The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 97: The Golden-Eyed And The Golden-Eyed (2)

When I entered the office, Count Saliere was there.

The dark circles beneath his eyes indicated the current state of the County. He, too, was an official.

“I really appreciate that you made the time despite being busy, sir.”

“Not at all; as Lotte’s friend, there’s no need for that. Make yourself comfortable.”

“Then if I may....”

“Ah, before that.”

Count Saliere’s eyes slowly looked me over, focusing mostly on my hair.

Why was he looking at the top of my head? Did I have bald spots or something?

Nah, no way. I’d been stressed by a lot of things, sure, but this was a Golden-Eyed’s body. As I entertained these trivial thoughts, Count Saliere asked me with narrowed eyes.

“When did you dye your hair back?”

“Pardon?”

Again. It was the same question as that maid earlier.

Why was everyone here like this? The people of this mansion shouldn’t have reason to pull a Truman Show on me out of nowhere.

If this wasn’t a hidden camera prank, there was only one answer: something concerning me had happened while I was gone. Like a doppelgänger of mine with a different hair color going around stirring things up or something... Yeah, right.

“The other day. You said that you bleached your hair at Mrs. Camilla’s.”

“I never did that; I don’t know where that place is, either.”

“How could that be.”

We just stared at one another, our expressions saying that we weren’t understanding each other. But it was clear that something had happened, at least.

“Well, we can talk about that later.”

It felt sketchy, but it wasn’t urgent. The priority right now was dealing with the beastkin.

Count Saliere and I sat across from each other at the table for visitor reception on one side of the office. Just then, a maid brought over two cups of tea. The Count carefully read over the letter I sent earlier as he picked up his cup.

“This is intriguing, for a Golden-Eyed to be concerned for the beastkin.”

I gave a wry smile at that and brought the other cup to my mouth.

Indeed. If it weren’t for Freyr, I wouldn’t have even cared about the beastkin. Probably wouldn’t even have known about who the Youko were until I left.

“Is there someone you know from the beastkin?”

“Yes, the flood occurred while I was on my way west to meet an old friend. That was when I heard about their situation, how they needed to do something because the tribe was short on food due to the typhoon.”

I had to keep Freyr a secret since not everyone in the Empire was as open-minded as the Count. The best way was to keep her identity hidden so she could graduate safely from the Academy.

“Mm, some tribes would occasionally come down to plunder or beg at this time of year. I’m already aware of this.”

Oho, how competent. Then this would make the conversation easier.

“How did you handle it each time?”

“If they were civil, I would give them food; the ones who weren’t were chased away. Different tribes have different tendencies so we need to deal with them accordingly.”

“How about the Youko?”

“The Youko, hm?”

The Count let out a deep sigh.

“They’re finicky. There are times when talks would go well, while other years they would simply attack us. On one occasion, they suddenly turned on us when we were getting along, and another year, they returned what they’d previously taken and left.”

What kind of race were they? It was hard to get a grasp.

“They’re literally foxes. They try to act as much for their own benefit as possible.”

“It’ll be better to help them this time.”

“Why do you think that?”

In order to alert the Count and steer negotiations in the direction I wanted, I purposefully made strong claims.

“There’s nothing stopping them since they no longer have food. If you don’t appease them first, then they’ll surely come to plunder within the month. The territory has already suffered damages from the storm so if the Youko were to raid you now, it’ll lead to further economic damage.”

“You have quite the discernment.”

“I’m only speculating based on what you said, sir.”

Anyway, Count Saliere was acknowledging the issue. Thanks to that, the negotiations went smoothly.

“So, we’re to supply materials for the entire Youko tribe who live in this area until next spring. This is going to be quite the loss in its own way.”

Count Saliere leaned his chin on his hand with a short hum.

The County had also sustained damages from this typhoon despite all the fortification.

There weren’t enough funds even for the territory. The residents were sure to protest if the money went into providing food for them as well instead of solely for the people. Even if they explained why, someone was bound to complain about wasting tax money.

Furthermore, the aftereffects of the plague had yet to fade. The Empire’s economy was in a precarious state due to inflation and war, so now was the time to be saving for the sake of financial stability.

“It can’t be helped; I will have to charge higher interest.”

Count Saliere wrote down what was necessary for the official document, then finalized it with his seal.

“Thank you very much. I will take this to them as soon as possible.”

Taking the document, I left the office with a bow.

Let’s see. The request was about ninety percent done at this point. Once I took this to the Youko, obtained their agreement, and brought it back to the Count, the contract would be sealed.

And then I would just need to go see Jǫrmungandr–go and finish the first step of the Teller-Ulam design. Then it was back to the Academy.

“The kid has to come here first.”

I decided to kill time here until Freyr came.

Come to think of it, I needed to pack up as well. I had to retrieve the items I left behind due to their weight when heading to the Youko village and load them onto the carriage. Like the tokamak that had been tossed into the storage room like an unwanted thing, for example.

Click.

“Huh. It’s open?”

It should’ve been locked to prevent theft. A maid must have opened it to clean it or something.

Whatever. I only needed to take my stuff and go.

“What the fuck.”

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

As soon as I turned on the switch, what should’ve been here was gone. The makeshift tokamak I had built while making Flare had evaporated like ethanol.

“Excuse me, did you see the large metal machine that was here?”

“I-I’m not sure....”

I asked the servants passing by but all of them claimed that they didn’t know. It was a mystery.

That wasn’t the only strange part. A few of the maids screamed and trembled when they saw me, as if they’d seen a ghost. Some of them stared at me, rubbing their eyes a few times, then slipped away.

Watching the maid with the broom dash away with great speed, I let out a sigh.

“What’s with them?”

[Maybe your doppelgänger’s going around.]

Can’t you make a better joke?

Anyway, I’d been going around the mansion quite a bit but I didn’t see Lotte. Was she out doing restoration work with her brother?

Considering Lotte, it would make sense. Probably would’ve ran forth in the name of a noble’s duty. But I at least needed to inform her that I was back.

“Do you happen to know where Lotte is?”

“Um... she’s with you in the s-study....”

“With me?”

“I-I don’t know anything!”

This was what I concluded: all the maids ate something weird yesterday.

Listening to what one of the maids said, I chose to go to the study. It was quite the distance because it was in the secondary building of the mansion. But as I got closer, something felt familiar.

I didn’t know what that familiar feeling was; it was a sixth sense that couldn’t be backed by scientific evidence.

─ That’s what’s weird–I never sent a letter to the Count. Why would I do that when we’re in the same house in the first place?

And a familiar voice floated through the door.

It wasn’t Lotte’s judging from the style or tone. No, rather, it was eerily similar to mine. For some reason, I became scared to go inside.

─ Oh, wait. I think the rain stopped.

─ Really? I should go out; it’s been awhile.

There were at least two people in the library, the second voice belonging to Lotte. Then some moments later, the tap tap tap of footsteps came this way.

There wasn’t a reason to hide or run. Before they exited, I turned the doorknob first.

The door creaked open, and in front of it stood another girl with Lotte–a lab gown-like coat-wearing, heterotypical yet homogeneous-looking... Golden-Eyed.

“... Huh?”

Someone let out a noise. I couldn’t tell if it had come from me, Lotte, or the other girl. It could have been all three of us at the same time.

Our faces all became dumbstruck. And I, I–

Truly.

For an unknown reason–

“...... Kasha?”

–called the name of my sister who I had never met.