The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 42: Your Paper’s Kind Of Awesome (1)

I lost my lunch break because of the Student Council but it was fine. There was still time.

I went back to the square right after classes finished, this time accompanied by Vermel and Iluka as well. My attempt to join a club somehow resulted in forming a five-member party.

“... Thanks for last time.”

Iluka bowed ninety-degrees towards me every time we met. It was in gratitude for beating up the Prince.

Every time she did that, I’d get tired from waving in refusal. I didn’t want this kind of superior-subordinate dynamic between friends since I was wishing for a business relationship.

Wasn’t it nice when people helped each other out when they needed it? Anyway, I wasn’t someone who was going to stay here. Since I’d be leaving later down the road, it was only manners to cause as little trouble for others as possible.

Come to think of it, wouldn’t I be able to quickly fill up the index with these members...?

Lotte was Fire Magic, and Freyr Earth Magic. Iluka and Vermel were Water and Air Magic respectively. And they weren’t awkward at it either but were key figures who were considered to be talented even within the gifted class.

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I got really lucky.

Firstly, Fire Magic. It was safe to say that Fire Magic would be completed once Flare was developed. Then after the most difficult one was finished, the rest became relatively easy. There had been some challenges at the beginning of development but after Lotte and I put our heads together, it was advancing at a faster rate.

Next was Earth Magic. I was currently interning under Miss Heerlein and if I combined that with Freyr’s transmutation expertise, it would be a piece of cake in preparing the testing equipment for nuclear development.

I didn’t know as much about Water or Air Magic but I was sure that I’d get it eventually. It should get done soon enough if Iluka and Vermel helped me later.

I wasn’t too sure about Vermel but Iluka was favorable towards me, at least. I’d chased the Prince off twice so she might help out if I asked her about Water Magic.

Mmm, shouldn’t be counting my eggs already. I could ask her after I finished Fire Magic first.

Many testing equipment were needed in order to complete Flare. It’d be difficult to rent such expensive equipment as a first-year so I decided to join an academic club.

There were a variety of them. One for training Element Magic, one for learning scroll fabrication, etc.

And the one I had my eyes on specifically was the Transmutation Club which received a lot of funding.

“If it’s the Transmutation Club, I heard that someone I know became the captain of the club this year. Do you want to check it out?”

“Sure.”

Someone Lotte knew? Did she have a sibling who had enrolled first?

At Lotte’s suggestion, our group walked uphill next to the fountain. Unexpectedly, there were a lot of the academic clubs gathered over here. This slope would be an agonizing section for freshmen who liked to play.

There was one particular place that stood out. It was a booth with a large set-up and several compound mana stones that I’d never seen before. A red-haired male student was at the center introducing items that were made with alchemy to the juniors.

The student was someone I was familiar with.

‘Lorewell’, a student one year my senior who I’d happened to meet in the back mountain because of an Iron Drake and would occasionally see once in a while. This must be who Lotte had been talking about.

“Lorewell!”

Lotte’s face lit up as she ran over.

“Hello sis, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to join your club. I’ve brought my friends as well.”

I thought they looked similar. Uncrossing my arms, I quietly bowed to Lotte’s brother. Lorewell’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open when he discovered me.

“Senior?”

He probably said it unconsciously. Lorewell would make mistakes like this whenever we met. It was because he was used to talking to me formally from back when I had helped him out a few times during those days as Professor Hasfeldt’s slave.

Calling a junior who had just been admitted ‘senior’ was enough to make everyone tilt their heads in confusion.

“Se... nior?”

“Ah, I must have mistaken her for someone else for a moment...! Right, let’s see.... Are you interested in our club?”

“I am, can we sign up right away?”

The club that Lorewell was promoting was one with a long history within Tilette.

From what I learned, it had one of the best financial support and one could freely access the school labs or museums as a club member with the Academy’s permission.

It was important to know especially if the items in the museum could be used. The museum would store up beast corpses and make profit off of occasionally selling them to research labs. In order to test Flare’s strength, we needed to borrow Calamity-level armor from there.

We swiftly joined the club run by Senior Lorewell. Lotte and I signed up first, then Freyr, who seemed to have a strong interest in transmutation, picked up the pen and jotted her name down. Her writing was pretty crappy.

“What about you two in the back?”

The choice was given to Iluka and Vermel, too. Iluka hesitated a bit.

“I also planned to join elsewhere....”

“You don’t have to attend everyday so there’s no need to feel pressured. You can sign up and just come by and participate whenever there’s something you want.”

“Ah.”

Nodding after listening to him, Iluka also filled out the sign-up form.

“What about the elf student?”

“Then I’ll join as well.”

As if pleased by gaining five members at once, Lorewell sent us off with a bright expression.

The next day, I took Lotte and Freyr with me to the clubroom.

It was a large space, yet was empty from the lack of people. It might have been because we were early, but there were no signs of the other members.

The supply room was fully stocked with ingredients for experimenting including mana stones and magic papers. I was quite pleased by the sign [Please use freely] that was in the corner.

“There must be a reason that you brought us on the first day. So what are you going to show us?”

“Let me ask you something first, Freyr. You can make any device instantly as long as you have the blueprint and ingredients, right?”

“Che, who do you think I am? I can transmute artillery or an aircraft if you wanted! I grew up with those things! So what are you going to show? Hurry up and tell us!”

Freyr waved her arms energetically with sparkling eyes.

“Alright, alright.”

I pulled out a large sheet from the bag I had brought, a colored paper that was A3 in size. When the rolled-up paper was spread out, it revealed an elaborate drawing and formula. It was a blueprint that I had been working on since a few days ago whenever I got the chance.

“Wow, what is this? It looks like a donut!”

“It’s not a donut.”

“What is it, then?”

It wasn’t hard to satisfy their curiosity. I opened my mouth and said one thing first.

“A tokamak.”

**

Klais was alone in the lab.

She was making a scroll, using an etching pen to write on the paper.

A little more, I should only need a little more.

[Magic Element-Energy Convertibility Theorem.]

Klais’ research took a 180-degree turn after inspiration from a theory by an unnamed author.

Flare will soon be completed.

The mathematical theory that magic elements and energy could be exchanged was simple yet powerful enough to rapidly advance the development of Flare. It felt like the blockage of many years had been removed all at once.

Her wrist moved even faster. She then put down the etching pen and picked up the quill to continue her calculations.

If element and energy can be exchanged, then it should be possible to revert compressed mana back into element as well. If that can be used properly, Flare could be fired without overloading the scroll.

Right now, even thinking about this was enjoyable for Klais. The anticipation that her earnest prayer of many years was close to being fulfilled had her mind in a state of great optimism.

I don’t know who proved that magic elements can be exchanged with energy but I’m grateful.

Aether wouldn’t be working on Flare since she turned her back on Klais, probably not even looking at it. If anything, she’d likely be focused on enjoying her life at the Academy along with her classmates.

At first, Klais was going to coax Aether back into developing Flare. She’d even had the audacity of asking her to be a TA for Basics of Fire Magic. Although that had failed due to the Second Prince’s meddling and Aether’s refusal.

She hadn’t had a choice. There had been no progress in the research no matter what she tried and Klais had been highly desperate. It was known in all of Ahrens that the Golden-Eyed possessed brilliant minds. And so she had believed that Flare couldn’t be developed without Aether’s help.

That’s no longer the case now.

The ‘Magic Element-Energy Convertibility Theorem’ was also economical, serving as a cost reduction for the design process. This was the very reason why Klais was able to continue her research using minimal magic paper and formulas without funding from the country.

If a scroll was created based on this theorem, it seemed like it’d be possible to develop the magic with minimal damage to the output component. She hadn’t been able to sleep the past few days because of this idea.

The hour was already past midnight as she immersed herself in research.

Come to think of it, I haven’t properly engaged in outside activities today.

She had only done the morning meeting and taught a two-hour class on Fire Magic. The rest of the time had been poured into researching Flare.

Even with make-up, she was only putting on the bare minimum. She could count on one hand the number of times she had washed her face. And with the amount of coffee that she’d been drinking, her heart kept pounding despite taking deep breaths.

To calm her circulatory system, she took a cigarette. She relaxed as the hazy smog hung over the lab.

Mana grass provided the finest pleasure when smoked in a good mood. Grinning, she made a chain out of the smoke.

She could do it. She had to.

Everyone else had given up. Everyone else said that Fire Magic couldn’t be used against Cataclysms.

Not anymore.

The time was coming when she’d no longer be scorned and persecuted.

Flare had to be published as her own exclusive research no matter what. She had absolutely no intention of letting another take the credit.

That way, she was going to be recognized amongst the academia and prove to those cowards who had escaped to other fields that she hadn’t been wrong.

For such a time, she had no problem persevering through this current suffering.

Huuu, Klais blew out more thick smoke. Her eyes had bags and her skin was dry, but it didn’t matter.

Flare was everything to Klais.

She wasn’t going to let anyone else take the credit.