The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 47: Your Paper’s Kind Of Awesome (6)

There stands the burning golden temple.

Should someone ask the fate of the Golden-Eyed.

Direct their gaze towards Elankaya.1

**

The library was packed. It was a sign that midterm season had begun.

There wouldn’t be seats available any time soon, it seemed. At this rate, I couldn’t seclude myself in the reading rooms. The best I could do was borrow a few books and come back to the dorms.

So did that mean that I was studying? Not exactly.

I shouldn’t be saying this myself, but there was nothing more to learn in first year. Wouldn’t it be a problem in itself if there was something I didn’t know after three years of prep work?

This was the reason why I had time to kill even though it was exam season. The others were busy studying so they weren’t even showing up to the clubroom. If I wanted to continue researching, I’d have to do it on my own.

So, I decided to finish up the paper I’d been writing.

[■ Development complete : Bethe–Feynman formula]Calculating the yield of Flare happened in no time. Having reached this stage, the progress of developing a nuclear weapon sped up significantly.

Indeed, if only we had the materials.

In order to make a thermonuclear weapon the traditional way, there needed to be an ingredient acting as a catalyst but I hadn’t caught a single glimpse of uranium since coming to this world.

Uranium was a radioactive element that glowed yellow like the color of my eyes. It was known to people as the raw material of a nuclear bomb.

The problem was that the uranium deposits couldn’t be found currently and even if they were, there was no real way to mine them.

And let’s say that we got that far. How, then, would it be refined and enriched?

And what about converting uranium to plutonium to cause nuclear fission? That would require making a heavy-water reactor, but Freyr might run away in that case.

Most of all, there was the matter of safety when it came to handling uranium. Unlike Flare which only required a scroll and optical devices to operate, uranium emitted radiation.

Of course, I wasn’t trying to make an atomic bomb.

I was aiming for a hydrogen bomb. You might as well go for something with immense destructive force to crush Demon King, no? Furthermore, it was easier to make a thermonuclear bomb in this world as opposed to an atomic bomb due to the support of Air Magic.

Also, it was possible to develop without mining uranium since a laser was being used.

That first stage was only now complete.

[■ Development complete : Flare]

“Fuuuuuuck.... It’s finally done...!!”

[(Complete) Ultimate Fire Magic ─ Flare]

[# Here lies the path to the Fourth State and the Fifth State of the Sun.]

[An Ultimate Magic which releases high-temperature, high-heat Fire elements in a state of coherence. Though the threshold for triggering is high, it boasts an unparalleled output that burns metal into plasma once it is used.]

[◆ Achievement attained!]

[You have developed this magic.]

It only took an ultra-high-intensity laser and a metal sheet to create plasma. By containing that plasma inside a capsule with good reflectivity and heat-resistance and maintaining a specific level of temperature and pressure, it wouldn’t be difficult to meet the conditions for nuclear fusion to occur.

Then we first had to acquire a material like beryllium. Lithium as well. And the neutrons from Flare wouldn’t be enough so there also needed to be a Water Mage to pull some from seawater.

“So many things to do.”

[Why are you getting sidetracked? Aren’t you going to submit your assignment?]

Ah, true. That’s right.

There would be time to think about this once summer vacation started. I put down my quill and fastened all the sheets of paper with a folder.

“Paper’s done!”

Then I ran out the door like Freyr had done earlier in her quest to get beer.

Dashing into the building of the Imperial Society, I tossed the 57-page project into the submission box. The person at the desk who had been doing paperwork looked up.

“I’d like to request a peer preview.”

The desk clerk gave me a strange look.

“Is this being submitted to the Fire Magic category?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

Why do they keep asking?

They asked it a few more times before I could get the confirmation that it’d be put on hold for peer review. It hurt that I had to pay a piece of silver to the receptionist for the review fee.

The first author of the paper was me, of course. But I also put Lotte and Freyr down as co-authors. This wasn’t an accomplishment I had achieved on my own but also, it was the best compensation I could offer these two.

Lotte wasn’t lacking in money since she was the daughter of Viscount Saliere’s family. And Freyr, too, had never complained about not having money despite all the alcohol she consumed. Neither of them seemed to have financial problems. If anything, it didn’t make sense that anyone with a surname in this world would starve.

Updat𝓮d from frёewebnoѵēl.com.

Then the deal would only work if they were given something else other than labor fees.

Honor. What could be better for a member of high society?

Think about it, word getting out that a university freshman co-authored a paper that was being published in a SCI (Scientific Citation Index)-level journal. There would be an uproar. A few would raise objections about corruption or plagiarism, then once it became clear that it was a genuine accomplishment, then they’d become the subject of all admiration and envy.

I thanked Vermel as well, but I felt guilty leaving it at that. So I completed the deal by offering to help the three with their exam studies.

This was a true give-and-take. Shouldn’t the term ‘win-win’ only apply to situations like these?

Smiling in satisfaction, I was about to turn away.

“Um, excuse me.... Are you Miss Aether, perhaps?”

“Hm? Yes, that’s me.”

Looking through the paper I submitted, the desk clerk let out a random hum.

“You’re the one who submitted the paper on the Magic Element-Energy Convertibility Theorem last time, correct?”

“I am. What about it?”

“The results of the review came out yesterday.”

Oho.

The ‘Magic Element-Energy Convertibility Theorem’ was the theorem that I proved about two months ago.

I was wondering when it would happen, but to think that it would be this quickly.

“How did it go?”

It was always exciting to hear the results of a paper review, because it wasn’t every day that you felt anxious and expectant simultaneously. It was the same as opening the admissions page to check final acceptance results.

A momentary silence. My heart was pounding.

“Please give me a moment to check again.”

The silence didn’t last long. A single sentence struck my ears like lightning.

“Congratulations! It has been accepted.”

Publication accepted.

It was the moment that my name was made known in academia.

**

The midterms began. While the students diligently moved their pens, the staff were able to have a break.

It’s almost finished.

The day was like rain in a dry desert for Klais since it allowed her to focus solely on researching Flare.

Flare, the fervent prayer of the Hasfeldt family.

Flare, developed as directed by the previous Duke after he’d first encountered a Cataclysm on the northern front, was now coming to completion.

Klais had been able to research Flare persistently despite the gradual decrease in national funding because her father had continuously provided support. Her father had recognized her talents at an early age and was counting on this ultimate Fire Magic to be finished in his lifetime.

And now, it was time to meet those expectations.

For the sake of being in the favor of her parents, to honor the countless comrades who had lost their lives on the battlefield, but most of all, to deliver a satisfying blow to those cowards who had fled saying that Fire Magic had reached its limits.

Flare must be finished by none other than the Hasfeldt family.

In actuality, Klais was nearing the end of writing her paper as the midterms progressed. She came up with the means for research through development support funds given by the family and tax revenues earned as the Duchess. The tests conducted with that money were slowly yielding results.

In order to trigger Flare with its large mana requirement, Klais chose a simple method.

That was to split the magic circle composing it into separate sections, then combine them afterwards and amplify it in stages.

And as a result, it had poor initial efficiency.

But it was relatively successful in breaking down some of the outer layer of a Calamity. It was a satisfactory level of power.

It wouldn’t be fired only once in actual battle, anyway. If multiple shots are fired at once, even a Cataclysm wouldn’t be able to do anything.

She wanted to be acknowledged by the family soon. Although her father had stepped back from the political scene and she was the current head... she still wished to be commended by her seniors.

Klais was on the verge of enclosing the papers with all the test data and theories. By this time, it was May. The temperature of the campus was on the rise and summer was almost here.

That was about when someone came to Klais as she was finalizing her work.

“I’d like to make a request, Professor Hasfeldt.”

They were someone Klais knew well, a researcher sent by the Imperial Society.

The Imperial Society was an institute that managed and reviewed all research papers within the Empire.

The treasure trove of academics, the cradle for all mages. Klais, too, was a member of this Imperial Society.

In any case, it wasn’t common for a member of the society to visit. Generally, they’d approach modestly like this when they needed to ask something of a figure with authority in academia.

“A request?”

Klais’ brows drew together as she tilted her head.

Curiosity clashed with annoyance. Klais was single-minded in her will to complete her paper and didn’t have the time to waste on trivial acquaintances.

“Yes, someone submitted a paper on Fire Magic a couple weeks ago, and the content is something that you might be interested in. I would really like for you to review it if possible.”

“Fire Magic, you say?”

“Indeed.”

Her face naturally soured. She was fully occupied working on her own paper, and they were asking her to review someone else’s.

She didn’t wish to.

The topic can’t be that important.

She might have taken a look if the research had been at an impasse but things were going very well at the moment.

The test was perfect and there were no flaws in her calculations. She only needed to focus on refining the discussion and it’d be ready to be submitted within the week.

“I’ll have to decline.”

“Really? Are you certain about passing on the opportunity?”

Klais shook her head.

“I’m currently busy so I don’t have the time to look at it. I will check later on after it has been accepted for publication.”

“Then it can’t be helped, I suppose. Excuse me.”

The door to the lab shut with a Thunk. Perhaps it was due to that impact, but one of the incandescent lights illuminating the room flickered momentarily then shut off in the end.

Klais looked at the bulb that had reached the end of its life and tsked.

1. A parody of a famous Korean poem written by Jung Hee-sung ("여기 타오르는 빛의 성전이") while he was a student at Seoul National University. It is still a symbol of the school to this day.