Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Magic Tower Genius Hides Physics
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"You two wouldn't happen to be... looking for some profitable research, would you?"
Ellara's words piqued Giuseppe's interest.
He spoke up.
"...I'll let it slide that you barged in without any notice."
"Yes, sir."
"Your name?"
"Ellara, Senior Giuseppe."
"Right, fellow student Ellara. What brings you all the way here?"
"This."
Ellara spread a bundle of parchment across the desk.
I didn't have a chance to butt in.
Everything was proceeding under Giuseppe's control.
...I thought he was just some guy whose life got derailed in grad school.
Pretty cool, actually.
I took another look at my senior.
Giuseppe picked up the most important-looking page from the stack.
"Let's see here."
「Capital Central Bell Tower Normalization Plan」
The name alone sounded ominous.
I'd never seen a project with 'normalization' in the title that was a walk in the park.
This was probably some massive mess someone had dumped, nine times out of ten.
"..."
"..."
Looks like I wasn't the only one feeling uneasy. Giuseppe was holding his tongue too.
A moment later, he finally spoke.
"I've heard the name of this project before. All the big shots from the Magic Tower's schools threw themselves at it and came up empty-handed, right?"
Ellara nodded.
"Yes, that's correct."
"So why push it on us? Does Professor Dolloren's absence make them think our school's a joke?"
"No, that's not it. If it came across as rude, I apologize. However..."
"However...?"
"I saw potential."
Ellara's gaze turned to me.
Wait... me?
Out of nowhere?
"Hah."
Giuseppe let out a dry chuckle and continued.
"So you've already spotted our junior's talents, huh?"
"Spotted? Isaac's gifts are just out in the open."
"Fair point."
...What?
What the hell was going on here?
I said to Ellara,
"Mind explaining what's this about?"
"Liam, the headache, mana lamp. Does that cover it?"
"..."
Damn it.
Even after I warned that guy Liam, it got out anyway.
"What, Isaac junior... You went off and handled business without me?"
"Senior Giuseppe... it's not like that."
"You did great. Now look, you've brought us a job."
"...You're too kind."
I wanted to scream that it wasn't like that at all.
But the situation didn't allow it.
Ellara spoke up.
"Therefore, I'd like to formally transfer this commission to the Magic Survey School."
"Not a bad deal."
Color bloomed on Ellara's face.
This was bad.
"Hold on. I'd rather inherit your research, Senior Giuseppe."
Giuseppe's brow furrowed at my words.
He took a step closer and said,
"Junior. This is an opportunity."
"But it's not the research I want."
"You can chase what you want after getting your doctorate. For now, let's grab the spotlight."
...That's why I'm saying I don't want to.
I studied Giuseppe's expression closely.
Was he serious?
Was there really no way to turn this around?
"..."
"..."
...Nope.
Giuseppe looked dead set on handing this off to me.
...Fine, whatever.
Isn't that just grad school life?
And so, we headed to the Magic Tool Material Processing School to receive the detailed briefing.
Like materials engineering on Earth...?
I looked around.
Students in white coats were conducting experiments in small groups here and there.
The lab's at least four times our size. And they probably have branches all over the Empire.
The budget gap might need a logarithmic scale.
I asked Giuseppe,
"Do all the Magic Tower labs buzz like this?"
"The profitable ones do. Damn, it's suffocating."
"Tell me about it."
The thick scent of capitalism clogged my nose.
Pure academic types like us? It was rat poison.
I followed Ellara into a small storeroom.
Giuseppe didn't come along.
I asked him,
"Huh? Where are you going, Senior?"
"You handle the fieldwork. I'll wrap up the money talk."
"...Got it."
Just like that, I was alone with Ellara.
Once Giuseppe was gone, her expression softened.
...Better not point that out.
I decided to stay quiet.
"First, the overview of the commission."
"Yes."
"It came from the Imperial Assembly. Normalize the Capital Central Bell Tower's chimes."
"Normalize how?"
Ellara answered my question right away.
"In some areas, the chimes are too faint. In others, they're obnoxiously loud, like noise pollution. Fix that."
"...Pardon?"
All this for some bell chimes?
How did something so trivial end up at a Magic Tower lab?
Maybe reading my face, Ellara added,
"...Junior Isaac. Countryside's one thing, but the capital's different. Nobles and top merchants crowd around the bell tower."
"Ah, so their complaints can't be ignored."
"Pretty much."
...Even this world has chronic complainers.
Guess people are the same everywhere.
"Of course, the Assembly's offering a huge reward."
"How much?"
"100,000 gold."
"...Whoa."
Scratch that complainer bit.
That kind of money could keep me fed in the countryside forever, solo.
Even by school standards, it was big for the scale.
"That's why everyone jumped on it."
"Yep."
Ellara smirked.
"These are the other schools' failure reports. No taking them out—review here only."
Let's see.
I skimmed the failures.
Dozens of them.
I asked her,
"Shouldn't the Sound Magic School handle this? Why not them?"
"They already failed. Next page."
"Oh."
I flipped.
'Sound Magic School's sonic amplification circle experiment failed. Shattered glass windows within 300m of the bell tower.'
Just reading it gave me a headache.
Grad students must've cleaned that up...
"Our Magic Tool Material Processing School tried too and nearly failed. Can't delay or pass it off anymore."
"That'd mean massive penalties to the Assembly. Hit to the school's rep and position."
"...Newbie, but you get the politics."
"..."
Awkward.
I changed the subject.
"...So, what do we get out of succeeding?"
Ellara shrugged.
"No clue. Us mere non-masters wouldn't know."
"Right."
Giuseppe had been so nice, I'd forgotten my place.
I was the one who had to roll up my sleeves.
Now I just hoped he didn't snag too much reward.
Anything under fifty percent, and I could stomach it quietly.
Then.
Bang!
The storeroom door flew open as Giuseppe strode in.
"Got it done."
"Pardon?"
"Full reward for the transfer, plus fifty percent of their penalty fee."
"..."
Silence blanketed the storeroom.
Ellara muttered,
"Impossible... fifty percent of the penalty on top...?"
She was shell-shocked at her school getting skinned.
I was too.
Don't want things blowing up...
Hard to keep a straight face.
Giuseppe tilted his head.
"What? Lamer reaction than I expected. Should've pushed for more?"
"...No, thank you, Senior. Huge help."
"Heh heh. No biggie."
Giuseppe beamed, oblivious to my turmoil.
Thus, the 'whatever' grad student headed to the Capital Central Bell Tower.
Not without a fight, though.
Before going, I made Giuseppe a proposal.
His eyes went wide.
"What? You want to use my name for this? Why? This commission's your chance to make a name!"
Truth was, I didn't want my name out there... but couldn't say that.
"Senior, think about it. A fresh grad student leading a high-stakes gig like this? Clients won't trust that."
"...Yeah, tough sell."
"That's why I'm asking."
"..."
His eyes wavered.
Now's the time.
Hammer it home.
"Senior, please lend me your name. I don't want to drag the school down."
"...Isaac."
"..."
"How'd a gem like you end up with me..."
Almost there.
I suppressed a grin.
"Good. From now on, you're 'Giuseppe Garneri' to the outside world."
At your service.
And so, I operated as 'Giuseppe Garneri'.
I introduced myself as such to the Assembly's rep and entered the bell tower.
The interior was a disaster.
Scorch marks on walls, dried mystery fluids everywhere, shattered mana crystal shards littering the floor.
"What the hell did they do in here..."
The reports hadn't mentioned this nonsense.
I reverse-engineered from the traces.
"Tried amplifying the sound, huh..."
Idiotic fix.
The job was selective volume: boost in quiet zones, not everywhere.
"No wonder the windows shattered..."
The loud zones were nobles' turf.
Expensive panes broken.
"...Solution's simple, but they overcomplicated it."
I brushed failed spell remnants off the wall.
"Just tweak the reflection angles."
Direct waves to reinforce in quiet areas,
Cancel in noisy ones,
A minor fix and done.
This was worth 100,000 gold?
"Nail hammer and a few boards. Won't even cost one gold."