I, the wizard, the foolish Buddha.

Valeria, in a small room of the castle.

Inside the room there is a bed, a makeshift bed on the floor, a desk, and a bookcase.

Sitting at the desk was a tall and handsome young man.

The young man was around twenty years old, with black hair and brown eyes. His face shape was not like that of the people of the East, with high noses and deep-set eyes; he had the characteristics of the people of Mald in the South.

He was attentively studying a book about the history of magic at his desk.

As Baron Victor's adopted son and swordsman's squire, Roland was always content with having a 20-square-meter room in the castle.

After all, so many people came and went to Valeria to visit the Baron that the castle's guest rooms were always full.

Since Baron Victor discovered the ruins of the ancient empire and unearthed the treasure in the 'Yellow Fern Forest' four years ago, he has begun to sponsor wizard apprentices again.

He invited a mysterious woman named 'Briana' to teach his beloved daughter Alice, and after that, more and more people came to the castle to audit the classes.

Therefore, as a powerful and wealthy baron with a large mercenary group, Victor's castle was not small, but he had far too many people to support.

In this castle, the only people who can have a single room are Roland and his two roommates on either side. Even Alice usually lives with the nuns of the Order of Dawn.

Therefore, Roland was always very satisfied with his room.

But recently he has been experiencing a lot of distress.

According to his adoptive father, he will soon receive a title from His Majesty Emperor Renard, and will be granted a new dukedom and a new fiefdom.

The foster father will soon be taking Mrs. Julie and Alice to their new territory, and he is considering whether to leave the castle to one of his foster sons.

It was indeed 'a certain adopted son', because two months ago, a distant relative of the Baron's family came to seek refuge and was taken in by the Baron as his adopted son.

That kid was not only incredibly handsome, but he also seemed to have studied magic. Compared to Roland, a lowly servant who had spent his entire life in the countryside, he was simply far superior.

Since that kid arrived, he's become Roland's roommate and classmate. Together, they study magic under Madam Brianna.

To be honest, Roland really disliked magic. He had always been interested in wine, and his dream was to swindle money from his adoptive father, then swindle a wife, open a winery, and have his wife and servants manage it. He had no great ambitions whatsoever.

He neither liked practicing swordsmanship nor reading books. He preferred to lie on the rocking chair on the balcony every day, watching the adventurers who came and went to explore the ancient ruins.

It can be said that this young man, who is only twenty years old, is already living a retired life.

Perhaps because of Roland's lazy attitude, the Baron, upon learning that he was about to be ennobled, summoned his distant relative from out of town and adopted him as his son.

This territory is too far from his duchy, so it will definitely need someone to manage it after the baron leaves—if the baron were more generous, he might give the territory and the baron's title to one of his adopted sons who has always followed him.

In fact, the Baron originally intended to give the territory to Roland, since Roland had been secretly thinking about how to turn Valeria Castle into a winery.

No wonder the Baron took a liking to Roland. Although Roland was lazy, he was no ordinary genius. He seemed to have a natural talent for swordsmanship. By the time he was sixteen, the Baron was already struggling to defeat him. When he had nothing to do, his favorite thing to do was to stroll around the brown fern forest.

Perhaps it was because of this excellence that the Baron treated Roland better than his own son. Of course, ever since Roland could remember, the Baron had treated Roland like his own son.

But perhaps because Roland was too lazy, the Baron brought in a distant relative to put a lot of pressure on him. A while ago, the Baron even said that whichever adopted son came in first place in today's apprentice wizard assessment would get Valeria as his own.

This really worried Roland.

Logically speaking, given Roland's martial arts skills—enough to stroll leisurely alone in a place like the Yellow Fern Forest—even if he never learned magic, ordinary wizards would be no match for him. Roland didn't know how strong he was, but the Baron was already no match for Roland, and the mysterious Lady Brianna didn't dare to provoke him easily.

Therefore, Roland no longer needs to learn magic.

For some reason, the Baron insisted on forcing Roland to learn, as if he would not leave Valeria to be knighted unless Roland embarked on the path of magic.

The Baron exerted considerable pressure regarding matters of magic. Roland, however, still harbored considerable interest in Valeria.

With the assessment just around the corner, Roland hadn't paid much attention in class.

Fortunately, Roland discovered that he seemed to have a 'little' talent for magic, just like he did for swordsmanship. So he had caught up on all the lessons he had missed in the past few days.

However, while one can use talent to cheat in magic, one must brush up on basic knowledge.

This book, "A History of Modern Wizarding," has been gathering dust in my room for a long time; Roland only just opened it today.

Rather than saying that the Alaye wizards created the world together with the creation spirits, it would be more accurate to say that they reinterpreted the past world and the spirits of the past.

Based on their new discoveries in the Zero Realm, the Alayer wizards described the laws governing the unity of the lower world and the material world, and offered a new interpretation of how beings from the lower world exist in the material world.

The observation of the changing results revealed that this great new discovery has completely transformed the system of belief.

Those believers who once worshipped the Creator Spirits would gather the power of their faith into the spirits during their prayers, and also hand over the authority of the world to the spirits.

But now, the wizards have unearthed the truth hidden behind the elves, and the power of faith has been gathered into the truth, which no one can steal anymore.

The new discoveries not only changed the system of belief, but also the elves.

The elves, originating from the lower realms, created paradoxes when these creatures from the lower realms moved about in the material world.

Therefore, no matter what anchor the elves find in the material world, when the paradox collapses, they will fall into madness and return to the lower world to create again. This leads to reincarnation.

But now, the truth discovered by the wizards provides a reasonable description of how creatures from the lower world exist in the material world. The paradox no longer exists, and the elves can freely travel between the lower world and the material world, and they will no longer go mad because of the paradox.

The Great Cycle of Reincarnation has come to an end; faith has returned to truth and no longer belongs to the gods.

Theocracy collapsed in its essence, and an eighth element and an eighth 'spirit' appeared in the world.

Roland turned a page and continued reading to himself: "After the wizards of Alaye and the elves reinterpreted the world of the past, the mad gods ceased to exist, and were replaced by friendly and humble elves."

Thus, the 'battle of baptism' between wizards and gods became a paradox. The world thus returned from the lower realms to the material world.
The Baptismal War took place in 1818, while the first time the material world fell into the 'vision' of the lower world was on June 7, 1688.

Therefore, after the material world separated from the lower world and returned, time also returned to June 7, 1688.

Time has rewound to over a hundred years ago, and everything has returned to that point. But the spirits of the Alaye wizards and elves transcend time and dimensions, so people can choose whether or not to retain their memories.

As one of the leaders of the Alaye wizards, the Great Sage Roland devoured far too many of the gods' memories and perceptions during the war against them. He was no longer able to truly understand himself.

So he chose to forget. He discarded all memories and cognition, returning to his original state to be reborn on June 7, 1688. According to the prophecy, he would gradually awaken a small amount of memories after his twentieth birthday in 1718.

Many people, like Roland, chose to forget everything in order to maintain the purity of their own understanding, but history must be remembered. Therefore, a small number of high-ranking wizards, led by His Majesty Leonard, chose to retain their memories.

Thus, the history of modern wizarding became a highly controversial and laughable work, much like the scriptures of the Cult of Light and Shadow. What a load of rubbish!

Roland closed the book and couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Everyone knows it's nonsense, yet they still compiled it into a history book and used it as teaching material. Ms. Brianna is out of her mind, treating this kind of elective course as a required course for the exam."

"You've got some nerve, kid. Ms. Brianna lives right next door. Aren't you afraid she'll hear you and punish you?"

Hearing the sudden sound behind him, Roland's heart skipped a beat.

He turned around and saw an incredibly handsome knight squire tidying up books by the bedside.

This person was dressed just like Roland, in the attire of a Valeria knight's squire. He also looked like he was about to take an exam, clearly Roland's roommate who annoyed him greatly.

He looked a few years older than Roland, well past the age of a junior wizard apprentice—in a proper university, those exceptionally talented students would generally have passed the senior wizard apprentice exam by the age of twenty-two or twenty-three, and might even have entered the tower to conduct research or stayed on to teach at the university.

According to Baron Victor, his adopted son was indeed a top student at some prestigious academy—something called White Chess Academy, I think. He was also the vice-president of some kind of 'Magicians' Club'.

Roland had no idea what the White Chess Academy was, let alone how prestigious the position of vice president of the Magicians' Club was.

What he had been criticizing was not Baron Victor's hiring of a top-tier high-ranking wizard apprentice to compete with him.

What bothered him a bit was that this kid named Joan was a bit effeminate, which was one thing—he was a sissy, after all. Roland had seen plenty of sissies.

But this guy was unbelievably handsome, and he even secretly hid several sets of women's clothing in his luggage.
Originally, this wasn't a big deal. Although Roland didn't understand her roommate's preferences, she was still tolerant of them.

But ever since Roland returned from his trip a few days ago and saw Mr. Joan secretly wearing women's clothes and stockings in the room, he has been unable to look his roommate in the eye.

Most men, regardless of their appearance, will make people feel a little uncomfortable when they wear women's clothing.

But Joan wasn't like that, especially when he smiled; it was simply...
To be honest, when Joan first arrived, the two didn't get along at all. They were the kind of people who couldn't stand each other and would make sarcastic remarks whenever they met.

But ever since Roland stumbled upon the injured Joan during his stroll through the Brown Fern Forest, killed the few troublesome Abyss Demons, and carried Joan back, Joan has never argued with Roland again—although they still bicker occasionally.

Everything was fine until one day Roland suddenly discovered that her best roommate had started secretly wearing women's clothing after that.
The relationship between the two is now somewhat delicate.

Although her roommate Joan bickered with Roland, she always took good care of Roland.

Every time Roland saw her best roommate's beautiful big eyes, her heart would pound wildly.

Regardless of the outcome of today's assessment, Roland hoped he and Joan could sleep separately. Otherwise, if they lived together for another two months, Roland was afraid he wouldn't be able to resist mentioning the life-saving favor to his somewhat effeminate good brother.
Seemingly realizing that Roland was staring at her, Joan turned her head to look at Roland with a little nervousness.

Roland quickly turned his face away, coughed, and changed the subject: "I heard that a new roommate moved in next door yesterday? Will she also be taking the exam?"

"Yeah, she's my junior from elementary school." Joan replied dismissively, continuing to organize her books. "I advise you not to get your hands on her. A country bumpkin like you has no chance."

"Sounds like someone with a similar background to you?" Roland was somewhat surprised.

"Hmm." Joan said while packing her things, "She has a 'little' background, just like me."

"Damn it, another competitor." Roland couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Ever since the ruins became famous, everyone knows how rich Valeria is, right?"

"Hmph, you unambitious country bumpkin. Valeria's kingdom is nothing more than a small kingdom created by a wizard apprentice who couldn't make it at the White Chess Academy. Do you think the people from the White Chess Academy would have the time to come here and compete with you for a fiefdom?"

Under Roland's curious and shocked gaze, Joan packed all the books into a small bag the size of a palm.

"Then what are you doing here?" Roland asked.

“Because of Alexandra.” Joan’s expression turned solemn. “Rumor has it that the noble lady is coming here to establish a branch of Alayer Academy. I’ve also heard that the Church of Dawn seems to be paying attention to this place and plans to build a small monastery here for Lady Olivia Diana Heraka to use for meditation.”

Perhaps it's because of the ruins? I don't know, but if I could become a disciple of either of them...

Joan shook her head, a look of longing on her face.

"A noble lady?" Roland blinked, a hint of curiosity in his eyes. "How noble?"

Seeing Roland's bewildered expression, Joan said speechlessly, "It's one thing if you don't know Olivia Diana Heracles, but you don't even know Alexandra. Go and do some research on ancient history, go back three hundred years."

"Three hundred years ago?" Roland was shocked. "That 'Pressure Alexander' was an old woman? What about the other three? Were they also old women? Did the four of them agree to come here to retire together?"

Joan said, speechless, "Yes, you're right. If your winery opens, you'll definitely make a fortune."

Roland laughed: "See? So many people are optimistic about Valeria. That's what you call great minds think alike."

Joan was too lazy to talk to this guy who had absolutely no knowledge of wizardry anymore, and she didn't explain how many people Olivia Diana Heracles actually were.
To be honest, Joan really didn't understand. Since Roland's parents named him Roland, they must have hoped that he would become a great sage like Roland or at least an excellent wizard, right?
This kid carries such high expectations from his parents, yet he has no ambition whatsoever. At only twenty years old, he's already worrying about how to retire—it truly tarnishes the great name of Roland.

However, to be fair, this kid's talent in magic is terrifyingly extraordinary. Today is supposed to be the assessment for wizard apprentices, but Joan knows very well what kind of person Lady Brianna is at Black Abyss Academy, and she also knows very well what she usually teaches.

Joan thought her talent was already terrifying, after all, what Lady Brianna was saying would make even a formal wizard look dumbfounded, but Joan could understand it.

But Roland either slept in class or was punished by Brianna to stand outside, so he never listened to lectures properly and was entirely self-taught.

Roland caught up in just a few weeks.

Joan thought that the reason why such a remarkable person as Victor would value a mere servant so much and force him to learn magic was probably because of his terrifying talent.

"Speaking of which, is today your birthday too?" Joan suddenly asked.

"Ah, I think so." Roland also started packing his things; he wasn't particularly concerned about his own birthday. "Is anyone else celebrating their birthday today?"

Joan didn't answer. She stared strangely at the lazy man before her, seemingly trying to match Roland with someone from history. But after a while, Joan shook her head with utter disdain. (End of Chapter)