The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 18: Passed Like A Dog (4)

I passed like a dog1, and escaped like one, too.

Though I was happy about the acceptance itself, I could no longer learn Ultimate Fire Magics with how uncomfortable it’s become with Hasfeldt.

She was the most proficient user of Fire Magic in the whole Empire. The reason why I had endured all this time as a slave was because I thought that staying under Hasfeldt would be the fastest way to learn all Fire Magic.

And now that became impossible. There’d be no more learning with the relationship broken.

Since it came to this, I had to find a substitute plan. Like some ancient document containing the secrets of Fire Magic or finding someone as skilled as Hasfeldt to advise me.

Well, not that it really mattered. That was why I enrolled into the Academy anyway.

Heerlein spoke to me as she watched me lost in deep thought despite being accepted.

“Cheer up. You’re no longer a slave, right? Or what, are you worried about Klais?”

“No?”

Do I look like some kind of pushover?

There was no chance in hell that would happen. I was only uneasy about any possible delay in going back to my original world because of this.

But I couldn’t say that so I made up a reasonable excuse.

“It’s just that, I feel guilty for what happened between you and Duchess Hasfeldt. You’ve been friends since you were students, right?”

“Yeah, we are. That’s why I was able to do this. What do you think would’ve happened if some other Count had gone against the Duchess?”

“Something bad.”

“I’ll be going back into the mansion in a bit anyway. She needs a reality check.”

Professor Heerlein ended the conversation there and left to go visit the board chairman’s office. In the meantime, I watched the scenery around me from the bench.

A familiar school, a foreign status.

I suddenly recalled what my sister used to say habitually to me.

─ Live without regret. You only get one shot at life anyway.

After having heard that, I went into the program that I wanted despite my parents and teachers advising against it. I remembered how draining it had been during admissions counseling.

─ Wouldn’t you be able to aim for med school with this?

─ Physics.

─ Then at least computer engineering.... They say that a developer makes a lot of money these days!

─ Physics.

─ Pharmacy school, how about pharmacy school? Once you graduate, it’ll be a stable job and give you a good work-life balance.

─ Physics.

It wasn’t that nice a memory.

Prof Heerlein returned while I reminisced about old times.

“Ta-da! Do you know what this is?”

“It’s the Freeman Identification Certificate.”

“That’s right. I went and requested it from the chairman. Even the Emperor won’t be able to do anything with you with this issued.”

Oh right. My frantic prep for the admissions test had been due to the Second Prince trying to make me his servant.

And with both a Freeman Identification Certificate and my rights as a Tilette Academy undergraduate student, it was now pointless for the Emperor to discuss arrangements for my purchase. Man, it felt like a three-year weight lifted off my shoulders.

“This is something to celebrate so let me treat you to a meal. No need to pay me back.”

“You’ve already done so much.”

“Have I? You can repay me by growing up into a fantastic mage. Then you can protect the people of this nation.”

That pricked my conscience.

I had planned to get out of here at the speed of light once I completed this index even if the world was crashing and burning....

Heerlein took me to the main shopping district. When she asked me what I wanted to eat, I looked around and spotted a sashimi restaurant run by an elf.

Weren’t elves known to be vegetarian? Fish-eating forest folk, hm.... It seemed weird somehow.

Most of the Empire’s territories were inland so there weren’t many opportunities to see fresh fish. And as such, they needed to have the fish delivered from the southern lands of the elves and then transported here while avoiding the thieves and Magic Beasts.

And what would be happening to the quality of the fish throughout the journey? It was remotely okay if the fish was salted, but the point of sashimi was to catch a living, lively thing and slice it up with a sashimi knife to present it on the spot for optimal texture.

Even if they were transporting a live fish, the stress that it experienced during the process was enough to decrease the quality of the meat.

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Even so, I couldn’t resist sashimi from the ocean. Because it was delicious. It was something that I only ate once a year in my original world, so of course it’d stir my appetite even if the quality lacked a bit.

We got a table inside the restaurant and ordered two sets of assorted sashimi. As this was a different world, I didn’t recognize any of the fish. There were lots of interesting seasonings as well, such as the clear sauce similar to a less salty soy sauce that they served in saucers.

There seemed to be a lemon equivalent, at least. Heerlein poked at the thinly sliced lemon on top of the assorted sashimi.

“Do you want to sprinkle this?”

“I’ll put some into the sauce.”

I’ll just call this soy sauce since they were similar.

Heerlein watched me with fascination as I squeezed the lemon into the soy sauce.

“Isn’t it better to sprinkle it on the fish to get rid of the fishiness?”

“But then it won’t be as firm.”

Sprinkling lemon on sashimi got rid of the fishiness but if left like that for some time, the texture became ruined due to the coagulation of protein. It was far better to put it in the soy sauce for dipping than have that happen.

As Heerlein watched me squeeze lemon juice into the soy sauce, she continued with an impressed tone.

“You’re really interesting. Have you really been a slave until now?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you eat like a noble. The High Elves enjoy eating sashimi this way.”

“You know about elf culture as well?”

Heerlein nodded at my question.

“I’ve been to Kaurelia before as an exchange student. I think the academy there was called Iliad? It was the academy with the highest cut off line out of all the schools in the nation. My roommate at the time was a High Elf and I learned this when I had sashimi at their recommendation.”

While we ate, I suddenly became curious about something and asked her a question.

“So why did you help me with the admissions? You didn’t benefit from it at all and it only soured the relationship with your friend.”

“I didn’t benefit? I already said at the beginning. We can’t let someone talented like you waste away.”

Really? That’s actually it?

“Listen closely, Aether. Those Imperial Highnesses whose asses never leave the palace don’t know this, but all the combat mages out on the battlefields know that the Empire will soon fall.”

Her words startled me and had me glancing around us. Thankfully, no one seemed to have heard due to how loud it was.

Lowering my voice as much as possible, I mentioned the syllables that should never be uttered in this country.

“... It isn’t a revolution, is it?”

“Well, there could be an upheaval of the system like the elves had done. But as long as the Imperials aren’t constantly doing stupid things, the chances of that scenario playing out are low. I’m talking more about the national defenses being at risk.”

“Because of the beasts.”

“Correct. You probably already heard that the situation in the northern front is rather precarious. Why else would His Highness call upon a disabled veteran like me to go and investigate the new tower?”

“There’s a.... tower, in the northern front?”

“It’s no magic tower with mages in it, at least. A hell of a sturdy-looking steel tower at that. The height seemed to be roughly two kilometers and it spewed out a whole bunch of higher level beasts.””

Holy shit, two kilometers?

How many meters was the tallest building in my original world again...?

“If the Empire falls, that’ll open the way for the beasts to enter into the Elemental Realm. And if that leads to the extinction of the Elemental Kings, then all races of this world will.......”

“Become like the Golden-Eyed.”

“That’s what Klais was worried about. She was unhealthily obsessed with completing Flare because she had a glimpse of that outcome right in front of her.”

“... I get what you mean but it’s a bit offensive.”

“Sorry for dumping this on you. The more immediate concern is your tuition fee, right?”

“Ah.”

Right. Tuition.

In the other world, I had been able to attend school without worrying about finances because of scholarship programs and government grants, but this world didn’t have that kind of education system yet.

It hasn’t been that long since I was freed of my slave status. Even if I searched my pockets, there was nothing.

“You were second place so half of it should be covered. But even with that, the problem of you not having any money still remains since you’ve only just come out of being a slave.”

“Can I take the semester off?”

“First years aren’t allowed.”

Fucking school....

I didn’t have long to think about it. If I didn’t want to be expelled in the first semester for not registering, I had to make money.

“Then the time I have left is....”

“About a month. You need to make one gold within that time. Not including food and dorm fees, of course.”

Why was it so fucking difficult to get into the Academy?

**

Klais had been sitting absently at the table for almost two hours

Meriga, who had left together with Aether, returned to the mansion around noon.

“Klais.”

“.......”

“Klais?”

“.......”

“Hey dumbass!!”

Klais finally moved her head upon hearing Meriga’s slander.

Hierarchically, a Duchess was in a higher position than a Margrave so it wouldn’t have been strange for her to draw a sword in anger at Meriga’s crude language.

But she couldn’t.

Because the always-smiling lips of her best friend were downturned.

As someone who would never stop smiling even on the bloody battlefield, the fact that Meriga wasn’t doing so now was a sign that she was furious.

Before Klais could even react, Meriga stomped up to her and let her anger out. She began saying what she had been holding back earlier when Aether had been here for the sake of keeping the mood light.

“If you like magic research so much, then you should’ve done it alone. Why did you take an innocent girl and do this to her?”

However, Klais didn’t respond to Meriga’s question. Rather, she countered with her own question.

Klais asked with a shaking voice.

“... Meriga, were you the one to enroll Aether?”

“It was. This whole thing was my doing.”

“Why would you do this? What on earth caused you to create this grudge between us?!”

There was a strange note of despair in Klais’ tone when she said this. And Meriga discovered the source of it in the golden letter on the table.

It was from the Emperor.

[Dear Duchess Hasfedlt]

[It is soon time for you to hand over the Golden-Eyed slave.]

[But I’ve been hearing about the rumors going around how the slave applied for the Academy.]

[As such, my son is upset to the point of destroying several works of art in the palace.]

[I will make this short. Come to the palace immediately.]

[Emperor of the Philut Empire, Yelchin Philiut (Seal)]

“I’m on the verge of losing both 30 000 gold and Aether because of you.”

Currently, Klais was not receiving much support from the palace or the Academy. It was due to the great academic scholars coming to a consensus long ago that the power of Fire Magic had reached its limit and there was no effective way to defeat a Cataclysm.

Klais was the only scholar in this situation researching the power of Fire Magic and she had been confident that she’d soon be able to succeed as well as earn 30 000 gold.

In the end, her plan to obtain both things shattered completely.

Because of none other than her most trusted friend of ten years.

Meriga had nothing to say to this. She shouldn’t have anything to say to this. Yet she still said one thing with certainty.

“Klais, if I don’t help Aether enroll into the Academy, then this continent might be engulfed by the beasts.”

“That’s nonsense. You can’t guarantee that such a thing will happen.”

“You’ve seen that tower. That in itself is a Cataclysm. The northern front could collapse at any time if we provoke it wrong somehow.”

From Meriga’s perspective, Aether was a highly talented individual. Klais thought so, too, of course, but there was definitely a clear distinction in the way each of them viewed and handled a competent assistant.

As a blue blood, Klais believed it her right to work the slave she had purchased for little compensation. All the other nobles around her did the same. She didn’t see a particular need to pay expensive fees to enroll her into Tilette since she could simply teach the girl herself and have her do research because she was already capable.

On the other hand, Meriga was someone born into a commoner family who realized the earnest need for a class ladder when she enrolled into Tilette. What Aether needed wasn’t more work but a safe and stable environment that could maximize her abilities.

“You were anticipating this, weren’t you?”

Klais nodded weakly.

“You knew how the Prince would react so you put on the collar to show that it wasn’t your fault. Am I right?”

“... It’s true.

“Alright, then it’s fine that you did that much. I caused all this anyway so you can blame the rest on me.”

“No, how could I ever...! It’s fine. I’ll take care of this.”

She couldn’t throw her long-time friend under the carriage despite how things turned out.

As a Duchess, she’d be reprimanded at most but Meriga had nothing to back her if the Imperials decided to eliminate the family as a whole.

The Prince of this generation was called a miscreant because he would constantly act like this. Five other families had already been snuffed out due to getting on the wrong side in a similar way.

She had to prepare to leave since she was summoned to the palace. After getting her coat on, Klais put on her witch’s hat with a resolute face.

She had to placate the Prince in whatever way she could.

That was the only thing in Klais’ mind as she headed towards the palace.

1. (Roll credits!) A phrase used in Korea to intensify the verb e.g. Failed like a dog -> Failed miserably