I wanted to find the terrorists and wipe them out right then and there. But for now, I had to do what I could. Know the enemy and know yourself, and you will win a hundred battles in a hundred battles, or so they say.
Wait... on second thought, maybe that wasn't it. 'A hundred victories?
Undefeated? Unburnt?
What was it?' I should have studied some other liberal arts subjects. In any case, I decided to look into those fraudulent prayer-mongers.
Of course, it wasn't me, with my complete lack of literary sensibility, but Laura who did the research and reported back.
Laura said.
"The official name of the 'fraudulent prayer-mongers' you mentioned is the 'Guides of the Lantern.'"
So that was their name. I had no idea.
"They are currently designated as heretics within the Empire."
It was a relief they were heretics. Thankfully, it seemed I wouldn't have to fight all the theologians of the Empire.
"The core of their doctrine is that 'all things in the heavens move according to the will of God,' and they are said to believe in astrology, predicting the future through the movements of planets and the brightness of stars."
"Does that really work?"
"Hm...? Do you believe in such things?"
Laura looked at me as if I were strange. What is with this person? How different is magic from astrology, anyway...
This is so unfair. But regardless of whether I felt wronged, Laura continued her report.
"This sect was formed centuries ago, following the mages' purge of the theologians. Their last recorded official activity was over a hundred years ago, so most believed they had disappeared, but..."
"You're saying they've just popped up now?"
Laura nodded silently. Now the picture was becoming clearer. 'To properly provoke these guys...
Ah.
That would be perfect.' I picked up my quill and revised the final 'Discussion' section of my paper.
The Chairman of the Magic Tower Thesis Review Association, Simon, repeatedly moistened his parched lips. But his mouth remained dry. It was due to nervousness.
'Damn it, damn it, damn it.' The Dean had summoned him personally. It was a request for a face-to-face meeting, not a letter.
Even during a major incident like Sir Valerius's [Calculus] paper, the Dean had handled everything through correspondence. But now she wanted to speak in person. 'What in the world is coming this time?'
The worst possible scenarios flashed through his mind. Was the first Emperor going to be resurrected from beyond the northern front and publish a paper he'd written himself? At last, the door opened, and Simon entered the office with a stiff expression.
"Huhu."
Contrary to his expectations, the Dean was standing by the window, a gentle smile on her face.
"Huhuhu."
'She's even smiling...?' He couldn't recall ever seeing her smile so serenely in his entire life. In fact, that made it even more terrifying.
Simon cautiously glanced at the bundle of documents in the Dean's hand. And then he spotted a familiar name.
'Isaac Upperhills.'
It's you again. 'Is that brat some kind of magical device that churns out papers?' While Simon screamed internally, the Dean spoke.
"It's been a while, Simon. You don't look very well."
"Not at all, Dean. I am simply serving the Magic Tower with a heart full of honor."
"Is that so. Well then, I'll be counting on you."
The Dean handed a paper to Simon.
"It's a new paper. As you know, things are chaotic both inside and outside the Magic Tower right now, so I'd like you to process this with a simplified document review, without a Demonstration Defense."
"Yes? Yes, I understand."
Simon took the documents with a bewildered expression. The title was [Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy]. The co-authors listed were Isaac Upperhills and an unfamiliar name, Anna Upperhills.
What a relief. It seems like it's nothing major this time.
Phew.
Simon let out a sigh of relief. But then a question arose in his mind. A request like this could have been handled easily enough by letter...
'Why did she go to the trouble of calling me all the way here to tell me in person?' Should I ask? Just as Simon was about to open his mouth, the Dean spoke, as if tossing the words out while looking out the window.
"Simon."
"Yes, Dean."
"Have you ever seen a 'star shower'?"
"... Pardon?"
A few days later, a new rumor spread like wildfire through the Magic Tower. The news came in two parts. One, the ones behind the attack on Isaac Upperhills were some heretical religious group.
And two, their target was his new paper. Just how incredible was this new paper, for a hidden heretical group to be targeting it? Elara suddenly became curious.
To confirm the rumors for herself, she headed to the Magic Tower's thesis copying room. The room was already filled with researchers trying to copy Isaac's paper by hand. There was even a long line stretching outside.
"Hey! Don't push!"
"It wasn't me. Someone from behind did it."
Researchers... moving with such passion? 'Though I suspect most of them are new students who came here because of Isaac...' Even so, this was too much.
It wasn't as if Isaac had uncovered some immutable truth of the universe.
"I was curious... but it looks like I won't be able to see it myself."
In the end, she turned and headed back to her lab. As she entered the lab, a new junior was sitting at a desk, giggling as he looked at a piece of parchment.
"You, is that...?"
"Ah, Senior! Yes, it is. This is Senior Upperhills's brand-new paper that just came out! Do you want to read it together?"
"You already made it through that long line?"
"It was worth waiting all night since yesterday."
To get one paper... was it really right to go through all that trouble? Elara couldn't understand her junior's passion, which bordered on madness. Still, thanks to him, she could read the paper early, so it wasn't a bad thing.
Elara sat next to her junior and began to read the paper with him. With every line he read, the junior made a fuss.
"Wow! Senior, look at this! It says there are three laws of force!"
"My goodness, he proved all of this with calculus!"
But Elara couldn't chatter on like her junior. Elara was certain. Once her junior understood the implications of this paper, he too would be at a loss for words, just like her. '...
What am I looking at right now?' All 'movement,' which mages had only vaguely guessed at before, was now described with precise formulas. Isaac was merely using it to calculate the orbits of celestial bodies.
Elara froze, feeling as if all truth had been revealed at once. Just then, the junior, who had been gleefully reading the final page, shouted.
"Senior, look at this right here."
It was the conclusion, the final paragraph, which appeared to have been written by Isaac himself. -Accepting the author's request and the opinions of the Dean and the Chairman, this paper will be considered to have passed the verification process should the predictions below be realized. And below that were three predictions of celestial motion, calculated according to the paper.
1. Based on comet observations, on April 22nd at 10:20 PM, a star shower, that is, a meteor shower, will be observed near the Lyra constellation.
"Wow! The 22nd is only a few days away! This is amazing!"
Even at her junior's excited voice, Elara could not respond. 'Is Isaac now able to see into the future?'
Isaac's bold prophecy spread across the continent through handwritten copies of the paper. The news reached not only the regional Magic Towers in the east, west, south, and north, but also various noble families who pursued astronomy as a refined hobby.
And, as expected, Isaac's paper also reached the believers of the 'Guides of the Lantern,' who were secluded in a deep mountain valley near the capital. The atmosphere inside the base was heavy and subdued. The recent attack attempt had failed, and there had been no contact from headquarters.
Amidst this, a believer raised Isaac's paper with a trembling hand.
"Um... should we report this to headquarters?"
The priest shook his head, his face grim.
"No. There is no need to report it. It will be a false prophecy anyway."
He glared sharply at the frightened believer.
"How can you become one with God with such little faith? Your devotion is lacking."
"I-I'm sorry."
Though he reprimanded the believer, his own heart was wavering. 'Of course he'll be wrong. But, what if the unbeliever's words are true... what then?'
The priest said to the believers.
"What is today's date?"
"It is the 22nd."
It just so happened to be the day of the prophecy mentioned in the paper.
"... If you cannot believe without seeing, then we have no choice but to see it for ourselves."
The high priest led his followers out of the base. But the night sky was obscured by dense tree branches and could not be seen clearly.
"Priest, we can't see well from here... should we just give up?"
"... No. We are going to the mountain peak."
A believer asked anxiously.
"But Priest, our position could be revealed. Won't it be dangerous?"
The priest looked up at the night sky and replied.
"Tonight will be fine. It is the day God judges the arrogance of the false prophet, so He will surely watch over us."
At the same time, the Magic Tower courtyard was bustling with people as if a festival were being held. Everyone's gaze was directed to one place: the night sky.
"The star shower, is it really coming?"
"Nah, no way. A star shower is a mana phenomenon that can't be accurately predicted. How could anyone predict it down to the minute?"
"You've read the paper and that's still your reaction?"
"Hey. To be honest, I didn't even properly understand that paper. He probably just wrote it wrong."
Other researchers listening nearby also nodded their heads. In truth, almost no one had perfectly understood the paper's contents. However, the researchers had gathered, forgoing their late-night work, simply because the prediction came from Isaac.
It felt like he was the kind of person who could get even an absurd prediction like this right. Amidst the murmuring, the courtyard clock tower indicated 10:20 PM. And ten seconds passed.
"Huh... is it not coming?"
"Was Sir Upperhills wrong this time?"
"Hey, it's only been ten seconds. Just calm down..."
The student who was speaking stopped mid-sentence. His eyes widened. Everyone in the courtyard fell silent at once.
A flash.
A single streak of light cut across the sky near the Lyra constellation and fell. Starting with that one, dozens, then hundreds of starlights poured down from the night sky like rain. The star shower had come.
I was watching the meteor shower from the window of the School of Magical Surveying's research lab. 'To think that even the cycles of the planets and comets are completely identical to Earth's...' It was a strange, no, a fortunate thing.
If the state of the solar system had been different from my past life, Earth could have been ejected from it due to gravitational perturbations. From beside me, Giuseppe spoke.
"It's beautiful, isn't it, Junior?"
"Huh? Oh, yes. It is."
"Tsk... you weren't even looking at the meteor shower, just lost in thought."
"Ahem."
Around me were Giuseppe, Anna, Doloren, and Laura. 'There are more shooting stars than I expected.' This was on the level of the Perseid meteor shower on Earth.
Anna had her eye to the Newtonian reflecting telescope I had hastily put together.
"Wow... it really does leave a smoke-like trail, like a comet's tail."
At Anna's excited voice, a smile spread across my lips without me realizing. I felt proud. Giuseppe was also smiling as he watched the night sky, and Laura... had her usual expressionless face.
However, seeing as her gaze was firmly fixed on the meteor shower, she seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit. Just then, Doloren said with a bright smile.
"Watching the stars like this all together, it's nice, reminds me of your master's defense."
"Let's not talk about that..."
If I had just made one less dome back then, I wouldn't have collapsed... It was my first time with an isolated system, and I had been too excited. Just as Doloren was about to open her mouth again.
Crash~!
A noise came from the lab next door. Actually, it had been like that ever since the meteor shower started a little while ago. 'Isn't that the School of Ideal Gas Magic over there?
What in the world are they doing...' I pressed my ear against the lab wall. -"Ahh. This is a killer star shower." -"The school head was right again." -"Hey, shucks!
Bring the booze! We're drinking all night!" ... It seemed they were also watching the meteor shower over there.
"Damn it all."
Unable to hold back, Doloren pounded on the wall with her fist.
Thump! Thump!
"Keep it down, you fools!"
At her shout, the noise from beyond the wall ceased as if by magic.
Right.
Even if they didn't fear the rebound, they had to fear Doloren. A faint chuckle escaped my lips. Just then, Anna tugged on my sleeve.
"Brother, that's glowing."
Anna pointed to the crystal orb placed on the desk.
"Oh, you're right."
The crystal orb was now glowing red. This was a signal from the Capital Guard and the Hans Mercenary Corps. I had tipped them off that 'the Guides of the Lantern might make a move tonight.'
I thought they were only going to scout... but it looks like they put in more effort than expected. The meaning of the red light was singular. All targets suppressed.