American: Native Empire - Chapter 133

Chapter 133: The Picture.

Kim Ki-woo had always favored scholars and emphasized the importance of reading countless times.

Thanks to him, reading had become a universal daily activity for the imperial citizens long ago.

Even if their occupation was something like a farmer or a miner, which had nothing to do with academics, the imperial citizens had a deep-rooted perception that they should read books to some extent.

Of course, the amount of books each individual read varied greatly.

Warm Hat was beyond just reading a lot, he was addicted to print.

He read books from the moment he woke up until he went to bed.

He even got a job as a librarian at the Imperial University Central Library, which had a high competition rate, in order to do so.

‘There’s no book that’s not here. I’m happy…’

This library boasted the largest scale in the empire.

It was more so because the Imperial University was the center of academics.

Warm Hat collected and devoured a tremendous amount of knowledge by reading all kinds of books available in the library.

“Excuse me, librarian. Can I ask you something?”

“Of course. I’ll answer if I know it.”

He had read so many books that his breadth of knowledge was very wide, so much so that even the scholars of the Imperial University came to him for advice.

“Why are you still in the library with such talent? You can easily get into the Imperial University.”

“Haha. If I become a scholar, I won’t have much time to read books. I’m satisfied with my current life.”

“Tsk! You’re a weirdo. Let me know if you change your mind.”

“Thank you for your interest.”

Many department heads from various fields came to him and recommended him to enter the Imperial University, but he refused them flatly.

He just generously shared his knowledge with the scholars who came to him.

Thanks to that, he became a famous attraction of the Imperial University Central Library.

Then one day.

“Leonardo da Vinci…”

Warm Hat was deeply interested in a book that came from a region called Europe in the east.

The book contained various physical hypotheses and experiments that he had researched.

‘Amazing, right? Is he a genius?’

Of course, most of them were already verified by the imperial scholars, but he was curious about how he achieved such academic results by himself.

So Warm Hat started looking for information about this person named Leonardo da Vinci.

Fortunately, he was a celebrity, so books related to him were easily found.

Warm Hat gathered them and read them one by one.

And he was greatly surprised soon after.

‘He researched all this by himself?’

He left achievements in various fields, and they were all very outstanding.

‘Wow… If he had been born in the empire, maybe he could have made history.’

It was really regrettable that he died just a few decades ago.

Warm Hat put aside his regret and read everything that Leonardo da Vinci had left behind.

In the process.

“Camera… obscura?”

Warm Hat was fascinated by Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Codex Atlanticus’.

Camera obscura was a term that referred to the phenomenon of external landscapes or shapes being projected upside down on the opposite wall through a small hole in one side of a dark room or box.

This was a topic that had been researched by ancient Chinese Mozi or ancient Greek Aristotle long ago, but Leonardo da Vinci applied it to art.

He made a camera obscura as a tool for drawing pictures in detail.

Warm Hat thought of his old friend, Steep Cliff, as he saw this.

“He would love it if I told him.”

He had only read the contents of the book so far, so he wasn’t sure if this was true, but he thought his friend who was struggling to find his own style would like it.

And this expectation hit the mark.

After telling Steep Cliff about the principle of camera obscura, not long after, he ran to the central library and hugged Warm Hat tightly.

“Such a groundbreaking method… You are truly amazing. Haha! Thank you so much!”

“Why are you being so gross? Anyway, it’s all thanks to the camera obscura, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Come to my studio when you have time. I’ll show you the real thing.”

“Really? Then I’ll visit you after work today.”

Warm Hat was curious about how the camera obscura actually worked, so he readily accepted his offer.

And as promised, he went to the studio on the steep cliff after work.

“Is this it?”

“You’re here? Come and see for yourself.”

He followed his friend’s guidance and checked the actual operation of the camera obscura.

“Wow. This is amazing. It really shows upside down because of that tiny hole?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Isn’t this the mystery of science?”

“Talking about science when you’re an artist.”

“What did you say?”

They bickered with each other, but a smile soon bloomed on their lips.

After finishing all the tours, Warm Hat repeated to himself on his way home.

‘This world is really mysterious.’

Thanks to that, he devoured more books containing various information from the central library.

***

For Warm Hat, the camera obscura was nothing more than a happening.

He was exposed to so much information every day that he soon forgot about the camera obscura.

But a big turning point in his life happened.

It all started from a book.

“Photosensitivity…”

It was a book containing the research of a famous chemist from the Imperial University.

He studied materials that changed by light, and he called these materials photosensitive materials.

Among them, he described in detail the photosensitive materials that had large changes in this book.

There were many technical terms here and there, but Warm Hat had no difficulty in understanding them because he had read countless books related to chemistry.

“It’s amazing how light works. There are materials that change like this just by shining on them…”

As he was thinking, he remembered the camera obscura he saw at the studio on the steep cliff and its principle.

“Come to think of it, the camera obscura projected an image on the wall.”

The steep cliff had established his own style of painting thanks to the camera obscura, and his last exhibition caused a great sensation in the art world.

That was also an example of applying light to real life.

He was able to draw realistically by tracing the projected image.

“…Wait a minute.”

Flash!

At that moment.

In Warm Hat’s head, two separate phenomena merged into one in an instant.

‘Camera obscura and photosensitivity?’

The former was a device that projected an image on the opposite wall through a small hole.

And the latter was the property of materials changing by light itself.

‘If there is an image projected, there is a difference in light in each part… If I shine an image on a highly photosensitive material, won’t there be a difference in each part of the material?’

As these two phenomena were combined, Warm Hat thought of this.

But he soon shook his head.

‘What am I thinking? I’m not a chemist.’

No matter how many chemistry books he read, he was not a chemist from the Imperial University.

And the experiment above was something that chemists would do.

So he brushed off his thoughts and started reading another book.

But even as time passed, Warm Hat couldn’t get rid of his hypothesis from his head and kept thinking about it from time to time.

‘It seems possible.’

If the image of the camera obscura is drawn by photosensitive material as he thought…

This was surely an amazing discovery.

‘Phew… Well, let me try to explain my idea.’

Fortunately, several scholars in the Imperial University’s chemistry department knew about it, and the department head was one of them.

Warm Hat decided to act on his impulse and went to see them.

He didn’t want to bother them after work, so he approached the chief librarian of the central library and asked,

“Excuse me, may I go to the chemistry department for a while?”

“Did the chemists call you or something?”

“No, but… I have something to ask the department head.”

“Ha ha. Did you get stuck on something while reading the chemistry books?”

“Yes, well…”

He did get stuck, so Warm Hat nodded his head.

“Alright. We’ll take care of the rest, so you can leave for today.”

“…I’ll come back after I finish.”

“No, you don’t have to. You’ve been living in the library without taking any days off. Even giving up your holidays. You should go out and have some fun.”

“Thank you for your concern. Then I’ll be going.”

***

After that, Warm Hat ran to the chemistry department.

When he arrived, a scholar who was walking by recognized him.

“Huh? What are you doing here? What about the central library?”

“Hic, huff…”

He caught his breath for a moment and asked him.

“Can I see the department head for a moment?”

“The department head? Hmm… I don’t know what it is, but follow me.”

“Thank you very much.”

Luckily, the scholar kindly guided Warm Hat to the department head’s office.

Soon they arrived at the office.

“Huh? What brings you here all of a sudden?”

“He said he wanted to see the department head.”

“The department head? Who are you?”

“You know him. The famous librarian from the central library.”

“Oh… You’re him. Well, let me talk to him for a moment.”

The scholar didn’t hesitate and knocked on the office door.

“Department head. I’m coming in.”

“Sure, come in.”

A deep voice echoed from the other side of the door, and the scholar opened it.

“He came to see you.”

“Hmm? Aren’t you Warm Hat? Ha ha! What’s up?”

“Ha ha. Well…”

“Don’t just stand there, come in.”

The chemistry department head, Wide Pot Lid, gestured to Warm Hat.

“Then excuse me.”

As soon as he sat down on a soft sofa, Wide Pot Lid’s words continued.

“So, did you finally decide to apply to the Imperial University’s chemistry department?”

“…Thank you for your offer, but I don’t have that intention yet.”

“Aww, too bad. Someone like you should shine in the chemistry department.”

“Aren’t there many scholars who are incomparable to me in the chemistry department?”

“Pfft. These days there are too many idiots… Sigh.”

Warm Hat’s expression became awkward at that remark.

The chemistry department was one of the very core departments in the Imperial University.

That’s why the admission rate of the Imperial University was already murderous, but it was even more so for the chemistry department.

It meant that there were many talented people who flocked there.

But Warm Hat couldn’t understand why he said that.

“So, what’s the real reason you came to see me at this hour? You’re not someone who goes out of the library often.”

“Oh! That’s…”

He handed over two books he brought from the central library to Wide Pot Lid.

“This is a research book on photosensitive materials. And this is…”

“It’s about camera obscura.”

“Camera obscura?”

Wide Pot Lid flipped through the pages and quickly skimmed through the contents.

Thanks to Warm Hat’s explanations along the way, it didn’t take long for him to grasp the principle of camera obscura.

After closing the book, he crossed his arms and asked.

“What are you curious about here that made you come all this way?”

“It’s not so much curiosity as I wanted to ask for your advice on whether my idea is feasible or not.”

“Advice… Alright. Let me hear it.”

After getting permission from the department head, Warm Hat’s hypothesis began to spill out of his mouth.