The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 37: The Transmigrator Doubts The Transmigrator

Iluka had trouble following the lesson because she was reading the letter from her parents.

[The Blanton family has cut off most of the distribution network to our guild. There is a rumor going around the state that you’ve injured the Prince with a spear. We will be visiting today so wait at the gates once classes end.]

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It wasn’t me...!

This was unfair. She had stayed as quiet as a mouse since coming here.

It was the fact that she ended up in the same class as the Prince of all things. She had entered Tilette so as to not cause trouble for her parents and siblings but that damned Prince everything.

She was being wrongfully accused of something that she didn’t do, and it only increased her animosity towards the Prince.

That bastard Klion.... I really should have made a hole in his stomach at the ceremony!

That would have resulted in her expulsion of course. It was something that could only transpire within her imagination.

Iluka crumpled her parents’ letter and grit her teeth. Just then, the school bell rang and the teacher left the class.

It was unavoidable. With firm resolution, Iluka stepped outside.

**

The Prince had been absent from school for a week due to the stabbing.

But the pressure on Iluka remained the same because of how the Prince had picked her to be a concubine. He must be trying to get her expelled by provoking her like this.

It was probably Duke Blanton’s doing. I’ll follow along with the story to this point.

As soon as class ended, Vermel also stood from his chair to follow Iluka. He knew what event was about to happen next and right now, what he had to do was prevent it from resulting badly.

If I don’t deflect successfully during the event, the probability of defeating the Demon King drops below fifty. Iluka is a crucial figure.

One of Iluka’s physical characteristics was the eye patch she wore over one eye.

So basically, Iluka was odd-eyed. She had different colored eyes from birth. This signified that she received the blessings of two different Elementals simultaneously in equal amounts. The world called this Dual Core.

While a Dual Core was able to use two kinds of Element Magic, their output was only half of what it should be. The general perception of Dual Cores was ‘versatilely incapable’.

But Iluka was different. Both her Fire and Water Realm output far surpassed that of a regular person. She couldn’t have entered Tilette’s gifted class if it weren’t for that.

Vermel got up so he could stop Iluka’s imminent expulsion.

SYSTEM : ‘Dark Day Aether’ is watching you closely.

Just then, Aether also rose from her seat. That itself wasn’t a problem.

Why is she staring at me?

A chill went down his spine.

Vermel couldn’t beat Aether with his current skill level. If she showed any signs of corruption at this point, then it was straight to the bad ending regardless of anyone else’s actions.

It’s only the beginning of the semester. Please, just stay still....

SYSTEM : ‘Dark Day Aether’ follows you.

SYSTEM : Take utmost caution.

Please!

This was not going well. Vermel chased after Iluka as she left the hallway.

The feeling of being followed even though he was doing the same was rather unsettling.

Especially since his tail was the key figure who held the fate of the world in her hands.

**

Flare’s research was going smoothly. I was currently calculating the yield of nuclear weapons through determining the coefficients of the Bethe–Feynman formula.

For this, the development of Flare was a prerequisite. In other words, completing Flare would greatly propel the development of this world’s version of nuclear weapons.

The problem was the testing. It didn’t matter how much theoretical progress was made if no testing could be done.

Testing was a grueling process in many ways from the design stage to gathering data. Even during undergrad, those lab courses had been torturous. Not only did you need full knowledge of the theoretical, but you also needed to be competent at test preparation and proceedings, removing variables in error calculations, as well as operating computer programs.

But all of that was only possible with the proper testing equipment.

My current budget didn’t allow for the testing of Flare.

That was why I applied to Tilette. For students, the research equipment could be rented for free. The materials required for tests were also partially covered by the school so I shouldn’t be paying that much out of pocket.

To have loaning privileges, I at least needed to be part of a club. The club fair wouldn’t be happening for another week so I needed to work on other things until then.

[And so you’re choosing to tail the elf student?]

I had to in order to find evidence that would prove my hunch of Vermel being a transmigrator. Over the last few days, I’d been recording his behavioral patterns in a notebook.

One. His pupils shake when our eyes meet.

Two. He hardly asks questions during class.

These two things were the strongest indicators as to why Vermel might be a transmigrator. Let’s say that the first is true. The second one might be trivial but that was why it was worth noting.

The more studious someone was, the more questions that they asked. My classmates who had been first in class during high school or those who were top of their major in university had all been like that.

But not Vermel. He acted like he already knew everything from the beginning. Even as someone who believed they wouldn’t be learning anything in first year, I still raised my hand occasionally to ask something. This guy hadn’t asked the teacher a single question since the start of the semester. He just seemed to be observing everything from his seat at the back.

─ This is the point at which this thing happens. It’s progressing as I expected.

As he thought something like that, maybe.

When all the others were getting up, Vermel did, too, and went somewhere. I tucked the hardcover and notebook inside my robe and followed him while pretending to walk around the school building.

[Whoa, stalking....]

Yeah, I’m stalking. So what?

If Vermel being a transmigrator was confirmed, then I’d be able to know what might happen in the near future from his expressions so it didn’t matter that I was being called a stalker.

I only needed to get back to Earth. If I could obtain information about the future from a transmigrator, then there was nothing I wouldn’t do.

Vermel went past the classroom and the square, then out the southern gate. Then he suddenly came to a halt.

I maintained a distance of ten meters and looked carefully to see what made him stop.

There was a carriage parked next to the gate. A middle-aged man with ultramarine hair climbed out of it.

In front of him stood a girl with the same hair.

She seemed familiar.

[She’s in the same class! Why don’t you know?]

Of course I didn’t. I hadn’t had much opportunity to see the others behind me since Lotte would plead to sit at the front every single day. The only face I really knew from my peers was Freyr.

“It’s been a long time, Iluka.”

The middle-aged gentleman spoke. It was then that I realized the girl was associated with the Eliyev family.

Wasn’t the Eliyev family well-known for business?

“Have you read the letter?

“Yes, father.”

“Then I will ask you right now. Why did you stab the Crown Prince?”

Iluka scowled at that and protested.

“I didn’t do it!”

“The rumors have spread throughout the state. You know better than anyone the grudge you hold against the Prince!”

“It really wasn’t me!”

[Whoa. Should a father be rebuking his child like that rather than supporting her?]

“That’s what it’s like when the family doesn’t get along.”

My older sister would fight with our parents every chance she got, too. They’d snarl about disowning each other.

“You already have a history. Are you even aware how rude it had been to turn down the Prince’s proposal to his face during that ball?”

“I had absolutely no desire to marry the Prince!”

“We are lesser nobles who have no say against any orders that come from the Imperials. Do you truly not know how many sanctions are upon the family guild due to your actions?”

The argument between father and daughter was slowly escalating. Iluka’s face was full of frustration.

Iluka wouldn’t have been the one to stab the Prince. It was clearly a stupid ploy of his. With Klion’s personality, what wouldn’t he do to get her to be his concubine? This was the problem with assholes whose names started with ‘Kl’.

The most decisive proof of Iluka’s innocence came from the actions Vermel took. He abruptly stepped in between father and daughter.

“And who are you?”

“You’re.... from the same class....”

“Vermel Horde, sir. I’m Iluka’s classmate.”

“Is that so? I apologize for the commotion my daughter has caused at the school.”

“That isn’t it, sir. Iluka really is innocent. The Prince was attacked by another.”

“Haha, are you trying to protect your friend? You have a good heart. But unfortunately, young Horde, the inspection department has ruled that my daughter indeed stabbed the Prince. There is nothing that I can do, either.”

“And if the department’s investigation results are lies?”

“Ha, you may be an elf but do not talk so openly. If they so desire, the Imperial court could expel you.”

As I watched how Vermel’s expression kept changing, I became even more certain.

That guy really was a transmigrator. He knew that Viscount Eliyev would be here at this time to meet Iluka and question her, and personally took actions to stop it.

Then that made Iluka someone necessary for my safety, because the transmigrator would be seeking to make a peaceful world without demonic forces. If both our intentions were aligned, then I had every reason and more to help Iluka.

I slipped myself between the three of them at the appropriate timing.

“That’s something you’d know if you go over those investigation results.”

“And you are?”

“I am also a classmate of Lady Eliyev.”

I looked into Viscount Eliyev’s eyes on purpose. That alone got me prepared to convince him.

“A Golden-Eyed....”

The most intelligent and wise species in all of Ahrens continent. The ones who were first bought as a sex slave but then were used solely as a tutor for the children, a living library!

Being logical wasn’t the only technique in convincing and investigating another person. The persuasion could succeed or fail depending on who was presenting the argument as well.

How would people react if a robber with fifteen convictions said, “Stealing is bad!”? Wouldn’t they say “What nonsense” rather than “That’s right”?

In terms of ethos, the Golden-Eyed were the apex predators of the continent. Without changing my expression, I presented my half-bullshit argument clearly and naturally. This was for the sake of being even more convincing.

“The Second Prince was unconscious by the fountain. If we calculate inversely the time of the bleeding, that makes it between four to six a.m. And what were you doing during that time, Iluka?”

“... I was jogging around the west research wing.”

“If Iluka had stabbed the Prince, there should have been ice crystals left around the fountain. But there were no traces of Water Realm element manipulation around that area.”

“Is that really true?”

“Yes, sir, it is.”

I don’t actually know, either. So what?

“Then if the culprit used an actual blade on the Prince and ran off, the weapon should have been found. Did the inspection department come to investigate Iluka in person?”

“No, I didn’t hear that they did.”

“Yet they already ruled her as guilty?”

Iluka’s face lightened up. It was soon time for the decisive blow.

“I may be a ‘Golden-Eyed’ but I am still a ‘citizen’ of Philiut with records in the Empire. The Imperial court may try to intimidate me for saying these things.”

And the Prince really was pulling all sorts of crazy shit.

“Be that as it may, our kind highly detests the spreading of falsehood. And so I am sharing my thoughts at the risk of disrespecting Imperials.”

“I-If that’s what the Golden-Eyed is saying.... I believe it was poor judgment on my part. I will reconsider this matter, then. I’m sorry to have doubted you, Iluka.”

“Father....”

With this, the case was momentarily closed. Viscount Eliyev then climbed back onto the carriage that he came on. He didn’t seem that bad of a father from the way he gave some allowance to his daughter as an apology. I guess this was what shrimps in the middle of a power struggle looked like1.

“... Thanks, both of you. I’ll definitely repay this later.”

Red-faced, Iluka bowed her head then like her father had left, she ran in the opposite direction. Vermel and I were the only ones left in the vacant afternoon’s square.

He asked me.

“... Who are you?”

1. Variation on the Korean saying that a shrimp's back bursts open when whales fight, meaning that innocent people get caught in the crossfire of another's quarrel; apt bc shrimp also implies being weak ('lesser nobles')