Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Home, Sweet Home
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Home, sweet home.
After wrapping up all my tasks in the north, I returned to the Magic Survey School lab.
The moment I opened the door and stepped inside, my eyes met Senior Giuseppe's.
These days, just seeing his face brings a smile to mine.
"I'm back from my business trip."
Giuseppe welcomed me with a beaming smile of his own.
"Welcome home. You must be exhausted."
Yeah, this is the feeling.
Now I finally felt like I'd come back home for real.
Giuseppe asked me,
"Valerius went with you, so I'm sure nothing went wrong... but how's your health holding up?"
"Never better. I'm full of energy."
Trailing after Sara's squad members had me moving around so much that I actually felt more invigorated.
The Magic Tower had a training room for physical conditioning, so I'd make sure to keep up with my workouts from now on.
'...Should I ask them to pass word to the weird gas school folks?'
All in all, it had been a business trip full of gains.
I'd taken care of the shady types who were getting on my nerves,
helped out the soldiers,
and come back loaded with souvenirs.
I set the spoils from the north down on the desk.
"What's all this?"
"Heh heh heh."
I pulled out a few chunks of cheese from the loot and handed them to Giuseppe.
"These are perfect for slipping into sandwiches. Northland cheese, so it'll taste different from what you're used to."
"Ooooh..."
Giuseppe's eyes lit up.
That cheese was a gift from the families of the villagers I'd saved—even now.
'Thank you for finding my sibling, Sir Howard!'
'I'll never forget this kindness.'
Of course, the people I'd rescued were probably off doing labor reform for their involvement in the crimes by now...
But from their families' perspective, even that must feel like a blessing.
At that moment, Dolloren stirred awake from the cot in the corner of the lab.
She sniffed the air curiously.
"Did you bring smoked salmon?"
What a nose on her.
I held out the package containing the smoked salmon.
Gulp.
Dolloren approached, swallowing hard.
"Northland smoked salmon. This stuff is seriously good."
"Want some?"
"Can I?"
"Of course."
She was the one who'd donated big to the Uphills Foundation, after all. Had to take good care of her.
"Thanks."
Dolloren sliced the salmon with magic and popped a piece into her mouth.
Crunch crunch.
Gulp.
"Wow, this is really delicious. Thanks, Isaac."
So eating was what she meant. Fascinating person—still gets me every time.
I asked Giuseppe,
"Senior, while I was gone, did anyone come up with new spells by applying the Principia?"
"Hm... I heard some talk about improving the efficiency of telekinesis spells, but nothing on universal gravitation yet."
Too bad.
"More than that, everyone's obsessed with how math alone led to discovering a new planet."
According to Giuseppe, the Magic Tower was in the middle of a prediction craze right now.
Makes sense.
Until now, we'd only explained what we could see. But from here on, we could peer into the future with formulas.
"That said, the calculations are turning out more complex than expected, and everyone's struggling."
"Yeah... that's gonna keep being the case."
"Is it now?"
"Yep."
Only in ideal scenarios could you wrap things up with a few simple equations.
Reality was messier, full of variables.
Even I ran through countless minor calculations alongside the main formulas when casting a single spell.
'Overall, kind of disappointing...'
I'd hoped someone might've grasped a clue to gravity magic so I could build on it...
No such luck.
Guess Anna and I would have to puzzle it out ourselves.
Could we invent gravity magic without general relativity...?
That's when it happened.
"What's this?!"
Dolloren shouted, pointing at my mail.
It was a letter from the princess.
She said,
"An audience with His Imperial Majesty? For real?"
Her eyes sparkled.
"Oh, that... Yeah. It's happening. Heh heh heh."
"His Majesty granting a personal wish... What are you gonna ask for? A fiefdom?"
"Hm..."
The Uphills Foundation was basically my own territory already.
Didn't seem like I needed another fief.
'Feels like just yesterday I was dreaming of becoming a landed noble...'
My achievements suddenly felt pretty impressive.
I told Dolloren,
"The audience is still a month away, so I've got time to think it over."
"Fair enough."
Truth be told, I already had a few ideas in mind.
Planning to go with one of them.
At my casual response, Giuseppe—who'd been listening quietly—spoke up in a dead-serious tone, no hint of a joke.
"Junior, this isn't something to take lightly."
"True..."
"I'd recommend asking Lady Everglow to teach you more imperial court etiquette."
"Got it."
Hanging out casually with the princess had made me underestimate imperial protocol.
This was still a solidly feudal medieval world.
Foundation or not, I was just a semi-noble with a famous name.
Caution, and more caution.
Giuseppe nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. I'm sure you'll handle it well, junior."
Just then, there was a knock at the lab door.
Rhythmic and steady.
Anna.
The door opened, and a little kid came barreling into the lab like a shot.
"It's great to see you after so long, little sis."
"It's really you, big bro?"
"Huh?"
Anna stared at me intently and asked,
"You're not Callum or Liam in disguise, right?"
"Has this kid been getting duped her whole life?"
"...So what did you say when you approved my grad school admission?"
"I never approved any such thing."
Anna beamed and said,
"It is big bro!"
She threw her arms around me.
I stroked her head and asked,
"Little sis, shouldn't you be in class right now?"
I had her first-semester schedule memorized.
This was definitely time for Celestial Natural Philosophy lecture.
"That class got canceled."
"Huh? Why?"
"The professor vanished after the Principia announcement."
"Ah."
A lifetime of study turned to dust for him...
Poor guy.
Anna asked me,
"How was the north? Not too tough, right?"
Her words made me reflect on the northern trip.
The cold was handled with golden power, and wiping out the cultists had been satisfying in its own way.
"Yeah. Better than I expected."
At my answer, Anna gave a wistful smile.
"Good. That's what matters."
...She must've had a rough time while I was gone.
Anna brushed past me and headed to Giuseppe.
She told him,
"Looks like all that effort paid off, old man."
"Heh heh. Good work, kiddo."
The two high-fived with a sharp clap.
Somehow, I felt left out...
I asked what was going on, but they wouldn't give me a straight answer.
"You don't need to know, big bro."
"Yeah, yeah. No need for our junior to know everything."
Anna beamed and continued,
"Did you hear? 'Our foundation' is almost done now."
Already?
I rode in a carriage with Laura and Anna toward the "wasteland basin."
No, better to call it the Uphills Foundation now.
A massive dormitory building that could house over a thousand kids.
Beside it, a wide-open playground.
A large school building connected to the library.
"Whoa..."
I let out an exclamation at the completed Uphills Foundation.
Even with mages helping, it was hard to believe construction was done so soon.
Ah, the dome stadium wasn't there yet, of course.
That would take another half year or so.
Laura started her report from the seat next to me.
"All preparations for operating the boarding school are complete. Facilities and furnishings are ready, and we're prioritizing the selection of a thousand children to match the initial teacher and staff numbers. We're already providing room and board for about three hundred kids."
Anna chimed in right after.
"I'm living here now too."
Laura nodded.
"We formally took over Anna's orphanage through the princess and moved everyone here. Even if the school facilities aren't fully ready, protecting the children in itself has value—that was the judgment."
I hadn't even instructed that, but it hit just right.
Laura was seriously good at her job.
Laura continued in her usual expressionless tone.
"I was simply staying true to the foundation's purpose."
"If you'd just done exactly what I asked, it wouldn't have turned out this well. Thank you."
"...You're welcome."
Laura maintained her professional demeanor to the end.
Out on the playground in the distance, kids were kicking a ball around.
Having a blast, the little rascals.
Seeing them brought a wry chuckle.
Yeah... good thing I'd worked so hard.
I asked Laura,
"Can I go take a closer look?"
"Of course. Chairman Uphills."
"..."
The word "chairman" froze me up.
I really was the chairman now.
No board of directors yet, but yeah, that was me.
As I slowly approached the kids on the playground, the nearby staff recognized me and gasped in surprise.
"Oh my god... It's really Isaac."
"First time seeing him in person..."
A bit embarrassing.
"How did this happen? How do the staff..."
Laura continued her report.
"Most of the teachers and staff applied because of your name and the foundation's vision. Of course they know who the chairman is."
Anna added,
"The competition was insane. Hundreds to one."
And that was just recruiting from the capital's commoners, not the whole Empire.
Hundreds to one? Wild.
'But... that doesn't mean they know what I look like...'
How'd they spot me right away?
Just then, a kid running toward the playground locked eyes with me.
He skidded to a halt right in front of me and said,
"...Whoa! That uncle looks just like the statue over there!"
"Statue?"
"Yeah. That one."
Where the kid pointed, sure enough, there was a statue.
Between the dorm and school buildings—a massive statue of me, seated in a chair, reading a book.
Anna said,
"It's cool and all... but it doesn't quite capture the real you."
"Isn't it the opposite...?"
It looked way handsomer than the original.
I asked Laura,
"Weren't statues not in the plans?"
"This is a gift from Her Highness the Princess. It's a direct imperial grant, so... best not to remove it."
"..."
Trapped.
Looking around, I saw staff passing by the statue bowing their heads each time.
Was this okay?
'This is bordering on worship...'
My head spun a little, but I stayed calm by counting primes to keep my wits.
569, 571, 577...
Okay.
Composed now.
I told Laura,
"If it's this far along the tracks, we need to get the school running properly soon."
I pulled the draft of the "science" textbook I'd written myself from my pocket and handed it to her.
Not natural philosophy.
Science.
"I want to distribute one copy to every kid and hold classes a few times a week. Can we mass-produce it?"
"..."
Laura took the textbook, her face turning troubled.
She said,
"...You want to give this parchment book to a thousand children, one each?"
"Yes."
"Acquiring that much parchment would be difficult... I'm truly sorry."
"...Ah."
Right, now that I thought about it.
Parchment wasn't paper.
It was sheepskin.
Making a thousand books out of that on short notice was impossible, no matter how much money you had.
'Everything's ready... except paper?'
Damn...
First things first—I'd have to make paper.