Chapter 31
“With all due respect, Dean, a public seminar is unavoidable.”
“……”
Ariel, the chairperson of the Imperial Magic Association, looked at Selena with a complicated expression.
“After all, haven’t both papers already been published in academia?”
“No, Chairperson Ariel. He’s only a second-year undergraduate.”
“What does that matter?”
“It matters!”
Selena raised her voice unconsciously.
Her words made sense.
It wasn’t simply because he was a student.
Academia had a strict hierarchy, and the reliability of research required equally rigorous verification.
It took years of research, experimentation, and verification by fellow researchers for a single researcher to publish a paper.
And yet, a mere sophomore was claiming to overturn established theories with a single paper written in a year?
Moreover, the theories and concepts used in the paper were all things that had never been dealt with in academia before.
This was a situation where basic procedures and systems were ignored, even before academic discussion.
“But the experimental data is perfect, both quantitatively and qualitatively. We can't just ignore it.”
“No, that’s what I'm saying, how is that even possible?! Did that kid lock himself in the Time and Training Room and just crank out a paper? There’s no way he could write such an insane paper alone in such a short time without any significant support!”
“My, I wouldn’t know. Anyway, the important thing is this, isn’t it? Sir Luke’s paper has already been published in academia, countless people have seen it, and the experimental data and theoretical basis are too solid to simply ignore.”
Chairperson Ariel gestured at Selena with her chin as if prompting a response.
“From what I’ve read, it completely overturns the core hypothesis of your paper, Dean, 'The Influence of Interaction Between Multiple Magic Circles on Resonance Amplification.'”
“That’s, well…”
“Now that two conflicting papers have been published, it's a principle that they must be publicly verified. Do you understand, Dean Selena?”
“……”
Selena was flustered and could only stammer without answering.
Ariel stroked her chin as she watched Selena.
In fact, Ariel also found the situation incomprehensible.
Aside from the completeness of the paper, the amount of research materials and experimental data submitted was also abnormal.
It was an amount that would normally take an entire research team years to compile.
Yet, both the first and second authors were Luke Richter.
That meant he had accomplished all of this alone, in just one year…
‘…Is he a monster?’
Ariel was truly bewildered.
Even if he was from the Richter Family, this was beyond the norm… No, he simply wasn't the same species.
Of course, they had no way of knowing.
The chemical reaction that occurred when all the future information, magic from the original work, and the concentrated intellect of the modern era met.
And… the fact that a graduate student obsessed with degrees and funding was not in the category of a normal human being in the first place.
For Luke Richter, a graduate student from a prestigious school who had been obsessed with scholarships his whole life due to unfortunate family circumstances, writing this level of paper wasn't that difficult.
“The author’s name is… Lab Room…? Why was it submitted under a pseudonym instead of his real name?”
“……He probably doesn’t want the attention.”
“Ah, that’s possible. Certainly, if word got out that the paper was written by a student alone, it would be controversial.”
Selena nodded without much reaction.
At least it was fortunate that because the brat didn't use his real name as the author, she could avoid the title of ‘Dean Refuted Head-on by an Undergraduate.’
Nevertheless, her reputation still took a significant hit.
Although Selena's reputation was based on her formidable martial prowess, the essence of a Magician was still that of a scholar.
Moreover, she was the Deputy Tower Master of a Magic Tower, which could be considered the epitome of wisdom and intellect.
“……This isn’t good.”
When conflicting papers refuting existing theories were submitted to the academic community, a closed seminar was held for review.
The problem was that she couldn't even begin to guess what Luke Richter, that crazy bastard, would do in front of everyone.
But since it was unavoidable, she gritted her teeth and attended the seminar.
There, with everyone gathered, from the upper echelons of the academic world to the chief researchers of the Magic Tower.
Luke Richter.
“Dean Selena’s paper assumes that Magic Circles interact solely on a two-dimensional plane.”
He drew several concentric circles on the chalkboard.
He began to draw multiple layers of pentagrams on top of the concentric circles.
“But this is a false premise. Magic Circles are not simply geometric shapes drawn on a plane, but rather form a fractal structure intertwined between spaces.”
Luke infused Mana, completing the circuit of the Magic Circle.
Then, the completed Magic Circle began to emit pulsations.
“When Mana meets, these waves collide. Sometimes they reinforce each other, and sometimes they cancel each other out. Just like two waves meeting.”
Luke drew new shapes on the chalkboard.
Complex geometric patterns created by the overlapping Magic Circles unfolded before their eyes.
“However, these waves don’t simply operate on the three-dimensional plane we know. The structure of a Magic Circle is inherently non-Euclidean, and the topological singularities operating in higher-dimensional space exhibit far more complex and diverse aspects……”
In the chilling silence, only his low voice resonated.
He was explaining something, but most of those seated simply stared at him with bewildered expressions.
Then, an elderly gentleman cautiously raised his hand and asked a question.
The elderly gentleman was Isaac Eckart, the head of the Imperial Magician Corps.
“…I’d like to hear more about this higher-dimensional space you speak of.”
“It can be explained as a complex space with curvature.”
“I want to ask about its correlation with spell formulas.”
“The formula of a spell formula is a figure drawn on a plane, but the mana wave it generates affects actual ‘space.’ If you look at the experimental data 3-B I submitted, you can clearly confirm this.”
“I saw it, but I can hardly understand it. According to what you’ve written, it means that the efficiency of existing resonance spell formulas can be amplified by at least double with the same amount of mana?”
“That is correct.”
The people in the hall began to murmur.
The faces of the magicians were filled with a mixture of confusion and astonishment.
Isaac Eckart frowned and opened his mouth again.
“Additional verification is needed, but I’m still dubious. You’re saying you did all this alone? How?”
“Why not?”
“…What?”
As he said, it was everyday life for Luke in his previous life.
Doctoral dissertations, academic presentations, administrative work, project proposals, interim reports, final reports, lab cleaning, professor's business trip accommodation reservations, foreign postdoc real estate contracts… He had toiled like a slave for years under a malicious professor.
For him, writing a paper that overturns existing bogus theories by utilizing information from the original work with a overflowing budget?
A year was more than enough time.
Of course, seeing his reaction, others thought,
‘What an absurd talent.’
He was truly gifted with a natural talent.
Even if he lacked talent as a magician, his talent as a scholar was truly heavenly.
At the same time, greed began to sprout.
Most of those attending the seminar were elders or professors of the Magic Tower.
A slave… no, a disciple who showed such performance in just one year?
It was no exaggeration to say that he had the talent to break the structure of the five Magic Towers on the continent.
That’s why Isaac asked,
“Do you have an advising professor?”
“No.”
“Then, how about coming under my wing?”
It was an exceptional offer.
But upon hearing this, Luke Richter,
“I’d rather die.”
“…What?”
He was resolute.
No, he was adamant to the point of being forceful.
****
A year passed.
“Dean! Deaaan!!”
“…Why?”
“Luke Richter, you see, he’s at it again…!”
“……”
Luke Richter, who had low practical scores, published a new paper to make up for his lacking credits.
“This time, it's a paper refuting the Dean’s existing paper on the purity of Magic Crystals… uh, what was the title again?”
“The Effect of Magic Crystal Purity on High-Level Magic Casting.”
“Ah! Right! It’s a paper refuting that, so the academic community has summoned…”
“……”
Being summoned by the academic community became an annual event for Selena.
The reason was none other than Luke Richter.
He churned out papers like a factory, and thanks to him, the academic community and the Magic Tower were in a state of emergency.
The pen name ‘Lab Room,’ which he used instead of his real name, was even called a sage by the public.
That wasn’t all.
He caused all sorts of crazy incidents at the Academy whenever he had the chance, shaving off at least 10 years of her life.
The stunt he pulled during the entrance exam? Child’s play.
Using the Student Council to overturn the Academy's primitive system, rampaging like a bulldozer here and there was a given, and he constantly tormented the professors, claiming that the questions submitted for the written exams were theoretically flawed.
Whenever a problem arose, he reported it to the Imperial Family, saying he wanted to build connections, and thanks to that, the Imperial Family began to view him favorably.
The pressure from the Red Magic Tower also intensified day by day.
The Tower Lord’s pressure to invite the sage ‘Lab Room’ to their main tower was causing her to develop premature baldness.
So, after being tormented by him countless times and handling all the aftermath,
The guy, after graduating from the Academy, left for the Imperial Family, saying he would become a low-ranking official.
And now.
“Aaaaaaargh!!!”
Selena screamed inside the carriage.
At the thought of facing Luke Richter again after a year, she already felt dizzy.