Morale Support: Scherzo
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The perpetual motion machine, to some extent, has also been a longstanding wish of mages over the years. However, just as even the most powerful legendary mages eventually meet their downfall, in this world, there is no machine or magic that can continuously operate without external energy supply.
“Perpetual motion machine…?”
This is typical pseudo-science, Reiner thought.
“Can we go take a look? He asked.
Reiner had never seen how perpetual motion machines were designed in this world and wondered if there would be any differences in the face of magic.
“It should be possible, I don’t see the meeting room’s door being closed.”
Igor was already sitting in a chair, his gaze on a thesis on the table, showing little interest.
“Then I’ll go check it out.”
Reiner didn’t insist on bringing Igor along, walked out of the office alone, and entered the adjacent meeting room.
Upon entering, Reiner saw Lord Percival and Roger sitting on the sofa, each holding a thesis. On the opposite side, a young man was eagerly watching the two. When Reiner approached, he finally noticed.
“Oh, who’s this?”
The young man was dressed in a refined robe according to the association’s regulations, with a golden border on the cuffs indicating his status as a first-level mage.
He looked at Reiner up and down, noticed his identity, and subconsciously thought that he was a mage responsible for doing odd jobs.
“Reiner, why are you here…” Lord Percival raised his head, glanced at Reiner, and then felt helpless.
“Forget it, just sit aside and watch carefully.”
He pointed to a row of chairs against the wall of the meeting room. Since Reiner was here, it was not convenient to drive him away. Percival only hoped that Reiner would not cause trouble.
“My father mentioned you often, Lord Olson. He said you are a promising mage, and there’s even a possibility of advancing to a higher level in the future.”
The young man didn’t pay attention to the whispered conversation between Percival and Reiner. He spoke softly while the two evaluation committee members were reviewing the theses.
“Flattering, Mr. Durawn. I’m just doing my duty.”
Lord Percival responded, putting down the thesis.
“So, what do you think? Is my ‘Eternal Pendulum’ design very innovative? Solving the problem that has plagued mages for centuries with such a simple method. Honestly, I didn’t think I was so clever.”
The young man asked again, with indescribable arrogance in his words.
“Haha, I think someone like Reiner Ian Gray probably wouldn’t come up with such a brilliant idea. I wonder if he, hailed as the most promising for advancing to a high level in the last fifty years, see my thesis? Wouldn’t he have his mind blown and explode on the spot?”
He spoke without restraint, and it was clear that his relatively unknown father might not have taught him to be humble.
Upon hearing Mr. Durawn’s words, Lord Percival smiled somewhat helplessly, without much explanation, waiting for Roger to finish the review.
About five minutes later, Roger, with a monocle, finally put down the thesis.
“Roger, please give your opinion.”
In Mr. Durawn’s expectant eyes, Percival let Roger make the judgment first.
Roger picked up the thesis again, looked at it, and then said.
“The design here, well, it’s indeed somewhat innovative, with almost no previous examples…”
“Exactly, I told you, this is a unique design. You are witnessing history!”
Mr. Durawn couldn’t wait to say, his voice full of excitement.
“Uh, but…”
Roger paused, glancing at Percival, and then continued.
“But this design, I believe, cannot achieve the ability to operate continuously and permanently without any external energy supply. This is not a perpetual motion machine.”
Roger’s words widened Mr. Durawn’s eyes, looking incredulous.
He was stunned for a long time before speaking, with a somewhat gloomy expression.
“Sir, I suggest you reread my thesis. I believe you will have a different opinion.”
“Actually.”
Lord Percival spoke at this time.
“I also think there are significant flaws in the design. It’s far from being perpetual.”
The attitudes of these two surprised Reiner. According to Igor’s description, he thought this place was full of people living an easy life. Perhaps Lord Percival would pass the thesis just because of Mr. Durawn’s father’s influence, but unexpectedly, these two maintained the basic integrity of mages of seeking truth from facts.
“You simply can’t understand the subtleties in it!”
Mr. Durawn’s originally polite image collapsed instantly. He pounded the table, arguing discontentedly.
“Come and see for yourself.”
Lord Percival suddenly turned his head and handed Mr. Durawn’s thesis to Reiner.
“Uh, okay.”
Reiner didn’t know what performance this was, but just this morning, Lord Percival asked him to focus on his own work and not meddle in other affairs.
He took the thesis and quickly saw the design of the so-called perpetual motion machine.
It was a disc with twelve equally long sticks evenly distributed on it. At one end of each stick was a small ball. When the disc rotated, the ball on the side would move away from the axis due to centrifugal force, while the other side would get closer to the axis. It seemed like it could maintain perpetual motion through the conversion of centrifugal force and inertia.
“A first-level mage, how could he understand the subtleties of my ingenious design? Lord Percival, listen to me…”
“Of course this isn’t a perpetual motion machine.”
Reiner interrupted the man, not waiting for Mr. Durawn to retort, a
“Although it seems to be able to operate continuously, in reality, the number of balls on the left and right sides of the rotating axis is not the same. If you establish a mathematical model, you can derive these equations…”
He quickly started writing a series of equations on the blackboard in the meeting room, establishing a set of equations. Through substitution and elimination, he ultimately made both sides of the equations reach the same answer.
“In other words, when this condition is reached, the entire machine will stop running due to force balance. This proves that this design is not a perpetual motion machine. It’s simple mathematics, requiring a mathematical level that doesn’t even exceed the second level. I don’t know why Mr. Durawn didn’t calculate it himself.”
Reiner put down the chalk, seeing Lord Percival slightly widening his eyes, the string of calculations obviously beyond his expectations.
On the other side, Mr. Durawn, with a flushed face, obviously felt greatly humiliated by Reiner’s use of mathematical means to completely refute his thesis. His hands trembled slightly, and he seemed on the verge of exploding.
“Who are you to question me like this?”
He asked with a deep voice, gritting his teeth.
“Reiner Ian Gray, if I remember correctly, are you still planning to blow up my head?”
Putting down the chalk, Reiner clapped the chalk dust off his hands.
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T/N: Goddamn it Amon