Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Magic Tower Genius Hides Physics
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The written exam began, and Anna breezed through the problems without a hitch.
Scratch, scratch.
Her quill moved faster than usual.
She tackled language, arithmetic, theology, natural philosophy, and more, leaving only 'magic' for last.
Everyone had said the magic problems would be tough, given it was a magic university...
'But these are way easier than the ones big bro gave me...?'
It felt like shedding sandbags and running free.
So easy she could yawn.
She was nearly done with the final magic section too.
Just one wind magic problem left.
Anna stared at it, lost in thought.
'Should I... solve this one?'
The orthodox approach? Honestly, no clue.
But the answer itself? She could get that.
Anna recalled her talk with Isaac.
-'Natural philosophy textbooks say typhoon causes are unknown, but actually, they form because seas near the equator heat up from solar energy, making air rise.'
-'What does heated by solar energy making air rise even mean?'
-'Ah. Guess we start from there.'
That day, Anna learned Boyle's Law and Charles' Law.
She first discovered that gases—annoyingly complex as they seemed—had such elegant beauty.
'If I apply what I learned that day, it'll solve... but...'
Was it really okay to solve it like this?
'This is knowledge only big bro knows. What if it causes trouble...?'
-'You don't have to hold back anymore. I can handle most issues.'
Trusting her brother's words, Anna quietly picked up her quill.
Her goal was to enter Isaac's lab as soon as possible.
To do that, she needed top scores for early graduation from magic university.
Hesitating would just make her late.
'Just make it look like I guessed right.'
Anna solved it exactly as Isaac had taught her.
Then she scraped off the working with her scraper.
And with that, the exam ended.
Most examinees scattered, but a few noble scions stayed in the classroom, checking answers.
"Hey, you do wind element number five?"
"Saw it and just guessed."
"Crazy... you're a pro. I spent twenty minutes on it and still couldn't."
It was the very problem Anna had agonized over solving.
Even noble kids trained in magic their whole lives found it tough.
Pat, pat.
Anna's steps lightened.
She felt inexplicably good.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After the written exam, this year's magic university entrance exam was released to the public too.
In a capital salon.
"Everyone's here. Shall we begin?"
Nobles who valued magic as essential culture—though not Magic Tower material—often indulged in such whims.
Gathering in salons to solve 'this year's magic university entrance exam'.
Skipping boring subjects, of course—just magic.
They took up parchment exam sheets and idly twirled their quills.
"Haha, this brings back active days."
"Didn't you flub a magic circle disassembly back then?"
"Hey! Quiet."
The salon filled with cheerful laughter.
But the leisure didn't last. They all hit the same wall.
"..."
"..."
The quiet salon echoed only with occasional leg-tapping.
Tap, tap, tap.
'Wasn't this wind element magic a joke? What the hell.'
One noble fake-coughed and peeked at his neighbor's sheet—blank too.
Everyone just eyed each other.
Even as a game, failing an entrance exam after graduating magic university bruised pride.
The eldest count broke the silence.
He set down his quill and declared.
"Can't solve it. I surrender."
His bold white flag prompted relieved sighs as others dropped theirs.
"Truth be told, I was stuck too. Making kids solve this?"
"They probably just scribbled nonsense without knowing."
"...But senior professors made it. Doubtful."
"..."
The surrendering count spoke up.
"How about pooling brains?"
"Good idea. We'll crack it in ten minutes together."
...Three hours later.
"..."
"..."
Hollow-eyed, they endlessly tweaked magic circles.
Then one noble said,
"Oh. Got it."
"For real? Let me see... Nonsense. Your solution makes circle count negative one."
"..."
No matter how they looked, it wasn't meant to be solved.
Three hours more.
"This time it's really done, right?"
"For real?"
"Yes!"
They huddled around the sheet, double-checking.
Scratch, scratch.
Quills danced over parchment.
"Correct."
"...Theoretically solved, at least."
"But... does this even work as real magic?"
"..."
Expressions were lukewarm.
So twisted—even if theoretically sound, impossible in practice.
"...Try casting it?"
"Don't. Rebound if it flops?"
They hesitated.
Infamous wind magic, after all.
But six hours of head-scratching couldn't end untested.
"Screw it. I'll go first!"
The youngest baron mustered courage and cast.
His fingertip magic circle was grotesquely complex—but stably activated.
And finally, tweaking part of it halved the air volume precisely.
"...No rebound, really."
The baron muttered, dubious even as caster.
Only then did others gasp in awe.
"Heavens, it worked!"
"Sloppy solution, clean result."
"Usually the reverse."
Wind magic typically used 'well-known' structures.
Yet it often failed.
Why? No one knew.
Everyone just memorized 'wind magic fails sometimes'.
But such prejudice might end today.
They gazed, entranced, at the altered wind magic.
"Beautiful."
"Yeah. Wonder who made it."
Six hours didn't feel wasted.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Same time, magic university principal's office.
"Thus, more talent than last year..."
The Imperial Magic University principal stifled a yawn during freshman score reports.
Working at his age was exhausting, he thought.
The principal said,
"That's enough. Dismissed. I'll check the rest."
"Yes, sir."
He indifferently scanned top ranks full of nobles.
"All show-offs again this year..."
He uttered the dangerously heretical without batting an eye.
Those with under ten years left feared only death.
Then his eyes stopped on one name.
'Anna Uphills... perfect score?'
Perfect scores were rare.
Commoners staking lives on grades lacked study conditions; nobles with conditions didn't stake lives.
A dilemma.
The perfect score dilemma.
Intrigued, he called his secretary for Anna's exam sheet.
Perusing it, his brow furrowed.
No cheating.
"They gave this... to students?"
The wind element magic's brutal question.
Even for the principal—who breathed magic circle tweaks—it was daunting.
...Still, solved in under five minutes.
"Doesn't feel like wind magic at all."
To him, it looked like a 'new school unknown to the world' invention.
"Impressive problem, but... too harsh for examinees?"
Did senior professors lack human insight?
As ex-school head, he felt sorry for the kids.
But something was off.
New student Anna Uphills had aced it.
"...Lucky guess?"
No workings visible—probably guessed right.
The principal stroked the sheet slowly.
"Thickness varies."
Scraped for corrections, likely.
If pure guess, no need to erase workings.
"..."
He blankly stared at the sheet.
Procedure for spotting talent: one.
Report to the dean.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The dean read a letter from the Imperial Magic University principal.
It mentioned a freshman, Anna Uphills, possibly solving a problem that stumped even him.
The dean eyed the enclosed sheet.
"Ah, this vibe."
He inferred the answer instantly—two ways.
One: classic 'magic circle tweak' to conclusion.
Other: using 'Isaac Uphills' new paper'.
A smile crept on the dean's lips.
"Beautiful."
He doubted Anna used the classic method.
Surely saw 'Isaac's paper'.
Now, he understood the princess's feelings.
Isaac.
Isaac Uphills again.
The dean's mouth twitched.
Devising new puzzles without ditching old ways, getting a magic prodigy orphan top-admitted...
"Talent in nurturing successors too."
Not just researcher—professor material.
How not covet such a gem?
Isaac even wrote papers over break.
Two, no less.
One magic tool paper for interest; the other? Major waves.
[Relations Between Gas Volume, Pressure, and Temperature - On Defining Absolute Temperature]
This underpinned the wind magic problem's theory.
"Empirically verified as a test problem... it's really happening."
The dean saw the future.
This paper alone splitting stagnant millennia-old wind element magic school in two.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
One morning.
The wind element magic school head awoke refreshed—then found his villa mailbox bursting.
"What the...?"
Break nearly over, but no contacts expected yet.
"Rebound funeral?"
Plausible for wind magic.
Trembling, he grabbed one letter.
Senders: familiar juniors, varied affiliations.
"Ideal Gas Magic School? What's that?"
Other mails same affiliation.
"These punks... group action?"
He was already annoyed lately.
Wind magic meant study 'blowing winds', not 'still winds' obsession.
Fuming, he tore one open.
[...Thus, we abandon blind winds for clear laws.
We hereby secede from the wind element magic school to pioneer as 'Ideal Gas Magic School'.]
"...What the hell."
Thus began the 'Ideal Gas Magic School' mass exodus.