Your Paper Is Dope (9)
Your Paper Is Dope (9)
People flocked toward the shouting that sounded like it might tear the ceiling down.
This was aggro on a whole other level. My cheeks practically burned.
Professor Haspelt's ability to draw a crowd was outstanding. The problem, however, was that she was completely oblivious to that fact.
To put it simply, Haspelt had totally lost her mind.
"You're a Gold-Eye...! How could a Gold-Eye, who barely has any magical power, have researched Flare, a top-grade Magic Art...?!"
There wasn't a trace of her usual composure. She didn't look at all like the cold, bloodless Professor Haspelt I knew.
She looked exactly like a child throwing a fit to get a toy, so I abandoned any thought of arguing. I delivered the facts in a flat tone.
"My friends helped me."
Rote Saliere and Frey Shelkerni.
Though it had started with a chance meeting, they had since become excellent business partners. I considered them more than worthy of being called friends.
"Then, then what about the money? Researching Flare takes a fortune! You'd need at least several thousand gold coins......!!"
That's only if you take the brute-force approach of using massive amounts of Magic Paper. After I developed the three-dimensional cubic scroll, development costs had dropped sharply.
In short....
"I found a way to reduce costs. As for materials, I got them for free from the academic club."
That wasn't an excuse, either. The personal funds I spent developing Flare amounted to pocket change.
This was a first for a thesis defense. If you had something to criticize, you should criticize the paper itself—didn't she know that attacking the author was an ad hominem fallacy? There was no way a tenured professor like Haspelt didn't know something that basic.
Ah, yes. If my paper had been scooped, I too might lose all perspective. People in academia are said to spit curses at the mere sound of "scooping." How crushed must the person who went through it feel?
Maybe that was why. Professor Haspelt's reason had nearly vanished entirely. Oblivious to the people around her whispering, she launched her final attack.
"You're just an academy first-year student at best. How could someone with undergraduate-level skills submit Flare research to the Imperial Academic Society journal and get it approved? Something... something had to have happened, right?! No, everything you've said so far is nothing but lies...? Aha...! Today... Today must be April Fools' Day...?"
I looked around and let out a deliberate sigh.
There's a saying: when a person hits their limit, their true nature comes out.
I didn't much like the saying, but nothing described this situation better. Someone pushed to the limit will naturally struggle by any means to escape.
Haspelt was exactly like that. If the Haspelt elders learned that a nameless brat with no pedigree had stolen the family's cherished project—researched for eighty years—how would they react?
In noble society, face was everything. If other nobles witnessed this scene—saw that she couldn't even finish Flare herself—and spread bad rumors, House Haspelt's prestige would be dragged through the mud.
Having now completed Flare, I had no wish to confront the whole Haspelt family. For my own future, I had to cut this conversation short and clean up the situation.
I folded my arms and answered.
"But it was you, Professor, who told me to research Flare."
As calmly as possible, while still saying what needed to be said.
"I never... Ah......"
Now that I saw it, my tone sounded like I was admonishing a child. I had never dreamed the day would come when I would speak to Professor Haspelt in that tone.
"Why is Professor Haspelt acting like that?"
"Rumor is she got caught plagiarizing. Could it be true?"
"...Really? I never thought of her as that kind of person."
Misunderstandings had already begun.
I could have attacked further if I wanted to. Nonetheless, I chose to save face and hold my tongue.
This was the academic society building—a public space. A civilized person should know how to separate public and private affairs.
"......Hmph."
Had Haspelt finally come to her senses? She seemed to chew over my words, then stepped back, her face full of bitterness.
"What is going on here?"
Just as I was at a loss over the question, the chairman clapped his hands and stepped forward himself.
"It is nothing. I apologize on my own behalf for the brief commotion. Now, if you all gather here, you will obstruct others' passage, so please disperse quickly."
Perhaps thanks to his authority as chairman, the crowd dispersed quickly despite their muttering.
A woman pushed through the dispersing crowd. It was Professor Meriga Herlein.
Professor Herlein shot a glare at the dazed Professor Haspelt, then turned toward me and the chairman. Herlein's eyes were always half-closed, so it was impossible to tell if her gaze was actually on us.
Professor Herlein gave me a light nod, then asked the chairman to lend her his ear. Her words were loud enough for me to hear.
"The conference room setup downstairs is complete. The presentation can proceed immediately."
"Oh, is that so?"
Soon the chairman looked at me and spoke.
"If you wish, you may give the presentation today. What do you say, student?"
"Is everyone waiting for me?"
"Heh heh, some have even obtained overnight leave just to see you, student."
"Nobles are taking overnight leave to see me?"
What was that? That was terrifying.
"Then I'll schedule it as early as possible. Please wait a moment, I need to call my co-authors and bring the safety equipment for the demonstration."
It was best to get these things done quickly and rest.
I nodded and turned to leave.
**
While Aether went out to fetch Rote and Frey, Kleis sat limply on a bench by the desk. A shadow fell over her.
"......."
Meri sat down beside Kleis without a word.
The two had been close friends for a long time. Both had graduated from Tillet Academy with top grades, and on the battlefield they had looked after each other through life and death. That was how they had sustained a friendship that transcended status all this time.
Now, that friendship of nearly ten years was cracking.
"...Meri, I never imagined what you started would grow this big. You feel the same, don't you?"
The words were tossed out curtly.
Meri could read the minute shifts in Kleis's emotions. Right now, Kleis's words merely lacked force; it was clear she was expressing anger.
Why was she angry?
Simply because she was upset that her paper had been stolen by someone else?
Because a trusted friend had helped her slave attain freedom?
No one knew. Only the Goddess could understand the direction of her emotions.
"Do you know how I felt when you said you paid for Aether's admission fees?"
"Kleis."
A smoldering flame singed a few strands of Kleis's bright yellow hair. It was what happened when a fire-magic user failed to control her mana and let it radiate.
"I genuinely thought the world was falling apart. If she had secretly stolen the money herself and used it for admission, that would have been bad enough, but then you had to get involved."
"......."
"And so she passed, and now she's shown such a good performance. Exactly what you'd been hoping for came to pass."
There was a logical flaw in Kleis's words.
It was Kleis who first gave Aether a reason to escape. She had not only tried to sell off the assistant she'd exploited for three years, but had also ordered her to research a Magic Art that even she herself hadn't been able to complete.
Furthermore, Meri had intended to respect Aether's wishes. If Aether hadn't wanted to escape Kleis's control, she wouldn't have gone so far as to help a friend's slave enroll in the academy.
And that wasn't all. When she revealed that she had paid under the table to support Aether, Kleis had continued the conversation as if she would bury the matter. That was only possible because of the trust between them.
In the first place, Kleis was in no position to be angry with Meri. The responsibility for permanently crippling one of Meri's eyes lay with Kleis more than anyone.
Kleis was well aware that if she got angry at her life-saver, only she would become trash. Still, cooling her own spontaneously igniting body was difficult.
"First the slave—no, the assistant—and now my paper. There's probably no other Four Great Duke in this country who's been made a fool of twice. Don't you think, Herlein?"
Meri chose silence.
How much time passed after that?
The minute hand of the analog clock had ticked through only 180 degrees at most, yet it felt as if several days had gone by.
"The presentation is ready. Will the two of you be attending as well?"
It was Chairman Robespierre who broke the long silence.
"...Fine. If I buy the patent rights......."
Kleis lowered her head as if pondering for a moment, then rose from her seat.
The three exchanged no significant conversation as they headed to the large conference room located underground.
Kleis took a seat somewhere in the center. Meri sat right beside her. Kleis shifted to the next seat over, and Meri moved her chair accordingly.
Thus, the two ended up in a corner.
"......."
"......."
The conference room was structured with a blackboard in the center and seats arranged radially around it. The farther a seat was from the blackboard, the higher its relative elevation.
A golden-eyed girl from the prep room came in, pulling something. After a short wait, two more girls appeared from the opposite side. They dragged a cart loaded with instruments and equipment onto the podium. Among the items were lumps of silica-based ore, concrete, and what looked like the tough exterior shell of a magic beast.
"That must be the Flare generator."
It was big. Even just roughly estimating its horizontal scale, it was as long as five adult men.
At the sight of its massive size, a sudden flush of color rose to Kleis's face.
"It's different from the one I made...!"
Seeing that smile, Meri lowered her head and clutched it. A deep sigh vanished into the air of the conference room.