Ch.80From Now On, This Is My Laboratory (3)

“Pardon?”

“Pardon?”

“What?”

[“Is this kid insane?”]

Eidel had become the universe’s greatest hook collector.

For a moment, Berdia thought her audio device was broken.

“M-miss, what nonsense are you speaking!”

“It’s not nonsense. And I’d like you to become one too.”

“B-become what?”

“A graduate student.”

Eidel replied with a completely serious expression.

Become a graduate student.

How could such words come from the mouth of a seventeen-year-old high school student?

She must have gone mad.

“You’re not a professor, and this isn’t a research lab. What nonsense are you spouting?”

“I’m going to be a professor when I grow up. And I’m going to turn this place into a lab within the next few weeks. So I have the freedom to invite you all to research.”

This is truly maddening.

Berdia rubbed her face with both hands.

Eidel twisted her lips and spoke. What followed was somewhat shocking.

“Rustila, actually, I wrote a paper with a professor around midterms. I was researching gravitational theory to find a way to restore the Aether Belt.”

“Wow.”

Someone gasped in amazement. Berdia, feeling a chill, opened her tightly shut eyes and looked up.

Research on methods to restore the Aether Belt.

As soon as she heard those words, a strange light appeared in Rustila’s blue eyes, which had been confused until then.

‘M-miss?’

The atmosphere was strange. Something was going wrong.

“The reason I’m not leaving this place is because of the Aether Belt. If we don’t find a way to artificially restore the southern belt, the same situation will repeat itself in the second semester.”

“Indeed.”

“I see.”

Sonia and Rustila nodded simultaneously.

Only Berdia remained unconvinced.

“You wrote a paper? When you’re just a first-year Academia student? Don’t lie! Such things can be easily exposed by just searching the Schola site…!”

Her words trailed off.

Berdia’s CPU, connected to the wireless network, retrieved the search results as swiftly as a swallow carrying a pumpkin seed.

[▶Academic Information Search]

[Author Name: Eidel von Rheinland]

[Search Results: 1 Research Paper]

‘W-why does this exist?’

No matter how vast the universe might be, there could only be one person with the surname Rheinland, the first name Eidel, and a contact email at Stellarium Academia.

‘And the quality is high too.’

It was a paper approaching 200 citations. The theoretical perspective, choice of terminology, and ideas used.

From an AI’s perspective, it was a flawless masterpiece.

If there was one drawback, it would be its low practicality?

But papers don’t necessarily need to be practical.

“Well, Berdia, you pass.”

“W-what’s this all of a sudden?”

“The view count just went up by one. You looked at my paper, right? I commend your attitude of searching before asking.”

“What-!”

“Let’s work together.”

Berdia looked at Rustila with urgent eyes.

Berdia had decided to walk a tightrope between Rustila’s mental stability and the overprotectiveness of the Kersil couple. She had long decided to respect Rustila’s wishes as long as she wasn’t in physical danger.

But this time, she didn’t like it.

“Miss, shouldn’t we be heading back soon…?”

“I want to hear more about what Eidel said.”

“Ah.”

Thump.

At that moment, Sonia placed her hand on Berdia’s shoulder.

“Give up.”

And so Berdia became a miner.

***

Inwardly, I rejoiced.

For this research, I needed someone who could handle a Plasma Sword well, and Rustila volunteered for that role.

Honestly, I was a bit nervous when I asked for cooperation with the research.

If I had messed up, all the friendship we had built up could have vanished.

But.

Rustila hugged me as soon as we met.

That’s when I was certain.

We’re in this together!

[“Trash. Even Casanova would have more conscience than you.”]

Rustila also liked the research topic.

If we succeed, the Aether Belt will be restored. And we can safely attend school.

I might even be able to enter college… no, directly into graduate studies. Honestly, I think I could go straight to graduate school next year with this.

Anyway.

Me, Rustila, Sonia, Berdia, and even Cartesia and Populus.

[“W-wait a minute. Why am I… ARGH!”]

[— The Outer God “Orchestra of Mud and Flesh” has offered you 500 Pron.]

We sat around a circular table and started our group meeting.

I displayed a hastily prepared PPT on the monitor and said:

“First of all, you know that the Aether Belt of the Alcatraz planetary system is tilted more than others, right?”

“Yes.”

“Due to that characteristic, the planet is exposed to more aether, according to search results.”

“That’s right. But why is it tilted like this?”

“That’s…”

“I still haven’t found the answer.”

In “Outer God Slayer,” Professor Feynman, on his deathbed, finally discovers the answer.

However, it never gets published as a paper and is buried forever due to the machinations of the Outer Gods. This snowballs and humanity walks the path to downfall.

It was lamentable. If only that point were known, it would be tantamount to finding the key to manipulating gravitons.

“My current goal is to find this reason.”

“Won’t it be difficult?”

“Not at all. It’ll be done in three months.”

Berdia looked at me with a disgruntled expression.

“You’re overconfident. Just an Academia student.”

“Berdia, are you looking down on me?”

“It’s not about looking down on you. Do you think this situation makes any normal sense?”

Berdia was still skeptical.

I had expected more resistance from Sonia, but she remained quiet.

“Alright. Let’s make a bet.”

“A bet?”

“Yes. The winner gets one wish from the loser.”

I took out a blank paper and tore it in half. One for me, the other for Berdia.

Click.

After removing the pen cap, Berdia thought for a moment and then passed the paper and pen to Rustila.

“Miss’s will is my will. Is that okay?”

“Fine. And let’s keep it a secret until three months have passed.”

Sonia tilted her head.

“Is it necessary to keep it secret? For motivation enhancement, it would be much better to disclose the bet’s content.”

I answered with a smile.

“If you know the penalty before starting, it’s not as thrilling, right?”

Rustila nodded with a slight smile.

Since Rustila’s intention became Berdia’s intention, it turned into a bet between me and Rustila.

After writing down the content of our bets, we folded the papers three times each and placed them in a box. We didn’t forget to write our names on the outside so we could identify whose note was whose.

“Did you write something tough?”

“Yes.”

“That’s harsh.”

“It’s an honestly difficult topic.”

Rustila smiled brightly, scratching her cheek. It was a bit sad to see her smiling so radiantly without knowing what I had written.

[Collaborate on the next paper too]

Her talent with the Plasma Sword isn’t limited to combat.

Good resonance with the sword means good aether resonance.

She could play a significant role in simulations requiring intuitive analysis of aether distribution and in several important processes using the sword.

“Heh, hehehe.”

Rustila doesn’t know.

That she will make a significant contribution to shortening my research period.

After that, I focused on designing simulations and setting up experimental equipment.

Why do I need experimental equipment for theoretical work? Because I needed to demonstrate the “applicability” of previous research.

I planned to conduct experiments within a relatively efficient range. Still, I had to accept that a lot of money would be spent.

“Student, you’ve crossed the line.”

And that’s how I ended up hearing such words from the prison warden.

“Look at the amount on the statement. I acknowledge your exceptional abilities, but even after giving you a clean bill of health, this puts me in a difficult position.”

“I admit it. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t just apologize, return everything while you still can. It’s not too late yet.”

To cut to the chase, I had purchased experimental equipment worth 300 million credits in half a day. And I used Warden Whitewood’s card.

It was natural for him to be angry, but it didn’t make sense to return the essential experimental equipment. After thinking briefly, I spoke up.

“Please charge the debt to our Rheinland family.”

My family is rich.

***

News of the Celestine incident, naturally, reached Arnold, the head of the Rheinland family, and his wife Rezaine.

Soldiers blocking Darwin’s Legion’s monsters on the southern front. And the Rheinland couple treating those soldiers.

They were busy, but the fact that their daughter had fallen into a coma and their third son had been taken to Alcatraz Prison was enough to make headlines. It was equally shocking to the couple.

“Sick leave, I’ll take sick leave.”

“Me too.”

Meeting after almost half a year, Arnold and Rezaine headed to the southern sanctuary.

What they saw there was their daughter lying peacefully on an altar woven with flowers.

“Seti!”

Rezaine’s flat pupils lost focus. She ran almost frantically towards Seti, who had essentially fallen into eternal sleep, but tripped and fell.

“My, my daughter…”

Rezaine couldn’t continue. Her wailing echoed through the dome. Arnold, gritting his teeth, listened to the divine official who served the stars.

“Her breathing is stable, but she can’t wake up. It seems she might have suffered permanent damage to part of her brain…”

“Which part is damaged?”

“Well.”

“You must be in the medical field too. Can’t you speak clearly?”

“We couldn’t determine that part.”

Yes, this is how it is. No matter how advanced medical technology becomes, it’s useless against the machinations of the Outer Gods. It was nearly impossible to even identify the disease.

After that, Arnold and Rezaine occasionally came to see Seti.

They couldn’t come often due to work, but they were seeing their daughter’s face more frequently than ever before.

“Wake up soon. How can the next head of the family be like this?”

Rezaine whispered into Seti’s ear when Arnold wasn’t around. But such whispers didn’t wake her comatose daughter.

And a few weeks later, on a weekend.

Arnold, returning from a 36-hour major surgery, visited the sanctuary without even wiping off the patient’s blood on his glasses.

He had encountered an annoying issue in the past few days.

For some reason, an additional 300 million of the family’s assets had been drained.

It wasn’t spent by the eldest, Bryan.

Nor by the second, Katrick.

The third.

‘Eidel…’

Somehow, there were indications that he was gradually siphoning off family money from prison.

To be precise, it was Seti’s money. Even in her current state, the profit system she had established continued to generate several hundred million each month.

Arnold sighed and whispered to Seti:

“Daughter, it seems Eidel is spending your earnings lavishly. He must have set up a casino in prison.”

“…”

“He’s scraped off about a billion in total until just now.”

“…What the fuck did you just say?”

“?”

Seti von Adelbein Rheinland.

Miraculously woke up after 47 days in a coma.