Ch.325I’ll Become a Professor (3)

[I’m sorry. I won’t be able to meet this week either.]

= I don’t want to meet with you anymore in the future. You know why, don’t you?

[You wrote it well. Honestly, I was surprised. You managed to accomplish this much on your own without my knowledge.]

= If you had given me even a hint about what you were doing, I would have suggested we research together. Thank you. Thanks to you, I’ve just wasted my time.

[I hope you do well in your next research too.]

= Since you’re doing fine on your own, you can just research by yourself from now on. Choose the topic, conduct experiments, verify results, and publish papers. You can just do everything by yourself.

Bang, bang, bang.

Ireh repeatedly banged her head on the desk.

Why did I do that?

There must have been a better way.

She continued her futile apologies until her forehead turned bright red.

“Aaaaargh…!”

[“Ireh, don’t you think it’s time to stop burying yourself?”]

“But this is the first time my little brother has refused to see me like this!”

[“He must have his reasons. It’s a busy time for him, isn’t it?”]

“No, no!”

Ireh showed Altair the text messages she had exchanged with Rustila.

“Look at this! Rustila, Zernya, Sonia… he even checks in with Seti every day! He manages to keep in touch with them despite being busy, so why! Why doesn’t he contact me?!”

[“Well, it seems like he’s only contacting family.”]

“What about me?”

[“…You’re not family.”]

“He used to say that all his lab colleagues were family…”

Altair was at a loss for words.

He tried to console her afterward, but Ireh wouldn’t listen.

‘He figured it out. He definitely knows I did it intentionally. That’s why he’s avoiding me…’

Scooping research isn’t illegal or even morally wrong. Unfortunately, in a competitive society, the one who plants the flag first takes everything.

Nevertheless.

Ireh was consumed by guilt for intentionally scooping his research.

It was her nature.

She was inherently so kind that she felt remorse whenever she caused harm to others, whether intentional or not.

This evil deed was likely due to the tumor called love.

The tumor had eaten away at her brain too much. And thus, a complication called jealousy was born. When jealousy mixes with love, a woman can become ruthless.

“No, this isn’t right… I just didn’t want that alien god taking my place…”

She had wasted two weeks of Eidel’s already busy time. That realization made her mind go blank.

Her expectation that scooping the research would irritate Cartesia and make Eidel look at her again had collapsed miserably.

As a result, Ireh had become a human excavator.

“W-w-what should I do now…!”

Altair sighed.

[“Since it’s come to this, why don’t you just talk to him directly?”]

“B-but that’s scary…”

[“I don’t think Rheinland is disappointed in you. He’s probably proud of you instead. He’s not the type to get angry over something like this.”]

It was also the role of a Constellation to help when their contractor went astray.

Altair wanted Ireh to be happy.

He had always thought it would be good if she could become a bit more shameless and look after her own interests.

[“If you stay still because you’re afraid, you won’t gain anything. I don’t know much about human romantic issues, but usually in these situations, the one approaching needs to be stronger than the one pushing away for them to stick together.”]

It’s a natural principle in physics.

The same applies to human relationships.

If you want to improve a broken relationship, the one who wants to must take active steps.

[“Ireh, my contractor. If Rheinland pushes you away, are you going to give up just like that?”]

“Huh?”

Give up?

Eidel?

Never becoming his wife, research colleague, or even his graduate student, and parting forever?

‘Absolutely not.’

Eidel once said that he and Ireh needed to be together to save this universe. So he wanted to maintain a good relationship no matter what.

In fact, it wasn’t just for such a convenient reason.

She simply wanted to be by his side.

Even after saving the world.

No, even if the world were to end.

[“You’ve worked hard until now. You’ve finally settled in a bit. So from now on, it’s okay to be a little greedy. Don’t miss this opportunity.”]

I want to be happy.

Is it okay for me to be happy?

The two thoughts crossed her mind.

The former won.

“I absolutely… absolutely cannot give up.”

[“That’s my contractor.”]

When forming contracts, Constellations evaluate occupation, personality, characteristics, and more to propose contracts to those with keywords matching their stellar name.

And Altair’s stellar name was ‘patience’ and ‘indomitability.’

“…I have a good idea.”

Ireh got up from her seat and immediately began preparing something.

***

“Transporting warheads using Stellarlines. Indeed, according to this theory, it would be easier to strike distant black holes.”

“Right?”

“Yes, I’ll review it positively.”

The official winked.

“Really.”

I smiled back as he laughed.

It had been a long journey.

I finally succeeded in persuading the government.

It wasn’t through emotional appeals or threats using power. It was through intelligence and validity based on theory that made the authorities nod their heads.

In fact, our interests aligned well.

“The country has been in a difficult position. With Pron addiction in the east and cults worshiping alien gods in the west… It’s just as you said, Doctor. Taking a passive stance would only waste the budget.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

There are four alien gods that need to be taken down with graviton bombs.

Aurore, Stern, Renatus.

And.

The nameless god of Laplace.

Since Cartesia is on our side, we can subdue most alien gods, so if we can defeat just those four, true peace will come to the universe.

“We plan to modify your proposal slightly for the design. However, I cannot tell you when construction will begin.”

“Because of the… budget?”

The official laughed dryly.

“Yes, I’m afraid so.”

It all comes down to money.

Money, money, money.

Is there any group that has more money than the government?

Yes, there is.

“If government funding is insufficient, we could also attract corporate investment.”

“But is that possible?”

“It will work out.”

Of course. With my current position and reputation.

As I boarded the shuttle returning to the south, I sent a message to our cute and lovely sponsor.

[Me: Hey]

[My Sister: What]

[Me: I think our family might go bankrupt soon]

[My Sister: ?]

[My Sister: What nonsense]

[My Sister: Not while I’m around]

Good, that’s reassuring.

[My Sister: Tell me what’s going on]

[My Sister: You bastard]

[Me: I need money to gamble]

[My Sister: ?]

I explained it well to my younger sister.

A gamble on the fate of the universe. There’s a time limit, and if we don’t create the graviton bomb before the deadline, Laplace will arrive and the world will end.

Seti said she understood.

[Me: Are you trusting your brother?]

[Master: I trust my Constellation, not you]

[Master: The Constellations have already started feeling the crisis]

[Master: They say it could be within a year at the earliest?]

[Me: ?]

[Me: No way]

[Master: You know my Constellation has good intuition about money, right?]

[Master: She can even tell which stocks will rise by how much in the next 15 minutes]

As early as one year.

That’s extremely tight.

[Master: I’ll help as much as I can afford, so let me know when you have a specific budget]

[Master: I’m busy right now]

[Me: What are you doing?]

[Master: Meeting with a professor]

That’s right.

Seti is entering graduate school this time.

It feels like just yesterday when we enrolled at Academia together in spring, but so much time has passed already.

Come to think of it, Ireh is also in her final year.

I can finally bring Ireh in as a graduate student. Of course, that’s only possible if I succeed in getting appointed this year.

Since I thought of her, I sent her a message.

[Me: I just finished talking with government officials and am on my way back to Stellarium. Are you preparing well for graduate school admission?]

The reply came a few minutes later.

[Noona: I’m preparing properly.]

[Noona: (Image)]

[Noona: I’ve also scheduled meetings with professors from other academies. Professor Feynman suggested that too. He said it’s good to explore multiple options.]

I couldn’t help but frown.

There were too many professors targeting Ireh.

Somehow, it doesn’t feel good.

[Me: You promised you’d join my lab.]

[Noona: I’m sorry. But since it’s uncertain when you’ll be appointed, I received advice that I should at least do my master’s under another professor.]

[Me: Who gave you that advice?]

[Noona: Professor Callis Stranov.]

My thoughts froze.

Professor Stranov’s lab is quite large. The funding is substantial too. The quality of equipment is so good that even I was tempted once. Also, that professor is very eager to recruit graduate students.

It’s clear.

He’s trying to take Ireh away.

That can’t happen.

[Me: Let’s meet when I get back. I should arrive within an hour.]

[Noona: I’m sorry. I’m a bit busy.]

[Me: Why?]

[Noona: I have a meeting with a professor later this evening. We’re going to discuss lab selection over dinner.]

I closed the screen and leaned back.

I felt all the energy drain from my body. My heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, and my mind was in such chaos that a thousand thoughts raced through it.

Ireh is the talent I’ve nurtured.

I was the one who got her into the physics department, and I was the one who helped her build her research career from the undergraduate level. In the days when she barely knew classical physics, she came to me every day. I raised her.

I can’t give her to anyone.

If I lose her here, what was the point of everything I’ve done for her?

I felt an unnecessary emotion.

Jealousy.

Cartesia chuckled in my head.

[“Finally that guy has given up. Good. Kid, don’t worry about such an ungrateful woman. Just focus on creating new children with me.”]

“…Cartesia.”

I shook my head.

“Let’s stop by the bakery first when we arrive.”