One day, my sister suddenly came to me with an investment proposal. But if that investment was about to become worthless scraps of paper, what should I do? The answer to that isn't even on Sci-Hub.
'Scribes, at a time like this...' I placed the 'willpower typewriter' in Anna's hands. Anna was silent for a long while.
Her hands were trembling.
Pat, pat.
I patted Anna's shoulder and said.
"It's alright. You hadn't invested yet."
"... But I almost went bankrupt."
"These things happen."
How many times have science students underestimated finance and lost their shirts? Even the god of physics, Isaac Newton, failed at stock investing.
"In the distant future, you might be raking in money from the investment market."
"When would that be?"
"Hmm..."
Information would have to be transparent enough to actively use statistics and probability theory for making money... You'd need at least the internet, right? So then, probably...
"Maybe in about 200 years?"
Droop.
Anna's shoulders slumped. Laura then said to the dejected Anna.
"Lady Anna. There are products in the world that guarantee your principal while still earning a profit."
"... Something like that exists?"
Anna's eyes lit up. Anyone seeing her would think she had just succeeded in observing gravitational waves.
"Please tell me, Laura... What is it?"
"It's called a deposit."
"Ah..."
Just as Anna was about to show her disappointment, Laura spoke again.
"I'm not joking. How many citizens of the Empire do you think can use the central bank? Just by using a bank, Lady Anna, you can become one of the most financially advanced citizens in the Empire."
"I suppose so."
Anna was convinced. This was a remarkable achievement. She had changed the heart of a beast who, even after losing money once, had dared to invest again.
Laura is really good with words.
"I hope you will make the most of this opportunity."
"Yes..."
Seeing Anna so dejected pained me. I couldn't just leave her like this. I should treat her to a good meal.
"Little sister, how about we go to that restaurant from last time for dinner tonight?"
"... Is that where you go when an investment fails?"
"No... that's not it."
Did I just step on a landmine...? I need to find an excuse.
Ah.
"Tomorrow is the Upperhills Foundation's founding ceremony. We should celebrate the eve of the festival."
"... That's true."
That evening, the people from the School of Magical Surveying, Laura, and Anna gathered together.
Sway, sway.
Under the table, Anna was swinging her legs. She probably thought the tablecloth would hide it, but she couldn't escape my detection spell, which runs 24/7. It seemed she was excited now that the people from the school were gathered. Senior Giuseppe remarked in admiration.
"To think it's already the official founding day. Time flies."
"I know. It feels like just yesterday we blew up the Barren Mountain."
Just then, Doloren's eyes twinkled as she spoke up.
"Should I give a congratulatory speech tomorrow too?" ...
What is this person talking about?
"You can't, School Head."
"What? I provided the money and created the land, but I can't say a few words?"
Doloren asked, looking incredulous. I said with a bitter smile.
"What day is it tomorrow?"
"What do you mean? It's the foundation's founding ceremony."
"Besides that, at the Magic Tower."
"The Magic Tower...?"
Doloren tilted her head. Senior Giuseppe sighed and answered for her.
"Tomorrow is the day of the Magic Tower's regular General Assembly, School Head."
"Ah."
I couldn't believe it, but she had really forgotten.
"I haven't gone in so long that I forgot such a thing even existed..."
Doloren's face turned pale. Doloren urgently grabbed Giuseppe's sleeve.
"Giuseppe... Can't you go in my place? Please?"
"I cannot."
Giuseppe refused firmly.
"It's a violation of the rules for a school head to send a representative when they are perfectly fine and in the capital."
"Then... can't you postpone the founding day by just one day?"
Freeze.
At Doloren's words, Anna's leg swinging stopped.
Giuseppe said.
"We can't do that. Are you suggesting we postpone the academic schedule just for one school head's convenience?"
"The siblings of our junior here, the children of the foundation, are all looking forward to tomorrow, aren't they?"
Doloren deflated.
"You have to go, right?"
Nod, nod.
Doloren reluctantly nodded. The S.S. Doloren was moderately damaged. Sinking was imminent.
The grand conference hall on the 45th floor of the Magic Tower's main building. The Magic Tower School Assembly was being held there. Doloren stared blankly at the scene.
'It's been a while since I've seen this.' To forget the founding ceremony, Doloren tried her best to focus on the sight before her. Today's Magic Tower General Assembly was quite different from before. Two changes were most noticeable. One was that the stacks of parchment on the conference table had disappeared, replaced by paper documents. And the other was that the quills had vanished from the scribes' hands. Clack, clack clack. Every time the metal bands on the scribes' heads glittered, the willpower typewriters on their desks moved on their own, typing out letters.
"... This concludes the performance report for this quarter from the School of Magical Device Materials Processing."
One school head's presentation ended. Normally, they would wait for the scribe to finish recording before moving on, but with the introduction of the willpower typewriter, that was no longer necessary. The presentations continued immediately with the next school.
But Doloren couldn't concentrate on the content of the presentations. 'The foundation's site... the funds... I helped with all of that...'
As she was blankly thinking about the foundation, the topic of the assembly had changed.
"The next agenda item is the 'standard system of units,' also known as the metric system."
At the mention of the metric system, Doloren's ears perked up. The fruit of her beloved disciple's labor. The standard system of units.
Doloren's focus snapped back to the conference hall. 'What will everyone say?' Doloren focused on the discussion with anticipation.
The first to speak was the head of the opposing faction, the head of the 'School of Bloodline Magic'.
"... The intention is good, but the administrative workload is overwhelming. Can we have a grace period?"
'Hmm?'
Doloren tilted her head. They're opposing this?
This?
Just before Doloren could speak, another school head interjected.
"Paper and typewriters have been distributed, yet it's still difficult?"
"If that's not the issue, accepting it would be beneficial in many ways..."
"No. That's not the only problem. There are concerns that the metric system could collapse the symbolic system of incantations."
"... So what are you suggesting."
"We must slow down the spread of the metric system in the world of magic."
At his remark, the old mages nodded in agreement. Just then, Professor Gedrick, the 'Acting Head of the School of Ideal Gas Magic,' chimed in.
"You've been using Kelvin and Celsius temperatures just fine, so why oppose this? Isn't it just an extension of the same principle?"
"... There's an order to everything. I'm just saying we could go slower."
Was it because he was speaking to an 'acting' school head? The tone of the head of the School of Bloodline Magic became a bit harsh.
"Does that mean you intend to defy a Royal Decree?"
The head of the Bloodline school bristled at Gedrick's point.
"I'm not defying it! The Magic Tower is guaranteed academic freedom, independent from the Imperial family!"
Quite a few school heads agreed with him. Being told to change the units they had used their entire lives was like being told to give up their vested interests. 'So they're suggesting all the schools continue to use different units like now?'
That's just crazy talk. Doloren was starting to get heated. 'So this is why they sent me here.'
She realized.
Why she was sitting in this boring seat. Doloren was here, having skipped the foundation's ceremony, to shut those reactionaries up.
"Furthermore, this metric system reflects too much of Isaac Upperhills's personal dogmatism!"
The head of the Bloodline school triumphantly pointed at the head of the School of Fire Element Magic and said.
"I heard the 'Caloric' unit proposed by your side was not included in the current system of units, correct?"
"That... is true, but..."
The head of the Fire school looked troubled and glanced at Doloren. At this, Doloren spoke up.
"The School of Magical Surveying's answer regarding Caloric has always been consistent."
"Pinpointing a hypothetical cause for a change, rather than the change itself, cannot serve as a standard. As long as there is no clear proof for the theory of Caloric, it is premature to establish a standard for heat."
Doloren stared intently at the head of the Bloodline school who had started the problem. Doloren had no intention of backing down. This project held the aspirations of the School of Magical Surveying.
How could she let an unverified impurity be mixed into the system of units they had worked so hard to establish? The head of the School of Fire Element Magic raised his hand between the two and said.
"I agree with the School of Magical Surveying's position."
The head of the Fire school immediately backed down. He had been overwhelmed by Doloren's presence. The hands of the head of the Bloodline school trembled.
He muttered.
"Damn it. Have you all lost your minds...?"
A moment later, he shouted at Doloren.
"You say it's unacceptable because it's unprovable research? What about your own research topic!"
Doloren's research topic was 'measuring the end of the world'. She wanted to define the beginning and end of the world with a clear measure, both spatially and temporally. Doloren's eyes narrowed.
"... Are you trying to start something with me now?"
"What if I am?"
"I will formally re-verify your thesis."
"...!"
The head of the Bloodline school was speechless, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. After a moment, he said.
"Using a thesis verification as a method of personal revenge is..."
"Surely you're not scared? This is nothing. My own disciple faced me during his master's thesis defense and won, didn't he?"
The conference room buzzed at Doloren's words.
"Didn't School Head Doloren let him win that match...?"
"Shh. She'll hear you."
A deep frown formed between the brows of the head of the Bloodline school.
"A daughter of serfs with no roots. You're running wild, not knowing your place...!"
"This system of units was decided by that very heaven. So stop complaining and follow it, will you?"
"Eek!"
At Doloren's words, the face of the head of the Bloodline school turned red with anger. Doloren was secretly hoping. If she provoked him just a little more, that old man might lose his reason and attack her.
But at that moment, the Dean stepped in.
"Enough."
The assembly froze at the Dean's single word.
"Adopting the metric system is efficient in the long run. Discussion on Caloric will be postponed, and the standard system of units will be officially adopted by the Magic Tower. That is all."
The Dean's decision was absolute. The other mages complied without a word, and the head of the Bloodline school also swallowed his anger and bowed his head. Doloren bit her lip.
'I was so close...' And so, the Magic Tower General Assembly came to an end. People began to file out of the conference room one by one, but Doloren remained seated.
"I thought you'd go straight to your disciple. Why are you still here?"
The Dean asked while organizing her papers. Doloren answered bluntly.
"Why did you stop me? It was a chance to sweep away all that trash."
Nod, nod.
The Dean nodded her head.
"It's true that not all schools are substantial. There's chaff mixed in."
"Then why...!"
"Doloren, you're young, so you may not know. But they too were scholars who created brilliant theories decades ago."
"So what? Most of those are now just replaced garbage."
"A wrong theory isn't necessarily meaningless. They could be necessary stepping stones in the developmental stages of magic."
"And if you had crushed them here, the research being conducted under them would have been scaled down or disappeared."
At the Dean's words, Doloren recalled. The faces of the new researchers she would see in the Magic Tower's lobby. Some of those kids were probably the disciples of those school heads.
Doloren's mouth opened.
"... I was short-sighted."
"Yes. Good. If you suppress those who oppose the metric system with force now, the change might be fast for the moment, but a backlash will surely come one day."
"... My disciple and I won't fall to a backlash of that level."
"But what if that backlash comes after both you and your disciple have grown old and died? Who will stop it then?"
"My disciple. Remember that not everyone in the world can be as brilliant as you or Isaac."
"... Yes."
Doloren thought for a moment before continuing.
"In that case, is it alright to attack newly submitted theses instead of re-verifying old ones?"
The Dean muttered.
"You haven't grown at all."
"Pardon?"
"It's nothing. Do as you please. As long as it doesn't violate the school's rules, you are free to do so."
"..!"
In the weeks that followed, a storm of blood raged over the shoddy theses of certain schools. According to one rumor, this was why the head of the School of Bloodline Magic suddenly retired, but... ...no one but the parties involved would know the truth. What was certain was that after this, the influence of the mages who opposed the metric system decreased significantly.