Wise School Life (6)
As is typical for land within the Golden Zone, the Southern Holy Sanctuary sat on prime real estate. After all, Outer Deities couldn’t exert their power here. From the perspective of the entire galaxy it was little more than scattered scraps of worthless territory, but the important thing was that staying inside made you safe. My mouth was practically watering.
Including the asset acquisition tax, I paid roughly twenty billion credits, and—ta-da—a house appeared under my name. The Southern Holy Sanctuary now belonged to me. I could use it however I wanted.
That was a lie, of course. My conscience had nagged me, so I registered it under my little sister’s name instead. And as a result…
A text-message bombing from my little sister arrived, more terrifying than any health-insurance premium bomb. But I, Idel von Rheinland, had lived with Seti for nearly two years now. I could tell whether she was genuinely angry or not.
I could state with absolute confidence that Seti wasn’t that upset. If she were truly furious, she would have ignored everything else and personally come to beat the crap out of me. Therefore this was tacit consent—a transaction.
Alright, little sister. I’ll use this land as seed money to push you into the family-head position you’ve always wanted. In exchange, you’re going to earn me a mountain of research funds, got it?
With the negotiation concluded, it was time to get to work.
“We will now begin the seminar.”
“?”
I cleared my throat once and met the student’s eyes. Look at those bright, sparkling pupils of the protagonist. She was perfectly prepared to absorb the lecture. Even the way she stood ramrod straight showed impeccable discipline.
I had spent an entire week preparing the presentation for a non-major. When I projected the content onto the board through the beam projector, large letters appeared.
On Quantum Gravity and Resonator Theory
Subtitle: So Simple Even an Idiot Can Understand It
“I am currently engaged in co-work with Professor Calis Stranoff. The topic, as written on the PPT, is exactly this.”
“What the…”
“Excellent question. What is it, you ask? It is a technology that turns Outer Deities into complete idiots.”
I explained everything I could to Ire. At the same time, I slipped in a little self-promotion.
“The foundation of this resonator theory was laid by me alone over the course of two weeks. Do you see this equation here? It’s called the FR model. I created it first.”
This approach was far more effective than simply telling the protagonist, who was floundering against the Outer Deities, “I’m on your side.” At least, that was what I believed.
“You there, suffering because of the Outer Deities! Once the prototype of this resonator is completed, I will give you the opportunity to use it. Originally I planned to charge ten billion credits per use, you know? But for the first customer, I’ll offer up to five free sessions!”
“Just what…”
“How about it? Pretty good terms, right?”
My sales pitch was on fire. With this kind of eloquence I could have been a shopping-channel host. Yet contrary to my expectations, the response that came back was lukewarm.
Far from beaming with joy, Ire wore the expression of someone attending her own funeral. On the other hand, it seemed the others were getting more excited.
— The Outer Deity ‘Steel Flowing Like Earth’ howls in rage.
***
That bastard is ruining everything!!!
After spewing such vulgarities and rampaging wildly for a while, Sapaul barely regained his senses under the dissuasion of his fellow Outer Deities.
“We must stop that boy.”
There was no longer any time to hesitate. Idel von Rheinland. Before it was too late, the boy had to be killed.
Since his host was inside the Holy Sanctuary, escape was impossible, and the time-reversal characteristic of Maxwell-types was hindered by the excessively high Ether density. They needed to find another method.
Thus the Outer Deities gathered around a table and touched tentacles.
“……”
No matter how much they thought, not even a mediocre plan emerged, let alone a good one. In the end, they had no choice but to resort to the worst option.
“……One of us must make a sacrifice.”
The final conclusion was to offer one colleague as a sacrifice in order to seize control of Ire Haslen’s body.
“Do we really have to go that far?”
“There’s no other way. Without a Light Explosion, controlling a physical body in a place like this is nearly impossible. Unless that hag Cartesia shows up, that is.”
Even black holes have lifespans. An Outer Deity’s death begins when the black hole it belongs to voluntarily ceases activity.
“If one of you releases all the energy of your black hole, I can control that girl for a very brief moment.”
“……”
“Well then, anyone willing to volunteer?”
Naturally, no one stepped forward. At that moment, a Darwin-type Outer Deity dragged its head across the floor as it approached. It was a grotesque, shriveled mushroom-like monster standing on its head.
“We built an outpost here and joined forces, transcending the difference in military strength, in order to prevent the ‘End.’ Yet what you are doing now, Sapaul, looks perfectly designed to cause division.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Is it right to sacrifice the few for the many? From where I stand, it seems you are making a hasty decision purely for your own glory.”
Sapaul found the rebuttal extremely displeasing.
“You’re right. Perhaps it would be better to simply watch the situation unfold?”
“Who knows. The girl might leave the sanctuary before the resonator is completed. Or she might die first.”
“It makes no sense for any of us to die.”
He observed which Outer Deities nodded in agreement. They were weak. At least within this group, they were the ones with narrow black holes. They were clearly afraid of being singled out.
Sapaul quietly nodded while harboring a different thought. Who should he sacrifice?
***
“Here, try the apple pie made by our house’s maid android. It’s first-grade, using apples picked from the Kentark Orchard and honey. By the way, the Kentark planet is home to the Western Physics Federation; I had a meeting with the professors there the other day…”
“……”
“I’ll explain what we learned in this week’s calculus class. Shall we look at an applied example that includes partial differentials? Wow, this is an incredibly important equation—you absolutely must memorize it.”
“……”
“We will now hold the fifth-week resonator development seminar. Based on last week’s research results, I’ll give a presentation and then we’ll hear the student’s opinions. Before we begin, are there any questions from last week that we didn’t get to?”
“……”
Bound in a straitjacket, having her meals, sleep, and bodily functions managed for her, locked in solitary confinement, and subjected only to lewd and obscene acts—yeah, right. She felt like she was losing her mind.
“Tonight’s special is pan-fried dumplings.”
“Kill me. Please.”
She finally admitted it. The current Idel was clearly different from previous rounds. He had become even more insane.
If he had been a thoughtless pervert who only committed sexual harassment, she could have bitten her tongue and died, or killed him the instant her hands were free. But because he was neither, he drove people even crazier.
“Today’s side dish is braised carrots. Very good for eye health.”
“No. I don’t want it.”
“Come on, don’t be picky—eat while you listen. Finding materials for the resonator is the most important thing. But it seems we won’t be able to make it with naturally occurring substances alone, so what our research team is trying to create is…”
Finally, Ire exploded.
“Stop it already!! I feel like I’m going insane—!!”
Her mind was exhausted, yet paradoxically her Frontier value had dropped. It was thanks to Idel’s lectures being filled with surprisingly hopeful content.
“Just sexually harass me instead! Say something perverted at least!”
“No thanks.”
“Why, why!”
If he did, she could at least comfortably commit suicide…! Regret lingered. What if this world-line was the ‘happy ending’ route she had longed for so much? What if, once missed, it would never come again?
Ire was that full of suspicion. After repeating hundreds of thousands of regressions, how many times had she died at the hands of villains who had outwardly shown her kindness? The lesson she had learned was simple: ‘Go alone.’
Never depend on anyone. Never listen to anyone. Only gather Constellations and collect opportunities, racing toward the ideal called a happy ending. At some point that had become the iron rule of Ire’s life.
Until now.
“Me, molest you? Why? That’s a crime.”
“And tying me up like this isn’t a crime…?”
“That’s because your head is full of demonic energy.”
“……”
“That’s why I told you government officials were dispatched and are waiting outside. Weren’t you listening properly when I explained it the week before last?”
It’s all legal—that single sentence completely flipped Ire’s insides.
“Now, where were we? Ah, the Ricci tensor is…”
“This is just a physics pervert—!!”
Ire screamed with the feeling of coughing up blood. Upon hearing those words, Idel’s expression completely changed.
“……So you’re finally seeing me properly?”
Of all the faces she had seen from him in this round, this one looked the most like a pervert.
***
Meanwhile, at that same time.
Rustilla was boarding a shuttle headed for the Southern Holy Sanctuary. The reason was that, for the past several days, Idel had not read any of her messages at all.