It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Modern psychology and game theory claim this proposition to be false, but I often make use of it. Am I a psychologist?
I'm a physicist. I'll think whatever I want. I entered the laboratory where Giuseppe would be, holding the 'Special Lecture Acceptance Letter'.
It was to inform Giuseppe of the fact that I was taking the 'special lecture' and to be forgiven.
"Senior Giuseppe, there's something I must tell you..."
But I couldn't ask for forgiveness. That's because Giuseppe couldn't focus on my words. Just like the day I first saw him, he was organizing documents 'by hand'.
What's this?
Is the Excel broken? I approached him and asked.
"Senior, are you alright?"
As I got closer, he barely managed to lift his head.
"Ah. It's you, junior. You've come at a good time. Come and help me with this."
I pointed at the "Excel" magical device placed on one side of the desk.
"Is that perhaps broken? The paperwork is still..."
"No, it's not broken."
Giuseppe continued.
"These are documents that 'Excel' can't process."
Following his gesture, I looked at the covers of the document pile.
[Joint Research Proposal with the School of Magical Surveying - School of Sound Magic], [Inquiry Regarding the Practical Application of Wave Theory - School of Classical Alchemy]...
'This is...'
These weren't just any documents. They were love calls pouring into our school because of the experiment I conducted at the last General Assembly. 'Meanwhile, the School of Classical Alchemy only sent questions instead of a business proposal...
Are they planning to just snatch the information and leave?' Just by looking at the format of the documents, I could see the conscience of the school. Alchemy was out in my book.
Giuseppe spoke, almost in tears.
"Isaac, what should we do about all this?"
"... It doesn't seem like you're sad, but you look rather pleased. Why is that?"
"Because! It's a proposal to work with our school!"
"Aha."
To do business with a major school. For a frontier school, it must be something they've desperately hoped for. I pulled out a few documents and skimmed through them.
The contents were as I expected. Things like asking if we could increase the efficiency of magic using the principle of wave superposition... Or if we could create a new magic circle that amplifies sound only in a specific area...
They were all proposals asking us to handle the core parts. If this is the case, why do joint research? I might as well do it alone.
Of course...
I had no intention of delving further into the problems of sound and waves here. I put the documents back down and said firmly.
"How about we refuse them all?"
"What? But why? We need to secure the research now to make things easier later!"
That's true.
Securing the market first is just as important for researchers. But this time is an exception.
"No. The other schools won't be able to figure out anything more with my theory."
"... What do you mean by that?"
"The core of that theory requires 'calculus'. As long as I don't explain that, my theory is unusable."
Giuseppe tilted his head.
"'Calculus'...? Is that one of your secret spells?"
"It's not something like a secret spell. It's just a mathematical methodology not yet known to the world. I'll reveal it someday, but now is not the time."
"If that's the case..."
Giuseppe pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"For now, let's refuse them all."
As expected of Senior Giuseppe. Even if the school is shabby, my luck with seniors is truly great. Just before the words of thanks could leave my throat, Giuseppe continued.
"But... to refuse all these proposals, we'll need a justification. What excuse can we give so the other schools won't complain?"
"Hmm... That's true too."
His concern was quite reasonable. Researchers are a difficult bunch, extremely lacking in social skills and sociability. In the worst-case scenario, they'll start a power game against our school.
What should I do in a situation like this...
Ah.
There is one way. But will this work... I took out a piece of parchment I had received from the administrative office.
"How about this?"
[Special Lecture Attendance Permit. Subject: Isaac Upperhills. Course Name: Advanced Structural Magic. Professor in Charge: Great Mage Valerius.]
A student is too busy taking another class, so what can they do? If you have a problem, take it up with 'Great Mage Valerius'. I don't know who this Valerius person is, but if he doesn't want his lecture canceled, he'll hold on to me tightly.
"This is..."
Giuseppe's eyes moved along the text, then stopped dead at the last name. His mouth slowly fell open.
"A... a special lecture by Sir Valerius?! Good heavens..."
"Pardon?"
He picked up the parchment and checked it again and again. Is this that big of a deal? Wasn't it just a lecture on the verge of being canceled?
Giuseppe continued.
"Yes, this will do! If the justification is a special lecture, the other professors won't be able to say a word." ...
What is it. What on earth is this special lecture that everyone is trembling about.
And so, the first day of the 'special lecture' arrived. For the record, the mystery of the special lecture's identity could not be solved until the end. That's because Giuseppe dismissed all my questions with, 'You'll know when you get there.'
The lecture hall I arrived at on the appointed time was extremely ordinary. Desks, a blackboard, and windows. There were only about five or six students in the classroom, including me.
Most of them seemed to be my seniors. That's because they had an 'aura of dark defeat' that I couldn't feel from my first-semester master's course peers. And among them...
There was also a graduate student with a somewhat familiar face.
"Wha... what are you doing here!"
She saw me, her eyes wide with surprise.
'What's this?
Does she know me?' Just by looking at her well-groomed crimson hair, I could tell. This woman is a real noble.
She continued.
"Didn't you refuse my proposal?!" ...
What is this. Who are you. I thought hard.
Red hair.
A refined southern accent.
Ah.
The puzzle pieces fit together.
"You're that pyramid schemer from the dining hall."
She tilted her head.
"Pyramid schemer? Is that an insult...?"
"No. Not at all."
A drop of cold sweat trickled down. This woman has good instincts. It seemed better not to talk more on this topic.
I skillfully changed the subject.
"I told you I'd think about it last time. After some consideration, I decided to participate in the special lecture."
"... I thought that was a polite way of refusing. I guess I misunderstood."
Her face brightened slightly. She extended her hand to me and said.
"Ahem. My apologies for the misunderstanding. Let me introduce myself again. I am Gwendolyn Everglow."
"... Isaac Upperhills."
Even while shaking her hand, my mind was racing.
'Everglow...'
The Everglow family is a count's house that holds sway over the southern part of the Empire. After introducing ourselves, there wasn't much to say, so I kept my mouth shut. Still, since we'd be taking the same class from now on, I had to say something.
Because graduate students are delicate creatures who can get sulky in situations like this. Getting sulky because others don't talk to you. If you don't like it, you should start the conversation yourself.
'Something suitable for an icebreaker... ' In an instant, several answers popped into my head. 'The moon is quite bright, isn't it? It must be at its perigee on its elliptical orbit, while also being in a straight line with the sun and the earth.
Haha.'
'Do you know how to make a sailboat? Differentiate a boat with respect to time. You'll get a 'dot' over it, making it a sailboat.
Hahaha...' ..
Speaking these out loud seems like it would cause a disaster... What am I supposed to say as an icebreaker to a real noble? Breaking the silence, Gwendolyn spoke up.
"Come to think of it, the professor is late."
"... So he is."
The professor hadn't arrived yet. Even though the clock had already passed the lecture's start time.
Gwendolyn muttered.
"It seems even the Great Mage Valerius can be late. How fascinating."
'How fascinating'...
It was such a reaction befitting a true noble lady that I found it even more fascinating. Just then, something strange happened to the blackboard. Chalk writing began to appear on the empty board.
[Orientation: This lecture hall is...]
The other students muttered.
"What's that? The chalk is moving."
"Is it telekinesis?"
"Telekinesis without even looking... Could it be Sir Valerius?"
Scratch, scratch.
[Orientation: This lecture hall is an illusion. Find the correct path.]
Heh.
A dry laugh escaped me.
"A special lecture isn't a Hunter Exam."
"A Hunter Exam?"
"... It's a thing."
After that, the lecture hall descended into chaos. Everyone began casting spells to find the 'real lecture hall'. One of the students said, "What?
The illusion dispel spell isn't working."
"Is there no illusion?"
"Or it could be that we can't even comprehend the Great Mage's magic..."
I quietly stood up and walked around the entire room. And I took in the physical environment of the room. The position of the light source, the arrangement of objects, and the shadows they created.
Everything seemed perfectly normal. . Except for one single spot. An old suit of decorative knight's armor placed in a corner of the room.
The shadow cast by the single light source on the ceiling was perfectly normal. But on the wall next to it, a second faint, flickering shadow from a completely different angle was wavering. It made no sense.
There couldn't be two shadows with only one light source. 'It's not like the light source is special either...' This phenomenon violates the fundamental premise that light travels in a straight line.
Seeing my gaze fixed on the armor, Gwendolyn approached.
"What are you looking at so intently?"
"That armor, don't you see anything strange about it?"
"Hmm... There's a scratch on the helmet. It wouldn't have much collection value."
"... That's not what I mean."
Never mind.
I'll just do this by myself. I waved my hand, but the faint shadow didn't disappear. If that shadow was real, then there had to be another, invisible light source in this room.
I traced the two shadows backward. One was the lamp on the ceiling. And the other one was...
"Beyond the wall?"
I approached the wall where the shadow was cast. There was no reaction when I touched it.
"Is it just a wall...?"
No. That can't be. I trust my calculations. The light source definitely pierced through this wall to illuminate the armor.
Rather, it's this wall that's wrong. 'I think the real lecture hall is behind this...' The problem is how to get through this wall.
The simplest and surest method is physical destruction. I took out a steel ball from my pocket. No matter how hard the wall is, it can't be harder than an orc's head.
Whoosh~!
The steel ball left my hand, spinning as it flew toward a point on the wall. But the expected sound of destruction was not heard.
Thud.
The steel ball betrayed the principle of action-reaction and bounced off limply.
"What the..."
It absorbs physical impact but lets light pass through... It's a magic whose principle I can't even begin to guess. Still, I think I've found a solution.
'It's not like this wall is a 'light isolator' that transmits light in only one direction...' I just have to respond with light from this side. In times like this, the 'Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation' magic is perfect.
If it's too long, you can shorten it and call it 'Laser' magic. I focused my body's mana into the empty space in front of my finger. ΔE = E2 - E1 = hv = hc/λ I created a population inversion of the molecules in the air, fulfilling the prerequisite for a laser.
Now, all that's left is to go through the stimulated emission and resonance stages... It was at that very moment. -'That's enough.' A low, cracked voice echoed directly in my mind.
Telepathic magic.
I reflexively stopped concentrating my mana. -'I don't know what kind of magic you were trying to use, but it looks quite dangerous. For now, you pass.' Immediately after, my body passed through the wall to the other side.
"What is this... ah."
My confusion was brief, as light entered my eyes.
"The light source that was illuminating the armor. I was right."
Beyond the lecture hall, there was indeed another lecture hall. A large model of the celestial bodies was slowly rotating on the ceiling, and the walls were filled with huge bookshelves stretching from floor to ceiling. And in the center of it all was an old man.
'Is that him, Valerius?' He knew I had entered, but without taking his eyes off his book, he asked.
"The illusion of the wall and the light, which of the two did you suspect first?" ...
"The light."
Thwack.
Valerius closed the book. Then he looked at me.
"Hmph."
"Your eyes for reading the flow of mana are pathetic."
"..."
"But your eyes for seeing through the principles of the world are useful."
"For now, sit and have some tea."
He let out a small laugh and continued.
"It'll take some time for the idiots beyond the wall to arrive."