The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 106: Back To The Capital (2)

Chapter 106: Back To The Capital (2)

“From now on when you handle pitchblende stone, please use this anti-radiation scroll first before researching. Try not to have the materials all together in one place and if you get any byproducts, seal them in a container made of lead and concrete and bury it instead of tossing them into the river.”

This was it for the warnings I had for Count Saliere. I gathered my things and left the mansion.

“We’ll be off, then.”

“Yes, take care on your way.”

I got onto the carriage with Lotte and Freyr. Once I sat, sleep automatically washed over me.

It wasn’t surprising considering how much I did over the break.

I saved the Youko from the typhoon and solved their food problem. I obtained HEU from Jǫrmungandr in return and even acquired a legendary scroll from a girl who looked exactly like me.

Is this what it was like to be rewarded for your efforts?

[Admin Mode : The first stage of the Teller-Ulam design has been completed.]“Huh?”

When I opened the hardcover, there was an unexpected statement.

“Weird.”

I received about 40 kg of uranium from Jǫrmungandr. It was more than the minimum mass required to cause nuclear fission, but nowhere near enough to stock up and conduct multiple tests.

Yet the first stage was done? That meant there was at least enough material to make two atomic bombs in this bag....

I couldn’t open the bag here. HEU and plutonium were not only difficult to distinguish by color, but my two friends could become exposed to radiation if I did that.

There was a useful nondestructive inspection method for such cases–the hardcover.

[Contents of Backpack][1. Uranium-235 == Concentration : 92% / Mass : 27.0kg]

[2. Plutonium-239 == Concentration : 99.7% / Mass : 13.0kg]

“What the.”

“Why? Is there something wrong?”

Lotte and Freyr tilted their heads and asked.

There was no need to hide it from these two. Lotte was obvious, and I’d also told Freyr that I’d be making bombs that go boom. We were in the same boat, basically.

“I think I packed something wrong.”

“What should we do? Should we turn around?”

“No, it’s fine.”

It was great, actually.

Of course. What would I have done with 80 g of plutonium? It seemed that the Radiant Dragon had been feeling generous.

[Maybe she was just getting rid of it? Since you’d get more plutonium from reprocessing uranium....]

I know, jackass.

I was looking at this in a positive way. Why was this guy so dense?

[Oh my gosh.]

My words must have upset it because the hardcover kept grumbling all the way back to the capital.

But what was it going to do about it? Who had put me here in the first place?

It didn’t matter. I’d unintentionally completed the first stage so the second should be next. It was still a ways away from the fourth and final stage, but it was still quite the leap considering the timing.

“I should be able to focus on research now for the next while.”

Yeah. There was a time I thought so, too1.

“You’re Aether, right? I heard you and Horde are a thing?”

“I’m cheering for you! Just don’t get caught in school!”

As I stretched my stiff body after arriving at the outskirts of the Academy, a few girls randomly came up and said that as they passed by.

“Huh?”

As I let out a foolish sound, Freyr and Lotte’s faces also became dumbstruck.

“You’re dating Vermel?”

Lotte was the first to come to her senses and ask. Her pupils were trembling harshly like the precession of Mercury.

“No?”

Panicked, I also denied it before even grasping the situation.

But it was true. Vermel and I had met secretly over several days, but dating? Some asshole must have spread rumors.

“No, I’m really not.”

I desperately waved my hands. Then Freyr’s eyes, which had been looking up at me, narrowed into crescent moons.

“Dating? Is there something good if you do that?”

This brat didn’t follow conversations very well sometimes. Shaking my head, I denied it once again.

“Y-yes. There can be, I suppose. Dating, dating, is it. The teachers won’t say anything as long as it isn’t within the school, so....”

Lotte seemed fairly shocked. No, nevermind. When I looked closer, her cheeks were pink. It was basically the face of a girl who was drowning in her own adolescent delusions.

“Come to think of it, don’t you occasionally borrow romance books from the Central Library, Lotte?”

“H-how did you...!”

“It’s okay! I understand, even though I don’t really know!”

Freyr’s face was unnecessarily serious as she popped one of the candies she got from the Saliere family’s maid into her mouth.

“Dating, dating, you say! I’ve seen others tell each other ‘I love you’ while rubbing their tails together! Is everyone like that?”

“... Tails?”

Freyr snapped her mouth shut with a ‘hiiik’.

“Figuratively speaking, probably.”

Geez, why would you just blurt that out.

When I glanced sideways, Freyr was pursing her lips with a rigid expression. The candy that she had been eating let out a cruunch as she bit down on it. She side-eyed me with a dazed expression, then gave me a thumbs up before walking off quickly.

Man, it was hard to defend her. Second semester hadn’t even started yet and she was already being risky, sheesh.

Afterwards, I was stopped by these gossips at every corner. Most of them revealed themselves as being part of the Literature or Newspaper Club.

“Hello, our proud Golden-Eyed junior of the prestigious Tilette Academy!”

And who was this banana rollcake-looking person?

It didn’t matter. I could already tell she was going to be annoying.

“Is this about the relationship thing again? That’s enough; I’m not dating anyone.”

Who would I be dating in this body in the first place? Having turned from a man into a woman aside, the Golden-Eyed race itself was a bit.... yeah.

“What do you mean! You seem to be underestimating this Angelica Totsfel’s reporting skills!”

She held out a few photos towards me. They were pictures of me and Vermel leaving the clubroom late at night.

“.......”

I swept a hand over my face.

Once, twice, three times. I did this as I regrouped myself the best I could.

Then I chose my words carefully.

You demented paparazzi fuckeeeeeer!! Why would you go around sneaking photos of people!!!

“I don’t know what to say, Miss. You shouldn’t be doing something so shameless as one who carries the name of a Grand Duke. Wouldn’t this hurt your family’s reputation?”

“Oh my, are you concerned for me? Don’t worry, my parents have given me permission! Ohoho!”

“... Um, are you thinking of taking the journalism exam after graduating?”

“Of course! My dream is to become the greatest journalist slash war correspondent in all of Ahrens continent!”

I hope you fail for sure.

With this I knew–that the one who spread the rumors was this person.

“You shouldn’t be spreading fake news carelessly.”

“Excuse me, what do you mean fake news! I swear on journalism’s honor that I would never do such a thing!”

Angelica replied, placing a hand on her ample chest.

“Do you have proof?”

“Proof? I have plenty of proof!”

She took out something from her inner pocket.

What Angelica presented as proof was an Air Magic scroll that played voices. When she applied mana to it, a vivid voice sounded from within the scroll.

─ What else would it be if a guy and girl are hanging out together the whole day?

─ You can just let us know. We won’t tell the Student Council!

I didn’t have a good feeling about this.

“What’s this recording?”

“Shh! Be quiet and listen.”

─ The Student Council?

The sound of someone asking. Angelica paused the scroll here.

“Alright, whose voice is this?”

“It sounds similar to mine.”

“Similar? It’s exactly yours. This is data shared with two Literature Club members in front of the central fountain exactly 73 days ago.”

The scroll resumed with a click.

─ Because dating isn’t allowed on campus. Those rule-abiding Student Council members are so annoying.

And a moment of silence. Then the voice that was supposedly mine sounded again.

─ Just keep it to yourselves; don’t tell anyone else.

For ten seconds after that, it was just screams. My ears felt like they were going to fall off from the sound of two girls squealing.

“.......”

I remembered.

Fuck my life.

So this was how that thing I said to satisfy those Literature Club members to get away from them as quickly as possible was coming to bite me in the ass. A person really needed to watch what they said in life.

“Who the hell recorded this thing?”

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

“Who knows? The source isn’t supposed to be revealed!”

It had been a while since I felt the urge to kill someone since the Second Prince.

But I wasn’t completely innocent in this so I couldn’t just curse her out, either. Maybe I just had to accept it as karma.

No, I couldn’t.

“So do you admit it now?”

“No?”

“Then it can’t be helped. Lastly, the video scroll....”

“More importantly, why are you putting so much energy into this kind of gossip? Is there nothing else to cover for the Academy newspapers?”

“No, there isn’t since it was the break.”

What a headache.

“Anyway, what’s that backpack? A gift for your boyfriend, perhaps?”

“It is a gift, but can you not use the term ‘boyfriend’?”

“Ahem! After I see what’s inside. Can I see?”

“Based on what you’ve done so far, it seems like you’re going to open it by force.”

“Not at all, because I shouldn’t be recklessly touching other people’s property!”

Angelica put her hands on her waist and put her chest out.

When she did, a button fell off with a pop. The ridiculousness had me snorting.

[Wait. Master...? You’re not thinking of something weird, right?]

Yeah, it should be okay to show her for a quick sec.

[No, it won’t be!]

With a grin, I gestured.

“Go ahead.”

“Oh! Then if you’ll excuse me~”

Ziiiip–the sound of the zipper opening at my back. At the same time, I could hear Angelica humming a tune.

But that humming didn’t last.

“.......”

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“This.... This is a gift......?”

“Yes. The boyfriend’s going to love it.”

With a smirk, I looked back.

Ziiiiip.

The zipper was closed again.

**“Hey, Blanton, what the hell is that...?”

Footnotes

1. Quote by Baki from Baki the Grappler, a manga series. This line is a meme of sorts in Koreanhttps://en.namu.wiki/w/%EA%B7%B8%EB%A0%87%EA%B2%8C%20%EC%83%9D%EA%B0%81%ED%95%98%EB%8D%98%20%EC%8B%9C%EA%B8%B0%EA%B0%80%20%EC%A0%80%EC%97%90%EA%B2%8C%EB%8F%84%20%EC%9E%88%EC%97%88%EC%8A%B5%EB%8B%88%EB%8B%A4