The Editor Is the Novel’s Extra

Field Trip (5)

Kleio covered his nose with the back of his hand and nodded desperately. The ether inside of him vanished, the tremendous amount of magic being used all at once. The blood leaking from his nose began to soak into his sleeves. Giving up on stemming the blood flow, Kleio picked up his pen. With his new ability, he began to look back through the dozens of papers that had been used and discarded. Each line segment, figure, and letter of unknown meaning shone on the different papers. He focused on combining only the parts that shined, transferring them to a new paper, and combining them.

He had his head pulled back as far as possible, but he couldn’t prevent some blood from splashing on the paper. Kleio hurriedly lifted the sheet with a new magic formula on it, his blood flowing off the paper in a line onto the floor. However, his gaze was not on that bloody line, but the magic formula drawn in ink. He imbued a little ether into the paper, as the line segments and figures he didn’t know the meantime of began to shine. At the same time, his Judgment fulfilled its function.

[-According to Judgment, the magic formula has been confirmed to be true.]

‘Oh. It worked…’

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.

.

Kleio, who passed out face down on his desk, barely woke up from the lingering light of ether. The sky was dark, but the piece of tiplaum he engraved before fainting had remained active even several hours after he passed out. The evidence it had worked as the faint gold color leaking out of it.

‘That was how it was described in the manuscript, and the suppression collar shone like that too.’

Kleio trembled as he recalled being detained when he had tried to run away. He had been a mess back then too, but success was a success.

“Oh, yeah.”

He let out a pained groan as he moved out from the chair. His whole body was sore, and it felt hard to breathe because of the dried blood in his nose. He felt like he was going to die, but today was already the third day of the trip.

‘I have to go back to the capital tomorrow.’

He didn’t know when or how he would give this formula away if he didn’t do it now. Kleio felt only one small step away from being overworked, but he somehow managed to wash up and change clothes.

‘I kind of look like I killed someone…’

He tucked the bloody shirt and trousers into the bottom of his suitcase and dressed in a new set of clothes. Then, he went down to the small parlor and picked up the handset. It was almost time for the students to return from their hunt. Count Hyde-Wight was a celebrity, so even if he didn’t know his phone number, he was able to be connected by the operator, though it took a while to be connected from the western telephone office to Lundane and from Lundane to the Count.

‘Well, I should be thankful I’m getting through at all…’

Since it was a world without communication magic of crystal spheres, the technology of modern civilization, like a telephone, was indispensable.

[“Fran wight speaking.”]

“Fran? It’s me, Kleio.”

[“Asel? Wh-…are you on the-…phone?”]

The call quality was a mess. Kleio took a deep breath before shouting into the handset as loudly as possible.

“Thank you for giving me the catalyst and component; I discovered the magic behind permanently activating ether. Contribution…”

[“…”]

“How would you like to share this contribution?! Did you hear me?”

[“Confirming the formula…in one da-…impossible.”]

“It’s possible! I found it!”

Because of the line’s condition, his voice was gradually rising.

[“I can hear you. If it’s magic, not science, what did you-.”]

“Yesterday, I-”

[“Shut up. I won’t touch it anymore.”]

“Why…”

He wondered why he could hear Fran clearly for the first time now.

“[If the tiplaum problem is solved, won’t that be good for the royal family? I don’t want to get tied up in it.”]

Thus, the conversation ended with that one-sided declaration.

[“The call has been disconnected. Shall we connect again?”]

The gentle voice of the operator came through instead.

“No, it’s fine.”

[“Thank you. Please use our services again.”]

Kleio leaned back against the wall and slid down.

“Haahahah, what should I do?”

Slam!

“What to do? We have to verify it!”

It was Freda, the researcher, who swung into the small parlor.

“…How long have you been there?”

“I was waiting to use the phone. We don’t have one in our lab for security reasons.”

“Yes, then use it. I’m done.”

Freda was quick to stop the fleeing Kleio like a wolf hunting down its prey.

“This is important. I heard you shout you had a way of permanently activating the ether in tiplaum even in the hallway, so explain in detail. It doesn’t matter if it’s not verified or if it’s just a hypothesis. Quickly.”

Kleio wasn’t sure if he should blame his own carelessness or the quality of phone calls in this era. Freda had him cornered despite her small stature.

‘Since Fran left it, I was thinking of putting in something like an anonymous tip…’

The formulation of the magic itself was fundamentally fraudulent.

‘This is neither science nor magic, but more like cross-communication. Words receive from outside this world.’

He couldn’t explain what path or process the formula came from. How could he reveal that he was the one to find it?

‘Could I use Editor’s Authority to return?’

However, he didn’t know when this chapter might end, and he had only two uses left.

‘I also don’t think the author will agree… Not in this case… The development has come too far.’

With a long sigh, Kleio gave up on escape.

“Let’s go to the lab and test it. I don’t know if it’ll work or not.”

“That’s good. It’s a special vacation today, so no one is there. We’ll be able to experiment as long as we want.”

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.

.

Tick, tick, tick.

The table clock in the messy lab signaled midnight. Kleio had been imprisoned for six hours in Freda’s private laboratory.

‘I wonder if Leticia caught that fox.’

After teaching her about the formula, the catalyst, and how to use it, Freda had been doing everything by herself. While Kleio was sitting and napping, Freda, untired from her tests, finally released tiplaum sample no. 33 from her hand. Like the other thirty-two, it gave off heat.

[Fever]. There was only one magic formula that Freda, who was from the academy of sciences, had skillfully memorized to a level that she could engrave it on tiplaum. But, thanks to that, the tiplaum samples didn’t return to their original shape over time.

“I’m no wizard, but like most scientists, I have some etheric sensitivity. I’m not even level 1, yet with that, I can engrave a function on this tiplaum. It works well!”

Freda lifted up the tiplaum, which still retained the shape of a metal plate. The [Ether Active] formula that Kleio had combined was drawn onto it, as well as the [Fever] formula. Light continued to exude from it.

“We have to observe how long [Ether Activity] lasts. As it stands now, it is more successful than any other attempts to date. I see it should’ve been magical…”

Freda was eager to let her fellow researchers know the news right away. If she weren’t stopped, she would’ve run out to wake them all up right away. Her cheeks were flushed, and her tone was higher than usual.

“How is this possible?”

‘The author pushes…’

“Shall we say… God’s revelation?”

“The Goddess gave us magic, so that answer sounds like one a wizard would give. Be aware that scientists are usually atheists.”

Freda’s excitement was overwhelming.

“Regardless of how, the results are clear. If this magic formula permanently activates ether, then you deserve the title of master regardless of your ether level.”

“No, hey, it was just a coincidence.”

“A coincidence? More like a miracle. Why do you go to school? You have nothing more to learn about magic.”

Kleio desperately searched his mind for a way to calm Freda. Yes, the issue was that he had done something that would change the paradigm of the world. It was stupid to try and dig his way out now.

‘That’s why I wanted to use Fran or send an anonymous tip…!’

“I’ll write a petition right away. I’ll ask for you to be assigned to the academy or mining bureau when you graduate, preferably early.”

“Freda, please, a moment. I’m a research student of Professor Zebedee; I can’t quit school.”

He had no intention of becoming Zebedee’s disciple, but maybe that would help here. Freda finally stopped her bulldozer-like advance, her eyes gently opening. The silence lasted for approximately three seconds.

“What?!”

“My head hurts, so calm down and speak quieter. It’s late…”

“How can I calm down now?! Then you… you’re the youngest student that the arch-mage is so proud of?! No! You don’t resemble the dignified young man in the newspaper illustrations!”

Kleio felt the dagger in his heart, but the newspaper illustrations weren’t his fault.

“I guess all the illustrators have bad eyes. Or maybe they wanted to protect my privacy.”

“Now’s not the time to play with words!”

Freda struck her desk, causing it to shake. As the shaking subsided, they could clearly hear the sound of footsteps.

“Dr. Senet’s enthusiasm is always amazing to be doing such intense research even at night.”

“Ah!”

It was Melchior who entered her lab. Freda wasn’t surprised at all, like the prince’s sudden visit was commonplace, but she practically sprinted in front of him once she realized who it was.

“I have something to report. Excellent news.”

He had no time to interrupt. Freda reported all the experiments so far, summarizing it all into a brief report. Even Melchior, whose expression rarely changed, seemed taken slightly aback.

“Let’s organize the report and share the formula with the researchers. Of course, we need to know the duration of [Ether Activity], so continue observing. Report to me every day.”

“Okay.”

“And…”

Kleio flinched as he listened to their conversation; Promise had begun to glow.

[Unique skill: The charm of □□□]

[―Gives users a strong charm to gain love and admiration.

―Grants strong, convincing power to the user’s voice

User: Melchior Reignan]

Freda had forgotten all about Kleio and was staring fervently at Melchior with a sincerity that could scorch someone.

“Until I’m home, please don’t tell anyone else about who discovered it. I will deal with patent-related matters separately. I trust you, Dr. Senet.”

“I will do as directed.”

Kleio had to cover his mouth to hide his shock.

‘She works well even when brainwashed…’

Now, even if Freda was tortured, she would never tell who discovered the formula. At least that was one less hurdle for him. However, Melchior’s attention soon turned to him.

“Sir Kleio, I think I have quite a few things to discuss with you. Can you give me some time?”

Melchior’s words were only an invitation in form, not an offer that could be rejected.

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