Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Gravity Magic Research
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A few days had passed since we made the prototype paper.
I wondered how it was going.
I got updates on the progress through Laura.
"The papermaking workshop hiring has been approved unanimously."
"That's a relief."
I'd worried a lot about what to do if the kids said no, but it turned out fine.
Laura continued.
"We're currently remodeling a warehouse next to the Uphills Workshop for a trial run, and the foundation staff along with Tobin and Cullen are handling the basic training for the necessary tasks."
There wasn't anything to nitpick, so I just nodded.
Even the detailed reports looked fine.
Now, there was almost nothing left for me to worry about.
All that remained was waiting.
"You've worked hard, Laura."
"Not at all."
Laura replied in her usual businesslike tone.
After finishing the report, she hesitated for a moment before speaking up.
"By the way... when do you think the 'mass-produced Excel' will be ready?"
"I'll work on it before Uphills Papermaking is fully operational."
"Understood."
She bowed her head and left.
The mass-produced Excel would have to wait a bit longer.
I planned to make it as a magic tool linked to metal movable type, but the type wasn't ready yet.
For reference, I'd entrusted the metal type to Cullen.
It shouldn't be too hard.
In terms of difficulty, suspension was way tougher.
Finally, all non-research work was done.
Now it was time to dive into the research I'd put off.
'That took a while...'
Heh heh heh.
A laugh escaped me.
Gravity magic.
Was it possible?
It was.
If I incorporated general relativity like with the 'Light of the Lantern' last time.
But that wasn't a way people in this world could use.
I wanted to create gravity magic using only the structure of circle magic, without general relativity.
Why go to such lengths?
Because it was fun.
For proper research, a literature review comes first.
I asked Gwendolyn and Gedric to hunt down related papers.
The next day, Gedric walked into the lab asking,
"So, where should I put this?"
"..."
Gedric was carrying a pile of books and documents as tall as himself in his arms.
"You... carried all this yourself?"
"If I use telekinesis, I can't train."
"Ah..."
I understood, but I couldn't relate.
I pointed to the empty space next to my desk.
"Put it over there, then."
"Got it. Work hard, future school head."
"Yep."
After Gedric left, Gwendolyn came in.
Or rather, Gwendolyn plus a dozen or so people entered.
"Just move everything over here."
"Yes, senior."
Gwendolyn had borrowed her juniors' help instead of carrying it alone.
...Why didn't Gwendolyn use telekinesis?
When I asked, she explained.
"The juniors really wanted to see you, Uphills, so I brought them along on purpose."
Wow.
Glancing around, I could feel the grad students' eyes on me.
'They really are.'
Great friends.
Coming all this way just to help with my research.
I shook hands with each grad student after they moved the stuff.
"I'm never washing this hand now."
"You still have to wash before experiments..."
"Can't I just wear gloves?"
"..."
...Fine, do whatever.
After the grad students left, Gwendolyn asked me,
"So, what are you planning to do with these spells? Fireball, Flame Spear, Wind Press... the structures are all over the place; I can't get a sense of it."
She was right.
At a glance, there didn't seem to be any common thread among the spells.
I answered her.
"I'm trying to make universal gravitation magic."
"Whoa, really? Everyone's failed to turn the equations from Principia into spells..."
Of course they had.
If Dolloren couldn't do it, no other mage could.
Gwendolyn went on.
"As expected of the original author. I'll cheer you on."
Just before leaving the lab, she added,
"Oh, right! Keep the stuff I brought hidden from everyone else."
"Hm? Sure, got it."
What was so special about it?
Clunk.
The lab door closed, leaving me alone.
Dolloren and Giuseppe weren't slacking off.
It was just late evening.
Research is best done pulling all-nighters.
Of course, only the research I want to do.
Stuff others assign? No fun.
I skimmed the mountain of documents.
They all had one thing in common.
Assigning virtual mass to things with drastically low or no mass.
Fireball was the prime example.
'Right under my nose.'
If fireballs were really just gas balls, flame mages would have to train their bodies like wind mages.
The reason flame mages get good treatment on the battlefield is this 'virtual mass.'
The problem? People in this world never made studying how fireballs get mass a research topic.
To them, fireballs were just like that.
So I had to start from scratch.
It was going to be a slog...
Like figuring out a kitchen's ingredients just from the name 'today's special.'
I had one approach for this.
Like with the Field Manual, use physics to calculate and reconstruct what each magic circle structure produces.
'Start with Fireball.'
I examined the standard Fireball spell and its variants.
'This is weird...'
The incantation's mana wavelength, the rune placements in the circle.
Nothing directly generated mass anywhere.
Yet the resulting fireball clearly had mass.
'Where does this discrepancy come from?'
While pondering, I remembered Gwendolyn's words.
Something about looking at it alone.
I reached for the pile Gwendolyn brought.
"Hm...?"
The warning was printed large right at the top.
'...Can I even look at this?'
Gwendolyn brought it herself, so it should be fine?
Flipping to the first page, there was someone's handwriting.
"It's from Gwendolyn's father."
Did that mean...
"This is... family secret spell documents?"
Flip flip.
I skimmed through the contents.
"It really is..."
This document was Ludwig's recounting of the Everglow family's Flame Spear development history.
Surprisingly, it included 'failure records' too.
Quantitative descriptions of how changing the incantation or circle broke the Flame Spear.
The units were a pain—feet, ounces, gallons—but still.
Reading those records, I felt respect as a fellow researcher.
"Impressive."
Even Earth's papers often omit failures.
It could undermine the paper's achievements.
But honest records like these are invaluable for follow-up research.
"They really poured their hearts into this."
I could feel the Everglow family's generations of dedication to perfecting flame magic.
Including failures like 'reduced range' or 'more susceptible to wind.'
"Wait... reduced range, increased air resistance..."
My attention snagged there.
Could it be?
I examined Ludwig's records more closely.
And I was certain.
"This is it...!"
I'd found the key to mass changes.
A ray of light pierced the dead-end research path.
Going from 1 to 10 is easier than 0 to 1.
This was a bigger favor than expected.
I'd repay it properly later.
Using the Everglow failures as a baseline, I pushed on with gravity magic research.
Honestly, I lost track of days.
"Junior, you need to eat on time."
Giuseppe made me sandwiches every mealtime.
Good.
No energy to speak, so I thumbs-upped.
A few days buried in theory, a few more experimenting in the open lot near the annex.
A faint thread started to emerge.
This took about two weeks.
And a few days later, at dawn.
I muttered at the chalkboard-covered magic circles.
"Somehow, I did it."
Still a hypothesis, but I'd found the answer I wanted.
A proton's mass is far greater than the sum of its three quarks' rest masses.
It's more complex deep down, but for now, think strong nuclear force makes it possible.
Magic was similar.
At certain construction stages, mana arrangements output more energy than the total input.
Of course, whether mana is quantized like other particles is unknown.
But if this hypothesis held, one conclusion followed.
Like quarks can't exist alone, isolating just the 'virtual mass' pattern for a spell is nearly impossible.
But 'nearly,' not completely.
I'd devised a spell that produces only virtual mass.
Incantation: ~30 minutes.
Circles: 15 8th-circle complexes.
Mana needed: 2.8x Dolloren's total.
Impossible solo.
So, I gathered the people to make it possible.
Not right away, of course.
Slept it off first, then proceeded.
In the lab: Anna, Giuseppe, Professor Dolloren.
All here.
I stood before them.
"From now on, we'll create a spell that shouldn't exist."
Explaining the experiment took a full day.
Then another day for Giuseppe to verify safety.
The next day, Giuseppe said,
"...Formally, no issues."
"You'll join, then?"
"Yeah."
With that, we left the lab for the experiment.
The site was a remote wasteland, far from Uphills Foundation grounds.
Anna asked me,
"You said it was safe, so why this out-of-the-way spot? Don't tell me..."
"It's not that, little sis."
"..."
Dolloren answered Anna.
"Tower rules don't permit big spells like this in the capital."
...I didn't know about that restriction.
Giuseppe decided the when and where.
We arrived at the barren site.
'Desolate.'
Immediately, we drew 15 8th-circle arrays across the empty field.
Prep complete.
I explained the plan one last time.
"Professor Dolloren will now cast the spell I designed."
"Okay!"
Dolloren shouted energetically.
She seemed excited.
A bit uneasy, but she was the only one for it.
This spell consumed hundreds of times more mana than a standard 8th-circle.
Her affinity made construction efficient, minimizing mana use.
Even so, not enough.
I told Anna,
"You'll supply the shortfall."
"Got it."
Anna replied instantly.
Her resolute face was reliable, unlike some.
Finally, to Giuseppe,
"Senior, whenever the school head's mana runs low, draw from Anna and transfer directly to the professor. Most critical role."
"Understood. Leave it to me."
Giuseppe nodded firmly.
Finally, I pointed to myself.
"I'll observe success with detection magic."
Then Dolloren teased with a grin,
"What? You get the easiest job? Boo."
Meant to ease Anna and Giuseppe's tension.
Obviously a joke; everyone chuckled.
Like theirs, my role was indispensable.
No one wielded detection magic as precisely as me.
"Shall we begin?"
The experiment started.
I floated a lead ball near the cast site.
'If it moves... success.'
Like Cavendish gravitational constant, but magic.
Sweat beaded on Dolloren's forehead.
She murmured softly.
A string of meaningless words.
Different feel from standard chants, but that's how the gravity incantation was.
Soon, Giuseppe took Anna's hand and began mana transfer.
Anna's face paled as mana drained, but she endured steadfastly.
To outsiders, it'd look bizarre.
Four mages sweating in focus, yet only a lead ball visible.
30 minutes later.
The moment.
Dolloren's chant ended.
I pushed detection magic to its limit.
Ignoring wind, sunlight, total focus.
Dolloren's ragged breaths faded; only the lead ball and mana waves in my perception.
And then.
I saw it.
The tiny change on the lead ball.
A minuscule mass born in empty air tugged ever so slightly at the lead ball.
"Success."
Dolloren panted, asking,
"Really? Not kidding?"
"..."
All eyes on me.
I answered slowly.
"Yes. Nanometers, but... the lead ball moved."
"Whoa!"
Anna threw her arms up cheering.
Exhausted, yet full of energy.
Giuseppe groaned and sprawled out; Dolloren collapsed laughing softly.
Anna asked me,
"So, can we build other gravity spells on this?"
I smiled wryly.
"No."
"Huh...?"
"Can't commercialize. Dead end."
"..."
Slump.
Anna fainted from exhaustion.
I carried sleeping Anna back to the lab.
Snore snore.
Her breaths tickled my back.
Thankfully, no health issues.
Heavy mana use causes this sometimes.
Dolloren flopped onto the cot, staring at the ceiling emptily.
"Damn... all that effort for... failure."
"It succeeded, I said."
Dolloren bolted up.
"You said no practical spell!"
"Yeah... unavoidable."
This experiment revealed the minimal conditions for virtual mass.
Shockingly, identical to what we just did.
30-min chant, 15 8th-circle complexes, massive mana—for barely nudging a lead ball.
That's the circle magic limit.
Beyond this, bend spacetime directly with general relativity, like me.
I gently laid Anna on the sofa.
Giuseppe face-planted on the desk.
I told Dolloren,
"Anyway, experiment succeeded. Be happy."
"Ugh, you."
Dolloren yelled,
"No! Floating stones make it simple, why complicate with spells?!"
Freeze.
My thoughts halted.
I slowly turned to her.
"What did you just say?"
"Huh? Floating stones. They generate attraction or repulsion easily. Why..."
Floating stones?
Did I hear right?
Such a thing... exists here?
"No way... you're joking?"
With that, I could make perpetual flight airships.
Not hard.
Just tweak today's spell for virtual mass control.
"It's real."
Dolloren was dead serious.
"Don't believe me? I can show you. Still stuck to my safe's ceiling."
"..."
Maybe build an airship?