Chapter 163

“Could you take a look at this?”

Professor Adam’s lab.

I had visited there again today, and Professor Adam handed me a short proposal. From what I could see, it seemed to be about that “something” he had said he would prepare for the students at the last festival.

“Oh—this is…….”

At first I hesitated as I took the proposal, but after skimming it my eyes widened in surprise.

“‘Living fireworks’?” I said.

“That’s right.”

Professor Adam nodded with a smile.

“It seems they planned to use the Academy’s first and second floors as the venue for this Dunlight Festival. It was spacious enough, but still too small to launch actual fireworks.”

Trinity Academy’s building was a massive triangular pyramid. The first and second floors were wide for that reason, but not wide enough to fire flames into the air.

No matter how large, it was still ‘indoors.’

“While I was thinking about that, an idea came to me. Couldn’t we somehow control the fireworks so they only bloomed in a limited space?”

“So you made it into a display……”

“Exactly, you understood.”

Handling ‘fire,’ which is combustion, in a cramped, restricted space was too dangerous and difficult. Fire had too many variables to control with no margin for error.

So I thought: display.

Put a huge glass enclosure and contain the flames inside. Because the chemical reactions would happen only within the tank, it would be easier and safer to manage.

“But if it was only that, it wouldn’t be much different from watching a big TV screen. I thought we needed something a little more unique.”

Then he thought of an aquarium.

What if he made it in the form of a tank so students could watch as they pleased? The sight of flames blooming inside a liquid would have a different charm than ordinary fireworks.

“And finally, for every student to fully enjoy the beauty of the flames, they needed to last a long time. Not a single burst, but something that could burn prettily throughout the festival. An image that would linger in each student’s memory.”

But that was impossible.

Fireworks were, at their core, produced by the combustion of gunpowder and various color-producing chemicals. You could put them in a special liquid and slow the reaction, but that only made them explode more slowly — it didn’t make the flames repeatedly burn.

So he came up with the idea of ‘living fireworks.’

If the flames had ‘life,’ they could burn, die, and be reborn repeatedly. Like living organisms on Earth constantly undergoing birth and death.

“Create an artificial lifeform similar to fireworks, put it in a tank and exhibit it. Each time a new viewer came, the ‘fire’ would sense the gaze, gain new life, blaze beautifully, die, and its offspring would repeat the cycle.”

What did I think?

That was the question Professor Adam asked me.

I hesitated before answering and looked over the proposal once more.

There were simple reference images attached; they showed organisms resembling dandelions or sea anemones emitting beautiful light as they swayed.

‘Fireworks…….’

I had never seen anything like it, but it looked incredibly beautiful. Flames swimming through a huge tank, students watching in awe.

Dunlight Festival.

The name — festival of the dawn light — actually seemed to fit. The problem was how to reproduce it.

“Um……that is……”

“Actually, I already made a sample.”

Maybe he noticed my hesitation, because Professor Adam stood up and went to the corner of the lab.

He took a small glass box from the sample freezer and brought it over to me.

“Have a look.”

“……!”

A glass box a little over ten centimeters on each side.

Inside it was filled with a black liquid that seemed to contain glitter. The liquid looked like a night sky stitched with countless stars.

After a moment, something in the center of the box writhed and began to glow. It reminded me of magma rippling on the ocean floor.

Then.

The light grew.

Like a plant raising a stem, a straight, thin body grew upward. When it reached about five centimeters, it sprouted countless branches in all directions and emitted light.

“Wow……!”

I couldn’t help but gasp.

Yellow, red, blue…… small, multicolored sparks caught my eyes. True to the nickname ‘living fireworks,’ it had a beauty similar to actual fireworks yet somehow different.

I must have been captivated for a long time.

Not long after, the first-born flame sank as if dead, and about five seconds later a new flame was born. This time its color and shape were completely different.

I watched the display, entranced. Professor Adam spoke to me then.

“It’s an artificial lifeform based on marine DNA. After it blooms once, the main body meets death, and a new one is born from the root and blooms again. It repeats that cycle.”

“Y-yes, it’s beautiful……”

It was so lovely I almost wanted one in my room. Maybe he read my mind, because Professor Adam chuckled and said,

“If you want, you can take it.”

“R-really?”

“Of course. But there’s one problem.”

Professor Adam handed me another document. I skimmed it in an instant and immediately realized what issue these living fireworks had.

“You can’t make a large form, can you……”

“That’s right. Contrary to what we planned, if we made the bodies large they couldn’t last. Their lifespans became excessively short, or their nature turned predatory like carnivores, or their forms twisted grotesquely.”

It seemed the concentration or ratio of the night-sky-colored liquid that supplied energy to the flames was the problem, but Professor Adam hadn’t pinpointed the exact cause.

I carefully voiced a thought as I looked over the report again.

“Maybe the concentration of Hydroxymysterium is too high……”

“We tried adjusting the ratios, but then the flames’ light tended to dim.”

“You could replace it with something else. Perhaps a mixed solution of glycerin and Occultium……”

I stopped mid-sentence.

If the solution I’d just thought of was used, it would likely solve all the issues that occurred when the flames were made large. But there was one serious problem.

‘This could become a weapon if misused…….’

The living fireworks themselves wouldn’t cause trouble if left as is, but the technique could be applied to create other artificial lifeforms. A very dangerous monster suitable for military use could be born.

Science was always like that.

Dynamite, first invented to ease mining work, had become a weapon of war. Depending on how something was applied, it could become a warm coat or a blade that pierced a person.

“Why the long face? Did you think of something?”

“A-ah, no……”

I still couldn’t decide.

If this was used for the festival and then disposed of, there probably wouldn’t be a problem. Besides, Professor Adam would be well aware of this sensitivity.

Still, a strange unease nagged at me.

Could I really say that out loud?

But voicing that worry would be rude to Professor Adam, so I hurriedly changed the subject.

“B-but, um…….”

“Hmm?”

“If we tried to make those tanks on a large scale, wouldn’t it require a lot of funding……?”

“For that part you needn’t worry. The Stingray Group agreed to sponsor it. The chairman knows about it too.”

“Oh.”

Stingray.

Hearing that name made me feel a little reassured. If Aaron knew, there wouldn’t be any particular problem. He would make sure my worries didn’t become reality.

Of course, just in case, I’d report it to him in person later……

“Professor Adam, about enlarging the ‘fire’——”

As I explained my solution, I kept glancing at the little flames in the small box.

Hmm. No matter how many times I looked, they were really pretty.

If we showed these at the festival, the other students would surely be thrilled.

West Skyline University’s festival.

I and Iri were walking toward the event area, guided by Serena.

“The venue’s pretty far.”

“I-it’s not that far. It’s right up ahead~”

Serena looked uncomfortable for some reason.

Well, I could roughly guess how she felt.

She’d invited me but wasn’t pleased that I’d brought Iri along. But that was exactly what I wanted.

‘Keep a reasonable distance.’

Strictly speaking, Serena and I hadn’t even properly ‘gotten engaged’ yet. So Serena’s blatant approach felt overwhelmingly forward.

Not that I was complaining.

If I had to pick, it was flattering that such a beauty liked me. But she was a Transmigrator and we hadn’t known each other long, so it was hard to open my heart to her straight away.

Of course some level of maintaining the relationship was necessary, so I accepted the invitation. I just put Iri forward as a shield. We weren’t that close yet.

Eventually we arrived at the venue.

Various departments and clubs had booths lined up, and students were actively soliciting visitors. There were makeshift restaurants and street vendors as a given, and hands-on booths like face painting and accessory-making.

The variety of stalls was quite broad, and many outside guests had come, so it was bustling. Though it should’ve felt cyberpunk, this place hardly had that vibe.

I admired the sight.

“This is pretty serious.”

“Of course. It’s an old university. It’s probably the biggest college festival in New Valhalla City. They even let unofficial clubs set up booths for the festival.”

“I see.”

“And there’s this atmosphere where not having a booth is disgraceful. Thanks to that there was so much to see and it was very lively.”

“Serena, what club are you in?”

“Fashion Club.”

While Serena and I talked, Iri remained quiet the whole time.

At first I thought she was upset that I’d used her as my Serena-shield, but she was simply distracted by the food stalls.

“Iri.”

“Y-yes?!”

She jumped when I called her name.

How much did she want to eat?

“Is there something you want to try right now?”

“No, it’s just……”

“Oh—did you skip lunch? If you’re hungry we can go into a stall now. While you eat, Aaron and I can—”

“No. That won’t be necessary.”

For once Iri refused firmly.

Honestly I’d worried she’d bolt into a restaurant with Serena and leave me standing, but she surprised me. My bodyguard was doing her job well.

“Tch.”

Serena clicked her tongue just loud enough for me to hear and headed toward a booth on the side of the venue. I saw a plastic tarpaulin with ‘Makeup Shop’ written on it.

“This is it. Our club’s booth.”

“What do you do there?”

“We teach customers new makeup methods and recommend cosmetics suited to their skin. You can also change clothes in the back over there.”

“……Makeup methods?”

“Yes. Why?”

“…….”

A sudden ominous feeling passed through me.

Not again.

Surely not that thing again.

No, no way.

That damned makeup method was the sort of mask the ultra-rich put on at ‘official’ events.

But West Skyline University mixed a variety of classes of people, so that atmosphere didn’t fit here. In other words, they wouldn’t blatantly mass-produce that damn face——

“Okay, you’re done~”

“Wow, you look so pretty~!”

At that moment, customers at the booth finished their makeovers and turned around as a group. And I realized I’d been far too complacent.

Damn it!

They liked the Makeup Shop!

It was a Poison Dart Frog breeding ground!

As I recoiled in horror, Serena and her club members waved at us and called, “Welcome!” “Come try it out!”

I wanted to run away by myself, but I couldn’t. If I ran, the Iri at my side would clearly become one among those many poison dart frogs.

How did I know?

Iri’s eyes had brightened with curiosity—the kind only a New Valhalla City native could have.

While I froze from the unexpected image assault, the fashion club members reached for Iri’s arm.

“Wow! Your skin is so smooth!”

“You’d look really pretty with makeup!”

But before they grabbed Iri’s arm, I pulled her behind me. I felt like a bride protecting a child from a demon and said,

“No.”

“What?”

“Absolutely not.”

I wasn’t going to let them lay a hand on my kid.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep