Picatinny Society (2)

The Picatinny Society, as Mason said, was a large-scale society.

There have been tens of thousands of studies being discussed internally, and the flow of funds to and from is also enormous.

There are also countless people who participate.

Beginning with general scholars, major ministers of the military and masters of magic towers and workshops also attend.

If you look closely, there was nothing much different from a regular academic conference except that it was only R&D for military purposes.

“I didn’t know there was a dress code, but…”

It was like a thunderclap.

As for the clothes I have, I only have one spare that is the same as the one I am wearing now.

I’ve never been touched before, so I didn’t pay much attention to my outfit, but I never thought I’d be tackled like this.

“Is that why you asked me to accompany you?”

“Please, Professor Roshua.”

I’ve never bought a tailcoat or anything like that.

I don’t know when I’ll die in the middle of the war, but there’s no way I can afford to wear something like that.

So, it was easy to ask, and I recruited someone who knew this well.

That’s Professor Roshua.

“In my heart, I’d just like to borrow mine, but…the size doesn’t seem right.”

Roshua sighed as she looked at how tall she was, one hand taller than me.

I usually don’t show it because it’s covered by my coat, but my physique is bigger than mine.

“There’s a nice clothing store in Rhodes. Let’s go there.”

“I can just rent it in moderation.”

“A tailcoat is something that needs to be matched someday. It will be used over and over again, so let’s get one right now.”

Roshua persuaded him in an unusually logical way, and since I agreed to that, I had no choice but to follow him.

One new thing I learned is that he is a short-haired man from Rhodes.

Did you have time to wander around in a place like this when you were driven by work?

He walked along the cobweb-like streets of Rhodes as if he were at home.

“Here it is. Rewinding-Garden.”

Compared to the grandiose words, the size is just about the size of a local corner store.

The interior, however, looks luxurious.

Upon entering, a rather young looking male clerk greeted us.

“Oh? Professor Roshua. You’re leaving work before 10 o’clock, so the sun will rise in the west tomorrow.”

“I sometimes leave work early…”

Roshua’s shoulders slump at the words of a close friend or not.

To be precise, it is not a normal work day.

It was only because I asked for forgiveness and took him out, who was suffering from overwork.

“Is the guest here tall today?”

“Yes. Professor Eugene. This is Hans, and he is the best person in Rhodes when it comes to making custom suits, so you can trust him.”

“hahahaha. You lift me up too much.”

He took me to the mirror to take my measurements.

“Can you take off your hat and mask for now? Oh, and your coat too.”

“···Yes.”

I didn’t want to, but I obediently took off my mask and hat.

When I stood in front of the mirror with my bare face, which I hadn’t seen in a while, I saw a face that looked like a sannim that I still didn’t like.

When I looked around, Hans and Roshua were looking at me with dazed faces.

“The store manager.”

“·······.”

“The manager?”

“Ah! Yeah… I’m sorry. This is really… You look really good.”

“···thank you.”

Not a compliment I like very much.

While Hans was sizing up, Roshua still hovered around me, looking bewildered.

“Why are you covering your face like that? It’s such a waste.”

“I don’t like my face very much.”

“…you are gifted with the qualities of a great deceiver.”

He was chewing on the popcorn he had taken out of his pocket.

“Well, Professor, I think it would be more helpful in class if you covered your face.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It seems that students can’t concentrate because they are looking at the professor’s face.”

“·······.”

“Wow. It’s new to look at.”

Estelle seems to have said something similar…

After waiting for a long time, about 30 minutes, Hans withdrew from me.

“It’s over. What style would you like?”

“Please do something similar to this.”

I showed the Earth suit outfit I had drawn myself.

“Hmm. It’s the tailcoat worn on Earth, right?”

“You know?”

“That’s because I saw all the clothes in the world while studying design.”

He looked back and forth between me and the painting, then nodded.

“I’ll make it like this. Actually, there are all tailcoats, so suits go well with them.”

“Then please.”

“I will burn all the souls of my artisans and make clothes suitable for you.”

“There’s no need for that…”

“No. It’s like a designer’s duty.”

His voice was quiet, but his will was not.

The two eyes that were looking at me were burning with pressure.

“Must be. I will create a masterpiece worthy of the professor.”

“···Yes.”

“Ah. The price is two thousand shillings.”

Is a tailcoat really that expensive?

I didn’t know much about it, but it wasn’t a burdensome price, so I swipe the card obediently.

The completion date is one week later.

I left the store with the crying Roshua, saying I didn’t want to go back.

*

It was Professor Skadi who welcomed me back to the office.

She, who was lying on the reserved seat sofa and wriggling her tail, quickly jumped out as soon as I returned and handed out a letter.

“Voila!”

“What is this.”

“Read the sender!”

Looking down at one side of the envelope, I saw that the sender had ‘Pan-Dimensional Academic Alliance’ written on it.

“This···.”

“Congratulations on becoming a thesis reviewer, Professor Yujin Kang.”

“·······.”

Is the work done so fast?

I thought it would take at least a month, but the results came out in a few days.

It seems that the power of Skadi’s recommendation was more than I thought.

“Instead, it’s still a temporary job. Multiple mediation theory is great, but your professor rank is still low, and you only have one paper, so if you have other portfolios, please send them.”

If you’re going to do it, I’ll just do it~

Skadi mumbled and dived onto the couch.

“A portfolio…”

I never thought I would be writing something like this.

A sigh preceded it, but the enemy had content.

A portfolio would suffice if you sent the 3 major formulas for magical power, the rotating body kit, and the blueprints for the newly created Gatling Gun.

The Helios professorship is a bonus.

“Oh, and the appointment letter and the mark are also enclosed, so take a look.”

As she said, there was another small envelope inside the envelope.

Inside, there was a letter of appointment as a ‘dissertation examiner’ with the mark of the academic federation, a badge symbolizing the title, and an additional badge with a small star.

“I understand the mark of the thesis examiner, but what about the other one?”

“Professor rank. You haven’t been officially issued yet, have you?”

“Hmm···.”

The grade symbolized by the mark was ‘5 stars’.

I thought I would start with the lowest ninth star, but it was more unexpected than it looked.

“It would be nice~ It usually takes several years to get a ninth-class star and go up one rank to an 8th-class star.”

“How high is a 5 star?”

“About 5 or 6 out of 100 professors? It’s quite a prestigious academy chair professor level.”

It was a higher grade than I thought.

“Helios Professor, in charge of key subjects, presenter of multiple mediation theory, has a rotating body kit, and even is an SS-class hunter. To be honest, I give it a low 5th grade.”

“What is Professor Skadi’s grade?”

“Me? Third star!”

Then he rummaged through the inside of the conical hat he was wearing, and showed a mark that glowed in platinum.

Did that hat have a purpose like that?

“If I get promoted to a formal examiner and publish new papers, my grade will go up.”

“Yes.”

In addition, she told me that the second-class star is awarded to those who have led the ‘game-changer’ level of research and development, and the first-class star is more like an honorary rank that is given only to constellations.

You rarely get both, so the highest you can usually get is a third star.

‘Is the goal first of all a third-class star?’

Based on the growth rate so far, it probably won’t take too long.

With a goal in mind, I sat down at my desk.

Ten days until the Picatinny Conference.

It was to complete the portfolio creation within it.

“Whoa…”

I need to hire an assistant soon.

*

The dark time of the deep night.

It was late at night, when everyone had gone to bed, but Estelle did not go to sleep with her languid eyes open.

The place where she was, was the ‘Hall of Fame’, which was considered the most difficult place to enter in the Altair Mansion.

It is a place where the spirits who raised the name of the family are enshrined, like a kind of shrine.

Estelle’s parents, who died in the war a long time ago, were also enshrined there.

“·······.”

Estelle squatted in front of her parents’ tombstones, staring at the two names written dryly.

-Paellan von Sis Altair

-Amelia von Layla Altair

Although they could only be seen by name now, Estelle had vague memories of her family.

When she was still a toddler, she remembered the gentle hugs and caresses of her hands.

Her strong supporters, who knew how to smile benevolently.

They were people who seemed to protect themselves no matter what storms came their way.

But they died and left Estelle.

Estelle, who was alone at a young age, had to learn to stand up on her own.

“You know. I won first place this time too.”

I left the report card in front of the tombstone.

It was a talent that was always unrivaled, and the grades she brought here were always number one.

“But, this time it wasn’t the best.”

Estelle’s talent was so brilliant that even the professors were fading.

However, this time I met someone who was above that talent.

Yujin Kang.

He was Estelle’s first encounter, the one ahead of her.

“That person is the one who ended the war.”

She stared blankly at the tombstone.

The formal tombstone, where not even the body was buried, was dry and lifeless.

“If there was a professor, would mom and dad be alive?”

The people I believed would always protect me.

But the people who left me.

Estelle was left alone, but her mighty talent made her the one who needed to be protected rather than protected.

It was natural to take the lead rather than back down, and he accepted it as a matter of course.

Read at noblemtl.com

Just like the other day, I stood in front to protect two idiots.

“I don’t like standing in front of me.”

Taking it for granted, she stood in front of her, and she wanted to be protected like any other child.

I wanted someone to fence me in, someone to teach me and guide me.

“By the way… I finally met you.”

There are people ahead of you, and there are people who want to protect you.

She remembered a hunter in a fluttering black coat.

Neither his background nor his talents mean anything to him.

He was someone who didn’t need Estelle’s protection or his family’s protection.

He just wanted to lead her as a teacher, and he had the ability to do so.

He was the only person who treated Estelle as an ordinary student.

“I want to learn from that professor.”

So someday, I want to stand by his side.

I want to become as strong as he is, and walk the battlefield with him.

“Then, if the opportunity arises, I want to end this war.”

I hope there will come a world where I don’t have to stand in front of it.

Then, with hope, Estelle swept down the unanswered tombstone.

“Are you here again?”

Did he find Estelle at some point?

Thereon’s voice came through the hall’s open door.

“It’s just that I can’t sleep.”

“···yes.”

Today is parents’ anniversary.

Estelle would always guard the tombstone until late at night on this day.

Thereon quietly placed a hand on his granddaughter’s shoulder.

“There is an item passed on from the family constellation.”

“To me?”

“yes.”

Thereon handed out a letter.

Even the letter envelope was made luxuriously, and it was an envelope containing an invitation to the Picatinny Society.

“Estel. Do you know how to become a Constellation?”

“I do not know.”

“Yes. No one knows. If they knew that, the number of Constellations would not be as small as they are now.”

What are the conditions for becoming a Constellation?

The fate of a star, how is it born?

Humanity today knew nothing about him.

“The clue to solving the secret is said to be revealed at this conference.”

“·······.”

“The family constellation wants you to see it.”

Estelle accepted the letter.

to stand in front of everyone. to lead the battlefield.

I have to go get ready to be alone again.

Estelle’s expression was slightly saddened.

“I am···.”

“And this time, Professor Yujin Kang is also attending-“

“I’ll go.”

It was an immediate answer.

The sad expression is gone, and eyes filled with strange longing are looking at Thereon.

“I really want to go.”

“Yeah, yes.”

The deadline is ten days later.

Estelle accepted the invitation and left the hall.

Watching her back as she left, Terreon lonely stroked the tombstones of his dead son and daughter-in-law.