Back to the Capital (2)
Back to the Capital (2)
"From now on, when handling Pitchblende magic stones, please always use a Radiation Wave Prevention Scroll before beginning your research. Whenever possible, keep the research materials from being stored together in a single location, and if any byproducts are generated, instead of discarding them in a river, seal them inside containers made of lead and concrete and bury them in the ground."
That finished the precautions I had to deliver to Count Saliere. I packed my things and left the mansion.
"Then we'll be on our way."
"All right, travel safely."
I climbed into the carriage with Rote and Frey. The moment I settled into the seat, sleep crashed over me in a wave.
It made sense that I was tired. I'd accomplished an enormous amount during the break.
I'd saved the fox beastmen tribe from the typhoon and even resolved their food shortage. In return, I'd obtained highly enriched uranium from Jormungand, and I'd even managed to acquire a legendary-grade scroll from a girl who looked exactly like me.
Maybe this was what it felt like when hard work actually brought rewards.
[Administrator Mode: Phase One of the Teller-Ulam design has been completed.]
"Huh?"
The moment I opened the Hardcover Book, an entirely unexpected message popped up.
"Strange."
What I'd received from Jormungand was roughly forty kilograms of uranium. That was more than the critical mass required to trigger a nuclear fission reaction, but it was still an absurdly insufficient amount to stockpile and run repeated experiments with.
Yet it said Phase One was complete. That meant my backpack now contained enough material to build at least two atomic bombs....
I couldn't exactly open the backpack and check right there. Highly enriched uranium and plutonium were difficult to distinguish by color alone, and opening the container in this space risked exposing both of my friends to radiation.
In cases like this, there was a useful non-destructive inspection method available. Namely, the Hardcover Book.
[Backpack Contents]
[1. Uranium-235 == Enrichment: 92% / Mass: 27.0 kg]
[2. Plutonium-239 == Enrichment: 99.7% / Mass: 13.0 kg]
"What the hell."
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
Rote and Frey tilted their heads and asked.
There was no need to hide it from them. I'd told Frey, and of course Rote, that I was going to build a bomb that went off with a great big boom. By this point, we were all essentially in the same boat.
"It seems like I might have packed the wrong thing."
"Then what do we do? Should we turn back?"
"No, it's fine."
If anything, this was good.
It figured. What was anyone supposed to do with a measly eighty grams of plutonium? It seemed the radiation dragon had decided to be generous.
[Wouldn't you say she just dumped her leftovers on you? Reprocessing uranium produces more plutonium, so....]
I know, you little shit.
I was deliberately choosing to interpret things in the most favorable light. Why did this thing have to be so goddamn tactless.
[Tch.]
Perhaps that remark had been the trigger, because the Hardcover Book kept grumbling the entire way back to the capital.
Not that there was anything it could do about it. Who was the one that dumped me here in the first place, anyway?
None of that mattered. I'd unexpectedly completed Phase One straight away, so Phase Two would come next. I was still a long way from the final Phase Four, but considering the timeline, this still represented a massive leap forward.
"Now I'll be able to focus on research for a while, won't I?"
Yes. There was once a time when I, too, thought as you do.
"You're Aether, right? I heard you and Horde are going out?"
"We're rooting for you! Just don't get caught on campus!"
As I was stretching my stiff limbs after arriving near the academy, a few girls suddenly marched up, blurted those words, and walked on.
"Huh?"
While I stood there making a dumbfounded noise, the expressions on Frey's and Rote's faces turned equally blank.
"You're dating Vermel?"
Rote was the first to collect herself and ask. Her pupils were shaking as violently as the precession of Mercury.
"No?"
I, too, was so flustered that I denied it before I'd even fully grasped the situation.
And it was true. Vermel and I had spent several days in secret meetings, sure, but dating? Some son of a bitch had obviously been spreading rumors.
"No, I'm serious, we're not."
I waved my hands desperately. At that, the eyes of Frey, who was looking up at me, began to narrow like a waning crescent moon.
"Dating? Do you get something good out of doing that?"
This kid really had a way of completely missing the point sometimes. I shook my head and conveyed my denial once more.
"Uh, yeah. I suppose it could happen. Dating, she said dating. The professors don't interfere as long as you don't do it on campus...."
Rote seemed to have taken a considerable shock. No, wait. Looking closely, she was actually blushing. It was exactly the face of a girl who'd drowned herself in adolescent fantasies and was on the verge of a full-blown deluge.
"Now that I think about it, Rote, you sometimes borrow romance novels from the Central Library, don't you?"
"H-how do you know that...!"
"It's fine! I understand! Well, I don't really get the details, but still!"
Frey popped a candy she'd gotten from a Saliere mansion maid into her mouth and put on a needlessly earnest expression.
"Dating! Dating, she says! I've seen them telling each other they're in love and rubbing their tails together! Does everyone do that?"
"...Tails?"
With a gasp, Frey clamped her mouth shut.
"She must mean it figuratively."
Yeesh. What was I supposed to do when she blindsided me with something like that.
When I glanced sideways, Frey was mumbling with a stiffly frozen expression. Crunch—the candy she'd been rolling around her mouth was chewed to bits. She stared at me with a dazed look, then stuck up her thumb and walked away as though fleeing the scene.
Covering for her was genuinely difficult. If things were this nerve-racking before the second semester even started, how was I supposed to survive?
All along the route after that, I kept getting accosted every block or so by rumormongers. Most of them identified themselves as belonging to the Literature Club or the Newspaper Club.
"Hello! You’re Tillet Academy’s proud Gold-Eye freshman!"
And who was this person who looked like a banana roll cake?
It didn't matter. I'd already gotten an irritating premonition.
"Is this another dating story? Don't bother. I'm not seeing anyone."
I mean, seriously, who was I supposed to date in a body like this? Setting aside the whole business of turning from a man into a woman, the Gold-Eye Tribe itself was just... well, it was complicated.
"Hey now, what a hurtful thing to say! It seems you've been greatly underestimating my investigative abilities, Angelica Totsfel!"
She thrust a few photographs at me. They showed Vermel and me leaving the clubroom late at night.
"......."
I scrubbed my face with my hand.
Once, twice, three times. I dry-washed my face, pulling myself together as much as possible.
Then I selected my words.
'You insane paparazzi bastard—!! Who told you to go around secretly photographing people—!!!'
"My lady, this is truly regrettable. Someone who bears the family name of one of the Four Great Dukes shouldn't be engaging in such shameless conduct. This could very well damage your house's standing, wouldn't you agree?"
"Oh my, are you concerned for me? That's quite all right. My parents gave me their permission! Ohohoho!"
"...Er, by any chance, after you graduate, are you considering sitting for the journalism examination?"
"Of course! My dream is to become the greatest journalist and war correspondent on the Arens Continent!"
I sincerely hoped you would fail.
That confirmed it. This person was the source who had spread the baseless rumors.
"You shouldn't go around recklessly spreading fake news."
"Ahah, fake news, she says! I stake my journalistic honor on the fact that I would never, ever do such a thing!"
Angelica replied by placing a hand primly upon her generous bosom.
"Do you have proof?"
"Proof? I can provide as much proof as you like!"
She produced something from inside her jacket.
What Angelica presented as her alleged proof was an Air Magic scroll that replayed audio. When she channeled her mana into it, vivid voices burst from within the scroll.
─ A boy and a girl spending all day glued to each other, if that's not dating then what is?
─ Just whisper it to us. We won't tell the Student Council!
I had a very bad feeling about this.
"What kind of recording is this?"
"Shh! Just listen quietly."
─ The Student Council?
A voice asking in return. Angelica paused the scroll right there.
"Now, whose voice is this?"
"It's similar to mine."
"Similar? It is precisely your voice. This is material from exactly seventy-three days ago, when you spoke with two Literature Club students in front of the Central Fountain."
Click—the scroll resumed playback.
─ Dating's against the rules on campus. Those stickler Student Council kids who actually follow that crap regulation piss me off.
Then a brief silence. After that, the voice presumed to be mine spoke again.
─ Keep this between yourselves. It's a secret from everyone else.
After that came ten seconds of nothing but shrieking. The sound of two girls squealing nearly blew my eardrums out.
"......."
I remembered.
Fuck my life.
When I'd been cornered by those Literature Club kids, I'd told them exactly what they wanted to hear just to get away faster, and now it was coming back to bite me. People really do need to watch what they say and live.
"Who in the world even records something like this."
"Who knows? It's a principle of journalism not to reveal one's sources!"
This was the first time since the Second Prince that I'd felt a genuine homicidal impulse.
But then again, I wasn't completely blameless in the matter, so I could hardly just spew profanity at her either. Was this just karma I had to accept and swallow?
No. That couldn't be right.
"Will you admit it now?"
"Nope."
"I suppose I have no choice. For my final piece, a video scroll...."
"More importantly, why are you pouring your mental energy into gossip like this? Is there really nothing else to cover in the academy newspaper besides this kind of thing?"
"Yes. It's the break, so there wasn't anything to cover."
Good grief.
"At any rate, what's the backpack you're carrying on your back? Could it be a present for your boyfriend?"
"For starters, it is indeed a present. But could you please not use the word 'boyfriend'?"
"Hmm! I'd like to take a look at what's inside. May I?"
"Judging by your conduct so far, you seem fully intent on forcing it open anyway."
"Of course not! Even I would never lay my hands on another person's belongings without permission!"
Angelica planted her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest.
The instant she did, a button popped off with a tick. I was so flabbergasted I let out a scoff.
[Hold on, Master...? You're not entertaining any strange thoughts, are you?]
Right. Showing her for just a moment would be fine.
[No, it would absolutely not be fine!]
I grinned and gave a helping hand.
"Do as you please."
"Oh! Then if you'll excuse me~"
Zzzip. The sound of the zipper opening on my back. At the same time, I heard Angelica humming a little tune.
But the humming didn't last long.
"......."
"Why did you go quiet?"
"This.... This is a present......?"
"Yes. My boyfriend's going to absolutely love it."
I glanced back over my shoulder with a sardonic smile.
Zzzip.
The zipper closed again.
**
"Hey, Blanton. What in the world is that...?"