Isaac had successfully proven the 'Wave Theory' at the Magic Tower General Assembly. Two schools were greatly shocked by this fact. One was, of course, the School of Sound Magic, whose entire foundation had just been shattered.
The other... was the School of Magical Device Materials Processing. The atmosphere in the research lab of the School of Magical Device Materials Processing had grown quite somber. The head of the school, who had just returned from a business trip, had heard the news from the General Assembly.
Bolton, the head of the school, summoned all his chief professors and doctoral students. They all stood with their heads bowed low.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Amidst the silence, the school head spoke.
"So. You're telling me you lost the commission to a school exiled to the annex, and you were beaten at the General Assembly as well?"
"... Yes."
"Who was in charge of this?"
As everyone remained silent, Rufus slowly raised his hand.
"It was me."
"Rufus. So it was you."
Bolton's eyes burned with fury. He pointed to one of the chief professors and said.
"Hey. Bring me this punk's research proposal."
"Yes, sir."
The chief professor immediately handed Rufus's report to Bolton.
[A Study on the Potential Applications of Wave Theory] He glanced through the report, then opened it to the results page and shoved it in Rufus's face.
"Is this the result, Rufus? Impossible?"
"But, Head of the School. With our current technology, we cannot apply Isaac's Wave Theory."
"Impossible to apply?"
Ha.
Bolton let out a hollow laugh.
"But Isaac Upperhills did it, even in front of the Dean! And without any catalyst!"
Bolton's shout echoed down the hallway. Rufus answered with his head bowed low.
"... I apologize, but I am not Isaac Upperhills."
"You know your place, at least. Bring me some tangible results by next week. You know what will happen if you don't, right?"
"Yes."
The budget for all of Rufus's related projects would probably be cut. ... This scene was also witnessed by the floor leader, Elara, from the distant master's student table. Elara's heart sank.
"Is this because of me..."
If she hadn't dragged Isaac into the Bell Tower incident, none of this would have happened. 'I hope Senior Rufus can find a solution somehow...' But she couldn't just stand by and hope.
She had to do something too. 'Should I try to persuade Isaac?' She couldn't bring up such a topic openly, so Elara waited for a moment when Isaac was alone.
And then she saw it. -"Why is it that if something is differentiable, it must also be continuous?" -"..." She saw Gwendolyn approaching Isaac the moment he was alone. Strangely, this wasn't the only time such a scene was observed.
Whenever Isaac finally managed to be alone, Gwendolyn would appear. The research wing, the cafeteria, the library—wherever Isaac was, Gwendolyn was there too.
"Why on earth?"
Elara muttered.
"Don't tell me... they've been dating since they were freshmen?"
No, that couldn't be right. Isaac was an orphan, so there was no way he could be involved with the daughter of a prestigious family like the Everglows. This wasn't meant to be derogatory; it was simply reality.
The nobility's discrimination based on birth and background was nothing new. However, Elara's speculation was soon shattered. In her attempt to find Isaac alone, she had resorted to tailing him, and as a result...
She saw Isaac heading towards the Everglow family's villa.
"This is insane..."
As she lingered near the villa's wall, a cold voice came from behind her.
"You there, what are you doing here?"
When she turned around, the captain of the guard was standing there, his eyes filled with killing intent. Elara had a strong premonition that her luck had taken a turn for the worse.
It was a perfect weekend. Escaping the horse-dung-smelling city center for the suburbs, enjoying the sunlight, listening to the birds sing, and sinking into a plush sofa. ... It would be perfect if only Gwendolyn wasn't right in front of me.
"... Are you listening, Mr. Isaac?"
"No." At my immediate reply, Gwendolyn tilted her head.
"Then tell me what I just asked."
"You asked why the gradient is a vector that points in the direction of the function's steepest ascent."
"And the answer?"
"That's something for you to find out on your own, Ms. Gwendolyn."
At my answer, Gwendolyn tilted her head again.
"What? Why?"
"Because I don't know either."
"Liar."
"..."
How did she know I was lying?
"... Is my expression that easy to read?"
"No. But I just can't imagine a scene where you don't know something, Mr. Isaac."
"An instinctive reductio ad absurdum, I see."
What a strange case... In any case, I didn't answer Gwendolyn's question. I wasn't going to include that problem in the paper I was having Valerius present either.
They'll figure it out on their own. I said to Gwendolyn.
"Seeing as you're asking questions like that, it seems there's nothing more for me to teach you."
"Is that so? I still feel like I have a long way to go."
"That's normal. The more you know, the more you feel that way."
The bigger the island of knowledge grows, the longer the shoreline of the unknown becomes. 'The tutoring is over... should I head back now?' Just as I was preparing to leave.
Knock, knock, knock. A knock came from the door. A moment later, a man who appeared to be the villa's captain of the guard entered and spoke.
"Lady Gwendolyn, we've apprehended a suspicious person near the garden."
"A suspicious person?"
At Gwendolyn's reply, the guard captain scratched his head.
"Well... she claims to be a mage from the Magic Tower, but we're not certain."
"... Did you by any chance get a name?"
"Yes. She said her name is Elara."
Gwendolyn's eyes met mine.
Not even five minutes later, we were face to face with floor leader Elara.
"Hehehe..."
Elara laughed awkwardly.
"Hello, Lady Everglow, and you too, Isaac."
"..."
"You two look so good together. Hahahaha..."
An awkward silence filled the air. A moment later, Elara's mouth opened again.
"You see, I didn't mean to spy on your secret meeting..."
"What are you talking about? A secret meeting?"
"Huh?"
Elara stared at Gwendolyn and me with a dumbfounded expression, looking back and forth.
"You two... aren't you dating?"
"What kind of nonsense is this all of a sudden?"
"..."
"How can a graduate student possibly date?"
Of course, some people manage it, but... that wouldn't be me. After clearing up the absurd misunderstanding, I was able to hear Elara's lengthy story. The return of the school head.
Rufus being publicly berated for the blunder at the General Assembly. And the circumstances of Rufus's team, which was now in danger of having its budget evaporate... It was a story that strongly smelled of home.
I asked her.
"But Elara, do you also work with Senior Rufus on his research?"
"No. We're in the same school, but our research topics are different."
"Then it doesn't matter to you whether his budget gets cut or not, right?"
At my assertion, everyone's eyes widened.
"Really?"
"Wow..."
"..."
Those were the reactions of Gwendolyn, Elara, and the guard captain, in that order. Why were they all reacting so sensitively?
"Isn't that just what graduate school is like? You work day and night, but one mistake can get your project canceled, and you get publicly humiliated..."
"..."
"..."
For a moment, a look of pity flashed in their eyes.
Pity...? Why?
Gwendolyn took a step closer to me and asked.
"Is the atmosphere in the School of Magical Surveying like that?"
"... No. We're fine."
"Liar."
"No, really, we're not..."
After that, I broke into a sweat trying to clear up the slanderous rumors about our school.
"Anyway. I'm truly sorry, but I don't think I can help Sir Rufus. I need to focus on my special lecture right now."
Elara nodded her head without a word. I thought she would be more persistent, which was surprising. Well, all's well that ends well.
I immediately stood up from my seat.
"Well then, I'll be..."
"What? Already?"
"I have something to do."
"... What is it?"
"..."
Surprisingly, Gwendolyn was being more clingy than Elara. I thought of a suitable excuse to get away.
"Actually, it's time for me to walk my pet."
"You can only keep fish in the dorms."
"..."
Damn.
I didn't know that. At this point, I have no choice. I just have to leave with confidence.
"Then I'll be off to walk my goldfish."
"... Huh?"
"What did you say?"
Leaving the two stunned people behind, I left the villa.
That same evening, a package arrived for Valerius. The sender was Isaac Upperhills.
Hehehe.
A laugh escaped Valerius's lips. The title of the document inside the package was [Principles of Calculus]. It was the very essence of new knowledge that he had been so eager to hear from Isaac, the breakthrough for 'Achilles and the Tortoise.'
"... I thought he would draw it out a little longer. This is unexpected."
He wasn't a workaholic. What could be the reason for such haste? He read the letter enclosed with it.
[I recently heard that the 'School of Magical Device Materials Processing' might also have a need for calculus. It would be good if you could inform them about the announcement of this paper as well.]
Valerius tilted his head as he read the postscript. The School of Magical Devices?
"Come to think of it, I heard that school's influence has been waning lately... To lend them strength..."
Valerius smirked.
"I thought he was only good at magic... it seems he has political acumen as well."
To be concerned with the balance of power among the schools while announcing a theory that would turn the world of magic upside down. A genius is truly different.