Entropy Between Us
“······”
Black history. This was undeniably black history. Inside the carriage heading home, Enya felt it deep in her bones. She had created a memory that would make her kick her blankets in shame countless times over the next month.
-Ah, n-no! There’s nothing after that!
-Excuse me?
-I-I mean… Ah! Look at the time! The carriage will be here any—
-We still have thirty minutes.
-Thirty minutes it is!
-Yes.
“····”
Not only had she blurted out something ridiculous, she had followed it up with an even stranger line. Why on earth had she said “Thirty minutes it is!” in that moment? She could have just claimed the carriage was scheduled to arrive early. Why did she have to sit there and announce it like that?
-Um… Lord Ed.
-Yes?
-Just now… did I… seem a little strange?
-······.
-I feel like the entropy between us… has increased.
“!!!”
The more she thought about it, the more every word she had chosen sparkled like jewels. I want to reduce the entropy between us. I want to fit the chaos between us into the frame called friendship. Thirty minutes it is! I feel like the entropy between us has increased. What on earth had she been thinking when she said those things? What kind of sentiment had possessed her? She could have just said something normal like, “Let’s start as friends.” That would have been fine. That was what she had meant to do.
“Ah, no. But the ending was okay, right?”
Now that she thought about it, maybe it wasn’t all bad. The conversation after that had flowed quite naturally, hadn’t it? Enya recalled what they had talked about afterward.
-It’s fascinating that you’d apply entropy to human relationships, Lady Enya. Your perspective is quite fresh.
-···Pardon?
-It’s interesting. Now that I think about it, entropy does seem to apply to human relationships as well.
-D-Does it…?
-Yes. This universe is designed so that entropy always increases, after all. Perhaps we’re being tested by the universe itself. Without effort of will, any relationship will inevitably drift apart.
-·······.
-So I’d like to do the same. Let’s create a closed system between us.
-H-Huh? A closed system?
-Heh heh. I’m saying I want to pour heat and energy into my relationship with you, Lady Enya. Into the closed system called friendship. So let’s be friends.
-S-Sure!
Enya smiled contentedly. She had gone into overdrive trying to match Ed’s science-flavored sensibility, but the conversation that followed hadn’t been so bad. It had been warm and friendly. She thought back on what they had discussed—about Baldohjae, about the hardships Ed faced while inventing things, about her own training in Battojutsu. A smile spread across her face as she recalled it all. She wished they’d had more time. Even another three hundred minutes until the carriage arrived would have been nice.
“Yeah… it wasn’t all bad.”
She had made a fool of herself in the middle, but the ending had been decent. Enya nodded, rationalizing it to herself, and gazed out the window with a faint smile. The scattering cherry blossoms were beautiful.
“····Enya.”
Just then, Claire, seated across from her, called out. When Enya looked at her with a soft smile, Claire spoke.
“Are you… insane?”
“······.”
Claire narrowed her eyes at Enya. Something was definitely off. The moment they got in the carriage, Enya had been clutching her head and groaning, and now she had suddenly changed expressions and was humming to herself with a blissful smile. Had she developed bipolar disorder? Enya’s emotions swinging so wildly in mere minutes was something Claire had never seen before. Her friend had always been cool and composed.
“Yeah. I think I might be insane.”
And the reply that followed was even more absurd. I think I’m insane? She had been like this ever since meeting Ed. What on earth had happened between them to make Enya act so strangely? As a concerned friend, Claire decided an investigation was in order.
I’ll have to meet Edga Fix soon.
Playing a game and actually living inside it were two very different things. Just like the conversation he’d just had with Enya. Dialogue that happened inside the game overflowed with life. It broke free of the framework the game provided. While this increased the uncertainty of where relationships with NPCs might go, finding one possibility among countless uncertainties was far more meaningful than walking the predictable golden path. With human will, one could always forge a better route.
Maybe···· I can perfectly overcome the destruction scenario and prepare for what comes after.
El Pandor Luntera. This game was infamous for its brutal difficulty. Even he, the number-one ranked player, had never cleared it completely. Just like the manga Enya loved, Baldohjae, the real story began after the academy arc ended. Once the academy—the game’s main stage—was over, the true trials would begin. To survive those trials, he had to abandon the most common and rational path the game offered. He needed to form bonds with as many people as possible and find his own answers to lead them forward. That was the fate and destiny given to him.
“·····I should focus on tomorrow’s match first.”
To do that, he first had to perform well in tomorrow’s tournament. Fortunately, his research was progressing smoothly. If he worked hard today, he might be able to finish the propulsion unit.
Whirrrrrrrrr·····!
He looked at the running engine. It was the propulsion unit he had poured the most effort into recently. If his Hand Skill hadn’t reached Level 3, he wouldn’t have been able to build it. Just as Engineering Mind reaching Level 3 had unlocked holographic design, Hand Skill had gained a sub-skill upon leveling up. With that sub-skill’s help, he had managed to complete the prototype in such a short time.
“Hey, Fix.”
He activated the sub-skill. Its name was Fix. It activated when he said “Hey, Fix.” Just like this.
“Uweeeng~”
The arm, which had been pretending to be a piece of lab equipment, instantly transformed. This robotic arm was the assistant he had gained upon reaching Hand Skill Level 3. It could perfectly replicate the performance of his own hands and take over tasks he would otherwise have to do himself. Both efficiency and speed had skyrocketed. What he liked most was that it could keep working even while he slept or did other things. It meant he could devote himself to research and development twenty-four hours a day. Even in his absence today, it had made considerable progress on the propulsion unit.
“Good work, Fix. You did well.”
“Uweeeng~♥”
The arm bobbed its head in delight. It was completely obedient to him. He could put it to work anytime, even when he wasn’t around. So this is why professors like having graduate students.
Anyway, he examined the propulsion unit Fix had been working on. Its stability had improved even further. Checking the logs, he saw that Fix had slightly reduced the ratio of orichalcon mixed into the mana stone. In exchange, it had added more titanium alloy.
“Hmm. Should I give it a test?”
It was still a prototype, but if the stability had reached this level, it should be usable. He stored the propulsion unit in his inventory and stepped outside. It was nine in the evening. Since the dormitories weren’t open yet, the academy grounds were quiet. He headed to an empty lot, took out the propulsion unit, and connected the harness. The harness wasn’t anything complicated—just reinforced fiber straps to secure the unit to his body.
“Hoo····.”
He fastened the propulsion unit and secured it to his body. While debating what output level to use, he decided to start with just ten percent. Since Fix had improved the stability, it should handle twenty percent just fine—
FWOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!
“U-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”
***
Last night, he had nearly died.
The moment he activated the propulsion unit, he had been launched straight into the sky. It was a disaster caused by not checking that his assistant Fix had drastically improved the unit’s performance as well.
-Uwaaaaaaaaah!!!
Shot into the sky like that, he frantically pressed the emergency stop button. But by then, he had already reached three hundred meters above the ground. He had surpassed the height of a sixty-three-story building.
-Uh, uh! Uh-oh! Uwaaaaaah!
His body began free-falling. His mind went blank from the terror of possibly dying if he hit the ground and the tremendous wind pressure slamming into him. As he panicked and the ground rushed closer, what saved him was a single shred of reason. Instinctively, he recalled his innate ability, Engineering Mind.
A human named ‘Edga Fix,’ with a mass of 73 kg, is in free fall from a height of 300 m above the ground. Calculate the amount of work done by gravity on the object in joules, and provide Edga Fix’s course of action to make that value converge to zero.
Then, miraculously, the instinctive fear of death began to fade. As if he had become a supercomputer himself, his thought processes moved beyond human survival instincts and began calculating only the answer to the problem he had posed. And he put the value derived from that calculation into action.
-Hup!
First, he corrected his posture. He pointed his feet toward the ground and gave the propulsion unit a light burst.
-Fwoosh!
The speed of his fall decreased. The unit’s energy had offset the force of gravitational acceleration. He repeated the process. To prepare for any possible impact, he circulated mana throughout his body to activate reinforcement spells, then continued counteracting the gravitational acceleration.
-Thud.
Just like that, he landed softly on the ground, light as a feather.
“Hoo···.”
Still, thinking about last night made him sigh. At his current level, there was no way to survive a three-hundred-meter fall. But the failure had brought gains as well. He now had a clear direction on how to modify the propulsion unit, and he had discovered a dramatic application for Engineering Mind. Of course, to improve his own thinking ability he should avoid relying on Engineering Mind as much as possible, but in unavoidable situations like yesterday’s, it could serve as a cheat key to escape danger.
“Father, I’m heading to the academy.”
“Hahaha! Go on, then! Do your best!”
With those thoughts of yesterday lingering, he finished breakfast, put on his coat, and stepped outside. Today was the day of the second exam—the tournament. It was the decisive day for being assigned to an S-rank class. And surprisingly, his tournament opponent was the woman known as the Witch—Isabella.