One Day, My Dad Disappeared - Chapter 20

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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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Episode 20
“I, well…….”
The moment I glanced toward Aidan, Adelian’s hands closed around both my shoulders. The gentle warmth of his grip spread not just across my face but through my entire body, flushing it with heat.
“I already know what the two of you are doing — His Majesty told me.”
That made sense; as crown prince, he’d be privy to such matters. I felt foolish for tensing up.
“I’ve never seen a Core myself, but I want to help however I can.”
“We’ve been investigating some objects of unknown origin — they resemble jewels, but they’re not.”
“Ah, like this Spinel, you mean.”
Adelian turned the scratched Spinel over in his hands, examining it from different angles.
“Hmm, I actually know something about this.”
“You do?”
“Truly, Your Highness?”
When we both spoke at once, he smiled and nodded.
“It’s only what I’ve heard in letters, so I can’t say for certain whether it’s an actual Core or not.”
What followed was Adelian’s account.
His childhood tutor, Doctor Helico, was an emeritus professor at the Academy who’d taken a sabbatical last year. According to Adelian, the doctor had been spending peaceful days in a small village some distance from the Capital.
“But one morning, he woke to find a blue cubic lying on his windowsill.”
“A blue cubic?”
“Yes. It looked like a jewel, but he concluded it was a cubic — not a true gem. The doctor keeps water on his windowsill for small creatures like birds and squirrels to drink. So he wondered if perhaps a raven had carried it from somewhere and dropped it there.”
“What, did the raven repay a debt of kindness?”
It was pure Aidan — utterly devoid of sentiment. But something that looked like a jewel yet wasn’t, appearing suddenly from nowhere: the odds were strong we were looking at a Core.
Very strong, in fact.
“Where might we find Doctor Helico?”
At my question, Adelian’s eyebrows arched gently as he regarded me.
“That’s precisely why I learned of this matter. Doctor Helico has been appointed as a judge for this year’s Comprehensive Academic Conference.”
I knew of the Comprehensive Academic Conference.
Held once a year, it brought together researchers from every field of study to submit their latest research findings and have them judged.
Because there’s no restriction on subject matter, an enormous volume of papers flood in, and winning comes with considerable perquisites.
Prize money, naturally, and research funding for three years. If there are children, their Academy tuition is covered; if not, the benefit can be claimed later.
Of course, all such privileges require first place…….
But even placing at all brings recognition — institutions everywhere would come recruiting.
“This year marks the conference’s fiftieth anniversary, so they wanted something special. Doctor Helico took that cubic and set it into a fountain pen he’d once received at the conference.”
“A fountain pen…….”
“Is that only given to those who win the conference’s Paper of the Year award?”
“Precisely.”
Adelian answered Aidan’s question as though it were obvious.
“The conference starts in just over a month now.”
“Three weeks and four days, to be exact.”
Even now, Aidan was the type to count precisely when it mattered, and he exhaled with a sigh.
“This is going to be difficult. How am I supposed to write a thesis out of nowhere? I haven’t been conducting any separate research.”
Aidan clicked his tongue and pressed his fingers to his brow. Writing a thesis overnight was no simple task. Moreover, the conference had no restrictions by gender or age, drawing large numbers of competitors each year.
For any of them to stand out among such a crowd would require considerable quality — his hesitation was entirely reasonable.
“Why not speak to the Academy about substituting the pen with a different prize? I could use my position to procure something better.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible.”
Adelian shook his head gently.
“As you know, Doctor Helico commands the respect of countless scholars.”
That was true. Twenty-five years ago, he’d overturned the prevailing doctrine that all bacteria perished quickly in stomach acid by discovering bacteria that lived on the stomach lining itself — and had published papers that revolutionized medicine.
Since then, he’d achieved further breakthroughs in antibiotic development through bacterial culture methods and vaccine development, dramatically reducing the Empire’s mortality rate from disease.
His reputation was so widespread that even common folk, busy with their own survival, knew his name.
Countless scholars held him in reverence — so much so that his hometown was still visited by pilgrims, and the desk where he studied at a library he frequented, even the pen he used — these items remained popular among Academy students.
“He’s already announced that he’ll be donating this very fountain pen — the one he received at the conference himself — as the prize for this year.”
“So even without the prize money, many will compete fiercely just for that pen.”
“Exactly.”
To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary, Doctor Helico’s personal treasure had been offered as the prize. Even if we now tried to swap it for something else, the Academy would likely object.
“This is rather troublesome all around.”
“Would it be difficult to replace just the cubic?”
Since it’s blue, wouldn’t real sapphire or something similar look even finer?
“Well, here’s the thing — when the craftsman was setting the cubic, he made a mistake and cracked the pen quite badly. If we tried to remove it, the pen would likely split in two.”
Though the error wasn’t his fault, Adelian looked apologetic nonetheless.
“So it seems our only path is to win the conference and verify whether that cubic is truly a Core.”
A heavy silence descended.
“What do you want to do? There’s always the option of paying someone suspicious to buy it for us later.”
“But they won’t sell it. I don’t think I would either.”
It’s a cherished possession of someone I respect.
“So what are you saying? We can’t exactly knock them out and steal it.”
Aidan sighed and kicked at the bare floor in frustration.
“There is a thesis, actually. One I have.”
“……What?”
Aidan lifted his head to look at me, and Adelian’s eyes fixed on me with sudden curiosity.
“I wrote a thesis when I was thinking about going to graduate school. I took the civil service exam, but it was hard to give up on that dream.”
“I was surprised you didn’t pursue graduate studies.”
Did Aidan take an interest in my path? We hadn’t even exchanged greetings during my Academy days.
“So what’s the thesis about?”
“Ah, well, it’s nothing really…….”
Speaking of the research I’d conducted felt as embarrassing as reading aloud a novel I’d written myself.
“When studying late at night, using candlelight was inconvenient, you see? Gas lamps are bright enough, but they’re dangerous to use in the Dormitory because of fire risk, and if you keep them lit too long, the air gets stale.”
I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly.
“So I thought of an Electric Light that could illuminate without an open flame.”
“An Electric Light?”
Adelian leaned forward, showing genuine interest.
“At first, I experimented with running electricity through Platinum to produce light. Platinum has a high melting point and doesn’t rust easily. But honestly, Platinum was too expensive to conduct multiple experiments with.”
“Hmm.”
“So I wanted to try other conductors that had good electrical conductivity but were cheaper than Platinum…….”
What if they think it’s trivial? My voice had grown smaller with each word.
“In the end, I never conducted a proper experiment and graduated. Still, I kept all the research materials…….”
I had nothing left to say, and neither did they.
Was it really such an unremarkable field of research?
I fidgeted with my fingers. I was about to bow my head in embarrassment when—
“……You’re insane.”
Aidan’s low murmur stopped me mid-motion.

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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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