Ch.131Become a Science Girl (5)

What could have been the flaw?

I carefully reviewed the path I had walked. Had I missed anything? Was there something I didn’t know?

After pondering from various angles, Ireh looked up.

People who had emerged from the resonator were embracing each other. Reporters were busy interviewing them.

Meanwhile, the scientists were completely exhausted. Several had already collapsed. Professor Stranov, the lead researcher of this project, was barely managing to give interviews.

“Hm.”

It was a sight I had so desperately wanted to see.

Ireh wiped her eyes with her sleeve. The world looked hazy, as if covered in fog. Just then, she sensed two people approaching from the side.

“Thank you so much, big brother!”

A young girl about ten years old gave a formal bow to the sleeping Eidel. Her innocent and cute appearance made Ireh smile.

“Liza, you should thank this big sister too.”

“Are you a scientist too, big sister?”

“No, I’m…”

“Thank you so much!”

She received an equally respectful bow. I’m not a scientist. Ireh wanted to correct her, but the moment she received the bow, she felt so strange that she missed her chance.

“When I grow up, I want to be a scientist like big brother and big sister!”

The girl continued with sparkling eyes.

“I’ll become a scientist and heal lots of people who are suffering because of monsters!”

“That’s wonderful, my daughter. Then from now on, you’ll have to study really hard.”

“Do I have to study a lot? Ugh, I don’t like studying…”

“Daddy would love to see our Liza become top of her class and receive lots of praise from her teachers.”

The girl called Liza scratched her messy hair. She looked at Ireh while holding her hungry stomach.

“Big sister, how good do I need to be at studying to become a scientist…?”

“Huh?”

This was a question Ireh couldn’t answer. She would have to have been a scientist herself. Actually, she had barely done anything that required using her brain. Scheming might be a different story.

“Um, well. That big brother over there knows much better than I do.”

“Really? But this big brother is sleeping.”

The girl grabbed Eidel’s shoulder and gently shook him.

“Big brother, please wake up. Big brother?”

Eidel von Rheinland. Currently enjoying a trip to dreamland.

“This big brother must be very tired. Why don’t you go over there and ask someone else?”

“Do you have business with our young master?”

Hearing a voice from behind, the father-daughter pair and Ireh turned around. Sonia, an android in a maid outfit, stood with her hands folded demurely.

“Who are you?”

“I am Sonia. This young master’s personal android.”

Ireh’s eyes widened in surprise. She hadn’t sensed Sonia’s presence at all until she spoke.

“It’s a big sister with ribbons! So cute!”

“…!”

“So flowy and pretty. Can I touch it just once?”

“For a human child to appreciate the true value of frills… Sigh, very well. I’ll specially allow you to touch.”

And so Sonia was patted by the little girl. Ireh noticed the android’s expression was unusual.

“In return, I’ll wake up the young master.”

Sonia stood behind Eidel and kneaded his shoulders as if massaging them. She whispered into his ear like she was blowing air.

Ireh, blessed by the stars, had excellent senses. So she could hear what Sonia was saying…

“Young master, there’s a question about graduate school admission.”

“Urgh.”

…I wish I hadn’t heard that.

“Graduate school?”

Liza blinked. That was the catalyst. Eidel staggered as he looked at the young girl before him.

“…Little friend, do you want to come to graduate school?”

His previously drowsy tone had changed. To something cheerful, yet creepy. Ireh felt goosebumps on her arms.

“What’s graduate school? A big academy?”

“It’s a school for people who want to become scientists, little friend.”

“It’s where professors’ lackeys live.”

“Shut up, Sonia. Now, let me tell you how fun graduate school is…”

Eidel taught the girl everything from zero to one hundred about how to become a scientist. The father’s eyebrows twisted chaotically, but Eidel didn’t stop.

“This is how you can become a science girl. Want to try, little friend?”

“I want to! Me too! I want to go to graduate school too!”

“L-Liza. Let’s think about that a bit more and decide later. First, let’s eat… okay?”

“Okay. I’m hungry.”

The girl smiled gently while clutching her hungry stomach. Seeing his daughter’s response, the father sighed with relief.

But Ireh saw it. The look in the girl’s eyes was not ordinary.

“Big sister! Big brother! Thank you so much! I’m going to work hard from now on!”

The girl waved as she boarded the ship with her father. There had been a brief commotion, but seeing her laughing so vibrantly made Ireh feel warm inside.

“Ah, I’m sleepy. I’m dying of sleepiness.”

“Young master, you should still finish properly before leaving.”

“What do you mean finish?”

Eidel staggered to his feet.

“This is just the beginning.”

He looked around as he spoke.

“One day, the black hole suddenly emptied. The outer gods beyond the Aether Belt will notice too. Ah, so those primitive species in the Milky Way galaxy have grown strong enough to crawl up.”

Mortals trying to kill gods.

How would the gods react?

“What will the outer gods think now that they recognize us not as toys to play with, but as worthy opponents?”

A chill ran down Ireh’s spine.

“Let’s crush them.”

***

There was no time for interviews or rest.

While Professor Stranov and other key figures were bombarded with questions from reporters, nominated for the Archea Prize, and invited by the government for lavish meals, Eidel remained planted in his laboratory.

Sleep time: exactly five hours. Even this was a lot compared to recent days.

Eidel quietly scratched away with his pen as if nothing had happened. He showed no reaction except for occasional trips to the bathroom, drinking water, or turning on the computer to run simulation programs.

“Young master, you’ll really die at this rate.”

“Dying while writing a paper would be an honorable death.”

Better than being devoured by outer gods, Eidel muttered.

Ireh gazed blankly at the man from five steps away.

One project had ended. He looked tired. She wanted to let him rest. She wanted to create something that would give him a breather.

But Ireh didn’t know how to change the mood. She didn’t have Rustila’s gentle side, nor was she like Zernya who, once started, would push forward like a bulldozer.

She traced back through the past again.

What was the flaw?

Why hadn’t they been able to fight against the outer gods until now?

Why hadn’t they devised a method to trap even a single lesser god, to prevent it from ever escaping?

“Ah.”

Power wasn’t everything.

To defeat the outer gods, one needed to become as strong as them, but the standard of strength wasn’t just about sword proficiency.

That kind of wisdom.

That kind of integrity.

That kind of… madness.

“Young master, there are too many authors on this research, your name will be buried.”

“That’s to be expected. An undergraduate like me should be thankful to even be in the acknowledgments.”

Madness on par with the outer gods.

“The gains are minimal compared to your efforts. It’s essentially a paper scoop.”

“Then we’ll write another one.”

Madness directed in the right way had rewritten human history. It was liberation that freed the soul from the shackles of convention, it was inspiration, it was creativity itself.

“What?”

“I said we’re writing another paper.”

“Aren’t you going to rest?”

“I’m resting right now.”

“Are you insane…?”

Looking at Eidel before her, she realized.

To see a truly happy ending, she needed to learn something new, beyond what she knew now.

“We’ll continue the non-resonance research separately, and this time I’m really going to try this.”

Eidel pasted together large sheets of paper like a collage to create a huge drawing board.

“This is our galaxy.”

In the center is the Sagittarius A* black hole, with spiral arms drawn around it. He marks dots at the ends of those spiral arms. Finally, he connects them in a circle, into one.

“This is the Aether Belt.”

Next, he draws a small circle on one planetary system in the southern region.

“This is where we’ll place the accelerator.”

“Are you finally planning to research gravity bombs?”

“Yes. But how did you know that?”

“I heard you talking in your sleep. There’s no way I wouldn’t know.”

Eidel sighed deeply. Despite his smooth pen strokes, his face was gloomy.

“There won’t be technical issues, but it costs too much money. This is phase 1, and there are 4 phases total.”

“Then starting from the head of the family position, step by step…”

“…Excuse me!”

Ireh interrupted the conversation. Sonia’s face, which had brightened slightly, became flat again. She seemed annoyed that their private time was being disturbed.

But Ireh spoke anyway. It was that important.

“H-how can we keep seeing people smile like today…?”

No, this stammering won’t do.

[— The God of Patience and Integrity casts <Stability> on you.]

Right. Look straight into his eyes.

“…How can we keep seeing people smile like they did today?”

Speak with courage, actively, like that little girl from earlier.

“I wanted to make everyone smile, to do something. But thinking about it, I realized I hadn’t done anything. I was just going through the motions. I became stronger, but not tougher. And then I met you.”

The words came out haphazardly. A series of unrefined language. But the thought continues. The meaning is conveyed.

That meaning points to one thing.

I want to color this damn hopeless world with hope.

“How can we eradicate the outer gods from this world?”

Eidel turned his head and shot her a sharp look. Ireh flinched for a moment but stared straight back into his eyes.

Maximum determination, sincerity, and… will. A fleeting will.

She laid it all bare before him without holding back. This is my true heart, she seemed to say. To that heart, the man soon opened his mouth and asked:

“Do you want to defeat all the outer gods?”

“Of course…”

“Then can you do anything about it?”

“…Of course.”

Bang——!

Eidel threw down the pen he was holding and revealed his snow-white teeth.

“Ireh Hazlen! I’ve been waiting for you to say that!”

“…Huh?”

“Welcome to the Department of Physics!”

***

“…Huh? What did you say?”

Looking at Ireh Hazlen, who was opening her mouth in surprise, I gave her a broad smile.

Professor, we’ve got another one coming up.