The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 120: Dungeon Exploration (4)

Chapter 120: Dungeon Exploration (4)

The girl in the mirror looked at me.

Hair that stopped just below the shoulders shimmered in the lantern’s light.

The amber-gold eyes and packed features were definitely my appearance.

Except for the hair–white like an elderly person’s.

“What do you think, sis? Isn’t it quite the mirror?”

White hair that was the same as Akasaha’s.

I wasn’t sure if the girl in the mirror was Akasha or another me.

But that wasn’t what was important right now.

“... What.”

When I frowned, the girl in the mirror did the opposite and smiled instead.

My arms got goosebumps at the horror-like scene.

[Come over here.]

It was as if she was saying that through just her gaze.

I tried an experiment just in case. With my right hand raised, I watched what happened. The girl in the mirror also raised her right hand.

“.......”

So, it wasn’t the opposite hand.

If I gave a bit of thought to the properties of a mirror, I realized that this phenomenon didn’t make sense.

I glared at the mirror doubtfully, and then my head started to ache.

It wasn’t just dizziness, but it felt like being stabbed with needles.

[There’s something you need to know.]

My instincts were screaming in alarm; if I got any closer, I wouldn’t be able to turn back.

I distanced myself from the mirror as much as possible, and the image that had formed gradually lost its shape and vanished.

“You’re the one who defeated Fenrir. Since you beat the dungeon, why don’t you take this as a trophy?”

“... I don’t need it. Let’s just leave this here.”

“Aww, it’d be such a waste so why would you leave it? Look here. It’s embedded with pretty jewels and it’s the perfect to put in your dorm room. What about taking it as a souvenir?”

I shook my head.

“If you want it that much, then you can take it.”

“My house has lots of these already.”

“Go sell it to an antique store or something.”

“Then It won’t sell for very much, would it? If anything, the carriage to make the trip would cost more.”

The sight of her desperately trying to get me to take the mirror that she’d placed was hilarious.

“It looks ominous so let’s just throw it away.”

“Aww, I really do think it’d be such a waste.”

Rosemary looked like a kid whose New Year’s money got taken away1. The way she was pouting looked a bit cute, actually.

But even this attitude would be an act; I shouldn’t fall for it.

“It can’t be helped, then; I’ll donate this to the Tilette Museum.”

Rosemary slowly lifted the massive two-meter tall mirror with one hand.

Her figure was as small as Freyr’s, yet she’d picked up a mirror that had to be weighing dozens of kilograms without changing her expression.

Lotte and Freyr, who’d been extracting mana stones from Fenrir, looked stunned as soon as they saw Rosemary like that.

“You’re much stronger than I thought, Lady Blanton. I thought you were delicate....”

“It’s a simple Innate Magic. There’s one that strengthens your muscles.”

After looking through every Innate Magic within the book, I found that there was no such magic.

It was like every time she opened her mouth, lies just automatically came out.

**“When a tiger dies, it leaves behind its pelt; when a person dies, they leave behind their name.”2

Then what did a Beast leave behind when they died?

Mana stones.

As much as it was a bleak world with Beasts running rampant, the raw material that they yielded wasn’t a bad thing. If mana stones hadn’t existed, the modern society of the continent would have looked different.

The uses of the stones were too many to list. Scroll fabrication and magic equipment were standard, and they’d also be treated like gems or rewards.

In particular, a lot of the stones that were obtained by defeating Calamity-levels or higher were difficult to craft with human technology. The transistor, for example.

Most of the stones left behind by Fenrir were optical elements that used light. LEDs, cadmium sulfide cells, Perovskite solar cells, etc. There also seemed to be americium which was used for alarm systems, but there was very little of it.

It may not be a luxury item, but it would be important for research. It’d be a loss not to take it.

“Look at this! There’s also a huge solenoid!”

Having cut open Fenrir’s belly, Freyr grunted and pulled out a coil that was bigger than her torso.

Solenoids could be obtained from other Beasts besides Fenrir, but since it was from a Calamity, the thing was unusually big.

“That one looks useful.”

Coils were more useful as electromagnets than on their own.

They were required to make tokamaks or accelerate particles. And to make nukes, too, of course.

Or you could make an EMP with that–a so-called non-nuclear EMP. When a strong current was suddenly applied to the solenoid or it was blown up with explosives while under a strong current, an electromagnetic pulse–albeit not as strong as an atomic bomb–was produced.

It was a valuable ingredient however you used it. In times like these especially when prices were fluctuating like crazy, it was imperative to secure physical goods.

Once we exited the dungeon, we split up. Rosemary said she would take the mirror to the Tilette Museum. I took that time to transport Fenrir’s corpse piece-by-piece to the Transmutation Club. Although I hadn’t expected it, this gave me one of the ingredients to start ‘Stage Two’.

“Augh.”

Anyway, I was tired as fuck. I ran out of breath on my back to the dorm so I kept huffing.

I kicked off my shoes at the door and dived straight into bed. The comfy, soft sensation like floating on top of a giant marshmallow surrounded me.

“Don’t lie down right away, you just came from outside!”

“... Just let me stay like this for a bit..”

Lotte started nagging at me like she was my mom.

Due to being in a battle of wits all day with Rosemary, I had no mental energy to spare for other things. I still had to miniaturize Flare like I’d promised the chairman, and needed to meet with Vermel to exchange the rest of the information....

At least tomorrow was the weekend. I’d be able to rest a little and recover some.

“If you’re going to stay like that, just wash up and go to sleep.”

“Alright, alright.”

Lotte valued noble-like conduct. She was probably trying to teach me etiquette in advance since I would receive a title once I graduated from the Academy.

At her continued nagging, I threw off my clothes and went into the bathroom.

I usually only took showers here, but I was feeling like crap today. I needed a way to relieve my fatigue.

I tied my hair up in a towel–which was unlike me–and turned on the faucet.

Shaaaaaa!

“Uwaaagh!”

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I accidentally turned it the wrong way....”

Because I’d been standing under the shower, my hair got wet before I could even get in.

“You should’ve been careful, then.”

“... Haaa.”

Today must not be my day. I’ll take a bath with a rubber ducky next time.

After washing quickly, I dried my hair while Lotte took a shower. It was so long that it was still damp after thirty minutes.

As I sat wrestling with the hair dryer on my bed, Lotte stepped out of the bathroom in her pajamas.

“Oh dear, give it to me. I’ll dry it for you.”

Lotte carefully began working on my mess of a hair.

Something like this had happened before, though at that time it had been applying hair treatment.

“Your hair can get damaged easily if you dry it from the ends, and it won’t look nice, either.”

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My hair was half-curly so if I got a little bit lazy with the washing and drying, it easily curled into pig’s tails. And once it became like that, no amount of brushing could fix it.

“You should go to the salon later. Get it straightened or cut short or something.”

Lotte slowly brushed my hair up and the air from the dryer tickled my nape. I began feeling drowsy.

“It’s as Lady Blanton said. Since you have long hair, it’d be good to carry around a handheld mirror.”

“... That’s something that girls do.”

“You really are tired, aren’t you.”

I felt more drained than usual, probably because of the fatigue being more mental than physical.

I had to continue withstanding Rosemary’s attacks without knowing how long it would last.

“Horde didn’t show up at all this week. Do you think he’ll be back next week?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

I purposely feigned indifference. But actually, I wanted to find him and beg him to do something about Lady Blanton.

“If it’s Vermel, wouldn’t he be somewhere in the school?”

“The boys in the same dorm said he hasn’t been to his room for a week, either.”

“He’ll show up eventually. If we’re not sure, then we can ask Miss Heerlein the day after tomorrow.”

Even if we had to stay apart for a while to prevent another unnecessary love scandal from going around, I still had to know where he was so we could discuss where we’d meet next.

“There, that should be good.”

“Thanks.”

I pulled up the cotton comforter and lay down first. Normally around this time, Lotte and I would sit together at the desk and study. But today, I felt like being lazy.

Maybe it was because of all the things I had to do, but I didn’t feel comfortable even while trying to rest.

I had to miniaturize Flare as per the chairman’s request and find Vermel.

I had to make the hydrogen bomb to stop the world from ending, and needed to study Element Magic, too.

Even if I had multiple bodies, it wouldn’t be enough.

“.......”

Ah. Whatever.

I worked hard enough today.

“Sweet dreams.”

I pulled the comforter over my head and closed my eyes, hoping that I’d have good things in my dreams like Lotte said.

Before I knew it, my consciousness began sailing into the horizon like a ship that weighed anchor.

**[SYSTEM : (WARNING) The probability of entering the Fourth Trial is more than 50%.]

[SYSTEM : You must.]

[SYSTEM : No matter what.]

[SYSTEM : Stop it.]

Footnotes

1. Parents often took the money kids would get from relatives on New Year's with the excuse of 'keeping it safe'2. A saying indicating that people should be mindful of the way they live because of the legacy they'll leave when they die (Wikitionary)