The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 165: Beware Of The Red-head (7)

Rosemary stepped outside. The sound of her heels echoed lightly throughout the main palace building.

Her sharp gaze quickly scanned the area, and soon she was able to come across a red-haired middle-aged man.

Found him. A curve drew wickedly across her mouth.

It was Count Saliere who caught her eye, the father of that reprehensible vixen who was trying to take big sis away from her.

Count Saliere, who was currently talking with Duke Hasfeldt.

It was understandable since it was the noble assembly. As nobles who were both on the frontier, they would likely be discussing national defense and foreign security.

Rosemary’s feet headed towards the two people. She picked up a bottle of tequila from the wine corner.

She poured a glass while holding her breath. Trickle. Her olfactory sensors stung at the high alcohol concentration.

The glass soon reached her cherry-red lips. While sipping on the well-brewed alcohol, Rosemary listened in on the conversation between Duke Hasfeldt and Count Saliere..

“...So, I’d like it if you could arrange a place where I may talk to the Golden-Eyed girl.”

Wait, what?

“I see. Then my daughter may be able to help with that if you ask her, as she’s a kind-hearted one.”

“Are the two of them that close?”

“Hoho! They’re the best of friends according to my daughter.”

The corner of Rosemary’s eyes twitched like a worm, her expression one of having caught something interesting.

The two gentlemen chuckled, perhaps drunk, the air friendly between them.

On the other hand, Rosemary’s insides were twisting up. Despite the sweet fragrance of the alcohol, it didn’t ease her mood at all.

How unusual. To think that Duke Hasfeldt, who was famous for his pride, would present himself so humbly.

It was chaos inside Rosemary’s head. As she thought, there was something about the Saliere family that she was missing.

It was strange that sis had defended Count Saliere, and how she was being careful around that bitch Lotte or whatever her name was.

Big sis was good just doing research. And she wasn’t so weak that she would cower under humans.

In the first place, Aether was a free soul in the first place who hated being beneath someone. If she had to take an honest guess, that had to be part of why she left the Demon Castle.

Then there was only one reason why sis made that choice at that time.

There was a huge research secret in the Saliere family!

Nothing else could explain it. That was what Rosemary deduced.

It definitely had to be a huge research that was comparable to the blueprint of the ‘Dark Day’ scroll. If it wasn’t something like that, then sis wouldn’t be tiptoeing around that girl Lotte or Latte whatsit.

Rosemary then returned to her room, and faxed a coded message to everyone through the Demon Castle’s emergency contact network.

The faxed content was this:

- Beware of the red-head.Good, that should do. She could explain the rest at the next Demon Castle meeting.

There were a lot of other things to do besides this. Although the plan failed, she had to keep on earning Aether’s favor.

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Rosemary felt around the bedside table, and there sat a partially-knitted muffler.

It was a black muffler with a bit of blueberry color mixed in.

“There is much work to do.”

“I know, after I finish this.”

She’d originally planned to complete it by November and give it to Aether, because being a Beast didn’t mean you never got sick.

But after that vixen Lotte Saliere showed up, circumstances changed.

She had to reclaim Aether from her. While sis might spend winter break at the Demon Castle, she said she’d live with that girl on the same estate after graduating.

It had been quite shocking to Rosemary, and something that struck her with a sense of crisis at the same time.

She had to do something about it. And there was only one thing that could gain Aether’s favor without upsetting her.

A gift. She would give sis a seasonal winter gift.

Were they indifferent to gifts from others because they were Beasts? Not at all. The Golden-Eyed, too, were living creatures under the same sky, after all. They celebrated important anniversaries such as each other’s birthdays or the Demon King’s birth together.

“You must have felt quite the danger.”

“Of course.”

Right now, Rosemary’s hands were faster than any knitting machine in the world. She was going to finish this and give it by Monday.

This wasn’t just an ordinary scarf. This scarf that was made with Rosemary’s dexterity as a violinist dexterity had several physical and magical effects added to it.

The ability to halve any kind of attack, for example. It was a kind of accessory with buffs, basically.

“Come to think of it, sis was weak to presents like this.”

She anticipated the appreciative face sis would make when she gave her the muffler. Rosemary’s lips twitched into a grin.

The previous day, Lotte and I passed out as soon as we got back. So when I opened my eyes, the day had passed.

It was due to not having slept on Friday. I’d returned late to the dorm due to the research I was doing in Professor Cai-Lussac’s lab, and Lotte had stayed up until dawn waiting for me.

When I woke up, the bed was a mess. I must have moved a lot in my sleep last night.

I’d also had a strange dream, of course. A dream where a large old tree burned up into nothing and the sky turned black.

It was routine now. I still broke out into a cold sweat, but it wasn’t to the point of getting chills or choking after waking up.

I was now used to it. With a ‘haaa’, I let out a sigh. When I got out of bed, my throat was feeling a bit tight.

I immediately downed a glass of water, but the tightness didn’t go away so it still felt uncomfortable.

“Ah.”

It was then that I realized that something was wrapped around my neck.

It was the scarf I’d gotten from Lotte yesterday. A thick muffler that was white like a daisy.

So it was this. This was why my neck area had been feeling uncomfortable. I tried to untie the scarf.

That is, until I saw Lotte waking up from the bed right next to me.

“Mmm.”

Lotte got up, rubbing her eyes. She’d also gone to bed after barely washing so her hair was something else.

Still, that didn’t affect her beauty. She was a girl whose bright cherry-red hair suited her.

And what about those fitting eyes? The red rubies of her eyes contained intellect, compassion, peace, and innocence.

And another emotion.

“You’re awake?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Lotte looked at me. For a brief moment, the light in her eyes disappeared then came back. It was hard to tell whether that had been an effect of the sunlight or her inner state surfacing.

“You wore the scarf to sleep.”

“You told me to wear it until the end of winter vacation.”

“...Good.”

‘Huhu’, Lotte giggled. It was a cute and pretty sound.

But at the same time, it gave me the chills.

“Ugh.... it’s cold.”

“Maybe it’s time to put the heater on?”

“Might be.”

“Keep it on properly so you don’t catch a cold. It’s easy to get sick during seasonal changes.”

“I-I should.”

Now I wasn’t going to be able to take it off except for when I was washing, it seemed. If I went around without this, I’d probably get nagged by Lotte.

For some reason, this muffler felt like it became some kind of safety net. One that made Lotte into the ‘friend’ I usually knew.

To be honest, the look Lotte gave yesterday had been scary. I hadn’t expected this innocent best friend of mine to suddenly turn like that.

[What is it? Did something happen yesterday?]

The hardcover asked me while I was brushing my teeth. With a dry tone, I thought the words I wanted to say.

You weren’t paying attention yesterday, weren’t you.

[I need to rest at times, too. Didn’t you know that I wasn’t always watching the situation during our conversations?]

Hah. This pseudo-AI made by the Goddess was saying that it needed to rest. Snorting, I flicked off the excess water from my brush.

[Let’s see, for the research.... It seems you have enough materials. When you have the time later, you should be able to complete the second and third stages of the ‘Teller-Ulam design’ method at the same time.]

Whatever it was, the hardcover seemed to be trying to make me feel better. It was the softer version of the guy I hadn’t seen in a while.

Come to think of it, did it have a gender?

[What.]

Guess it was just a tin can after all. I mean, why would there be gender distinction for AIs.

“Aether.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re doing whatever I want today, too, right?”

“Right.”

There was something foreboding.

“Then can you spend winter vacation at our place?”

Oh geez, I knew it. The sense of foreboding was rarely wrong.

My mouth moved wordlessly. I was reluctant to answer.

It was still a promise I’d made with my sworn sister. Just as I couldn’t break my promise with Lotte that we’d ‘live together after the war ends’, the promise to Rosemary that we’d ‘spend winter vacation together at the Demon Castle’ wasn’t something I could break easily.

Promises were like trust. Rosemary had even protected my identity for my sake, so I’d be a piece of trash if I didn’t keep this.

Beast or human, it didn’t matter. It was a standard that any intellectual being should follow. At least, that was what I believed.

“...That’s going to be hard.”

“...Really?”

Lotte’s eyes turned frosty cold. Realizing that I gave the wrong answer, I quickly changed my words.

“Well, I might be able to for a little while, now that I think about it.”

My voice was calm without ups or downs, but on the inside, I was drying up like ground suffering from drought.

Those eyes were frightening. I was afraid. Because I didn’t know how she’d react if I didn’t indulge her.

Did that mean Lotte would be dropping out from the nuclear development process? Then that would be a problem in itself, because Vermel had said that it would be probabilistic to even defeat the Demon King if they didn’t have the force of a hydrogen bomb.

If I wanted to go home, I needed Lotte. But Lotte didn’t want me to go home.

I had to think about it. In the end, I had to compromise after making the calculations in my head.

“I might be able to if it’s for a few days.”

“...A few days?”

“Two weeks! If I can persuade Lady Blanton, then two weeks should be possible.”

“...Alright. If it’s two weeks, then well, that’s fine.”

Lotte’s complexion finally warmed up, and only then was I able to be relieved.

I committed a lot of wrong, it looked like. I wondered if this was going to come back and bite me in the ass later.

It probably would, since a goddess existed in this world, as well as concepts like inevitability and fate.

For example, the resurrection of the Demon King was both inevitability and causality. No matter how much I screwed Rosemary over, the Demon King would eventually return and take over the continent.

It needed to be stopped, and in order to do that, I absolutely had to protect my friendship with Lotte.

“Alright, I’m fine with that so let’s take it easy today. I’m a bit tired, too.”

Lotte nodded in satisfaction. Her smile was bright. But the look I was giving Lotte wasn’t the most relaxed one.

“S-sis...?”

When Rosemary showed up to class, there was a black muffler in her hands. She must have been trying to give it to me.

Ah.

It dropped to the floor.