Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 201 Academic Conference of the Steam Age

The city enveloped in a thin mist gave off a feeling as though the heat was trapped within the fog, unable to dissipate. At one in the afternoon, which was the hottest part of the day, stepping out in formal attire was particularly tormenting.

However, this outfit was necessary. Even though the academic presentation was open to social figures, inappropriate attire could likely complicate entry.

The clothes Shard wore were tailored by the same tailor sent by Miss Galina when he last played cards with the Duke. He entered the Draleon Royal Mechanical College without any hindrance, curiously observing the higher educational institution of the Steam Age, and even took the time to appreciate the flowers planted in the flowerbeds.

Following a few middle-aged gentlemen who were evidently attending the academic lecture, and guided by the signs, he found the lecture hall where the event was held, where even servants were available to offer directions if needed.

Different venues within the academy's auditorium were bustling as properly dressed gentlemen moved about, various accents mingling in the corridors discussing their views or inviting peers to join them in attending specific sessions.

The academic atmosphere here was intensely concentrated; one could tell from each individual's demeanor that those gathered here this afternoon were indeed the so-called cultured people.

"Does this count as boasting about myself?"

He wondered, as he paused in front of the notice board looking for a suitable session.

[With your educational background and level of knowledge, you are certainly considered a cultured person.]

This was arguably one of the few times she directly complimented Shard.

Inside the auditorium, the temperature was significantly lower than outside by some means. Shard even discovered that there was a tea party included in this academic presentation event, a detail not mentioned in newspaper advertisements, likely to deter freeloaders.

Although his original purpose for attending was to understand the current development of physics, he initially chose a mathematics presentation by a white-bearded old scholar who had come from the County of Saradiel.

The main content of the presentation was calculus, but most of the time, the elderly professor discussed his recent work, specifically, "When a function satisfies certain conditions, by using the values of its derivatives at a particular point as coefficients, a polynomial can be constructed to approximate this function."

The room, small, equipped with a blackboard and furnished with over twenty benches, had only a dozen attendees, who sat fairly scattered.

At the beginning of the presentation, most could nod along while listening, agreeing with the views expressed. When the professor formally delved into function expansion, only a few could comprehend, and by the time the discussion turned to the remainder of the expansion series, likely only Shard fully understood.

He had learned this knowledge back in his homeland, where it was termed "Taylor's Expansion," but in this world, the old scholar named it after himself as "Mos Expansion."

This was not exactly the cutting edge of mathematical research, indicating that within this era of the Steam Age, the field of mathematics had reached a significantly advanced level.

At that moment, the young Outlander was standing by a long dining table covered with white cloth, discussing with the voice in his head whether he should fetch the roast goose by cutting it himself with a dinner knife or by asking a servant for help.

He wasn't particularly eager to eat the roast goose, but he was curious about how a whole goose was placed on the table.

"Oh, isn't that the Hamilton Detective?"

Only when someone mentioned his name did he turn around and see Professor Manning approaching.

By this time, more than a week had passed since the "Joyful Dream Pen" incident, and Professor Manning had recovered quite well. Although he still looked somewhat unwell, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness and was still experiencing some aftereffects, he could at least go out normally already.

"Good evening, Professor, long time no see."

The two shook hands, very tacitly not mentioning the last time they had met. After some small talk, Professor Manning asked about the reason for Shard's presence. Upon hearing that he was specifically there for the lectures, the professor immediately smiled:

"It's really rare these days to find such a studious young man like you."

The two discussed that afternoon's lectures together. As luck would have it, Shard had not attended any lectures on history or archaeology, so he listened to Professor Manning talk about the topics discussed in those lectures.

The theme was about the relevance of ancient literature to reality, and the professor who had come from distant Carsonrick pointed out that most of the ancient literature that is transmitted to this day might probably be related to actual events that occurred in ancient times.

Of course, this controversial view naturally caused dissatisfaction among some people. As for Professor Manning, his field of research was archaeology, or rather leading a group of people to excavate ancient ruins. Hence, he did not express any opinion at the seminar.

During the conversation, the professor used a dinner knife to open up the stomach of the roast goose, revealing the beef stuffed inside, showing Shard how to eat this dish.

The professor was not only proficient in archaeology but also made contributions in other social science fields and even understood some higher mathematics. At the end of the dinner, he introduced Shard to some of his colleagues and invited Shard to a seminar on the excavation of ruins from the City-State of the Fifth Era in the Eastern Kingdom to be held after the dinner.

Professor Manning was highly respected among his peers, and thus Shard was greeted warmly. During the seminar, he even tried to steer the conversation towards the large ancient ruins in the New World, but people cautiously did not discuss this topic with Shard.

"It is explicitly regulated by the Kingdom that any news about archaeology in the New World must not be disclosed to the public in an open setting."

This was something Professor Manning quietly told Shard, meaning that if Shard visited his home, it would be fine to discuss such topics in private.

It truly was a fulfilling day; up until nine o'clock that evening when Shard returned home without encountering any unexpected events. Holding the cat that pounced on him and walking up the winding staircase to the second floor, he still thought that today was probably his lucky day.

Perhaps because of this thought, at two o'clock in the middle of the night, a few hours later, someone knocked on the door downstairs at No. 6, Saint Delan Square.