The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 81: The Dragon Who Drinks Uranium (3)

Lotte was slightly taken aback by her father’s words.

“A secret magic we’ve been working on?”

“It’s just as I said; there’s something we’ve been researching for ten years.”

It wasn’t uncommon for aristocrats to research magic unknown to other families. Rather, it was something that occurred frequently in Imperial society.

That wasn’t why Lotte was surprised.

“Since you’ve become an adult, I thought it was time to tell you.”

Usually, such magic wasn’t shared even with family members as there had been past cases where someone would make a blunder by talking carelessly.

Therefore, passing this magic on to one’s child carried a special meaning.

[I appoint you as the next head of the family.]

“I wish to entrust to you this research that has been like a piece of me.”

The specific standards were different for every family, but the foundation was the same. In academically passionate households like the Saliere family, they used a fancy method like this to speak in a roundabout way instead of openly naming their successor.

There was no way that the intelligent Lotte could have missed what her father meant.

“.......”

Lotte hesitated momentarily.

This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.

It hadn’t been that long since she returned from the Academy and she was being appointed as the heir.

Her father was healthy without even a hint of illness.

In comparison, Lotte was still young–a novice who’d just finished the first semester of first year. This was the time for her to be concentrating on her studies.

Furthermore, it wasn’t as if she didn’t have any older siblings. Her sister had a clever business mind and her brother was significantly skilled at alchemy. They were all gifted individuals with outstanding talents in their respective fields.

Lotte didn’t believe her being the next head was justified.

“Lotte, I’m about to tell you something important so you need to listen carefully.”

Regardless, her father kept going.

Clack. A stone the size of a silver coin dropped onto the office desk.

“Do you know what this is?”

“A black stone.”

A small stone that was black and ominous-looking.

She knew where one could find lots of these were rolling around.

“Did you pick it up from Pitchblende Mountain?”

“That’s right. It’s actually not just a stone.”

Her father added one more thing.

“It’s a mana stone.”

“Mana stone?”

Lotte tilted her head curiously at her father’s reply.

“Come here and hold this.”

She grasped the stone at her father’s suggestion, and as she focused on her fingertips, she soon began to feel something.

“It really is. I can sense the mana.”

She had never noticed it when she was younger even though she’d played with them all the time. Impressed by her own growth, Lotte continued.

“But it’s very weak. If it were to be graded, then it’d be a low-grade at best.”

“Yes, I suppose it could feel that way.”

There was a sudden sense of déjà vu.

It was strange; for some reason, she felt like she knew the use of this mana stone. Seeing Lotte stand there with a contemplative expression, Count Saliere smiled.

“Then come this way, dear.”

The Count rose from his seat and slowly walked over to the large bookshelf. Lotte’s head turned to follow him.

“There is actually a hidden space here.”

With those words, her father pushed the shelf to the side revealing a hidden crevice as he said.

It was her first time knowing that such a space existed. Lotte gasped and squeezed herself through the crack after her father.

“Oh wow.”

She made another exclamation.

“What’s all this?”

There was a large magic equipment sitting inside the hidden room of the office.

The center consisted of hundreds of thousands of scrolls inscribed with advanced construction formulas, and it was surrounded by a power unit embedded with all sorts of expensive mana that was firmly fixed in place.

“This is a refiner.”

“Refine...?”

“It’ll be quicker to show you.”

The black stone placed on the refiner followed the conveyor belt into the opening. There was the sound of multiple scrolls working simultaneously and the machine began to move with a deep hum.

How long did it take? After completing a series of processes, the machine spit out light yellow stone powder into the test tube sitting at the end.

The power looked soft but had a dangerous color.

She vaguely realized with the knowledge gained from studying transmutation; if they struck that substance with Fire elements, it would cause an irreversible explosion.

“Did you catch on?”

At her father’s prompting, Lotte nodded quietly.

“This stone is common in the Pitchblende Mountains, but the flip side means that it can only be found there. And only you and I know that it has this kind of use.”

“Then....”

“You have remarkable magical talent, Lotte, and I truly believe that you’ll be able to use this stone to create a good magic.”

“Have you not yet decided on what kind of magic to make?”

“It would depend, wouldn’t it? If we look at its explosive power, it can be used for warfare, or it can simply be an alternative fuel to coal.”

The magic her father was trying to invent wasn’t exactly magic. It might be something to do with engineering, rather.

It seemed that he was attempting to create a new branch of magic altogether. Lotte couldn’t absorb everything her father had said but she nodded for now.

“Still, it might be used for something dangerous if mishandled.”

“That’s why it’s being researched secretly right now. You cannot tell anyone.”

“Ah, because someone could abuse it?”

“Exactly, aren’t you a smart one.”

All of a sudden, the responsibility lay heavily upon her.

Let’s say that the matter of succession could be dealt with at a later time with her siblings. The people who currently knew the use of this mana stone were her and her father, the two of them.

She never imagined that all those rocks rolling around on the mountain in front of their home could be refined into this kind of high-quality product.

Right, no need to think about this right now. It was her vacation at last and she didn’t want to waste her youth giving herself a headache ruminating.

“I understand, dad. I’ll be off to bed now.”

The time already became like this from all that conversing. Having finished talking with her father, Lotte bowed and returned to her room.

It was a large room that was big enough to fit four people, and where Lotte used to share with her sister.

Because of that, there were two beds. During their childhood, Lotte would wind down the day on the inner bed and her sister on the one by the window.

The person occupying the bed by the window was now someone else. Black hair flapped gently in the wind coming through the open window.

Gold eyes bearing all of creation gleamed with splendor as they reflected the moonlight. A pair of refined topaz shone in Lotte’s eyes.

The Golden-Eyed girl was gazing at the distant mountain outside the window, seemingly unaware of Lotte approaching because of that.

A certain melancholy spilled from the eyes looking out over the mountain.

Of course.

─ Sendd me huome.

They were eyes of longing. Recalling what Aether had mumbled sleepily in the carriage, Lotte carefully drew near and sat next to her.

“Is there something over there?”

Lotte pointed towards the Pitchblende Mountains.

Pitchblende Mountain was a part of the Elankaya Cordillera. The Elankayas were famous as the home of the Golden-Eyed and perhaps Aether was someone who’d come from beyond that range.

And that guess turned out to be right.

“Home.”

“Home?”

Aether was clearly pointing to where the beastkin were, which was neither Imperial territory nor the northern regions leading to the Demonic Lands. Then she soon realized that Aether’s finger was hanging on the summit of the mountain.

Suddenly, a chill ran down Lotte’s spine.

She didn’t know why; it was an instinctive uneasiness born of ignorance

Come to think of it, Lotte didn’t know very much about Aether since they’d only known each other for three months.

This was something she’d gradually learn. Lotte continued casually with small talk.

“Is someone you know if you were to go back home? Like a brother or sister.”

“There’s one.”

“Really?”

It was her first time hearing that Aether had siblings. Lotte’s clear eyes twinkled.

“Really? Who?”

“A sister, and I’m the younger brother.”

“Younger brother?”

Rubbing her eyes, Aether corrected herself.

“Sister. The younger sister.”

“What is she like?”

“She lived however she wanted.”

That was the end of the exchange.

While skillfully spinning the pen, Aether looked between the book and the mountain. The traces left on the hardcover by the nib contained the theory of differential geometry.

She proceeded to fill the blank spaces of the book with complicated equations. It was full of content so difficult that even Lotte, who’d taken advanced math until third year, had trouble understanding everything. There weren’t many recognizable signs either so it was like seeing some alien language.

Tap–the sound of scritching stopped.

“I don’t know where she lives now. Actually, not sure if she’s even alive or dead. Still, I don’t think she’d be dead with that lifeline. If I go back home and search, maybe I’ll see her again one day.”

“... You’re not on bad terms?”

“Because I half-assed at life, too.”

Someone’s yawn rang throughout the room. The moon outside was already passing over halfway and going behind the mountain.

“Let’s go to bed.”

After the two of them washed up, they lay in their respective beds. Even in the dark without a source of light, Aether’s gold eyes glowed dimly.

Lotte buried herself under the covers. Her mind was still jumbled from the conversation she’d had earlier with her father.

Tick, tock, tick.

She wondered how long she’d tossed and turned at the sound of ticking.

Lotte woke up in the pitch black dark. She did sleep, but not properly.

“... What time is it?”

Feeling restless, she got out of bed without realizing. Lotte lit a small flame in her hand, then putting on slippers, she impulsively plodded to the bed by the window.

Rubbing her eyes and looking straight ahead, she saw nothing.

Aether was gone.