The Banished Villainous Noble Son Who Was Used as a Stepping Stone in the Original Work Awakens to Combat and Destroys the Laws of the World - Episode 37: The Researcher

Episode 37: The Researcher

――Inside the academy grounds, there stood a research building in one corner. Outwardly, it was labeled as the “Material Storage and Research Wing.” But the interior was far from ordinary.

In the hallways, tools and materials were scattered messily. There were even scorch marks on parts of the floor. A smell like a mix of metal and chemicals lingered in the air. And faint remnants of magical power flickered through the atmosphere.

Walking with a familiar pace, Lucrane spoke in a voice only I could hear.

“The room at the far end of this floor is hers. …Are you mentally prepared?”

To Lucrane’s reminder, I nodded in response.

“In that case, I won’t stop you.”

At the end of the hallway stood a wooden door. Above it was a handwritten sign:

“No entry without a clear purpose!”

…However, underneath that was a small note: “If you knock three times, I’ll respond even while working.” The more I imagined what kind of person lived here, the more curious I became.

Under Lucrane’s watchful gaze, I knocked on the door—three quiet times.

“Yes~~! It’s open~~~! Oh, but be careful coming in! …Something’s reacting right now. So you might get a bit dizzy if you inhale it!”

A bright, somewhat playful voice called out from within.

“…I really might’ve needed some mental prep,”

Lucrane said with a wry smile. And I quietly gripped the doorknob. Slowly, I pushed the door open.

The moment the door opened, the first thing that hit me was the chaotic “air.”

A pungent, stinging smell. The scent of some chemical that made the inside of my nose tingle. What I saw was the floor scattered with glass bottles, scraps of paper, and dozens of sketches. Near the ceiling hung drying herbs. From somewhere, the faint sound of clinking metal echoed.

“This is… something else…”

“Well… That’s the usual reaction for first-timers.”

Lucrane let out a small laugh at my involuntary comment.

“Yoo-hoo. Oh, sorry if it smells weird—some chemicals just acted up a bit earlier!”

The one who appeared was a woman in a white lab coat. The hem was fluttering behind her.

Her hair was a bright silver. Her slightly wavy hair at the shoulders seemed to have been pushed back many times during work. It was puffed up by thin goggle marks. Her eyes were a clear blue. Her slightly high-pitched voice bounced like a song.

“I’m Flone. Nice to meet you~! You’re the person Lucrane wanted to introduce?”

Her smile was innocent—almost childlike.

“Yes, I’m Alphonse. …I heard you’re knowledgeable about ‘Silent Soak Stone.’”

“Silent Soak Stone?”

Flone repeated the word. She then relaxed her expression and came closer. The chaos that had filled the room a moment ago seemed to lighten around her presence.

“Hey, did you bring it? Do you have the real thing? If you do, I wanna see it right away!”

“Yes. It’s here.”

I carefully took a cloth pouch from my waist and pulled out several pieces of Silent Soak Stone. They looked like ordinary rocks—common, with no real rarity.

The moment Flone picked one up—

“Hmm? Ah, ahhh! This is it! This density, the texture, no doubt about it!”

Her cheerful demeanor briefly vanished. And a sharp glint appeared in her eyes.

“I saw this once a long time ago! It was mentioned briefly in an old academic report. I think it was called ‘Silent Soak Ore’ back then.”

“…And that’s the same as Silent Soak Stone?”

I asked back. And she nodded repeatedly.

“Yep, yep! Honestly, I’ve always been curious about it~. I wanted to touch it, but I couldn’t get the materials… Can’t believe I’m seeing the real thing now!”

Flone pinched one of the stones from the pouch and held it up in front of her.

“But, why did you decide to investigate this? Normally no one would give a second glance to a rock like this.”

“…I heard rumors that some researchers in the past mentioned its ‘conversion potential.’ I picked it up just in case.”

At my reply, Flone blinked. She then suddenly broke into a smile.

“I see, I see! I knew something felt off about it. I actually had some rough ideas for conversion methods too. If only I had the materials back then… Yep, this means we just *have* to try it now!”

Smiling excitedly, she spun on her heel and headed to a shelf in the back.

The sound of rummaging echoed. It was occasionally mixed with the dull clink of bottles colliding. Alphonse looked around idly.

Scattered across the floor were what looked like blueprints. Some of the symbols and equations were even familiar.

(…These might be fragments of “in-development data” from the game?)

While lost in that thought, Flone returned.

“Here, this! Let’s test it out with this!”

What she held was a small plate engraved with complex patterns. In its center, magical energy shimmered.

“The materials… Yeah, six should be enough!”

I nodded silently and handed her the specified number of Silent Soak Stones.

“Alright, I’m gonna set up now, so wait just a bit~!”

Humming a tune, Flone began laying out a magic circle on the floor. She arranged bottles of liquid at four points, sprinkled powdered catalysts carefully, and placed what looked like a small magic irradiation device nearby.

All of it was something I was seeing in real life for the first time.

(…So this is the world of a researcher.)

At that moment, my heart began to race. ―If this conversion succeeds… that “scrapped data” would be proven to actually work.

“Okay, here we go~!”

Flone raised both hands and chanted something like an incantation. The magic circle glowed faintly. And the Silent-Soak Stone at the center trembled slightly. The light pulsed. The air stirred. And then—

The magic circle glowed brighter than before. The air buzzed with energy. *Poof!* —with a popping sound, the reaction ended.

“YESSHHHHHHH!!! I did it! It actually worked!!”

Flone shouted joyfully. She was almost bouncing. At the center of the magic circle, three purplish crystals rolled quietly. Even Lucrane seemed to gasp in surprise.

Flone picked up the largest of them—the one with the densest glow—and thrust it toward me. She was visibly excited.

“This! This is it! Even if it’s just a ‘prototype,’ the conversion totally worked! Whoa, I’m shaking!!”

“This is…”

I accepted the crystal. It glowed gently in my hand—identical in every way to the one I’d seen countless times in the game.

“I’ll analyze the other two on my end, okay? If I can figure out their structure, something really cool might happen…!”

Flone was already spinning in circles with the crystal in hand. She was clearly absorbed in her next research plan.

Watching her, I quietly clenched the crystal in my hand.

(It actually works in reality. That scrapped data…)

This crystal proves it. That the so-called scrapped data wasn’t just junk.

(Then there must be more… In that data, there are “breakthroughs” only I know about.)

Quietly, a fire was lit deep in my chest. I could feel the heat of certainty rising once again.

Original Author’s Comment:

――――――――――――

Thank you so much for reading until the end!!

Your constant support, reactions, and even gifts really encourage me……!!

To meet the expectations of those looking forward to the next part, I’ll continue writing carefully and with all my effort!!

(Here’s the link if you want to support the Author: https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818622176303375188.)