The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 108
Chancellor Karak tilted his head, clearly puzzled.
It was a reaction of incomprehension, which was understandable.
The head of counseling was a position without much real power, mostly seen as a hassle, and therefore, undesirable to most.
In fact, it was currently vacant.
“Hoho, I fail to see your point. Why such a needless position?”
“Listening to students’ concerns isn’t useless.”
Of course, it wasn’t out of some pure spirit of service that I requested the position.
“And, there’s a common misconception that the head of counseling is completely powerless.”
“Is that so?”
Chancellor Karak’s eyes widened.
I nodded as if to confirm.
“Yes, the head of counseling has one authority. The power to investigate.”
It wasn’t much.
Given that counseling often intersects with conflicts or issues within the academy, it naturally comes with the authority to conduct investigations.
However, this was hardly considered a significant power.
“Hmm. Even if you investigate counseling cases, you know the authority to make actual judgments lies with the board of directors, right? The scope of the investigative power is limited, allowing only for inquiries related to counseling cases.”
Who held the power to make judgments was irrelevant.
After all, I wasn’t looking to engage in a legal battle.
The limitation of investigative powers was the issue.
“It doesn’t matter. There’s a way to expand the investigative authority.”
To the puzzled Chancellor Karak, I opened up.
“I plan to revive and operate the ‘Voices of the Heart.'”
It was an anonymous submission system.
It was time to go fishing.
To bring down the Rapalt Ducal Family.
* * *
For the time being, I delegated the task of counseling the students to Lindon and Hans.
‘…Is it really okay to leave it to them?’
Both were far from what one might consider normal, doubting their capability to counsel properly, but it seemed it wouldn’t matter much.
‘With Trash Van as the head, no one would come for counseling anyway. Maybe if my reputation improves later.’
I had other tasks to attend to.
‘I need to produce academic achievements.’
I’m preparing a huge disruption right now.
But that doesn’t mean I can just act recklessly.
It’s not just about sticking it to the Rapalt Ducal Family; the job isn’t finished with that.
Since ’employment retention’ is the goal, I must eliminate any faults they could attack me for.
‘The problem is time. It’s impossible to produce academic achievements in less than a fortnight.’
To produce research recognized by the Mage Tower takes over a month just for submission.
‘High-level mages have a fast-track option, but as a Level 2, that doesn’t apply to me. Strictly speaking, I don’t even have membership in the Mage Tower right now.’
For your information, the Mage Tower starts accepting members from Level 3 mages because that’s when one is recognized as a proper, official mage.
Even at Level 3, you’re just an associate member.
‘Pressure from the Ecclesia family could speed up the paper processing, but that’s out of the question. It could lead to bigger problems later.’
Aside from the tight schedule, there was another problem.
‘I need to attract research funding.’
Attracting research funding has always been an important factor in a professor’s evaluation.
‘I need to attract as much research funding as possible. It’s not an easy task.’
There are two ways to attract research funding.
Either the mage has an outstanding reputation, or
The research topic is profitable.
With my abilities, isn’t making money easy?
That’s a misunderstanding.
‘Even with the ability of a Master of Magic, creating a marketable product is a different story.’
I used to think this way too.
Create a magical tool that makes a fortune.
It was a naive thought.
‘Coming up with a revolutionary magical theory isn’t the end. It needs to lead to actual product development.’
The difference between pure and applied science, perhaps?
That is, you need to know how to apply a magical theory to a product.
Not just magical knowledge, but a deep understanding of product development is required.
‘Magical theories applicable to products are already commercialized and being sold.’
Take telecommunication as an example, communication orbs are already commercialized and in circulation.
I needed to develop items that surpassed ordinary levels, akin to smartphones, but such advanced products were challenging even for me.
It wasn’t a magical issue.
The problem was a lack of understanding of the product, specifically the absence of scientific knowledge.
‘Even with modern knowledge, I don’t fully understand the principles behind advanced devices.’
Of course, I thoroughly understood the principles behind the products I used to sell as a salesperson, but sadly, those weren’t items that would be lucrative in this world.
‘It’s possible to develop a product entirely with my own magical modifications.’
However, the issue was marketability.
The ideas I came up with ironically required a lot of money to realize.
Their performance was indisputable, but my high-concept ideas weren’t easy to implement into magical devices.
For commercialization, not just performance but also production cost mattered. Unfortunately, the economics didn’t work out.
‘It’s all not easy.’
Producing academic results and attracting notable research funding were daunting tasks under the current circumstances.
But as they say, necessity is the mother of invention, right?
I found a solution.
Unexpectedly, it was through Lindon’s sloppiness.
“Lindon, what’s this pot stand for?”
Lindon and Hans were having a late-night snack in the lab.
Mari was also munching away.
I wanted to ask for a bite too, but pride as a professor held me back, so I just salivated in silence.
Then, I saw these documents.
Request for paper revision.
Sent by the Mage Tower.
Lindon looked embarrassed.
“Ah, it was a project I rushed before graduation and submitted to the Mage Tower. I thought it would definitely be rejected, but they keep contacting me to revise it. They said they’d even publish it in an MCI-rated journal.”
MCI (Magic Citation Index).
Similar to the SCI (Science Citation Index) on Earth, it’s a citation index system used by mages across the continent to rate papers.
‘That slacker wrote an MCI-level paper as a graduation project?’
I read the document smeared with soup stains from their snack.
“Pr-Professor? That paper was a last-minute effort, so it’s terrible. I have no talent for papers, you know? You’re not misunderstanding and thinking of giving me paperwork, right? If you assign me paperwork, it’ll all fall apart, you know?”
Indeed, could this be what you call a devilish level of talent?
Despite the dismal self-assessment, the content of the paper was quite decent.
‘Multi-layer theory? It didn’t receive a revision request for nothing. It’s certainly worthy of an MCI rating.’
However, I felt a sense of regret.
‘It’s not bad, but it’s insufficient to be of help to me now.’
I was interested in Lindon’s paper because it was already submitted, which meant a significant reduction in procedural time.
I considered adding my name as a supervising professor and revising it for publication, but the level was somewhat disappointing.
‘Even with the best revisions, an MCI rating of 2 points is the limit. To leave a mark on the Rapalt Ducal Family, it would need to be at least 5 points.’
For reference, MCI ratings range from 1 to 20 points.
Scores above 10 points were the playground of masters in each field, and for ordinary mages, achieving 5 points was considered excellent.
Then, Lindon grumbled.
“Ah, forget papers and all that. I just want to be rich. When can I ever buy my dream personal aircraft?”
“You! Wake up from your dream, eat this, and get ready to clean the counseling office!”
Ly…ndun…! Yo…u…bwat!
Just another day of banter in the lab.
But then, an idea suddenly struck me.
“Lindon, we’re going to resubmit this paper right away.”
“Ah, why? It’s just trash paper anyway. It’s such a hassle. Crunch Grumble-.”
“You! With the professor’s touch, your trash paper will transform into a tier-1 miracle! Professor, is it because of the academic performance? Isn’t the time too short?”
Hans had a point.
Though faster than starting from scratch, a fortnight was still pressing.
“I’ll apply for the Diamond Fast Track.”
“What? Not just any, but the Diamond Fast Track? Isn’t that only possible for Level 7 Master members?”
“It’s also possible when requested by a VVIP sponsor of the Mage Tower.”
“Are you planning to ask for help from the Ecclesia family?”
“No, it’s Count Armand.”
A name being mentioned for the first time.
Hans and Lindon seemed to recognize it.
He was a well-known figure, after all.
“Are you talking about that eccentric tycoon?”
“Tycoon? I heard he’s practically broke now. Got obsessed with developing bizarre inventions. What was the name of that invention again? The… what did he call it?”
Count Armand, while not among the top ten wealthiest in the empire, would certainly have been included in the top fifty. However, as they said, he had squandered his fortune on strange inventions.
“I’ll pass the message to Count Armand.”
I mentioned the name of the invention Count Armand had been obsessed with all his life and into which he had invested his entire fortune.
“I’ll let him see the completion of the ‘automobile’.”
* * *
Automobile.
Specifically, the longing for a carriage that moves without horses had existed for a long time.
However, unlike the airship, which had been successfully developed long ago, automobile development repeatedly failed.
‘It’s a problem with the power source.’
While airships utilize the buoyancy of air, automobiles must move solely on the power of their engines.
The research direction proceeded similarly to that on Earth.
Using mana from magic stones as fuel, akin to an internal combustion engine.
‘Expensive and unstable.’
Eventually, all related research was scrapped, but 10 years ago, a new magical theory was devised.
It was the theory of mana polarity.
‘The theory suggests that when magic stones of opposite attributes are near each other, particles move, generating energy.’
It was a phenomenon similar to electricity generation through positive and negative charges.
Count Armand focused on this polarity theory.
He came up with the idea to use the energy generated from the polarity as a power source for automobiles.
‘It’s the same principle as an electric car. How far ahead of his time was he?’
Just like electric cars use batteries as engines, which utilize the current generated between negative and positive charges for energy.
The automobile will change the future of the world! Call me the king of automobiles!
Yet, despite his ambitious aspirations and innovative ideas, progress in research did not go well.
A full decade had passed since he declared himself destined to become the king of automobiles, yet he had not achieved any significant results.
The once-renowned tycoon of the empire had vanished, and he had become the subject of ridicule as a foolish eccentric.
“Count Armand’s house is practically ruined, you know? Just look at the mansion, it’s nearly collapsing. How much money must he have sunk into the Mage Tower to become a VVIP? He should have given that money to me instead.”
Lindon clicked his tongue as we arrived at the Count of Armand’s mansion.
The once magnificent mansion had turned into a ruin.
“Don’t laugh. The world changes at the hands of such people.”
Lindon’s judgment wasn’t entirely misplaced.
In the story, Armand was depicted as a dreamer.
A failed, foolishly grandiose dreamer.
Personally, I disliked that portrayal.
I knew why Count Armand had devoted his entire life to automobiles.
