Chapter 49: Principia

< Chapter 49: Principia – 1 >The technological development of this world was exceedingly peculiar.

At least, from my perspective as someone who had lived on Earth in a past life, it seemed that way. Especially the technology related to ‘means of transportation.’

Despite the presence of factories and printing presses, which indicated that they weren’t lacking in technological prowess, there was hardly anything that could be called ‘modern transportation’ aside from the transcontinental trains that traversed the Empire and neighboring countries.

There were no airships or submarines. Even if such technology didn’t exist, it would have been one thing, but their very existence was quite widely known. Nonetheless, the nobility still rode in carriages rather than cars, and there were no reports of planes or submarines being used as ‘means of transportation.’

Therefore, there had been some points I found quite puzzling until now─.

“Wow, that’s terrifying.”

“Hoho, is that so…? It’s a familiar sight for a mage…”

The mystery was completely solved when I saw the numerous wrecked airplanes embedded pitifully in the ‘test airfield’ owned by the Magic Tower. It was clear that the perception of ‘planes = death’ would take hold.

“Are these unfinished prototypes made for experimental purposes?”

“Nooo… they’re all finished products… with a few having been statistically proven to be ‘capable of flying’ a couple of times…”

“Then why are they all in such a state?”

“Probability issues…”

“Excuse me?”

The mage kindly explained what the problem was, interspersing her self-praise and stories from the past, which took about 30 minutes.

The ‘magic studies’ of this world were indeed hard for me to grasp─.

But I could understand a fragment of it. To summarize what I understood briefly:

“You can’t create overly complex machines?”

“It’s not that we can’t make them… it just takes a loooot of time and budget, that’s all…?”

In this world, it was impossible for ‘complex machines’ to be operated long-term. This was due to the existence of ‘magic,’ which played with ‘probability’ at its whim.

For example, there would be various probabilities for an object like an ‘airplane’ to crash.

Structurally, it might not receive enough lift, there could be an issue within the engine preventing it from generating thrust, or it might simply lose balance and plummet to the ground. These problems could normally be prevented through maintenance.

However, as the complexity of the machine increased, ‘magic’ would, in a more subtle and unpredictable manner, make the probabilities of the machine breaking down ‘equal.’

It was as if ‘complexity’ itself was being rejected.

“If we gather enough data to predict everything, mass-produce planes to standardize them… it’s possible… but the history of ‘attempting to fly and then crashing’ runs too deep… it’s challenging to secure that kind of budget…”

“I see.”

“Being a mage is quite a headache, you know…?”

Unlike the relatively simple printing press, which had substantial budget investment for the purpose of ‘printing scriptures,’ the means of transportation had too many variables.

“Once a certain level of ‘probability’ is captured, things become much easier. When a route is established, the likelihood of accidents decreases dramatically while traveling along the same path. That’s why trains running along railroads were quickly commercialized.”

“Yes, I understand. But why did you call me here?”

“Well, I wanted to ask Herodotus the author to use some magic…?”

“Pardon?”

“I would like you to lend us your magic.”

“Excuse me?”

* * *

Quite a long time had passed since I had been reincarnated in this world, but I had never thought about learning ‘magic.’

Because of my rather twisted inclinations, I spent time reading another book rather than getting excited about supernatural phenomena like magic. Hence, the idea of me using ‘magic’ had never crossed my mind.

“To be precise, it’s enough for you to lend us your magical imagination.”

“Hmm, what exactly is this ‘magical imagination’? I think a similar topic came up last time.”

“It’s the ability to concretize possibilities.”

The chief mage smiled and led me somewhere. It wasn’t far; it was where the wreckage of the crashed airplanes was embedded.

The mage picked up a few slender wooden fragments from there and began stacking them in a grid pattern, creating a small altar-like structure.

“There are various concepts and ways to realize magic, but let’s start with the most common method of the Blue Magic Tower. The Blue Magic Tower operates on the premise that ‘things that resemble each other, resemble each other.’ For example, a small twig by itself is merely a material that can become anything. However, if you stack the twigs in the shape of a campfire and add some dry leaves in between…”

When the mage snapped her fingers, a small, bright yellow flame rose from the tiny altar—or rather, the campfire model. The flames consumed all the dry leaves and quickly died out, leaving only embers behind.

“Like this, you can light a fire. Therefore, the mages of the Blue Magic Tower spend all day making, installing, and replicating things. It’s practically a junk warehouse there.”

“I see.”

“Now, let’s try the method of the White Magic Tower. The White Magic Tower operates on the premise that ‘the same event occurs in the same place.’”

The mage took out a piece of paper from her pocket and quickly folded it into a ‘paper airplane.’ When she threw the paper airplane, it flew well but suddenly plunged almost exactly where the wreckage of the crashed airplanes lay.

“Thus, the mages of the White Magic Tower wander around various places daily, recording the events that occur there, and studying the homogeneity between different spaces. Consequently, the White Magic Tower is always deserted because everyone is outside. There’s also a story that this is why the sick who go on a ‘pilgrimage’ to the place where the Savior was resurrected are healed.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Honestly, there are many unknown aspects of the church’s affairs or blessings, so we just accept it as it is.”

The mage shrugged his shoulders and this time, picked up a thick tree branch, lightly striking the wreckage of the airplane with it. The thick-looking branch broke absurdly easily, just like the wreckage of the airplane.

“At the Red Magic Tower, they operate on the premise that ‘similar effects can be observed when contacting similar objects’… This was the same method I used to boil water in the kettle and brew tea before….”

“Ah, I see.”

“And there are also those like the Purple Magic Tower, which deals with the human mind, based on the notion that ‘human perception is imperfect and can mistake anything for something else’… and the Black Magic Tower, which believes ‘if you can’t predict what will happen, it’s not strange for anything to happen’….”

“But, Chief Mage, you’re a mage of the ‘Gray Magic Tower,’ right?”

“Hehe…. That’s correct…. The magic of the Gray Magic Tower that I pursue can be said to be the foundation of all magic and the definitive truth of all possibilities….”

With a smile full of pride, the Chief Mage pounded his chest with his fist.

Then, as if he had hit too hard and hurt himself, he let out a groan of ‘ouch, ouch’ and bent over for a moment, before naturally continuing his explanation as if nothing had happened.

“The Gray Magic Tower explores magic based on the premise that ‘if the cause is the same, the result is also the same’…. The magic of the Gray Magic Tower is to identify the cause and reproduce the result under the belief that there is a causal relationship in everything…. Cause and effect, karma, past and future, causality… everything…. Hahaha….”

“That sounds quite impressive.”

“The Gray Magic Tower is also the one that completed the standard ‘printing press’ used in the empire…. Especially in dealing with such ‘machines,’ we are the best… There is no clearer causal relationship than the action of force….”

“Ah, I see.”

So the Gray Magic Tower was a group of engineers. No wonder the Chief Mage always seemed worn out with dark circles under his eyes.

I looked at the Chief Mage, feeling a strange sense of amusement.

The mage, seemingly entranced by his own explanations, continued to speak in a slightly tipsy voice.

“And in my view as the Chief Mage, Mr. Herodotus has a natural talent for the ‘Gray Magic Tower’…. The ability to understand the causal relationships of things… The deductive reasoning shown in Sherlock Holmes and the magical imagination shown in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea… With such abilities, I believe Mr. Herodotus could surely utilize it….”

It sounded as mysterious as the prophecy of a blind soothsayer.

“To write a magic book…!”

* * *

After the impressive meeting with the Chief Mage, I leaned back in the chair where I always sat to read and fell into deep thought.

The narcissistic mage’s request was etched in my mind, impossible to forget.

The more I recalled it, the harder it became to erase from my memory.

Was this also some kind of ‘magic’?

I wasn’t sure.

“Magical imagination….” Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ n0vᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Magical imagination. Borrowing from my past life’s memories, it was ‘scientific imagination.’ Something more aligned with the realms of natural science and engineering rather than literature.

Writing that into a ‘book’ wouldn’t be that difficult. I hadn’t only translated literature; I had often translated non-fiction as well. In fact, during my undergraduate years, I had delved into more non-fiction-related papers than literature.

It wasn’t for any special reason, just because he was a science major.

A conversation he had with a junior in his past life came to mind.

– “Huh? Senior, did you graduate from an engineering school?”

– “Yeah. It didn’t really suit my aptitude, but do I not seem like it?”

– “No, it’s not that you don’t seem like it. You have a very strong literary vibe. You translate directly from French to English, Russian, and German without any intermediate language. So I thought you graduated from a translation and interpretation graduate school.”

– “I did graduate from a translation and interpretation graduate school. But that’s what my undergraduate years were like.”

– “Why?”

– “What kind of question is that?”

– “Were you kind of like an engineering student back then?”

– “What do you mean by ‘engineering student-like’? That I wouldn’t be popular with girls?”

– “No.”

– “You’re quite firm on that.”

– “So why did you go to engineering school?”

– “Because I was a science major. At that time, cross-application was difficult.”

– “Why did you choose to be a science major?”

– “You ask a lot of questions…. I thought the humanities would be boring.”

– “What?”

– “The subjects in humanities are things like ethics, sociology, economics, law, and history….”

– “What’s law?”

– “Law and politics.”

– “Isn’t it politics and law?”

– “Huh? Isn’t it law and politics? Well, it’s been a long time, so I don’t remember well. Anyway, before choosing my electives, I read the textbooks and reference books for those subjects….”

– “You read them?”

– “That’s a literary person’s refinement. But I already knew everything. I thought I could get most of the exam questions right without studying.”

– “And then?”

– “Well? Since learning something I already knew would be a waste of time, I chose to study what I didn’t know, so I went into the sciences.”

– “Senior.”

– “Yes.”

– “Are you crazy?”

– “You have no reservations about speaking to your senior like that….”

Anyway, for that reason, I was half a science major in my previous life.

Thanks to that, translating non-fiction itself wasn’t particularly difficult. It just gave me a bit of hesitation.

The reason for spreading adventure trends and ‘this world’s laws’ was ultimately to reduce the influence of ‘Earth.’

To hasten that time, is it right to spread ‘Earth’s science’ here? I’m not sure.

“Hmm…. Magic, magic….”

In fact, I think there are clearly parts where entirely different laws operate in this world compared to my previous life. There is something like the World Tree, and the beastmen, which are somewhat peculiar beings from the perspective of biology in my past life.

But there are also clearly similar elements.

Gravity, action and reaction, inertia, light—there were many self-evident principles and laws necessary to maintain this ‘physical world.’

So it should be fine to start with the ‘clear’ things.

Not the science of my past life, but rather the more self-evident and clear truths. I took a manuscript from the nightstand and placed it on the desk.

On the cover of the manuscript, the title was written as follows:

[Principia]

Principia. The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.

Author: Isaac Newton.

“Ugh, suddenly getting high school PTSD….”

Even though I had chosen chemistry and physics as elective subjects and graduated from an engineering school, science never really became familiar to me.

Not at all.