I Created Scientific Magic - Chapter 92

Chapter 92: Chapter 81: Sudden Death News (Two in One) Part 2

Tic’s face showed a look of understanding. When he first studied how to draw Array patterns, he also noticed similar rules, but he hadn’t systematized the rules of each shape like Lynn did, nor formed an independent discipline out of them.

In Wizard City, some Alchemists did enjoy pondering over these things. It was even said that someone had calculated pi to the ninth decimal place, which was already as precise as it could be…

Ailoke glanced at Lynn on the stage, guessing that his homework had not yet been covered. With this thought, a bold idea sprouted in his mind. He looked at Tic and spoke nervously.

“Mr. Tic, sometime ago, Professor Lynn invented an interesting game. I wonder if you’d be interested?”

“What game?” Tic was somewhat curious.

Ailoke immediately perked up, picked up a feather pen, and carelessly drew a three-by-six grid on the Parchment. After thinking for a moment, he crossed out the last grid and then explained the rules of the game.

“Starting with a copper coin, the amount in the next grid must double compared to the previous one?” Tic repeated, and then wondered why Ailoke specifically crossed out a grid.

“Exactly, if you can fill all the grids, these ten Gold Coins are yours!” Ailoke promptly took out all his savings, and then continued, “But the corresponding money you put down is also mine!”

The difference between a copper coin and ten Gold Coins is a full hundred thousand times…

The game increasingly interested Tic, who quickly did some mental arithmetic, then took a pen and began filling in the grids.

When he wrote the last number, Tic exclaimed in surprise, saying with interest,

“Fascinating, truly fascinating!”

The value in the seventeenth grid is sixty-five thousand five hundred thirty-six, so the sum of all the values is…

“A total of one hundred thirty-one thousand and seventy-one copper coins!” Ailoke hurriedly responded.

It took Tic just a few seconds to add the numbers up quickly, and indeed, it was exactly correct.

He knew from the start that he would lose. After all, this Wizard Apprentice wouldn’t just give away money for nothing. But he did not expect that the total of the small seventeen grids, when summed up, would multiply the initial value by a hundred thirty thousand times.

Does that mean the other party crossed out a grid, fearing that the amount would be too large and he might back out?

Tic was at once bemused, and since he didn’t bring any silver or copper coins, he directly took out four magic Gold Coins and placed them on the table, always a man to honor a bet!

“Three Gold Coins will do!” Ailoke dared not ask for more, promptly pushing one back.

This Alchemist was not the first person he had tricked with this gambit. After being outsmarted at Professor Lynn’s, he went straight home and played this grid game with his father, Albert.

In the end, he theoretically won all of the family’s wealth, and Albert even supposedly owed him tens of thousands of Gold Coins… However, in reality, he didn’t get a single penny and was also severely beaten up!

From this, he learned a lesson: being too greedy will get you punished…

Lucky for him, this Alchemist was a man of his word!

Ailoke happily pocketed the three Gold Coins, but the next second, he heard a familiar voice from the stage.

“Ailoke, since you have such a masterly grasp of mathematical formulas, why don’t you come up to the stage and explain them to everyone?”

The joyful expression on the fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy’s face instantly froze, and he shivered uncontrollably as he hesitantly stood up.

Lynn looked at him “kindly.”

Smart kid, using the knowledge I taught you to trick others, you really have some tricks up your sleeve!

“`

Under the schadenfreude-filled gazes of his fellow students, Ailoke had no choice but to stiffly walk up to the podium, pick up a piece of parchment, and begin his stammering lecture using his shallow knowledge of arcane mysteries…

Ailoke never felt time to be so excruciatingly long in his entire life, forgetfulness taking over amid the tension as bouts of laughter occasionally erupted from the audience, until he was finally expelled from the stage after just over ten minutes.

Considering Tic and Lydia’s learning progress, Lynn spent the following lessons revisiting some of the geometric formulas he had taught before.

After class, Tic presented his reciprocation, a book four fingers thick—”Runes and Alchemy.”

Although there were some basic alchemical texts within the Ivyeta Academy, none could compare to a gift from a grandmaster alchemist.

After flipping through a few pages, Lynn noticed that the book, in addition to analyses of some basic alchemy runes, had notes written at the bottom of every page.

So many annotations could not have been hastily scribbled—they must have been from a “textbook” previously used to instruct a core apprentice.

Even so, it was an extremely valuable gift, indicating that when it came to learning alchemy, he would be able to avoid many detours.

Lynn exchanged a few polite remarks offhandedly and then put away the alchemical book.

Tic, having just finished an arcane class, had his mind brimming with various questions needing Lynn’s explanations. However, glimpsing the halfling girl who had been lingering nearby since the class ended, he very considerately excused himself and left.

“Professor Lynn!” Lydia immediately approached, tiptoeing to place a bulging purse on the podium, stood with hands on her hips, and said proudly.

“Yesterday all day, we sold eight hundred thirty-seven airship tickets, totaling eighty-three Gold Coins and seventy silver coins, all here…”

The halfing girl chattered nonstop about the bustling scene in the plaza the previous afternoon, with queues for the airship stretching all the way to the harbor docks, everyone eager for their chance to soar into the skies…

Selling so many tickets in just one day was a bit of a surprise to Lynn, as it seemed the allure of flying was greater than he had anticipated.

“Oh, and here’s the ledger, Uncle Darren asked me to give it to you!” Lydia pulled out a small notebook from her side and handed it to Lynn—it contained a list of all the ticket purchasers and even detailed which batch boarded which airship.

Lynn instructed his intelligence device to record all this data, then he took out the halfling’s share of eight Gold and thirty-seven silver from the purse and, along with the ledger, handed them back to Lydia.

“Tell Darren when you get back that he doesn’t need to deliver this every day, just show it to me periodically.”

The halfling girl looked somewhat puzzled because Lynn’s reaction wasn’t as Darren and the others had predicted. Faced with such a large sum of money, they had assumed he would insist on a daily inspection.

Lynn didn’t bother to explain but he deliberately loosened control over the financial aspect to see if these halflings would make any underhanded moves.

An aerial warship was just the beginning; there would be plenty of opportunities to earn Gold Coins later on, such as the primitive papyrus and parchment still in use in Wizard Land. By selling paper alone, he could make a fortune.

However, he couldn’t possibly handle these matters himself; he would definitely need to hire some trustworthy people.

It all depended on whether these halfling people could resist their greed.

As the two were talking, a rush of footsteps came from outside, and then the door to the classroom was abruptly knocked open. Lynn turned to look and didn’t see anyone at first glance until he lowered his gaze to spot Darren barging in.

In just one day, the disheveled halfling had become much more haggard than before. Upon entering, he quickly scanned his surroundings and, upon seeing Lynn, immediately appeared as though he’d seen a savior, frantically proclaiming,

“There’s trouble, Professor Lynn, Ralph… Ralph is dead!”

Ralph? Who was that?

Lynn paused for a moment, but before he could recall, he was hurriedly dragged away by an anxious Darren.

(PS: Today’s chapter is a two-in-one.)