Chapter 1.
“So, Bishop Anson, according to your view, the developnt of magitech is an act of blasphemy against the gods?”
“Exactly! Especially you! Logaris, your previous theories seriously—” Bishop Anson had just begun to continue when he was interrupted.
“Then, Bishop Anson, I must regretfully point out—” Logaris spread his hands. “Your intelligence is probably inferior to that of a rockhorn sheep.”
Saint Arcadia Academy, Public Debate Hall.
Logaris West, the youngest professor in the academy’s history, was currently launching a rciless personal attack against the clergy mber opposite him with a tone so calm it was almost harsh.
“At the very least, a rockhorn sheep understands that it must eat grass to sustain its life. As for you, Bishop Anson, you appear only capable of inhaling air and converting it into garbage that you then excrete from your mouth.”
Logaris spoke in a tranquil tone, as though he were stating an objective fact.
The entire hall fell silent.
All the students watched the scene with excitent. Several bold ones in the front row had already taken out their recording crystals and were secretly capturing this marvelous “academic assault,” preparing to use it later as conversation material during als with their classmates.
Bishop Anson took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the anger in his chest. His voice beca low and threatening.
“Logaris West! Do not think that becoming a professor at Saint Arcadia Academy ans you can do whatever you want! Sooner or later you will pay the price for what you said today.”
“A price?” Logaris raised an eyebrow. “Are you threatening a Fifth-Tier Archmage? Or are you planning to personally engage in a battle between scholars?”
Logaris made no effort to hide the contempt in his voice.
Several suppressed laughs ca from the audience below the stage.
Arrogant. Absolutely arrogant.
Bishop Anson could not catch his breath for a mont. He could only forcefully salvage his dignity and say, “God will punish you, blaspher!”
“Punish ?” Logaris sneered. “Do you an like last ti, when you sent ten Holy Knights to ‘visit’ my laboratory, only for them to be trapped inside my defensive formation for three days and three nights?”
“Seriously, if your Holy Church truly possesses such great divine power, why not simply have your god descend and deliver divine punishnt directly?”
“Oh, my apologies. I nearly forgot—your god has not responded to anyone’s prayers for almost a hundred years.”
The students in the front row exchanged glances, as if realizing what Logaris was about to say. They quietly shifted their chairs backward, attempting to distance themselves from the center of the storm that was about to erupt.
“In other words, your god abandoned you long ago.” Logaris spoke the sentence that was practically taboo to mbers of the Church.
“You—!”
Bishop Anson’s eyes suddenly widened. He opened his mouth, yet no sound ca out. His lips trembled violently. Finally, his eyes rolled back and he collapsed straight backward.
“His Excellency the Bishop!”
“Quick! Call a healing priest!”
The scene instantly descended into chaos.
Logaris, however, behaved as if nothing had happened. He calmly straightened his collar and, under the awed gazes of the surrounding students, turned around and left the hall.
“My heavens… that must be the fifth clergy mber Professor Logaris has angered into fainting this month, right?”
“It is the sixth! Last week the professor also made a monk who ca looking for trouble faint in the library!”
“That was incredible… Is this the youngest Fifth-Tier Archmage in the history of Saint Arcadia? Not only is he invincible in academics, his tongue is just as vicious!”
“I heard the professor is only twenty-two. Do you think he has soone he likes?”
“I do not think so, but… I heard that when the professor studied at the academy, his relationship with Princess Sylvia was rather unusual… Supposedly the two of them used to stay up all night in the library researching magitech theory together. They were extrely close…”
“Hm? I heard that the professor and Her Highness the Princess are practically sworn enemies…”
“Quiet! Do you want the professor to hear you? Last ti a senior student ntioned the princess in front of him. After that, the professor called on him to answer questions in every class!”
The chatter gradually faded behind Logaris.
He walked through the marble corridor of the academy’s main building. Magical portraits of past principals hung on both sides of the walls.
The old n in the paintings pointed and whispered about him. So shook their heads and sighed, while others secretly chuckled. Logaris ignored them completely.
After turning past the corridor and climbing a spiral staircase, Logaris finally returned to his private research laboratory located at the top floor of the academy tower.
He pushed open the door to the research room, and the familiar chaos rushed toward him.
The long table was piled with densely drawn magitech circuit diagrams. Several half-finished magitech cores were scattered nearby, along with a magitech gun that had been dismantled into pieces.
On the bookshelf in the corner, alchemical materials and experintal notes were stuffed together in complete disorder. The only tidy place was the workbench beside the window—where a chanical gauntlet rested.
Inside the laboratory, Logaris' assistant, Ryan, was waiting cautiously while holding a stack of newly completed experint reports.
“Professor… Her Highness the Princess just sent a magical reply.”
Ryan handed over a docunt sealed with the royal insignia. His expression looked sowhat hesitant.
Logaris took the letter and swept it with his spiritual power. The contents instantly appeared in his mind.
[Regarding the massive funding application for thirteen research projects including “Synthesizing Nutritional Paste from Air and Water,” rejected.]
[Reason: Absurd.]
[Note: Logaris, stop trying to waste my valuable ti with such ridiculous ideas. Also, the fully automatic coffee machine you applied for last ti is still gathering dust in my drawer. Rember to co take it away. —Sylvia]
“Sylvia! That woman must be doing this on purpose! What does she know about it?!”
Ryan silently took two steps backward toward the door, ready to flee at any mont.
Over the years he had already grown accustod to the strange interaction between the professor and the princess. They were childhood companions who had cooperated for years since their academy days, yet they constantly argued with each other. Even so, they had never truly fallen out.
Logaris angrily grabbed the communication crystal on the table and directly poured magic power into it.
The crystal lit up, and a screen of light appeared. Sylvia’s pale face erged upon it.
She wore silver-white riding attire. Her moonlight-like long hair was tied up, giving her a valiant and spirited appearance. The background was her office, where nurous governntal docunts were neatly arranged across her desk.
“Logaris, I knew you would contact . I believe I already explained myself clearly.” Sylvia’s beautiful face showed obvious impatience.
“What do you understand?!” Logaris slamd his fist onto the table. “This is the first step toward solving the food problem. It is the foundation for reforming society! You control freak who only knows those flashy yet useless political tricks!”
“A control freak?” Inside the communication crystal, Sylvia’s voice suddenly rose sharply. “Logaris, if it were not for my ‘flashy and useless political tricks,’ you would have been dragged to a stake and burned by the Church while you were still studying at the academy!”
She leaned forward, almost appearing to erge from the crystal.
“Do you think those heretical theories of yours could have been published on their own? Who do you think blocked those old fossils in parliant when they tried to impeach you?!”
“I do not have ti to waste arguing with you. I have to prepare for a eting with those idiotic pigs in the Upper House.”
The communication was abruptly cut off by Sylvia. The crystal dimd.
Logaris stared at the darkened crystal in silence for two seconds. Then he raised his middle finger toward the empty air.
Ryan asked quietly from the corner, “Professor, actually, Her Highness Sylvia approved the funding for the military magitech equipnt project you applied for last month. It was a full one hundred thousand Golden Lion Coins…”
“I do not want to hear that woman’s na right now.”
Ryan wisely shut his mouth. “Alright then, Professor. I have not finished my research project yet, so I will leave first…”
He fled from the laboratory as if escaping.
The door closed, and the research room fell silent.
Logaris leaned back in his chair, irritably scratching his hair. Finally he muttered softly, “One hundred thousand Golden Lion Coins… at least she still has so conscience.”
Knock knock knock.
The door was knocked again.
“Professor, I forgot to ntion…” Ryan poked half his body through the door while holding a beautifully wrapped square box. “The guard at the entrance said there was an anonymous delivery for you. No one knows where it ca from. The sender field is empty, and there is not even a magical tracking mark.”
Logaris did not even turn his head. “Understood.”
Ryan placed the box on the storage shelf by the door and truly left this ti.
The research room fell silent again.
Logaris' gaze was soon drawn to the mysterious package.
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