NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 42
Episode 42: Graduate Student Diary (2)
“Teacher.”
Imperial Princess Mint was sitting in my research lab again today. At least she stopped trying to take my chair. Thank goodness for small mercies.
“Your Highness, what brings you here?”
“Did I change or something?”
“What? Again with this?”
“Answer me!”
Ah, geez, princess and her antics…
I’m not sure what she’s getting at… Her hair is tied back the same way as usual, just past her shoulders with a ribbon. A few hairpins adorn her head.
Her mischievous smirk hasn’t changed either. Mint blinked those playful eyes.
Umm… Her outfit is exactly the same Academy uniform: crisp white shirt, black tie, black robe decorated with yellow thread.
She’s sitting cross-legged in that black skirt that reaches mid-knee, wearing brown shoes.
Ah, got it!
“Your hairpins are different.”
“Teacher, even I’m not crazy enough to wear the exact same hairpins every day!”
“But they are different, right?”
“Perfume. I changed my perfume.”
“Ah, I see.”
This was somewhat embarrassing. I mean, how could I possibly guess perfume by sight alone? Even at this distance, there’s no way…
Mint chuckled at my expense.
“Teacher, do you have any graduate students?”
“Ms. Istina?”
Mint nodded.
“Yeah, her.”
“Why are you asking about Ms. Istina?”
“Do you usually bully your grad students?”
What’s behind this sudden concern?
It’s not like Mint cares about others’ well-being… Could she be maturing as a person? Hard to tell.
“No, I’ve never bullied her.”
“Is that so?”
Have I ever bullied Istina? Doesn’t seem like it. She works harder than most grad students, true, but that’s about it.
And I always include her name on papers…
The princess glanced at the pair of human femurs next to my desk. Does sensitive Mint find them unsettling? Maybe I should move them.
“Just checking, but Teacher, you’re not romantically involved with Ms. Istina, are you?”
“Of course not.”
“Good to know.”
I gave a brief reply. Not sure why she brought this up, but let me speculate…
Could it be…?
Has Mint finally become someone who worries about others and considers morality?
Perhaps she’s made friends, and now interacts with me like a normal person. This could be the start of some positive butterfly effects.
‘Well, that’s good.’
I didn’t intentionally bring the princess to the Academy, but it seems to have had an effect.
Could her social skills be improving? Though I’m probably the wrong person to judge since people call me insane too. Anyway…
“That’s quite an offensive question, Your Highness. Ms. Istina is like a daughter to me.”
“Geez, sorry, but do you really treat your ‘daughter’ by sending her out to buy corpse parts?”
Well, that could happen, couldn’t it?
I thought about how to explain this. The princess seems genuinely clueless.
“Your Highness, I learned the same way from my professor, who was like a father to me.”
“A vicious cycle, huh.”
“Graduate students can do anything humans can do. There’s nothing off-limits for them. If it’s impossible, they’ll figure it out themselves.”
The princess looked at me with slight disdain. But this is actually a very positive sign!
She’s having a conversation about someone other than herself and even showing concern! Compared to when we first met, this is tremendous progress.
“Are you joking?”
“Halfway.”
“Teacher has the admirable quality of being honest.”
“Thank you.”
Praise is praise. I nodded in agreement.
“Take care of Ms. Istina.”
“Yes, I will.”
Mint scratched her head a bit, then pulled out a crumpled paper bag from her robe pocket.
“Also, I brought cookies!”
She carefully placed the rustling paper bag on my desk. Back in the day, I would’ve never imagined this happening.
Real cookies!
How touching!
“Wait, you’re giving these to me?”
“Yeah, I’m eating them too.”
I opened the bag, and Mint extended her hand. I handed her a few cookies, which she nibbled on.
“Let’s hang out after exams, Teacher.”
“I can probably make time. Why?”
The cookies were surprisingly sweet.
“I’m bored. No friends.”
“Hmm…”
I’ve gotten used to the princess’s jokes by now.
Not sure why Mint thinks this is funny, but let’s just roll with it. It’s like our department head’s special humor.
“Still have exams coming up, don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Study hard then. Good luck with your exams. Go study.”
The princess, cookie in mouth, gathered her bag and left. Creak. As she opened the door, the cookie she was biting broke off and fell to the floor.
“Tch.”
The princess kicked the cookie crumbs outside the lab with apparent irritation before leaving. Well, personalities don’t change overnight.
Poor Istina will have to clean that up…
A few hours later…
“Oh, Professor, something’s fallen on the floor.”
“Is that so?”
Istina swept up the cookie crumbs with a broom. “Oh, looks like someone dropped cookies outside the lab. Don’t worry, I cleaned it up.”
Istina is the best.
She really did clean it up!
“Cookies? There are more on the sofa.”
“Eek, thank you!”
Istina seemed confused, unable to connect the cookies on the floor with those on the desk.
Maybe she wasn’t thinking about it. Sitting down, she nibbled on a cookie with one hand while holding what looked like a script with the other. Probably the palace presentation script.
“Professor.”
“Yeah?”
“Will giving a lecture at the palace be difficult?”
She must be nervous. If I were still a grad student, I’d be extremely anxious too.
If someone asked me to lecture at the palace right now, I’d probably just ramble in front of the prince and Violet…
“Not sure. Assuming you’re presenting on healing-related topics, most of your audience will be palace healers.”
They’re all boors.
Take Violet for example. All she does is play card games all day, thinking about hiding cards and counting them. Then when someone comes, she pretends to work.
Plus, she always sits in on my classes using business trips as an excuse…
Anyway…
“If the palace healers are the ones asking questions, it won’t get too academically intense. The bureaucrats and politicians are the problem though.”
They’re not experts.
You can talk your way through things with rhetoric.
“Uh, what if I mess up?”
“Won’t happen. I’ll be there with you.”
Most people at the palace know me anyway. If I get criticized, I’ll take the heat.
This is the best scenario for Istina. If there’s trouble, they’ll say “There goes that rude guy spouting nonsense again.” If everything goes well, they’ll say “This young talent has a bright future ahead.”
Bright future indeed…
“Where did these cookies come from? They’re delicious.”
“Don’t know. Mint gave them to me.”
“Ah, the princess!”
Istina took a cookie from the paper bag. It made a loud rustling sound.
“I wanted to buy these from the Academy bakery, but they’re strangely expensive.”
“Really?”
That’s odd.
Isn’t Istina receiving a stipend from me every month? Why can’t she afford cookies?
“Next time, I’ll buy you coffee with them.”
“Aw, thank you!”
Istina closed the bag and went back to intensely studying her script while muttering to herself.
Anyway, let’s focus on Istina’s presentation. The topic is epidemic dysentery. More specifically, public health measures and proving the germ theory.
“Let’s see…”
“First, I’ll go over the methods we implemented in Lordship Lapis. Second, why they were effective. Third, I’ll explain the germ theory.”
I nodded.
“Good approach. Explain the practical applications first, then the theoretical background.”
“Right.”
“The reason the prince is interested in our paper is twofold. First, it could help people directly.”
“Yes.”
“Second, if the miasma theory is wrong and the germ theory is correct, we could gain control over epidemics and diseases. This means the state could take a bigger role in public health and medicine.”
“The state’s role?”
“Exactly. Under the miasma theory, disease was considered an uncontrollable natural disaster. But with the germ theory and our successful control of epidemic dysentery…”
“Ah, I think I understand what you mean.”
“People’s perceptions could change.”
Istina thought for a moment before speaking.
“So I need to state the conclusion?”
“Exactly.”
Since this is a lecture for civil servants, we need to adjust to their level of understanding.
We need public health measures. Implementing such policies could lead to these results, so consider them.
We need to present our argument and conclusions. That’s why they invited us.
“What should I say?”
“Don’t know. Tell me what you think.”
We can speak more casually. Istina nodded.