Chapter 218: To Fight For What’s Right |
Morale Support: Scherzo
Patreon: https://patreon.com/ScherzoTranslations
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When Reiner left the hospital, the sun had already dipped below the horizon. A few stars rose in the eastern sky, and the night was slowly devouring the sky.
Holding the thesis in his hand, a thesis that had been buried for ten years, Reiner felt the dormant energy it contained, an energy that had accumulated for too long without a chance to burst forth.
He knew what he had to do.
The Thesis Review Committee members had long since gotten off work, and the large office was vacant. Reiner hailed a carriage and returned to his lodgings.
He carefully reviewed and checked the thesis again before picking up a pen to write a letter.
The recipient of the letter was not a high-level or legendary mage but the entire High Council.
By the time he finished the letter, it was late at night. Reiner read it through one more time before sealing it with wax and handing it to the inn’s owl for delivery. Ordinary inns did not offer such convenient services, but this inn had a certain relationship with the Magic Association, and kept owls on hand.
Early the next morning, Reiner took a carriage to the Thesis Review Committee.
He was the first to arrive, and the crowd hadn’t gathered at the entrance yet, allowing him to enter the manor smoothly.
Having made five copies of the thesis, Reiner returned to his seat just as the bear-like Bel entered the office, yawning.
“Morning Reiner, you’re early today.”
Bell made himself a cup of coffee before slowly sitting down.
Soon after, the others arrived one by one. It was the day for the regular discussion meeting, so everyone was busy preparing the theses to be discussed.
About half an hour later, Lord Percival stood up and clapped his hands.
“Let’s start the meeting.”
They followed him into the adjacent conference room, taking their usual seats. Reiner, holding the stack of theses, sat next to Igor.
“What’s this?” Igor asked, puzzled by the copies of the thesis in Reiner’s hands. It wasn’t his usual job to review theses.
“You’ll find out soon,” Reiner replied, glancing at Percival.
“Alright, let’s begin today’s meeting with the first item…” Percival started in a scripted manner as usual, but was soon interrupted by a raised hand.
“Reiner, do you have something to say?”
Percival asked as all eyes turned to the young mage, who stood up and spoke.
“Everyone, I have a thesis here that I believe deserves priority discussion.”
The committee members were puzzled.
Reiner’s usual job was to organize the theses reviewed by others. He wasn’t supposed to be the first reviewer of any thesis, so where did this one come from?
“Reiner, where did you get this thesis?” Roger asked, curious and puzzled.
“It was given to me by an elderly woman. It’s her son’s thesis, which was rejected in the past, but I believe the review at that time was incorrect.”
Percival raised an eyebrow at his explanation.
“Wait, do you mean this thesis is like those submitted by mages outside hoping for a re-review?” Hannah whispered, glancing at Percival before continuing, “I don’t think those theses are worth discussing.”
“Is it another perpetual motion machine?” Roger joked, but seeing the serious faces around him, he cleared his throat and fell silent.
“Hannah, perhaps we should look at the thesis before making judgments,” Reiner suggested, then looked at Percival. “Lord Percival, the purpose of this review committee is to reassess potentially overlooked, innovative theses. The one I have here is truly groundbreaking. I swear on the Hohenheim Golden Cup.”
Percival pondered. He considered Reiner a promising talent and had advised him to focus on enhancing his magical abilities. However, the recent conversation made him realize that Reiner was not like him.
Refusing Reiner’s proposal outright might violate the committee’s principles and if Reiner reported it to a high-level mage, he could be held accountable. Hence, Percival nodded slightly.
“Go ahead, Reiner.”
Given the approval, Reiner distributed the copies to everyone present.
“I suggest you read this thesis first,” he said, adding, “It’s a mathematical thesis, so it won’t cause cognitive collapse. Don’t worry.”
This was a self-deprecating reference to his reputation as the Blood Baron.
Bel smiled, but his expression turned serious as he read the title.
“Research on Unified Equations of Curvilinear Motion? This topic has seen no breakthroughs for a long time.”
Even the legendary mage Isaris Ableton, who discovered the three laws of motion, failed in this area. Unifying the various motion equations was extremely difficult.
As Reiner mentioned, it was a mathematical thesis, approaching the problem purely through deductive reasoning. Bel, not adept at mathematics, soon got lost in the transformations.
However, this didn’t stop him from reading. When he reached the integration of two types of motion on a surface and saw the conspicuous -1 under the square root symbol, he was stunned.
“What’s this?”
Bel’s eyes widened in disbelief. Though not proficient in mathematics, he was captivated by the harmony and beauty of the formula, akin to a flawless, pure piece of music.
Only i, the imaginary number, seemed strange and hard to understand, causing Bel’s head to ache. For the first time, a mathematical thesis made him feel his cognition to be slightly shaken.
Looking up, he saw Percival’s iron-blue face at the other end of the long table.