was Mistaken as a Genius Mage in a Game-Chapter 10

The ceiling, soaring high enough to make a few buildings seem insignificant, is adorned with rows of magnificent golden chandeliers.

"I've just returned after finishing the battle with the Great Overlord."

A massive round table occupies the center of the conference room. On the table, golden candlesticks and decorative daggers are piled high.

The table, brimming with opulent decorations, is where the leaders of the four races forming the alliance sit.

The Queen of the Elves, the King of the Dwarves, the Great Chieftain of the Orcs, and the Emperor of the Humans.

The Queen of the Elves, with a beauty so ethereal that it's hard to believe she’s over thousands of years old, has a delicate and flawless appearance, while the King of the Dwarves sports a thick and burly beard, full of frothy beer-like volume.

The Great Chieftain of the Orcs, with a massive and rugged body that would make anyone’s knees buckle in fear, displays numerous scars across his skin.

The Human Emperor has hair with streaks of gray reaching his shoulders. Clad in regal garments fitting of his title, his sharp eyes shine with an intelligence that even his ornate attire can't conceal.

"You're back, then! So, what happened to the Great Overlord...?"

The King of the Dwarves, who spoke first, sipped from his golden goblet of wine and asked the Swordmaster.

"I missed him, but I was able to obtain some of his blood and flesh. I plan to give these to the blood sorcerers to locate his hideout."

"Ah... finally! We've found the tail of that rat who's been hiding like a coward for three years without a single clue."

The King of the Dwarves raised his goblet in a jubilant manner, his booming voice filling the conference room.

"You really never speak calmly, do you?"

The Queen of the Elves, who’s over 3000 years old, glared sharply at the King of the Dwarves, her voice biting.

"Hah, you’re as rude as always!"

The King of the Dwarves only let out a hearty laugh and responded, without taking offense.

"...Tch."

The Queen of the Elves clicked her tongue lightly and turned her head, tired of dealing with the Dwarven King.

"Why couldn't you kill him? From what I heard, the Great Overlord, Malthiel, revealed himself personally. He didn’t just send a mutated form, but appeared himself. In a situation like that, with your skills, it should’ve been impossible to miss him, no?"

The Queen of the Elves asked the Swordmaster in her sharp, no-nonsense tone.

"My subordinates were in danger. I had no choice but to let him go."

The Queen of the Elves, emanating a proud and majestic air with her sharp gaze, let out a low groan as she stared at the Swordmaster sitting at the round table with me.

"...Just asking, but how many subordinates were there?"

"Five subordinates and one civilian."

"Were they strong enough to let the Great Overlord go and save them?"

"Except for one... honestly, I can't say they were that strong."

"Then you made a foolish judgment."

Her biting words carried a sharpness that filled the wide conference room with irritation.

"Do you even know how many people die on the continent every day because of the Great Overlord's existence?"

"...I also have doubts about my decision this time. Those who were on the battlefield must’ve been warriors. Warriors are people who would willingly sacrifice their lives for the weak. They likely wanted you to kill the Great Overlord, rather than saving themselves."

The Great Chieftain of the Orcs, who had been silently listening to the conversation, spoke up, his deep voice filling the room in a way different from the King of the Dwarves.

The Swordmaster, looking troubled, rolled his eyes before letting out a deep sigh and speaking up.

"...Well. Yes, I'm sorry."

...?

I, who had been sitting beside him like a person on a bed of nails, turned my head in disbelief, questioning my own ears.

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Wasn't that tone too casual?

"Well, what can I do? I'm not that smart. I don't know what’s going to happen tomorrow. I just can't pass by someone who needs help in front of me. That’s it."

The Swordmaster didn’t seem the least bit ashamed of his actions.

The leaders of the different races took turns reprimanding him for his foolish judgment, but his eyes never wavered.

"This isn’t something you should brush off so lightly, is it? You missed the Great Overlord! You threw away the chance to save countless lives, and you speak so calmly about it? Didn’t I warn you many times that you need to consider the severity of things before acting?"

The Queen of the Elves scolded him in her characteristic sharp voice, but the Swordmaster seemed unfazed, as if he didn’t even hear her.

"Well... it's not that easy. I'm sorry. I'll try harder to save people."

With a pleasant smile, the Swordmaster lightly nodded his head to the Queen.

It felt like watching a middle-aged man apologizing for bumping into someone on the street.

He apologized outwardly, but inside, there was no sign of true remorse—just the typical nonchalant attitude of middle-aged men.

"...I know your personality well. But you hold the future of the continent in your hands. You need to act with a broader perspective. This time, I also agree with the Queen’s words."

The Emperor, who had been silently listening to the others, cautiously added a comment.

"Hah! If you're so dissatisfied, why don’t you all fight instead of the Swordmaster?"

Only the King of the Dwarves stood up for the Swordmaster.

"You...!"

"What, if you're so dissatisfied with the Swordmaster's judgment, why don't you pick up your bow and go fight?"

"Are you really saying that?"

The Queen of the Elves blinked her eyes in genuine disbelief as she stared at the King of the Dwarves.

"We’re all barely managing to avoid a full-scale war with the Demon Lord, and yet you’re pushing him so hard for a decision that was a bit too bold, aren’t you? It’s certainly regrettable that the Great Overlord escaped, but does the Swordmaster really deserve this treatment? That's not right! Am I wrong?"

The King of the Dwarves, with his characteristic raspy voice, mocked the Queen openly. It wasn’t the best attitude for a leader at a conference, but his words did hit the mark.

"No matter how strong the Swordmaster is, he’s still human, isn’t he? You want him to abandon subordinates who were obviously going to die if left alone? Isn’t that an inhuman request?"

"Your words have some merit, but..."

The argument about the Swordmaster’s decision to let the Great Overlord go continued.

I...

I don’t even know why I’m here.

Can I just leave?

"...Enough. We’ll continue this discussion later. The Swordmaster doesn't have as much time as we do."

It was the Emperor who stepped in to mediate the back-and-forth between the leaders. Since it wasn’t going to be settled quickly, the discussion wound down for now, and after sending the Swordmaster out, they planned to talk more among themselves and figure out a course of action.

"There was another agenda today."

"Yes, I mentioned a civilian I saved earlier, didn't I?"

"And?"

"That civilian is the boy sitting beside me, Bin."

"So?"

The Queen of the Elves stared at me with her usual sharp gaze.

The Swordmaster began explaining about me to the four leaders at the table.

According to him, I was a genius, born into the streets without ever formally learning magic, yet possessing the mana of a 4th-circle mage.

And despite being at the level of a mid-tier mage, I had the potential to stand toe-to-toe with the Great Overlord.

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My magical power and the effectiveness of my spells were extraordinary—enough to make the Great Overlord personally reveal himself in an attempt to deal with me. I was, without a doubt, a once-in-a-century super genius.

...Wait, this is getting way out of hand.

"The Great Overlord revealed himself just to kill this boy?"

"For three years, he never left a trace, hiding like a sly rat..."

"To have the power and completeness of magic that would make you mistake him for a 7th-circle mage... interesting. There has never been a case like this in history."

"If what you say is true, this boy is undoubtedly a genius for the ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ ages."

The leaders seated at the round table began to look at me with intrigued expressions.

I felt like I was going to die.

If I were sitting at a dinner with heads of state from the U.S., U.K., China, and Russia, would this be what it feels like? My head is spinning, and nothing they're saying is getting through to me.

I... remained completely silent again.

"I'm sure that if I had the chance to turn back time, I'd make the same decision. Not just because of my own values, but because I’m certain that saving this boy will save more lives than the Great Overlord could ever take."

Bang!

The Swordmaster slammed his hand on the round table at the perfect moment, his eyes gleaming.

What the hell is he doing, crazy bastard.

"You always try to save people, even if they’re worthless. Remember that time when you almost let a high-ranking demon lord slip away just to save an insignificant private?"

"Yeah, don't try to push your mistakes onto the boy’s potential. Your judgment was clearly a mistake. A repeated, uncorrected mistake. We’ll discuss this issue again at the disciplinary committee."

The Queen of the Elves and the Great Chieftain of the Orcs had easily seen through the Swordmaster’s trickery.

"...Well."

The Swordmaster clicked his tongue in frustration and sat back down.

"Well, let’s not be too harsh! Even if the Swordmaster didn’t think too deeply before acting... this time, the outcome isn’t so bad!"

"Indeed, if the Swordmaster’s words are true, this boy will save many lives in the future. A boundless potential. If he ever reaches the level of the Swordmaster..."

The Emperor trailed off, casting a sidelong glance at the Swordmaster, as though offering a chance.

"If he reaches the Swordmaster's level, the tides of this war will change! Not only that, we might even be able to send that damn Demon Lord and his filthy demons back to hell!"

The Swordmaster, feeling this was the right moment, slammed the table again.

"..."

The leaders started to stir at the mention of the war’s end.

The Demon Lord’s and demons’ deaths.

The long-awaited goal of all of this, beginning with the small, fragile, white-haired boy that the Swordmaster brought.

...The anticipation was so great, it felt like my heart would explode.

"It won’t take much time for him to reach my level. He’s still a blank slate, so within three years, this boy will reach the level I’m at. I can’t afford to let a genius like this slip away."

Could I really reach the Swordmaster’s level? In three years?

I’ve played this game countless times, and no matter how well I built my character, it took at least 10 years to reach max level.

In the real world, it only took about a month, or maybe three weeks.

"...But, they’re giving me three years to become as strong as the Swordmaster?"

Currently, the Swordmaster’s party members are the best experts in their fields, but compared to him, they’re nothing.

The Swordmaster is like humanity’s ultimate weapon, forged by the gods.

If there were two of him, this long, painful war would be over in three days, and if there were three, the Demon Lord and the demons would hang themselves and return to hell without any fighting.

Just three years.

In three years, I have to level up a 1st-level character to almost level 90.

No shortcuts, no exploits.

This is the damn reality.

"The General formally requests that you appoint this boy, Bin, sitting beside me, as an official General of the Allied Forces, and that his growth be fully supported by the Empire, both materially and in every other way."

Study hard, train, practice, improve.

In this crazy world, the only way to get stronger is by working hard.

In three years, I have to become humanity's ultimate weapon, mk.2.

"Do you really think you can do it?"

The Human Emperor stroked his beard thoughtfully and, after a moment of silence, asked me carefully.

"...Hoo."

I could only steady my breath.

And no matter how much I deny it, these people won’t believe that I’m not a genius.

The fact that the Great Overlord misunderstood me is true, and the fact that I survived the fight against him is also true.

Even if I try to clear up the misunderstanding, they’ll just push me into being humble and annoy me, just like the Swordmaster did.

And if I do clear up the misunderstanding, what then? I’ll be left with nothing, thrown back onto the streets of the capital.

"...And I have to consider the fact that Malthiel is still after my life."

The Great Overlord Malthiel is probably still mistaking me for a genius mage.

With his obsessive, paranoid, and meticulous personality, he will definitely come back to try and kill me.

If I reveal that I’m just a "strange mage with a weird build," I’ll have to start from nothing, just like any other ordinary mage.

No Swordmaster’s protection, no Empire’s support.

...I’d probably be dead in less than three days, with Malthiel cutting my head off.

So I really had no choice.

I had to make full use of this misunderstanding.

As long as they keep thinking I’m the genius of the century, they’ll spare no resources in supporting me.

With their full support, I could level up at an unprecedented speed.

Dangerous, but with huge rewards.

A misunderstanding full of benefits.

"...Well."

I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.

And with those words, the wheels of my new life began to turn.