“That’s why they make it the work of magic or miracles,” I said.
“Precisely! Oh, I’m glad our king is the understanding sort,” said Genia. “If this had been the Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria, I could have been thrown in jail or, worse, burned at the stake for talking like this.”
“Burned at the stake…” I thought she must be exaggerating, but Genia looked absolutely serious.
“There’s a tendency in this world to think of magic as the grace of gods or spirits,” she said. “That tendency becomes stronger with the strength of a person’s faith in religion. That country’s a theocracy. The gods or spirits are the very source of their authority. They can’t recognize the existence of any research… or researcher if it would pull back the curtain on that divine mystery.”
“…You could be right,” I said.
In countries with too much religious fervor, those who try to discover the laws of nature sometimes become suppressed. Those who give explanations against the teachings of the faith might be treated as heretics and, in the worst cases… killed. Even Galileo had been forced to recant his theory.
…How stupid.
“This country won’t end up like that,” I said. “I won’t allow it.”
“I’m very happy to hear that.” Genia clapped her hands on her lap and smiled broadly. “So, here’s the thing about us people from the House of Maxwell. We thought that there might be another principle in this world outside of magic, and we’ve been studying it. It’s true that some of the dungeon core’s functions were brought back to life with magic, but when we imagine how the dungeon core was created, we think it has to be a product of engineering, or mathematics. It’s not the power of miracles; if we investigate it thoroughly, we believe there is a functional truth to be found. For convenience’s sake, we call this separate principle ‘over-science.’”
“Over-science…” I murmured.
“That’s O-Sci for short.”
“‘Oh, sigh’… Don’t shorten it like that,” I said.
“And so, our clan, as people who study over-science, refer to ourselves as over-scientists.” Genia puffed out her chest with unironic pride.
“I heard from Ludwin that you’re a mad scientist, though?” I asked.
“I’d rather not have a lame name like that.”
“I don’t see the difference!” I cried. “Over” was cool, but “mad” wasn’t?…I didn’t quite get her logic.
Genia said, “Now then…” and stood up. “I‘d like this king, who seems like he’ll become a sympathetic supporter of mine, to see my inventions.”
“Yeah, that’s what we came here for,” I said. “Please, show me.”
“Roger that,” she said happily. “I think I’ve got just the thing. Could you come outside with me?”
Genia rose from her seat and left the house. Apparently the invention she wanted to show me was outside. If so, it might have been behind the divider I saw on the bottom level.
Ludwin had muttered “Honestly…” to himself and followed after Genia, so it was just me and Liscia left behind in the house.
“If there’s one thing to say about her, she’s different,” Liscia said with a wry smile.
She must have meant Genia. I largely agreed with that opinion, but I was beginning to have certain hopeful expectations for her.
“Still, she may be just the kind of talented person we’ve been looking for.” I kept my arms crossed as I expressed my thoughts. “When I saw the imposing sight of the Imperial Army at Van, I realized we can’t leave things the way they are. I’ve made do with things that already exist up until now, but going forward, we’ll need to be able to come up with and create things no one has seen before. To create revolutionary new technologies, adopt them, and move the times forward. If we don’t, this country will never be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Empire.”
“…You’re right,” Liscia said.
“So, I’ve finally found a method for moving forward into a new era.”
“A method?” Liscia echoed questioningly.
I nodded firmly in response. “In the history of mankind, there have been those who were ahead of their time. They have a gift of foresight, break down established notions, and one of them alone can be enough to change history. Although in many cases, they’re lost in the flow of the times, or weeded out by natural selection.”
For instance, take the “universal genius,” Leonardo da Vinci.
Da Vinci is famous for his painting, the Mona Lisa, but he left behind designs for a surprising number of inventions. They say there were even designs for a tank, a diving suit, and a helicopter in there. Setting aside the feasibility of them, if those inventions of his had been researched properly, the history of Europe might have changed dramatically.
In addition to his outrageous inventions, he had also produced accurate anatomical drawings of the human body. In an era when the Christian church had held great influence, he had purchased dead bodies and cut them up in ways that might have been seen as blasphemous by the church, all in order to learn about the structure of the human body. If these anatomical drawings had spread, they would no doubt have led to great advances in medicine. However, he’d sealed them away for a long time, fearing the power of the church, and so he’d been unable to contribute to medical science.
“Those sorts of people are said by later generations to have been ‘born before their time,’” I said. “However, what if the ruler of the time saw such a person for what they were, protected them, and gave them an important position? Then, what if, not just the person in power, but the people as a whole, could be led to recognize them for what they were? Don’t you think that could lead to a major advance?”
“You mean, make the times adjust to the person who’s ahead of them?” asked Liscia.
“Precisely!” I said. “Though I didn’t expect you to get it on the first try.”
“I haven’t been hanging around with you for half a year for nothing, you know,” Liscia said with a laugh, but then quickly took on a pensive look. “But, by that reasoning, shouldn’t you be the one to lead, Souma? The technological level of your world was far ahead of this one, wasn’t it?”
“Well, I can understand why you’d say that, but… Yeah, no, I can’t,” I said.
“Why not?”
“It’s because my world isn’t further down the path that this one will eventually follow.”
My former world had no magic.
I had felt that this world’s technology was all over the place because of the existence of magic before, but that was one way that this world moved forward. Some pieces of technology, like the jewels for the Jewel Voice Broadcast, were already superior to the technology in the other world. This world was probably going to continue along a different path from my own.
“If I butt in when I shouldn’t, there’s a risk that I might end up delaying development,” I said. “That’s why I think it’s best if this world’s progress is driven mainly by its own people.”
“I understand what you’re thinking.” That was what she said, but Liscia’s face didn’t look satisfied with my explanation at all. If anything, she looked both angry and sad.
While I was wondering what was up, Liscia took my hand and squeezed it tight.
“I understand what you’re thinking, Souma. Still, there are parts of it that I can’t accept.”
“…Such as?” I asked.
“The part about ‘this world’s people!’ You belong to this country now, too, Souma!” Liscia pulled my hand and placed it against her cheek. “My father was the one to tear you away from your old world, so I, as his daughter, may not be the one to say this, but… What you said just now, it made me feel incredibly sad.”