Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

“Genius theorist” is a natural phrase.

However, if you ask whether saying “genius experimenter” is natural, some experimental magic scholars at the University of Magic might hesitate to nod.

Because it’s the rule of language, modifiers should correspond well with the modified words.

The latter doesn’t do that.

If the former’s connotation resembles that of a genius writer or a genius merchant, the latter has the connotation of a genius printer or a genius farmer.

The characteristics of the latter are clear. It requires appropriate tools and skills, has limitations in benefiting from innate talent, and, above all, involves randomness. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Of course, if you expound this logic in front of the aforementioned genius, you’d deserve to be scorned. Instead of being praised as eloquent, you’d be doubted for your social skills.

Therefore, people often attach the title of genius to printers or farmers as well because the expansion of meaning is also a rule of language.

And.

“Huh.”

Werner, who deserved to be called a genius experimenter, seemed to be caught in a terrible negative coincidence right now.

A sigh escaped me without realizing it.

It was inevitable.

Being someone with little body hair, I had never grown a beard and didn’t know what it would look like if I didn’t shave for a long time.

And the example in front of me was…

How should I put it, quite horrifying.

Whether it was because the lab door opened or my impertinent sigh bothered him, Werner slowly raised his head.

“Oh. Have you been well?”

“Yes. You don’t seem to have been doing well.”

“It hasn’t been a particularly pleasant time.”

Despite his derelict appearance, his tone was as nonchalant as usual.

Thanks to that, I could alleviate the worry that my only friend might have become a derelict.

It’s not like thinking that doesn’t make Werner’s appearance any neater…

Anyway, with some relief, I looked around the lab.

The aforementioned experimental equipment still majestically dominated the center of the lab. The smell of metal and oil remained the same, and the changes in the facilities weren’t very noticeable.

Surely not.

Has there been no progress at all since that day?

If so, I can understand why he’s in this state.

I feel my expression stiffening slightly. I patted Werner’s shoulder, who had started mumbling something again.

“Werner.”

“Hm. Do you have something to say?”

“You still haven’t figured out the cause?”

It’s been almost three weeks since the first test operation that failed before it even started.

Given how large the experimental equipment is, I didn’t expect it to be fixed quickly, but to not even have a clue for a solution after three weeks…

It’s a perplexing situation.

Just as I was about to let out a gloomy sigh, Werner shook his head.

“No. I solved the operational problem last week. I corrected the polarity cycle mismatch of both poles, which was the cause of the malfunction and replaced a few burned-out parts. There’s no problem with the operation now.”

“Oh.”

“But don’t operate it. It’s quite unstable.”

“……Unstable?”

“Yes.”

Unstable.

For a small experimental apparatus, it might be understandable, but for that huge thing to be unstable…

I think I understood why this was Werner’s desired ‘most dangerous experiment.’

Of course, he probably didn’t mean it that way.

Soon after, Werner, brushing back his long hair, glanced at the experimental equipment.

“Well. It’s a simple problem.”

Werner’s following explanation revealed that the problem the experiment faced was indeed simple and, therefore, difficult to solve.

Design error.

The orbit of the microscopic particles assumed during the design of the experimental apparatus doesn’t correspond with the measured values.

Therefore, the theoretical background had to be re-examined, and then modifications were made to the equipment accordingly. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

If there’s a problem, it’s that we don’t know whether the theory or the practice is the issue.

“When I checked the design, I couldn’t find any particular calculation errors. It would be fortunate if there were simply missed factors, but if not…”

“Yes.”

Werner, tilting his head, answered while looking at the lab ceiling.

“Maybe the experimental design itself was problematic from the start.”

“……”

“You heard the explanation before, right? The three possibilities of magic-matter conversion irreversibility.”

“Hmm. Either it’s really impossible to convert matter into magic, or we’ve missed an easy method, or we haven’t tried a difficult method yet. Right?”

Werner nodded.

“That’s roughly correct. I bet on the third, but if there’s no problem with the theory, the probability of the first increases. It means the assumption itself was wrong.”

I closed my mouth.

There aren’t many occasions to experience failure in a theoretical magic research lab.

Even if the theory development goes wrong, it ends with erasing with an eraser or taking out a new paper.

But it’s different for experiments.

Rendering equipment made with considerable research funds unusable isn’t just an issue of emotions.

It’s a failure.

The moment that word circled in my mind, I lowered my gaze and looked at Werner.

His expression is hard to see because of his shaggy hair.

Imagining Werner’s serious expression hidden in that messy hair, my voice involuntarily became stronger.

I opened my mouth.

“Leave the design and theory reconfirmation to me. I happen to have someone to consult.”

Werner Ross Diemann. He might experience failure, but despair doesn’t suit him.

I remember him spouting rude remarks with a shameless face. His current appearance isn’t very pleasant to see. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

That’s why I said:

“Get up.”

I speak forcefully as if talking to the heart rather than the ears.

A moment later…

When I grabbed his arm and forcibly pulled him up, I saw Werner’s dirty expression, lost in thought as if interested, far from being serious.

“……You bastard.”

“Consultation, is it? Yes. Perhaps it was a bit too ambitious to take charge of the entire experiment.”

Werner grinned.

“I’ll leave the theory side to you. No matter how much I calculate, it just gives me a headache without an answer. I’m counting on you.”

“Alright.”

“I should go around and seek consultation too. My bones are aching from sitting all the time.”

Saying that, he stretches casually.

It’s truly no different from his usual self.

Swallowing a chuckle while watching his demeanor that showed not even a speck of gloominess, I couldn’t hold back one sarcastic remark.

“Clean yourself up before you go out. You look awful.”

“It’s a bit troublesome to shave, you know.”

“Do it.”

“―This is the situation. Could you take a look with me to see where the problem might be?”

“Kuhehe, what an interesting fellow.”

The Oslo family’s two-story house doesn’t have many rooms.

This doesn’t mean the structure of the house is unique. Many and few are usually relative, and the number of children in the Oslo family is difficult for a typical Federation-style house to accommodate.

Just the upper floor is fully occupied with rooms for Louise, Lena, and the twins.

Therefore, unlike in Leman, Benjamin couldn’t enjoy the luxury of having his own study.

Moreover, since the room he shared with Susan could hardly function as anything other than a bedroom, as a result, the space where Benjamin and I mainly conversed became in front of the fireplace.

And now…

Benjamin was sitting in a rocking chair, gladly accepting my request for consultation.

Benjamin laughed heartily and said:

“Alright. Let’s take a look.”

I watched Benjamin, who had taken the design blueprints and theory books and started pondering.

The flames of the fireplace flickered in his eyes.

Come to think of it, the image of him I remember is always that of a teacher, not a renowned scholar.

That sentiment hasn’t changed much, even now that I can see Benjamin’s face when I return home from the Research Institute.

It seemed quite awkward for him to be holding papers full of experimental apparatus designs and formulas. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

His coughing has become more frequent, making it hard to package his increased wrinkles as experience. It must be unavoidable aging.

When will I feel a scholarly atmosphere from that playful old man―

“Quite a good idea. Making it orbit by gradually increasing the radius as the energy increases. Instead, it seems you didn’t consider errors because you were too focused on the concept. Well, it’s just a matter of making some adjustments, so no need to worry about research funds.”

“Pardon?”

When I blurted out a blank response, Benjamin raised one eyebrow and retorted.

“What? Is this the first time you’ve seen me give serious advice?”

“In magic studies, yes. That’s right. Don’t you remember how you only made me do tons of foundation studies when we were in the Empire?”

“Did I?”

“You did.”

“Kuhehe. That’s your fault for leaving in a hurry.”

Benjamin laughed heartily and reached out to ruffle my hair.

“What are you doing?”

“Don’t use such a stiff tone. And the theory doesn’t seem to have much of a problem.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. It’s a magic-matter conversion experiment, right? Since it’s a new experiment, instead of modifying existing theories, if you introduce concepts that didn’t exist before, it might be possible to conduct a more stable experiment.”

“Concepts that didn’t exist before……”

“Think carefully.”

Benjamin’s urging became a catalyst, knocking on my mind.

Johannes’ words.

It was probably a joke, but if you think about it carefully, it’s not exactly an exaggeration.

In fact, during the year I spent as a doctoral student, whenever I didn’t want to work, I would brainstorm thesis ideas and write them down on any corner of paper or notebook without care.

And they were all moved to my new research room.

“Benjamin.”

Benjamin, who had been watching the changes in my expression, grinned.

“Did you think of something?”

Ah.

Come to think of it, wasn’t Benjamin also the type of scholar who used to spout ideas indiscriminately?

I smiled slightly and answered.

“Yes. But I’m going to publish them as papers. Unlike you, Benjamin, who was disqualified as a magic scholar.”

“Tch. Looks like Klaus said some unnecessary things.”

Regardless of Benjamin’s grumpy reaction, that’s how it should be.

I need to make the surname ‘Oslo’ clearly recognized in the magic academe.

The next day…

Having arrived at the research room early in the morning, I rummaged through the pile of papers stacked in a corner of the desk without even taking off my coat.

“……Finally found it.”

It took about 30 minutes to find what I was aiming for.

I don’t even remember how many months ago it was. These were traces of when I continued a thought experiment related to the frequency of light while studying relativity.

The result of the experiment that vaguely appeared was so outlandish that it went straight to the pile of papers. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

But now that I know Werner’s experimental topic, it’s different.

“Good.”

Holding the paper in my left hand, I picked up chalk with my right hand.

[ …… where V denotes the velocity of light. ] *1

Soon after, I started tapping on the blackboard.

[ Let this body simultaneously emit plane waves of light of energy L / 2 …… ] *1

Continuing.

[ H₀ = H₁ + L / √1 – (v/V)² ] *1

Until the chalk broke.

[ H₀ – E₀ = K₀ + C ] *1

[ H₁ – E₁ = K₁ + C ] *1

[ since C does not change during the emission of light. Thus, we get ]

[ K₀ – K₁ = L{1 / √1 – (v/V)² – 1} ] *1

And.

[ …… Neglecting quantities of the fourth and higher orders, we can put ]

[ K₀ – K₁ = Lv² / 2V² ] *1

Until sunrise.

#February 18th. Clear.

“No problem.”

[ Mass = L / V² ] *1

Perhaps because I stayed up all night…

Slowly blinking my eyes which didn’t move well, I checked the formula written on the blackboard once again.

Before ten blinks, I could reconfirm that the derivation process of the formula was quite valid.

“……Well, should I get some sleep?”

And so.

I came to realize not only that this experiment deserved to be called the most dangerous experiment but that it might be even more dangerous than the experimenter himself anticipated.

T/N

For efficiency, I’ll be showing the complete derivation in three slides.