#5. Hell Begins

“What are you planning to do after graduation?”

A sudden chill ran down my spine.

Goosebumps erupted all over my body, my heart began to pound, and my pupils quaked.

This question.

Is it the question I think it is?

“······Why do you ask that all of a sudden?”

“Rain student, you have the brightest future of anyone I know. I’m just curious about the future of such talent.”

That’s a lie. Those eyes aren’t simply filled with curiosity.

They hold a darker, more frightening intent.

“If you don’t particularly have any future plans······”

“I do.”

“Hmm?”

“I plan to take over the family business.”

“Family business?”

I have to choose my words carefully here. I can’t make a single mistake.

“I’m an only son. No younger siblings, no older brothers either.”

“And?”

“Which means I’m the only one who can become the next head of the household.”

Didn’t expect to use this here.

Glad it’s helpful though.

“Hrm······.”

Professor Rachel furrowed her brow.

Not so much displeased as expressing disappointment. That’s a relief.

“Is that so? Well, then I suppose there’s nothing to be done.”

What would she have said if there *was* something to be done?

I decided not to wonder about it.

Well, isn’t there that saying? When you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes…

“Alright, I get it.”

Seems safe for the moment.

The problem is avoiding this for four years.

How did I end up in such a predicament…?

A sense of injustice flared for a heartbeat, but thinking it over, I’d brought it all on myself.

Damn it, I didn’t even have the right to feel wronged.

“Strayed off topic for a moment there. Time is money, after all. Shall we continue where we left off?”

“Let’s.”

The research with Professor Rachel continued through the night.

Countless times I looked for an escape, but each time, it was blocked off, and I despaired.

Even though I wasn’t particularly helpful, Professor Rachel showed no sign of letting me go.

She seemed to think I’d make another discovery of some sort.

“…Professor, the sun’s already rising.”

“It’s fine. It’s not like this is the first time.”

Pulling an all-nighter is routine for Professor Rachel.

But not for me. All I wanted right now was to crawl into my dorm bed and sleep.

In the end, I had to make a decision. It had been 14 hours since I’d been dragged here.

“Professor.”

“Yes?”

“There’s something I wanted to point out.”

[The current machine requires two power sources to use both direct and alternating current… ]

I borrowed the power of artificial intelligence.

To give her a new research topic.

“There are a lot of attachments here, are you perhaps using two circuits?”

“You’re only noticing now…? Do you have a solution?”

“…Yes.”

Direct current and alternating current circuits are needed in different situations. Even so, Professor Rachel was forcing both circuits into use.

It was her ambition to use new technology.

[However, it also appears to be the highest-level machine that can be made with current technology.]

Even so, Rachel’s genius was certain.

Anyway.

“This is just wasting mana stones as it is. It feels like you’re forcing the two circuits too much.”

“And?”

Each mana circuit requires at least one mana stone, large or small. If there are two circuits, it’s only natural that mana stones are wasted.

“It seems to me that it might be possible to combine the direct and alternating current circuits.”

“I’ve already tried that.”

“There’s another method.”

There’s something called a ‘rectifier.’ It’s a machine that existed in my previous life too, and it’s easy to think of it as a machine that refines mana itself to create roughly the right pressure and flow.

With this, it would be possible to create a circuit that uses both direct and alternating current, which is what Rachel wants, and efficiency would also be maximized. Commercialization would become easier.

This was a skill aligned with her purpose. So, even without my help, she’d have found it eventually, but simply shortening that search time felt significant enough.

“What to say… Um…”

The problem was, the rectifier’s underlying principles were rather complex, making it quite difficult to explain in words just then.

Give me an hour, and perhaps I could explain, but there wasn’t time for that now.

“Would you happen to have some paper and a pen? The paper, the bigger the better.”

“Wait here a moment.”

Rachel scurried to retrieve paper and pen.

‘Show me a blueprint of a rectifier that can be fabricated right now.’

There was a printing function available. A function that could produce drawings or text as desired, but it was difficult to use right now, not with Professor Rachel watching.

So, I’ll draw it myself.

I traced the blueprint the system provided, as is. Skills honed in the design department didn’t fade so easily; I reproduced the system’s schematic almost perfectly.

“This is…”

“Roughly speaking, let’s call it a rectifier.”

Professor Rachel stared intently at the blueprint.

Examining this and that, it seemed…

Somehow, I began to feel tense. It was like having a professor review an assignment right before your eyes.

Even though all I did was trace.

“Rain Ortiz. I knew you’d be able to show me *something*, but…”

Professor Rachel gripped my shoulder.

“I never imagined it would be this much.”

“Thank you.”

“So, about that…”

“Yes?”

Her voice was pitched higher than usual.

“You should become my assistant, after all!”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“Oh, just once.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

*

I’m sleepy.

Staying up all night will do that. At least I didn’t have any morning classes, so I managed to get four hours of sleep.

I arrived at the lecture hall early to secure a window seat in the back. It was a spot where I personally felt comfortable.

“If this keeps up, it’ll be problematic…”

I saw Professor Rachel looking quite disappointed as I left the lab.

Judging by her expression, she’ll probably call me whenever she has free time.

Of course, I wasn’t some sort of grad student. If I keep staying up all night, it will take a toll on my health.

That’s something I need to avoid if my goal is to live a normal, healthy life.

“What kind of excuse would work…?”

Rachel isn’t a normal person. This is true even discounting her genius.

There was something odd about her stamina. It was clear that fatigue was accumulating in her body, but the moment she became interested in something, she had the ability to forget all about it. Perhaps that’s why she could devote herself to research without eating or sleeping.

He wasn’t a normal person, so a normal excuse wouldn’t work.

Damn, what should I say?

“…I don’t know.”

With so much time to spare, I couldn’t think of an excuse….

I’m tired, maybe I’ll just nap for a bit. Just five minutes.

—Student, what’s your name?

“…”

Bad memories surfaced. I straightened up again and rubbed my eyes to shake off the sleep.

I really shouldn’t fall asleep in the lecture hall. You never know what might happen.

“I need to be careful.”

I decided to pass the time by looking at my notes.

About twenty minutes passed like that.

Five minutes before the lecture was to begin, the lecture hall had already begun to bustle.

“Did you hear about it?”

“You mean the Majin?”

There was a topic of conversation that bothered me more than that.

“I heard. Even with the Demon King dead, they say it’s rampaging again these days?”

“They say it’s destroying everything, here and there. Isn’t it a little scary?”

“What’s scary? It’s not like it has anything to do with us.”

A conversation about the Majin.

I don’t usually like eavesdropping on other people’s conversations, but the topic was just too interesting.

I surreptitiously lent an ear.

“You never know! The Academy hasn’t been hit yet, you know.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“You idiot, haven’t you heard? They’re only destroying ‘one’ imperial facility at a time. They say there’s some kind of symbolic meaning to it.”

“Eh, that’s all coincidence and speculation. And even if they came to the Academy, would they come here? They’d go to ‘Pellite Academy’ instead.”

“…That’s true, I guess.”

That’s the kind of thing that makes them attack for sure.

“…”

Wait, could it be?

I jumped up and looked out the window.

“Nothing here.”

Nothing.

Not even the ‘Ma’ of Majin is visible.

Yeah, there’s no way they’d just suddenly show up because of this.

“…Could it be?”

I look again.

Still nothing.

For a reincarnated individual seeking to avoid extra roles, flags are a sensitive matter.

I always have to be careful.

Luckily, this time it seemed nothing was amiss.

“Haa…”

But still, the Maim. Could I use that as an excuse?

I’m scared the Maim will attack! Something like that…

“Hmm, that’s not quite right.”

My pride is an issue, but no matter how I think about it, there’s no safer place than beside Professor Rachel. As I said, she’s not just a genius in magical engineering.

Surely, her protective magic is also top-notch.

“Welcome, everyone.”

*Thump.* Professor Peter walked in, opening the door. While lost in useless thoughts, it seemed the lecture time had arrived.

“Did everyone have lunch?”

As always, Professor Peter began with frivolous talk. Stories about his personal life, or things that happened to him in the morning.

It’s like this almost every day.

However, he switches to the main point in an instant even after this, so one must concentrate even at this moment.

“Haha, this season has finally arrived.”

Just like now.

“Everyone will suffer a bit.”

What is he talking about?

Suffering out of the blue…

Ah.

Ah?

“Don’t tell me…”

Come to think of it, the truly frightening thing wasn’t the Maim or the likes.

The greatest enemy of a college student is…

“I will announce the midterm exam range.”

Exams.