It’s an Academic Fact That Rankers Are Model Students – Chapter 85

Chapter 85: The Territory Is Developing (3)

[Subject: BJ Miguning is streaming the Ogopogo Raid]

[Author: WalletSoldier]

[Content: Miguning,,, so cool~! Let’s go see it right now,,,~~!!]

▶[MilitaryWifeHighSchoolGirl]: Hawawa, high school girl is going to watch right now

▶[MilitaryWifeHighSchoolGirl]: (Emoticon of BJ Miguning puffing her cheeks)

└[WalletSoldier]: (Emoticon of BJ Miguning saluting)

▶[PhantomSherlock]: She sucks at raiding, what’s she doing?

└[JealousOfRankers]: Right lol it’s all thanks to her simps lol And you’re just good because of your class, admit it^^

└[PhantomSherlock]: Idiot

▶[CombatWizard]: Watching the stream now, but Ogopogo hasn’t appeared yet. Was it this late last year?

└[ㅇㅇ]: They’re explaining it now. Seems like the mercenary NPC who participated in the raid last year is acting strange? He said the fish should’ve gathered by now if it was going to appear.

└[CombatWizard]: Why isn’t it showing up?

└[ㅇㅇ]: Probably because BlackChef cooked it all lol

└[CombatWizard]: What the, is BlackChef really the reason? Like last year?

└[ㅇㅇ]: Nah, just kidding;

└[CombatWizard]: Ohhh;; Now that you mention it, haven’t heard from that b@stard lately

└[ㅇㅇ]: Latest sighting was someone claiming they saw him at the edge of the Whale Forest

└[CombatWizard]: That’s hella far from where I am ㅉ Damn, I was gonna wreck him this time

└[ㅇㅇ]: ㅋㅋㅋ As expected of the physics guy

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” BlackChef? Is he a Ranker too? “

Ever since he posted asking for information about the Slime Labyrinth, Kyung-joon would occasionally browse World Inven.

It was similar to getting a general sense of what was going on in the world by watching the news.

” I should search him up. “

The moment Kyung-joon was about to type BlackChef into the World Inven search bar.

Beep beep beep!

The alarm he had set went off.

『Alarm Name: Time to Study!』

『Content: Let’s have another productive day! Aim for the top!

p.s. I think the wastewater treatment plant will be finished today.』

Kyung-joon immediately turned off his smartphone and put on his connection gear.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Guided by Crescens, Kyung-joon stood in front of a building.

” Wow, is this really a wastewater treatment plant? “

” Hehe, it’s my masterpiece. “

The wastewater treatment plant designed and conceived by Crescens.

It was like looking at the art village in the movie “Amelie.”

Beautiful flowers were painted here and there on the walls, creating an optical illusion that seamlessly connected with the surrounding green meadows.

At first glance, no one would guess that this was a wastewater treatment plant.

However, what was even more surprising than this design was…….

” It’s been a few days since the sewage started to collect, but there’s no smell at all? No, it actually smells nice. How did you do it? “

” That’s the difference in the wood I chose for the exterior and interior walls. I used different woods for the exterior and interior walls. “

” Oh. To be precise? “

” Yes. I used the usual sturdy ash wood for the middle wall, fragrant fir for the exterior wall, and odor-absorbing pine for the interior wall. Then I asked Brute to build it. “

” Aha, so you used fragrant fir. “

He understood why there was a faint fragrance when he approached the wastewater treatment plant building.

The fragrant fir on the exterior wall was acting as a natural air freshener.

But the other one.

” Why did you use odor-absorbing pine for the interior walls? “

To use a tree that adds odor to an already smelly wastewater treatment plant.

At first glance, it made no sense.

Crescens had a look on his face that said he knew Kyung-joon would ask this.

” My Lord, do you know why odor-absorbing pine smells bad? “

” Why it smells bad…… “

Kyung-joon rested his chin on his hand and fell into thought.

Why does a bad smell occur in the first place?

Take the most notorious example of a bad smell, a skunk.

This creature directly produces the stench.

However, if that were the case, there would be no reason to ask ‘why it smells bad’ in the first place.

He had to consider the mechanism by which odor-absorbing pine helps to eliminate other odors.

The most plausible hypothesis was that the odor-absorbing pine canceled out other odors, but that didn’t explain why there was no smell at all outside the wastewater treatment plant.

It was as if there was a strong barrier at the walls of the wastewater treatment plant building.

A barrier that prevented all odors from passing beyond the odor-absorbing pine.

Thinking that far, Kyung-joon opened his mouth.

” ……Perhaps the odor-absorbing pine absorbs the bad smell? “

” T, That’s right. Did you perhaps know about odor-absorbing pine beforehand……? “

” No. This is the first time I’ve heard of it. “

” Then have you encountered a similar tree……? “

” No. This must be my first time encountering it. “

” ……. “

Crescens’s mouth closed, and his eyes widened instead.

He had never heard of it before, yet he guessed the properties of this unfamiliar vegetation with such accuracy.

The only information this young lord had was 『odor-absorbing pine smells bad』 and 『they built a wastewater treatment plant with it, and most of the odor was blocked』.

With just these two pieces of information, he had figured out what kind of tree odor-absorbing pine was.

It was as if he had been told the beginning and the end and had understood and accepted the unspoken process in between.

” ……As you said, odor-absorbing pine is a tree that absorbs bad smells and uses them as nutrients. Other than that, it’s no different from an ordinary pine tree. That’s why if you look at a young, freshly grown odor-absorbing pine or one from a very clean area, you’ll notice that it hardly smells at all. Based on this, I used young or odor-free odor-absorbing pine for the interior walls. “

” Hmm. That’s a really good idea. I made the right decision appointing you as Minister of Environment, Crescens. “

” You flatter me. I’m more surprised at how well you guessed it, My Lord. “

” Ah, that? “

Kyung-joon scratched the side of his head awkwardly.

” Actually…… it’s not exactly odor-absorbing pine, but I studied something similar once. “

” You did? What kind of similar situation? “

” It’s nothing special, really. “

Kyung-joon smiled wryly, wondering if it was okay to talk about this.

Then he made up his mind to just tell him and opened his mouth.

” Well, you see, in physics, when you study the electromagnetism part, there’s a law that the electric field inside a conductor is always 0? So, in electromagnetism, a conductor plate always exists as a boundary condition…… (omitted)……. “

How much time had passed?

” ……So I thought it was a similar situation to how odor-absorbing pine shields the odor inside. The fact that there’s no leakage of odor to the outside means that decay, or absorption, occurs at the boundary of the odor-absorbing pine inner wall…… (omitted)……. “

How much more time had passed?

” ……Considering all that, it’s not really special that I came up with this, and in a way, it’s quite obvious. “

Finally, Kyung-joon’s explanation was over.

Clap clap clap.

Crescens gave a soulless clap and said very politely,

” Wow, that was exactly what I wanted to know. Thank you! Shall we go inside now? “

” Ah, yes, let’s. “

Creak.

The moment Kyung-joon opened the door and stepped inside the wastewater treatment plant.

” Ugh. “

” Uuegh. “

As if they had opened Pandora’s Box, a tremendous stench engulfed them.

It couldn’t be helped.

After all, at the bottom of that deep pit lay all sorts of sewage from the village.

He had to tell Crescens how to treat this sewage.

” ……It’s better to tell you quickly before we suffocate. “

” Uugh…… T, That’s a good idea. “

” Then let me show you quickly. “

Saying that, Kyung-joon took something out of his inventory.

It was a slime’s core.

[Garbage-Eating Slime: Kyung-joon & Limurimu Development ver1.0.0]

▶A slime that feeds on garbage. When infused with the appropriate mana, it begins to function as a slime. Due to its unique acidity, it can melt and decompose almost any garbage.

▶Item Grade: Unique

The result of their joint research with Limurimu wasn’t just a single jelly pen.

Originally, garbage-eating slimes were one of the things that Humanity Cantons’ 『New Devil Co., Ltd.』 had a virtual monopoly on.

Limurimu knew part of that technology, and Kyung-joon combined it with his knowledge of chemistry to further upgrade it.

” First, we need to cram as much mana as possible into the core as quickly as possible. “

Wooong!

Kyung-joon began to infuse the slime’s core with mana.

” If you just pour mana in haphazardly, the internal structure of the core could be destroyed, so you have to put it in carefully so that the mana transmitters and mana-fixing nuclei form a repeating crystal structure. Since the core we made now has a simple cubic crystal structure like salt, we’ll do it accordingly. “

Gooey liquid oozed from the core, forming the slime.

Before it could fully take shape.

Whoosh!

He threw it into the pit.

” Once it’s full of mana, you can just throw it in. If you’re late, the acid might melt your hand. Just in case, wear rubber gloves when you’re actually working. “

” Yes. But does throwing the slime in really take care of the garbage? “

” Yes. It’s a garbage-eating slime, as its name suggests. “

As the garbage-eating slime consumes the sewage, its precipitate settles to the bottom, and the purified water rises to the top.

When the clean water reaches a certain height, it is discharged into the river through a sewer on the side.

” I heard they’ve been importing and using this technology from New Devil Co., Ltd. in Humanity Cantons for quite some time now. Don’t they do that here? “

” As you know, things like toilets are a luxury for nobles…… Besides, the nobles of the Holy Cross Alliance would probably be appalled and refuse to use it, calling it demon magic. “

” Hmm. Is that how it is over there? “

” Well, I……. “

Crescens hesitated for a moment before continuing.

” To be honest, until just now, I thought demons were just monsters that ate people. But to think that demons care about the environment like this…… It makes me reflect on myself. Frankly, even though they’re demons, I find it admirable. “

Judging from Crescens’s tone, it seemed that the commoners in this area didn’t think highly of the nobles.

To the extent that they would call demons admirable.

In a way, it was only natural. Their former village, Ria Village, had been under the rule of the Kingdom of Francois before switching to the Black Secret Village’s rule.

There must have been a lot of resentment built up during that time.

‘It’s rather fortunate for me. Honestly, I thought they would be reluctant, calling it demon magic.’

From now on, whether it was demons, devils, or whatever.

If Kyung-joon thought it would help his studies and the development of his territory, he would not hesitate to use it.

He had no intention of being bound by good and evil.

When Study Villa was revealed to the world as a territory, as a nation.

In the end, it wouldn’t be the good or the bad nation that survived.

‘Only the strong will survive.’

At the same time.

A strong nation also requires its people to be intelligent, wise, and strong.

There was a reason why Kyung-joon didn’t see the residents as mere subjects and constantly taught them.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

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└[CombatWizard]: Wait…… If he’s at the edge of Whale Forest, that’s not too far from the Francois River where the Ogopogo Raid is held, right?

└[ㅇㅇ]: Oh shit…… You’re right? Is the tragedy of last year about to repeat itself?

└[CombatWizard]: ……Well, it was like that last year, but this time the kingdom dispatched their own knights, so I don’t think we need to worry.

└[CombatWizard]: What I’m worried about is that if you cross the river from there, it’s the Beginner’s Village plains.

└[CombatWizard]: Imagine if newbies who are hunting there unknowingly run into BlackChef…… He can enter Beginner’s Village, you know.

└[ㅇㅇ]: Nah. Even newbies these days know better. Besides, no one goes there anyway because the hunting efficiency sucks and it’s close to Black Secret Village.

└[CombatWizard]: Well, that’s true, but still.

Splash, splash, splash.

A river flowing with water.

Above it, red text appeared along with a cursor.

<Ranker 11th>

<Wanderer>

▼BlackChef (Player)

Swoosh.

The text rose upwards, and a man in a chef’s uniform emerged.

In one hand, a giant Chinese cleaver.

In the other, a sharp sashimi knife.

He licked his lips as he looked at the village in the distance, filled with fences and spires, and the vast lake within.

” Slurp~ Today’s kitchen is over there, right? “

Plod, plod, plod.

BlackChef took a step with his wet feet.

And in the footprints he left behind.

For some reason, a bit of red blood was mixed in.

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