Today, a guest from the Floating Island visited my mansion.
“You have come down to the continent.”
An honored guest whom no one in the magical world did not know.
An addict named Astal, who held the rank of an elder even on the Floating Island. The most renowned among addicts, and the magical theory analyst most trusted by the mages of the Magic Tower.
He was also a notable figure of the Floating Island who had been in charge of analyzing my magical theories.
“Yes. I heard the news about the Personnel Committee.”
Astal spoke as soon as he sat down on the sofa. It was just like an “addict” who knew nothing of preambles or formalities, and had no interest in them either.
“I have also read Magician Epherene’s theory, but the Floating Island hopes she will cease research that damages the dignity of magic and the mystery of mana.”
“Was mentioning something like science enough to draw the Floating Island’s attention?”
“It is not ‘something like science.’ Professor, your theory reproduced scientific properties referenced from particles called carbon through magic, but this child named Epherene is trying to connect magic and science completely. She even uses the strange term ‘natural science.’”
Natural science. In the modern age, it was only natural, but in this world, it was an extremely unfamiliar concept.
Among the principles that make up nature, “mana” takes precedence over science, so while natural magic exists, natural science is difficult to accept.
“That is not something the Floating Island desires. It also seems to have already caught the eye of the Purge Officer.”
At his words, I furrowed my brow.
“The Purge Officer.”
“Yes. Thanks to your Personnel Committee imposing discipline first, there will be no rash measures, but if Magician Epherene’s research continues, a real problem may arise.”
Astal took a thesis from his breast pocket and handed it to me. It was Epherene’s thesis.
“Have you read it?”
“Of course.”
Astal nodded.
“Also, there is a certain problematic scientist.”
Saying so, he placed a book on the table.
“It is a book called the Theory of Relativity. It is the scientific text Magician Epherene referenced. This author seems to be trying to explain even time through science.”
Einstein, the great genius of the century. The physicist who most astonishingly transformed the concept of time and space.
I am coming to understand his science through 「Comprehension」.
Of course, it is difficult, but if I use 「Comprehension」 to assemble the fragmentary concepts I had already known in advance, such as [there is no matter faster than the speed of light] and [however, if one runs beyond the speed of light, one can travel backward in time], and then pour mana into them, I become able to reproduce some portion of their theories.
“Please read it once. The Floating Island is already showing signs of designating it as a forbidden book.”
“This is the first time the Floating Island has tried to reject knowledge.”
“……”
Astal said nothing, and I wore a sneer.
“Is that the only reason you came all the way down?”
“Yes. I know that you and Magician Epherene have turned your backs on each other, but she is still a disciple who received your teachings.”
“……In any case. If you have no other business.”
I handed him a small jewel case.
“Take it.”
Astal tilted his head as he looked at it. I explained briefly.
“It is the empirical mana stone for the 「Deculein·Luna」 thesis.”
“……”
At that, Astal’s eyes trembled. Heat and longing filled his cold pupils, and his breathing grew quick.
As such, the addicts of the Floating Island may appear infinitely coldhearted, but when faced with new knowledge, they show reactions so pure they are almost endearing.
“The implemented theory is contained in that mana stone. If you read this thesis, you will understand in greater detail.”
I added Epherene’s thesis to the empirical mana stone.
Astal hastily reached out his hand first.
“Was it implemented by you, Professor?”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“It is Epherene’s work, to which I did nothing but make corrections. However, for a short while, let us keep it as mine.”
Magical copyright is a sensitive issue. The foundation of the Floating Island’s revenue, the wealth that sustains magical society, all comes from those copyrights.
Even so, Astal answered calmly.
“Because of the Purge Officer?”
“If she is too outstanding, the Purge Officer may judge her to be a risk factor.”
“Are you trying to protect your disciple?”
There was doubt in Astal’s voice. Publicly, Epherene and I were practically estranged.
“Impossible. She is an incompetent and foolish one, but she must at least remain alive for my theory to advance, no?”
Astal thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Yes. Understood. What is the range of disclosure?”
I said,
“The entire world.”
* * *
……The empirical mana stone for 「Deculein·Luna」 was announced. The addicts, including Astal, examined it closely, and in only one week reached the conclusion that there were “no problems.”
As a result, the 「Deculein·Luna」 thesis was completely established.
“Congratulations! The number of citations has already exceeded 5,000 in our Magic Tower alone!”
Citations. In other words, the number of times mages other than myself had “cited” my thesis.
It meant there were many mages who had begun research of their own by quoting or referencing some paragraph of my thesis.
In other words, five thousand theses had been derived from a single theory of mine, and it also meant that mages who would make their living because of me would spring up like mushrooms after rain.
“The magical world is in an uproar~! Maybe I should do some research on that topic too~”
Adrienne smiled brightly.
I stood still and looked at the chairman’s nameplate.
“……Anyway! Congratulations!”
The 99th floor of the Magic Tower.
The place that had originally belonged to Adrienne was empty today, and in her arms was only one puppy.
“Tomorrow, you’ll become the chairman!”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Chairman Deculein. Brushing the nameplate with my gloved hand, I nodded.
“Have you decided on a candidate for Head Professor?!”
“Yes.”
Louina, Relin, Siare, and so on.
Everyone was burning with ambition for the title of Head Professor that would soon be vacant, but I had already settled on Louina.
“Oh, right. How do you plan to use this 99th floor?!”
“First, I intend to move my facilities here.”
The research room, archive room, study, laboratory, and so on from the 77th floor.
I intended to move all of my places to the 99th floor.
“Then where do you plan to go, Archmage?”
“Ooh! You’re calling me Archmage now!”
Adrienne beamed as she continued.
“Well! I’ll rest a little on the Floating Island first! Just rest! And then keep resting, I suppose?!
An Archmage does not concern herself with the mundane world.
It was an unspoken rule.
That was the very reason the Floating Island had elevated Adrienne to Archmage in the first place. Her destructive magic was a force of monstrous, godlike power capable of annihilating continents and nations if she set her mind to it.
Even in the original story, she did not interfere that much.
“Still, I’ll come to visit the Magic Tower sometimes!”
Adrienne grinned. I also gave a small smile.
“Yes. You have worked hard all this time.”
“Professor Deculein, you should stop killing so many people from now on too!”
At that advice, I shook my head.
“I do not think I can.”
Now, I will be mobilized in the war as the Emperor’s Imperial Guard. More precisely, I will go to the desert. I will kill countless Jeokgwe and members of the Altar, and I will meet Quay and negotiate with him.
I will ask about the future of this continent, and reveal the meaning of my existence.
“Huhu. Well, that’s true! There’s been quite an uproar about something called the Revelation lately!”
Adrienne lifted the 「Revelation」 with 「Psychokinesis」.
The Revelation in which Quay recorded the various disasters that would befall the continent.
Among them, thirteen great disasters had already come true, including a great earthquake, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and tidal waves.
“Yes.”
There are still ten revelations left.
A landslide will occur in the western imperial territory of Bel; a bitter cold akin to an ice age will descend upon the territory of Puhairden; the world will be thrown into turmoil by Yuren’s extraordinary declaration……
And in the end, God will descend and purify the continent stained by original sin.
“They say this is a flyer spread by the Jeokgwe, right?!”
I gave no answer to Adrienne’s question. She was an incredibly loose-lipped person.
“Hmph! Fine!”
Adrienne pouted.
It was then.
──This is bad, this is bad! Professor!
A loud cry rang out from my crystal orb. It was Louina’s voice, unusually flustered.
Adrienne’s ears perked up, and I picked up the crystal orb.
“What is it?”
─Hurry, please come down to the 77th floor!
Dudududu—
Before I could even move, Adrienne got on the elevator first.
I let out a sigh and followed after her.
“Hurry up!”
Adrienne pressed the button for the 77th floor.
Her lips were smiling broadly, and her hair fluttered.
I still did not know what sort of incident it was, but perhaps it was fortunate that she was enjoying her departure.
Ding—!
As soon as we arrived in the corridor, the sound of murmuring rang out first.
Murmur murmur— clamor clamor— the noise I most detest hearing.
Not only Louina, but also Relin and many other professors and undergraduates seemed to have come to watch.
“What is it?”
“Um……”
Louina, breaking out in a cold sweat, pointed at my research room.
“I think you’ll know if you see it……”
I approached that research room and looked inside.
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
“……”
There was nothing.
There was nothing inside the research room.
It was literally empty.
The microscope, centrifuge, granulator, mana stone condenser, and so on to which I had bestowed 「Midas’ Hand」…… Of course, they were things I had bought out of an obsession with the title of “highest grade” and never even used, but in any case, they were gone.
Everything had vanished completely.
“Heh!”
Adrienne laughed. I glared at her. Adrienne cleared her throat and held back her laughter.
“……It was that crazy bastard!”
Suddenly, Relin shouted. I looked back at him.
The theft of equipment from the Head Professor’s research room.
Faced with an incident truly unprecedented in history, Relin’s face was deathly pale.
“Whom are you talking about?”
“Epherene! I mean Epherene! That crazy bastard!”
Relin’s face turned bright red as he shouted and shouted, and at those words, I too was convinced.
Indeed, if it were that Epherene, she had the nerve to do something like this—no, she lacked the common sense enough to do something like this.
“Not even the magical alarm went off! Then it must have been the work of someone acquainted with the interior structure of the 77th floor, and considering that not only the equipment but also several magic books from the study were completely cleaned out……”
“The magic books were taken as well?”
I asked that. At that, Relin’s mouth stiffened tightly.
“……Ah, yes. That…… yes.”
“……”
I became slightly angry.
Of course, if it was indeed Epherene’s doing, then even if I were not angry, I would have to act angry, but petty thievery like this did not suit my dignity at all.
As a method of being hated, it was so effective that it was almost extreme.
“A-Anyway! That crazy bastard committed such an enormous theft!”
“……An enormous theft, you say.”
Well, now that I thought about it, it was not merely petty theft.
I calculated the value of the equipment that had been in the research room.
“It seems she took about 100 million elne.”
At those words, everyone shut their mouths. Only Adrienne opened hers with a heeek—.
“100 million, 100 million elne……”
Since some of the items were “artifacts” with performance superior to the inventions of the Floating Island, if sold to the Floating Island, they would certainly fetch that much.
They were monster-grade pieces of equipment that had eaten up as much as 4,000 of my mana.
“T-Then I will go report it immediately!”
Relin ran outside, and the other mages also left the 77th floor while watching my expression.
“Then me too! I’ll go watch her being put on the wanted list!”
Adrienne also left after them.
Her snickering laughter disappeared as she took the elevator.
“……”
The 77th floor grew quiet.
No, beyond quiet, the research room was desolate.
“……Epherene.”
There was not a single object to fill the space, so my words echoed in every direction.
Seeing that scene, I was left dumbfounded. It had been a place filled only with the highest-grade machines, so I had felt a certain pride whenever I looked at it.
“This insolent fool.”
Flutter—
At that moment, a piece of paper suddenly drifted down from the air. It was not by coincidence, but a magical device.
I took the note in my hand.
As soon as I saw it, a hollow laugh escaped me.
[Payment for taking my thesis and mana stone]
* * *
At the same time, in Sanctuary Sewol.
“……Are you sure it’s okay? Bringing all of this here.”
Alen asked cautiously.
Epherene answered while installing the equipment from the 77th floor.
“What do you mean? He was the one who first announced my thesis and mana stone as if they were his.”
“But you were the one who told him to do that, Miss Epherene.”
“Still. If something comes in, something has to go out.”
“Heh-heh—” Epherene smiled crookedly. Right now, all she could see were the enormous machines before her.
Allen still asked worriedly.
“You’ll be wanted……”
“If I’m here, they can’t catch me anyway.”
“You won’t be able to go to the Floating Island……”
“With equipment like this, I don’t care if I never go to the Floating Island for the rest of my life.”
With Deculein’s microscope, she could observe mana particles themselves, and with the centrifuge, she could separate the pure mana inside a mana stone.
With the condenser, she could even turn her own mana into mana stones……
“My goodness, how could anyone just leave such wonderful things alone?”
Epherene tapped the glossy machines, which showed hardly any sign of use, and murmured in admiration.
Allen asked once more.
“Are you really going to be all right?”
“……Of course it hurts. There’s no turning back now.”
Though she was smiling on the outside, Epherene’s heart was charring black.
How much would Deculein hate her now? This wicked disciple who had gone beyond ingratitude and even robbed him of his equipment.
It was frightening and painful even to dare imagine it, but……
“That’s one thing, but if you get caught, you’ll go to prison.”
“There’s no evidence.”
“You left a note……”
“……Ah.”
That was a problem.
Epherene licked her lips for no reason, then scratched the back of her neck as if to say, whatever.
“Still, if they investigate and end up arresting some poor innocent person, that wouldn’t be right, would it? I did leave a note, but there’s no proof that I stole it.”
“……”
What is she talking about? Allen swallowed the words before they could spill out.
“So, what are you going to do with all this?”
“First.”
Epherene cleared her throat and said,
“I’m going to save Yulli. With this equipment and my magic.”
Hehehe—
At that moment, Idnik’s laughter rang out. Epherene and Allen turned to look at her.
Idnik grinned and held up a Wizboard.
“Epherene. Look at this. Your report’s already been filed. There’s an article, too. Epherene, presumed to have stolen all the equipment of the teacher she severed ties with.”
“……Is that so?”
Epherene paid it little mind and went back to focusing on assembling the equipment.
“Yep. It’s in the paper here too. Apparently, all of it together is estimated to be worth two hundred million elne?”
“……”
Two hundred million elne.
It was far more than she had expected, but she swallowed hard and shot back.
“It’s not as much as the value of my thesis…… probably.”
At the Magic Tower, they were on the verge of creating an entire department focused solely on the magic of Deculein-Luna. All sorts of mages were poring over that thesis, it was being cited across the world, and Deculein would become an elder of a new school.
That was how enormous the practical reverberations of Deculein-Luna were.
“With this, your relationship is completely ruined.”
Idnik laughed as she looked at her.
“From now on, you’d better run, Epherene. Until you complete your research.”
Epherene twisted her lips crookedly and nodded.
“Yes. That’s actually what I wanted. Now absolutely no harm will come to the professor anymore…… right?”
Yet in that voice, chattering as if in delight, there was for some reason a faint sadness mixed in.