Chapter 197: Dimensional Strike

The air in the banquet hall grew thick, as if stirred into a murky sludge by that crude mechanical device.

Konrad Richter stood in the center of the crowd, the “Magic Converter One” in his hand still emitting a burnt smell. It was like a rusty hammer, slamming down hard on the delicate silk tablecloth of the Kingdom of Heinrich.

He didn’t present this thing as a gift, but as a declaration of war.

Klein took half a step forward, his body perfectly blocking Konrad’s line of sight to Lia.

The movement was slight, yet it drew an insurmountable boundary between the two.

“Mr. Richter’s proposal is very interesting.”

Klein’s tone was flat, revealing neither pleasure nor anger, as if he were commenting on a beetle struggling to right itself.

“We will consider it seriously.”

This sentence should have been a polite way to end the topic, but Konrad clearly had no intention of letting it go.

This engineer from the Iron Empire didn’t understand the concept of subtlety; he only believed in the sparks of striking metal.

“Consideration is an excuse for the weak, Master.”

Konrad raised the ugly, coil-wound base a little higher, his voice cutting through the noisy chatter and reaching every corner of the hall.

“Since Professor Lia can see the three flaws in this machine at a glance, you two must have a more mature plan. Rather than deriving formulas on paper, why not show everyone if the scholars of Heinrich are only good at talking.”

He paused, his gaze passing over Klein’s shoulder and fixing on Lia.

“One week from now. The Empire will build a more efficient ‘Unit One’ based on Professor Lia’s advice.

At the same time, I also look forward to you two presenting a creation from the field of electromagnetism. Let’s see if theory goes further, or if the Empire’s steel is harder.”

This was a gauntlet thrown down with all pretense stripped away.

He was forcing their hand.

Either accept the challenge or admit that the academic circle of Heinrich was a bunch of useless blowhards.

The surrounding nobles stopped their whispering, and hundreds of pairs of eyes focused on the three like spotlights. Samuel hid behind a pillar, rubbing his temples in agony. He could smell the sour stench of political fermentation.

But King Augustus smiled.

He even wanted to pour Konrad a glass of wine.

This was exactly what he wanted. If Klein won, the kingdom would gain a new technology; if he lost, it would also serve to dampen the arrogance of these two lawless mages.

“Excellent.”

Augustus clapped his hands and walked briskly between the two parties, playing the role of a less-than-impartial referee.

“Truth cannot be known without debate. Since Envoy Richter is in such a fine mood, the House of Heinrich will naturally oblige.

I declare that the symposium one week from now will be hosted by the Royal Academy of Sciences. At that time, all mages of the Fifth Circle and above in the kingdom will be in attendance.”

He turned to Klein, a shrewd calculation hidden in his eyes.

“Master Klein, what do you think?”

This was no longer an inquiry, but a hostage situation.

Klein didn’t even glance at Augustus. He simply lowered his eyes and slowly, methodically, straightened the uncreased lace at his cuffs.

“Fine.”

Two words, as light as dust, yet as heavy as a verdict.

Before the smile on Konrad’s lips could fully spread, Klein had already turned, taken Lia’s hand, and walked straight towards the main door.

“Then, we’ll see you in a week.”

All that was left for Konrad were two backs that seemed exceptionally cold in this luxurious banquet.

Late at night, the carriage rolled over the stone-paved roads of the Royal Capital, which were originally flat but now slightly bumpy due to expansion.

There were no lights on in the carriage, only the dim yellow light from the street lamps outside alternately brushing across Lia’s side profile.

She was slumped on the extra-thick cushions Klein had specially added, letting out a long sigh without any regard for her image.

“I only had one bite of that roasted squab.”

Lia rubbed her stomach, her tone filled with resentment for the food, completely lacking the commanding presence she had at the banquet.

“I’ll make you a late-night snack when we get back.”

Klein leaned against the carriage wall, his fingers tapping a light, irregular rhythm on his knee.

“That Konrad is a typical pragmatic madman,” Lia adjusted to a more comfortable position, resting her head on Klein’s shoulder.

“He doesn’t care about the spacetime curvature behind electromagnetic induction, nor the beauty of Maxwell’s equations. He only sees that electric currents can kill people, can drive machines.”

“The mindset of a craftsman,” Klein commented. “He thinks making iron bigger is the truth.”

“But he did hit a sore spot.”

Lia closed her eyes, the image of the simple hand-cranked generator appearing in her mind.

“That’s direct current. Even with a commutator, it sparks everywhere, and the efficiency is pathetically low. He wants to use ‘power generation’ to prove the Empire’s industrial capability.

If we just make a better generator, even if we win, we’re just helping him validate his ideas.”

“What do you have in mind?” Klein turned his head, the tip of his nose brushing against her hair.

“He’s creating electricity from magnetism, which is converting mechanical energy into electrical energy,” Lia’s eyes suddenly flew open, a cunning light flashing in their icy blue depths. “Then we’ll do the reverse.”

“Electricity creates magnetism, and magnetism creates force.”

Klein instantly followed her train of thought. “An electric motor.”

“Exactly. And not the kind of direct current motor with brushes that sparks and flashes when it runs,” Lia sat up straight, her fingers gesturing in the air. “We need to show him what a true ‘ghost’ is.”

“An AC induction motor.”

A dangerous curve formed on Lia’s lips, the expression of a hunter seeing their prey step into a trap.

“No magnets, no brushes, no mechanical contact whatsoever. Just supply it with power, and the rotor will spin wildly, driven by a rotating magnetic field.

To that Konrad who’s still playing with a hand crank, this is definitely ‘black magic’ that defies common sense.”

“Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut,” Klein commented.

“No, this is a dimensional strike,” Lia corrected him.

“He wants to compete on the hardness of steel, so we’ll make him understand that in the face of the absolute elegance of mathematics and physics, his gears and levers are nothing more than the stone axes of primitive men.”

“Besides…” Lia leaned back into Klein’s embrace, her voice becoming a little lazy.

“Don’t you think the noise from that hand-cranked generator is too loud? I want to make something quieter and upgrade the ventilation fan in the mage tower while I’m at it.”

Klein let out a low chuckle, the vibration of his chest transmitted to Lia.

“For the sake of your ventilation fan,” he said, “the chief engineer of the Iron Eagle Empire is probably going to have an existential crisis.”

“That’s the tuition fee for his cognitive restructuring.”

Lia chuckled, snuggling into a warmer spot in Klein’s arms.

“Remember to add more chili when you get back. That squab was too greasy.”

“Alright.”

The carriage drove into the depths of the night. On this night where magic and science intertwined, a revolution concerning “rotation” was about to begin amidst the casual chat of two people over a late-night snack.

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