The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 91: The Golden-Eyed And The Youko (5)

“Since it’s come to this, let us raid the Saliere County.”

The fuck was this.

I didn’t even have time to ponder it. While I hesitated in doubt of what I’d just heard, two Youkos exchanged words.

“You want to plunder human habitat? Are you insane?”

“But we have no choice; there isn’t enough food.”

I already heard a while ago that the Youko were a race who knew how to plunder.

They weren’t the only ones–plundering was one of the ways of survival of nomadic beastkin.

To secure food in such barren lands, they needed to hunt, gather, or have a dairy farm. But these alone weren’t enough to feed the many members of the tribe.

As such, the beastkin of old utilized ‘hit-and-run’ tactics in the western part of the Empire to pilfer food from humans. This was the backstory of why humans had a hostile view of beastkin and called them barbarians.

Anyway, things couldn’t go on like this.

Thinking about what to say, I was about to open my mouth when–

“But times have changed.”

“Freyr?”

Freyr, who should’ve been sleeping next to her mother, opened the flaps of the tent and entered. Her bright red cheeks were back to normal.

“The relationship right now between the Youko and humans has never been better. Betraying them when we’ve established enough trust to trade at the mouth of the river shouldn’t be done so easily in modern diplomacy.”

Nobody tried to dispute the reasonable argument Freyr made after showing up all of a sudden. It was logical, sure, but it was more so that the kid wasn’t someone who spoke calmly like this.

I wasn’t the only one dumbstruck by the change in her attitude. One Youko asked with trembling lips.

“W-what’s with the kid? Showing up out of nowhere like this....”

“I said not to call me thaaaaaat!!”

Ah, there was her trigger.

Now that I think about it, there were a lot of elders here from Freyr’s point of view. She wasn’t acting strange from having one too many drinks but simply changing her speech to keep her manners.

Ahem–Freyr cleared her throat and continued from where she left off originally.

“Furthermore, Marquis Saliere is a good man. Rather than using an outdated method like plundering, it’ll end better for everyone if we make a formal request to borrow food.”

She was right about everything; Freyr basically said what I was planning to.

“So? Is that why you came in after waiting outside?”

“I just happened to be passing by.”

“Anyway, you mean that for us to be indebted to Count Saliere.”

That really was the only way.

They couldn’t hunt with all the animals having been swept away by the waters. They couldn’t collect fruit because the trees were uprooted and blown away.

Even the livestock they owned had to be left behind because they didn’t have the time to slaughter them, so another way didn’t exist. They’d only survive the storm by asking the humans for help.

“What a fool.”

However, it seemed that some Youkos didn’t want that help.

“Saliere may have been kind to us until now, but that doesn’t mean he will be this time”

“It doesn’t mean that he won’t be, either.”

“Freyr, it makes me concerned for the tribe’s future to hear you say such things as the next possible leader of the Fasstrand. Have you already forgotten what our ancestors have said?”

I studied Continental History while preparing for admissions, and the textbook I read at the time had said that beastkin and humans were on terrible terms with each other.

To the point that there was this saying amongst the beastkin.

“That we can’t trust humans because they’ll always betray you?”

“Exactly!”

“Yet we’re the ones trying to betray them right now.”

There was no hole in Freyr’s logic, but there was a clear difference between that logic being true and recognizing and accepting it.

Plunder, rape, slavery, genocide.

The emotional rift between humans and beastkin ran deep and dark, but to the younger generation like Freyr, they were only stories of old written in the history books.

On the other hand, such tragedies lived on as wretched nightmares in the minds of the older generation of Youko who’d personally experienced them.

“Regardless, we will not give in to them. We look for another way or take it by force!”

“They are right, Freyr. Think about the gorals whose entire species became slaves after owing the humans a small debt.”

I could tell that this was a sensitive matter just from hearing. If I had been my normal self, I wouldn’t have gotten involved.

But these were urgent times. If Lotte’s estate was attacked, it would make things difficult for both me and Freyr.

“Ahem, hm.”

I cleared my throat to get everyone’s attention. The tent that was starting to get noisy over  the agenda miraculously became quiet.

Then around twenty pairs of eyes of various colors turned my way.

“Dear friends, were you aware that the younger daughter of Count Saliere is a friend of Freyr?”

The Youko looked confused at my remark.

It would be their first time hearing this, since we never told them and there hadn’t been a need for them to know until now.

“I-is that so?”

“Yes. She, Freyr, and I are all classmates.”

From that statement just now, the Youko realized a link.

Me.

“Would you all be fine with borrowing food from Count Saliere if I acted as an intermediate?”

A few of the younger Youko let out a sound, expressing their understanding.

The elders who’d scolded Freyr must have reached the same conclusion soon after because their faces relaxed some.

“If I act on your behalf, then no harm should befall you.”

“If the Golden-Eyed will negotiate for us, then.... But will it really be alright?”

“That is what the Mystical One asked of me, so I will help.”

For the sake of getting highly enriched uranium, at least.

“Then you will be the first to enter the Empire.”

“Of course. I will depart as soon as the wind dies down a little.”

I built dirt walls to prevent misfortune from happening to Freyr’s mother, and removed the danger of a friend’s land from being plundered. With this, I’d pretty much gotten rid of most variables that would have led to Freyr’s devastation.

The only thing left should be to go back to where Lotte was.

I hope nothing happens there.

Despite having plastered the place with disaster-proof scrolls, the winds were still strong enough to blow things around.

“Haaa.”

Lotte looked out the window as she drank the camomile tea her brother had made. The fresh, clear scent helped her tired body to relax a little.

“The storm won’t end.”

Occasionally, a vicious gust would rattle the windows. It shouldn’t break with the windproof spell cast on it, but there was always a chance.

“... Ah.”

She blanked unknowingly out while gazing outside.

She was worried for Aether who’d suddenly gone over to the land of the beastkin. What could she be doing now; what had been that air she sensed just before they parted?

Well, it didn’t matter. What was important right now was thorough preparation and review, and researching the new magic that her father had asked of her.

But the window kept bothering her. Lotte stared at one window again and again, then after a while she turned away.

And as soon as she looked away, there was a pair of gold eyes outside the window.

“Intuitive as hell, I’ll give her that....”

The white-haired girl clung to the window sill and carefully swept her eyes over the inside of the study where Lotte was.

Physique, voice, speech pattern, and even the face.

With the exception of having the exact opposite hair color, the girl was a copy of Aether.

Biting winds continuously blew against the nearby branches without mercy, but the robe she was wearing only flapped slightly, the evidence of her use of a windproof scroll.

Thanks to that, the girl wasn’t swept away by the wind despite her slender body. As she scanned the interior while avoiding Lotte’s eyes, the girl let out a soft hum.

“Hm, I don’t see Aether.”

Strange. She was told that she was often found with that redhead.

“Was Rosemary mistaken?”

That couldn’t be. Rosemary may be a brat but she was definitely as skilled as they come.

“Not good.”

Chewing on her lower lip, the girl inched closer to the window to check every corner including the blind spots.

The white-haired girl didn’t have Scope like Rosemary that would allow her to search a wide range, so she had to check everything with her own eyes like any other person.

Just then.

Whoooosh!

A tree was extracted from somewhere and flew towards the back of the girl’s head. She’d been so occupied by watching Lotte’s eyes that by the time she realized, it was too late.

Thwack! The tree smashed directly into the back of the fragile girl’s head.

The occipital lobe located at the back was responsible for vision. Even if the eyes were fine, one could go blind if they got hurt in that area.

Of course, the girl wasn’t someone who’d end up like that, but the organ in control of vision was in the same place just like humans.

For the briefest of moments, the girl’s vision went dark. She rolled forward a few times in that blacked out state.

It was so sudden that no scream came out. She could even hear something between her deafened ears like–

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freёnovelkiss.com.

Craaaash!

She must have bashed her head straight into the window.

“Augghh.”

With an uncharacteristic groan, the girl grabbed the back of her neck.

The Secundus of the Great Mechas was in this sorry state because she couldn’t dodge a mere tree. If the underlings had seen her, they would’ve roared with laughter.

But she didn’t have time to think about that.

“You, you, you’re....”

The frightened voice of another girl.

Red, medium-length hair fluttered in the rainy wind coming through the window. Watching the girl with bewildered eyes, Lotte slowly backed away.

“Lotte! What happened!”

Lotte’s father and brother also came running to the study just then as if they heard the window break, creating a pitiful scene.

A white-haired Aether who was in half folded over on the ground in front of the broken window.

And Lotte Saliere who was trembling as she eyed her.

Count Saliere and Lorewell sensed that something was terribly wrong. The white-haired girl was in trouble as well.

Both father and son had many questions to ask the girl in front of them; too many, in fact,  that they didn’t know where to start.

Perhaps that was why the very first question that came out of Lorewell’s mouth was a bit absurd.

“A-Aether? What happened to your hair color...?”

Right, smile.

It was best to just grin in this case.

The girl dusted glass shards off her body and put on a reluctant smile.

And impulsively.

Truly impulsively, she became the first Cataclysm to make a most undignified remark.

“I uh... dyed my hair.”

Fuck.

She was screwed.