CHAPTER 250: DÉJÀ VU (1)

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[For goodness’ sake.]

I got busted in an unexpected way.

They must not discover that I was Aether. If I was discovered that I was a Beast here, I was going to be wiped out by the Elementals.

At this point, I had no other way; I’d have to lie my way out.

“Know much about Flare? Me?”

“Well, yes, because how are you understanding and explaining everything to me as soon as you see them? It was cool, so.......”

I lifted my hand up to Yufiel’s forehead.

“Argh!”

Along with the sound of a smack, Yufiel let out a short cry.

“I told you already.”

I spoke with a soft smile, and Yufiel made a confused face while rubbing her forehead.

“If you know the proper theory, there’s nothing you can’t do.”

It was hard to create something new, but easy to fix something that was already made. I convinced Yufiel with this logic.

Yufiel went ‘ahh’ and nodded like she got it.

“So theory is what’s important after all.”

“It’s abstract to just say theory. What I’m saying here is theory related to symmetry and conservation that was learned today.”

I pointed out where Yufiel got it wrong.

I corrected the wrong answers with an etching pen. I fixed where the symmetry was broken and told her to do the rest. This one feedback was enough. The circuits she’d make from now on were going to work more smoothly.

We talked about a lot of things during our conversation, including how to lighten scrolls, increasing the output, lowering the amount of mana needed, etc.

And then, it was already past midnight.

“Oh no, it’s quite late, isn’t it.”

“Not at all, I learned a lot thanks to you.”

Yufiel bowed her head and thanked me.

“Um, Miss.”

Yufiel’s mouth opened and closed. It seemed like she wanted to say something but was hesitant.

“If there’s something you want to say, you can say it.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Yufiel grinned and packed up her writing tools.

A big yawn spilled from my mouth.

I may be a machine, but I still needed to sleep.

If not, my brain didn’t function. It was the same as a computer getting a blue screen if it was left on for too long.

I said good night to Yufiel and got ready to go. I shook the raindrops off my umbrella once more. Outside the window, it was still raining.

But there was something unusual about the rain.

“Isn’t it raining harder than it was earlier?”

It had been about the intensity of a small water blast around lunch time, but now it was coming down hard like a waterspout.

SHAAAAAA─!!

The whole place was in a sea of water. I thought that at this rate, Iliad was going to be flooded within hours.

“This is serious.”

“You shouldn’t go outside, Miss.”

Yufiel suddenly suggested this.

“No, it’ll be uncomfortable.”

I waved my hands and declined.

It was hard to imagine a professor to be staying in a student dorm. Sure there was the issue of pride, but I also didn’t want to cause trouble for the student.

I ignored Yufiel’s advice and came out the main entrance.

It was a late hour. There should be at least an arc lamp to illuminate the area, but I couldn’t see any.

And it wasn’t that I could see the moon or stars, either. There was only the sound of rain falling in this pitch dark.

[How eerie.]

It even had ‘Aether’ saying this.

Wheeee–the chilly wind blew. It was still spring yet a knife-like wind whipped past my cheek. I wrapped my robe around me and fell into thought.

How do I get through this to the lab?

Alright, time’s up anyway so let’s switch.

Aether blinked a few times, then her irises turned yellow and lit up into double headlights.

Fwip, fwip.

As she looked around, the light followed suit.

Even after doing this, she couldn’t see even an inch in front of her.

“Strange.”

If all she could see was a few dozen centimeters despite turning on the lights, then there were two possibilities to consider.

First, the lights were too weak.

Second, the lights couldn’t travel that far for some reason.

It wasn’t the second; it didn’t make sense physically.

[We can’t act carelessly in this kind of situation.]

Herself was right.

It was terrible weather.

Of course, being a Heaven, she could make her way through this if she put her mind to it, but that could attract the attention of Elementals.

It was really troublesome being in the position of someone who had to act carefully.

“...Huu.”

When she held out her hand from under the eaves, heavy streams of water struck her wrist. There was even a stinging pain from her arm being smacked downward.

It was proof as to how strong the water pressure was.

She shook off the rain and thought.

“It’s Leviathan’s doing.”

Sure enough, irregular sirens began sounding in the far distance.

It was a disaster alert.

**Not long after, the eaves collapsed.

Aether reported this to the security, and the dorm instantly turned into chaos.

“What’s happening?”

“They say that the lowlands have flooded.”

The students, belatedly realizing what was going on, trembled in anxiety.

There was no distinction between High Elf or regular elf. Everyone was equal before a disaster.

“The way out is completely blocked!”

“What should we do?”

Right now, there was only one supervisor and three, four resident advisors at the dorm.

The only other person besides them who could protect the students was a professor, ‘Asteya Heisenberg’.

“Professor.”

The supervisor ran over and asked.

“Could you open up the entrance with magic?”

Aether considered for a moment, then spoke.

“I can’t.”

And the essential reason for that answer was she didn’t want it to be revealed on this spot that she couldn’t use magic without mana grass.

But on the surface, there was also another reason.

“If I clear the debris now, then there’s a chance that the water will come inside here.”

In fact, the first floor was flooded up to their ankles.

While Kaurelia may be a subtropical climate with lots of rainfall, this downpour that started from the early morning was on another level.

“Then what are we supposed to do? We don’t know when the help will get here!”

The supervisor wasn’t wrong, either.

They couldn’t stay like this indefinitely.

There was class tomorrow as well, and it was the job of the professor to help the students get to bed as soon as possible.

“I have an idea.”

Aether said confidently.

Everyone looked curious, but one person, Yufiel, watched her with anticipation in her eyes.

“We’ll hold a ritual.”

**A time when most superstition had disappeared.

Rituals were something that was done only by elves who revered the past. After the establishment of thaumaturgy and the dawn of the era of technology, hardly anyone thought of rituals when disaster struck.

Yet Aether said that it must be done.

“The heavens must surely be angry.”

“This isn’t the time for jokes, Professor.”

“I am not joking.”

There wasn’t even a hint of wavering in Aether’s eyes.

All this was the will of a Beast, not nature.

Leviathan was drawing up seawater into the sky and spraying it, so it could indeed be viewed as a calamity caused by the Demon Army.

She didn’t know what bastard gave the command and caused this situation, but it wasn’t the scenario that Winter Heaven Aether wanted right now.

“It won’t take that long, so in the meantime, I ask that everyone scoop out the water coming into the first floor and throw it outside.”

At that, the supervisor reluctantly agreed.

They were trusting because she was a professor.

“I need ingredients for transmutation in order to conduct the ritual.”

The only thing that could stop a Cataclysm was another Cataclysm.

While a lot of people including President Cecil Renay would be coming up with a plan, right now she was the only one who could ease the worries of students in the dorms.

Aether unintentionally had to save the morons that she deemed as the enemy.

Only then would she be able to create a bigger picture.

“Do you know where the storeroom is located?”

“There’s one by the copy room on the second floor.”

Aether headed to the storeroom.

Multi-function printer, signs, mana stones, etc. It was full of junk that weren’t used anymore or were too old.

She pulled a few useful things from the jumbled pile and dusted them off. There was iron as well as a few mid-grade mana stones that she obtained. She even found chalk needed for drawing transmutation circles.

“Good.”

It was perfect for constructing a transmutation circle.

Aether smashed one of the nearby alarms and tore out the carelisium. This was also a good mana stone source.

She casually went into the restroom, lit a cigarette, and took a drag. Her body filled up with mana.

It was as she was about to come out and lay down some magic paper and build the formula.

“What are you trying to do?”

Yufiel, soaked by the rain, ran up to her and asked. Aether turned her head and began drawing on the large magic paper.

“Pay attention.”

Aether snapped the chalk in half and gripped it in each hand. Then she went ahead and used both to draw the transmutation circle.

Position the mana stones, place the scrap metal.

Yufiel’s mouth dropped open.

Although she had seen people who were ambidextrous, she had never seen someone use both hands with such elegance. The work that would’ve gone quickly enough with one hand went twice as fast.

As Yufiel watched in awe, the transmutation circle was completed.

It was then that she could see–

That there was symmetry woven into every part of the circle that Aether had drawn.

Splat!

When she sprayed the varnish, the junk transformed into an object.

It was a directional light that was used in places like lighthouses.

“What are you going to do with this?”

“You’ll see.”

Aether put the light onto a cart and got on the elevator.