episode_0169

Episode 169. Melissa’s Proposal (1)

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The academy’s cafe was bustling with students again today. More than I expected. This… … I asked the princess to come to the cafe for no reason.

Most of the students avoided eye contact or did not look directly at her. It would be a lie to say that there were no onlookers around the princess.

Everyone passing by looked at the princess and me sitting next to her. The back of my head felt prickly for no reason. Maybe it was for a reason.

Mint didn’t react in any particular way, whether she didn’t notice the gazes around her, chose to ignore them, or was just used to being stared at. She didn’t show any sign of discomfort either.

Mint sipped cocoa.

However, Mint wasn’t hugging me. It was fortunate that we weren’t stuck together like in the lab. If I had been careful, the back of my head would have been even more stung.

“Mr. Asterix. I heard you made a deal with the Magic Tower this time. You’re going to lay down wires so they can communicate from a distance.”

You’re talking about wires.

“Ah. That’s what I said.”

“I didn’t know that stuffy old man would listen to you, teacher. How did you convince him?”

“Are you talking about the magic tower?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, we haven’t really talked for long. Isn’t Mr. Matapju also like that? He’s a person with a strong sense of pride, as much as he’s smart, or even more so.”

“Oh, I’ve heard that story before.”

I scratched my head.

Mint just smiled faintly.

“I hear that a lot too.”

“Yeah.”

The princess took another sip of her cocoa. I waited for Mint to continue speaking.

“But. I thought it was genius. If it’s like you said, teacher. If you connect a battery to a long copper wire, apply voltage, and change this voltage, you can send information instantly, right?”

“Oh, you got it.”

“Not right away. There were some letters exchanged in the imperial family. Asking if it was okay to push this forward.”

It’s good to be close to power in times like this.

The centralized structure of the empire is also like that. Things move very quickly. It’s just that a few high-ranking people are running things according to their will.

It was just that, if I had time to move a few letters, it would be pushed forward right away. I didn’t want to rely on the princess’s halo, though.

Still, you have to use what you can.

“Thank you for pushing.”

“Huh? Anyway, you were the one who persuaded Matapju, right? It has nothing to do with me. I just said let’s invest resources there.”

“Oh, right.”

“But even so, you said you would pay the initial money from the top? Isn’t that a contract close to robbery? Making the front line is also a top.”

“I tried to convince him when I met the gray tower. Master Tower said as the princess said… … .”

“As you said?”

I was going to say that he’s just a simple person, but I shouldn’t curse him too much. There are a lot of people listening.

“Aren’t you someone who is clear about what you want? I told you that it meets expectations, that there is this technology with this potential, and that there is this organization.”

Mint looked at me.

“As expected, words are more important than medicine.”

“Isn’t it just a difference of one point?”

The princess looked at me for a moment, then planted her lips on my cheek. The people around her tried to pretend not to look.

It wasn’t very successful.

Even if Mint wasn’t a princess, even if she wasn’t sitting with a professor, even if she didn’t kiss me, she would still be able to grab my attention.

It was inevitable.

“Thank goodness I have some free time today! Let’s go eat later. I think the teacher is busy these days and is eating in the lab.”

I guess that’s what it was like.

****

one side.

What people do is usually uniform.

The jobs that most people do are not that diverse. This is especially true for people who deal with life and work long hours without being able to relax.

Eating, lying down, and working.

This process was repeated.

What I’m doing now is the first of them.

Istina had come out to eat with Melissa. Melissa was still an untainted undergraduate, and she looked completely different from the half-dead graduate student.

Melissa’s eyes sparkled.

“Thank you for buying me food, Senior!”

“Yeah.”

“Senior, what are you doing today?”

“I just came back from seeing the patient being discharged.”

Istina was honestly a little tired.

“I went to a human dissection lab a while ago. The professor said it would prove what he said about the lungs.”

“Ah. I saw it under the microscope.”

“Isn’t that amazing?”

“That’s right.”

It was really amazing.

But, while that might have been a chance to make history and a once-in-a-lifetime discovery for other scholars, it was just an everyday occurrence in Professor Asterix’s laboratory.

Istina also got used to it.

If you repeat anything, you will eventually become familiar with it. The same goes for intense experiences, delicious food, and great scientific advancements.

“So. I met the professor for only a few hours, but I wrote down everything I found out and sent it back to my home country. Almost half a book.”

“Is that it?”

“Of course. Since I’m not from the Empire, I think each and every experimental tool in the lab is different and better.”

If you think about it, Professor Asterix did use a lot of strange experimental tools.

As soon as he arrived, he tried to build a new still, and a microscope. How many microscopes are there in the entire kingdom of Lutece?

I don’t know much, but it probably won’t be much.

Melissa was chattering away without even touching her food. Istina, who had been fasting for most of the day, tried to listen while eating, but couldn’t hear what she was saying.

“So. That’s why they say you shouldn’t eat jellyfish. I thought you could make soup with them since they’re soft.”

Istina put down her fork. What on earth were they talking about that led to the jellyfish?

“What about the experimental equipment?”

“Ah, yes. I also drew up a few diagrams of the experimental tools in Professor Asterix’s lab and sent them to my home country. There are many things that cannot be found in Lutece at all.”

Yeah, that’s true.

The Imperial Academy’s level of technology was far superior to that of other countries, and Professor Asterix was a genius among them.

By the way, is it okay to smuggle the professor’s experimental equipment or diagrams abroad?

If it’s like Professor Asterix’s personality, I think he’d like it if it became more widely known.

“I see.”

I should tell the professor.

“So. I was thinking about this. After I graduate from the Academy, will I be able to work as a graduate student in Professor Asterix’s lab? Or maybe as a disciple?”

“Hey!”

Istina dropped her fork.

It’s a surprise.

As soon as I heard that he was going to graduate school, I looked back, thinking that Jinmyeong would come out like a devil, but the professor was nowhere to be seen.

“Why, why is that?”

“I’ve been reading Professor Asterix’s books for the past few days. The papers, the booklets, the footnotes and the short explanations.”

It’s a good thing to have a junior.

It was true that I felt a little sorry that someone would voluntarily choose the path of graduate school. Think about it, Melissa.

“Yeah.”

“It seems like a really big opportunity is not being utilized. Obviously, this information would be of interest to the Kingdom of Lutece, and the North and other regions as well.”

Why would the world’s greatest scholar have only two disciples? There were no volunteers.

Melissa was a smart student. It shouldn’t be hard to imagine why no one wanted to work in Professor Asterix’s lab. She didn’t notice.

Istina was in a bit of a dilemma. Should she stop this or not? Since there was still time until Melissa graduated anyway, she should just leave it alone.

no.

If an undergraduate student comes to us saying they want to go to graduate school, it’s obvious that they’ll graduate them in a week and drag them off to graduate school. This is an atrocity that actually happens.

“Senior?”

Istina turned her gaze from the distant mountains back to Melissa. Melissa was sitting there with an expression on her face as if she had no idea what was going on.

“Yeah.”

“What is graduate school life like?”

“Oh, it’s worth doing.”

Since I’m alive, I guess it’s worth doing.

But. Professor Asterix’s laboratory was difficult and challenging, but there was an additional layer of pressure. It’s hard to explain in words, but I would say it felt like history was watching.

I guess you could say it’s the pressure that comes from the fact that you’re participating in such incredibly important research.

Istina sighed. Didn’t she put her hand on her heart and swear that she would regard her fellow practitioners and teachers as her brothers and sisters?

then.

If we were blood brothers and sisters, would I be able to put my hand on my heart and recommend graduate school life in this lab?

“Well, I think it would be good to talk to the professor first. I don’t recommend graduate school. There’s also the problem of living in a foreign country for a long time.”

Yes. Melissa nodded with a slightly gloomy expression. Istina threw away the heavy burden that had been weighing on her conscience.

“I see.”

I told her, so Melissa should take care of it, the senior thought.