Wise University Life (4)

There was a thing called mutual recognition courses. Classes that both undergraduate and graduate students could attend together. Whoever first came up with the idea deserved a medal. I genuinely wanted to give them an award. Stellarium also had a system where credits you earned as an undergrad would only register as completed at the undergraduate level but automatically add to your graduate transcript. It was pure honey. If you played your cards right, you could knock out those annoying completion requirements during your undergrad years and devote your entire graduate life to research.

When I asked the community seniors “Should I take this?” roughly ten “yep” comments flooded in. That alone told me how much of a honey pot it was.

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I checked out the course.

Hehe. Looked fun. I checked everything else, but nothing else fit my schedule. So, half willingly and half by necessity, I enrolled.

So far so good.

But why the hell are you teaching this?

“Some of you may have already studied ahead and find this textbook laughably easy. But let me ask you one thing. Can any of you clearly explain what mass, charge, force, and motion—everything you learned at the academy—actually are?”

It was the first day of the new semester. Having Professor Feynman’s class right from the start was lucky. His philosophy as a physicist was outstanding. Just listening to the part where he explained the fundamentals made my ears happy. If someone recorded his voice and sold it as ASMR, it would be a massive hit. He could become the sleep companion for every physics student in the universe. Heh heh.

“So when are we leaving?” Zernya grumbled.

Come on! In a class that discusses the very essence of things, how dare she want to learn cheap tricks first!

“Look at this heretic.”

“What are you even saying?”

That was how Zernya stuck to my side, whispering one or two comments during nearly every lecture I attended. Especially during coding sessions—when she would first implement a complicated simulation and then puff out her chest saying “You can copy me if you want,” I really wanted to smack her.

After racing through about three morning classes, a message arrived.

I slowly raised my head. I was currently in the student cafeteria. And right in front of me, Zernya was chewing away at a steak.

“What is it? A message?”

“Nah, just an ad.”

“Hmm.”

After hesitating for a moment, I sent another reply.

A few minutes passed after sending that message. When no reply came, a chill ran down my spine instead. Wait, why the hell should I feel a chill? It’s not like I’m dating Rustilla. Of course I don’t dislike her, but—

Rustilla’s calm, gentle tone replayed inside my head. My head suddenly hurt. Not because ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠something was caught on my conscience, but because this kind of situation was new ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to me. How on earth should I reply to smooth things over? I took a deep breath. Then I thought: I am a man. Even if professors can push me around, I refuse to be pushed around by women.

I sent the messages and waited for a reply while biting into my pork cutlet. The crispy batter, the juicy meat juices, and the flavor of the salad spread evenly through my mouth. Combined with the well-grilled bell peppers and onions—

Wait. Bell peppers and onions?

“You eat well. Here, have some of this too.”

Zernya slid several pieces of grilled carrot onto my plate with a clatter.

“What are you doing?”

“The stuff here besides the meat is pretty mediocre. I’m not eating it, so you take it instead.”

In other words, she was dumping her scraps on me. Even though I frowned deeply, Zernya dumped the remaining onions on me too. My precious pork cutlet had suddenly become the onion edition. I didn’t exactly hate onions, so I reluctantly ate them. Food is still food; it would be a waste to throw it away. Damn it. Why am I eating someone else’s leftovers?

Zernya took out a multivitamin bottle.

“Since we’ve become university classmates after so long, I’ll give you one. Eat it. It’s blueberry flavor.”

The bottle said ‘High Vitamin B Content!’ I didn’t know what wind had blown this sudden kindness, but she wasn’t at villain level yet, so it should be fi—yeah right. You could never be too careful in this world. Constant suspicion was the rule. I opened my status window.

It didn’t seem like a suspicious pill. At this level, I could gratefully accept the goodwill. When I actually rolled it around in my mouth, a sweet taste spread. It really felt like eating a real blueberry.

“Hey, is it good?”

“Not bad. What’s gotten into you? Giving me stuff like this.”

“Payment for taking my scraps.”

“Ah.”

I had been properly played. After finishing lunch and the afternoon classes, the sunset was slowly sinking. Before Zernya could follow me again, I quickly returned to the dormitory. Evenings without Sonia felt strangely lonely. If I sprawled out like this, I half-expected her to pop out from somewhere saying, “Young master, do you want to get beaten?” That couldn’t happen though. Sonia was busy marking Ire right now.

Still, it was the first day of the semester and not a single person had asked how I was doing. It made me realize all over again that I really was a loner.

I take back what I just said.

Seti sent me a graph showing twenty-eight different stocks that had all broken through their upper limits. She said she earned more than fifty billion in a single day. Her laughter exploded across the screen in a storm of broken syllables.

Wait. Stranoff? Seti met Professor Stranoff? When?

Constellation? This was the first I’d heard of Cartesia being called a constellation. She was probably mistaken. What kind of constellation would give coins? Questions rose, but I soon stopped paying attention. What mattered most right now was confirming whether the Stranoff I knew and the Stranoff Seti had met were the same person.

And they were.

“Whoa.”

I had originally planned to help with her research, but after she did something a little strange, I was thinking of keeping some distance for a while. But this… she was my little sister’s benefactor. Looked like I should have a serious conversation with her tomorrow.

It was the orientation for the external lecturer course on quantum gravity or whatever. When I opened the lecture hall door, a few people who looked like graduate students were already there. I sat in the very front row. I couldn’t understand why no one wanted to sit in this first-class seat where you could admire the professor’s face up close.

“I’m tired of this now.”

After a while, the rest of the students entered, and Professor Stranoff came in too. About ten people? That was a lot for a linked undergrad-graduate class. The moment Professor Stranoff confirmed my face, her expression brightened.

“I’ll take attendance.”

Her voice was cheerful too. After a general orientation and covering the first week’s progress, the class ended. Since it was only a one-credit course, the lecture hours weren’t that high. The graduate students scattered somewhere, clutching books and cigarettes in their mouths. In the end, only me, the beam projector, and the professor remained in the lecture hall.

“Rheinland, last time I really…”

“No, Professor! I’m fine! Actually my memory of it is already hazy.”

The image of the professor pouring out drunken complaints to me flashed through my mind, but I deliberately ignored it. You shouldn’t hold onto other people’s bad points for too long.

“I’m sorry. I was out of line.”

“Not at all. Thanks to you, I got a really good lab tour.”

To shake off the awkward atmosphere, I changed the subject to research. Good, that was natural.

“Actually, the reason I came all the way from Iryuel to Stellarium as an external lecturer was to see you, Rheinland. I wondered if you might enroll in my class if you were okay with it… That’s why.”

“Of course. I’m very interested in your current research topic, Professor.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Her expression melted into a bright smile.

“I heard you helped my little sister?”

“Your sister?”

“There was a girl named Seti von Rheinland at the Southern Holy Sanctuary. You taught her an easy way to be chosen by a constellation—”

Only then did Stranoff let out an understanding “Ah” and nod. Although she pretended to be surprised, I got a strong feeling that helping Seti had been entirely calculated. But what could I do? She had helped my sister. If I didn’t repay that favor, it would become a problem in its own way.

“Then could you come to my lab?”

“Weekdays are difficult, but weekends should work.”

“Right. It’s quite far from Iryuel to Stellarium.”

Professor Stranoff nodded.

“Good. I need to set up the lab, so please come starting two weeks from this Saturday. Any time is fine, so just let me know by email once you decide.”

I had no objections. It was about time for Ire Haslen to wake up. If I could somehow handle her and bring her in as a lab intern, it would be perfect.

“You must come. Understood?”

“Understood.”

Professor Stranoff left the lecture hall first, waving her arms like an excited child. I then sent a message to Professor Feynman.

One semester? Two? I didn’t know how long Professor Stranoff’s research would last, but I would focus as much as possible and finish it quickly.

That was probably the best way to repay the favor I had received.

I returned to the dormitory and opened the door.

“Sonia. Sonia?”

Ah, right. Sonia wasn’t here today either. She’d been like this yesterday too; the person had completely lost it. I had become a body that could no longer live without Sonia—

“Sigh.”

I roughly filled my stomach with something like cup ramen and lay down in bed. That night, I dreamed of being pounced on by Cartesia.