#21. Killing Lane

There are moments like that, sometimes.

Godforsaken situations where you haven’t the faintest idea what to do.

“Why no answer?”

This was one of them.

“Lane, have you also grown to dislike arcane engineering?”

Professor Rachel looked at me with a mournful gaze.

“Why are you silent?! Is it truly that you’ve come to hate it?!”

“……”

She was quite erratic, her demeanor shifting drastically.

Sad one moment, desperate the next…

“Please, just give me an answer…”

She even slumped onto her desk.

I needed to say something, anything, but no words came to mind.

It had been a month, after all.

Not a day, not two, not even a week, but a whole month.

It was far too late to offer some kind of excuse now.

“Professor.”

“Yes, you’re going to transfer, aren’t you? I’ll process the paperwork…”

No.

Why are you giving up so easily?

“You know my situation. A transfer, or anything else, is meaningless.”

“Then, how about I adjust your schedule?”

Damn.

How foolish I was to think she would be understanding of everything.

She’s only human. It’s natural that she can’t comprehend everything.

And unilaterally informing her doesn’t make it a consensus by any means.

“That’s not it….”

How best to explain?

“……It’s alright. It was all my own ambition, anyway.”

This was bad.

Professor Rachel was starting to resign herself to the situation.

“It’s not as if I had any claim on you. I was acting like a child. I’m sorry.”

Honestly, it felt like she was right, but the atmosphere demanded I shouldn’t agree.

“Indeed, how could an academy class hold the attention of someone as talented as you? I understand.”

“Professor, just how far *are* you going?”

The lecture is reaching even my ears…

I can’t simply watch. I need to insert myself, soon.

“Th-then, wouldn’t you perhaps consider doing research with *me*…?”

But finding the right moment proved elusive. I could only watch her, wavering as she was.

“…Raine student, was the research with Professor Felliana interesting?”

Ah, this is it.

“Actually,”

Professor Rachel is an adult. Despite appearances, quite a mature one. Perhaps she can calm herself without my intervention.

The problem is, there’s no telling how long that might take.

The present situation was… unique, and I needed assistance immediately.

“I found magical engineering more interesting than alchemy.”

Professor Rachel knows she can’t hold me.

That was solidified when I had my audience with His Imperial Majesty.

Because of that, her possessiveness towards me manifests as… disappointment.

She can’t have me, yet she desires me.

An unreasonable emotion, shifting its form to plead.

Right now, I need to satisfy that desire.

Professor Rachel’s eyes widened.

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

“You found magical engineering more interesting?”

“And so, I plan to begin research related to magical engineering, starting today.”

Her haggard appearance vanished almost instantly.

A smile graced her lips, and life returned to her lifeless eyes.

Professor Rachel’s emotions were clear to see.

She was ecstatic.

“Are you so very pleased?”

“Of course!”

That should do it.

I brought up my actual purpose.

“However, there are conditions.”

Professor Rachel’s body, which had been practically vibrating with anticipation, stiffened momentarily.

Because of the word “conditions.”

“After disappearing for a month, you have *conditions*?”

She must think it’s absurd.

I would think it absurd too, were I in her position.

But Professor Rachel, she will…

“Fine, what are the conditions?”

I accept it.

Though a pang of conscience pricks me, it’s not what matters right now.

I explained everything that had transpired.

At times disjointed, at times verbose, and at times veering into the theoretical.

Germs.

Infection.

Antibiotics.

Treatment.

She listened carefully, then let out a dry chuckle.

“You expect me to believe this?”

A touch of confusion.

But the dominant emotion was one of pure surprise.

“…Still, I suppose I have to believe it. Considering it’s you.”

Professor Rachel had been the closest observer of my endeavors.

Therefore, I believed she would undoubtedly trust me.

The things I had accomplished were, even by my own reckoning, quite remarkable.

Of course, I hadn’t directly accomplished any of it myself.

A thought suddenly struck me.

If I were to face a situation where this artificial intelligence failed….

What would I do?

“…Ah.”

I hastily banished the wandering thoughts.

It seems falling into a vortex of contemplation is an incorrigible habit of mine.

I need to concentrate on the immediate task at hand.

“What I ask of you… is proof.”

“Proof?”

“I am merely a student. But you, Professor, are known as the finest scholar.”

“…Indeed.”

“I would like Professor Rachel, together with Ms. Felliana, to ‘prove’ the existence of these germs.”

No more diseases would ravage the slums.

The residents there were establishing trust with Felliana, making it easy to distribute soap and antibiotics.

But most of the empire’s citizens do not know me, nor do they know Felliana.

How many would accept strange items from a stranger spouting talk of germs?

“And to whom should this proof be offered?”

That is why it is needed.

The power to make even absurd tales believable.

There is only one person in the Empire with such power.

“You wouldn’t be thinking of….”

“You’re probably right about that.”

The Emperor of the Merrybear Empire.

Reinhardt von Meribehr.

“A truly difficult favor you ask.”

“If not Professor, there is no one else to whom I can turn.”

“Even for me, it isn’t easy to meet with His Imperial Majesty.”

“Even so…”

Professor Rachel sighed softly.

“Very well, I shall attempt it.”

“Truly?”

“Lest you think otherwise, this is not for my research, understand?”

Rachel Arte was, by nature, a kind soul.

Though it was framed as a research request, she would likely have agreed to help even without pretext.

It was simply the nature of the present circumstances.

“Thank you.”

Well, anyway, requesting something without offering anything in return always weighed on my mind.

I believe this is for the best.

*

Returning to the Academy’s lessons after so long was pleasant.

It felt like returning home, or something like that – certainly comfortable.

Yes, a student should attend classes suited to their level.

Lessons of appropriate difficulty brought me contentment.

“A semblance of normalcy, for the time being.”

What if I had four majors?

For the time being, there would be no battling Minds, nor discovering new substances.

Now, my personal standard for ‘extraordinary’ had simply become too high.

I could safely say that this qualified as a suitable daily life.

“She said she would somehow manage it within a week…”

Professor Rachel set a deadline of just one week to arrange an audience with His Imperial Majesty.

While a week may seem lengthy, the subject at hand was none other than the Emperor. I consider one week quite remarkable.

In any case.

Until then, I need only diligently attend my lectures at the Academy.

“Now, where was the Department of Knightly Arts?”

Today’s final lecture was a class offered by the Knightly Arts faculty.

I’ve never attended a class from the Knightly Arts department before…

What sort of professor would they be?

I felt a tinge of anticipation and a considerable amount of trepidation.

As I mentioned earlier, I have never once attended a class from the Knightly Arts faculty, though the classes themselves must have proceeded as scheduled each time.

In other words, I was the only one who hadn’t attended.

“…I’ve certainly made an impression.”

They would, in all probability, dislike me.

It was far too late to change anything. I decided to simply stride in with confidence.

“Right, it was a good deed.

If not for me, thousands would die from illness every year.

This was an unavoidable absence…

Let’s face the scolding head-on, and apologize with dignity.”

“Ah, here it is.”

I heard today’s lecture would be held at the training grounds. Professor Rachel told me herself.

There are things that look like targets all around…

And training weapons scattered about.

The scene was hardly different from the entrance ceremony, and unwanted memories started to bubble to the surface.

I pulled off an absurd stunt on the first day of the entrance ceremony.

Who was that professor back then again?

“Look who finally decided to grace us with their presence, the truant.”

I remember now. Professor Cecil.

A woman with red hair and red eyes.

Yeah, she looked exactly like… that.

Huh?

“What are you doing? If you’re here, get ready.”

A red-haired girl with a wooden sword resting on her shoulder, nodding her head.

The face I saw at the entrance ceremony was staring at me with an expression that screamed displeasure.

“Now that everyone’s here, we will begin the final exam preparation.”

…Excuse me?

“The rules are as previously announced.”

Come to think of it, I don’t know anything about the schedule for this class.

How could I, having never attended a single lecture?

…A rather unpleasant hypothesis sprang to mind.

Since the students of the Knight Department aspire to become knights, most of their lecture time is dedicated to training.

In that case, wouldn’t their final exam also be ‘practical’?

“From now on, anyone caught by me will be–“

The lack of a theory test means…

“–forced to do physical conditioning.”

It means artificial intelligence is useless here.

“Alright, begin!”

In other words, I have to run.