1.
‘That person’s here again.’
At the largest library in Millennium Academy’s campus, the librarian, a girl, glanced at someone who’d caught her attention rather frequently lately while she worked.
Now that Millennium had officially entered the exam period, the number of visitors had increased. But there weren’t many who captured the librarian’s attention.
Not just in terms of looks, but in particular, people who visited in the afternoon, stayed until late, focused with a frightening level of concentration, and only left right before the librarian was about to close for the day weren’t the kind to stick in her memory.
Sitting at the counter, the librarian propped her chin on her hand while staring at a girl with white hair.
It couldn’t be helped; her attention was drawn to her.
“Wow, she’s working hard…”
Nanashi Hiiro.
Until recently, she was just a typical first-year student whose existence wasn’t even known at Millennium Academy. Lately, however, Hiiro’s fame had skyrocketed across Millennium.
Her appearance wasn’t particularly remarkable, but it was certainly beautiful enough to be called so. She possessed exceptional combat skills, rare even at Millennium, earning her the nickname ‘Little Double-O’. Moreover, unlike her looks, her straightforward and honest manner of speaking added another layer of charm.
On top of that, many of the good deeds she performed as a student never once let go of her heroic spirit, which further boosted her popularity once they came to light.
It all started when she became known as the Resolver ‘Anonymous’, but what truly brought her fame was the kindness and good deeds she had consistently shown.
Her cheerful smile as she helped troubled female students, her embarrassed refusal of gratitude, and her nonchalant remarks like, “It’s nothing,” after taking on all the heavy work—there was something in all of this that resonated with the aspirations of young women today.
“Wow, she’s so cool…”
The librarian girl blushed.
Love sometimes strikes without warning. Though they’d only met about a week ago, and their only exchanges were during the library’s closing hours, there was something intriguing about her.
Perhaps it was due to some fatigue in her own life recently, but there was something peculiarly alluring about the faintly decadent air she exuded, even if just for a moment. The librarian, though a girl herself, thought that there was something strangely captivating about her charm.
Of course, with no courage to convey her feelings to Hiiro, all she could do was quietly admire her from afar.
“Still, what is she reading?”
The librarian, who thought Hiiro was studying for exams, was hoping that if it was within her own expertise, she could use it as an excuse for a conversation.
With a small clearing of her throat, she leaned out slightly to see the titles of the books and papers Hiiro had in front of her. Then her eyes widened in shock.
[Considerations of Mechanical Energy and Momentum Change]
[Experimental Mechanics of Electromagnetic Induction for Energy Conservation]
[Reciprocal Dynamics Theory Due to High-Energy Arc Damage]
[Analysis of Previous Studies on Arc Plasma Technology via Aztalon/Rotilon Conversion]
“…?”
What are all these about?
Mechanical energy? Arc? Plasma?
With a pained expression, Hiiro was clutching her head as she read through stacks of books and papers composed of difficult titles.
“Could it be… has she been reading these kinds of books for days now?”
The librarian, confident in her knowledge of science after two years at Millennium academy—a sanctuary for the gifted in STEM—felt her confidence shaken in this moment.
Or perhaps it wasn’t just her.
“But what are all these about…?”
“Are these on the exam syllabus?”
“There’s no way. School exams can’t possibly include this kind of stuff.”
“Is this physics? Or nuclear physics?”
“Wow, Hiiro, you’re the strongest in study too, huh?”
“Hiiro-neechan studying is so pretty…”
“You crazy, you’re older than her!”
Voices of other students, who, like the librarian, were looking at Hiiro, filled the air.
The librarian felt relieved upon hearing them; it wasn’t like she herself was the only one who didn’t understand.
However, her scheme to initiate a conversation hadn’t worked, and so, once again, all she could do was sit there propped on her chin, admiring Hiiro silently.
Letting out a small sigh with a tinge of disappointment, it was at that moment…
“…What’s all this?”
An unexpected voice came from where Hiiro was sitting.
The previously humming library immediately fell silent, and everyone’s gaze turned toward the source of the voice.
Standing there was Utaha, a famous Maisters of Millennium Academy with her purple hair, holding one of Hiiro’s books and looking perplexed.
“Ah, Utaha. You’re here?”
“Hiiro, why are you reading such difficult books? No, more importantly… are you alright? Why does your face look like that?”
“Haha…”
“Could it be… because of what you mentioned before?”
“Ugh. Something like that.”
“Ah, well, that’s to be expected. I was wondering what was wrong when I met you after so long…”
What is it!
The librarian and everyone else who had been eavesdropping on their conversation felt a similar shout echo in their hearts.
But the two didn’t seem interested in satisfying others’ curiosity, suddenly gathering their books and materials and heading to a secluded meeting room. They even brought over a whiteboard and began filling it with complex equations.
“…”
“!”
“…”
“!”
As some kind of incomprehensible discourse went back and forth in the meeting room.
Their expressions changed as they spent the next several minutes conversing.
At times, they looked bewildered; sometimes they laughed as if enjoying the moment; other times, they both seemed angry, their faces flushed, yelling.
As Hiiro explained while sticking some papers onto the whiteboard, Utaha shook her head and began her own explanation.
At this, Hiiro had a look of realization, removing the papers, resting her chin on her hand, and lost in deep thought.
She then quickly began sketching something incomprehensible on the whiteboard.
Utaha’s face became blank as she stared at Hiiro, before stepping up to the whiteboard herself to begin adding her own notes and drawings.
As if, two geniuses were exchanging ideas.
Something was being written, erased, rewritten, restructured, disappearing, and born anew.
It was as if in a cycle. The universe within the whiteboard was being filled, emptied, and filled again repeatedly.
Watching all this from the outside, the librarian could only be left with an immense feeling of wonder.
“Exactly, what is all this?”
It was incomprehensible. It even felt grotesque.
But the librarian, watching their debate and discussion, couldn’t help but feel an inexplicable flutter in her heart.
Even if she didn’t know what it was, it felt like something tremendous was happening within that meeting room.
This was akin to a unique longing felt only by those who served the sciences and mathematics.
Two intellectuals arguing passionately about some theory or doctrine.
It was an experience that anyone who loved knowledge, even if just a little, would want to have at least once.
A kind of romanticism unique to those in the sciences. A unique longing felt by intellectuals.
That’s what was unfolding inside that meeting room.
And with that sentiment, everyone in the library couldn’t help but fix their gaze on the impassioned discussion taking place inside the meeting room.
Perhaps, the content was unclear, but something monumental was happening, they thought.
2.
“No way! Why isn’t it possible?”
“Converting electrical energy into kinetic propulsion is impossible! Don’t you know the Laws of Thermodynamics?! Electromagnetic propulsion engine technology is something that only exists in sci-fi!”
“Then what was all that talk about the Ether Method you mentioned earlier? You seemed so confident about using ether material as an alternative for propulsion!”
“Not that!”
It’s said that from a distance it’s comedy, but up close it’s tragedy.
Contrary to the expectations of the people outside the meeting room, the situation inside was absolute chaos.
True, it resembled the discussion of intellectuals, but it wasn’t the elegant exchange of ideas and theories filled with dignity and knowledge as imagined by the observers.
It was more like the tension between a client and a contractor.
It was a scenario that had happened countless times. Every time there was an equipment request, it unfolded the same way.
When Hiiro would say, “This needs to be done,” Utaha would respond with a detailed and simplified explanation, systematically dismantling Hiiro’s argument.
Then, the conversation would continue endlessly until they hit either a point of disagreement or agreement, and from there, they’d decide whether to continue or halt the discussion.
The limits of technology, the boundaries of budget, the constraints of reality.
Utaha, while explaining these things aloud, couldn’t help but feel a painful twinge of bitterness.
Because every fantastical and impossible thing Hiiro proposed held a strange allure of romanticism and ambition that stirred something within her.
But even so, as a Maister, Utaha couldn’t say those impossible ideas were possible.
So, today too, Utaha came prepared to deny countless requests from Hiiro…
“Listen. Didn’t you say before that the heat energy conversion system based on the Ether Method was successfully developed? And didn’t you mention that ether has high versatility and energy efficiency, making it a potential substitute for all forms of energy in the future? And it’s already showing gradual changes.”
“…Go on.”
“So, my suggestion is not to perfectly replicate the repulsor technology but to create a new energy emission and propulsion system based on the Ether Method.”
“…”
“And there’s already something I’ve thought about. Look closely…”
Utaha could do nothing but stare blankly at Hiiro’s explanation.
It wasn’t because what Hiiro was saying was nonsensical but because she wondered, “Is this possible?”
“Could this person have become so knowledgeable in such a short time?”
Instead of the usual pattern where Utaha tried to convince Hiiro, it felt like they were genuinely engaged in a proper discussion!
With that, Utaha felt not only shock but also a strange sense of pride and joy.
Furthermore, the more they discussed, the more Utaha realized:
“Hiiro truly believes in this repulsor technology.”
When Hiiro first came to the Engineering Department talking about the “Iron Suit,” with the core technologies being the “Repulsor” and “Arc Reactor,” she meant it. She genuinely wanted to develop these technologies to use in her vigilante activities.
For that, Hiiro was studying this hard.
Some might scoff, thinking it’s a waste to use such great technology for mere vigilante work, but Utaha thought differently.
“Hiiro truly understands the essence of romance…”
She uses technology so extravagant it might be deemed wasteful. But she uses it for saving people.
In fact, Hiiro had come up with several technologies that, if sold immediately, could make her filthy rich.
The Web Shooter. ‘Vision,’ a wearable information output device, Thermocompression miniaturized weaponized gloves, the ‘Tom Ford Two Button’ suit that can transform into a weapon, Silk’s hero suit, equipped with standard bulletproof function but easily activated with a button press.
And several other pieces of equipment inspired by someone known as “Star Lord” that she asked them to make.
Yet, Hiiro never sold any of them.
Partly because she worried that releasing such equipment might cause chaos in Kiburatos, but mostly due to her personal reasons.
“Because someone I know did the same.”
Though Utaha never found out who that “someone” was, Hiiro’s stance was firm.
Her developed technologies remained with Silk alone and weren’t spread outside.
Thus, in every negotiation, Hiiro regularly hit the budgetary limitations, but she never felt unlucky.
It was the same this time.
“…By doing it this way, couldn’t we solve the mileage issue of the Arc Reactor and the energy conversion problem of the Repulsor?”
“Hmm. That’s something we’d need to think about…”
“Isn’t it possible? Right?”
She never retreats, no matter the obstacles.
At times, she even proposes suggestions so off-the-wall that it seems like she’s charging ahead recklessly to solve the problems.
So much so that it feels like a greedy determination to somehow possess the impossible.
But from Utaha’s perspective, there was no child more sincere and idealistic than Hiiro, so this side she was showing was probably one of her genuine inner thoughts.
She wanted to live her life as she pleased.
She wanted to lead her life on her terms.
She didn’t want to surrender to any limitations.
Everyone has layers.
That was the layer Utaha saw in Hiiro.
Though one might say this desire is inherent in everyone, the emotions Hiiro displayed now were so pure, so perfectionistic, that it could not be denied.
Whatever happened in Hiiro’s past, whatever changes she might have gone through recently, one thing was clear: the broad horizons of Hiiro she once knew were now visibly narrowed.
“Hiiro.”
“Yes?”
“You have something on your mind.”
“Yes.”
At Utaha’s sudden question, Hiiro nodded her head, seemingly aware that she wasn’t behaving like her usual self.
“Would you tell me?”
Upon Utaha’s request, Hiiro paused to think for a moment before nodding and beginning to speak.
“There’s an issue. But there are two perspectives.”
“Perspectives?”
“One perspective states that the ultimate fate of events is predetermined from beginning to end and can’t be altered. The other argues that fate doesn’t exist and instead twists with every moment. So some aim to eliminate the cause, while others seek to twist the process.”
“…”
Utaha fell silent for a moment.
Determinism versus non-determinism of fate.
Was this what Hiiro was agonizing over now?
Why would she be contemplating something so… difficult?
“Moreover, some say you shouldn’t linger on the past. And that the most important thing is belief.”
“…”
“At this story, I thought something.”
“What did you think..?”
Hiiro paused momentarily, then with a deep breath, declared:
“That I didn’t belong to any side.”
“…”
Didn’t belong? What does she mean by that?
“So, when I intervene in an event, the story might lose its structure, even its form.”
“What are you saying…”
“If my intervention changes the ‘life’ of a child, should I intervene or should I stop?”
“…”
Is the future already determined?
Or is it merely a chaotic set of possibilities?
These are merely perspectives of the people involved.
Just by reaching out, one individual could twist the form of fate; from this person’s point of view, all perspectives are either external or internal.
“One act of wrongdoing for dozens of good deeds.”
“Which choice should I make?”
Utaha could only remain silent.
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