City ​​of Witches 1110

## Chapter 1110 – #264_Fruits Of Research

#1104

1.
The holidays were over.
Perhaps it was thanks to the long rest, but my face was glowing. Now it was time to work.

“The Hessed Academy is finally on track.”

My eldest aunt, and the operational advisor of the Hessed Academy, Albiereo, swept her long black hair behind her ear as she scanned the documents.

Perhaps it was due to the dramatic reconciliation after Chuseok, but she seemed friendlier than usual.
Even if her outward behavior hadn’t changed much, there was a more relaxed atmosphere, or so it seemed.

“I think we’ve exceeded our target by 500% at this point.”
“It seems so.”

Partnerships with numerous minor academies, the establishment of a firm position as a magic university, and the smooth recruitment of S-class professors and researchers.

Especially considering that the Hessed Academy was now being called the Hessed ‘University,’ it could be said that it was precisely aligned with the initial plans for the academy’s establishment.

But no matter how smoothly things were going, there was one thing I couldn’t forget.

That this was just the starting line.

“Siwoo, your original plan was to incorporate the academies, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right. The plan was to use partnerships as a lure to gather minor academies, and then induce them to merge once we had a certain level of size.”

“So, is it going smoothly?”
“I haven’t asked for any mergers yet, as I think it’s still too early.”

Even if they were minor academies, they were still witch academies.

They had pride in their own legitimacy and were not easily willing to go under someone else.

The fact that there were still numerous minor academies that had not been acquired by large corporations like the Emerald Tablet or the Truth and True Name Society, and that each had preserved its own history, was in the same vein.

Siwoo’s goal was to bind them under the banner of the ‘Hessed Academy’ and build power like Duke Cagliostro or Duke Errelim.

The motivation for this goal had become even stronger after the recent Dorothy incident.

To protect the people I cared about, I needed power.
Especially now, with the long-term rule of the Heksen Nacht hardliners expected after Lydia’s death, power was even more necessary.

It was the worst-case scenario, but we might even have to prepare for war…

“You must have something in mind, right?”
“My thoughts?”
“Because you’re capable, Siwoo. For now.”

Albiereo tapped the table.

Back when the academy was first established, she had spoken as if she were dealing with a clueless child, but that was now a thing of the past.
Siwoo had proven his abilities as a Count, and was showing no shortcomings as the head of the academy.

“The Hessed Academy has laid a stable foundation as a magic university. So now, we need to show results.”
“You mean?”

“We plan to actively pursue research projects.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”

Albiereo smiled, as if she was proud.

Let me explain briefly here.
What is a research project?

In the present world, research projects are when national governments, corporations, local governments, or various institutions commission research from research institutes or universities.
The essence is similar in Gehenna, where research is conducted based on requests from specific witches, academies, or organizations. It is literally a ‘project.’

Let’s take a simple example.

Let’s say that a witch A’s research goal is to make excellent eel sushi.

A has the ability to prepare the eel, has a special eel sauce made with a centuries-old seed sauce, and is good at making fluffy rice.

However, she is not very confident about the vinegar that goes into the rice.

Let’s assume that A has decided to change the ‘vinegar’ to make even better eel sushi.
If A were to do it alone, it would take an unknown amount of time.

So, she goes to B, a vinegar specialist witch next door, and commissions a ‘research project.’

She says, ‘I’m trying to make vinegar for eel sushi, can you help me?’

Then, B, who has been commissioned, sends several vinegar samples, referring to the eel sushi recipe that A sent.

Since B’s major is vinegar, she doesn’t have to rack her brain as much as A.

A is happy because she can easily solve a troublesome problem with money, and B can make money while doing her own research, so it’s a win-win situation.

Amelia’s consulting on the ‘mana production facility’ at the Forget-Me-Not Garden was also one of the research projects.

This is an example of an outsourcing case between individuals, but there were many variations, such as academies commissioning individuals, individuals commissioning academies, and academies commissioning academies.

The research funds paid range from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of won, depending on the scale of the research.

Therefore, if the flower of research is a thesis, the sweet fruit is a research project.

“Right now, the Hessed Academy is an orchard with the optimal structure for winning large-scale research projects.”
“That’s right. Large-scale research projects rarely end in one go.”

As Albiereo said, large-scale projects (mainly between academies) often could not be covered by a single outsourcing.

Well, there’s no need to think about it too hard.

Let’s take another example: Academy A is conducting research to make assorted sushi.

It’s obvious that making assorted sushi takes much more effort than making just one eel sushi.

Therefore, they asked B for egg sushi, C for salmon sushi, and D for octopus sushi, and so on.

Putting aside the difficulty of managing the outsourcing that A had to deal with, it was common for the schedule to be delayed because the projects were scattered among various academies and individuals.

Isn’t that how research is supposed to be?
It was even more so because the subcontractors often subcontracted to others.

But the Hessed Academy could solve this.

There had never been an example in the history of Gehenna witches where so many talented people from so many different fields had gathered.

“We plan to build a consortium by linking the various minor academies that we have partnered with. It’s a kind of research institute to handle the projects.”
“That’s a pretty good idea.”

“The standardization of the curriculum has already been done once, hasn’t it? We can carry out the requests in a much more systematic way than the existing haphazard research projects.
Efficiency will increase and the speed of work will increase. The side that commissions the research will also have less to worry about, so they will be tempted.”

In this way, the Hessed Academy would be able to gain a flexible, massive, and sustainable flow of funds.
It would also be a tempting bait for the academies that had partnered with us.

Witches and academies that saw the Hessed Academy’s research institute’s ability to handle projects would rush to outsource to us.

This would be directly linked to the Hessed Academy’s performance and would certainly act as a lubricant for the smooth incorporation of minor academies.

“That’s not quite enough, Siwoo.”

But this was an ideal.
Albiereo pointed out that business never flowed as smoothly as imagined.

“The value that the Hessed Academy is recognized for at this point is its ‘value as a university.’ We haven’t proven our research capabilities yet, have we? There are already many well-established research institutes in the Truth and True Name Society and Castle.”

That’s right.
How could the research capabilities of a new research institute that hasn’t even been established be verified?

But Siwoo had taken even that into account.

“That’s why I’m going to start a large-scale project for showmanship first. It’s a kind of advertisement.”

Siwoo placed a piece of paper in front of Albiereo, who was tilting her head with a ‘will that work?’ expression.

It was a sample of a research request.

“It hasn’t been officially submitted to the city hall yet, but it will be soon.”
“Where did you get this?”
“You know, don’t you? The power of connections.”

The side that submitted the research project request was the Immigration Office.
Before even looking at the details, Albiereo’s eyes widened as if she had realized something.

“It’s the repair work on the ‘Gate’.”

2.
The ‘Gate’ was a masterpiece created by Duke Keter and the foundation of the city.

It was a great dimensional magic that maintained a pocket space isolated from the present world, while creating changes in day and night, seasons, and weather.

The Gate had been operating for over 600 years without any major problems, but after Duke Keter disappeared, it was reaching its limits.

The number of days of downtime for inspections was increasing every year, fuel efficiency was decreasing, and the absurd thing of a kernel being opened in Gehenna was happening frequently.

Despite these obvious malfunctions, there was no way for the witches to repair the Gate.
At best, they had been repeating temporary fixes under the name of ‘repair.’

But Siwoo was different.
Although the performance and sophistication were inferior to Gehenna’s ‘Gate,’ he had a history of hacking the entire Gate of Heksen Nacht.
Moreover, wasn’t the first magnetic magic the key to interfering with the ‘Gate’?

If he could successfully carry out the repair project by making use of his experience, there would be no better advertisement.

“Head of the Academy! It’s good to see you after so long!”
“You seem to be in a good mood today, Count?”
“It’s good to see you all. Was it comfortable without me?”

The researchers of the Basic Studies Department greeted Siwoo with bright expressions.
The haggard researchers looked very good after resting for about three days.

“Hey, how can you say such a thing so sadly…”
“I felt empty because I wasn’t being used, you know?”
“That’s right, it’s strangely addictive. These days, if I don’t stay up all night, I feel like I’ve spent the day unfaithfully.”

The Basic Studies Department research building was filled with laughter and jokes between the head of the academy and the researchers.
You should apply too.

“Oh, that’s perfect.”

Yes.
That’s the kind of mindset a scholar should have.

Siwoo felt proud of the Basic Studies Department researchers, who were gradually building bonds, and shook off his guilt.

“I was going to start a new experiment today anyway. We got the repair work for the Gate from the Immigration Office.”
“Huh…?”
“It looks like we’ll be staying up all night for a while.”

A cold silence fell.

Staying up all night.
It was not something that witches, who did not need sleep, had to fear.

There was even a romance to it.

Chatting with colleagues in a dimly lit laboratory, working together, sometimes drinking, and then falling into self-intoxication as they watched the sunrise while working hard, thinking, ‘Ah~ another all-nighter, oh dear~’

But Head of the Academy Shin Siwoo’s all-nighters were a little different.

A mental ascetic training that had removed all the fat of leisure, rest, and chatter.
Moreover, Assistant Instructor Shin Siwoo, who was constantly disappointed in the researchers, became a merciless demon when it came to approvals.

“Clack, clack, clack…”
“Oh my god…”
“Ooh…”

Some trembled while clattering their teeth, some sighed, and some collapsed on the spot.
Siwoo took it as an exaggerated joke unique to the researchers he had now become a little closer to.

“The request has a deadline of 6 years. We’re going to shorten it a bit.”
“H-how much?”

Siwoo smiled and held up two fingers.

“2, 2 years?”
“No. 2 weeks.”

One of the researchers fell down with a thud.