The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 177: Our Work Explodes (1)

[The ‘Song of Mana Recovery’ is currently applied.]

[Mana recovery increased (+400%)]

“May we rest for a little bit...?”

“No.”

“Aha, hahaha, ahahaha.......”

Merilda played the guitar while giggling. Saltwater spilled from her eyes, as if she had realized the joys of labor.

Thinking that she might become ruined if she kept going, I stopped working and got up. Merilda’s sunken eyes like that of a dead fish moved to follow my form.

“Okay, let’s take a break.”

As soon as I said that, Merilda ran out screaming.

“Oh no, Merilda’s gone mad.”

“Her hands must be hurting badly!”

“It was a bit much, to be honest.”

The three of us stretched and shook off the exhaustion from our bodies.

While Lotte and Freyr hydrated themselves with carbonated water, I browsed the hovering hardcover for a change of pace.

[Ultimate Earth Magic ─ Free Transmutation][The achievement of this magic is represented by proficiency level.]

[Proficiency level : 21%]

How much transmutation had we done to be at 21 percent already?

I’d drank so much mana water that my mouth tasted sour. It wasn’t refreshing like lemon or orange, but something unpleasant that was closer to vinegar.

Anyway.

The synchrotron which would accelerate the helium nuclei was almost done. Now all that was left was to condense the neutrons and stick them into the detonator.

“Freyr, did you finish making it?”

“Got it done early thanks to that one.”

“Then we’re done for today.”

It looked like we were going to make it by the day before the festival. If it wasn’t for Merilda, we would’ve had to pull an all-nighter tonight.

I was just thinking that I’d show my appreciation later when–

Craaash, bang!

“Hey, what did you guys do to our Merilda!”

Erika kicked the door of the club and entered.

“I said, what did you do?!”

There was fury in her voice.

Being wary, Lotte and Freyr weren’t able to speak up so I had no choice but to be the one.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.

“A 24-hour full course of playing the guitar.”

“Excuse me?”

“My bad, thirty-six hours of guitar-playing not including eating time.”

Her face went slack.

Erika slapped her forehead. A bizarre sound that couldn’t be distinguished whether it was a laugh of moan came out of her mouth.

After taking a breath, she screamed.

“Th-thirty-six hours of guitar playing? Have you all gone mad...? You made her play without a break? Just to get some magic buffs?”

Erika pounded on her chest. There was an excellent cushion on it so it didn’t sound dull.

“I don’t believe this!”

“I don’t want crap from an elf who abandoned her friend.”

“Sh-shut up!”

Erika ran out again, then soon came back with Merilda. Merilda was muttering something while her right hand trembled.

“What are you going to do about her?”

“What do you mean.”

Since she diligently did what I asked, I was going to compensate her appropriately.

Shliff.

The hardcover that had been hovering above my hand descended onto it.

“Since you worked hard, I’ll tell you why I can use magic even without mana grass.”

“R-really?”

Merilda’s complexion brightened at that.

And she wasn’t the only one who showed interest. There was also Erika, of course, and even Lotte and Freyr focused on the hardcover in my hand while rubbing their sleepy eyes.

“Before I do, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Is this really that important?”

Merilda’s brows furrowed, like she was asking what this was all of a sudden.

“I mean, think about it. You guys all know how to use magic, so why would you be curious about whether I can use magic or not.”

They supposedly had a Golden-Eyed friend back in Iliad, but it was neither Erika nor Merilda’s concern.

They knew how to use magic and were even good at Elemental Magic. They didn’t necessarily have to help me or that Golden-Eyed friend of theirs.

“...bad.”

“What?”

Merilda, who’d been pursing her lips for a while, spoke first.

“I feel bad.”

“About what.”

“I can’t stand it because I feel so bad for them!”

Merilda continued while rubbing her swollen hands.

“You won’t know because you’re at Tilette. There’s still a lot of discrimination against the Golden-Eyed from the High Elves.

“That so?”

“Didn’t you hear what Jarod said last time? He said that you had a disability. That’s how they perceive not being able to use magic at Iliad!”

In summary, the two being normal Wood Elves didn’t want to be part of the asshattery of the High Elves.

“Look at you meddling in the business of others.”

I really liked suckers like these.

I changed the subject by showing the hardcover to the two elves.

“This thing’s a magic tool that I secretly carry around with me, and I can store a bit of mana in it.”

“My goodness. A magic tool like that exists?”

“You can see for yourself if you don’t believe me.”

The two elves came closer with curiosity in their eyes. Erika and Merilda both reached for my book at the same time.

And then.

[WARNING][Unauthorized users may not touch or view!]Pzzzt! The two elves removed their hands in an instant as sparks flew.

“Kyaaa!”

“Ugh! What is this!”

The two elves as well as Lotte and Freyr looked shocked.

“Oh, right. No one else can hold it besides me.”

“What, it was a book with an ego?”

“It must be.”

“If it has an ego, then it should be able to talk with Elementals.”

Merilda and Erika nodded at each other, then stepped back and summoned their Elementals.

A gentle Elemental that controlled sound and a young Elemental with a bright voice each appeared.

[...... This is.]

[Oh, oh, oh?]

The two Intermediate Elementals quirked their heads and kept quiet. Erika and Merilda were standing there dazed with bemused expressions as if they’d never seen the Elementals like this before.

“Huh? How strange....”

“What’s wrong with them?”

Tension surrounded them.

Did I get caught?

The hardcover also didn’t say anything. A tense silence began to fill the room.

Gulp. Someone’s throat shifted.

[...I-I want to go back.]

[Sorry, Erika! I’m going to hide for a bit!]

Ah, they disappeared.

The pupils of the two people were devastated.

It wasn’t just Erika and Merilda. Including me, everyone in the room couldn’t hide their bafflement.

“That’s odd.... They’ve never acted like this before.......”

They must not have noticed that I was a Beast. If they had, then they would’ve alerted their master like ‘This one’s a monster!’ or something. When I read the expressions of the two elves, it didn’t look like that kind of conversation took place.

Those two had simply hid or run off.

Even defying their contractor.

Unable to stand it, I asked the hardcover.

Did you do something?

I asked the same question several times, but the book remained silent. Afterwards, I sent away the two elves whose curiosity had been satisfied and finished the synchrotron with my remaining friends.

That was about when I got an answer.

[I don’t know either.]

Although it was called an ‘art festival’, it was only one of many autumn festivals held at Tilette.

The festivals at Tilette themselves were called the ‘Grand Communal Festival’, like how university festivals were called.

Including the art festival, the Grand Communal Festival consisted of invention contests, mini-thesis contests, poster contests, scroll presentation contests, etc. As expected of the most prestigious academy in the Empire, the scale of the festival as well as the prize money for the contests were enormous.

The art fest was an important event that kicked off the Grand Communal Festival. The prize money was considerable, of course, and every year they prepared a special secondary prize that contestants didn’t know about.

“Here come the judges!”

With the opening ceremony, three people stepped out of the carriage. They were all middle-aged men dressed in luxurious frock coats.

We clapped hard from the amphitheater. Holding a festival when midterms were imminent, what a luxury this was.

“Oh, I know that person!”

The first one to react was Lotte.

“It’s Cultural Center Director Crowpeltz. They say she’s a big name in the art world.”

I see, then was she going to be the judge for the art fest?

Actually, it didn’t matter if we didn’t get the prize at the art fest. The goal was to raise future research funds and even if it wasn’t the prize money from the festival, there were other ways to raise the money.

If anything, we could also enter the invention or mini-thesis contest. There was time until then so I was entering in a ‘throw to see what stuck’ kind of way.

“So was she the judge last year, too?”

“Probably?”

“Picking a toilet as the winning piece was a bit much, man.”

How could they see beauty in something like that? It was just as I was thinking I wanted to see it.

“Are you interested in seeing my work, my lady?”

A leisurely, sleazy voice came from behind my neck. When I turned my head unconsciously, a guy who looked even sleazier than he sounded was combing his hair.

“Oh dear, you must be this year’s new students judging from your robes. I would like to show you the last winner to you ladies, but.... Unfortunately, my work is now diligently serving its purpose behind the stage!”

He seemed like a weird person.

Ahh, even this is art! Isn’t this the beauty given by the gods......! Indeed, like the sculpted faces of you two ladies!”

Correction.

He was weird as fuck.