You Must Have a Reason for Treating Me This Way
You Must Have a Reason for Treating Me This Way
Einstein's mass-energy equivalence, commonly known as 'E=mc²', was published around 1905 AD.
Wandering through the capital, I realized that the Empire's level of civilization had reached roughly the early twentieth century by Earth standards. The development of mathematics and magic theory was about the same.
[■ Research Complete: Maso-Energy Exchange Theorem]
I had been able to prove the theorem quickly not because my abilities were outstanding. The only thing I had done was to examine the prior research others had already built and overlay a single idea onto it.
That mass and energy could be interconverted was a well-known fact in conventional physics.
The 'Maso-Energy Exchange Theorem' suggested that mana particles and energy existed in an interconvertible relationship. Energy could be converted into mana particles, and mana particles could be reduced back to energy.
In other words, it was possible for mass to be converted into energy, and for that energy to then be converted back into mana particles.
Consequently, mana particles were exchangeable with mass. The mass deficit—the core process that drives nuclear fission and fusion—was equivalent in this world to a mana-particle deficit. Since mass and mana-particle deficits might occur simultaneously, the yield of a nuclear explosion might even be higher than in my original world.
It wasn't a bad result. That level of explosive force was necessary to deal with an Extinction-class threat.
Once I had completed the first step toward preventing the world's destruction, drowsiness washed over me. Rote had already pulled the covers over herself and departed for dreamland. I fiddled with the silver coin she had given me and let out a brief groan.
— Could you maybe tutor me?
When I had suddenly heard that from Rote, my mind had gone blank. I had never dreamed that a classmate would ask me for tutoring, much less that I would receive a silver coin for it.
It wasn't a bad deal. Rather than going out into the market to do part-time work, it was better to put my skills to use tutoring someone.
I remembered hearing somewhere something like this. That people originally bought Gold-Eye Tribe slaves to use as playthings, but later ended up hiring them as private tutors to send their own children to the academy. According to legend, the Gold-Eye Tribe were not only intelligent but also adept at teaching.
In any case, I would need Rote's help to research top-grade fire magic. I decided to treat this as a preliminary step toward that.
[*Switching to Administrator Mode.]
[Setting a new research objective. Establishing supporting theory.]
[□ Supporting Theory: Bethe-Feynman Equation]
[An equation that calculates the efficiency of a nuclear weapon. The individual coefficients of the equation correspond to military secrets.]
Now that the foundational stage was complete, it was time to gradually propose the full theory.
I knew in broad strokes what theories constituted the equation from reading papers that circulated on the internet. The formula itself was publicly accessible. It was just that a few coefficients within the equation were not disclosed because they were classified as military secrets.
Either way, those coefficient values would be measured differently in this world, so it didn't matter. What mattered was which experiment I had to use to measure those coefficients. I flipped through the Hardcover Book and searched for the relevant magic techniques.
The conclusion I reached was simpler than I had expected.
[To determine the coefficients of the equation, learning the following magic technique is recommended.]
[(Incomplete) Top-Grade Fire Magic — Flare]
"Ah."
The darkest place had been right under the lamp.
**
Because I had stayed up late refusing to sleep, my biorhythm was completely wrecked. Combined with the fatigue I had accumulated until then, my body had already reached its limit. During the morning assembly, I showed the audacity to sleep sprawled out right in the very front.
Originally, I had planned to sit in the back and fall asleep unnoticed. But Rote kept insisting we sit in the front, so I had no choice but to follow.
[This is... the runner-up...?]
There was, however, an incident that yanked me wide awake. Thump—a thick bundle of gold coins was slammed down onto the desk in front of where I was nodding off.
...What was this?
"It hasn't been long since you were freed from slavery, has it? Everyone knows you're being squeezed by a lack of funds."
The morning assembly had barely ended when Clion came to pick a fight with me.
"...So what."
"I'll give you all of this, so drop out of the academy and come to the Imperial Palace."
In front of me lay several thousand gold coins. It was absolutely not an amount someone should bring to school. Not only Rote but the students around us fixed their wide-open eyes on the bundle of gold coins placed before my desk.
I, on the other hand, couldn't quite feel the reality of it and merely squinted.
"No, I don't need it."
"You... don't need it?"
With my current expenditures, even if I lived here for the rest of my life, I would never have occasion to spend this much money. Even back in my original world, whenever I earned income, I used to pour it all into research funding.
Of course, to complete the magic I was now trying to develop, I might need an even larger sum than this. But that was a problem already solved by enrolling in Tillet. Now that I had a foot in academia, renting and using expensive experimental equipment was not a difficult thing.
"I have no intention of dropping out of the academy, and I have no intention of just taking this money either."
My life motto is give-and-take. I disliked just giving, and I also disliked just receiving. Some people might counter, "Isn't it fine just to accept what someone gives you?", but in life, many people think the way I do; if you did that, you were likely to be called an 'ungrateful wretch' and get weeded out of society.
My words ruffled the prince's temper. Wearing an expression of extreme displeasure, Clion pushed even more gold coins in front of me. It was now twice the original amount.
"You still mean that?"
"I told you, I'm not accepting it."
"Think carefully. You'll have no choice but to drop out after just one semester anyway."
"Hold on, what is that supposed to mean?"
Rote kicked back her chair and shot to her feet.
"Why would Aether drop out? There shouldn't be a problem with her ability, should there?"
"Saliere, you know it too, don't you? The Gold-Eye Tribe are inherently incapable of using magic. She'll get a failing grade on the practical exam and be swiftly expelled. As far as I can see into the future, she'll be driven out of school within a single semester."
He really had a way of doing absolutely anything to annoy me. Did he think I hadn't prepared for the practical?
The more I ran into him, the more my blood pressure spiked. It was so bad that, for a brief moment, I even felt an impulse to kill.
"That's about enough, don't you think?"
Thump—a sturdy hand landed on Clion's shoulder. Wearing a look of irritation, Clion turned to look behind him, but standing there was an alpha-male elf student who was a full head taller than himself.
It was Vermel Horde. Vermel, who briefly met my eyes, flinched for an instant, but then recovered his composure immediately and directed his attack at Prince Clion.
"What are you?"
"Telling a classmate to drop out is an ugly look. What do you intend to accomplish by picking a fight with a kid who even outranks you to begin with?"
"Hah, do you know who I am and still treat me this rudely?"
"I'm treating you this way because I know. I'm probably the only person here who can hold his head up and talk to you like this."
"You, you little bastard...!"
Having cleared the bundle of gold coins that had been sitting in front of my desk, Vermel issued a further warning to Clion.
"Don't let your position at the head of the state go to your head. There have been hundreds of high elves who acted up the way you do and ended up losing their heads."
[Wow, seeing him like this, he's practically the school bully assigned to you.]
Clion had no means of landing an effective hit on Vermel. Vermel was an all-rounder who excelled in both written and practical skills in a balanced way. Even this thick-skulled prince ought to have known that he couldn't suppress him with force.
Nor could he crush him with authority, either. At the very most, expulsion from the country was the limit, and Vermel's skill was such that he could transfer to Iliad Academy at any time, so his studies wouldn't even be interrupted.
The morning incident came to a close for the moment. When the first period began shortly after, Rote and I opened our books and waited.
Today's first period was Basic Fire Magic.
Goddamn it. Had the time finally come?
**
Professor Haspelt, who had met my eyes once, let a complicated, subtle expression cross her face as she picked up a piece of chalk.
"Since I am your homeroom teacher, I would like to focus the first hour on explaining the schedule rather than on making progress through the material. Would that be all right?"
Sounds of approval burst out from here and there. From my standpoint, it was less than ideal. If we had actually made progress through the material, I could have stretched out my legs and gone to sleep.
"In that case, I will inform you of some additional items that I was unable to cover during the morning assembly."
Haspelt glanced at me once again, but soon withdrew her gaze.
"First, we need to elect a temporary class representative," she said.
There it was. The homeroom teacher's personal errand runner.
Perhaps because everyone, not just me, knew that, there were no students who readily volunteered.
"I'd like to do it."
Except for the one sitting beside me.
"If there are no objections, Miss Saliere will take the role of temporary class representative. I hope you will assist me with various tasks at least for a week."
"Yes!"
No, you moron....
Knowing Professor Haspelt's personality, it was clear she was going to work Rote like a dog. On top of that, class representative was an honorary position. It was unpaid, so there was no compensation for the labor.
If it were me, I would sooner do volunteer work than be class representative. That at least gave you the satisfaction of hearing a word of thanks from the recipient, but this was different. At minimum, Haspelt was the type of person who didn't know how to say thank you.
How did I know? Indeed, I would have liked not to know that myself.
"Besides the class representative, I need one more person who must assist me for the whole semester."
Now what?
Working Rote alone ought to have been sufficient; what was she so lacking that she wanted to take on one more temporary slave?
"Basic Fire Magic fundamentally involves many practical classes. Naturally, there will be homework as well. I need one more student to help me during this hour—is there anyone who would like to volunteer?"
Haspelt immediately lowered her head. It was a glance unmistakably directed at me.
"If there is a volunteer, please raise your hand."
What the, goddamn it, what.