Research Life of a New Professor at Magic University - Chapter 21

The experiment requested by Atwell wasn’t easily accomplished within the first session.
It demanded a certain level of knowledge, application, and experience.
Even students who had considered pretending to be clumsy to seek help from the elf quickly abandoned that idea.

The alchemy department students remained relatively calm and didn’t act impulsively.
However, theoretical knowledge and application didn’t simply emerge from pondering.
As a result, some students spent more than half an hour just staring at their papers, scratching their heads in frustration.

“Not starting yet?”

“You?”

“I planned to observe for a bit, but it’s not helping.”

“Senior! Have you ever tried making this?”

“No, I haven’t. Hey! Don’t cheat.”

“Damn.”

The magic department students were in disarray.
Some students expressed their confusion through their actions, which led to further mishaps due to their lack of experience and synergy.

“No!”

“Oh, sh—! Be careful!”

“Hey, is this right?”

“Do you even have to ask? Quickly discard it.”

Some students hastily moved, knocking over pots, and others heated the materials without adding water, creating ashes.
Some even managed to create an abominable gruel just by handling the ingredients.

One of those students, seemingly resigned, didn’t discard the mixture and continued with the rest of the process.
Arien started sweating nervously as the liquid gradually turned into a suspicious substance.

“Quiet down already!”

Fortunately, there were no major accidents.
However, students who spilled their materials had to waste time cleaning up.
Professor Atwell had clarified that he wouldn’t help unless a dangerous situation arose.

The only assistance provided by Professor Atwell and Teaching Assistant Arien was to the students who suffered due to the mistakes of others.
Professor Atwell distributed new materials to those whose ingredients were ruined due to spills.
At the same time, Arien swiftly handled the aftermath using some unknown spell.
The professor even prevented a potion on the brink of disaster from going awry with an unidentifiable incantation.

One female alchemy student was so impressed that she stared in admiration.

“Student?”

“…Ah! Yes, Assistant!”

Arien informed her that the potion was overheating.
However, part of Arien thought it was Atwell’s fault.

“Oh! Thank you, thank you.”

“Sure. Be careful.”

However, those who weren’t the victims of accidents couldn’t receive help.
They had to handle all the aftermath themselves.
Students who wasted time due to mistakes wouldn’t have a third chance.

Atwell believed that such mistakes and overcoming them should be evaluated.
While the mistake wouldn’t be penalized, the resulting damage would not be disregarded.

After a long struggle, the first submitter emerged.
It was a male alchemy student.

The student took pride in being an alchemist, which led to a firm determination not to lose to the magic department in the practical subject.

Intending to complete first and leave, he administered the catalyst and brewed the antidote.

As the student brought the potion to the professor’s desk, Atwell cast a soundproofing spell to prevent cheating.
Even Arien, with her exceptional hearing in the lab, couldn’t overhear two people’s conversation.

“Confident?”

“Yes.”

“Explain.”

“Yes. First, the processing of thornweed is to reduce both toxicity while increasing….”

Having heard the entire experimental process, Atwell skipped the toxicity test.
It was clear it was safe, so it would’ve only been a waste of time.

The student felt a little disappointed.
He had paid particular attention to determining the amount that wouldn’t produce toxicity.
Of course, he knew it wasn’t something to complain about and instead considered it fortunate.

“Then let’s see the efficacy.”

Professor Atwell added a drop of poison using a pipette into each portion of the potion.
The first student was confident in the lack of toxicity, but he was somewhat unsure about the detoxifying effect.
To the student, the drop looked like a waterfall.

As the scorpion venom fell, it wavered like smoke before dispersing.
The snake venom clumped in the antidote before quickly turning into a white mass.
However, the slime venom continued to emit faint magic within the antidote, not disappearing even after several minutes.

“So, two out of three items succeeded. Any comments?”

The student hastily explained his prepared speech.
He added that he had intentionally added less material to avoid toxicity.

“Alright, you did well on that part. However, one aspect of the efficacy was lacking. Did you anticipate that?”

The student couldn’t decide whether to answer positively or negatively.
He’d naturally be criticized for ignorance if he admitted he didn’t know.
Yet, if he said he did know, he might receive criticism for why he did it that way, knowing the consequences.

“I did consider it might happen.”

“And did you think it might be related to the slime?”

“Yes…”

“I see. If you submit it as it is now, it’ll be a B+. Will this be your final output?”

The student asked with a sense of unease.

“Could the score decrease due to a retry?”

“We’ll assess based on the best result among your submissions, so no need to worry.”

“In that case, I’ll try again.”

“Then go ahead. It’s probably best not to share your results with other students. You can if you want to, but you’ll be the only one at a disadvantage.”

“Understood.”

Since he had no intention of helping others, the male student passed through and returned to his desk.

The second female student didn’t even pass the toxicity test.
When she went up, Professor Atwell, having heard her explanation, dipped the toxicity test paper into the potion.
The white paper turned yellow.

“What a waste. You grasped the essence well, but you missed the most crucial part. Adjust the quantity a bit. You overdid it.”

“Yes, thank you for the advice!”

The female student returned to her experimental table quietly.

The third male student couldn’t even conduct the toxicity test, let alone explain.
After observing the murky smoke emitting from the result, Professor Atwell dipped the toxicity test paper into the potion.
The paper made a crackling sound as it burned, turning black.

“I told you to make an antidote, not a poison. Making an antidote to neutralize this would be difficult even at a department level.”

“I’m sorry….”

“If you had anticipated such a dangerous outcome, you should have paid more attention to safety. If you remember the recipe and process, I’d be interested in learning it.”

“I’m sorry! I’ll try again!”

The third student covered the vial with his arms as if ashamed of his concoction.
Then, he put it in his pocket and returned to his seat, fidgeting.

It was a very risky move, considering the toxicity of the content.
Atwell kept an eye on him until he returned to his seat.

The fourth female student passed the toxicity test but failed to neutralize any of the poisons.
Because of this, the potion she submitted was placed beside Arien’s exemplary solution for comparison later on.

“D. Are you going to retry?”

“Yes……but can I take that with me?”

“No.”

“Please! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“I’m not trying to embarrass you; I need it. I forgot to bring examples. Instead, I’ll give you one extra dose of catalyst.”

While that female student got another chance, no one envied her.
Some students misunderstood it as a punishment for failing all efficacy tests and added more ingredients.
Because of this, Atwell was confident they would fail the toxicity test.

The fifth male student succeeded only in neutralizing scorpion venom. The student who received a C- returned with a puzzled expression, as if saying, ‘This can’t be right?’

Soon after, the sixth student arrived. This time, even Atwell could recognize the student.

It was Stella Lacton, the student who had been trying to catch the professor’s eye.

* * *

Stella greeted me with a bright smile.
She sat near the professor’s desk as usual.
Because of her distinctive face, I paid special attention to her experimental process.

There was no doubt she would score full marks.

“Hello, Professor!”

“Let’s begin.”

“Professor, Professor! I’m here!”

“Yeah, Lacton. I got it.”

I’m not particularly sociable to begin with, but Stella Lacton is especially difficult to deal with.
It’s awkward right from the start because we’re the same age.

Everyone I met at school until I got my Ph.D. was older, and the undergraduates I teach in this class are younger than me, except her.

I wonder how I should behave when meeting someone of the same age in a hierarchical relationship.

Her overly cheerful attitude and sticking to me are strangely awkward.
I know she means no harm, but it’s quite burdensome.

“Confident?”

“Yes!”

Giving a perfect score just because someone has a distinct face seemed unfair, so she went through all the tests.
The paper had no effects, and it neutralized all three poisons.
As expected, the results were flawless.

“You’re not going to listen to my explanation?”

“No need. It’s an A+.”

Her experimental process and measurements were flawless.
Moreover, judging by the order of her procedures, she also understood the priorities.
She was undoubtedly an exceptional talent, someone I’d want to recruit.
The male alchemy student who came first was excellent but couldn’t compare to Stella.

I pondered how to encourage her to pursue graduate school, but I had to discard all the plans that came to mind.
She’s a noble, so it’s beyond her control.

The story might have been different if she had aimed to become a magician from the start.
Still, it’s unlikely that she, who entered university long after graduating from the academy, will consider attending graduate school.

Furthermore, she’s not even in her final year. She might seem childish at times, but she’s not foolish enough to do something as silly as being an undergraduate researcher. I felt a slight disappointment.

It would be great if such a slave…I mean, a graduate student joined next year.

“You did well. You can go now.”

“Oh my~ Thank you. Professor! When should I submit the report then?”

Only then did I realize I hadn’t announced anything about the experiment report.
It was a blunder!
How could I forget such an important announcement?

‘Should I still ask them to make it?’

It was the first experiment, and everyone seemed to face more difficulties than expected, so I decided to be lenient.
After all, it was my fault for not informing them beforehand.

I stated it as if it had been planned from the beginning.

“This report gives you a chance to make up for any deductions. So, those who got a perfect score don’t need to submit it.
From the next experiment, I plan to collect reports from everyone, so consider this week a break.”

Stella’s response to my words was beyond imagination.
It was a wake-up call for the caution I had let down after our conversation the day before.

“I see! So, can I submit mine too? It’s not that I shouldn’t submit, but I don’t have to submit!”

It wasn’t a misunderstanding; Arien’s words were correct.
Stella wasn’t interested in the assignment itself but in me.
This was clearly either an intentional provocation or a sign of mental illness.

“What’s with the sarcasm?”

Even when I glared at her, Stella laughed lightly, showing no hesitation.