Ch.171Second Year (6)

“You said you felt uncomfortable because there were only male classmates in the physics department, right?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Then you should meet a female classmate.”

When Ireh came to her senses, she was standing in front of the laboratory.

“Um, where is this…?”

“Ta-da! I present to you, Eidel’s secret laboratory.”

Eidel opened the door with a flourish. Inside was a girl. A short girl with dark green hair was giggling.

“Hehehe. So fun.”

“…”

Ireh’s thoughts momentarily stuttered.

What on earth?

“You saw her before, right? Mezulen Hueritia. She’s the first intern at our multipurpose biophysics lab.”

For some reason, Ireh could guess what Eidel was going to say next.

“And you’re the second one.”

“Wait…”

Eidel pushed Ireh into the laboratory.

No, it wasn’t that Eidel pushed her in, but that she moved her feet without realizing it. Ireh had entered the lab before she knew it. Yes, just like a sheep being trained by a shepherd.

“Who are you? Ah, I’ve seen you before. Your name is… I, I…”

“Ireh Hazlen.”

“That’s right! Ireh Hazlen! I’m Mezulen.”

Mezulen greeted her, blinking her half-open eyes.

“Don’t ask for my last name.”

“…”

Ireh couldn’t say anything. She turned around. Eidel was smiling benevolently as he closed the door.

With a thud, her heart sank along with the sound.

“Why don’t we get some fresh air?”

“Does it smell musty in here?”

“That’s not it…”

Ireh instinctively grabbed the doorknob in fear. It didn’t budge.

Click, click.

“…Why won’t this open?”

“It’s designed to lock from the inside too.”

“I’ve been through countless doors, but I’ve never seen one that can’t be opened from the inside without a password. Which company made something like this?”

“Graduate school is always like this.”

Ireh’s expression turned blank.

She turned her head again. After exchanging introductions, Mezulen had returned to her position and was clicking away at the equipment like a machine. Her small hands moved dazzlingly like they were playing a piano, while her face was as empty as if her soul had left her body.

[— Paying 200 coins to roll the <Dice>.]

[— Number 3: ‘Scale of Observation’ has been loaded.]

Click!

Ireh shot a spirit bullet into her head. The invisible bullet that passed through bloomed into a star flower.

[‘Mezulen Hueritia’ is in a mentally cornered situation. She is trying to forget her current circumstances by immersing herself in research.]

“…Isn’t she cornered because of the research?”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing…”

She looked exactly like a graduate student.

“There’s nothing strange about it. All the research equipment here was brought in cheaply. Even if there’s a problem, there’s someone who can repair it… I mean, ahem! Anyway, there’s an entity who can fix it.”

Ireh’s eyes narrowed.

Click!

Shooting another spirit bullet, Ireh observed the equipment this time.

[Minute prons are being emitted.]

This can’t be.

[Currently, these prons are being controlled by a transcendental entity, ■■■■■. Those whom ■■■■■ recognizes as companions are not affected by the emitted prons.]

It was a statement that made her frown involuntarily.

Clearly, ‘transcendental entity’ refers to either an Outer God or a constellation.

But if the name is filtered, it’s 100% an Outer God. High-ranking Outer Gods can drive people mad just by seeing or hearing their names, so the constellation filters the information.

No way.

Ireh quickly gestured to Eidel. It was a signal to leave Mezulen here and go outside to talk. Eidel clicked his tongue and turned his back to Ireh, starting to enter the password.

As soon as they closed the lab door and came out, Ireh exclaimed in a low voice.

“Is that research equipment received from an Outer God?!”

“Yes.”

“Are you crazy…!”

“Should I not put it just anywhere?”

“That’s not the point!”

Where should she even begin to explain this? Ireh took a deep breath before speaking.

“…Let’s talk calmly. That’s closer to a Black Sphere than a Crystal. You know what a Black Sphere is, right?”

“It’s the black metallic egg that Maxwell’s Outer Gods use to create monsters. Looks similar to lead, doesn’t it?”

“Right. Unlike Crystals, Black Spheres emit prons into the atmosphere. The density is so high that if it touches your skin, you’ll go mad quickly. That’s why you need to use specially treated spirit tools or get help from a constellation to handle it.”

“Then isn’t that fine? As far as I know, Mezulen has a constellation too.”

“Well… it depends on the degree.”

Ireh frowned as she continued.

“Artifacts made by high-ranking Outer Gods emit large amounts of prons. The dose is so strong that it can penetrate even air, making you go mad just by standing nearby. You know this, right?”

“I do.”

“If you know, why did you put it there?”

“Well, because it’s useful?”

Ireh grabbed the back of her neck again. A second wave of high blood pressure hit her.

“Mezulen’s expression doesn’t look good. Her pron level must be high.”

“It’s lower than yesterday though?”

“What?”

“It was in the early 400s originally, but now… it’s in the late 200s. At this rate, she’ll return to a healthy mind. Wow, research really is the best for reducing stress!”

A third wave of high blood pressure hit Ireh.

At this point, it’s not an oil shock, but a pron shock.

“…Y-you, reveal your Outer God’s true name.”

Ireh knew from previously sharing information with Eidel that he had contracted with an Outer God, not a constellation. However, Eidel never said who he was forcibly contracted with.

It was the same this time.

“I’m sorry, but I cannot answer that question.”

“Why?”

“The Outer God says if I reveal its true name, it will impregnate me.”

A fourth pron shock hit her.

For a brief moment, Ireh stopped thinking, then returned to normal after hearing her constellation tell her to snap out of it. She suddenly came up with a hypothesis.

What if Eidel himself is an Outer God?

If Eidel’s soul came from the outside world, and if he was therefore unaffected by prons, then he could logically be considered an Outer God rather than a human.

But.

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“What doesn’t?”

“I thought you might be an Outer God.”

“That’s too much. That’s a huge logical leap.”

Eidel looked dejected. Seeing his extremely sad expression, Ireh had no choice but to apologize.

“Even if you have a contract with an Outer God, still…”

Even as she apologized, she was afraid.

Ireh didn’t know everything about Eidel yet.

She had only heard part of his past. Unless he tells her the rest of the story from the café, she’ll never know what happened afterward. What happened with his real mother, why his father disappeared…

[“You seem curious.”]

Her constellation, Altair, whispered.

[“You can learn about that slowly. You already know that he has walked a similar path to yours. That’s enough of a harvest for today.”]

That was also true.

Ireh was poor, and so was the boy.

Ireh’s family background was unfortunate, and so was the boy’s.

That’s why Ireh lived tenaciously, and so did the boy.

Though on the surface he was a rich conglomerate family’s troublemaker, inside he was a being exactly like herself. Today she learned that, so it was as if she had taken one step closer to this person. Eidel said:

“You don’t need to worry about the pron problem. My Outer God… no, my constellation is controlling it well so there’s no harm. Also, Mezulen is worried about her mother. That problem will be solved soon too.”

Ireh reluctantly accepted this.

When it came to science dealing with Outer Gods, he was more of an expert than her.

“Ireh, junior. I have a request. Please help Mezulen and me complete our research. There’s one task we must finish before making the graviton bomb.”

“What is it?”

“Research on traps using Crystals. We plan to expand the scope to capture Darwin’s Outer Gods.”

His proposal was sudden.

But.

“Alright.”

She had expected this even before enrolling here.

Though eccentric, he was her only colleague who shared her future. She had to trust him. She decided to trust him, overcoming her anxiety.

“…Okay, let’s do it.”

Ireh clenched her fist and bumped the back of her hand against Eidel’s.

“Let’s win.”

“Yeah, let’s win.”

Just like they did before, at the wedding hall.

After all, whether for better or worse, she was destined to share life and death with the person in front of her.

And so Ireh began her internship at the laboratory, with the role of embedding spirit bullets into Crystals.

***

[“You crazy bastard.”]

Cartesia suddenly cursed at me and cut off the telepathic communication. I was essentially hit without being able to counterattack.

Anyway, my strategy of motivating Ireh by sharing my past with her was successful. Even I think that the mindset of “it becomes fun if you work hard” is an excellent motivation.

It was correct from a neuroscience perspective too. The more you do something, the better you get at it. Like playing the piano or learning a foreign language. And once you get good at something, you eventually come to like it.

And to come to like something in the field of science?

Research is the only answer.

“Work hard~”

After confirming that both Ireh and Mezulen had completely free afternoons, I left the two of them in the laboratory and went out.

The password? I told them before leaving. Probably.

But those two alone seemed somewhat lacking.

Come to think of it, there were Welton and Mathers. Those two would become excellent personnel in the future. Also, although he was from the humanities, I needed to bring in James to publish papers quickly.

Of course, working with them would have to wait a bit longer. Ireh needed time to adapt to men, and Stellarium Engineering College was famous for its heavy workload from the first year. They must be swamped with assignments, but they also need to drink and meet women.

Considering all these conditions, there was only one person I could bring in now.

There was no time to waste. I headed toward the Military Science Department.