The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 130: What Are You Doing, Sis? (10)

On our way back from the experiment.

I stopped when I caught sight of a familiar face.

“Miss?”

Straight, silver hair waved back and forth. It was our homeroom, Miss Heerlein.

Miss Heerlein was sweeping the floor with the lab door open. Wondering why a professor was sweeping, I glanced at the plaque in front of the lab.

[Klais Hasfeldt]

[Status : Absent]

“.......”

“Oh my, what are you doing here?”

Heerlein tossed the broom to one side and came this way.

As someone who was a beauty of Tilette, her walk was graceful as well. A subtle floral scent began emanating as she got closer.

Anyway, Miss Heerlein, who researched Earth Magic, was cleaning up a Fire Magic lab.......

“What about you, Miss?”

“With my friend being absent, this was the least I could do....”

Heerlein trailed off with a doleful expression. I could see glimpses of various emotions in the slit of her eyes.

Miss Heerlein was my benefactor who helped me escape from Professor Hasfeldt, but for Professor Hasfeldt, she was basically a traitor who betrayed a long-standing trust. Heerlein had helped me get into school even knowing that it would cost her relationship with her friend.

I wondered why she had done that. Objectively-speaking, it was a behavior I couldn’t understand.

Yet I hadn’t bothered to ask. It was because that would’ve been incredibly rude, and I’d also deemed that there was no point in poking the hornet’s nest of something that had already passed.

“I was on my way out after doing an experiment with Lotte. Anyway, it’s been a while since I came here.”

With shallow curiosity, I glanced sideways at Professor Hasfeldt’s lab. There was a unique-looking box at the entrance.

“... What’s that box?”

“It seems to be her personal belongings. Ah, please don’t touch it.”

“I won’t.”

What would be the point in touching another’s belongings? Smirking, I just looked with my eyes.

There was one item that caught my eye out of the unremarkable antiques–a metal picture frame sitting at the top. A photograph of two women was inside the palm-sized frame.

I could instantly tell who the relatively sharp-eyed woman was on the right. And the one next to her was.... I felt like I’d seen her before. Seeing how she looked very much like Professor Hasfeldt, there was a good chance that she was family.

“Who’s this person on the left?”

“Klara Hasfeldt. She’s Klais’ older sister.”

“The one who wrote the Elemental Magic textbook.”

“That’s right. She was also the one who recommended the Iliad exchange program to me.”

According to what followed, Klara Hasfeldt spent the latter half of her undergraduate years at Iliad. I already heard this but it was because she had formed contracts with two Greater Elementals.

“Come to think of it, didn’t you say that this was the first semester that both schools made the exchange program agreement?”

“That’s only in regards to the half-semester period. When I was in school, there were one-semester, one-year exchange programs as well.”

“I see....”

“You said you’ll be going to Iliad after the midterms, right, Saliere? I’ll probably tell you again when the time comes, but study hard while you’re there, too. Got it?”

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”

With nothing else to say, Lotte and I said our goodbyes and went outside. It was already evening.

The weather was getting colder since it was early autumn. Lotte gathered up her collar and asked.

“Where should we eat dinner?”

“Anywhere.”

I didn’t have much of an appetite. Maybe it was because I had lied to Lotte earlier.

Right after the experiment, I had made Lotte a promise that I couldn’t keep. A promise that after we ridded the world of Beasts and peaceful times came, that we would spend the rest of our lives together in the same estate.

There was a bitter taste in my mouth because I made a false promise. This was nothing more than a double standard.

“What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Did your body aches get worse?”

“It’s not that.”

There was still a long way to go until then. I should live in the present rather than fear the distant future.

We walked to the cafeteria. My cheeks stung from the cutting winds that were like well-sharpened blades.

Most of the Empire was in a cold climate. It was only the middle of September yet there was already a cold snap.

“Ugh, it’s cold. It must be hard for the security.”

Even now, Lotte was concerned about the security guards making rounds at the Academy. It was good aristocratic posture. Count Saliere was definitely blessed with his children.

“Hm...?”

I didn’t know if it was just me, but a few of the security started coming towards us. They wore yellow bands on their left arm so they were easily distinguishable from civilians even at night.

“Excuse me, we’d like to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

In terms of Korea, it was like being suddenly stopped by police while you were walking down the street. Did I do something wrong?

I went over the things that could count as being wrong. Bashing the Prince’s head, bashing Angela’s head, almost bashing Vermel’s head....

Did I get reported for assault and battery?

As I already began to get scared, one of the guards continued speaking.

“HIs Majesty the Emperor has ordered that all Flare scrolls in your possession be handed over to the country. You’re Aether.... so the student who developed the Flare scroll, right?”

... Wait. This was something serious..

“From now on, Flare’s development and management belongs to the Philut Empire. If you do not obey the law as a citizen of the Empire, there will be severe penalties.”

Lotte couldn’t close her mouth, her face incredulous.

“This can’t be. The Imperial constitution says that ‘All people have the freedom to develop magic and possess scrolls’!”

“They amended the constitution as of today. We’re quite exhausted because of that as well.”

“Without even an announcement.......”

Yeah, I knew this would happen one day.

Clenching my teeth, I pulled out the scrolls from my hipsack. It was the moment that the last bit of my appetite evaporated.

Rosemary, that insane bitch.

“.......”

Ah, my waist felt empty and my shoulder a lot lighter with all the magic papers gone.

“... What do we do now. If we can’t even make Flare, then we can’t miniaturize it either, right?”

It was as Lotte said. Sighing, I thought about what I should do.

“Ah.”

“What is it?”

“Yeah, there’s that.”

... It was a bit of a gamble, but might as well try.

This place was as opulent and luxurious as the Crown Prince’s room with the brilliantly sparkling chandelier and ornaments arranged like a galaxy on the shelves. Wasn’t this the perfect place to sip on wine while watching?

“Finally, how sweet it tastes!”

Rosemary shouted in victory as she finished her glass

─ Your Majesty, please reconsider! Why are changes being made to the constitution all of a sudden!

─ The mages who’ve heard the news are deeply unhappy, Sire! We beg for your understanding─!!

Thanks to Duke Blanton, that is Septimus ‘Orléans’, the constitutional amendment was a success. Now the development and production of the Flare scroll in Philiut would all be controlled by the state.

Not only that, they destroyed the dignity of the nobles of the Reformation Party who had wished to use the bills imbued with Elementals. And it was done by nothing else but the orders of the Emperor.

“Absolute monarchies are so easy to control.”

By taking over the Emperor and the position of his courtiers, things became easy. Grinning, Rosemary tossed herself onto the king-sized bed.

There was a black sea turtle doll in the corner of the bed. Rosemary picked it up and squeezed it tight.

“Eventually.”

Once they snatched the Lodestone that was soon to arrive at Tilette, they had no more business in the Empire. That would be the day that the House of Philiut falls.

Clack.

“Oh, back already?”

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“Yes, I’ve finished taking care of everything you assigned.”

Duke Blanton locked the door securely after him and pulled out twenty scrolls from his inner pocket.

“This should be all the Flares that came from Secundus.”

“... Why was she carrying around twenty of these?”

“She intended to catch us, I believe.”

“That gives me shivers.”

Rosemary smirked as she checked the scrolls one by one. Being a scroll expert, this definitely looked like the construction formula of Flare to her.

“You can tell from just skimming over that difficult thing. That’s admirable.”

“I can make scrolls with planets so this kind of analysis is nothing.”

Rosemary acted proud like a kindergartener who got perfect on her test. But Duke Blanton’s complexion wasn’t so bright.

“But it’s too early to rejoice.”

“Yes, I know.”

Rosemary currently had two hypotheses about Aether at this point.

1. She was mistaking Rosemary for a human due to her memory loss.

2. She regained her memories but was standing on the side of humans due to lingering distrust of the Demon Army.

“If she has no memories, then we just need to help her find them again. And if she still doesn’t find us trustworthy, then we just need to show her that humans are worse in that way.”

“I see. Now that Flare has been confiscated, we can see what state she’s in based on how she reacts to this.”

“That’s right. We took Flare away so if she gets angry at me then it’ll prove that she knows who I am.”

Of course, they were just ‘getting a feel’, so they didn’t need to know whether she did or didn’t have memory loss.

“Now, let’s see. There’s a special activity tomorrow. The professor of Basics of Magipetrology said we’re having class in the campus museum. I’ll persuade sis during that time and have her focus her consciousness on the ‘Inner Mirror’ that we have there. That should make things clear.”

The Inner Mirror that she had placed in the dungeon she made a while ago possessed; the power that it possessed was mysterious.

Whoever looked into the mirror was released from all sorts of mental debuffs including memory loss and gained the opportunity to literally speak with their ‘inner’ self. And through that, they’d be able to become more honest with themselves.

She had disguised the Inner Mirror like an ordinary antique. Aether would look into the mirror without suspecting it.

“I look forward to tomorrow.”

Lips twisting, Rosemary flopped onto the bed.