This Delusional Voice Keeps Telling Me I’m a Villain

Theodore was a super genius.

He was not merely a genius, he was a super-duper genius. I had started my studies earlier, so he had yet to overtake me, but I already couldn’t catch up to him in martial arts and magic.

“Guhk…”

The instructor fell on his knees. They engaged in a practice match where one who earned five points first wins. Theodore didn’t even let the instructor gain a point and the match ended.

‘Fewweet! So cool!!’

“Theodore, you’re so great! That’s so cool!”

“…Aa.”

Theodore had always been chill like that. His face was calm like nothing had happened, and he averted his gaze away from me.

‘Owh, this is what we call a sense of superiority…!’ I was absorbed in my thinking and here, the Delusion-kun started his bad-mouthing again,

Damn. How could I be inferior to this kind of bastard? He must be cheating somewhere!! Did he curry favour with the instructor or did he sell his body? I’ll never admit that I could never reach this bastard’s level! Look at that annoying face of his when he defeated the instructor. Whereas I could only gain one point against the instructor! An accident, let’s fix an accident, and turn him useless…!

I named this line of thinking that was completely different to my own as ‘Delusion-kun’. When I listened to what Delusion-kun said, I could fall into an illusion that it was my own thoughts, but its values and mindset? were fundamentally different from mine. So in the end, I knew that this was not my thinking at work.

But geez, this Delusion-kun was a complete mystery; I once went to the library to check about delusions or auditory hallucinations—but I ended up with nothing. Split personality? I once had that suspicion but it felt different from that. I piled on the books on psychology and went through a lot of materials, but I still couldn’t get to the bottom of it.

However, when Theodore saw me with the stacks of books, he told me, “Finally you realize you’re not normal in the head?”

Unbelievable.

“Oh dear, I’m already at my wits’ end.” The sword instructor heaved a sigh.

Oops, I got occupied listening to Delusion-kun.

Our instructor wore a serious face and made a suggestion, “Theodore, you went beyond my expectations. In just eight months, you were able to overpower me, a former captain of the Knight’s Order. Frankly said, I have nothing more to teach you… As for young master Urschel, I have so damn much to teach him.”

He sneaked a glance at me. Geh. I immediately hid behind Theodore.

“Starting next week, Theodore, you will go to the Knights Order I used to work at and gain practical experience there. That would be much better for you. I’ll tell the Duke beforehand.”

“Yes, understood.”

Upon hearing that, Delusion-kun used eloquent vocabularies to spout his jealousy and grudges in a corner of my head; yet, I was only in awe and could only think that Theodore was so great! By the way, my vocab was not as rich as Delusion-kun, so I could only say ‘Great’.

Hn? Now that I think about it, among what Delusion-kun was saying, there was something that I didn’t understand the meaning at all. So I softly whispered to Theodore to ask, “Theodore, what does it mean to ‘sell your body’?”

For some unknown reason, Theodore silently flushed red at my question and punched me.

Unbelievable.

After martial arts, it was magic class! Theodore was also super excellent in this area, which brought us to the current situation.

“Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-wha!!!!!?!!!”

The magic instructor fell down in surprise, and he became a broken record.

Well, anyone would be like that upon seeing Theodore casting magic with five attributes—wind, earth, fire, water, lightning—at once. Apparently, Theodore’s magical power reserve was so immense that ranked him in the top five in the whole world. Not in the whole nation, okay? Worldwide, okay? Top five, okay? It was utterly badass to have almost unlimited magical power.

Moreover, he was very adept at controlling magic: normally one could only cast magic up to only two attributes simultaneously, yet he could do it with five attributes at the same time. He was already at god-level. He could remember any magical theory he had previously learned and even made it his own; even more astounding was his ability to come up with a new magic theory with even greater efficiency. Every week, he allegedly made a revolution in the history of the magic world and its surroundings.

Thus, only I received lessons on magic, while in each class Theodore would announce a new technique or theory to our instructor.

I lent a hand to support the instructor who had lost his strength to stand. He was still in a stupor.

“Urschel-sama, as a mage, I have seriously devoted myself to the studies of magic. But… I feel like I have completely broken down mentally in a lot of ways.”

“I feel you! It’s like all your efforts and confidence you had just shattered, right! Mine was already broken into pieces and smithereens!”

“…I nearly crumbled, but seeing you and him with so many differences like chalk and cheese, no, like heaven and earth1, I felt somewhat at ease.”

“Why would you say that?!”

Yes, I was bad at magic. It was a good thing that my magic power reserve was average among the average, but I was quite bad at controlling that magic. Normally, one could only handle up to two attributes, but I, in addition to the aforementioned five, could also access a very wide range of magic like darkness, light, healing, summoning, manipulation and scanning2. However, I was just bad at controlling them—they were all stuck at the beginner level.

This was exactly what people would describe as throwing pearls before swine. By the way, Theodore could use all similar attributes as mine at the highest level. A super-genius truly was different!

The instructor told us that magic control depends on the user’s effort. Anyhow, when I asked Theodore what was the trick to it, he started blabbering about input-output balance, the necessity for magic power circulation and blah blah blah; I, with my not so smart head, couldn’t get what he was saying. Not. at. all. Other studies aside, magic was simply not my forte.

Father has also said I was alright the way I was, “Even if Urschel is not a genius, you can just be someone apt enough as a Duke, and then, if you can just stay foreeeeever in this house, I’d be totally okay with that, I’d be so pleased!”3

Certainly. When my father said that, I felt that it didn’t matter anymore even if I didn’t shine in martial arts or suck at magic, as long as I could fare well as a Duke.

‘Huh! Here it comes again, Delusion-kun!’

As a Duke?? I have no intention to end my life with a petty position such as Duke. I’ll make this country mine. Yes! There’s no way my life will simply end as a Duke. Father has really misjudged me.

…However, this unbelievable monster irritates me so much. If only he weren’t here, I would be the one who shakes the world. He was scouted by the Knights Order, recognized by the Ministry of Magic, and even lingered in the royal family’s memories. He’s already a famous figure in high society…

Damn. Somehow, someway, I gotta kick him down. Father also has high expectations of him even though he has no expectations of me—he’s not even hiding it. I’ll be the man who would deceive the royal family, lead them by their nose and finally have this country in my grasp…! Now it has come to this, during the next social event, I’ll make him majorly embarrassed…

‘One hour to go until teatime! Double financiers! Yahoo!’

…Ah, I was so looking forward to the teatime that I didn’t listen at all to what Delusion-kun said. Hm, who cares—it’s not like it was my duty to listen to him.

“Theodore! Let’s have tea time together today, too. You’re giving me your financier anyway!”

“Okay, I got it.”

“By the way, that five attributes thing just now was so badass! That’s so great! Theodore, you’re truly a genius!”

“…”

When I praised Theodore as usual, Theodore suddenly stared at me in suspicion.

Eh? Did I do something?

“Say, Urschel, do you truly feel that I’m that great?”

“?”

“…Urm…don’t you feel jealous of me?”

Jealous? Jealous!

“No, I don’t!!”

Delusion-kun might be so, but I had no such feeling! As to why—

“Theodore, you’re just overpowered: monster-level. God has given you not only two gifts, but three and four, he gave you so much. I’d be an idiot if I were to compare myself to you. Even long ago, I couldn’t bring myself to be jealous of someone like Theodore.”

“…Don’t you dislike me?”

What kind of strange questions were these… Could Theodore be some kind of mystic? I had no idea, but I’ll just speak honestly.

“Certainly none of that! Rather, I like you!”

Once I said that I liked him, Theodore froze, eyes wide open. Now that it’s come to this, I’d just say what I felt like.

“You gave me your sweets, you accompanied me during teatimes, you became my chatting partner, and above all, you stayed friends with me, didn’t you? Wait, I’m the older brother here!”

“…Friends…”

The instant I said the word ‘friends’, Theodore’s stiff expression changed as his eyes stared blankly into the void.4 And then, without saying anything, Theodore flicked my forehead. Why?!

Un-be-liev-able!!