Chapter 21 – Working Hard (Aria’s POV)
Academy life, huh. Where should I begin?
The first week concluded with introductory lectures and my exploration of the school grounds. It was great fun meeting all sorts of people.
The most distinctive person I met was a catgirl. Although she wasn’t very keen on meeting new people. She was so adorable that I had to force myself not to reach out and pet her ears.
Other races such as catkin, dogkin, elves, and dwarves usually live on their own continents, but there is no hard and fast rule dictating this.
Needless to say, some people are a bit racist, but others are welcoming.
Aside from that, as a noble, I am required to attend etiquette and some management classes as well. I despise them with all my heart, but I must endure. If Letty had been here, she would have made me feel better, but I'm on my own.
I miss home so much…
In Beatrice’s case, my directness seems to have worked. At least I would like to believe so, because I haven’t seen her around at all. Despite living in the same dorm, she is keeping her distance, just as I requested.
Phew, one less problem to deal with.
Now back to academy life, one look at the library and all my reservations about attending the academy just vanished. The library has two floors and shelves that run the length of the long corridor. It's almost as big as our ceremony hall, but with two floors.
There is also a restricted section, where sensitive and more advanced books are kept. Entering it requires special permission from the king himself, so I might not even be able to see it.
I also met up with Mr. Lewis Kieston, he asked me to give him a visit in case I passed, so I did.
He works in the administrative and recruitment division, and has a bit of influence in the academy. I immediately asked him to cash out the favor in exchange for permission to skip etiquette and management classes, but he was unable to help me in that regard.
Then what can he even do for me? Feeling dejected, I left his office.
I’ll need to think of something useful to ask of him.
The lectures on Magic Theory and applications were pretty cool. We started off with the basics, and the professor was pretty chill.
My classmates treat me as a genius kid, which made it hard for me to befriend any of them.
There was this one loner girl, Miss Carolina Sein, who was my next door neighbor and also the duke’s daughter. She has a B-grade Talent as an Enchanter. She called me a spoiled brat when I tried to introduce myself. Oh come on, we haven’t even spoken yet, and you’ve already branded me to fit your prejudice.
The other girls consoled me by calling her rude and that she does that to everyone.
Upon further inspection, I found out that she is suffering from a condition after her awakening that causes her to occasionally spell out her inner thoughts. Poor girl, this must be the cause of her estrangement.
I believe in second chances, so I decided to greet her again with some cookies and I think she is cool with me. I don’t know for sure, because she didn’t speak. She just nodded her head and accepted the cookies.
I also received a quest from the system,
-------------------------------------
Quests –
1) Gain knowledge
Utilize the available resources to contribute towards your goal.
Clear Criteria:
When you gain enough wisdom to start your research within 3 years.
Rewards:
5 EXP
Failure Penalty:
EXP gain debuff for a year
-------------------------------------
What was I expecting? My quests are neither as straightforward nor as rewarding as Letty's. I would barely reach halfway up to level 2.
A few days later, I left the academy, and roamed in the inner city until I found what I was looking for, the mercenary guild. Mercenaries can be hired for any job you want for the appropriate amount of money. I hired a strong female mercenary to be my secret bodyguard, every time I leave the academy. Although I don’t plan on roaming around a lot, I still need to account for every minute possibility. I paid her enough so that she doesn’t need another job and stationed her at the nearest inn next to the academy.
Her job is simple, stay on standby in the inn. And protect me every time I leave the academy. I made her sign a magic contract which will leave her immobilized in case of any breach of contract on her part, except of course in the case of an emergency.
She is basically getting paid to stay in a fancy inn, it’s a win-win for both of us.
***
I've written a lot of letters to my family over the last month. I’m getting better at dealing with homesickness lately, but I’m far from being completely fine.
I researched a lot about existing communication systems and development, but the most I got was a skill user, similar to telepathy, who can transfer messages to a specific person in a one way method.
I also received a new quest after the completion of the first.
Upon asking the professor, he told me that even if someone tries to do research on development in any specific field, the royals will buy them and force them to work in secret. This is done to hoard any valuable research inside the kingdom and prevent new developments or breakthroughs from reaching the ears of our enemies.
While I get their point, not sharing information, seriously hinders any significant developments. Everyone has to start from scratch, making it impossible to achieve a huge breakthrough.
In its origins, modern society was the result of all minds working together to achieve a common goal of development.
This is going to be difficult…
My research aside, I have a feeling that I might have gained a stalker. I notice a specific person following me around every time I leave the library.
Let’s see what he wants.
I lured him outside the academy, into an alley behind some inn.
“Bodyguard, apprehend him”, I shouted without turning back.
“Aaah, let go of me!”. I heard his screams.
“Now talk, why were you following me?”, I turned with a devilish expression.
He peed in his pants. I had succeeded in intimidating him.
“It’s a misunderstanding. I didn’t mean any harm, please don’t kill me. It was Miss Beatrice, she paid me 5 gold to tail you and report your every move to her”, his eyes started leaking. I might have gone overboard.
“Unhand him”, I said, dismissing her.
“What does Beatrice want? I thought we were done with each other”, I asked.
“I don’t know. She just asked me to report your favorite things”, he said, still scared for his life.
“Hah, relax. Here are 10 coins. Continue to do what she asks and report to me. Try to dig for more information, someone might get rewarded heftily”, I said while ringing my purse. “Tell her I love shortcakes. And remember, I’m richer than she is, whatever she offers, I’ll double it”
Hehe, easy peasy. I wonder what her goal is? Does she really want to befriend me? Maybe she fell in love with me, because I was mean to her?
No way, that happens only in manga or novels… Okay, oh God, it’s a real possibility. But she is a villainess, I can never be too safe with her around.
In the end, her attempt was pretty sloppy. Even if she wants to harm me, a mere 12-year-old can’t outwit me anyway. So let’s play along for now.
***
Six months have passed, and I’ve been devoted towards my research in secret. Only Professor Primos and Mr. Lewis knows about it. The professor is a nice person, he helps me with every difficulty I encounter and lets me skip some classes. Hearing his constant praises, he is totally convinced that I am the next Asmador (AN: the great researcher guy, talked about at the awakening ceremony), or even better than him.
For consolidating his position as professor of the to-be-famous inventor, he has been giving me special treatment.
With the help of Mr. Lewis Kieston, I secured his office as a research room for all sorts of experiments away from any prying eyes.
I think I’ve finally figured it out. My original plan was to use mana waves instead of electromagnetic waves. And the major problem was the depleting strength of mana threads, as well as precisely calculating its signature.
With the help of professor’s, and Mr. Lewis’s connections, we were able to smuggle out a research based on mana sensor, from the restricted zone. Apparently, the first apprentice of the master of the mage tower himself helped out in secret, after hearing about my revolutionary research.
We found what we were looking for, and the hard work was starting to bear some fruits. We were able to communicate both-ways, multiple connections at a time. It was kind of similar to how in the modern world, specific broadbands and frequency ranges were allotted for different purposes.
The only remaining issue was the depleting mana strength, the solution was to use repeaters at every half mile to strengthen the mana thread back to its original strength and transmit it again. But actually implementing it turned out to be a lot harder than we initially assumed.
We also had to take some measures to prevent monsters from harming the repeaters. For now, we decided to use monster repellants, but they are not so cheap to manufacture in bulk.
After countless hours of hard work, we (me, professor and the apprentice of master of the mage tower) managed to build our first successful prototype in a warehouse I rented in the outer city.
Now the next step was to reduce the price used in the mana stones and enchanting them. Also, erecting repeater towers fitted with a high grade mana stone every half mile was already unbelievably costly, every tower costs about a 100 gold coins. I doubt even Dad would be able to fund it.
Let alone connecting the entire world, the path to my home is gonna eat up half of our wealth.
Hah, I need a break.
I took a week-long vacation from my research, and we celebrated our first successful call made through two ends of the city.
The mole I planted didn’t give me any exceptional information about Beatrice’s intent. I have almost depleted all the money that Dad gave me, soon I’ll have to shamelessly ask for more.
Letty has been doing great and is preparing a surprise for me. She once confessed that she stole something from Mom’s room, but refused to elaborate further.
I miss her so much, I can’t wait for my research to succeed, so that I’ll finally be able to hear her voice.
I’ve been on friendly terms with my neighbor, and she seems to be the exact shy, loner girl I thought she would be. She doesn’t have any other friends, but her grades are excellent. I asked her to help me enchant the mana stones, but it’s very complex for her.
Well, she’s still a 13-year-old kid after all. Not everyone can be as smart as me, hehe. I’ll wait till she turns 15 and graduates, and then ask her again.
Hiring an enchanter sucks, they grossly overprice their services. So, having a dedicated enchanter would be helpful.
Speaking of friends, Sophia made it to the academy. She has awoken a B-grade Talent as a Businesswoman, just like my dad.
But she herself was very depressed about this development, as she wanted to be a swordswoman. I consoled her and treated her at the best bakery in town to cheer her up. Back then, she wanted to cheer me up, so I returned the favor.
Then I decided to leave her alone, so she can deal with her problems herself.
They say, time is the best medicine. I’m sure it’ll all work out for her in the end.
I also made a lot of other friends, but none of them were really close to me. They at least prevent anyone from confessing to me, which is good.
***
I’m currently hanging out with Mr. Lewis in his office.
“Mr. Lewis, what should we do after we’ve completed the research and made it feasible to set up the infrastructure?”, I asked.
“One option is to reveal your project to the king, and convince him to grant you permission and the funds required to make it a reality. But he will not be keen on sharing such precious knowledge with neighboring kingdoms, so he will surely try to bind you to the kingdom. In the worst case, he might get tempted to use underhanded means to stick you to the kingdom”, he explained.
Yes, I expect no less from that idiot.
“But the other option, solely available to you, is to use your father’s influence”
But even Dad is bound to follow the king’s orders, isn’t he?
“Do you know why Swindfort city is in a better state than the capital itself?”, he asked.
“Because my dad is rich, and my mom is a great leader”, I answered instantly.
“While that is true, there is an even greater reason. After all, what’s stopping the king from asking for tributes from a Baron?”
That is true as well.
“Why is that, mister?” I asked.
“It’d be more appropriate to ask your parents about it. I don’t know how much I am allowed to say, in the absence of your parents”
Hah, if you didn’t want to say, why did you bring it up in the first place?
“For now, just explain the situation to your father, he can take care of it very easily. He can even convince the king to fund your project when it is at a practical stage. Then all that will be left for you is to make your project more cost efficient, and actually implementing it”
Is my Dad a secret bigshot or something? Don’t tell me he is a secret prince or something. Nah, no way, he isn’t even blonde… wait his hair is f*cking blonde!!
“He’s a secret prince!!”
“Hahaha, no, your father isn’t an illegitimate son of the emperor. I’ve seen your grandpa in the past, so don’t worry”
Yeah, Dad did talk a about my late grandpa back then.
I need to get to the bottom of this.
“Alright, I’ll write a letter to Dad”