The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 176: [Research] Start: Atomic Bomb Development (5)

Chapter 176: [Research] Start: Atomic Bomb Development (5)

“Are you asking for a debt guarantee?”

As soon as he heard Aether’s request, Renawill’s expression shifted subtly. He was completely caught up in her pace.

Aether replied with a smile.

“There are different types of guarantees.”

“You mean a guarantee of something else instead of money?”

“What will you do if it is a debt?”

Instead of replying, Renawill let out a groan.

It was a tentative but also rude question to ask a Duke of a great country that was the Empire. Yet she read bewilderment more than anger in Duke Hasfeldt’s eyes.

And even the bewilderment wasn’t focused on the ‘guarantee’ part. As expected of a Duke, Renawill was trying to guess the purpose of the question.

“I would ask what the amount is first.”

“You aren’t refusing.”

“I say this especially because it’s you.”

Especially?

What did he mean ‘especially’?

“We haven’t even known each other long.”

“Klais would’ve seen you for three years.”

“.......”

Aether was struck speechless.

“The wrong that my daughter committed against you not only tainted your name but also the Hasfeldt family’s honor. I had sent her off to the north to recover even a bit of it, however.....”

Renawill’s words cut off there.

A moment of silence.

“......No, that was unnecessary just now.”

“I’d like to hear more.”

“Anyway, I’m saying that our family owes you. From our end, contrary to what you have said.”

“.......”

“So the right procedure is to ask the amount if I am to be a guarantor.”

Aether let out a subtle laugh.

This person was more calculating than she thought.

Normally, when people were asked to be a guarantor, they would leave or smile in disbelief. There were even those who got angry depending on the situation.

That was what guarantees were: a magic word that caused strife even between close friends or family. The magic word that destroyed trust in an instant!

Aether valued trust. Because she...... he had no experience of having trusted in someone easily after becoming an adult.

Hence, one had to have money to earn her trust since she had accepted that money was the only medium that connected people with trust.

Duke Hasfeldt looked clearly into those thoughts like an endoscope. In doing so, he had saved Aether’s face while also protecting his daughter and family’s honor.

Grin.

The corner of Aether’s mouth curved up slightly.

“It may be more than you can handle.”

“How much are we looking at?”

“I cannot make guarantees.”

Hasfeldt’s eyes sparkled like rubies reflecting the sunlight.

He must have realized something.

“It isn’t money, then.”

“No.”

“If not money, then what is it?”

“Identity.”

Now they could start a proper conversation.

“Please vouch for my identity.”

**“Then I will take my leave first.”

Aether left first due to classes. Staring where the girl had been sitting a moment ago, Renawill leaned back on the cafeteria chair.

Vouch for her identity....

Renawill still didn’t wholly understand what that meant.

Identity.

Identity, was it.

Why would someone who was going to graduate Tilette in three years and become a noble ask a Duke to vouch for her?

“Hmm.”

Renawill pondered as he put down his cup.

He recalled in his mind what Aether had said earlier.

─ My current status is unstable. A house of cards, if you will.

─ It isn’t simply because I used to be a slave. It may sound conceited, but I will say it bluntly; I am confident that I can graduate with top marks from Tilette.

That was true. Aether was soon going to receive a title.

It wasn’t necessary to guarantee her noble status. And it was the Imperial court that certified one’s status in the first place, not a Duke.

There was no way that she didn’t know this.

“Proof of identity....”

Renawill kept retracing his memories.

─ I cannot tell you the details of my identity yet. And it can’t be revealed either. However, in the case that something bad happens.......

─ If you could come to my defense even when everyone in the Empire turn their backs on me, I would be most grateful.

A word came to Renawill’s mind when he recalled up to that point.

Humanoid Beast.

It was the only identity that couldn’t be revealed and would have everyone turning their backs.

It was a truly reasonable deduction.

However.

“That couldn’t be.”

Renawill shook his head.

All humanoid Beasts tried to hide their identity. They were the ones who tried to behave like  humans more than humans did.

Aether’s demeanor was sloppy in comparison. It was as if she was saying ‘help me out when I’m discovered as a monster’.

Humanoid Beasts weren’t that stupid.

“Did she commit murder and defect, perhaps? Or....”

That was the best guess he could come up with.

Sitting here like this won’t give me an answer.

Renawill got up from his seat, paid at the register, and left. As he walked along the trail at the back of the campus, he organized information by separating the useless from key ones.

How did she look at the time?

Resolute.

A face like she’d made a decision.

Renawill had seen enough people with that kind of face.

Those on duty at the northern front.

There had been determination in each of their eyes, and earlier, Aether had been looking at Renawill with eyes similar to theirs.

It wasn’t a look that just anyone could have. By the time that Renawill came to his senses, it had been after he nodded, moved by her sincerity.

─ Are you sure about this?

─ Thank you.

─ This is only a verbal agreement. A contract isn’t necessary and there’s no need for a deposit either. It’s just that...... you only need to believe in me once.

─ This is the last thing. I’ll trust you as well, sir.

That had been the last of their conversation.

Renawill gently closed his eyes.

I trust you. Aether had emphasized those last words over and over again, as if she’d been stabbed in the back many times by others.

Renawill knew that it was much better to build trust with money, and so should Aether.

Yet the reason for leaving it as a verbal agreement is.......

Just then.

A chill instinctively went down his spine.

He didn’t know why. It was a ‘hunch’, a critical hunch sent by the data that had accrued in his body over decades of living a political life.

Halt.

His walk over, there was only one thought left in Renawill’s head.

The promise made with the girl.

If it wasn’t kept, then the Hasfeldt family would.......

**After class.

I drank mana water and prepared to transmute as always.

“How did it go with the Duke?”

“It was fine.”

I only told Lotte that it ended well.

Thinking back on it, it had been quite a satisfying conversation. Unlike his first impression, Duke Hasfeldt was someone easier to talk to than I had imagined.

I didn’t know yet if he was someone trustworthy; I only knew that his brain worked better than Klais’.

Anyway, with this I had at least four ‘safety nets’.

“Yoo, guys! I’ve been discharged!”

“E-excuse me.... May we come in?”

It was a sudden visit. Erika and Merilda, who had just been discharged, dragged their hunched bodies into the club.

“Huh? How did you know we were here?”

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Freyr asked.

“Romel told us that Aether was doing club activities at the Transmutation Club when she visited him.... Did we get it wrong?”

“Right, I did say that.”

I lied smoothly.

“So what are you working on?”

Erika asked, but we didn’t have to kindly reply to her.

“Uh, huh...?”

Erika and Merilda’s face turned dumbfounded.

“Wh-what the heck are you guys building?”

“This?”

Tong, tong–I patted the lump of iron and responded to Erika.

“A bomb.”

“A... bomb.”

“Yeah, a bomb.”

I said it once more to let her know she didn’t hear things.

“It’s no ordinary size.”

“Why are you making a bomb in a place like this...?”

“To enter it into the art festival.”

The faces of the two elves filled with bewilderment.

Merilda was the first to give up on thinking about it.

“Which section of the bomb is that?”

“This thing isn’t a bomb.”

Filled with mana water, Lotte and I had been in the middle of making the outside of the synchrotron by transforming the metal plates that Duke Hasfeldt had sent.

For sure, there had been results after transmuting a thousand times. We could now transmute a simple frame with our eyes closed; it was a huge leap.

“Then what is it?”

“A device that helps with making bombs.”

“Do you keep transmuting even without mana grass?”

“It is about time for a smoke.”

Lotte and I pulled out sticks from our inner pocket and put it in our mouths. The club instantly became a smoking area.

Sculpt. Model. Sculpt. Model.

We were transmuting something heavier and more complicated than yesterday so we had to redo it again and again. Of course, the mana was used up that much faster.

I was feeling slightly exhausted. Maybe it was that I was a Golden-Eyed, but my body broke down faster than other races when using more mana than necessary. I’ve been tired as hell since yesterday.

“Why are you guys here?”

“Ah, we came to see you....”

“Why? You want to fight again?”

Erika and Merilda both waved their hands.

“N-no!”

“We’d be crazy to ask you for a rematch!”

“Then?”

“Just, we were curious what the top student did after school.”

“Th-that’s right.”

These guys sucked at lying.

But, wait.

“.......”

“Wh-what is it? Why are you staring like that?”

“Your name was Merilda, right?”

“Huh? Yes....”

“You said you were curious about how I could use magic without mana grass. Right?”

She nodded vigorously.

“Any elf who’s come here as an exchange student would be curious as well.”

“Yeah, I see.”

“Is there another way besides winning in a duel...?”

I nodded in reply.

Merilda’s face lit up at once, then closed the distance between us in an instant; that was how eager she was. Whoosh, whoosh–she asked as she waved her hand.

“What should I do?”

Good. It didn’t hurt that to be highly motivated.

I seated Merilda who had a question mark over her head.

I’d already memorized what was the ability that this girl had shown during combat. A skill that casted buffs on teammates with music like Rosemary–that was the ability that this girl possessed.

“Can you also play something that increases the efficiency of mana recovery?”

“Yes, that’s no trouble.”

“That’s good.”

Clap. My hands were placed on her shoulders.

I lifted the corners of my mouth all the way up. Perhaps sensing that something was wrong, Merilda’s pupils shrunk. But it was too late.

Having caught on, Erika ran away even using a spell that sped up her movement, and as such, Merilda was the only elf left here.

“Ah? E-Erika! Where did you go!”

How unfortunate. They seemed to be best friends.

No, it didn’t matter to me, did it.

“Welcome to our lab, my elf friend.”

Merilda shrieked.

**It was eight hours since we met with Merilda who had been discharged.

- *Ding, dinga, ding....*[You are currently listening to the ‘Song of Mana Recovery (Fast)’ being played.]

[The following buffs are given until the song finishes.]

[Mana recovery increased (+120%)]

[Mana capacity increased (+20%)]

[Fatigue reduction (+35%)]

“Sniiiff, sniff....... My fingers hurt so much.......”

Really, the sound of the guitar that she was playing was–

“Huu, ahhhhhhhhk......!”

Sweet.