Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Magic Tower Genius Hides Physics
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Silver, copper... skipping all that and getting straight 50,000 gold in raw coin.
It's like getting your company paycheck in a fat stack of $100 bills.
No sense of reality at all.
Where should I spend this so word spreads that I used it wisely?
For starters, maybe replace all the broken chairs in the lab with top-of-the-line ones?
"But you said stuff like that comes out of school funds."
Then where?
Truth be told, I already knew what I'd do if I got money.
Buy a little plot of land in the countryside, build my own research institute, and hole up there for life.
Of course, the Magic Tower would come hunting me down.
Actually, if the Magic Tower shows up, that'd be a relief. Normally, you'd get a "call of duty" instead.
So no more running away.
"For now, let's see what others spent theirs on?"
Hearing a bunch of examples should give me some ideas.
My first target was my roommate, Liam.
"..."
"..."
Liam's face, which I hadn't seen in a while, was stiff as a board.
"Why do you look so tense?"
"B-Because... I couldn't keep the secret."
"Secret? Oh."
He must mean spilling that I cured his headaches.
'Now that I think about it, yeah.'
This ungrateful punk.
Repaying kindness with betrayal?
As I pondered how to deal with him...
Tremble, tremble.
Liam's legs started shaking.
"..."
"..."
...Still, the outcome wasn't bad, so maybe let it slide?
If Liam hadn't let it slip to Ellara, I wouldn't have gotten the job, and no Barnabas homemade stew either.
I told him,
"Just watch your mouth from now on."
"Yes, sir..."
That settled the matter of debt and gratitude.
Now for some constructive talk.
I flashed a business smile and asked,
"Liam, have you ever gotten an 'Autonomous Research Fund'?"
"..."
Liam glanced at me cautiously, then let out a sigh of relief.
Soon he replied,
"Autonomous research fund... yeah, I have. Wrote a good paper last time and got 50 gold."
Liam puffed out his chest proudly.
"Whoa... 50 gold. That's huge. What'd you spend it on?"
"Bought a top-grade goose down mattress! Cost a whopping 20 gold."
"Oh."
More reasonable spending than I expected.
Beds are science, after all.
...Kidding. Rich or not, skimping on sleep isn't smart, so you should always get a good bed.
I should upgrade my bed too.
Anyway, 50 gold. His school might be famous, but they sure are frugal.
Some places are like that.
I headed off to find the next person.
I went to see Ellara, the Floor Manager working at admissions.
And asked her the exact same question I'd asked Liam.
"Hm... Never gotten one myself. But our school's ace senior succeeded on a big project last year and bragged nonstop about his 500-gold reward. Says he set up a private brewery in the basement with it."
"A brewery... Got it."
"Why? Did you get some research funding?"
"...Yeah. A little. Where should I spend it?"
"My recommendation? Chicken skewers."
"The ones in front of the bell tower?"
"Yep."
Barnabas mentioned them once too.
Guess they really are the capital's best.
By the way, 500 gold is what a researcher brags about...
Isn't that a huge gap from 50,000?
For final confirmation, I headed to the Imperial Central Library.
Grabbed those chicken skewers on the way.
They were good.
In the library, that graduate student librarian from before was sorting books.
"Oh. Junior Isaac! Heard you got in. Starting straight on the third floor, right?"
"Got lucky."
"So what brings you here?"
"Well..."
I asked her to look up records on Autonomous Research Fund allocations.
A moment later, she brought over a few file binders.
"Looking at the records... the max for grad students is usually around 1,000 gold."
She adjusted her glasses and looked at me.
"You must've gotten a bonus for that recent job."
"Yeah... something like that."
"How much?"
"50,000 gold."
"Pardon? You're kidding."
"Nope."
Of course, I wasn't.
I really did get 50,000 gold.
After leaving the library, I fell into confusion.
"No matter how I look at it, this doesn't seem like Senior Giuseppe's doing alone..."
50,000 gold is way too much for a reward.
This is unprecedented special treatment since the Magic Tower's founding.
Nothing good comes from this getting out.
Might leak to others, so better hold off on spending for now.
"But what's the reason?"
What did they see in me to hand over this fortune?
Just like my entrance exam led to the third-floor incident, there's definitely backing here too.
'Feels like the Dean got involved...'
What exactly do they see in me to go this far?
Truth is, I know I'm different from your average mage.
Everyone freaks out over every little thing I do. You'd have to be an idiot not to notice.
But exactly how I'm different? Still a mystery.
I haven't even defined my own abilities clearly.
Trudge, trudge.
Back to the lab with zero worries resolved.
"You're back?"
"Yep."
Giuseppe greeted me with a bright face.
"What're we doing today?"
"What else? Continue the lab meeting we couldn't finish last time."
"Isn't that handing over your research?"
"No. You need your own unique research topic."
"Honestly, I have no idea what to do."
Giuseppe nodded like he expected that.
"That's why I prepared this today."
He proudly pulled out a complex magic tool loaded with crystals and lenses.
"You saw it at the Magic University entrance exam, right? This thing."
"No way, the magic aptitude tester?"
"Exactly."
I only remembered it from books.
This tool tests a mage's aptitude. Developed centuries ago by someone from the Magic Survey School...
Wait.
Magic Survey School?
"This is from our school!"
"Yeah. Pretty much the only decent thing our school ever produced."
"Everyone at Magic University uses it. Do we get royalties?"
"Nah... The Imperial Court released it as open source, saying you can't monopolize 'measurement'."
"What the hell."
Rotten world.
Stealing someone else's work for free.
And the culprit's the Imperial Court?
Revolution time.
"Anyway, today we'll use this to figure out which field your talents specialize in. We can pick your research topic based on the results."
"Oho."
Perfect timing, since I was curious.
This should show how my magic differs from others.
"Alright, first, cast a 1-circle Ignition spell right there."
Giuseppe pointed in front of the tester.
Ignition spell?
I asked,
"How strong?"
"...What?"
Giuseppe tilted his head.
"Like, target temperature in Kelvin? Account for ambient air convection? Combustion type? Decomposition? Mixture? Diffusion?"
"..."
Giuseppe stared blankly at me.
After a brief silence, he spoke.
"Just... cast 'Fire'."
I tilted my head and cast the 'standard Ignition spell' from the books.
First step: Visualization.
Magic theory books say to imagine a 'hot, dynamically burning flame' in your mind.
I closed my eyes and recalled a campfire from my past life. Crackling logs, sparks flying.
Seemed plausible.
But my body's mana didn't react at all.
As if asking, 'So, exactly what Kelvin?'
Second step: Resonance.
The book grandly describes it as 'synchronizing your soul with the flame's origin filling the world'.
This is where you form chants or magic circles.
I memorized the circle's shape, but soul harmony? No clue.
Crackle.
Stray mana sparked into the air.
Ignition failed.
"Figures it wouldn't work."
Guess I'll do it my way.
I pointed my finger into the air.
H2O → 2H + O
PV = nRT
k = A * e-Ea / RT
Clear equations.
Precise definitions.
Beautiful.
Fwoosh-!
With a sharp crack, a flame ignited in the air.
Giuseppe's jaw dropped.
"What. No chant?"
Come to think of it, this was the first time Giuseppe saw me cast magic.
He muttered,
"...Chantless magic is an advanced technique for mage duels."
"..."
"Impressive."
My face heated up for some reason.
The tests continued the same way.
Shot water too...
"...Way too fast activation for chantless."
Made light...
"...Outcome matches standard light spells, but the process is quite different."
Even formed rock.
"...Not iron-mixed basalt, pure quartz?"
After the tests, the analyzer's probe vibrated and spat out results.
Zzt. Zzzzt.
I looked at my result sheet.
[Six Elements Affinity: F Rank]
[Internal Mana Capacity: C Rank]
[Mana Control Precision: Immeasurable]
"What is this."
Lowest rank and immeasurable side by side...
'Extremes...'
The bar graph made it intuitive.
Affinity near zero, precision diverging to infinity.
I pointed at the sheet and asked Giuseppe,
"Good news?"
"Let me see."
"..."
"..."
Giuseppe stared at my results for a long time, deep in thought.
"Never seen anything like this."
"..."
"Any guess why?"
"Hm..."
Not exactly sure, but I had a hunch.
Based on what Giuseppe chattered about whenever I cast magic.
If I had to use a restaurant analogy...
Giuseppe casting 'Ignition' is like ordering 'Ignition set' from the mana chef.
The almighty mana whips it up for you.
Easy and fast.
No need to know ingredients or process.
But no customization.
My magic's different.
I'm the chef.
I dictate the 'recipe' to the mana chef.
Specify every ingredient and step.
Complex, but highly extensible.
But I couldn't explain it straight.
If this got out, it'd be a scandal dwarfing the 50,000 gold.
"What could it be...?"
I smirked at Giuseppe mumbling over the sheet and deflected.
"Machine must be busted."
"Figures? It's centuries old, after all."
Giuseppe bought it easily.
Time to destroy the evidence.
Simple: Just up the oxygen from that Ignition spell.
Stronger than Ignition, weaker than Fireball.
Whoosh.
I burned the sheet while he wasn't looking.
Thinking about it, even this is impossible for other mages.
To get mid-power between Ignition and Fireball, they'd have to invent a new spell.
I smoothly changed the subject.
"Senior. Isn't the bell tower commission report meeting coming up soon?"
"Shoot! Forgot all about it."
Giuseppe snapped to attention.
"Data ready? Rufus'll be gunning for any slip-up..."
"No worries."
I handed him the report I'd prepped last night.
"Presentation materials are done."
Giuseppe took the thick report and relaxed.
Inside, only the bare basics of acoustics.
'That won't cause issues too, right...?'
Should I pull it?
I could.
"..."
"Why the stiff face?"
"Nothing."
No.
Leave the basics.
Unlike magic or the 50,000 gold, science belongs to no one.
Just release knowledge slowly enough not to cause a fuss.
...Should be fine, right?