The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 85: Doubt

I washed at the stream to clean off some of the residual radiation before returning to the mansion.

It wouldn’t get rid of it completely but it was better than nothing. Enough of it should’ve washed away so it wouldn’t be too damaging to others, at least.

[You’ve come to a different world and are still polluting the environment.]

Sorry, nature!1

After washing my outerwear and drying it, I went back to the mansion minimally dressed. By the time I arrived, the morning dew was just about dried. Entering through the back doors, I avoided the maids and butler and went up the stairs to the second floor.

As expected, Lady Saliere was standing there with her arms crossed, glaring at me as soon as I opened the door.

“Where were you?”

Her tone was as calm as a lake without a single ripple, but her expression was full of distrust and anger.

I answered in a subdued voice.

“... Pitchblende Mountain.”

“And why did you go there in the middle of the night?”

“To collect mana stones.”

“Why would you do such a dangerous thing! What if you had encountered Beasts or robbers!!”

Face scowling fiercely, Lotte stomped her feet.

I was subjected to over half an hour of nagging after that. As I stood there listening to this one-sided scolding from a friend of only three months, I thought myself fortunate.

But explaining the actual reason for climbing the mountain would only sound like an excuse. Who’d believe it if I told them that I went to a dungeon that only opened for ten minutes at two in the morning to obtain HEU?

So here, I needed to offer something else instead of an explanation.

“I’m sorry.”

An apology.

From where I was observing the room’s floor patterns, I raised my head and faced her. At the word of apology, Lotte couldn’t say anything as if the cat got her tongue.

“Ugh....”

Sucking in a breath, Lotte turned her gaze elsewhere. I could see her eyes that shone brilliantly like garnets were shaking slightly.

That was strange; she seemed to be avoiding making eye contact.

“I’ll let you know before I leave next time.”

I bowed once more and with that, the situation came to a tentative end. After breakfast with the Saliere family, I decided to take a walk around the County with Lotte.

It was a warm morning. The all-nighter combined with food coma was nearly killing me.

As I walked along the river dazedly, Lotte spoke to me.

“Aether, do you have a younger twin?”

“I don’t.”

Didn’t she already ask about my family last time?

Lotte’s eyes scrunched at my response, and I couldn’t understand what that meant with my current knowledge.

It was still free time after the walk.

Lotte and I sat in the mansion’s library with books for self-improvement.

No one bothered us at this time regardless of what we were doing. If we wanted, we could spend time studying ahead for next semester or read literature books. Or even smut.

The two of us chose research. With each of our own magic paper and etching pen, we began making drafts of transmutation circles like drawing on a tablet.

“Hey, that.... What are you doing with the pitchblende stone?”

Seeing the uraninite rolling around in front of me, Lotte asked with a solemn face.

“This thing’s pretty useful; I’m going to study it.”

Then Lotte’s complexion turned into that of a person who invested their entire fortunes into Bitcoin.

Lotte was acting weird today. She seemed to be shying away from my gaze since I came back from the mountain, to be exact.

Still, how could someone change overnight? Leaving it be, I changed the subject.

“By the way, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I’m planning to leave here sometime tomorrow.”

The self-proclaimed younger twin sister of Aether who she had met in the forest. The murderous look of the Golden-Eyed kept hovering in her mind.

At that time, Lotte had instantly picked up on two emotions.

One had been fear.

And the other had been killing intent.

The former was her emotion, and the latter belonged to the white-haired girl.

Fenrir was a Calamity. Until now, humanity hadn’t even succeeded at taming low-level Beasts properly. So to effortlessly subdue Fenrir and make it lower its tail?

No, it couldn’t be.

Shaking her head, Lotte cleared her thoughts. Aether happened to show up right then which brought a bit of relief when she saw her hesitant expression.

But it was short-lived.

“I’m sorry.”

As soon as she locked eyes with Aether, she turned away.

It was an instinctive avoidance; she definitely didn’t do it of her own accord.

“Aether, do you have a younger twin?”

“I don’t.”

What Aether and that girl had said still didn’t match up. There was only one hypothesis for both their claims to be true–that her friend right here didn’t remember anything about her family history.

Right, nothing like studying to clear one’s mind.

After composing herself during the walk along the river, Lotte decided to research magic in her father’s study.

The development of a new Fire Magic using the pitchblende mana stone, the task her father shared with her.

Lotte fell into thought as she scratched away on the magic paper, then something clattered in front of her.

Aether was looking over a piece of pitchblende in a jar.

It couldn’t be.

Lotte glanced at the paper her friend had drawn on.

There was the basic circle used for constructing Fire Magic.

No way, actually...?

Studying the pitchblende mana stone.

Building a test circuit with the transmutation formula used in Fire Magic.

These two facts implied one thing.

“Hey, that....”

Lotte inquired, trembling like a mouse before a cat.

The answer she got was devastating.

“This thing’s pretty useful; I’m going to study it.”

It was as she had dreaded–Aether understood that pitchblende could be used for Fire Magic.

She asked what exactly she intended to research, but Aether didn’t give a proper answer. Her face looked as if she was mulling over something.

Just then, a word pierced through Lotte’s mind.

Flare.

Lotte, together with Freyr, had participated in the development of the Ultimate Fire Magic Flare at Aether’s insistence. Although she hadn’t done much, she’d been pleased by the valuable experience she had gained.

That is, until she heard that the Hasfeldt family had been researching it first.

Flare was a magic that the Hasfeldt family had been researching secretly. As the magic itself was something classified, Lotte hadn’t known of its existence before Aether mentioned it.

This was supposedly a common occurrence in academia. Lotte had felt guilty towards her teacher yet also thought that nothing could’ve been done.

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

But what if.

What if Aether had deliberately stolen the Flare being developed by Miss Klais at the time?

Are you crazy, Lotte! What are you thinking?

It was bad to doubt someone based on suspicion without evidence.

She was sure that the last time had merely been coincidental. It should be the same this time as well.

And it was none other than Aether who’d shattered her rationalization in an instant.

“I’m planning to leave here sometime tomorrow.”

“All of a sudden? Why?”

“I feel bad for imposing on you too much; besides, I can do research on this elsewhere.”

Why did she feel like those words sounded distorted?

Aether’s eyes locked with hers, and the pupils of that white-haired she’d met in the forest overlapped them.

Lotte had to glance away, smiling awkwardly. She pursed her lips and tried to say something, but the words simply wouldn’t leave her throat.

Why was she like this?

And as soon as it became the next day, Aether crossed over the drawbridge and headed past the river. That side was the land of the barbarians where the beastkin lived.

But lately, the Youko had unified the tribes and were wanting to trade with the humans so the risks had decreased a lot. Even as she worried, Lotte waved her hand and saw her friend off.

But it was still strange.

Why would she go to such barren lands when the research conditions were much better on this side?

“That’s suspicious.”

Lotte reflexively clamped her mouth shut.

“What am I saying?”

This was bad; her mind was completely scrambled.

It was all because of meeting that girl late at night.

Yes, research was the only solution. Reading books should help cool her head. Lotte returned to the study and learned how to refine the pitchblende stone from her father, then started putting them one at a time on the circuit board.

“... I ran out already.”

To collect more mana stone, Lotte put on her robe and left the mansion, heading towards Pitchblende Mountain.

Lotte picked up stones from the foot of the mountain while appreciating the pointy and round leaves. The fresh air seemed to help with easing her doubts about Aether.

She’d been so engrossed with collecting the stone that the sun was already starting to set.

“Should be getting back....”

Plip, plip, plip.

That was when rain began to fall.

Shaaaaaa!

It wasn’t just rain but a squall. As strong winds accompanied the torrential downpour, she turned into a wet dog within seconds.

“There should be a cave nearby....”

She recalled a small cave that she’d discovered when playing here from time to time as a child. Deciding to hide there, Lotte moved her feet remembering the past.

“There!”

Lotte entered the dark and gloomy cave just as her body started to shiver.

According to her memory, it wasn’t that big a cave and so she could feel the crackling of the bonfire right in front of her.

Wait, the sound of a bonfire?

“What, you again?”

1. A catchphrase of Green Korea United and other various environmental awareness campaigns.