Chapter 36: Lecture (3)

༺ Lecture (3) ༻

Since using the blackboard to explain the concepts behind my theory would be troublesome, I took out Isabel’s coffin from my subspace and started controlling her.

Soon she conjured water and transformed it into ice……

Planes, lines, dots, and other three-dimensional constructs were made from the ice, and then she suspended them in the air.

“When one realizes that simple dots, when connected, can give birth to lines with variable lengths, and when those lines are stacked together, they form a plane or surface with a determinate width, and those planes or surfaces can be bent to form a shape of certain volume…… I’m sure all of you are already aware of this simple fact.”

“……”

“However, this alone does not establish a solid foundation, so we have to further analyze these concepts through magical formulas.”

Length, Width, Volume.

These are all units that can be used to measure mana.

In order to establish a foundation, it is necessary to understand the correlation between these three units of measure — the casual relationship*.

“Then…..Let’s go back to square one.”

Disregarding lines, planes, and shapes.

Focusing only on the dot.

“The dot, the mark zero, the beginning where no concept exists. However, if we stretch this dot countless times, it will form a line with length, and from then on, we can start recognizing magical phenomenons at Keter level…….”

From the single dot of ice hovering in the air, a line was drawn.

“Why is this simple line created from a dot a concept capable of differentiating what’s above it and what’s below? Is it simply because this dot now has Length? This isn’t wrong. However, it is not completely right either. This is nothing more than a byproduct of the results.”

“……”

“To be precise, this line has now transcended the time axis of the dot, and now it has become an omniscient presence, capable of observing everything about the dot at once……. That would be the correct explanation.”

“Aren’t you just making this needlessly complicated?”

I smirked a little upon hearing the old man’s remarks.

“I see. From now on, I shall explain it in a simpler way.”

Every single strand of ice hovering in the air takes a new color.

“In the world of lines, only the concept of length exists. Therefore, only lines like these blue and red ones are allowed to exist. They can only move from left to right, so when we focus on the lines of a different color……”

Turning the ice in a new line, I set it upfront.

“You will recognize them as a dot.”

Some of those present here have already noticed where I’m going with this.

Lines that are impossible to categorize as ‘Line’ itself.

“And if we go a step further and add the y-axis, the blue and red lines that are currently residing on the X-axis will have to bend their shape…….”

While I was speaking, I enlarged the parts of the red and blue lines that are connected with the Y-axis.

“After introducing both y and x-axises, as all of you can notice, those lines now have gained a zigzag pattern…… And looking at this, we can clearly notice both the beginning and the end of those lines at once.”

Now, if we add the Z-axis to this, then this plane will become Three-dimensional.

In other words……

“A higher level concept is capable of observing sustainedly the beginning and the end of a lower concept because the higher level concept transcends the plane of the lower level one……This is the definition of the hierarchy that makes it possible for us to recognize the composition of magical phenomenons with dots, lines, planes, and three-dimensional shapes.”

I took this opportunity to drink the tea that Alphonse prepared in advance as I dispelled the ice.

“If you have questions, just raise your hand.”

“Hmmm, I don’t understand your words about ‘transcending the axis’……”

After listening to old man Roswell’s question, I made Isabel conjure a large block of ice in the shape of a square.

“Assume that this is a drawing paper.”

“Yes.”

“And……”

In the middle of the large square-shaped block of ice, a small one surged in a sophisticated way.

“If this small square becomes a three-dimensional cube, it cannot exist in the same 2d plane as the drawing paper anymore. Because the moment one acquires volume, they won’t belong to the two-dimensional plane of the drawing paper. This is what it means to transcend the axis.”

“So…. According to your words, we, who are three-dimensional beings, will be thrown out of this world if we become something of a higher concept?”

“In theory, yes.”

“Hmmm…….”

“Also, from the perspective of a higher being, they would be able to see both your beginning and your end simultaneously. If we could compare this situation to a figure, it would be something like this.”

The four-dimensional hypercube — the tesseract was formed with ice, as the cube continued to project its rotation as all the people present here stared at it.

“This figure could exemplify the concept of a higher existence in a lower dimension since we all can see this fourth-dimensional shape……However, our comprehension will be significantly lower since we are still not able to fully recognize it. Therefore, the principal method of understanding this should be by using formulas, as we have always done to understand magical concepts lower than Thaumiel-class.”

The auditorium was silent.

There were no ranks after Thaumiel.

Because that’s the highest level a wizard has reached in the history.

“Does anyone have any more questions?”

In the vast auditorium, Yuriel raised her hand.

“…… Please state your question, Professor Yuriel.”

“You said that those residing in higher dimensions can observe the lower dimension, right? Then how can we, as three-dimensional beings, be able to observe all the sides of a solid body then?”

“Actually, that is only partially correct because we can only observe certain parts of a solid body over time. Imagine this scenario. If you have thrown a dice and wanted to observe all of its sides, then you would need to move it.”

“You can also use a mirror to see the blind side.”

“The mirror reflection is simply a two-dimensional plane. And you would need to arrange several mirrors to see all the sides of a dice, and waste time registering this information—-”

“Ah……. I understood already.”

Yuriel rudely interrupted my explanation.

A rude woman indeed.

“Tsk–”

So, on purpose, I made a loud, displeased sound.

Since Yuriel’s actions could be considered quite rude from the perspective of a third person, she received a lot of mocking glances.

“……”

Yuriel, who was on the receiving end of so many glares, blushed, then hid her face behind her hat.

This should be enough.

Therefore, without further questions, I ended my lecture.

* * * * *

“It’s working…..!”

As soon as Ferzen left the auditorium, some wizards began experimenting with his theories, and some even succeeded in recognizing the composition of their magic formulas as dots, lines, planes, and shapes.

The more intuitive the recognition of a magical formula is, the easier it is to counter it or change it, so it wasn’t a surprise that many were feeling excited.

“……”

Although mad, Yuriel still recognized the weight of his concept as she clenched her fist.

Because her pride would not allow her to show her eagerness.

‘Also……’

Tsk…..I had another question too…..

What should I do?

I got annoyed there and did those rude things. Now everyone is looking with those same gazes.

Leaving the auditorium, Yuriel returned to the main building and went to her office.

‘…… Is he here?’

The office right next to her – 404.

The office of Ferzen Von Schweig Louerg.

Yuriel reluctantly held the doorknob and pondered……

Well….it is his fault that I have another question, no?

Knock.

Knock.

After knocking, the young woman proceeded to open the door and went inside.

“Excuse me……”

Perhaps a little self-conscious of her behavior, Yuriel meekly entered his office and flinched under his gaze.

“Sorry for that. My physical condition soured my mood, and said those rude remarks to you…..”

“Really, Yuriel….. blaming your behavior on some sickness is a really convenient thing.”

“You wouldn’t know what it’s like…….”

Yuriel pouts and pushes her hat.

Truthfully, she didn’t expect him to accept her apology when the same man broke the ankles of a 10-year-old kid when she apologized to him.

However, since she didn’t want to worsen the situation, she swallowed her words.

“So….why are you here?”

“You said that one can possibly ascend to a higher concept by transcending the time axis.”

“That is correct.”

“Then if we accelerate at an overwhelming pace, we’ll…….”

Ferzen nodded his head at Yuriel’s conjecture.

The people in this world are already aware of the vague correlation between speed and time.

“As you said, but if we manage to achieve this acceleration and reach the speed of light….. then we would be thrown out of this world.”

“Ah……”

“However, an object with mass—”

“Can’t be faster than light, so it’s impossible to prove it.”

“Yuriel, you have a rather bothersome habit of interrupting people when they are speaking.”

“And I told you not to refer to me in a friendly tone.”

Yuriel glared at Ferzen.

However, Ferzen wasn’t troubled by her gaze in the slightest as he opened his mouth and said in a mocking tone.

“Isn’t it obvious that your body would not be able to resist that speed and will simply crumble? I’m even more curious that you were interested in something like this.”

Ferzen, who glanced at Yuriel’s bosom quickly, which today stood out visually, smirked and got up from his desk.

Ferzen intentionally fails to focus when he looks at other people, and this alone strains his eyes a lot……

However, how stressful would it be for him to deliberately unfocus his vision when a huge pair of mounds were shaking in front of him?

On the other hand, Yuriel, who was unaware of his struggles, blushed and pointed her finger at Ferzen as she started to yell at him.

“Hey! You….! You keep harassing me every time you see me! Tell me the truth, you still have feelings for me, don’t you?”

Yuriel thought that Ferzen’s behavior towards her was similar to that of a child who would constantly prank someone for attention.

“Yuriel, if I still held feelings for you, then I wouldn’t have canceled our engagement.”

When they were only one step apart, Ferzen pressed down on Yuriel’s hat.

“You seem to be feeling rather self-conscious today, Yuriel.”

“Hey, don’t touch that……!”

“Now, who is blocking my door while saying such nonsense?”

“……”

Fixing her hat, Yuriel stepped aside.

Ferzen, who had already left his office, looked at Yuriel, still frozen in place.

“Yuriel, aren’t you coming? Or do you wish to stay in my office until I return?”

Thud!

At Ferzen’s words, Yuriel tried to rush out of the office with such speed that she ended up tripping and falling as her bountiful chest wavered.

“Ah, it hurts…… Can you help me here and close this wretched door……”

“Really….what a troublesome woman.”

Ferzen, chuckling at the absurdity of this situation, activated his ❰Digitization❱ talent and turned the doorknob to the perfect level.

After coming down to the first floor of the Administrative Building, Ferzen stopped by the department’s office to receive the necessary forms and schedule of the corpses being handed to his students.”

‘The time……’

It’s past 10:30 A.M now…. so I should arrive at the mansion around 10:50.

Afterwards, I’ll have lunch with Euphemia and sleep with her while embracing her body on this beautiful day……

Truly, what a good day.

* * * * *

“It’s done, My Lady.”

Wearing a light pink lolita dress embroidered with flowers and cute frillings under her sleeves and skirt.

The color of her dress also harmonized with her own skin tone, creating a refreshing and calm look.

Since the sunlight was a little strong today, Euphemia was also holding a parasol and wearing a hat, as she held a basket of sandwiches in her other hand.

After she had gone on a date with Ferzen around the Capital…….

Euphemia planned to pick a ferry through the Thisbe River and look around the Capital landmarks.

And sandwiches were the perfect snack to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Then, as the maids approached, Euphemia left the room and went to the gardens.

“Oh……”

A strong gust of wind passed by her, carrying her hat away.

“……”

But the one who picked her hat wasn’t her maids but Ferzen, who had just returned from his lecture.

“Did you plan on going out?”

“……Yes.”

Fatigue lingered on his face.

His tired complexion, coupled with the frown forming on his face, almost made her give up on her plans, as she thought that he wouldn’t allow her to go out.

But since she prepared those sandwiches by herself……

Tug.

Euphemia mustered her courage and grabbed the hem of Ferzen’s suit.

“I…..Even prepared these…..I did my best….”

“……”

“I will just go out for a moment then…….”

“……”

Euphemia desperately appealed to Ferzen’s goodwill as she lifted the basket of sandwiches in front of him, but his silence was concerning……

Euphemia didn’t even finish her sentence, but she lowered her hands as if she had resigned.

“You can go.”

But just as she was about to lose all hope, Ferzen, who was still holding her hat, gently placed it back over her head as he gave her permission to go out, Euphemia’s eyes grew wide upon hearing this, and her lips started to tremble.

“What. Did you think I would lock you in our room forever?”

“……”

“I’m not raising a dog, Euphemia. If you want to go somewhere, you can.”

“……Thank you.”

Euphemia replied awkwardly as she wasn’t expecting him to let her go.

“But when the owner is back, the dog has to greet him while shaking its tail happily…….”

Ferzen looks at Euphemia as his voice subsides near the end of his sentence.

Euphemia hesitated a little……

“……Welcome back…..”

She said in a hushed tone.

“Good. Remember to return before the sunset.”

Ferzen then passed by her and entered the mansion.

And beyond the closing door, his figure slowly fades away……

Euphemia stood still as she watched her husband’s fading back for a long time.

* A causal relationship is one in which a change in one of the variables directly causes a change in the other variable.