The Magic Academy's Physicist

Chapter 221: Now This Is What You Call A Nuclear Bomb (2)

The next day at work, Klais again apologized to Aether.

What she did wrong, what she was going to do to avoid making the same mistake, how she was going to make it up to her.

She left out the reasons why things had to turn out this way or her circumstances and just kept apologizing with sincerity.

But despite such apologies, Aether’s response was rather lukewarm.

She’d either make an expression that made it difficult to tell what she was thinking, or dart her eyes around. She’d even smile eerily sometimes.

And most of all, the watch.

She was checking the watch on her wrist every five minutes.

Like someone who was waiting for a certain moment.

It was lunchtime before she knew it. After taking a quick lunch, Klais was back to researching intensely like yesterday. It was about this time that someone opened the door and entered the lab.

“The experiment is ready, Winter Heaven.”

Aether, who had been scribbling theoretical equations on a piece of paper, grinned strangely and stood up.

“Do I go see it in the north meeting room?”

“Yes, as the experiment will take place at the pole as per your orders.”

“Good, excellent.”

Aether cleaned up and packed her things. Klais, who had been researching away, turned her attention at the sound of rustling.

“Where are you going, Master?”

“There is something I need to do. You come as well.”

“But the research.......”

“This is special, I’ll give you the right to know.”

Numerous question marks popped up in Klais’ head.

“The right to know.... what?”

“It’ll be much better to show you rather than explain. Don’t argue and follow me. I will not say it a third time.”

“......Yes, Master.”

Wasn’t she supposed to atone without question or rebelling? Any more questions and it would displease her.

Reluctant, Klais followed after Aether.

One by one, the core forces of the Demon Army began gathering at the enormous guard post of cement and lead.

Spring and Winter Heaven arrived first, followed by the humanoid Great Mechas together with Summer Heaven. And lastly, Autumn Heaven showed up yawning.

Gilach took a light jab at Jǫrmungandr who showed up casually with half-closed eyes.

“Late again?”

“I’ve come on time.”

Jǫrmungandr kept yawning, rubbing at her eyes. Being a dragon, she had a habit of sleeping during the day and being active at night.

Since it was currently the middle of the day, for her it was like being woken up suddenly and being put on the night shift.

“So, what is the purpose of the gathering this time?”

Pasmo asked flatly, teeth gritting. Floating around him were lanterns containing things like eyes and hearts.

“It’s no fun to tell people before gathering.”

“Still, you should’ve given us some indication. If it’s nothing, then it would just be a waste of time.”

“No need to worry, it won’t be a waste of time at all.”

Aether had decided where and how to do the experiment after discussing with Jǫrmungandr early this morning. In fact, part of why Jǫrmungandr had been slow in her arrival was due to the preparations.

Aether stepped up and spoke.

“Long story short, it’s about blowing up the World Tree.”

“Oho.”

The Heavens all let out impressed sounds.

The World Tree of Verdure was the symbol of Elementals said to have been given to the elves by the Goddess, a giant tree that was almost two thousand years old.

If there was a difference between the World Tree and regular ones, it was that it could withstand fire.

Unlike other trees that burned as firewood if set on fire, the World Tree, blessed by the Goddess, didn’t oxidize even if it got lit.

And as it hadn’t burned even during the Great War and remained completely intact because of this–

It was something worth burning even without thinking about the Lodestone being within it.

“Well doesn’t this whet my appetite.”

Gilach ribbed as he wiped at his mouth with his hook arm.

Were they going to experiment with explosions strong enough to pierce the barrier that the Goddess had carved into the tree, or would it be an experiment to verify another way to get in.

Although Gilach was generally on bad terms with Aether, he was willing to recognize as something of a Heaven if she would burn down the World Tree.

“First, look over there.”

Aether pointed at the plains.

There, a tree as big as the World Tree had already been set up.

Of course, it was too far in the distance to be seen by Klais who wasn’t a Beast. Aether handed binoculars she had prepared to her as she was looking curiously.

“It’s a World Tree replica made of high heat-resistant material. It has added insulation magic to replicate the blessing of the Goddess’ as close as possible.”

“So it won’t burn in lava, either.”

Klais became uneasy.

Burn the World Tree? What in the world were they saying?

If that happened, they would incur the wrath of the Elemental Kings all at once. The Great War would start once again, and the world would go up in flames.

Yet on the other hand, it didn’t make sense.

It was the technical aspect. Was it possible to blow up that World Tree, the sacred tree given to the elves by the Goddess that had survived for two millennia without burning?

It didn’t seem possible to do even with ‘Flare’, the most powerful Fire Magic she knew.......

But it looked like they were going to test that, which made her shudder.

“As you all know, it’s quite the distance from here to Kaurelia. The nearby areas are heavily guarded, so one is bound to get caught if they try to smuggle in an explosive-type weapon whether at customs or in the country.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“So this time it’s both a blast and transportation experiment.”

This time, Aether pointed to the sky.

“Do you see anything up there?”

The other Beasts shook their heads. It was the same in Klais’ eyes–all that could be seen was a gloomy winter sky.

“If you can’t sense it, then this part is a success.”

“What is?”

“Stealth.”

Just then–

Fwoooosh─!!

A strong gust came rushing through the yet unshielded window. Spring and Summer Heaven looked up at the sky through squinted eyes, and Klais recoiled in great shock. Aborted exclamations like ‘wow, ooh, uwaa’ spilled from Rosemary’s lips.

Soon after, what emerged from the cloud was a giant airship.

“Th-that’s.......”

Klais remembered having seen that gigantic flying object one time.

A few years ago, the day that she had broken through the first line of defense with her friend Meriga Heerlein, that was the Cataclysm that had appeared before them.

“Castle Bravo.”

“That one is Sextus of the Great Mechas. It’s the newcomer we created as technology had advanced greatly after the both of you had been sealed.”

When Wilhelm the Tertius explained, Pasmo and Gilach nodded, mouths stretching into a curve.

“This is praiseworthy.”

“Goodness, we’ve become old. During my wild days, there had been no one in our forces besides Autumn who had been capable of flying at high altitudes.”

Klais, whose legs had been shaking, collapsed on the spot.

It was that thing that had driven back the Imperial army from the first line of defense.

It was also that thing that had taken one of Heerlein’s eyes.

And it had been that thing that had instantly wiped out the division that Klais had been part of through raining cannons with its numerous turrets.

A being that she absolutely couldn’t forgive.

Right now, however...... there was nothing that Klais could do.

“Start closing the windows, and coat them with protective film, too.”

The Beasts of the Second Brigade began closing all the windows of the post as per Aether’s words. Unlike normal windows, every window here had UV-protection films on it and was designed to endure most heat and wind pressures.

Before the test, Aether checked the radiation protection once more. For Klais in particular, she put in the extra effort of applying a radiation-proof scroll like sunblock.

“It’s almost time.”

The giant airship that measured hundreds of meters in overall length, ‘Castle Bravo’, flew up to thousands of meters while maintaining stealth again.

They could, really burn the World Tree?

How?

Throat dry, Klais consciously swallowed. When she brought the binoculars up and found focus, she saw the fake World Tree that was colored black.

Although it wasn’t the exact same as the actual World Tree, it was the same size and shape and such, like what she had seen in albums. Of course, since the Beasts were technically advanced enough to fly an airship like that, the defense mechanisms should be similar to the real World Tree.

About ten minutes after she thought that–

“But you know, do you actually think that your invention can burn the real World Tree?”

Gilach asked. He must have been getting bored as he was making a grumpy face.

In fact, Gilach wasn’t all that happy because he had lost a decent toy called Klara Hasfeldt.

He had then gone around devouring other Elemental Mages in the Iron Formations, but lost interest and trudged over here.

To be honest, what Aether was concocting this time didn’t seem like it’d be fun. And it wasn’t guaranteed to work, either.

“You are the weakest of the Four Heavens. Even if you use magic, it can’t be enough to burn the World Tree.......”

“Shut up and watch.”

Just then–