I immediately followed Doloren to her vault. Doloren pointed to the innermost ceiling of the vault and spoke.
“Look at that.”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
“Heh… it’s real.”
A single stone was stuck to the ceiling, floating. The fist-sized stone was emitting a faint blue light. After examining the ceiling with a detection spell, I confirmed the stone wasn’t glued there.
It was a real floating stone. …Unfortunately, the detection spell itself didn’t work on the floating stone. That’s why I hadn’t noticed it the last time I was here.
‘Didn’t I think detection spells were god and I was invincible?’
Calculation and detection. These two things were the greatest pillars of my magic. But lately, I’ve been frequently encountering objects that evade my detection.
The Black Heart, the isolated system, ancient artifacts, and now this floating stone. Just then, the bank president standing beside me spoke.
“Um… there really won’t be any gold transactions today, right?”
He had accompanied us as an observer to prevent any potential accidents.
Doloren exclaimed.
“What! You don’t trust me that much?!”
The bank president said nothing in return. …Doloren was a bit untrustworthy. The bank president did not let go of his suspicious gaze until the very end. Doloren ignored him and turned to me.
“Alright, let’s hurry and take it. We need to do research with that.”
“How?”
“With telekinesis, of course.”
“…I mean, how, when we don’t know the weight of that stone?”
“Hmm. You just have to do it by feel.”
This is driving me crazy. I said to Doloren.
“Would it be possible for you to move it yourself, Head of the Doloren school?”
“Hmm? Sure. Why not.”
Doloren reached her hand out toward the floating stone.
Vwooom~!
The floating stone hummed as it was pulled into Doloren’s hand. There should have been a tremendous rebound from applying the magic… But Doloren showed no noticeable recoil.
Doloren’s overwhelming mana affinity had minimized the mana consumption and the rebound. As expected of a dragon slayer. Our business finished, we left the vault.
Only then did the bank president let out a sigh of relief. As we walked out of the vault, I asked Doloren, who was walking beside me.
“How are you holding the floating stone right now?”
Doloren seemed to ponder for a moment before answering curtly.
“By feel.”
I wanted to ask what on earth that meant, but I kept my mouth shut. It’s useless to ask for a logical explanation from these kinds of geniuses. They usually don’t give a proper answer.
The next day, I began my research on the floating stone. The floating stone was quietly stuck to the ceiling of the lab.
‘How is that possible?’
The floating stone was clearly generating a continuous repulsive force against the center of the planet. That meant that even at this very moment, pressure was being applied to the ceiling. But there was no physical change to the ceiling whatsoever.
I pushed my detection spell to its limit and examined the floating stone. But all that came back was static-filled noise. The Black Heart, the isolated system, and ancient artifacts.
It was the same sensation I had felt when I encountered them. It was a perfect black box that my abilities couldn’t penetrate.
‘Where… do I even begin to research something like this?’
Without realizing it, cold sweat trickled down my back. But unlike me, the others in the lab were filled with anticipation. Giuseppe was making sandwiches with a proud look on his face, and Doloren was giggling as she reviewed the records from the last gravity magic experiment.
“Wow… to think we could make a ship that flies in the sky with that.”
Anna’s sparkling eyes were fixed on the ceiling.
‘I shouldn’t have talked about airships…’
I regretted bringing that up yesterday.
‘How was I supposed to know a detection spell wouldn’t work on a floating stone.’
Anna continued.
“Once the airship is complete, we could even cross to other continents, avoiding the magical beasts that live in the deep oceans, right?”
“…I suppose so.”
To immediately connect a vague idea to a practical application. How can she be so smart, my sister. Unlike someone I know, it seemed she wouldn’t starve to death somewhere.
Normally, I would have patted her on the head, but I didn't feel like it right now. To be honest, I was a little anxious.
‘I… don’t think I can research this.’
The fact that detection spells don't work means I can’t accurately measure its physical properties. If measurement is impossible, I can neither form nor verify a hypothesis. It meant that the very beginning of research was impossible.
I changed the subject.
“Sister… don’t you have class today?”
“Ah, I have Symbolic Incantations today, but all the classes have been canceled ever since Celestial Symbol Week.”
I knew without even looking. The canceled class was because the existence of a new planet was revealed through the Principia. An incantation also acts as a form of self-suggestion to stabilize a mage’s thoughts.
In such cases, legends or symbolic systems known to everyone are used. The class Anna was taking must have been about learning how to compress existing incantations more efficiently through the myths and stories associated with celestial bodies among other symbols.
With a new planet discovered in the midst of that, the planet-based incantation method was bound to be shaken to its core.
‘Just how many people’s livelihoods have I destroyed?’
As I stood there silently, Anna answered confidently.
“You don’t need to worry about it, brother. If they feel it’s unfair, they should just adapt.”
“Oh…”
Such confidence and shamelessness were unbelievable for my sister.
‘Well, we aren’t related by blood…’
In any case, it was fascinating. I should try to emulate that attitude. I silently stroked my sister’s head.
Right.
Let’s pull myself together and try again.
…Three weeks passed like that. There were no results. It wasn’t that I didn’t try my best.
I poured all my knowledge and mana into this research. My head was throbbing from the magical rebound of failed spells. …For the record, my attempt to determine the floating stone’s physical properties through the rebound was also thwarted. The rebound was different every time, even when I used the same spell.
The floating stone was still refusing my understanding.
‘No… am I the one who’s not understanding?’
Maybe I was doing something wrong. I asked the people around me for advice. But the answers I received were miserable.
“Isn’t that just how it’s supposed to be?”
Gwendolyn.
“It’s probably normal for detection spells not to work on it?”
Liam.
“That’s why there were attempts to group it with Wind Magic back in the day. Of course, things are different for the wind side now. Hahaha.”
Gedrick.
Wouldn't a lecture from a 70-year-old tenured professor who doesn't care because he can't be fired be better than this? Everyone else was the same. They all insisted, ‘That’s just the way it is.’
Just in case, I also sent letters to Count Ludwig and Her Highness the Princess.
[Unfortunately, it is known to be that way.]
Count Ludwig was out too.
[As expected. The depth of questioning from a person who even wondered why the Earth orbits the Sun… is on a different level.]
Her Highness was talking about something else entirely.
Damn it.
I slammed my head on the lab desk and said.
“Still, isn't it too much to just brush it off as ‘I don’t know’?”
A brief silence followed before Doloren answered.
“Isn’t that what makes it fun? That’s the part I like, which is why I always explore ancient ruins or unauthorized dungeons.”
“…You enjoy the unknown itself.”
“Because that’s what a mage is.”
Grin.
Doloren smiled brightly.
‘So this is why students from other schools like our school head.’
From my perspective, Doloren was largely to blame for our school getting the cold shoulder for several years. If only she’d gone around saying romantic things like she was now. She would have roped in quite a few juniors.
I muttered softly.
“If enjoying the unknown makes you a mage, then I might have to hand in my mage badge.”
A scientist rarely sees such pure mystery. Science usually deals not with ‘what you don’t even know you don’t know,’ but with ‘what you know you don’t know.’
However…
I stared blankly at the lab ceiling. The floating stone stuck to the ceiling was a prime example of ‘not even knowing what I don’t know.’ To use an analogy, it was like string theory or the simulation universe theory.
In that it’s impossible to verify no matter what you do, it resembles religion more than science. How was I supposed to deal with something like that? Just then, Giuseppe spoke to me.
“Don’t be so hasty.”
Pat, pat.
Giuseppe patted my back and continued.
“You need to know when to rest when things aren’t working out if you want to do research for a long time.”
“Ah, you’re right.”
His words jolted me to my senses. Things had been going so smoothly since I came to this world that I had forgotten. This is what research is like, getting stuck at every turn.
Right.
Let’s go back to my roots.
My roots. Which was…
When things get tough, drink to forget. I turned to look at Giuseppe and asked.
“Senior, are you free this evening by any chance?”
“Hm?”
Drinking isn’t bad. Life is what’s bad. The great physicist Wolfgang Pauli always had a drink in his hand.
Of course, that man drank so much he needed psychiatric counseling… I resolved to drink only in moderation.
In moderation.
That night, I drank with Giuseppe in the lab. I asked Doloren too, but she avoided it, saying it was improper for the school head to join such an occasion.
‘That’s not necessarily true…’
Pour.
I generously poured the distilled spirit into my glass. Giuseppe pointed at the bottle and asked.
“What is this?”
“It is a cold fire. We drink it with the moon captured within.”
“Oh.”
Giuseppe was impressed.
“…You have a surprisingly literary side.”
“Just kidding, it’s a vacuum-distilled spirit.”
“Vacuum-distilled?”
“Yes. Would you like to try some?”
“I’d love to.”
I poured the spirit into Giuseppe’s glass as well.
Pour.
Afterward, we silently clinked our glasses. Clink- With a clear sound, I took a small sip of the alcohol. A clean alcohol aroma enveloped my tongue and went down my throat smoothly.
Giuseppe, on the other hand, gulped his glass down in one go.
“Crazy…! That’s an incredibly strong drink!”
Regardless of my surprise, Giuseppe just let out a sound of admiration.
Kugh.
“This stuff is really something. Light and smooth.”
He grinned and held up his empty glass, reflecting the moon outside the window in it.
“Vacuum distillation… I assume this was also made with your theory, junior?”
“That’s right.”
“Indeed… it’s so clear the moon is captured well within.”
My face flushed. It was a little embarrassing to have a joke I made thrown back at me. Giuseppe continued speaking as he gazed at the moon reflected in his glass.
“Actually, it doesn’t matter if this research fails.”
“Pardon?”
“Think about how much you’ve accomplished on your own so far. It’s okay to just let go of what you don’t know.”
“Is that so?”
Giuseppe nodded his head.
“Then someday, the next person will appear and take up that baton.”
“Hmm.”
Giuseppe patted my shoulder and continued.
“You’re already a proper mage. So don’t say strange things like handing in your mage badge.”
“You heard that?”
“You think I was the only one? The school head heard it too.”
“Gasp…”
Should I apologize to her later?
“There’s no need for that. Lady Doloren will probably be happy as long as you remain a mage.”
“A mage…”
Am I a mage? By the standard of using magic, I am a mage. But my magic is a little different from others.
“It’s a bit strange for me to say it myself, but my magic is a bit peculiar, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
“Am I still a mage?”
“Of course!”
Right.
I asked something obvious. I am a mage. This is a world of magic, and though the cycles of planets and comets, the arrangement of constellations, are all the same as Earth’s…
This world has magic. I think I’ve been thinking too rigidly until now. This is a world different from Earth, a world where magic exists.
Wasn’t the attempt to measure everything by the physical laws of Earth hasty in itself? Let’s admit that there is a domain beyond my reach. Someday, someone will appear who can create a theory to explain even the unknown areas that I am not aware of.
Even if it takes a form completely different from existing science, someone will carry that flame forward. Giuseppe said to me.
“If you’re so worried, just look at the pendant around your neck.”
“Pardon?”
“That’s a gift from the Dean, isn’t it? The Dean never casts out a researcher she’s personally given a gift to.”
“Ooh…”
I fiddled with the Memorizer pendant around my neck. I had no idea it held such a meaning.
‘Come to think of it, even though this pendant is an artifact made with ancient magic, my magic worked properly on it.’
I directed a detection spell at the pendant. And borrowing courage from the alcohol, I entrusted myself to my intuition. Like a mage.
Then, the structures of the magic that were originally invisible became clearly palpable.
‘This is… a variation of a positioning enchantment?’
Why is that here? Did the Dean place it herself?
But why?
Numerous questions flashed through my mind, but that wasn’t the most important thing right now. Beneath the positioning enchantment, the Memorizer pendant itself was still impervious to my detection spell. As expected of an ancient artifact.
‘Wait. If that’s the case…’
It means the Dean engraved her magic on top of this ancient artifact. Despite it being an object that detection spells couldn’t penetrate.
Thump.
I shot up from my seat.
“Wh-what’s wrong?”
“I found it?”
“…What?”
“An airship that utilizes the floating stone.”
The operating principle of the floating stone is still a complete mystery. But I’ve found a way to ‘use’ it. It’s the complete opposite situation from the last gravity magic experiment.
Even if I don’t know the theory, commercialization might be possible. Just like how we fly airplanes just fine without knowing the general solution to the Navier-Stokes equations.
The next morning.
Snore, snore.
Giuseppe was fast asleep with his head on the lab desk. Last night’s distilled spirit must have been quite strong. I was beside him, holding the floating stone.
The floating stone was no longer stuck to the ceiling.
“It’s a success…”
Hehehe.
The all-nighter was worth it. I replayed the Dean’s magic structure in my head. Forcibly applying a positioning enchantment to an undetectable target to avoid detection.
It felt like eating the treasure you’re supposed to find in a treasure hunt to hide it. It was close to cheating, but I benefited from it, so I couldn't complain. Thank you, O greatest of the long-lived.
I modified the ‘coordinate designation’ part of that magic with a gravity control spell based on the general theory of relativity.
“Shall we get it moving properly now?”
Rμv - 1/2 R gμv = Gμv The spacetime around the stone warped using the power of the floating stone. Matter tells spacetime how to curve, and curved spacetime tells matter how to move.
I still don’t know the exact physical properties of the floating stone, but as it is also matter, it has no choice but to move along spacetime. Up, down, left, right. As freely as my own limbs.
The mana consumption was almost nonexistent. I wasn’t sure, but it seemed like the floating stone was bearing all the load. Just then, the door opened and someone came in.
“Ugh, what’s with the smell of alcohol so early in the morning…”
It was Doloren.
“O…?”
Doloren’s gaze fell on the floating stone hovering in the center of the lab. She asked me.
“…What is that.”
“I tried using gravity magic by harnessing the power of the floating stone.”
Doloren tilted her head.
“How?”
“To be honest, I’m not really sure myself.”
Was that not it? I amended my answer appropriately.
“I just kind of did it, and it worked.”
“No… I mean… how?!”