The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 86: Mirror Treatment

Boooom!

Lightning struck endlessly.

The white-haired girl who’d been watching the sky went into the cave as the rain fell harder. Her mood soured at the musty smell.

“Why me....”

This place wasn’t supposed to be her jurisdiction; the Beast in charge of this region was Jǫrmungandr.

But due to her laziness and uncooperative attitude towards the Demon King Army, she had been forced to come down to this countryside.

And not only that, Aether was currently in this area.

“If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have even come.”

Sighing, the white-haired, gold-eyed girl made a bonfire with dry straw and twigs.

She was stuck here until 2 a.m. at least when the cave leading to Jǫrmungandr opened.

“I’m bored.”

Her meaningless words echoed in the cave.

It was when the girl was dozing off from boredom.

Her eyes opened at the sound of someone walking through the entrance of the dark cave. They must not have been able to avoid the rainfall because each step was a resounding squelch.

The girl turned her head, eyes pinched.

And someone unexpected entered her line of vision.

“What, you again?”

The second daughter of the Duke Saliere family, Lotte Saliere.

Her shoulder-length crimson hair was soaked unlike yesterday, and her skin could nearly be seen through an equally drenched shirt.

“You’re....”

Lotte, who had shown up looking like a wet dog, stepped back with a frightened expression.

To Lotte, the girl before her was a ferocious beast. Seeing the way she’d overpowered the two Calamities without so much as lifting a finger had instilled terror in her rather than awe.

And that beast was tapping the ground, gesturing for her to come over.

“You’ll catch a cold. Why don’t you come over here and sit by the fire?”

She spoke in a gentle tone. The speech pattern and accent sounded like an imitation of Aether which made it feel rather foreign to her.

After the girl in front of her had subdued the two Fenrir the other night, she threatened Lotte to leave the forest immediately. But today, she was telling her to come near. Lotte couldn’t understand her.

The unknown was the same as fear. Lotte couldn’t read the white-haired girl’s patterns.

After some hesitation, Lotte took a deep breath and sat next to the girl, legs folded beneath her.

“Don’t just sit like that. If you don’t want to die of hypothermia, you’d better take off your shirt and dry your upper body first.”

“Take off my clothes...?”

“Then what.”

It wasn’t appropriate in this day and age for a young lady from a noble family to undress in any random place. But so what? She had to take it off and dry herself properly if she didn’t want to die.

Lotte hesitated, then with another deep breath, she unbuttoned her shirt. The white-haired girl turned around and tsked.

This girl was the genius hailed by the Empire?

“If you act like that later on the battlefield after graduating, you’ll be called a blockhead.”

“What do you mean blockhead....”

“So move quickly.”

As Lotte dried her cotton shirt, the girl gathered dry straw and twigs and threw them into the fire. She also pulled out a stick of mana grass and borrowed from the dying flame.

The miserable species who couldn’t use magic without smoking mana grass–the Golden-Eyed.

This inconvenience was going to end in a few years. When the one who usurped the Elemental King of Elec Magic resurrected, then all the Golden-Eyed would be able to wield magic freely.

“Huuuu.”

Taking the smoke deep into her lungs, the girl made a line drawing with her pointer. She was getting ready for an incantation.

The utterance wasn’t long.

[Eightfold Way - Third Form]

“Tesla.”

The fading ember began crackling to life. Having shaken off the last of the water drops from her shirt, Lotte opened her eyes wide upon hearing the girl’s chant.

“That was a magic that Aether used.”

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“How many times do I need to tell you? Aether is the name of my older twin sister!”

The Innate Magic called ‘Element Operation’ which was the base of the Eightfold Way wasn’t something that just anyone could use.

The only ones at the moment who’d learned it were the girl and her sister, Aether.

“The Eightfold Way is a concept invented by my sister so it isn’t strange for me to use it.”

Height, voice, face, physique. Even the Ultimate Innate Magic she used.

Everything was the same except for the hair color. Now, it was unreasonable to argue that the two weren’t related.

“You’re really Aether’s sister.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“What’s your name?”

“You don’t need to know that.”

She was only a small fry, someone she wouldn’t see more than once or twice. The girl wasn’t so kind as to reveal the name of the prestigious Secundus of the Great Nine Mechas to some nobody.

“.......”

There was nothing else to say. The two girls zoned out for a while watching as the flame greedily consumed the bunch of straws.

Thankfully, the downpour was only a shower so the uncomfortable cohabitation didn’t last long.

“Thank you for sharing your fire.”

Lotte bowed her head with an awkward smile.

“I’ll see you again next time.”

She should say something like that while making eye contact.

It would have taken some courage to be able to say that in front of the monster who’d instantly subdued the Fenrir that had gone for her throat. She would know as one who had traveled to many places for the sake of her King.

“Hhm.”

She hummed as she watched Lotte run out after putting on her dried shirt.

“She should have significant PTSD.”

There were some who fainted on the spot when a Cataclysm properly released killing intent. Even if that wasn’t the case, the traumatic experience of having been targeted by a powerful Beast was enough to send them to a mental hospital.

She was a foolish one.

However....

“She has guts.”

She was the first sucker who’d asked to meet again.

The girl lit another stick and climbed the darkened mountain.

Even with the enhanced physical abilities of a Golden-Eyed, the distance to the Falling Dragon Peak was quite the hike.

Her mouth gradually tasted bitter. The girl unraveled the scroll she got from Rosemary and manifested a spell.

[Advanced Innate Magic ─ Radiation Defense]

The radiation at the top of PItchblende Mountain wasn’t a problem for the Golden-Eyed who had mercury sulfide running through their veins instead of blood.

However, it would only be bad for her if every human she encountered became nauseous due to the residual radiation left on her body.

Everyone approaching her feeling nauseous from exposure?

It would be the perfect time to be accused as a Beast.

“Better than getting caught.”

It was better to put on this kind of magic even if it was a slight hassle than to draw unnecessary suspicion.

As she climbed the mountain mindlessly, she’d already reached the top. Panting, the girl moved to where the unique rock formation was and squeezed through the opening.

The journey to meet Jǫrmungandr was a series of climbing and walking.

And the conversation was a series of pain.

“White Night, is it?”

A tone of feigned innocence as if wondering why she had come here.

She didn’t like it.

“Hey, aren’t you going to do your job properly as the Primus?”

According to their original plan, the girl should’ve been in Kaurelia, the land of the elves, and looking for ways to burn down the World Tree. Not here.

Sure, let’s say it was fine that Rosemary asked the frontier to be watched because Aether came here.

But she just couldn’t forgive the void that happened because this guy was fucking around.

“How long are you going to delay mobilizing the beastkin to attack Saliere County?”

“Why would this one bestow such an oracle when it would make our compatriots suffer?”

“Oh my god, Primus. As the Primus, you should maintain your dignity.”

Bang!

It was an instant. Jǫrmungandr slammed down the steel tail at her back and responded with a snarl.

“Such insolence, you dare run your mouth off at an ancient dragon.”

“Aren’t contracts important to dragons? If you’ve made an agreement with our King, help us out, too.”

“How many times do you need to be told? It is enough for this one to protect our comrades and destroy the Elementals....”

Jǫrmungandr’s guest today was a bore.

The similar child who had visited two days ago had been good conversation, at least.

“Then you better honor the agreement.”

“An agreement which hurts the compatriots is a forced contract.”

The conversation ran parallel, and the girl had no choice but to change the subject slightly.

“Alright, that’s fine, so get this nuclear reactor running well, at least. Besides Lodestones, we need tons of energy to resurrect the Demon King.”

“That’s slowly making progress.”

“I mean, do it faster...!”

“It seems that you lack the skills to talk to a dragon. This one keeps thinking how low the quality of conversation is compared to the previous visitor.”

Saying ‘previous visitor’ didn’t exactly tell her who came and when.

The dragons had a fundamentally different concept of time compared to other species. Due to their long life span, they considered a week like a day.

And this was a cave that was dark all around, so you couldn’t even check how much time passed without a clock.

“How foolish.”

It was the same thought that the white-haired girl had looking at Lotte.

Just like the way the girl had viewed Lotte, she herself was no more than a child to Jǫrmungandr who had lived for over a millennium.

“Forget it. There’s no point.”

Even if it wasn’t her, it would’ve been impossible to convince Primus.

Because there was no rank higher than hers in the absence of the Demon King. One had to at least be second in rank to get away with talking like this. The dragon was being tolerant as well, of course.

“Just get the reactor finished.”

“I shall do what I can.”

She left behind Jǫrmungandr who was waving with a smirk. The girl climbed down the slope and returned to the cave.

“Not good.”

Time to change plans.

Re: Mirror Treatment1

1. Rather than the traditional definition, it's a modern, psychological take for when someone reflects on their own attitude/behavior after being subjected to it by another person