[Amount: 50,000 gold (Fifty thousand gold).]
Skipping right past silver, copper... and the like. Fifty thousand, in raw gold. It felt like getting my company salary in cash, handed over in a bundle of hundred-dollar bills.
It didn't feel real. How should I spend this to get a reputation for spending it well? Should I start by replacing all the broken chairs in the lab with the highest-quality ones?
"But you said you'd use school funds for that."
Then what should I use it for? To be honest, I already knew what I wanted to do if I got money. Buy a small plot of land in the countryside, set up my own research lab, and live there as a recluse for the rest of my life.
Of course, if I did that, the Magic Tower would come looking for me. Actually, it'd be a relief if it was just the Magic Tower. Usually, you’d get a ‘call of duty.’
So, let's forget about running away.
"For now, why don't I hear what other people spent theirs on?"
Listening to a few examples might help me figure out my own heart. The first subject was my roommate, Liam. … … … Liam's face, which I hadn't seen in a while, was set hard.
"Why the long face?"
"Well... because I couldn't keep a secret."
"A secret? Ah."
He must be talking about how he let it slip that I'd cured his headaches. 'Now that I think about it, he's right.' This audacious whelp.
Returning kindness with enmity? As I was pondering Liam’s punishment...
Tremble, tremble.
Liam's legs began to shake. … … … ... Should I let it slide, since the outcome wasn't bad? If Liam hadn't let the secret slip to Elara, I wouldn't have gotten the job, nor would I have eaten Barnabas's homemade stew.
I said to him.
"Be careful with your words from now on."
"Yes..."
That was the end of our talk about favors and grudges. It was time for a more constructive conversation. I put on a business smile and asked.
"Liam, have you ever received something called 'discretionary research funds'?" ...
Liam glanced at me, then let out a sigh of relief. Presently, he said.
"Discretionary research funds... I've received them before. I got 50 gold for a well-written paper once."
Liam puffed out his chest as if proud.
"Wow... 50 gold. That's a lot. What did you do with it?"
"I bought a top-of-the-line goose-down mattress! It cost a whole 20 gold."
"Oh."
That was a more reasonable purchase than I expected. Beds are Science, after all. I'm kidding, but even the rich don't sleep less, so one should use a good bed if possible.
I should get myself a good bed, too. Anyway, 50 gold. Liam's school may be famous, but they seem to be frugal.
Some places are just like that. I moved on to find my next subject. I went to see Elara, the floor leader who was working at admissions.
And I asked her the same question I'd asked Liam.
"Hmm... I've never received any, but a Senior who's the ace of our school got 500 gold for a big project last year and wouldn't stop bragging about it. He built a personal brewery in his basement with it."
"A brewery... I see."
"Why? Did you get some discretionary research funds, too?"
"... Yes. I got a little. What should I use it for?"
"My recommendation is the chicken skewers."
"The ones in front of the Bell Tower?"
"Yep."
Barnabas had mentioned them once, too. It seemed they really were the best chicken skewers in the capital. By the way, a researcher who received enough to brag about only got 500 gold...
Isn't there a huge gap between that and 50,000 gold? For a final check, I headed to the Imperial Central Library. On the way, I tried the chicken skewers in question.
They were pretty good. At the library, the same graduate student librarian from before was organizing books.
"Oh, Isaac! I heard the news about your admission. And starting out on the third floor, too?"
"I was lucky."
"So, what brings you here?"
"Well..."
I asked her to look up the records for discretionary research fund allocations. A moment later, she brought out a few binders.
"According to the records... the maximum amount a master's course student can receive is usually 1,000 gold."
She adjusted her glasses and looked at me.
"Looks like you accomplished something big and got a reward for it."
"Yes. Well... something like that."
"How much did you get?"
"50,000 gold."
"What? You're kidding, right?"
"Yes."
Of course, I wasn't kidding. Because I had really received 50,000 gold. After leaving the library, I was thrown into confusion.
"No matter how I look at it, this doesn't seem like something Senior Giuseppe did on his own..."
Fifty thousand gold was too much to be just a reward. This was clearly special treatment, unprecedented in the history of the Magic Tower. Nothing good would come from this being revealed.
I should hold off on spending money for a while, just in case others find out.
"But what's the reason?"
What did they see in me to give such a large sum of money? Just as my entrance exam led to the incident of being placed on the third floor of the Magic Tower, this surely had someone backing it. 'No matter how I look at it, it seems like the Dean had a hand in this...'
What on earth did he see in me to go this far? To be honest, I know I'm a bit different from a normal mage. Everyone is shocked by everything I do; I'd be a fool not to notice that.
But I still don't know exactly 'how' I'm different. I hadn't clearly defined my own abilities for myself.
Trudge, trudge.
With none of my worries resolved, I returned to the lab.
"You're back?"
"Yep."
Giuseppe greeted me with a bright face.
"What are we doing today?"
"What do you think? We're continuing the lab meeting we couldn't finish last time."
"Didn't we decide that I'd be taking over your research, Senior?"
"No. You need your own research topic."
"But, honestly, I don't really know what I should do."
Giuseppe nodded, as if he knew I'd say that.
"That's why I prepared this for today."
What he proudly brought out was a complex magical device covered in all sorts of crystals and lenses.
"You saw it at the Magic Academy entrance exam, right? That's what it is."
"Don't tell me it's a magic aptitude analyzer."
"That's right."
I didn't remember it, I'd only read about it in books. This was a tool that measured a mage's aptitude, developed hundreds of years ago by someone from the School of Magical Surveying...
Huh?
School of Magical Surveying?
"Our school made this!"
"That's right. It's pretty much the only thing our school has ever produced."
"I heard they use this at all the Magic Academies. Do we get royalties?"
"No... the Imperial Court made it open-source, reasoning that a monopoly on 'measurement' was impossible."
"That's insane."
What a rotten world. To just snatch someone else's work for free. And the Imperial Court was the cause?
Makes you want a revolution.
"Anyway, today, we'll use this to find out what field your talents specialize in. Based on the results, we can select your research topic."
"Oho."
I was just getting curious, so this was perfect. Using this, I felt like I could find out how my magic was different from others.
"Alright, first, use the 1st-circle ignition spell in front of you."
Giuseppe said, pointing to the space in front of the analyzer.
Ignition spell? I asked.
"How strong?"
"What?"
Giuseppe tilted his head.
"I mean, what temperature should I set as the target, in Kelvin? Should I account for air convection? What type of combustion? Decomposition? Mixed? Diffusion?" …
Giuseppe stared at me blankly. After a moment of silence, his mouth opened.
"Just... use 'fire'."
I tilted my head, and performed the 'general ignition spell' I had read about in books. First step, visualization. According to the magic theory books, one should create an image of a 'hot, dynamically burning flame' in their mind.
I closed my eyes and recalled the scene of a campfire from my past life. The crackling firewood, the flying sparks. It was a plausible image.
But the mana in my body didn't react at all. It was as if it was asking, 'So, what exactly is the target temperature in Kelvin?' Second step, resonance.
The books explained it grandly as 'the process of attuning one's soul with the source of flame that fills the world'. In this process, one forms an incantation or a magic circle. I'd memorized the shape of the magic circle, but...
I really had no idea what this soul-attuning thing was.
Crackle.
The undirected mana discharged into the air. The ignition spell was a failure.
"As I thought, it doesn't work."
I guess I'll just have to do it my way. I aimed my finger at the empty air. H2O → 2H + O PV = nRT k = A * e^(-Ea / RT) Clear formulas.
Precise definitions. Beautiful. Fwoosh!
With a sharp sound, a flame flickered into existence in the air. Giuseppe's jaw dropped.
"What. Without an incantation?"
Come to think of it, this was the first time Giuseppe had seen me use magic directly.
He muttered.
"... No-chant casting is an advanced skill used in battles between mages."
"Amazing."
For some reason, my face felt hot. The tests continued in the same fashion. I shot water...
"... For no-chant casting, the activation speed is too fast."
I created light...
"... The result is the same as a general illumination spell, but the process is quite different."
I even made a rock.
"... You formed pure quartzite, not quartzite mixed with iron?"
After the examination was complete, the analyzer's probe vibrated and printed out a results sheet.
Zzt. Zzzzt.
I looked at my test results.
[Affinity for the 6 Major Elements: F-rank] [Mana Capacity: C-rank] [Mana Control Precision: Unmeasurable] "What is this."
The lowest rank and unmeasurable, together...
'How extreme...'
The accompanying graph made it even more intuitive. Affinity was converging to zero, while precision was diverging toward infinity. I pointed to the results sheet and asked Giuseppe.
"Is this a good thing?"
"Let's see." ...
Giuseppe looked at my results and stood there for a long time, lost in thought.
"I've never seen anything like this in my life."
"Do you have any idea why it turned out like this?"
"Hmm..."
I didn't know for sure, but I had a feeling. I could infer it based on what Giuseppe had been chattering about every time I used magic. If I were to use a restaurant as an analogy...
It's something like this. When Giuseppe uses the 'ignition' spell, he's ordering the 'Ignition Special' from the mana chef. Then the all-powerful mana cooks up the dish on its own.
This method is convenient and fast. From the customer's perspective, there's no need to know what goes into the dish or how it's made. But customization would be impossible.
However, my magic is different. The chef of my magic is me. I give the 'recipe' to the chef called mana.
I specify each and every ingredient and step. It's complex, but it has expandability. But I couldn't explain this as it was.
If this fact became known, it would cause an uproar incomparably larger than the 50,000 gold incident.
"Why on earth...?"
To Giuseppe, who was muttering as he looked at the results sheet, I chuckled and made an excuse.
"The machine must be broken."
"Is that it? Well, this thing is hundreds of years old."
Giuseppe seemed to accept it readily. I decided to destroy the evidence at this opportunity. The method was simple.
I just needed to increase the oxygen level from the previous ignition spell. Stronger than ignition, weaker than a fireball.
Fwoosh.
While Giuseppe wasn't looking, I burned the results sheet to ashes. Come to think of it, each and every one of these things was probably impossible for other mages. If they wanted to use a spell with a power level between ignition and fireball, they would have to invent such a spell separately.
I casually changed the subject.
"Senior. By the way, isn't the 'Bell Tower Commission' result report meeting soon?"
"Oh! I completely forgot about that."
Giuseppe snapped back to his senses.
"Are the materials prepared? That guy Rufus will surely be looking for something to nitpick..."
"Don't worry."
I handed him the report I had prepared the previous evening.
"The presentation materials are already complete."
Giuseppe took the thick report and looked relieved. Inside that report, I had written only the most basic principles of acoustics. 'Wait, could that be a problem too...?'
Should I take it out? I could if I had to. ...
"Why are you so stiff?"
"It's nothing."
No. Let's not take that out. Unlike magic or the 50,000 gold, Science belongs to no one. I'll just slowly release the knowledge in a way that doesn't cause any major problems. ...
I can do that, right?