Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: The Magic Tower Genius Hides Physics
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Tick-tock.
The classroom was filled only with the sound of the clock hands ticking.
Valerius calmly poured his tea and spoke.
"It wasn't me who put your name up to the Imperial Court. I only got the notice myself yesterday morning."
"Then who let them know my name?"
"It was just a coincidence piled on coincidence."
He sighed and laid out the whole story.
I listened to him while organizing the events in my head.
1. The Thesis Review Association transferred the review of the 'Archmage's' paper to the Imperial Court.
2. When the Imperial Court examined the paper, the true value of calculus was revealed.
3. The author of the paper, Valerius, was awarded a medal.
"Is that right?"
"Yes. Dolloren's disciple is good at summarizing too."
"..."
Normally, I would have let it slide, but today it felt like he was being sarcastic.
I said to Valerius,
"Where does my story fit into all this?"
"That's what I'm about to explain now."
Valerius pulled out my entrance exam answer sheet from his pocket.
"Don't you have any thoughts seeing this?"
"...Not really?"
I played dumb.
My answer sheet was still there, cleanly falsified as before.
"Liar. You got everything right on this exam and pretended not to know."
"..."
It wasn't a probe. Valerius was certain.
"How did you know?"
"'Invisible light' can reveal traces of the past on parchment."
"Huh."
I was at a loss for words.
'Did they do an X-ray?'
On Earth, they used it to restore faded text on parchment too. To think medieval mages could do that...
They must have known about light wavelengths beyond visible light, even if they didn't understand the principle.
'Impressive intuition.'
My anger subsided in an instant.
"Impressive, Sir Valerius."
"This isn't the time to smile."
"...Why? The discovery of 'invisible wavelengths of light' is truly groundbreaking."
That alone would win a Nobel Prize.
"I didn't discover it first."
"Then who did?"
"The Dean."
"...Pardon?"
"The Dean pierced through your exam paper. And she noticed that the notation on the entrance exam documents matched the notation in [Calculus]."
"..."
The Dean's face flashed through my mind.
The elf with sapphire eyes and golden hair.
-'Don't stop and keep hitting. I have something to test.'
-'I see. Good answer. Note it down. Not for you, Isaac, but tell it to the Sound Magic School Head.'
Not just any elf, but one with a terrible personality. Of all people, it had to be her.
Should I have used Newtonian notation for calculus?
No.
Deriving the chain rule and such would have been harder. Newtonian notation has its limits, so using Leibniz notation was the right call.
A moment later, Valerius spoke.
"Once the Dean knew that the creator of [Calculus] was Dolloren's disciple—you—she petitioned the Imperial Court."
"...She revealed that I'm the creator of [Calculus]?"
"No. She requested a medal for the 'Magic Survey School' as well, since [Wave Theory] greatly influenced the development of calculus."
"She gave us a pass this time."
"Yes. But I doubt she'll be so merciful from now on."
"..."
"As you know, the Dean is a madwoman."
By the time I finished talking with Valerius, it was already midnight.
Shamble, shamble.
I wandered listlessly through the Magic Tower at night.
The moon shone brightly outside the window. Must be a full moon tonight.
"Come to think of it, it's been a while since I've gone home gazing at the moon..."
Ever since living with Giuseppe, watching the sunset on my way back had become routine.
That routine was precious to me.
No nagging professor, no work, a harmonious lab. How rare is that?
But it all seemed about to crumble because of one mistake.
I couldn't blame anyone else. I was the one who solved the entrance exam problems and revealed calculus.
"...Should I run away?"
Irresponsibly, the thought crossed my mind.
After all, 'Isaac' in this world is an orphan.
Change my name, move to the countryside. If a draft notice comes, just run again.
"..."
I decided.
Make a midnight escape.
'Head back to the dorm, pack my bags, and bolt. I know a reliable coachman, so it should work.'
When I opened the door to my dorm room, I had no choice but to freeze.
There stood Liam, Ellara, and Gwendolyn Everglow.
"...Why are you all here?"
"Congrats!"
"Congratulations!"
The moment they spotted me, they cheered and set off fireworks magic.
Bang.
"Isaac! Congratulations on your medal!"
"We all chipped in for this cake! Blow out the candles first!"
I stood there dumbfounded, staring at the cake in front of me.
[Congrats - Isaac Uphills - !]
[Greatest Graduate Student in Human History]
"...Who came up with the inscription?"
Liam looked sheepish at my question.
"Me."
"Did you prepare the cake too, Liam?"
"No, Ellara did."
Ellara silently flashed a V-sign with her fingers.
I asked her,
"Does the V-sign mean something good in this world too? It doesn't mean blood revenge or anything, right...?"
"What a joker. Hurry and blow out the candles."
"..."
If it's an order from the Floor Manager, I have to obey.
Foo.
I blew out the candles.
Clap clap clap clap.
Applause echoed in the darkened dorm room.
My insides twisted in turmoil.
Is this dark reality foreshadowing my future?
A life where I can't even run away properly...
Looking back, I'd worked hard for the year and a half since possessing this body.
Learning letters and magic, earning recognition from villagers, climbing the Magic Tower...
And now, I'm being threatened by that pointy-eared old monster.
"Alright, let's turn on the lights."
"No, Liam. Don't turn them on."
"Why not?"
"..."
I couldn't say the reason.
But right now, I didn't want them on.
"Isaac. Don't tell me..."
Ellara spoke up.
"You're that moved? It's okay to cry!"
"Yeah. My dad cried when he got his medal too."
Gwendolyn chimed in with Ellara's words.
Who said anything about crying?
It wasn't even the worst situation.
In fact, looking back, it wasn't so bad.
In my previous life's grad school, theoretical physics was the field for 'smart guys who want to starve anyway.'
But here, it was different.
My knowledge could change the world.
It was a bit burdensome, but... honestly, not unpleasant.
The process itself was fun, I guess.
Once you understand the principles, you can manipulate reality. Who wouldn't find that enjoyable?
I could research it forever if possible.
My name's already out there, so running away now gains nothing.
Screw it. Let's go for it.
Down with the pointy-ears.
Q = mL_v
I boiled my mana and vaporized the 'sweat of my heart.'
A moment later, the lights came on.
"What... You're not crying. Lame."
I couldn't help but chuckle at Ellara's words.
"There was nothing to cry about."
"Ugh. Lame."
At that moment, Gwendolyn pulled out fancy wine bottles.
"Grapes grow well on my family's estate. These are the premium ones."
Liam shuddered at the sight of Gwendolyn's wine bottles.
"Everglow family premium wine? Can we really drink this?"
"Of course. Friends."
That day, I ended up drinking two days in a row.
Since my nose is stuffy, it didn't taste much different from the mead with Hans.
Gulp gulp.
A bittersweet yet sweet fruit aroma enveloped my tongue.
As I emptied my wine glass, I thought.
The fragile me from yesterday is dead.
From now on, I'm 'Isaac Mk2.'
Reborn stronger, unshaken by fame.
The next day, the moment I entered the cafeteria, I realized how futile yesterday's resolve was.
All eyes turned to me.
It was on a whole different level from the usual curious glances.
Whispers came from all directions.
"Ah, that's him?"
"Yeah. Isaac Uphills."
"An orphan who's made it big."
Jealousy.
"What? That's the kid who took the entrance exam and went straight to the third floor."
"You didn't know they were the same person?"
"Of course I did."
Awe.
"He smells like money."
"Should we recruit him to our school?"
"Too many eyes. Later."
And greed.
...In this situation, food probably wouldn't go down well.
'Maybe eat out for once?'
Chicken skewers at the morning bell sound good. Plus, it's been a while since seeing Barnabas.
As I turned to leave, someone blocked my path.
A female student adorned with flashy jewelry, someone I'd never seen before.
"Oh, Uphills. Long time no see."
Why act like we know each other?
I pride myself on a good memory, but I don't know her.
"Don't you remember me? We met at Sir Dwayne's party before."
"Party?"
"Yes."
"I've never been to one. I'm an orphan."
"..."
As the girl stood there stunned, a familiar voice rang out.
"Excuse me, but Uphills is busy right now."
It was Gwendolyn. She shot the girl a cold glare.
"Anything else?"
"N-No. Miss Everglow. W-Well then."
The girl's face turned beet red as she fled.
Gwendolyn smirked and said,
"Ellara told me. That girl's got a history of stealing juniors' research assignments."
"Ah."
Ellara and now Gwendolyn too. They were all watching out for me.
Looking around, I saw Ellara waving at me from afar.
I gestured for her to join me for a meal.
But Ellara glanced at Gwendolyn and shook her head no.
...What's that about?
And so, I ended up having breakfast alone with Gwendolyn.
For reference, Liam had pulled an all-nighter on assignments after getting wasted last night.
Poor guy.
I looked at Gwendolyn and said,
"Thanks for the help."
"No big deal. From what she was saying, you probably could've handled it even without me."
"Ah, the orphan story?"
"...Yes."
Gwendolyn's tone softened.
The orphan card definitely works.
Come to think of it, something similar happened with Ellara.
-'No way. My castle is Uphills. I'm an orphan.'
-'Sorry... I'll watch my words from now on.'
Even someone as friendly as Ellara was flustered, so others must be even more so.
I'll have to use it more often.
A moment later, Gwendolyn said,
"If anyone bothers you in the future, just name-drop the Everglow family and slip away."
"Is that okay?"
Gwendolyn smiled brightly, suiting her red hair perfectly.
"Consider it payment for teaching us calculus."
I suddenly felt sorry for thinking she was some multi-level marketer at our first meeting.
Back at my sweet home—the lab—Giuseppe was already there.
Groan...
Groooan...
"Does this even count as arriving first...?"
Giuseppe was rolling on the lab floor, dead drunk with his classmate Rufus.
Empty bottles littered the floor.
"Senior had a celebration party too, huh."
Giuseppe was also getting a second-class medal, so it made sense.
"He hid Excel well even in that state."
As expected of Giuseppe. The best senior.
There were two letters on the desk.
The recipient was 'Magic Survey School,' so I opened one first.
Sender: Dolloren.
"Who was that again...?"
A familiar name.
Oh.
"My advisor professor. Right."
I almost forgot since it had been so long.
The letter was full of congratulations for Giuseppe's medal.
"Not a single mention of me."
No interest in the new guy after ten years?
Not even a word about coming back.
And the next letter.
This one was from the Dean.
"Damn it..."
A curse slipped out automatically.
I hate pointy-ears.
That's my honest choice.
I nervously tore open the envelope.
Inside was a single document.
"...Farewell to my sweet home."
My one sanctuary was about to be forcibly moved to the eye of the storm.
But I wasn't worried.
After chugging Everglow wine last night, I'd become 'Isaac Mk2.'
I'll chew up and spit out anyone who gets in my way.