NOVEL WEB Chapter 12 - Friend, Why Are You Crying
Chapter 12 – Friend, Why Are You Crying
‘I, I have one more thing I’d like to ask…’
‘Yes.’
Ethila was persistent.
Even though she was already witnessing Esther’s near-perfect magical theory, she didn’t stop questioning.
She wanted to somehow find a flaw in the genius boy, but…
‘Did you understand?’
The more questions she asked, the higher Esther’s standing rose.
‘For this problem, it would be more effective to adopt the method written in the current solution rather than the calculation method used by conventional mages.’
Even…
‘B-but explosion spells usually belong to the flame school of magic. This formula doesn’t generate fire elements at all…?’
Sometimes Ethila would present calculations that were completely outside common sense and impossible for her to understand.
‘Haah….’
Each time, Esther would let out a small sigh.
As if he was quite displeased with having to explain these problems one by one.
‘You can’t understand even after looking at my answer?’
‘O-of course not!! How can you create an explosion using only wind elements and telekinetic force!? This answer is complete nonsense!!’
Esther stopped writing.
‘It seems I’ve overestimated your abilities, Miss Ethila.’
‘What!?’
‘I never dreamed you would be this ignorant about magic.’
Ethila’s hands trembled.
‘I’m ignorant about magic?’
The only one receiving a full scholarship at Tristida Academy.
Someone receiving offers from every magic tower before even graduating.
A genius mage who is predicted to reach transcendence in five years—this Ethila is ignorant?
‘What are you…!!’
Esther cut off Ethila’s words with an extremely dry voice.
‘Seeing is believing.’
‘What does that mean….’
‘Hearing something a hundred times is not as good as seeing it once. Try this solution yourself and see.’
Esther held out his notebook.
Ethila snatched the notebook with an irritated attitude.
‘Just wait. I’ll throw those exact words right back at you…!!’
Mana boiled up from within her body, matching the emotion Ethila was feeling right now.
She began her verification.
She was determined to directly refute the answer provided by Esther Tristida.
Ethila’s magical comprehension was exceptional.
If Esther hadn’t appeared, she would have been the one to solve the Millennium Problem.
Ethila recorded Esther’s calculations in her mind and began to interpret them.
‘Create a wind element and grasp it tightly with telekinesis….’
And then I drew it into reality.
‘……’
Then, an unbelievable scene unfolded.
BOOM!!
A small explosion occurred.
It was a magic that even Ethila, the caster, couldn’t understand.
‘What on earth is this….’
The cost was reduced to a third of the conventional explosion magic, but the power increased more than twofold.
Esther shrugged her shoulders.
‘Magic is a convenient discipline. That’s why ordinary magicians tend to easily miss something very important.’
The genius boy who had solved the Millennium Problem explained to the dumbfounded Ethila.
‘And that is the principle of this world.’
Esther extended his hand to Dalfi.
‘Knife.’
‘Yes, young master.’
With the knife received from Dalfi, Esther began drawing a formula on the stone floor.
‘The explosion spell mainly taught in the Flame School is……’
It was about forcibly causing an explosion phenomenon in exchange for mana.
Esther drew an X over the formula he had drawn on the floor.
‘I think this process is extremely inefficient. I also think there’s no reason to insist on the current method. Because the principles and types of explosions are very diverse.’
‘……’
‘I’ll give you an example.’
Esther drew fire.
‘Fire is a reaction that occurs when hot combustible material combines with oxygen and burns. In magic, this process is omitted, and fire can be created in exchange for mana.’
However.
‘To sustain the fire created this way, you can continue to consume mana, but magicians don’t do that; instead, they transfer the fire to combustible materials.’
The reason was simple.
Because it was more efficient.
‘Magic is a discipline that can exert greater power when combined with the rules of the world.’
Esther wrote the words ‘high-pressure explosion.’
‘Miss Ethila, do you know that explosions can occur with just gas and pressure, these two factors alone?’
Like the boiler explosions due to volume increase, explosions due to overpressure in air compressors, and physical explosions due to overpressure from high-speed rotation in high-speed centrifuges that were common in Esther’s previous life.
The magic formula Esther wrote was a method that applied explosion by high pressure.
The combination of science and magic.
This was a groundbreaking method that was up to 5 times more efficient than the explosion spells commonly used by magicians until now.
‘……’
In Ethila’s eyes, Esther seemed like someone who understood the rules of this world more clearly than anyone else.
He knew that phenomena commonly encountered in daily life existed among universal truths and laws.
Therefore.
The words that Esther was now uttering.
They were shocking answers that completely shattered all of Ethila’s common sense that she had built up until now.
‘I think Miss Ethila Bedford’s magical talent is excellent.’
‘……’
‘However, the magic you currently know is merely half-complete.’
Ethila couldn’t say anything.
It felt like the world she had known until now was shattering into pieces.
A new deity who had shamelessly appeared before the girl who had maintained the absolute first place.
‘I believe Miss Ethila can grow into an extraordinary magician.’
‘……’
‘I hope this conversation has been helpful for Miss Ethila’s growth.’
Esther Tristida was nothing short of brilliant.
The star named Ethila was, at least in this moment, being overshadowed by a genius who burned even brighter.
‘Heuuk… Uuut…’
Ethila’s tears fell drop by drop.
She was frustrated.
She had completely lost to Esther.
The difference in ability between him and herself was like that of heaven and earth.
She felt pathetic for being unable to refute the boy’s words.
She was literally a frog in a well.
She became terribly ashamed of her past when she had been so proud of being a genius girl.
‘Hiccup, huuk, huaang…!!’
Ethila ran away while crying.
‘Ah, Miss!?’
Langlang hurriedly followed after Ethila.
Esther looked at Ethila’s back with a very bewildered expression, but.
There was no way Ethila could see that.
‘Just you wait, Esther Tristida…!!’
Ethila made a promise as she ran.
That she would definitely teach Esther Tristida a lesson.
That she would definitely make that arrogant face flustered.
That she would prove that she was the true genius magician, she promised for next time, but.
Thud.
Ethila, who had been running hard, ended up falling flat on the ground.
‘Huaaang!!’
Ethila just lay face down and cried her heart out.
‘Oh dear, Miss….’
Langlang embraced Ethila who was crying sorrowfully.
‘Uuuu, huuut… Langlang.’
And so, Ethila returned to the dormitory tightly held in her maid’s arms.
‘Dalfi!! You said it was fine!! You said it wasn’t bad!! You said it was the coolest!!’
For the first time in this world, I made a girl cry.
No, I really didn’t intend to make her cry.
I was just trying to practice proper etiquette before meeting the Tower Master.
I was only trying to kindly help a girl who wanted to ask about school homework.
After all, using Nob AI, such problems could be easily solved!!
But somehow I ended up making Ethila cry.
‘Yes.’
‘It’s not fine at all!! It’s bad!! She ran away crying!!’
Dalfi tilted his head.
‘Commoners typically run away crying when they encounter geniuses.’
‘No… this is too…’
‘To begin with, young master has been too pathetic until now.’
Dalfi cut off my words sharply.
‘Look at your other siblings. Considering how Young Master Kenneth and Lady Uriel carry themselves with confidence, this is quite normal.’
‘T-that’s…’
‘Even Young Master Felix, who has nothing to his name, barks like that, so I think you’re being quite gentlemanly in comparison.’
Hearing this, I couldn’t refute because it was true.
‘It’s enough for you to be pathetic in front of me. This confident attitude is much better with other people. Don’t you dislike being looked down upon?’
Dalfi was logical.
Right. There must be a reason why Dalfi is saying all this.
‘Really, pfft, you were, hic, the very embodiment of a genius magician…’
There must really be a reason, right…?
Anyway.
‘I hope Professor Aria hasn’t gone home yet…’
Looking up at the sky, I could see the sunset was already fading.
‘We need to hurry.’
‘Let’s go quickly.’
I had wasted too much time with Ethila.
Thinking about what happened at the main gate, it would take some courage to return to the Academy.
It wasn’t that I disliked people’s attention, but moderation was important in everything.
Dalfi and I hurriedly moved our feet.
***
‘I should leave work early today…’
Professor Aria, with eyes marked by dark circles, looked at the documents that needed approval by tomorrow, then stood up from her seat.
Today’s work is for tomorrow’s me.
Originally, she wouldn’t irresponsibly postpone work like this, but.
Because a certain genius had caused a major incident by solving the Millennium Problem, the Red Tower had fallen into complete chaos.
Large projects that had shown no progress were now sailing smoothly thanks to the application of Hellfire Recreation, and Aria, who worked as an Academy professor, was being deployed as a research resource.
‘I’m really going to die at this rate….’
Today I need to collapse onto my bed.
I placed the stack of mugs from my desk in front of my assistant’s desk, and sluggishly gathered my coat.
Just as I was about to head home with that refreshing feeling, someone knocked on the professor’s office door.
‘Since it’s the end of the workday, if you have something to report, tell me tomorrow….’
Unfortunately, the people at the door were not Aria’s assistants.
‘Hello. I am Esther Tristida. I came after receiving a letter from the Tower Master.’
‘I am Dalfi, the maid attending to young master Esther.’
Aria blinked her eyes.
Looks like leaving work early isn’t happening today either.