I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 42

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A month earlier.
Karin had already anticipated Isabel’s perfect score.
“…Is there an error in my solution?”
“There isn’t. It appears to be a correct solution. Assuming Your Highness remembers the problem accurately, that is.”
“Then I’m relieved!”
Karin examined the solution Isabel had written for quite some time.
“Why are you doing that?”
“It’s nothing. You said you submitted your answer sheet first, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Karin nodded.
“May I take this with me?”
“Of course.”
Karin took the paper containing Isabel’s problem solution and examined it carefully for an entire day.
She was from the Mirotell Magic Federation and was well-versed in its affairs.
She also knew that Marnong, Gilgarey’s prized disciple, was participating in this Olympiad.
‘The problem difficulty is easier than usual. They must be accommodating Marnong to achieve a perfect score.’
The Mirotell Magic Federation would be unwilling to give Isabel first place.
They would certainly make a move.
‘But they can’t just arbitrarily change scores.’
Karin examined the paper for a long time with the meticulous precision of a true mastermind.
And eventually, she reached a conclusion.
‘They’ll take issue with the ∴ symbol.’
And they’ll give second place as a compromise.
She believed they would attempt negotiations in this manner.
‘My concerns may be excessive, but there’s no harm in being prepared.’
She began her preparations for Isabel in secret.
A month passed, and when Isabel’s result of “second place” was finally announced, Karin could not hold back.
‘I will protect my Princess.’
She moved in her own way.
And now, she stood here.
“Professors, haven’t you been reading the recently published academic journals?”
Karin walked toward Head Professor Mangkong.
She set down the academic journal she’d been holding.
“It’s strange, isn’t it? One of the people who reviewed and approved my paper for publication is you, Professor Mangkong.”
Many processes are necessary for academic journal publication.
One of them was verification by an authoritative professor.
“What are you trying to say, Karin?”
“It means you, Professor Mangkong, are the one who recognized Isabel’s theorem.”
“…”
The theorem Isabel had referred to as the “Laplace Theorem.”
Karin made extensive efforts to have it published in an academic journal, and eventually registered it under the official name “Isabel’s Theorem.”
Head Professor Mangkong cleared his throat with a soft cough and adjusted his glasses.
He examined the academic journal Karin had presented.
[In binomial distribution, when the number of trials is large….]
There, unmistakably, was the [∴] symbol in use.
“You clearly acknowledged the ‘therefore’ symbol [∴].”
* * *
After Isabel and Karin departed, the professors of the First Magic Tower held their heads and groaned in distress.
“If Archmage Gilgarey were to learn of this fact….”
Gilgarey was a fiery person.
The professors both feared and revered such a Gilgarey.
“In any case, we must inform him of the truth.”
….
The professors’ gazes turned toward one person.
Head Professor Mangkong subtly avoided their stares.
Mangkong’s bald head gleamed brilliantly.
“Ahem.”
Mangkong knew he was the one who had to make the report.
“I’ll make the report, but here’s the thing….”
This time, Mangkong looked around at the professors.
His eyes held a desperate plea for salvation, yet not a single professor responded to that gaze.
They all subtly averted their eyes and looked downward.
“Won’t anyone come with me?”
….
Silence hung in the air.
“Really, no one at all?”
His bald head gleamed brilliantly once more.
“Really no one? And you call yourselves esteemed professors of the Magic Tower? Shouldn’t professors of the Tower properly share burdens both difficult and heavy? Associate Professor….”
“Oh my, I’ve lost my mind. It’s time for my daughter’s tutoring session. Head Professor, I’ll take my leave. Please handle the report.”
Mangkong wanted to cry out.
Your daughter does homeschooling!
But knowing there was no point in shouting here, Mangkong subtly glanced at the professor beside him.
“I have a formal meeting today, so I must go.”
“…Didn’t you say you were against marriage?”
“A good man has come into my life.”
“A good… man?”
“Yes, I felt certain we could spend a lifetime together.”
“Weren’t you single yesterday?”
“I was in a secret relationship, Head Professor.”
She rose from her seat.
In truth, she still held anti-marriage convictions, but she’d decided to at least go through with a formal meeting.
Eventually everyone stood, leaving only the Head Professor and Mangkong behind.
“…Sigh.”
Silence settled over the space.
His hair gleamed like the morning star.
Three days later, the final results were announced.
The top rank of the 19th Olympiad belonged to Princess Isabel of the Vilotian Empire.
She was six years old—the youngest top-ranked competitor in Olympiad history.
The news swept across the continent.
* * *
Journalists from major news outlets flooded the First Magic Tower.
Such an upset had never occurred.
In five hundred years of Olympiad history, this was the first time a member of the Vilotian royal family had ever claimed the top rank.
“Living long enough, you see all sorts of things happen.”
Yuli, a correspondent for “Whispers,” the continent’s premier news outlet, still couldn’t believe the results.
It was already shocking that a princess had been born in Vilotian, but how could that princess have claimed the top rank at the Olympiad?
‘Oh? There she comes!’
The six-year-old princess, veiled.
The princess, who had far more negative rumors than positive ones, revealed herself.
‘Wow… she’s incredibly adorable.’
Her radiant, luxuriant golden hair caught the eye first.
Her face was remarkably small, her skin porcelain-white.
‘All her features fit in such a tiny face!’
If you were to sculpt cuteness into human form, wouldn’t it look like this?
Yuli couldn’t tear her eyes away from the princess.
‘I expected a sharper impression and demeanor.’
The distinctive keen expression typical of Vilotians was nowhere to be found.
Rather, her aura was like warm sunlight.
That radiance was surrounded by countless journalists.
“Hello? I’m Isabel, the Fifth Princess of Vilotian.”
One might have expected her to be flustered, yet Isabel showed no such signs of confusion.
It seemed as though she was quite accustomed to such occasions.
Yuli understood immediately upon seeing the princess.
Very rarely, there are people of this kind.
‘People born to shine brilliantly.’
People who radiate light even in stillness.
Even surrounded by so many people and journalists in this chaotic situation, she still emanated her distinctive presence powerfully.
That was the Isabel Yuli saw.
Isabel even managed to organize this tumultuous situation.
“Yes, thank you. I’ll take the next question. You there, the man with short hair. Please ask your question.”
“You mentioned you nearly had the Head Professor’s glory stolen from you—is that true?”
“I wouldn’t say ‘stolen’ is the right word. The Professors at the Magic Tower were simply doing their jobs. It’s true that I used symbols that aren’t commonly employed, but Professor Karin happened to have published something in an academic journal….”
Isabel answered calmly and composed before the journalists, showing no sign of panic whatsoever.
It was a composure that seemed utterly impossible for a six-year-old.
Yuli found herself utterly captivated.
‘This should be her first official interview. How is she managing this?’
There was something Yuli didn’t know.
Isabel had grown up in a world where media was far more developed than here, exposed to countless outlets.
She had received sponsorship from many people, and through them, she had barely managed to survive.
Because of this, Isabel had become inadvertently very accustomed to such situations.
She possessed an instinctive understanding of how her words would be perceived by the public.
She had experienced it countless times since childhood.
Isabel never forgot the warmth of the hands extended to her by so many people, and she always gave her best before the cameras in every moment.
“I simply wanted to show that I could do it. Even if I couldn’t master the swordsmanship of Vilotian, I wanted to prove that I could excel at something else.”
“What made you commit to such a goal?”
To fill the gaps in her position as Princess? To prove she wasn’t lacking? To equip herself with a weapon other than swordsmanship?
Everyone anticipated such answers.
“I’m a defective product as a Princess of the Sword Art Empire, after all.”
Everyone fell silent at her words.
The Princess herself had mentioned being ‘defective.’
“If this defective product could accomplish something, I thought many people who see themselves as defective might gain strength from it.”
There were countless Isabels in the world.
There were children suffering from illness. There were many children who thought themselves inferior to others.
Perhaps some children even wished for death rather than life.
Before the possession, Isabel had been one of them.
“I believe there are no defective products in this world. We are all brilliantly shining people. I wanted to show that.”
“Then wouldn’t there have been easier Olympiads available to you?”
“My time flows differently than other people’s time.”
Isabel rolled up her sleeve.
An hourglass shape.
The mark of Narbidal was visible.
The sand within the hourglass continued to fall steadily.
Toward death.
“Because the time given to me is much shorter than the time given to others, I thought I had to run faster than everyone else.”
The journalist who had asked the question wore an awkward expression.
Some let out exclamations of admiration.
It was a composure that seemed utterly impossible for a six-year-old with a terminal condition.
“Are there any other questions?”
Yuli raised her hand eagerly.
A journalist from the First News outlet, ‘Whispers.’
She asked.
“Traditionally, the top scorers of the Olympiad are known to have enrolled in the Magic Tower. Will you also be enrolling in the Magic Tower, Your Highness? I’ve heard you mastered magic long ago—have you decided to pursue a career as a mage?”
It was the question Isabel, who possessed an exceptional understanding of the media, had been waiting to ask for so long.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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