The Magic Academy's Physicist

Chapter 55: Black Death (2)

Chapter 55: Black Death (2)

Prevention was the best way to stop a plague apocalypse. Stopping the source of contagion and making sure there were absolutely no outbreaks.

With the Black Death episode having begun, it was near-impossible to block the source of the infection route. That was a fixed setting of the game, a transcendent law that couldn’t be influenced by human will.

But if the initial number of outbreaks could be controlled and buy some response time, it’d exponentially increase the chances of clearing the Trial perfectly. Vermel opened the door to the Transmutation Club to make the remedy that would rid the intermediate hosts of this world’s version of Black Death.

“Huh?”

And found Aether and Freyr already inside.

What are they doing here?

Originally, Aether basically vanished from the main story as soon as the Flare episode ended. She shouldn’t be randomly showing up where a player was going.

“What are you guys doing?”

“Hobby.”

“You make scrolls as a hobby...?”

“So what? I’ve paid my tuition so I’m engaging in a hobby at the club.”

“Then what are you making?”

“Mosquito catcher.”

“......?”

Vermel’s brain froze at the unexpected answer.

“So, you’re making a tool to catch mosquitoes with that scroll?”

“Yeah.”

His mind was jumbled. Making a scroll to use as a jammer against low-level beasts was part of Vermel’s new build. But here Aether was trying to develop it first.

Was this something that happened if two Trials overlap...?

The Black Death scenario that was currently in progress counted as the ‘First Trial’. On the other hand, the arbitrary event that occurred because Aether’s stress level hadn’t been managed well was the ‘Fourth Trial’, timewise.

This scenario in which the key character of the Fourth Trial was trying to destroy the main character of the First Trial was enough to make him recall the old idiom ‘divide and rule’¹.

System-wise, the Fourth Trial didn’t happen yet. Which meant that Aether wasn’t doing this out of stress but based on her own interest, most likely.

Perhaps she was a character who spent her time like this while the player was busy running around doing things. Not being part of the main events wouldn’t equate to not having a school life. Thinking this way was better for his mental health, too.

“I think this should be good.”

“Wow! You’re done!”

Anyway, Aether was doing his work for him. He’d never experienced this during his life as a veteran player so it was like going back to his newbie days.

Vermel followed after the girl. The place Aether went to was a nearby pond with foliage around it.

“Why did you come here?”

“You know these mosquitoes are machines, right? But I saw in a book that they have certain habits, too.”

“Habits?”

It was Vermel’s first time hearing that mosquitoes had particular habits.

Because in the game you only learned that the intermediate hosts of Black Death were mosquitoes and that the cure required the bark of a tree in the rutaceae family. It didn’t matter what studies of this world advanced in which way, and there wasn’t time to build that kind of knowledge, either.

But Aether was different.

“The reason why mosquitoes aren’t around in winter despite being mechanical beasts is because they also reproduce and develop. It’s not that they can’t withstand the cold, but rather that it’s not a suitable environment to lay eggs and bear offspring so they disappear for a bit to hibernate, sort of.”

Aether acquired and used knowledge whenever she wanted. He never saw this kind of detail before even though he had played every single content in the game.

“Anywhere with water in liquid form and sapindales fulfills the criteria for reproduction.”

“Sapindales?”

“I’m talking about the plant classification system. There was a study that plants of the citrus genus attract a bunch of mosquitoes. What’s commonly known as a citrus, you know? Lemon, lime, citron, mandarin oranges and such.”

Citron, it can’t be...!

One of the ingredients of the cure for Black Death was the bark and fruit of a citronella tree. And the Black Death of this world was an insane plague with the ability to infect not only humans but most organisms.

I see, that’s why.

Then everything fell into place. It now made sense why mosquitoes had been going around sucking the sap of these trees outside of spawning season, why Dr. Sephia who was obsessed with citrus scents had survived the disease as soon as the Trial had hit. Vermel nodded and gazed at Aether as she set up the scroll by the waters.

Aether was hard to control.

But as long as she wasn’t corrupted, then she’d be the best card for reaching the Happy Ending.

Soldiers being dragged to war at least had comrades, but for Klais who was by herself, every step taken was hell.

She was heading home but her heart was heavy. People were normally frightened by the cold and the beasts in these secluded northern mountains, but for Klais, there was one more object of fear.

Her father.

“Please come in.”

Klais responded to the butler’s dry attitude with silence. She removed her boots in this weather of fluttering white rice cake powder² and headed into the lobby.

Each ducal family had their own preferred artistic style. The one word that described the artistic sense of the Hasfeldt family was ‘minimalism’. Simplify what could be simplified, and be conservative where possible. And thanks to such frugality, Hasfeldt had been able to use the money for artworks and luxury as research funds for Flare.

Hence, the corridors of the main house were dull without any china. Eventually arriving where her father was, Klais took a deep breath and knocked.

Knock knock. There was no answer.

“... Excuse me.”

The door made of suitable hardwood let out a dreary sound as it opened and closed.

The inside of the office could hardly be described as fancy. A single lacquered spruce desk was the only furniture that could be considered luxurious. The sofa or shelves? They were similar in quality to the ones used by lesser nobles.

A middle-aged gentleman sat at the desk, chair creaking as he did paperwork. Then the man lifted his eyes slightly and looked at Klais.

“...Klais, do you know why I have called you?”

In this day and age, most matters were dealt with over the corded phone. If it had been a simple issue, then her father wouldn’t have summoned her to the main house.

Then there was only one case in which her father would meet face-to-face with his grown-up daughter.

When the family’s reputation had been sullied.

“I’ve tried covering for most of your blunders. Yet what is this?”

A cold bundle of coarse paper landed on the carpet with a Thud.

It was a newspaper article.

[The Ultimate Fire Magic ‘Flare’ successfully developed at Tilette Academy... An undergraduate identifies the core principle]“Let’s hear your excuse. Were you robbed of the research data by the Golden-Eyed brat in the papers?”

“I’m sorry?”

Klais was blindsided by the sudden question and stumbled over her words.

“Didn’t you mention something like this in a previous call? That you brought in a Golden-Eyed slave three years ago and put her in the lab.”

“I-I did. And?”

“‘And?’ Are you being obtuse on purpose? I will ask if there is any other Golden-Eyed in the state other than your slave published in the paper. Is or isn’t there?”

“Th-there i-isn’t....”

“Then not only did you let that slave enter the Academy, but you also allowed her to snatch the family’s research. Tell me if your father is mistaken.”

The daughter could only tremble before her father. She had to say something, but no words came out. Everything that she had prepared would just be excuses.

To appease the parent’s anger, the child could only lower her eyes instinctively and observe the patterns on the floor.

There was one tactic that Klais frequently used in such cases.

That was to immediately lower her head.

“... This is my mistake. Please forgive me.”

Klais bowed deeply at the waist. She leaned forward so much that her hair hung all the way down to the floor.

White smoke passed over Klais’ head. Before she knew it, her father was right in front of her burning mana grass with the same hold that she usually had.

“Indeed, what use is it to say that it’s the earnest desire of the family. It’s more important that the Empire has a way to defend against Cataclysms. It should hardly matter that we cannot even recover the principal amount of the capital we invested over eighty years. Yes, the patent being released wouldn’t matter, surely.... Don’t you think so? Klais.”

“.......”

His mocking speech pierced her heart like a dagger. But that wasn’t the final blow.

“But why am I hearing talks of plagiarism?”

“... Sir?”

Klais’ face fell in shock. Plagiarism? It was her first time hearing such a thing.

“Someone informed me that news already spread throughout the state. Who exactly is responsible for my hearing that you were rejected at the desk for writing a near-copy of the paper by the Golden-Eyed brat who was once your slave?”

She truly had no idea. Did it come over the wire while she was on her way here? It could have since information traveled quickly these days.

“I was patient with everything else, but I absolutely cannot overlook this case of plagiarism. Klais, your actions have caused the family’s reputation to fall deeply below the ground all the way into the inner core of the continent.”

“That’s a misunderstanding...! Really... I genuinely did not commit plagiarism...!”

It was unfair, but there was nothing left to prove her grievance.

“Klais. As much as I’d like to defend you on this matter, I cannot. Even if you hadn’t referenced that child’s paper, as long as it’s strong in similarity, you’re finished.”

Of course, Klais had an idea herself; the process and method she had used to complete Flare were mostly lesser versions of Aether’s.

Building the general theory based off of the Magic Element-Energy Convertibility Theorem, making a similar scroll by extending and arranging it into three-dimensional format, both of them conducting tests using the same wavelength.

Every one of those things coincided strangely enough so even if Klais was burning with frustration on the inside, she couldn’t defend herself. She knew better than anyone that if she said something, she would just be seen as a thieving scum within academia.

But even in that process, the head of the Hasfeldt family continued the conversation in a calm tone instead of throwing the ashtray.

“I did not call you here to interrogate you; in fact, it’s to have you make a decision.”

“By decision you mean...?”

“You have two choices. The first is to take responsibility for tarnishing our reputation and leave the family, and the other is....”

Footnotes

1. ????(????); (also the title of ch. 32) originating from China, it means to get rid of an enemy using another enemy without getting involved which in China's case were the barbarians; technically different from 'divide and rule' in that this deals with external forces as opposed to internal rebellions but is the closest to it2. That's exactly what it said