I Kidnapped the Hero's Women-Chapter 230: Academic Conference (1)

"Something's making my heart race..."

As Yuria entered the conference hall of the Imperial Magic Academy, she felt her heart flutter.

People were gathered here and there, chatting with each other, but the atmosphere wasn't overly boisterous. It had the air of cultured conversation.

It truly felt like a place for scholars to gather.

"Is it really okay for me to be here?" she thought.

Among the numerous round tables, Yuria found the seat with her name on it and sat down demurely.

"Wow...!" "Charlotte, shh! We need to be quiet here..."

Immediately, familiar voices could be heard from behind her. Charlotte and Yuria spotted her and came running over. Just moments ago, it had looked like such an elegant spot, but as soon as those two appeared, the atmosphere shattered in an instant, and Yuria couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, this is our seat." "Yuria! I heard! You were amazing yesterday!" "Hehehe..."

Charlotte and Yuria hurriedly sat down beside Yuria, and she shrugged her shoulders, feeling rather proud of herself.

"Yeah, I did do a bit? No, I did a lot yesterday."

"Right. Yesterday, I was about to put some... uh, unknown drug in the Count's tea..." "Drug?" "I had to catch the assassin to do that!" "Wow...!"

Just as she was about to say 'laxatives,' Yuria hesitated for a moment before changing the topic. Saying 'laxatives' would make it sound kind of lame, right? But saying 'unknown drug' made it seem like she had prevented a huge crisis, right?

Well, she did stop a serious situation that could have ruined the academic conference. It was actually a big deal!

Thinking this to herself, Yuria decided that she hadn’t really lied.

"And I used my authority? Or something like that, to make the assassin confess his plans!" "Wow...!"

In reality, the guy had just mistaken her for a saint, but didn’t that also indirectly lead to a confession through authority? So, it wasn't exactly a lie!

As the praises came from both sides, Yuria felt pleased and her lips curled up into a wide grin.

"Yuria, you're amazing. We were playing with the princess, so we only heard about it later..." "Hehehe."

"In return, we held hands with the uncle, who was so scared because of the assassin, and fell asleep together!" "...!?"

Yuria, who had been silently sipping her tea, nearly spat it out. Wait, what did they just say?

"Eh?" "Don’t get me wrong! I just held hands with Aslan because he seemed nervous, that's all!" "...!?"

What? Nervous? Aslan Vermont? That cold-hearted man? He was trembling from the fear of nearly drinking laxatives and held the kids' hands while sleeping?!

Wasn't that just him trying to fulfill some personal desire!?

"No...!" "Now, let’s begin the academic conference."

Just as Yuria was about to respond, the voice of the host echoed through the conference hall, and she couldn't bring herself to say anything more. She had to keep her mouth shut.

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That Aslan Vermont... that villain...

He tricked innocent Charlotte and Yuria into holding hands and sleeping together! I had no idea and spent the night wide awake in the next room!

I wanted to sleep snuggled up with Charlotte and Yuria too...!

As Yuria swallowed the tears of frustration, Aslan Vermont stepped onto the podium with confident strides, and soon the atmosphere in the hall became solemn.

"Hmm. I always thought he looked kind of frivolous, but now that I see him, maybe he’s not so bad after all..."

It was strange.

Aslan Vermont had always had a cocky image, and he didn’t seem like someone who would belong in such a serious, heavy atmosphere. But oddly enough, today, his disciplined gait and posture seemed to perfectly match the environment.

Yuria, noticing every flaw and mistake of Aslan, began to heat up, already preparing to point them out during the Q&A session.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I’m Aslan Vermont, and for the first topic today, I’ll be presenting ‘A New Paradigm of Magic without Breaking the Existing Mana System,’ but... that title’s too long. From now on, I’ll just call it Black Magic."

"...!?"

At his words, the room began to buzz with whispers.

Still, Aslan continued his presentation without a hint of nervousness or hesitation.

The academic conference allowed for questions and discussions at any point during the presentation. In the worst case, scholars could throw aggressive questions and interrupt the presentation, deliberately causing trouble.

But even though Aslan had brought up the taboo term "black magic" from the start, no scholar interrupted with a question that could stop his presentation.

That was only natural.

If Aslan Vermont’s ability to prevent the mana split incident from the day before was truly black magic, then despite the prejudice and disgust people might feel, they would listen, knowing it was a valuable story worth hearing.

Those who opposed black magic would likely dissect his paper and presentation, questioning every word, and in doing so, his evaluation would become one of the most trusted validations.

"My initial research began with the quantitative analysis of black magic and uncovering its mechanisms, but since that was completed rather easily, I decided to move on to the next phase. I’m attempting to integrate black magic into the existing mana system."

"Black magic is a phenomenon occurring in a space where mana doesn’t exist. How can you incorporate that into a system where mana is the fundamental particle?"

"Half correct, half wrong. Black magic certainly occurs in spaces where mana is absent, but it is still controlled by mana’s involvement."

As Aslan answered the question, he walked over to the wall and flipped the light switch.

With a thud! The entire hall plunged into pitch-black darkness.

In the darkness, Aslan’s voice rang out.

"Darkness means the absence of light. There’s no such thing as a material phenomenon called darkness, but we all name it and speak of it as if it were real. Black magic is the same. The phenomenon we call black magic doesn't really exist."

"...?"

"The phenomenon that occurs in the absence of mana is what I’ll call ‘anti-mana’ from now on."

"That’s nonsense! Anti-mana? If there’s no mana, nothing can happen..."

"Nothing happens? That’s only true for extremely low levels of mana. What I’m talking about is a state where mana has completely vanished. This phenomenon occurs in an environment that only neo-neodymium, which has the property of repelling mana, can create."

"...!?"

Aslan flipped the light switch back on.

The scholars began murmuring among themselves, and the hall quickly descended into chaos.

Until now, the method of measuring mana had only used relative measurements. The amount of mana was considered negligible when it didn’t react, and the baseline was set at that level.

Strictly speaking, it was impossible to confirm that mana was completely zero, but it didn’t really matter. If it didn’t react, it might as well be nonexistent.

However, in the world of black magic, where mana levels had to be exactly zero, such a rough level of measurement was insufficient.

"Since our baseline is different from the start, there’s bound to be a discrepancy in perspective. Let’s try adjusting it a bit. Everyone, how much mana do you think is in the air right now?"

"..."

Even an undergraduate would know the answer to that.

It was a very small amount, measured in the range of 10 to the minus 6th power.

In undergraduate experiments, it was often assumed to be 'nothing' because the amount was so minute.

"You probably believe it’s very weak. But how about now?"

"...!?"

With a snap of his fingers, Aslan plunged the entire hall into darkness again.

At first, they thought the lights had gone out, but that wasn’t it.

"Huh? It’s still bright..."

It was as if the light had dimmed all at once, creating the illusion of darkness. But no, the light was still the same. There was a change in their vision, and the light seemed to weaken.

The light was still there, but their vision had changed, making it feel as though it was darker.

Was something wrong with their eyes? No, it wasn’t that either!

While the scholars were puzzled about what was happening, Aslan spoke again.

"And right now, this is the state where mana is completely absent from the environment."

"...What?"

"Can you feel it? The tiny amount of mana that usually influences your vision. You never noticed it in everyday life, but the mana in the air also affects the scattering of light, which can drastically change your sight."

This is the state where mana is absent?

Wasn’t that supposed to be a local, temporary phenomenon around high-density neodymium?

But now, the entire conference hall had been turned into a mana vacuum?

Despite their surprise at such an impossible statement, the scholars, for the first time, felt the unnatural change in their vision from the absence of mana, and then, as they turned their gaze toward the podium...

"In this environment where mana has completely disappeared, a strange phenomenon occurs. I will call this black magic."

"...!"

Behind Aslan, the scholars gazed in shock at the massive, black tendrils, which resembled the mirage that had risen into the sky on the day of the Imperial Palace terror attack.

It was the unmistakable proof of black magic.