NOVPUBProfessor Landry’s research was excessively transcendent, as if he were studying the creations of deities, leaving others unsure whether the professor was speaking truth or had gone mad.
"This isn’t civilian magical engineering at all—it’s pure Imperial military engineering!"
"Where did you get the energy source?"
Talia didn’t understand what Lanci meant by ’energy source.’
High-performance explosives were fine, she knew what principle they worked on since she had watched Lanci eagerly advancing from First-order to Sixth-order explosives as if he was born to research bombs.
But the god-made energy source Lanci mentioned was something even Talia, Lanci’s most respected and beloved teacher, had never heard of.
The Allied Forces’ assassin, Miss Unity, whom she had encountered on the Magic Power Rail Train of Bulida, would sooner or later come for him if she learned he was teaching Magic Engineering Principles at the Saint Kray Temple.
"Tata, have you heard of the Philosopher’s Stone?"
Lanci asked her.
"What is that?"
Talia responded with a thought.
"The Philosopher’s Stone is an extremely powerful alchemical item that allows one to ignore the basic rule of alchemy—equivalent exchange. It means that the alchemist using the Philosopher’s Stone can create or transform matter without providing equivalent value. The process of creating the Philosopher’s Stone actually involves using a large number of human lives, which makes it highly morally controversial."
Lanci answered.
"Does such a thing really exist...?"
Talia recalled that there were similar legends in the Demon Race, but they were merely rumors, and she had neither seen them nor knew the secret recipe.
According to Lanci, even if it existed, the Philosopher’s Stone could not defy alchemical principles, and the conversion rate would be very low; it would require the sacrifice of an entire nation to create a Philosopher’s Stone powerful enough to destroy a nation.
"It exists."
Lanci said.
"How do you know?"
Talia asked.
"..."
Lanci fell silent.
"..."
Talia also remained silent.
You brat, you don’t have the formula, do you?!
"Using humans for the creation might be morally wrong, but there is another species that is different; they consume human blood daily, which inherently parallels the process needed to create the Philosopher’s Stone. Using them for the creation is like confiscating illegal gains."
Lanci explained earnestly to Talia. 𝚗ovp𝚞b.𝚌om
"In collaboration with the Necalis Institute and the help of modern technology provided by the Great Love Poet, the Demon Race genius True Night Lady Esmod almost crafted its prototype. We just need to capture enough of the Blood Clan to refine it into the Philosopher’s Stone."
Initially, in the Demon King’s Castle, capturing the Fourth Ancestor Eduado and the Tenth Ancestor Ulysses proved too challenging as their blood was not easy to refine into an energy source. It was Count Gregory, captured in the Land of Perpetual Night with Siegler, whose blood was more amenable to being refined into a semi-completed Philosopher’s Stone.
There were no Blood Clan to capture in the Hutton Kingdom, but now that they had come to the Cerryti Empire, Lanci’s research project could finally proceed.
"What the hell are you playing with, taboo things!"
"Don’t worry Tata, when my research is published with the Allied Forces, I will include a thank you to you. After all, the subsequent work needs you, the modern Demon Race genius, and me to complete it."
"This isn’t a thank you; this is a defamation!"
Listening, she almost wanted to report this human.
If Lanci was going to put her name on the journal, she would have a serious problem with him.
During the Holy War of the Demon Race, the Demon Race rarely considered using a large number of living humans for human alchemy to generate high-quality concentrated energy.
And high-order members of the Blood Clan were naturally undead beings that came into existence after refining countless humans, containing bio-energy equivalent to countless times that of a human.
This guy, apart from sunning the Blood Clan, eating them, detonating them, has now begun researching their refinement.
In your past life, how much did you hate the Blood Clan to torment them like this in this life?
In the depths of the large classroom on the fourth floor of the Elliot Building, the noise fermented for a while before Professor Landry spoke again.
"Upon ensuring the goals of the course, I might add some content not covered by the original syllabus. Of course, this part is entirely voluntary and will not be included in the assessment. I also welcome more students to audit; this is an open classroom."
He looked at the students,
"Regarding new energy-related issues, I will probably disclose their principles after the technologies are matured, and I am not going to hoard them but will turn them over to the government. Moreover, standing here, my purpose is to impart knowledge to you. The future of the Cerryti Empire cannot depend on any one person but on everyone, including me, you, and us all."
Covering content uniquely belonging to his own field of Magical Engineering in a single course undoubtedly meant that the lecturer had reached the pinnacle of his specialty.
Although the students below the stage were skeptical about the new energy, just looking at the content on the glass, which they could hardly comprehend in a short time, made them feel that this professor was not without real abilities.
"Interesting."
A clear voice imperceptibly arose from the seats of the noble students on the right side of the classroom.
Hearing this, Elsa Washington, who was focused on listening to the lecture on the left side among the civilian students, had her ears tremble.
She quickly masked her reaction and looked keenly toward the noble girl in the distance.
The girl she stared at from afar had blue-purple hair and eyes. Her skin was so fair it seemed almost transparent, and her delicate features were like an artisan’s artwork, with a handsome charm that made it hard to look away.
It seemed she noticed Elsa’s gaze, for the blue-purple-haired girl also looked towards Elsa Washington.
"Ursula, please don’t mess with my brother."
Elsa looked at her with some concern, silently and anxiously telling her through lip-reading across the distance.
Then she looked again at the lecturer on the stage, her slightly distant yet always mysterious brother, Landry.
She never expected their reunion would be in a classroom of Saint Kray Monastery.
"What do you mean you want to mess with my brother?"
The girl named Ursula pretended to be angry as she looked at Elsa, her lips carrying a playful smile and even squinting her eyes.
"..."
Elsa no longer stared at the far right of the classroom, wasting no time with the real nobility.
Ursula Roland.
Her family, the Roland family, was one of the most prestigious noble houses in the Santar Empire, and Ursula was the sister of the current Marquis and Ninth Army God Ryan Roland, having met Elsa since high school.
True to her reputation as the Griffin Heiress, she embodied both beauty and talent.
As a freshman at the Saint Kray Monastery’s Faculty of Magical Engineering who quickly became famous, Ursula’s illustrious lineage, stunning beauty, and exceptional talent made everyone envious.
However, geniuses are often hard to tame; such an almost perfect girl, always doing eccentric things like acting capriciously without worrying about losing grace or shaming her family.
She seemed to always irritate Marquis Ryan, but he never bothered with her.
Ursula Roland, in the eyes of the teachers at Saint Kray Monastery, was nothing less than a ticking time bomb; if she found she couldn’t satisfy everyone, she would make sure everyone was dissatisfied.
Having a brother like the Ninth Army God, Ryan, holder of the Purple Crystal, no one dared to retaliate against her.
When they learned that the lecturer was the newly-arrived, little-known Landry Washington, Ursula’s curious smile already made others uneasy.
She and Elsa, being among the few lower-year students in this Level 4 class and having known each other for a long time and being highly interested in Elsa, targeting Elsa’s brother wasn’t surprising.
"May the Great Goddess bless, and give some of my merit to my brother."
Elsa prayed quietly, desperately praying that the Goddess of Destiny, seeing her constant good deeds, would help Landry handle Ursula well.
