Can a Magic Theory Doctor Like Me Actually Hold a Conversation?
Click. Click.
“……”
“……”
“……”
It was silent.
The three of us heading to the reception room walked without a single word passing between us.
After all, the very person who had boldly declared she would stay shut up in her room even if the bride arrived was now standing right in front of us to greet us.
Unfortunately, the loudest footsteps belonged to Frisia’s heels, which only made the atmosphere more awkward.
What do I do? Am I supposed to say something to smooth this over?
When I stole occasional glances at her, she was keeping a dignified expression, but her cheeks were faintly flushed.
This person is probably the type who says exactly what she thinks.
She wouldn’t care much if others thought poorly of her for it—because in her mind, the other party is the one in the wrong.
But this time, her claim about holing up in her room and refusing to come out had been proven completely false.
She wasn’t embarrassed about badmouthing someone. She was ashamed that she had been wrong. Definitely.
“Little brother. Can’t you do something about this?”
“Don’t talk to me. I have nothing to say to that woman either.”
“You probably know her better than I do.”
The only thing I knew about Frisia Legator was that she had tormented the commoner girl Ceres throughout all three years at the academy.
Even in unpopular classes, if Ceres was there, Frisia would deliberately follow her just to harass her. She would badmouth Ceres to her followers, calling her strange. If the Crown Prince Lewin tried to speak with Ceres, Frisia would call him away, scold him, and send him back to the dormitory instead of letting him stay.
She insulted the professors teaching Ceres and discarded their textbooks. She stole assignments. There were even eyewitness accounts of her dragging Ceres along as an errand runner during her vacation and forcing the girl to carry a mountain of luggage by herself.
She had even challenged the frail commoner girl to a duel.
“Was Ceres strong?”
“I don’t know. They never dueled.”
“Then how strong was Frisia?”
“I don’t know. She never lost a duel.”
Since the strongest duelist of her generation had challenged a commoner girl, it could only look like she had been determined to bully her.
Her reputation had apparently been poor even before entering the academy.
But because her father, Duke Legator, was one of the empire’s most prestigious and powerful nobles—and because she had the kind of backing that even the imperial family couldn’t touch without ironclad justification—everything had been overlooked.
Conversely, though, if the imperial family did have justification, they could expel even a duke’s daughter.
And the person who had taken a particular dislike to her was the one closest to the emperor. Crown Prince Lewin.
This woman had bullied the lowliest person at the academy and in doing so offended the only individual capable of having her thrown out.
She brought this on herself.
That was why no one would take her side.
Before long, the flush that had colored her face faded, and she regained her composure.
I had been glancing at her the entire time, but she refused to meet my eyes.
This is bad. This woman is far too glamorous.
Glamorous in that distinctly aristocratic way.
I normally go weak at the knees when I see beautiful or handsome people, but glamorous ones affect me even more.
Honestly, if I didn’t keep reminding myself that Brean was my little brother, I’d feel repulsion toward him too.
But this Frisia possessed an elegance on an entirely different level.
Comparing male and female beauty is difficult, but in this case Frisia’s appearance was overwhelmingly superior.
How am I supposed to have a conversation with a woman like this…!
My head already hurt. My legs hurt. My stomach felt queasy. I just wanted to go rest.
Please, little brother! I’ll focus on keeping my expression under control, so you handle all the talking!
“This is the reception room. The viscount and his wife are busy and unable to make time, so let’s speak comfortably among ourselves.”
“Hmph. If they thought it was important, they would have made time.”
Frisia was right. They had plenty of time but simply chose not to appear.
When I had left the workshop earlier, I had run into them in the corridor. The moment I mentioned Frisia’s arrival, they fled. What pathetic parents.
“……”
“Little brother? Why aren’t you going in?”
“W-well…”
Brean, who had cracked open the reception room door, froze on the spot.
Since he was in front and had gone rigid, Frisia and I naturally stopped as well.
“We’ve come all this way. What are you doing? Move!”
“Ah! Wait…!”
“What on earth is in there that you’re hesitating so much?”
Unable to endure the frustrating pause any longer, Frisia shoved Brean aside and stepped into the reception room.
Then she froze too.
“Why are you all……”
Even I, standing on tiptoe to peer over their shoulders, froze.
Because the room was filthy beyond belief.
“Little brother. Don’t the servants in our house do any work? My workshop isn’t even this dirty.”
“Brother, you…”
“Dust clumps, dirt piles, used tissues. The Clobias family, who entertain nobles visiting from the capital, keeps their reception room in this state? Unbelievable. Did my visit displease them that much?”
“……”
It didn’t look like they had failed to clean. It looked like they had deliberately dumped trash everywhere.
The table was bad enough, but even the sofa and chairs where we were supposed to sit were pitch black. When I ran a finger across them, the grime was worse than the forbidden-section bookshelves in the academy library.
This was really bad.
Still, no matter how much dirt they had heaped in this room, it couldn’t possibly match the ashen color of Brean’s face right now.
We needed to eliminate every possible excuse to send her away, yet here we were openly criticizing the household. The justification for expulsion was vanishing before our eyes.
“I’m sorry. I’ll guide you to another room…”
“It’s fine. My legs hurt anyway. Let’s just talk here.”
“Pardon? But…”
My legs really did hurt.
I was already exhausted. I didn’t want to move anymore. I just wanted to rest comfortably.
This was the perfect moment for magic to step in.
“Hup.”
I waved the wand I kept hidden in my robe. Mana enveloped the room.
Starting from the outer edges, the effect gradually contracted, sweeping up dust and trash as it moved. The filth avoided every object in the room—including us—gathered in the center and compressed.
“If I toss it out the window, the cleaners will handle it, right?”
“Uh…”
“Never mind. They can deal with it.”
With one final, extremely simple spell, I remotely opened the window and hurled the compressed mass of garbage outside.
Wow! The room had become sparkling clean.
Even the accumulated grime had been thoroughly washed away, leaving everything gleaming.
Fascinating. My workshop is always dark, so I had never seen it shine like this.
“It’s cleaner than if we had cleaned it ourselves… Brother, how did you do that?”
“Would you understand if I explained?”
“Can’t you at least tell me what you did?!”
I could explain.
But I had no idea how to describe it to Brean, who had never studied theoretical magic.
Fine. I would start with the simplest concepts.
“First, I applied Ecktgen’s Theorem to distinguish the magic’s targets, generated a filter using the Antil-Ceno Multiple Mana Structure, and allocated the mana calculated with the Harthel Equation.”
“Eckt… what?”
“See? I told you.”
“Shouldn’t you explain it in a way that’s easy to understand, Brother?”
Even if he said that.
To me, this was the easy way. Once you study deeply, it becomes difficult to rephrase things in terms non-specialists can grasp.
Besides, I’m a researcher, not a professor.
Since Brean clearly hadn’t understood a word, Frisia had probably also remained silent because she had no idea what I was talking about…
“I see… So you created a mana structure that only affects substances below a certain mass and gathered all the trash in one place?”
Interesting.
“Below a certain mass? Frisia Legator, what are you talking about?”
“Ecktgen’s Theorem calculates the amount of mana required based on the physical quantity of the substance you intend to interfere with. You don’t even know that?”
Imperial Year 7.
It was research conducted by the era’s magic scholar Ecktgen to improve the efficiency of everyday tasks and fully integrate the element of mana into the material world.
Hmm.
“You gathered light objects in one place? That’s ridiculous. If it’s a spell of that level, even I could do it!”
“You think it’s just pulling them in? At your level, that would be impossible.”
“What?”
Brean, who still hadn’t understood, pointed accusingly at his sister-in-law.
I could have stopped him.
But Ecktgen’s Theorem was the most basic concept I had mentioned.
“The Antil-Ceno Multiple Mana Structure is a mana framework that simultaneously possesses two different properties. It’s primarily used to set precise conditions for the target.”
“So what?”
“It lets you select only the desired targets and pull them with greater force. Can’t you understand that?”
Imperial Year 189.
A practical mana structure that cleanly designates only the necessary targets for interference.
When first learned, one wonders why such a thing is needed, but once mastered it becomes an incredibly convenient tool for automation by attaching all sorts of conditions.
“And the Harthel Equation is the formula that determines how much mana consumption increases relative to the magic’s range.”
Barhati 544, predecessor of the empire.
Originally begun as support for large-scale attack magic, it was truly developed during the construction of the imperial capital.
“When the spell encountered solid objects, you used the Reinhacres Rule to bypass them, didn’t you? Am I right?”
Imperial Year 221.
The obstacle-avoidance algorithm created by Reinhacres for fully autonomous tracking magic.
This isn’t part of the standard academy curriculum. To learn it, you would need two additional years of study. Or teach yourself.
Ooh…
“Ugh… Don’t act so smug just because you know a little! That kind of—”
“Shut up, little brother.”
“Brother?”
My stomach, which had been churning, suddenly felt perfectly calm.
No.
In fact, I felt better than I had at any moment since earning my doctorate in magic theory.
“My apologies. I had no idea you were an intellectual who had studied theoretical magic.”
“Brother?!”
“I have a few more questions about the inference you just made. Shall we sit and talk?”
“B-Brother! Why are you suddenly acting like this? Just because she knows a little, you feel kinship with this wicked woman—”
“Shut up, Brean!”
Just because she knows a little?
He didn’t even know how few people majored in theoretical magic. How was that possible?
In my time, there had been only three of us—including myself—for three years.
Actually, including the doctoral course, it had been five years total.
“Magic trends have been dominated by emotional magic for two hundred years. I acknowledge that its peak is high, but most practitioners never reach it and simply flail about.”
“That’s true. It relies on pure talent, yet it’s flashy and convenient. That must be why it appealed to the privileged class.”
“Is the theoretical magic curriculum still a mess these days? When I studied it, the lectures were purely for show. There was nothing to learn. The professors knew so little that I ended up living in the library.”
“I completely agree. It was better not to attend class at all.”
The green eyes that had looked frightening when I first saw them now sparkled like emeralds filled with intelligence and magical wisdom.
And that expression—corners of her mouth lifted in a sly smile.
She looked like a child proudly showing off something she had just learned at school. It was adorable.
Moreover, her hands were politely clasped in front of her. She had good manners too?
“We speak the same language. Now, about the inference you made earlier—”
“Wait. Before that, may I ask one question? There’s something I’ve been curious about regarding the considerations you make during magic experiments.”
“Of course! Anything about magic.”
Huh? But.
What was this tickling sensation crawling up my spine?
“By any chance… did you not consider the possibility of mana sweeping beneath the dress?”
“Eh.”
Beneath the dress?
Narrow spaces between clothing and the body are normally not inspected. Otherwise dust would sweep across my own body every time I cleaned.
Of course it would all exit again, so there would be no hygienic issue, but it would still feel unpleasant.
However.
I was wearing pants.
If it was beneath the skirt of a dress…
Is that area empty?
I had never worn one, so I wasn’t sure. Don’t people wear some kind of undergarment?
If not… that would be unfortunate.
“I’m sorry! I only use it when I’m alone, so I didn’t realize!”
“Oh my? Is that so?”
“Hoho, if the sensation of dust made you uncomfortable, then… well, there are no hygienic problems…!”
“That’s fine. Then shall I give you a problem this time?”
Frisia approached me with a kind smile.
Anyone experiencing this for the first time would probably get angry. Was this person really the villainess?
As expected of an intellectual who had studied theoretical magic.
Yes, that Ceres woman must have done something wrong. There was no way our junior magician could be a bad person…
“Between the mass you set as the condition and the mass of the women’s underwear I’m wearing, which do you think was higher?”
“Eh.”
“Uh.”
Clothing… would be light enough not to trigger it.
When setting the parameters, volume, area, and material are all considered together. But.
What does women’s underwear even look like…?
It probably had a small surface area. Since it belonged to a duke’s daughter, it would be high-quality—lighter and made of more breathable material.
Which meant it most likely hadn’t been filtered by my spell.
Uhh…
“Brother, I’ll run— I mean, I’ll step outside. Please enjoy your time as a couple!”
“Little brother, wait! Let me come with—”
“Attention.”
Hic!
The voice, cold as ice, froze my feet in place as I tried to flee.
My little brother flinched for a moment, then ran away anyway. He abandoned his older brother?
Click. Click—!
Frisia’s footsteps, which I had already grown sick of hearing on the way here.
The only difference was that her steps carried even more force than before.
“Lord Rayburn?”
“Y-yes…”
Frisia’s hand gently stroked my cheek.
Then roughly turned my face toward her.
Her mouth was still smiling, but her eyes were not.
One hand remained lowered, but I now understood it wasn’t merely out of politeness.
Because.
The thing that should have been there—I had just—
“Kneel, you pervert magician.”
“Yes!”