The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 182: Farewell Gift

Chapter 182: Farewell Gift

“Why would I throw out what sis gave? Are you stupid?”

Rosemary asked in a perplexed tone, and Jǫrmungandr let out a sigh.

“Do not be shocked but listen carefully. Your sister is actually on the side of the humans.”

“Shut up, what do you know.”

“Shut up? Who should be the one saying that?”

Jǫrmungandr snorted and snapped at Rosemary.

“You foolish wench, I’ve known your sister far longer than you have!”

At the short but powerful statement, Rosemary shut her mouth like the cat got her tongue. Clicking her tongue, Jǫrmungandr continued.

“Your sister is the only one of us who isn’t corrupt, which is why she was always thinking too much. Is it right to drive out all Elementals? Is going against the Goddess really for the good of the Golden-Eyed? She was full of such thoughts even until the moment that the Demon King started the Great War.”

Rosemary knew that much.

Despite all the discrimination and hatred that the Golden-Eyed had received until now, Aether remained skeptical of the ‘Elemental slaughter’ plan of the Demon Army until the end.

It wasn’t because she was stupid.

It wasn’t even that she was stupidly nice, either.

“Her agony was due to knowing too much.”

It was a result of being able to separate her reason from emotions.

“And such agony is no different than a curse from the Goddess.”

“......Curse?”

“Yes, curse. Until she bleeds black like the rest of us, your sister has no choice but to be played by the Goddess, since we, too, are beings born of her.”

Jǫrmungandr gently closed her eyes.

“Do you now understand what this one is trying to tell you?”

With a sharp inhale, Rosemary swallowed back a noise.

Her gaze went to the atom bomb. Opening her eyes at the same time, Jǫrmungandr confirmed with empty eyes.

“If she wanted, she could blow up that thing here.”

If Aether decided that it was the actions of the Demon Army that would make the future of the Golden-Eyed bleak, then she would detonate it regardless if they were kin or not.

At least, that was was it looked like to Jǫrmungandr.

“No, she won’t.”

This time, it was Rosemary who snorted. Instead of making petty excuses, she pulled out the scroll Aether had given her from her inner pocket and waved it.

“She even gave me the detonator.”

“...And the chances of it being fake?”

“None.”

To Rosemary, the scroll expert, this was the real thing with refined mana circuits. In other words, a shiitake mushroom farm could be made in the sky at any time if it got charged with a certain amount of mana.

“How suspicious.”

Narrowing her eyes, Jǫrmungandr rubbed her chin. Rosemary saw it as showing off when she couldn’t even see.

“What do you mean suspicious. Are you paranoid?”

“How many times did I tell you not to talk so casually to an elder?”

“Is that important right now?”

The corner of Rosemary’s mouth were going to reach the skies.

“You might have been the one to serve with sis the longest, but it’s me who’s closer to her.”

“......What did you say?”

“You think I can’t even figure out what sis is thinking?”

Aether said she’d give one last chance to everyone including the Beasts.

So it meant that she would remain neutral until either humans or Beasts betrayed her first.

And this bomb was a kind of guarantee of that.

It probably wasn’t just for blowing up. Considering sis’s personality, it was a reasonable assumption to make.

“Forget everything else, let’s keep it simple. Like, everything will be fixed if we bring sis over to our side, right? By making her feel utterly betrayed by humans.”

Jǫrmungandr nodded her head.

“Go ahead and do it if you can. Is there a good way?”

“Of course, who do you think you’re talking to?”

Blueberry had had all her plans ruined so far.

However....

However!

“It’ll be different this time.”

Squeeze. Rosemary clenched her hands and twisted her lips.

It was her most wicked smile ever.

**The next day after giving Rosemary the atom bomb.

When I went into the club after the day’s classes, Lotte and Freyr handed me a small jewelry box.

“What’s this?”

“The bonus prize from the festival, apparently.”

“We were waiting for you to come to open it!”

I accepted the box while looking around. Vermel, Merilda, Erika, and even Jarod. There were a few others camping here besides Lotte and Freyr.

“Anyway, why are all of you here?”

I asked while tipping my head.

“Because it’s the bonus prize from the festival!”

Excited, Merilda chattered away in a loud voice.

“From what I know, the Elementals make the bonus prize for the Tilette art fest. Of course we have to come and see!”

This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēnovelkiss.com.

“It probably isn’t something worth looking at.”

“What are you saying? It’s surely a rare artifact that you might see once in a lifetime!”

I only shrugged at Merilda’s passionate speech. To be honest, I didn’t really relate.

The only information I knew was that this item was supposed to make things easier in the future. Anyway, there was no reason not to open it.

Clack.

“......It’s a ring.”

“There’s four of them.”

They were rings with red, blue, black, and green gems embedded in them respectively.

“What is it, buff items?”

Seeing as they weren’t in pairs, they didn’t seem to be friendship or wedding rings.

As I took out the red rings and looked it over, Erika spoke with awe.

“...Wow, I can sense something sacred.”

“You can tell things like that?”

“I can since I have an Elemental. These rings are valuables that have been personally crafted by the Elemental King.”

Merilda and Erika’s eyes sparkled brightly. They looked like believers who’d received revelation on the verge of weeping with gratitude.

My gaze went to Vermel. Meeting my eyes, he nodded slightly.

“Do you know what it does?”

“Not that far.”

Under the circumstances, Vermel was probably the only one who knew this. But it also wouldn’t make sense for him to explain the capabilities of rings that he’d never seen before.

Maybe I could ask the hardcover?

Was what I was thinking when–

[Hm? Ah, alright.]

Suddenly speaking gibberish, the hardcover sighed heavily then spoke into my mind in a grumbling tone.

[I’m not supposed to tell you these kinds of things but.... I guess I have no choice.]

Then in the next moment.

Shliffff! The hardcover opened its pages and spit out information. I read the golden letters that began forming in front of my eyes.

[■ Ring of Righteousness (Legendary)][A ring containing the power of ‘Ignis’ the Fire Elemental King. Grants the wearer enormous willpower and saves them from despair.]It was the red ring I was currently holding.

It was odd that the hardcover that only used to give academic knowledge would tell me ‘unnecessary’ information like this.

But I couldn’t afford to care about that. My eyes became saucers when I read the next line.

[Stress damage reduction (-50%)]

[High probability of the event ‘Overcome’ occurring when stress level is 160 or greater.]

[The wearer will not fall into breakdown status of ‘Obsession’, ‘Violent’, or ‘Despair’.]

The capability of the Ring of Fervor was better than I imagined.

A situation where I literally could only think of it as being ‘lucky’.

Just in case, I checked the other ones, too.

[■ Ring of Spume (Legendary)][■ Ring of Tributary (Legendary)][■ Ring of Expanse (Legendary)]They were all equivalent to the ‘Ring of Fervor’. When I checked their attributes, they were so good to the point that they went beyond useful and it would’ve been a shame to not have them.

Now I knew why Vermel had said that ‘things became a lot easier if they had this’.

I came up with a way to distribute the prize equally.

There were three team members: me, Lotte, and Freyr. With there being four rings, it didn’t make sense to divide into three.

In that case.

“Lotte, Freyr.”

I would give them one each and see.

“You guys take one each. Red for Lotte, and black for Freyr, right?”

“Uh, uh.......”

Swallowing, both of them searched my face.

“My arm’s going to fall off. Hurry up and take it.”

“Can we really?”

“You’re the one who did the most work. Even if you take all of them....”

I shook my head.

“I don’t need it.”

This wasn’t a waste.

Neither was I being foolish.

In order not to lose my friends and give this world a happy ending and return, this was the right move.

Above all, it would benefit me greatly in the long run.

When I turned my head, Vermel was nodding his head up and down. I knew it, my decision had been the right one. Or it might’ve been that I was thinking similarly because we were the same transmigrators.

“Th-then I’ll gladly take it!”

“Hehe, gonna show this off to our class!”

I respectively handed Lotte and Freyr the ‘Ring of Fervor’ and ‘Ring of Tributary’. The two of them wore the rings with delighted faces. Which finger? The left pointer, which meant unwavering friendship.

“Huu.”

I was inwardly relieved seeing the position Lotte wore her ring.

Because it meant she’d completely shaken off the breakdown state.

The ring given to Lotte had the effect of reducing stress. And as for the ‘Ring of Tributary’ given to Freyr....

[Transmutation speed increase (+200%)]

[Reduction of mana required for transmutation (-60%)]

[‘Will to Live’ : The wearer will not commit suicide]

It had these attributes.

Even if the last one didn’t really matter, the first two were completely for Freyr. I couldn’t not give it to her even if I tried..

Now, that left two rings.

“.......”

“.......”

I locked eyes with Vermel.... no, ‘Romel’.

If I randomly gave this to the guy currently in disguise, then it could give the wrong idea like last time. With a smirk, I stuffed the remaining rings into the inner pocket of my coat..

With this, most of the preparation for winter break was done.

**And time passed, midterms just having ended.

“I’ll be back!”

After sharing a big hug with me, Lotte boarded the train heading to Iliad Academy.

It was time for her to leave my side.