Top Groom Candidate (2)

“The simulation found an engineering method to restore the torn Ether Belt to its original state,” the voice on the line said.

The moment I heard those words, one term flashed through my mind: scoop. When two or more labs publish on the exact same topic and one beats the other to the journal, the loser has been “scooped.” The feeling, I am told, is unspeakably foul. All that work could vanish in an instant.

“What was the title of the article?”

“‘Utilizing Quantum Gravity Forceps to…’”

I searched immediately. There it was—an article posted the day before yesterday.

The first sentence began that way. The last line concluded:

In other words, the research had not yet appeared in any journal. My heart, which had been plummeting, returned to its proper place.

Still, the implication was clear.

“Rustila.”

“Yes?”

“From today onward, we’re cutting sleep to three hours a day. Effective immediately.”

“Huh?”

“Verdia and Sonia are androids, so they don’t need sleep, right?”

“Pardon?”

Cartesia. Lend me your strength.

With Professor Feynman, my advisor, also on board, we would forge a masterpiece carrying everyone’s combined strength and deliver a fresh shock to the academic world—faster than anyone else.

Yet even with that resolve, one problem remained.

……What should we title the paper?

“Darling, what are you scribbling so intently?”

“This? It’s my groom-candidate notebook.”

Ada showed Lloyd the edge of the page. Names of heirs from houses on par with the Kersil family filled the list: Tahalint, Yusford, Gonel, Handilton, and so on. At the very bottom, one additional name had been added.

“Darling.”

“What.”

“The Rheinlands are far above our station.”

“I know.”

Ada tilted her chin toward the far side of the room.

“But look at those two.”

Right after successfully submitting the paper, Rustila and Idel lay side by side on the bed like a pair of frozen treats, eyes rolled back, sharing a single blanket as they drifted into dreamland.

“They look awfully close, don’t they?”

“Darling, what on earth are you saying?”

For a moment Lloyd wondered if he had misheard. Only a week earlier, Ada ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had been dead set on keeping Rustila and Idel apart. How could someone flip their position so easily?

“Hehe.”

Rustila giggled, pressing her limbs against Idel’s torso. Her face looked as though she had ascended to paradise.

“Why are you letting those two sleep in the same place……!”

Lloyd was about to storm forward in outrage when Ada caught his arm. She shook her head.

“Darling, try thinking about it the other way around. If you consider that boy our future son-in-law, every problem solves itself.”

“What are you—!”

“The Rheinlands are a prestigious house we can only dream of reaching. And that boy, if things go well, could become the head of his family. Do you understand what that means?”

“You hated Idel so much. Why the sudden hesitation? That child still isn’t someone we can trust.”

“Darling.”

Tears streamed down Ada’s face.

“You wouldn’t know. You never attended graduate school.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“Universe is an extraordinary journal. Countless scholars across the Federation’s countless planets pour their blood, sweat, and tears into papers that still struggle to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠get published there. Do you have any idea how many desperate doctoral candidates would kill just to have their name appear—even as third author?”

“A-Ada.”

“Professors are the same. Some leave without ever publishing a single paper in Universe. There are even bastards who steal papers written by their own graduate students out of pure greed.”

Emotionally charged, Ada had dropped all formal speech and pressed on as though ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠interrogating him.

“……I was a victim too.”

Ah. Lloyd silently pulled her into an embrace. After bringing water to his exhausted wife, he received permission to open her notebook.

The fact that his wife had given Idel an A+ in personality carried significant weight. Among all the groom candidates she had personally met and evaluated, none had ever received such a score.

Idel, are you truly peerless even in character?

“By the way, why is appearance only A0?”

“Because an A+ is reserved for you and no one else, darling.”

Ah. Lloyd embraced Ada once more.

Unfortunately, Idel had just woken from a nightmare in which Sonia headbutted him.

Beastly people.

At this rate it was practically global-warming-level kissing. Really, if Lady Kersil hadn’t had such a difficult labor, Rustila would have had a dozen or so siblings. He swallowed the thought.

Idel looked down at Rustila clinging to him, then closed his eyes.

What should the third paper be about?

“How groundbreaking is this research? In simple terms, it means we can turn the entire Federation into something like the Alcatraz planetary system—a place where Outer Deities cannot approach or exert their power.”

The world had been turned upside down by a single paper. Countless follow-up studies poured in afterward.

“Professor Feynman and Student Rheinland are geniuses who appear once in a hundred thousand years. Without the theoretical foundation they laid, we would still be living under constant monster attacks.”

“People will soon realize the significance of this event. The nation must increase investment in basic science. Theory is never mere armchair philosophy—this is what Professor Feynman and Mr. Rheinland have demonstrated.”

“Idel von Rheinland, are you listening? If the opportunity arises, I would very much like to meet you.”

“You can think of it as an environment where no researcher will be consumed by madness and everyone can finally stretch out and work in peace.”

Scientific theory only captures the public’s attention when it ascends into engineering. And the greater the return relative to cost that engineering promises, the louder the cheers.

Idel’s research possessed exactly that kind of potential. After thoroughly laying the groundwork, the subsequent studies opened an entirely new horizon. In barely a month, geniuses from every corner of the universe read, understood, and reassembled his papers into engineering applications. The speed was unprecedented—and that spoke to how urgent the need was.

“Student Idel, congratulations. You’re being released.”

“Excuse me?”

Warden John Whitewood wore a faintly regretful expression as he patted Idel’s shoulder.

“If you leave now, it’ll be the shortest stay on record. I’m proud of you. After all, the research that saved humanity was completed right here in Alcatraz, wasn’t it?”

This was insane. He had barely had a month to use the perfectly prepared laboratory. Moving now would be far too unfair.

***

Rustila, beaming at the news that Idel could return to school, packed with lightning speed. His toothbrush, his soap, his papers—all went straight into her bag. She wasn’t doing it blindly; she knew exactly what she was doing.

—Do whatever it takes to make Idel fall in love with you. And get all the way to marriage. There aren’t many men as solid as him. He’s a top-tier groom candidate, so you must never let him slip away. Understand?

Those had been her mother’s orders. Thanks to them, the interference telling her to stay away from Idel had vanished completely. In its place came interference ordering her to stay glued to his side.

Maybe this kind of interference isn’t so bad…… Ah.

Rustila’s face flushed crimson.

What am I thinking right now? If I keep this up, I’ll look like some shallow girl who fell for him just because she got listed as second author on his paper. I’m a swordsman. A swordsman.

After steadying herself with a deep breath, Rustila recalled her parents’ other warning.

—Still, a soldier is absolutely out of the question.

Her parents wanted her either to carry on the Kersil name or to marry into an even better house. In that regard, a soldier was a poor choice; in the Federation, constantly at war with Outer Deities, the profession of swordsman was closest to death.

Should I hurry up and make grandchildren?

The embarrassing thought flashed through her mind for an instant. She shook her head vigorously; her golden ponytail swung like a pendulum.

“Oh, a simple pendulum.”

Idel was still spouting incomprehensible nonsense. Rustila looked up at him with a bright, toothy grin.

“Shall we go back?”

Idel grinned back.

“No.”

Rustila’s expression collapsed.

***

Gravity-Ether Reaction Theory Laboratory

“Aaaaaagh!! Uwaaaagh!!”

Thud, thud, thud!

Popcorn-popping sounds echoed intermittently from beyond the lab door.

“What on earth is going on in there?”

“The professor next door got scooped on that paper. I heard the lab’s turned into a funeral home.”

“You mean the one Professor Feynman wrote? That thing was a massive hit.”

“Right? Doesn’t that mean Professor Feynman’s getting next year’s Akea Prize in Physics?”

At another round of banging, the students swallowed dryly and continued.

“Shh. Those two were university classmates. Their relationship is terrible, so mentioning that professor’s name here would be rude.”

“Then let’s just call him the first author. From what I’ve heard, the graduate student who actually wrote most of the paper is an absolute genius……”

Through the wall came the sound of continued teabagging. The woman tore at her hair and groaned. This damned school had the worst soundproofing in this particular regard.

Thud, thud, thud.

After slamming her head against the paulownia desk several times, Calis slumped like a sack of borrowed barley.

“This isn’t right. This isn’t right at all.”

She had poured so much time into it. And now, now……

“……That bastard Feynman.”

Not only had he rejected her confession back in school, now he had stolen her paper too?

Calis turned on her computer with blazing eyes and searched.

Idel von Rheinland.

She looked up the student’s current location.