If one were to na the place where the most advanced magical engineering technology in all of Nine Holder was most intensively used, it would be this Royal Magical Engineering University, and especially Pilson Hall within it. Built five years ago with the patronage of Lord Pilson, the construction of this building employed cutting-edge magical engineering technology, and particularly the large lecture hall on the second floor was a place where the finest scholars gave lectures, befitting its reputation.
And this lecture, continuing for the fourth day this week, was the most anticipated among all lectures by the students.
A lecture by a brilliant scholar who had risen to the ranks of the era's representative magical engineers at the absurdly young age of twenty-five. Moreover, it was a lecture that could only be heard for a re four days. Initially planned as a select small-group lecture for about thirty promising students, this lecture was changed to take place in a large lecture hall accommodating two hundred people due to the students' furious protests.
"Well, it beca troubleso. When there are many people, many questions co in."
Cider, who had briefly explained the situation in the carriage, comnted thusly. But the students couldn't be blad. It wasn't just a year or two that this gentleman, who was listed as a professor at the magical engineering university, had been getting by with special lectures instead of taking graduate students. Yet it was obvious that other universities would snatch him up if they removed his na, so the school had no choice.
"Even though it's two hundred people, those who can enter the Royal Magical Engineering University are people who will have their place in the academic world. The reason I set your age at seventeen is because of this—they're all quite young."
Geniuses are originally like that. Moreover, geniuses in mathematics and science are especially so. The case of excelling from a young age, repeatedly skipping grades, and graduating university before even becoming an adult. So.
"Like soone who beca a doctor at twenty?"
Cider said with mock solemnity.
"Even if there are almost no doctors at twenty, there are plenty of masters at twenty."
"Ah, I see."
When a lukewarm response ca back, Cider laughed quietly.
"Anyway, there will be quite a few peers. But don't make too many friends."
"My standards for friends are quite strict."
"Of course they would be."
He shalessly pointed to himself in reply, then let Esperanza off first in front of Pilson Hall's main entrance and instructed the coachman to stop the carriage at Pilson Hall's back entrance. If they got off together, it would draw attention.
The lecture hall she found after wandering around a bit was already packed with people. While Esperanza was looking for an empty seat, Cider, who had entered through the back of Pilson Hall, ca onto the platform. After finally finding and taking a seat among the densely packed people, only then did the appearance of the lecture hall co into view.
Copper-colored automatons with chanical arms moved around checking attendance, and instead of a blackboard and chalk, there was a large tal plate. The tal plate occupying the place where a screen and computer might be was fascinating, as if it had similarly imitated 21st-century modern technology.
While Esperanza was looking around the lecture hall, Cider Claiborne, who had stopped at the center of the platform with rhythmic cane sounds, looked around the lecture hall. Had he spotted Esperanza, who had even cross-dressed, among all these people? His eyes narrowed slightly, then took on a businesslike air as if nothing had happened.
"Today is the last lecture. Two hours, proceeding without break."
Cider, who began his first words with that instead of a greeting, started writing sothing on the tal plate on the lectern. Writing appeared on the large tal plate on the wall a beat later. It was a circuit of simple symbols connected together.
'I don't think I've seen sothing like that since middle school.'
The symbols were completely different, but still, she could roughly guess a few things.
"A simple C-type circuit. Modern interpretation engines use C-type circuits as their foundation. Here, we insert a de Lauren gear as a modification."
When Cider drew sothing on the circuit on the lectern, about three seconds later, a new symbol appeared on the circuit displayed on the wall. She didn't know what a de Lauren gear was, but what he just inserted must be that.
He didn't stop there. The students' eyes spun wildly.
"Numbers 1, 9, 36, 73 gears—replace each with Dawson 3, 7. Student in the front, what would you insert instead of 36? Another Dawson 3? Well, fine. Even if you insert circuit 1 instead of 73, the magical equilibrium is maintained. Our basic circuit will be able to process more information. Magical distribution is..."
Before long, the circuit had beco unspeakably complex. Esperanza blinked and looked around. The students who had been burning with academic enthusiasm were now half out of their minds.
'I wasn't the only one who couldn't understand.'
As if he didn't need even the short ti for calculations, when he turned the dial, numbers flickered in red above the symbols representing each component.
"Like this. But this way would be too inefficient. We need an amplifier. Magical amplification is possible through two thods. There's the simple thod of adding magic stones, or you can attach an amplifier. Let's assu research funding is insufficient and insert an amplifier."
Cider Claiborne, who had probably never lacked research funding in his lifeti, said this quite brazenly. The students, who had been wracking their brains at the inconsiderate pace, let their guard down and chuckled one by one.
However, the price of letting their guard down was high.
One complex circuit was added in the middle as Cider spoke. Then all the magical quantities in the latter part of the circuit changed as well. The honor students in the front row were copying it down frantically, most people were busy just following the logic.
And Esperanza, whose purpose was sightseeing from the beginning, watched blankly without even taking out a pen, let alone taking notes.
"Aren't you writing anything down?"
A student sitting next to her asked. Esperanza, who had been propping her chin and watching the lecture, was startled and turned her head with wide eyes.
"Ah, sorry if I startled you. I just asked because you weren't writing anything."
The male student speaking looked young, around twenty, but his notebook was filled with dense abbreviations and cursive writing. It was possible to see that his efforts to sohow draw the frantically changing circuits had transford from the middle into half-hearted annotations like 'refer to C-type circuit and redraw later.' Realizing that Esperanza was looking at his notebook, he covered it with a reddened face.
"Why are you looking? No, how could anyone draw all of that?"
"Right."
When she threw out a low response to hide her voice, color returned to the boy's face.
"Right? I thought so genius like Claiborne was sitting next to . But are you a student in our departnt? I haven't seen your face."
"Probably not."
The boy, who hadn't even revealed which departnt he was in, nodded.
"Right, I would have noticed such a face, but since it's the first ti I'm seeing you, I wondered."
Esperanza suddenly thought of sothing and tapped the boy.
"Hey, did you attend this lecture from the first day?"
"Huh? Yeah, that's right. I was looking forward to this lecture."
"This lecture was always two hours at this ti, right?"
"Right."
Esperanza frowned. A re two-hour lecture. Starting at three in the afternoon at that. Yet he had been leaving early in the morning and not returning until dawn.
'He was definitely avoiding .'
She hadn't completely believed what that man, who was always holed up at ho with nothing but hobbies, said about being busy with work. But realizing that Cider was truly avoiding Esperanza left a bitter taste.
The boy tilted his head, wondering why she was acting this way, then asked.
"You're only attending the last lecture? Then it must be hard to understand. I've been attending since the first lecture, but I'm still struggling to keep up."
Cider Claiborne wasn't a good teacher. Students couldn't keep up with not only his thinking speed but also his calculation speed, so they were busy just copying down, let alone understanding. If he had been given chalk instead of that cutting-edge equipnt, they could have at least gained so note-taking ti. Esperanza unconsciously clicked her tongue.
"Up to here. A secondary circuit anyone can easily make. Simple, right?"
Sporadic exclamations burst out. There was murmuring, looking as if seeing sothing amazing, and even students about to clap. In that chaotic atmosphere, there was a sharp sound of a cane hitting the floor.
"Did I just perform so trick?"
The displeased voice made all the murmuring disappear.
"What I just showed you is work that all of you should be able to do. At least if you want to live as magical engineers."
Cider, sitting in an armchair at one side of the platform, said while tapping the floor a few tis with his cane. Grumbling voices popped up among the students before quickly becoming quiet. At least it was clear that few agreed.
"Magical engineering is a young discipline. There's more knowledge to be accumulated in the future than has been accumulated so far. Because only progress without regression remains, there's no ti to waste on basic tasks. But that doesn't an you can disregard the basics."
His words were sharp, without even a social smile.
"If you're wracking your brains over simple circuits that can only make lawn-mowing automatons, you'll only be able to copy machines others have made. That's work factories do better."
Easy to say—no one in this room could make a lawn-mowing automaton.
"Ugh, what's simple about it? How does the idea of inserting that circuit there pop up in one second?"
The boy who had turned completely toward Esperanza to complain was startled by the thud of the cane and turned his gaze toward the tal plate, then made a tearful face.
"It's already all erased? Do you rember the content? Even a little!"
"I have no idea. Can't rember anything."
The boy's shoulders drooped. Cider glanced with narrowed eyes, then got up and pushed away the tal plate. Behind the tal plate was an ordinary blackboard.
"Let's continue. To match the frequency of amplified magical power, we need a material with higher magical perability than brass. Ivory isn't bad at this level of magical power."
Cider took chalk and simply redrew the circuit that had disappeared from the tal plate.
"Depending on what kind of converter we add here, our simple basic circuit becos a chanical device capable of everything from small lawn mowers to large spatial movent. At least theoretically. But let's start with sothing simple."
Esperanza propped her chin in accordance with her viewing purpose and watched Cider finish making what he claid was a simple circuit. Her gaze lingered on the flawlessly elegant formal sleeves and the hand that wrote smoothly while holding chalk.
Earlier, those hands had tied Esperanza's cravat and lightly brushed her chin and cheek. Speaking as soone who knew Cider Claiborne, that definitely wasn't coincidental. Surely he wouldn't avoid her again after doing that.
She couldn't help being selfish. In this world, he was the only one Esperanza could depend on.
It wasn't really surprising, but she was surprised for that reason. The two were adults who could take responsibility for themselves and spent many hours of the day together. They shared secret mysteries and had a strange sense of camaraderie about them. They had overco several hardships together and usually got along amazingly well without fighting. Feeling romantic emotions toward such a person was truly nothing special.
He was young, beautiful, intelligent, and at least quite affectionate toward Esperanza. Judging by conditions alone, he was perfect as a romantic partner. Rather, if she hadn't cherished Cider, she might have easily responded with light favor.
If she weren't in a position where she had to return, or if she had t him in the real world. Either way, if it had been a different situation from now.
Cider put down the chalk and turned around. The circuit full of symbols that had filled the blackboard, students whose heads had spun beyond spinning and seed to have given up, and eyes looking up at Esperanza while leaning against the lectern with a crooked smile. Their eyes t. Esperanza quickly averted her gaze, afraid her thoughts might be discovered.
"Everyone seems to be out of their minds. Ten-minute break."
As soon as he declared the unscheduled break, students flocked to Cider like clouds. Esperanza clicked her tongue and got up from her seat.
"Are you going to ask questions too?"
"No."
What questions? The only thing Esperanza had understood in an hour was that touching the circuit on the lectern also changed the circuit on the tal plate covering the blackboard.
"Then?"
"Self-imposed class skip."
The innocent student, encountering 21st-century innovation for the first ti, gaped. Esperanza shrugged and left the lecture hall. She judged that staying here for another hour would be nothing but a waste of ti.
So what should she do until class ends?
Esperanza, glancing at the interior map, decided her next destination would be the library.
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