Ch.79College (5)

The scenes from the medical examination were repeating throughout Dijon.

Law, theology, and administration already had verified talents, but magical alchemy, celestial physics, and mechanical architecture needed to recruit talent through public examinations, causing all sorts of unqualified individuals to rush into Dijon.

Of course, mechanical architecture was in much better shape.

“Use a ruler and compass to find the center of gravity in a triangular wooden block? Who can’t do that? Just draw medians from each vertex to the opposite side and mark their intersection point.”

“Exactly. They asked me about weight ratios in levers. If I’d known, I would have applied for celestial physics instead.”

“Prove my abilities? Do you not know that I participated in establishing the factory ordered by His Majesty?”

From the start, claiming to be a mathematician was impossible without a certain level of knowledge, and craftsmen had various physical items they had created. Unlike the magical alchemy and celestial physics examinations filled with pseudo-alchemists and charlatan astrologers, the examination hall was remarkably stable.

As a result, many people met Claude’s criteria, which ultimately led to tournaments among those who passed to select the six most outstanding mathematicians and craftsmen each.

Those who failed were certainly disappointed, but they seemed satisfied with discovering their shortcomings while competing with other scholars and craftsmen, as they left smiling despite their elimination.

“By reading the stars, one can roughly predict future events, which means the stars are deeply connected to human destiny.”

“So… the earth is flat, and the sun, moon, and stars revolve around it, don’t they?”

“The first person is on hold, and the second is eliminated.”

“What?”

Next in better condition was celestial physics.

Because this was a world with magic, Claude, who decided not to completely exclude astrology, chose to accept the practice of divining the future through stars. Of course, the flat earth theory was out of the question.

“Tsk, tsk, how foolish.”

“What? What did you just say?!”

“The earth cannot possibly be flat. The angle of the sun viewed at the same time from here in Dijon and from the Holy City in the south is different, which means the earth is spherical.”

Above all, not only astrologers applied for the celestial physics field.

There were plenty of people who viewed the sky through the lens of science rather than religion or magic.

A scholar who had observed the stars for a long time mockingly laughed at the person claiming the earth was flat. The insulted person lunged at the scholar in anger but was quickly restrained by soldiers.

And the scholar continued speaking demonstratively in front of him.

“That means if we place wooden sticks of the same length in Dijon and the Holy City at the same time, and measure the length of their shadows along with the distance between Dijon and the Holy City, we can also determine the circumference of the earth we stand on. I haven’t tried it yet because accurate distance measurement is difficult, but if Your Majesty provides support, it should be quite feasible.”

“What are you talking about?!”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk…”

The scholar did not view the charlatan astrologer as an equal.

Clicking his tongue and looking at the confused astrologer demanding an explanation as if he were a sick stray dog on the street, the scholar decided to ignore him and entered the castle under the guidance of a soldier.

“W-what is this smell…?”

“Ah, this is fermented urine. When combined with mercury, it becomes a material that can create gold.”

“Ugh… I told you mercury is dangerous, so it’s not allowed, ugh…!”

The most problematic was magical alchemy.

Unlike other fields that could be proven through theories or results, magical alchemy required showing the entire process and results to the supervisor. Otherwise, someone might bring gold in advance and claim they had transmuted it.

As seen from extracting potassium nitrate from excrement, Claude knew a lot of chemical knowledge thanks to his previous life, but that knowledge couldn’t prevent this disaster.

“Now… if I put magical power into this, the properties of the substance will change…”

Above all, the fact that this was a world with magic was the stumbling block.

With magic involved, even scientifically impossible claims like transmuting gold or increasing iron’s strength by pouring special water on it might be possible.

For this reason, Claude ordered supervisors to observe all processes in detail and pass candidates if their claims proved correct, which forced frontline supervisors to witness all sorts of horrific scenes.

“Wait, I think something just fell from your sleeve into the mercury?”

“W-what are you saying? I only put fermented urine into the mercury— Ah, hahaha…”

“…Take him away.”

Of course, none of the alchemists gathered here could actually transmute gold. If someone could really create gold, why would they tell others about it?

The con artist who secretly slipped gold pieces into mercury while distracting the supervisor with fermented urine was caught by another supervisor and was beaten by soldiers as he was thrown out of the examination hall.

“If you mix grass, straw, animal excrement, and half soil, sprinkle it with fermented urine containing bone powder, and leave it in a shaded area at room temperature, tremendous heat will be generated. If you stir this every five days until heat stops being produced, you’ll create exceptionally high-quality compost. The fermented urine with bone powder plays the most crucial role—”

Of course, not everyone was a fraud.

Many alchemists proved their abilities by showing supervisors the complete process of creating something, like compost, from start to finish.

“O-okay, you pass… Bleeegh…”

Whether frauds or not, supervisors’ stomachs were equally upset.

An alchemist who received the supervisor’s approval proudly tried to enter the castle with the compost he made, but was stopped by soldiers and had to enter the castle dejectedly without his creation.

……….

“The harvest is good.”

As expected, when you comb through the country, talent springs up like mushrooms after rain.

Very satisfying.

I’m slightly puzzled about astrology and alchemy, but early astronomy wasn’t much different from astrology, and this is a world with magic, so I’ll have to wait and see.

“The castle renovation will be completed within a month at the earliest.”

“That’s quite fast.”

We’re mobilizing all available manpower to convert the castle into a university, but it’s still faster than expected, even considering that the castle has been well-maintained.

Those teaching law, theology, and administration have systematic specialized knowledge so they’re fine, and celestial physics and mechanical architecture are in better shape due to having many experts, but magical alchemy and medicine are definitely problematic.

‘Magical alchemy at least has some useful books, but more than 95% are just novels filled with made-up settings, and the knowledge isn’t connected—everything is disjointed, so the curriculum needs to be completely rebuilt from scratch. Medicine is the same.’

Current magical alchemy and medicine are merely the results of countless experiments and experiences.

Of course, academic disciplines are created through such processes, but judging from the responses in the interviews, they couldn’t clearly distinguish between cause and effect.

A university that teaches “this happens when you do this” and “that happens when you do that” without understanding cause and effect? I cannot accept— ugh…!

‘T-this smell… ugh.’

Distracted by the sudden terrible odor, Claude looked around to find its source, only to realize it was coming from his own clothes.

The alchemists’ smell had permeated his clothes.

His nose, which had become numb during the alchemists’ interviews, gradually recovered its function, and once recovered, it immediately detected the foul odor of the alchemists that had soaked into his clothes.

Leclerc, being old, seems not to have noticed yet as his sense of smell hasn’t fully returned.

“…Open all the windows.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

…I can’t wear these clothes anymore.

……….

“This is t-terrible…”

The maid who brought clothes and food told me that not only doctors but also priests, judges, administrators, mathematicians, alchemists, and all sorts of intelligent people had entered the castle.

That means… I’m considered their equal? I can hardly believe it.

I’m not that smart…

“And… I’m going to teach others?”

According to the maid, I will receive direct instruction from the King, or rather, His Majesty, along with others, and based on that instruction and my existing knowledge, I will teach others.

And before receiving His Majesty’s instruction, I must write down all the knowledge I possess on this blank paper to show to His Majesty.

To think that a mere country girl like me would have His Majesty as a teacher and then teach others… It makes me feel so sick.

Should I say I can’t do it now…? No, that would incur His Majesty’s wrath…

“Aaaahh…”

Ellen let out a small scream and collapsed on the bed in despair over what was to come, but after a moment, she slowly got up and began writing down everything she knew on the blank paper, as the maid had instructed.

Since doing nothing was more dangerous than saying she couldn’t do it, and since she needed to show something to His Majesty, she couldn’t just sit idle.