The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 128: What Are You Doing, Sis? (8)

Chapter 128: What Are You Doing, Sis? (8)

Even a body made of machines needed to sleep.

It was the same principle as seeing a blue screen if one left the computer on for too long. They didn’t need as much sleep as humans, of course, but it didn’t mean that they could go for days without it.

The recommended number of hours of sleep was three. If they slept less than this, then they would have to spend the next day in a groggy state.

And it would be the same for Rosemary.

“Haaaahm.”

“You look tired today.”

“I didn’t sleep well last night....”

As Rosemary rubbed at her eyes like she was dry washing her face, yawns kept escaping from her mouth.

It couldn’t have been that she lost sleep from being scared of ghosts or Beasts when she herself was that monster.

She must have stayed up yesterday to do something, and I racked my brain to figure out what that ‘something’ was. And right before lunch, I came to a single conclusion.

Vermel’s in danger.

“Going to the restroom.”

Since there were a lot of eyes right now, Rosemary wasn’t going to be able to turn on Scope. I excused myself and stepped out of the cafeteria.

I needed to check on my companion. With that thought alone, I ran towards the Cultural Center.

Clunk.

When I broke into the hideout, six metal cameras greeted me.

Of course.

The steel plate walls had clearly been scratched up by a blade. She must have thought that she restored everything to their original state somehow, but there were a few defects here and there. It seemed that Rosemary thought there would be a space somewhere inside the wall.

As promised, Vermel had said he wouldn’t go anywhere from here. There was no way that he went back on his word not even a day later. With that thought, I took out the calipers from subspace and held it as far as possible.

Clink! Clink! Claaang!

A clear sound like a fork hitting against glass pierced the camera lenses. After smashing all the surveillance cameras, Vermel burst out of the cabinet like a baby bird breaking out of its shell.

He was wheezing, face pale like a white magnolia. There was blood scabbed on his left arm and right temple.

He was in his own horror movie... was something I couldn’t joke about.

“... How did you know to come here?”

“Rosemary was dozing off the whole class.”

“Thanks. I would’ve died if it wasn’t for you.”

“You can save it. I don’t have time right now.”

I would’ve liked to take him to the infirmary, but right now, it was more dangerous to leave this place. His wounds didn’t seem severe so they should heal on their own just fine with bandages or something.

After saying goodbye with a glance, I returned to the cafeteria.

The food tray was already cleared. Dabbing at her mouth with a napkin, Rosemary turned her head.

“What took so long, sis?”

Considering her past actions, Rosemary was considerably clever. I was scared that she might have noticed that I left to go find Vermel.

“Hey, you shouldn’t ask those things, young lady.”

“Hmph.”

She was probably going to look around the basement again tonight. She’d wait until Vermel came out and take him out where I couldn’t see.

I took my tray to the collection area and left the cafeteria together with Rosemary. We grabbed a canned coffee each from the vending machine and engaged in small talk.

“So what are you planning to do after school today, sis?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Because I want to invite you to our place, since you helped me adjust to the school at the beginning.”

What’s this now?

“Sorry, but can I take a rain check on that?”

“Do you have some kind of prior engagement?”

“I have a meeting with Professor Cai-Lussac this afternoon.”

Clack.

Rosemary dropped the coffee that she had been holding. It made clanging noises like a tin drum as the spilled coffee seeped into the floor. Rosemary let out an aborted ‘Ahh...!’

“You okay?”

“Yes, it didn’t get on my clothes, thankfully. Goodness, look at me.... I should get home early and sleep.”

Rosemary smiled dazedly like a cat high on catnip and picked up the can.

But unlike her curled lips, her eyes were ferocious.

**Even if I wanted to miniaturize Flare, I didn’t know where to begin.

Even making a scroll smaller was a problem right now. Fine processes weren’t my field of expertise.

“Auhh.”

Still, I made a bold claim to the chairman that I’d make it within three months so I had to.

[Wow. So you said you’d make the deadline when you don’t even have a clue on what to do?]

“What’s wrong with that?”

[If you don’t make the deadline, then that Mössbayer person is probably going to subject you to public humiliation.]

“Then I just have to make it.”

The hardcover stopped talking in disbelief. Regardless, I marched towards the Earth Magic research facility.

To meet with the authority on this world’s nanotechnology, Professor Cai-Lussac.

If I didn’t know, I just needed to learn from someone else. How would I possibly do it alone?

Knock knock.

“Sir, it’s Aether, I set up a meeting with you this morning. May I come in?”

“Come in, Miss Aether!”

The door opened like he’d been waiting. Professor Cai-Lussac greeted me with a bright face.

There was a reason why he was glad to see me.

One of the Golden-Eyed who’d been widely known for their brilliance since the past.

The only perfect scorer of the written test in the history of Tilette, and the top student of the first years with Vermel currently gone.

Published two papers in the Imperial Society Journal as the first author despite being an undergraduate.

With these three things combined, I unknowingly became an attractive student to the professors. It seemed that Professor Cai-Lussac was no exception with how happy he was at my visit, serving me tea and snacks. I couldn’t tell who was supposed to be the professor here.

“I’m rather curious about what questions you have. What did you want to ask me?”

“I’d like to learn nano-level control using Elemental Magic.”

“Hmm.”

Cai-Lussac stroked his white beard, seeming troubled.

“Is it only possible through forming a contract with an Elemental?”

Cai-Lussac had said in class that precise control at the nano-level was only possible through using an Elemental. Then did that mean semiconductor processes couldn’t be done without Elementals in this world? I was confused.

“No, it isn’t completely impossible, however.... It’s difficult with today’s technology. That is why we need the help of the Elementals.”

“Would I be able to form a contract with an Elemental? Or at least converse with one?”

When I said this, the professor’s expression became even more complicated. Cai-Lussac heaved a deep sigh like someone who’d heard the Riemann hypothesis1.

“I asked a friend who majored in history the other day after I saw your eyes, if Golden-Eyeds can also possess an Elemental.”

“... And?”

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“From what they know, they have never found such a case even after searching through a thousand-years worth of records. Although this isn’t a mainstream theory, some scholars say that the Golden-Eyed were spurned by the Goddess a long time ago.”

So if I didn’t have a contracted Elemental, then I couldn’t even dream about miniaturizing Flare.

[But you have me, Master.]

The hardcover was useful, true, but only in the sense of being an encyclopedia that provided the complete list of magic. With a few added coding functions. That was it. To be honest, it was no more than a laptop with an analog feel.

[Geez, harsh, much?]

The flapping book slipped right into my pocket. This guy was sulking a lot these days.

“... Ahem, even if you don’t have an Elemental, I can at least show you the equipment needed for research.”

“Oh, really?”

“Come this way.”

My heart started beating faster at the sliver of hope. I scurried after Cai-Lussac.

“It’s this.”

It was an equipment the size of a computer monitor. On one side, there was a black cuboid box which was attached to a long cylinder and sharply cut prisms, all wrapped in a conducting wire.

“Um, what is this? It looks like a microscope of sorts....”

“You already knew? It is indeed a microscope.”

If I recall correctly, this structure was similar to an AFM (atomic force microscope)2 as there was a column looking like a piezoelectric element in the middle.

I had fiddled around with an AFM a few times during my undergraduate years at the cooperative research center, though it became rare because I went into a different field. Still, it wasn’t completely unfamiliar so that was fortunate.

“In order to achieve nano-level control, we would first need to see at that scale, don’t we? You first read the surface of the sample of your choice with this, then you can move the magic elements with the Elemental’s help.”

“Can you show me how to operate this?”

“Hoho, of course.”

I followed every single one of the professor’s movements with my eyes.

First, rip up magic paper into pieces and place them on the sample. Then lower the probe and shine a weak light on the cantilever. While in contact, move the elements one by one using the Elemental. Finally, print the photographed result with poor photographic technology.

A square was neatly assembled on top of the blank magic paper. It was a non-functional circuit but it could definitely be called a scroll–the world’s smallest scroll.

“Oho... May I borrow one of these?”

I wasn’t restricted from touching anything as an undergraduate so I had hopes.

“As far as I know, there’s one that’s unused in the Fire Magic lab. If you speak to the department chair, then they might give it to you altogether.”

“Give it....?

I didn’t need it that much.

“If it’s you, then I don’t think they’ll hold back their support. You’re intending to make something else, aren’t you?”

Scratching at my cheek, I smiled politely.

**“Yes, I’m going to try and make Flare as small as possible.”

She remembered that ‘miniaturization of Flare’ had been on Aether’s career path questionnaire.

Rosemary didn’t forget that sentence. Rather, she was watching with interest.

So when big sis said she was meeting with that human professor, she had dropped the coffee. She hadn’t expected her to start working on it this early.

What should I do....

She thought about it for a moment.

Then a good idea popped up so she took her ear off the door. Rosemary picked up her dress and hurried off.

The sun was already setting. She got onto the carriage marked with the Blanton family emblem and headed toward the palace. With how tired she was, she didn’t have the energy to deal with the elf today.

Why is sis acting like this, seriously...!

Most of all, she had to stop Aether instead of the elf now.

Footnotes

1. "In mathematics, the Riemann hypothesis is the conjecture that the Riemann zeta function has its zeros only at the negative even integers and complex numbers with real part ⁠1/2" (Wikipedia)2. "Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a type of SPM (scanning probe microscopy), with demonstrated resolution on the order of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the optical diffraction limit. The information is gathered by "feeling" or "touching" the surface with a mechanical probe" (Wikipedia)