Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Became the Greatest Genius in History
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Two weeks had already passed since we bid farewell to the Tristy estate.
Unlike my companions, I had to spend that time trapped in the Blue Tower. The molds I'd been cultivating in the culture tanks kept dying due to unknown factors, so Noctias had asked for my help.
It turned out the temperature inside the tanks was rising whenever the mages cast acceleration spells, and we resolved it safely using thermometers and cooling devices.
Fixing the culture tanks was straightforward.
It didn't even take that long, and I was grinning at the thought of wrapping it up quickly and getting some rest—until the mages grabbed my pant legs and begged me to share my knowledge with them.
What they wanted from me was medical knowledge, especially anything related to diseases.
In the end, magic was an academic pursuit that only truly shone when you understood how the world worked.
The level of this era felt subtly... modern-ish, somehow.
Mana was an overwhelmingly efficient resource, but the means to store it were all prohibitively expensive, making it unusable in everyday life.
To give you an idea: if a magical refrigerator were ever developed, it'd be cheapest to buy a slave through illegal channels and use them as the power source.
With 100g of mithril costing a whopping 100 million on the market, that said it all.
I digress a bit, but thanks to the mages' insatiable thirst for knowledge—driven by the nature of magic—science hadn't been neglected entirely. That's probably why the concept of germs existed in this world.
This time, people got to experience antibiotics firsthand.
And they figured the guy who made them must have some monumental well of knowledge.
“Please, I’m at the point where I’d love to crack open Lord Ester’s skull and peek at all that knowledge inside!! I know it’s an insolent thing to say... but please, think of it as saving one pitiful soul and share your wisdom.”
“I lost my mother to illness, and ever since, I’ve wanted revenge on the disease that killed her. Let this be my chance to grasp the blade of vengeance...”
To be honest, I wanted to refuse.
Whether it was the Uriel gun or the antibiotics, I'd been working non-stop, and I'd already hit a lethal dose.
Even if Nob AI handled everything from A to Z, it was still my body doing the executing.
I'd met the king face-to-face in the capital, treated the princess, mass-produced medicine, fought a life-or-death battle with a heinous criminal, and even diligently fixed those culture tanks.
Now they wanted me to teach mages in a workshop reeking of harsh chemicals, guided by Nob AI?
No way in hell.
And more than that, every time I caught myself spouting incomprehensible nonsense, I got hit with cognitive dissonance.
Fatigue had piled up considerably, and I wanted to avoid anything bad for my mental health.
No, lately, the only time I'd read my kindling novel was the scraps of time I squeezed out while treating the princess.
This was unacceptable.
-If you could just do it once... We'll give you anything we have in the tower...
But when even the tower lord—with the appearance of a child and over a hundred years old—pleaded with teary, earnest eyes that made it hard to refuse...
I couldn't flat-out say no.
Everyone was saying it would help save even more lives than before.
Turning that down would take some serious backbone.
And my heart wasn't strong enough.
In the end, I had no choice but to grant their request one last time.
『Leave it to me.』
『(´ε｀ )♡』
A one-off lecture wouldn't mean much, so handing over knowledge through a book seemed best.
The knowledge the biological school mages wanted from me boiled down to diseases.
I started writing a treatise using Nob AI.
The book covered the types of diseases in this world, their causes, onset, symptoms, progression, and more in detail. It included various logical approaches useful for diagnosis based on symptoms, and methods for treating illnesses.
After a week of non-stop writing, I completed two volumes totaling about a thousand pages.
I handed them over to Noctias.
“Basic Pathology...?”
I nodded to Noctias, whose eyes went wide.
It was bound to be an unfamiliar term.
“This is the best I can do right now. Share it with those interested in diseases.”
“Thank you so much! But, as for your reward...”
“We can call it a debt for now.”
I wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed and pass out, so I told Noctias that and bolted out of the tower.
Finally, liberated from the Blue Tower.
The blue sky I'd missed so much made my heart race.
“You've worked hard, young master.”
Dalpi was waiting in front of the tower with the carriage.
I'd contacted her last night via recording crystal to come pick me up.
“And sis?”
“She's resting comfortably in the palace. Seems she's gotten really into medicine lately. I've seen her chatting away with the royal physicians quite often.”
I climbed into the carriage as she spoke.
While I was stuck in the Blue Tower, Sis and Dalpi had headed to the capital.
Apparently, word reached His Majesty the King, because Art came to their inn with guards and politely escorted them to the palace.
They even gave her a guest room and treated Dalpi with utmost hospitality.
“A maid having another maid wait on her was quite the bizarre and intriguing sight.”
It sounded amusing just picturing it.
Even so, treating a regular servant like that—companion or not—was pretty surprising.
“Ian hasn't arrived yet?”
“He said sorting out his finances would take another two weeks or so.”
Ian was Haniell's guard knight, but technically employed by Porto.
With Porto unconscious and Haniell having left the territory for the capital, the original contract was basically void.
For him, who suddenly found himself high and dry...
I offered him 1.5 times the salary he'd gotten at the estate if he'd continue as Haniell's guard knight.
Between the previous attack and her ongoing need to take mana suppressants to ease her illness—preventing her from using magic...
Zephyr had told me before that Uriel had tried to kidnap Haniell to get to me.
Everyone handled it well, and the incident ended as an attempt, but Sis absolutely needed someone watching her back.
He was young and strong.
Even though he'd left the Steel Lion Knights, he was top-tier compared to active knights.
Like a hearty bowl of national dish—reliable as hell.
Even before I regained my past-life memories, back when my swordsmanship was utterly hopeless, he'd kept training me without giving up.
The fact that he stuck with a student who showed zero progress or talent, treating him diligently to the end—that earned my respect.
Sure, Haniell had asked him midway, but even accounting for that, he was a good guy. Fact.
Fortunately, Ian accepted without hesitation and became our companion.
“I'll take good care of the young lady too, but pass on the message that I'm not handling Ian. He can wash his own underwear.”
“He always took care of himself at the estate too. No worries.”
There was one thing bothering me.
Dalpi had been my personal maid up to now, tending only to me.
But leaving the estate this time, Haniell hadn't brought her personal maid, so Dalpi had naturally started looking after her too.
She said it was fine, but she was still my personal maid first.
She was so capable that besides basic housework, I often had her handle all sorts of tasks.
If she had to step away for that, it was no big deal for me—used to living alone—but for Sis, born and bred nobility, it might be tough.
Maybe we should hire one more servant for chores. The thought crossed my mind.
We already had a maid, so how about a butler this time?
“If you don't go to sleep right now, we're gonna dance.”
“What's that ridiculous song?”
“It's a song humanity isn't ready for yet.”
And so, I bantered with Dalpi as we headed to the capital.
Unlike last time, no crowds gathered—because Dalpi and I used a secret passage.
“They say it's the route famous people take when they want to enter the capital quietly.”
This must be the secluded path Art had mentioned before.
No matter how famous I'd gotten, not everyone knew me.
Last time, the press had swarmed for interviews, turning it into some extreme celebrity ordeal.
Now, even the main gate would probably be quiet.
“Huh?”
I blinked.
I needed someone to explain if what my eyes were seeing was real.
“Oh, it's your first time seeing it, young master. Sis and I were shocked too when we first saw it.”
In the square stood a statue of a familiar face, large as life.
I saw it every morning in the mirror, so there was no mistaking it.
“Someone made a statue of you and plopped it right in the center of the square without permission. The reaction's been better than expected, so the guards have put off removing the illegal exhibit.”
I was so flabbergasted I couldn't speak.
『The Greatest Genius in History』
A hollow laugh escaped as I stared at the title engraved on the statue's base.
I was about to personally smash it right then and there, in place of the procrastinating guards.
“What the hell kind of situation is this!!”
“Calm down. It's an unavoidable fate. Just enjoy it a little.”
But Dalpi—the self-proclaimed representative of all those drawing daily motivation from the statue—held me back with her strength, and that was that.