BXBX NOVEL Volume 5 7.4
「Teacher, if we follow theory, the conductor line gets weird.」
The next day, Lime who had been attending enchantment classes with Fum, as per usual, was confronting Professor Emil about the results she discovered at the workshop. By this point it was customary practice, so there were quite a few students remaining.
「Hm. Sorry, can I have you test that out right now?」
「Okidoki.」
Lime did as the teacher asked. Fum’s aptitude would be around intermediate by Rufeus Academy’s standards, so at times like these, Lime demonstrated her skills.
「See, this part is weird.」
「Hm, I see. You’re right……」
Looking at the conductor line that Lime indicated, the professor groaned. Sure, there was a problem. It was slightly different from the theory.
「Unfortunately, this is also a first for me. What did the workshop leader say about it?」
The instructor asked not for Lime, but Fum’s recollection of their teacher Hiroshi’s opinion. It wasn’t that he thought Lime didn’t understand, but Fum was better at answering these questions. It was a simple difference in their vocabulary.
「He thought the difference in materials and catalysts might be amplifying. Said if we go according to that theory, the combinations and quality could be a source of noise in the experiment.」
「I see. Rufeus does tend to use materials that have little difference in quality, so that probably prevented any noise from occurring and the phenomenon didn’t surface.」
「Boss Man did say he couldn’t say for sure if that’s true or not……」
「Well that’s what the school’s job is.」
The professor said firmly in response to Fum’s additional comment. Thanks to her and her sister, the professor was able to find many blind spots, with more to research and therefore more fulfillment. The lectures were far more lively now that the two sisters were there. Many previous dead-ends were overturned, and the middle aged professor felt like he was reliving his golden age again.
「So what else?」
「Um, um, you see, there’s an enchantment that uses meliludot leaves as a catalyst, and the Boss Man has the same method as the textbook, but when Lime does it her own way Lime does better. Why is that, mister?」
「Well, what precisely do you do?」
「Mm, well……」
Answering the professor’s question, Lime lay an auto regen enchant on the feather pen on the teacher’s desk. Meliludot leaves just so happened to be the safest for using as enchantment catalysts.
「You twirl this around and connect it from this position for an easy fix. Why?」
「Hm. It does indeed have poor efficiency, but I guess it’s better to maneuver them in such a way that they’re thicker.」
「Boss Man said following the textbooks would provide the strongest connection.」
「The lines stretched out too much will always mean more losses, so the workshop master’s explanation is correct. However, if you really want to succeed, there’s nothing wrong with connecting the lines in a way that’s easier…Guess I should teach this method from now in rudimentary lectures.」
The professor decided after looking at Lime’s original method. Even the most basic of enchanting required a tremendously sensitive control of mana. Therefore, equal emphasis was placed on boosting effectiveness and success.
It seemed quite effortless, but children at Fum and Lime’s ages would not generally find it easy to make products. Just considering the stamina required to maintain the mana flow and control for one item, you could tell just how unusual the youngest sisters in Azuma Workshop were.
「Ah, right. I heard that the workshop master will be giving special lessons, but before that, could he maybe give a lecture to me and the other magic professors? Just a light one is fine.」
「I think he’d prefer it if you negotiated this with him via the headmaster. We’re just pupils and employees、 so we can’t say much to oppose his decisions anyway.」
「I see. That is a shame.」
「Ah, but he did mention he wanted to hand over the proper distribution material, so if we used that as a base……」
The professor’s facial expression shifted when he heard Fum mention this.
「Is that true?」
「Y-Yeah. He did say he’d complete it by tomorrow……」
「I see. By the way, do you happen to know his target audience for the lecture?」
「Apparently the audience needs to be comprised of people who can both make class 6 items with alchemy and potions, and who are somewhat close to class 5 in proficiency.」
「So the only students there would be those who are focusing on advanced alchemy or potionmaking, I presume? There would at most be 30 people there, I suppose.」
Hearing the digits the professor launched out, Fum felt it to be rather small. The members of Azuma Workshop could all make class 6 potions and boost items, as long as you ignored their success rates- challenging class 6 meant maybe getting one success out of 10 attempts, and considering how the members knew where they were stumbling, it would be a matter of tie before they could achieve 100% success.
It was approximately half a year since being hired that Fum and the others had gotten to that threshold. In addition, the total amount of time their master Hiroshi and his pupil Mio had directly instructed the girls hadn’t even been four months, and just with that, they had been able to get to this point, so surely the students of Rufeus Academy specializing in schoolwork would be a higher level on average. At least that is what Fum thought.
Fum did not realize something. Generally students, and not even professors, would make tons of potions and use lots of enchantments every day. This was because they neither had the mana to put forth the effort nor all the materials necessary. In the end, Fum had no clue just how advantageous it was to manufacture large amounts of potions and items to a secure degree on a daily basis in terms of polishing your skill set.
「Hm, you look surprised. Did I say anything weird?」
「This is the world’s most acclaimed institution, so I thought that advanced students could make class 5 items with ease.」
「No, that’s definitely an overestimation of our skills. Believe it or not, even Rufeus Academy doesn’t entirely have the abundant sum of materials available for continuous failure.」
「Hmmm? Well, I do get that we’re a bit special.」
The professor grimaced at Fum, who clearly didn’t understand. Considering the number of people learning potionmaking and alchemy, there was no way they could train with the same principles as Azuma Workshop, where it was ok to fail as long as you kept making more. Azuma Workshop was only making this possible not just because every member could harvest by themselves, but also because they were few in number.
「That aside, ask for more details from Boss Man or the headmaster. I only heard the outline for the special course, and we’re not even involved this time anyway.」
Noticing Lime was getting bored of this, Fum changed the topic. Honestly, she didn’t even care about this special course, since she could just get direct lessons.
「We’ll all try today’s experiment together and come up with more questions for next time.」
「Yes, I appreciate it.」
The professor nodded at Fum. Technically their relationship was that of teacher and student, but Fum and Lime were basically the same thing as collaborative researchers, giving off an oddly strong vibe.
「Okay, we’d better get going, Lime.」
「Okidoki. See ya later Professor.」
「See you later. Take care, you two.」