City ​​of Witches 842

Chapter 842 – #176_논문

#836

1.
The ‘First Red Roof Salon’ of Ars Magna Town.

This place, often called the Red Salon or simply the Salon due to its unnecessarily long name, is a social community for wealthy and leisurely high-ranking witches.

Although the salon’s daily routine includes competitions like ‘Who decorated themselves more beautifully?’, the atmosphere was quite different today.

Intellectual discussions and excited murmurs could be heard throughout the salon.

Perhaps it was because the witches were holding thick academic journals instead of elegant fans. After all, these ladies were essentially ‘witches’ who sought to explore the ultimate depths of magic.

4 PM.

True to the principle that the protagonist makes a late entrance, Baroness Demer arrived fashionably late during the salon’s peak time, and her followers gathered around her.

“Baroness Demer, have you seen the latest academy journal?”
“Of course, ah… so that’s why there are so many people here today?”
“Yes, yes, a famous male witch has published a paper!”
“Is that so?”

Although she responded with a refined smile and gentle tone, Baroness Demer was somewhat indifferent inside.

The rumors were so widespread that she had heard about it from her maid as soon as she woke up.

At first, she was surprised, but upon reflection, it was a trivial matter.

It was true that the academy journal was one of the three major journals of Gehenna. It still held authority and validity, and witches made sure to check it out every publication date.

“You haven’t read it yet?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Ah.”

One of the followers wore an ambiguous smile at Baroness Demer’s lukewarm reaction.

In a salon where power struggles and subtle mind games were commonplace, reading the displeasure hidden behind politeness was a basic skill.

“The male witch, was his name Shin Siwoo? He’s a disciple of Duke Tiferet, and also the son-in-law of Count Geminai and a valued guest of Count Yesod.”
“That’s right.”
“I don’t deny the necessity of power for the witch society to function, but to allow such petty influence in a sacred place of learning. Even the prestigious Trinity Academy isn’t what it used to be.”

This was the root of Demer’s displeasure.

“It seems Count Geminai wants to make his son-in-law’s name shine.”
“Well, um…”

The followers, who knew about the ongoing tension between Count Geminai and Baroness Demer, hesitated to speak and just glanced at each other.

At that moment, someone appeared, cutting through the crowd of witches like a cloud.

It was Count Albireo, a celebrity of the salon, wrapped in a black dress. Despite having caught them gossiping, she wore a bright smile.

“Baroness Demer, are you implying that I slipped someone some money?”
“Of course not. I’m just well aware that the Geminai family is capable in many ways.”

Baroness Demer, who subtly twisted her words, responded with a flower-like smile. It was a hidden barb that the Geminai family could exert pressure without needing to bribe anyone.

“To speak ill of something you haven’t even read. Have you had some bad news lately? It’s not like you, Baroness Demer.”
“That was rude of me. It’s just that I’ve always had a hard time tolerating injustice.”

Albireo took out an academic journal that was as thick as a book. What was the point of talking? It was an invitation to read it herself.

“I hope it’s not a waste of time.”
“Of course.”

Baroness Demer sat down and opened the journal, starting to read from the section written by the male witch.

“Hmph.”

Baroness Demer scoffed at the grandiose title.

In fact, it wasn’t unusual for her to react this way.

People around Siwoo knew to some extent what kind of person he was. Wasn’t it clear that he had at least the level of a Great Witch and various combat experiences?

However, most witches didn’t have much information about Shin Siwoo.

At best, there were rumors that he had been caught up in the Seoul COEX incident, that he had fought against the Witch of Greed and survived, that he had been captured by Hexennacht and escaped… There were only vague rumors that made it impossible to gauge his abilities.

This was because the two Counts and Duke Tiferet had worked together to control the information.

Therefore, to a witch who didn’t know the truth, Shin Siwoo was nothing more than a ‘lucky’ ‘male witch who received attention because of his gender’ ‘a bit well-connected’ ‘amateur witch’.

Moreover, no one highly regarded his skills as a scholar, which required considerable time to show results.

“……”

However, the complexion of Baroness Demer, who had even shown a hint of contempt, turned pale.

It was obvious that it was a pseudo-paper that hadn’t even received a proper review, at best a crudely put-together imitation.

No, it had to be.

However, a novel and impactful argument, and complex formulas that were difficult to understand even after reading them several times, were brilliantly adorning the journal.

Of course, the content was extremely condensed due to the need to be published in an academic journal, and therefore the explanations were also unfriendly.

Based on the content here, it was impossible to completely prove whether the theory he presented was true or false.

However, Baroness Demer was an orthodox Great Witch. She could easily distinguish between a dreamer’s fanciful delusions and a professional hypothesis based on deep insight.

Baroness Demer surveyed the atmosphere around her again.

When she first entered the salon.

She thought that the murmuring coming from all directions was about the ridicule of Trinity Academy for publishing an absurd paper, and further, the gossip about the Geminai family for forcing such a move.

But now she could hear the sounds around her.

“Is it really possible to do it this way?”
“I tried it too, but I can’t prove it.”
“A mere male witch wrote this…?”
“And it hasn’t even been 10 years since he became a witch.”
“Isn’t it actually unverifiable? The latter part is just wordplay.”

The witches were all talking about the same topic.

The same kind of commotion as when Count Yesod’s ‘Reverse Field Theory’, which had been evaluated as the most excellent and innovative paper in the last half-century, was first revealed.

It was a paper that even Baroness Demer, who was at the top of the witch society, couldn’t help but admire.

Everyone was putting their heads together to raise their sails in the face of the new enlightenment.

They discussed the parts they didn’t understand, admired the enlightenment, and were engrossed in new inspiration.

They also praised Shin Siwoo in unison.

“He’s really amazing…”
“I saw him at a host bar before, and he’s incredibly handsome. He’s polite and humorous.”
“It’s frustrating, when I was that young, I was rejected more than twenty times in ten years…”
“Talented people should die.”

The annoying Count Albireo’s smirking face caught her eye. She looked very triumphant.

“How is it? Our son-in-law is talented, right?”

She wanted to retort, ‘Is that all?’ and show off her composure by putting the journal down right away.

But Baroness Demer was also a witch. She couldn’t take her eyes off the new knowledge that broadened the horizons of understanding.

Unable to hide her envy and jealousy, Demer clicked her tongue and ignored Albireo’s sneer, turning her gaze back to the paper.

Shin Siwoo’s paper was as innovative as it was extremely difficult, and even Baroness Demer couldn’t understand it at once.

Also, the proof of ‘phase matching’, the core theory of the anti-rebound control model, was not clearly verified.

The proof of that theory was like the crankshaft that made all this research data function properly.

If that was proven, she could definitely use the Gnosis egg she had obtained effectively…

“What! Are you kidding me?”

Baroness Demer, who had been filled with such anticipation, slammed the table. At this moment, she temporarily forgot her dignity and refinement as a Baroness.

The witches who had looked at the paper before Baroness Demer let out small laughs, as if they had expected it.

But Baroness Demer had no energy left to pay attention to her surroundings.

“I have discovered a surprising proof for this, but due to lack of space, I will not write it…?”

The final proof that would complete the gist of the paper was cut off like this.

It was an arrogant attitude that was hard to believe from a rookie who was publishing their first academic paper.

The most frustrating thing was that she felt curiosity and longing, not anger, at that attitude.

Why, why, why didn’t he tell everything?

Her body was burning up.

She wanted to meet him right away and have an in-depth discussion to hear his opinions.

“Our son-in-law is a bit mischievous.”

Albireo, who had poked her head in from the side, sneered.

Baroness Demer snorted as if to say she had heard it.

“Do you think I can’t even do this much? I’ll prove it.”

Baroness Demer took out paper and a fountain pen.

And like the other witches gathered in the salon, she buried her head in the desk to prove Shin Siwoo’s theory.

2.
“Ms. Sophia, is this okay?”

The day before the paper was published.

Siwoo, who had received the final review from Sophia, tilted his head.

“What is it?”
“If this is missing, it can’t be used. It’s also hard to prove.”

Sophia’s review had completely omitted the proof of ‘phase matching’, which was the core of magnetic magic combination.

Even though he had given feedback on the logical flaws.

Moreover, the reason she gave was ‘I will not write it due to lack of space’.

Wasn’t it just a matter of adding five more pages?

He felt his face burning up as if he was pretending to be a genius.

Sophia smiled.

“Papers also need showmanship. A lot of attention brings more fame and interest.”
“I think I’ve had enough attention, let alone fame.”

It had started because of one secretary, but he wondered if he was doing something unnecessary.

But it wasn’t right to make a fuss about the edits of Senior Professor Sophia, who must have written dozens of such papers…

“Of course, money comes in too.”
“Money?”

“With a paper like this, everyone will be clamoring to talk to you. There will be many customers who come with wonderful gifts. It’s too wasteful to release it all for free, isn’t it?

The basic content is released as open source, but the core is taught in exchange for a price. This is also how witches earn research funds.”

He didn’t know about the other things, but money was always needed.

He hadn’t paid back all the donations he had borrowed from his big mother-in-law yet, and he didn’t intend to live by leeching off others in the future.

He thought that Sophia must have arranged it wisely.

“Well, I guess Ms. Sophia is right.”

Siwoo casually gave his final consent to Sophia’s review.