My physics masters couldn't possibly be grand mages.

Einstein gazed out the window for a long time.

The roar of the steam engine had gradually faded into the distance, but his mind was still racing, trying to figure out what technology it had used.

If it's not a structural problem, then it's most likely...

"What kind of fuel does that vehicle use?"

He turned his head and looked at Xia, who was walking out of the kitchen. The young man was carrying a tray with two steaming drinks on it.

"You noticed," Char said, placing the tray on the coffee table, "what's burning is 'liquefied ether.'"

"Ether?" Einstein frowned slightly. He was familiar with the word; it had been dead in the history of physics for decades.

After the Mackson-Morley experiment, no qualified physicist would ever use that term again.

Char noticed his confusion. "You can think of it as a high-density energy storage substance. It has an extremely high energy density, and when burned, it only produces water and heat."

Einstein picked up his coffee cup, but didn't drink it; he simply stared at the rising steam.

"Where did you come from?"

Char paused for a moment.

The silence was brief, but Einstein captured it.

"...Underground?" he asked tentatively.

"people."

The sound of that word hitting the ground was softer than the sound of a coffee cup touching a tray.

Einstein's hand froze in mid-air.

"Everyone has some ether within them, more or less." Char's voice was calm, as if stating a fact he disliked but had accepted. "It can be liquefied and extracted. It can be repeated. Therefore, here, population is the most important strategic resource."

Einstein slowly put down his coffee cup. He didn't ask, "Are they willing?" because the answer was already written in Char's expression.

He turned back to look out the window.

This time, he looked at it more carefully.

The streets were sparsely populated. Most people had their heads down, walking hurriedly, trying to avoid any contact with their surroundings.

Several shops along the street were open, but the entrances were deserted with no customers.

Einstein's gaze swept over the shops.

A handwritten notice was posted in the window of a bakery; the paper was yellowed and curled at the edges, but the handwriting was still clear:

"Anyone who harbors resistance fighters will have their entire family punished."

Below the notice was a red stamp with a blurry design, but it was clearly a symbol of some kind of double-headed eagle.

Einstein stared at the notice for a long time.

"I've seen places like this before," he said in a low voice.

It's not a question, it's a statement.

Char did not respond.

Footsteps came from downstairs. Not the footsteps of pedestrians, but a more orderly, rhythmic sound of boots clattering on the stone slabs.

Einstein instinctively turned to the side, positioning himself in the shadow of the curtains.

A steam-powered vehicle drove past them, moving at a slower pace than the previous one, followed by a dozen soldiers whose sharp bayonets exuded a chilling aura. Passersby around them scattered in panic.

"Is this occupied territory?" he asked.

“It’s been a year,” Xia said. “It used to belong to the Bauhinia Empire. The mayor ran away, and the governor was sent from the Tudor capital.”

He fell silent. He sat down listlessly on the sofa.

"Science should be used to liberate humanity, not to become a new shackle," he said softly, as if speaking to himself.

Char sat down opposite him. "Humans always overestimate their level of civilization. We think that as technology advances, morality will follow. But technology only amplifies humanity's true nature."

Einstein didn't respond to the topic, but instead picked up his coffee and took a sip.

"How did you survive here?"

Xia took out a student ID from his pocket and handed it over.

Einstein opened his student ID; it belonged to a school called Imperial College London.

"The principal of this school is a third-tier mage, and you can think of the school itself as a 'preparatory course' for entering a magic school."

Only the most outstanding students are selected for the school. Mages hold a privileged status, so even in occupied territories, the students here enjoy a degree of safety.

"What should we teach?"

"Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry".

Einstein was stunned for a moment.

"Interesting," he murmured. "It seems that, in any world, mathematics and physics are the languages ​​for understanding nature."

Xia Ya continued, "If my deduction is correct, the so-called talent in magic should be the same as the so-called talent in science."

This also means...

He gazed intently at Einstein. "In the world of magic, you are also a 'genius'."

Einstein did not respond to the compliment. He flipped to the last page of his student ID and glanced at his transcript.

"First in the grade?" He raised an eyebrow.

"For two years in a row." There was a hint of suppressed pride in Xia's tone. "The magic school's admission list was announced today. Three spots are up for grabs, and I'm sure I'll get one."

Einstein returned the student ID to him and leaned back in his chair.

"Only three?"

"right."

"Do you know any professors at the university? Preferably those in charge of screening applicants."

Xia was stunned for a moment. "What?"

Einstein gently put down his coffee cup.

"If every important position in the world were occupied by the person most suited for that position, then there would be no such conflicts in the world."

He paused, his tone carrying the calm composure characteristic of someone who had been through it all.

"When I worked at the Bern Patent Office, I applied for university teaching assistant positions many times, but I was never successful."

"Even you didn't succeed?"

He took out a pipe from his person, but did not light it; he simply held it in his hand.

"Those positions are often given to people who have chosen the right mentor and the right team."

He smiled slightly, a smile devoid of resentment, only a calm born of profound understanding of the world.

"This world has never been 'fair'."

Char didn't speak.

A series of hurried footsteps came from outside the window.

The footsteps weren't military boots, but the sound of ordinary people running. They grew closer and closer, then stopped at the gate.

"Click—"

The door was suddenly pulled open, and a young man covered in sweat rushed in; he was Xia's classmate.

He leaned against the door frame, catching his breath for a couple of seconds. When he looked up and saw Xia Ya sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"Char! What are you still doing sitting here!?"

"Didn't you see the list of students admitted to the Tower of Truth today? Everyone was crowding around the bulletin board, they were practically trampling the people in front of them to death!"

He was panting heavily. Without waiting for Xia Ya's reply, he rushed into the kitchen, grabbed the kettle, poured himself a glass of water, gulped it down, wiped his mouth, and looked at Xia Ya with an indignant expression.

"That old quail Simmons swallowed your spot."

The air was quiet for a second.

Char's fingers tightened slightly, and the coffee cup made a soft clinking sound on the tray.

He turned his head and looked at Einstein.

The old man held his coffee cup, seemingly unsurprised by the news. He simply shook his head slightly and silently took a sip of coffee.