第１６８５堀：帰って大学の感想 (Part1)
Chapter 1685: Reflections on the University After Returning
Side: Yuki
"Hmm. So, Nonoa’s department didn't have any particular issues, then?"
"That’s right. It’s not quite like Comet’s group, but since everyone there is fundamentally a researcher, they didn't exactly pounce on us or anything."
"Ah, I see."
We had finished our preparations for the first day and were now discussing the Magic University with Seraria and the other members who had remained in Weed.
"However, an institution of higher learning, is it? Do you have medical universities on Earth, Yuki?"
"We do. It seems Japan alone has about eighty medical schools."
"Eighty? Is that all? How should I interpret that?"
Rurua, showing interest in the nature of universities, asked about Japan, but tilted her head at the number. She likely couldn't tell if that was a large or small amount.
"Hard to say. If a pandemic hits—the kind that forces an entire country into a state of high alert—then we don't have enough doctors. But as it stands, I think Japan has enough for now."
"I see, so such situations can occur."
"Of course, it depends on the population density of the region. Well, when I say 'high alert,' I’m talking about a level where over thirty percent of the town’s population falls ill. If we’re talking about Weed, if thirty thousand people got sick, we’d be short-handed, right?"
"We’d be completely overwhelmed. We don't even have hospitals that could house thirty thousand people."
Seraria reacted to my words even faster than Rurua.
"Well, that’s an exception to the rule, but since there’s always a possibility of such diseases emerging..."
"It’s important to prepare a place that accounts for that. And the personnel, too."
"As for personnel, even if we trained them now, there’s no place for them to work..."
If we increased the number of doctors and nurses, the question remains whether they would be needed at all times, leading to a surplus of medical professionals. That, in itself, is a problem.
"Well, putting that aside, how were Cleena and Samantha? You two were doing research in the archives, weren't you? With that girl, Luhau?"
Since there was no immediate solution to the medical discussion, I shifted the topic to Cleena and Samantha. Unlike us, who were preparing for classes, the two of them had been conducting research in the archives under the guidance of a young university student named Luhau.
I didn't expect them to find anything significant in just one day, but I was curious about their impressions of the archives, so I turned my gaze toward them.
"...The archives themselves were better organized than Lancer’s. The volume of the collection is about the same, but compared to the books in Weed, the quality is overwhelmingly lower."
"Well, there’s no point in comparing them, but since they are mostly books summarizing personal conjectures, boasting, and experimental results that only look good on the surface, there is much that is... questionable."
I suppose that’s just how research done by individuals goes. In fact, research on Earth was often done by individuals in the past, too. That’s simply the limit of such efforts. It was only after the conventions for writing papers and research results were established that we reached our current form. It’s inevitable that their papers, which lack that accumulation of methodology, would feel crude, so it’s unfair to demand too much.
Still...
"...Those were papers and research results from the university’s founding, so things might be different now."
"We couldn't access the recent ones, so I asked Luhau-san to delve deeper into the discussion regarding mana and magic."
"Mana and magic?"
Seraria tilted her head, clearly wondering what she meant, but members like Rurua and Eris, who fight primarily using magic, showed interest.
"What kind of discussion did you delve into, exactly?"
"Mana and magic are the basics, aren't they?"
Kagura and Mikos from the Haiden Magic Academy, as well as Nilua, Wasfi, and Hivia from the Lancer Magic Academy, seemed interested and turned their gaze toward us. Even Comet, Narjia-san, and Zargis were watching with smiles while sipping their tea.
"Even calling it 'delving deeper,' it was just a discussion of the basics, like Eris said. We haven't reached an answer, but we were discussing the process of how mana becomes magic."
"The process of mana becoming magic? Isn't it just visualizing the phenomenon or writing a magic circle to activate it? Right, Kagura?"
"That’s right. That’s the norm. When you talk about the process leading up to that... what kind of discussion did you and Cleena have?"
The process from mana to magic, huh...
As Kagura asked that, Comet and the other researchers spoke up.
"I see. It is, indeed, the most fundamental of basics."
"It really is~. It’s so obvious that it completely slipped our minds~."
"Well, I suppose it’s what one would call 'too common sense'."
"...Mm. Just as Comet and the others say. It’s so obvious that we never thought about it. That’s where the girl named Luhau presented a possibility. That the transformation from mana to magic might be alchemy."
Most of the group tilted their heads at Cleena’s words, but the research team, including Comet, hummed in thought.
"Indeed, it wouldn't be strange to perceive the transition of mana into magic as a change in the mana itself."
"But isn't it also strange to say 'mana to magic'? Couldn't it also be interpreted as the result of releasing mana that has been imbued with an attribute?"
"Ah, you’re right, Narjia-san. Since the result comes through magic from mana, um, the terminology is a bit confusing. To rephrase, wouldn't it be more accurate to say: mana to magic, and then release, or execution, or activation?"
"Indeed, Zargis-san is correct. Since we convert mana through magic and then release or use the result, that is likely the strictly correct way to put it."
"I see, now that you mention it, that’s true. In my case, it activates through incantations, so perhaps magic is closer to a form of conversion."
I see, so they questioned that process. How exactly does mana turn into a result? It’s a fundamental question: what exactly is magic? It’s like asking why humans are able to breathe oxygen. I don't know if it can be solved, but such contemplation is important. After all, it’s not like it’s a physical object, like a person.
"Ah, I sort of understand the conversation, but do you think it’s useful?"
"I think it’s useful. But it’s unlikely to lead to tangible results like weapons anytime soon."
"Hmm. You know it won't lead to results, yet you think it’s useful?"
"Of course. Ah, to put it in terms Seraria would understand, think of it like improving the materials for swords or the forging techniques. It’s like combining new ores or minerals to create new materials to forge a new sword."
"Ah, that makes it easy to understand. Indeed, just changing the ore doesn't drastically change the power of a sword. But, it’s about what might come from that, isn't it?"
"Exactly."