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After receiving the documents on the Plasma Propulsion System from the Professor, I immediately returned to the dormitory and transcribed their contents into Ars Magna.

Of course, the Professor had recommended I dispose of the documents, but nestled between the pages was an additional handwritten note strongly urging me to burn them.

*—Not yet.*

As those words implied, simply being in possession of material related to science could, at this stage, be enough to attract unwarranted suspicion. With the Zersteller fast approaching, I had to avoid any such trouble at all costs.

The paper itself was highly intriguing, and though I wanted to read it thoroughly and formulate a theory of my own, the time limit was drawing near.

Still, I had no trouble understanding the basic mechanism. From here, if I poured all of my knowledge and technical skill into implementing it through alchemy, I could bring my vision to life.

Although I had copied it into Ars Magna just in case, now that I had burned the original materials, the vernier thrusters I was trying to create—the Plasma Vernier—might be founded on scientific principles, but to anyone unaware of that fact, it would appear to be nothing more than a product of alchemy.

Suppressing the rising excitement within me, I finished drawing the blueprints and returned to the workshop. There, I found Isaac and Romeo fitting the completed aether-blocking robe onto Alfe’s unit.

It fit remarkably well—Alfe would surely be pleased with the result.

“Lady Leafa, where have you been!?”
“We’ve already finished up on our end. All that’s left is the thrusters for the Altered, right?”
“About that—”

They both started talking at once, and I gave them a wry smile as I spread my freshly drawn blueprint across the workbench.

“…Plasma Vernier?”

Isaac tilted his head at the unfamiliar term. Romeo, with a serious expression, began reading the blueprint from end to end, trying to grasp the underlying theoretical structure.

“That’s right. Unlike the existing vernier thrusters that rely on compressed air, this one generates thrust by expelling electrical energy through a thruster.”

“That’s… actually possible?”

Romeo let out a thoughtful hum as he listened to my explanation.

“In theory, yes. There shouldn’t be any flaws in the blueprint, right?”
“I can understand up to the part where the main unit draws in surrounding air to use as propellant, but what happens after that…?”

Well, it was only natural they wouldn’t fully grasp the mechanism at first glance. I didn’t have time to go into lengthy detail, so I decided to give them a very brief explanation.

“We take in ambient air as propellant, then use electricity to transition it into a superheated state inside the chamber, turning it into plasma. That plasma is then accelerated in a single direction using an electromagnetic force field. By releasing that pressurized plasma through the exhaust nozzle, we can generate explosive thrust.”
“Uhh…”
“It is hard to grasp for us, forsooth…”

Isaac and Romeo both tilted their heads in confusion, but they seemed to understand that we were short on time—they didn’t press me with more questions.

“Basically, we compress atmospheric air with electricity to the limit and release it all at once to generate propulsion. But to do that, we’ll need a lot of electricity. So, I’m thinking of making a charged cloth.”
“You’re going to attach fabric that stores electricity and use that as the power source, right?”

As I broke it down into simpler terms, Romeo seemed to be catching on. I couldn’t help but smile at his sharp deduction.

“Exactly. By mounting it externally on the backpack, Alfe can use her lightning magic to recharge it anytime. Even in the middle of battle, it can be replenished on the fly—meaning she’ll be able to fire off Blitzraid over and over.”

With this, I just might be able to find a winning edge against Estea.

“Wow, Lady Leafa! To develop such a new feature from an existing vernier thrusters—it’s an incredible invention, forsooth!”

Now that he seemed to be following along, Isaac shouted excitedly, his tail swishing wildly back and forth.

“We’re short on time, so let’s get to work immediately. I’ll make the charged cloth. Isaac, Romeo—I want you to output the parts for the main unit.”
“I am prepared to pull an all-nighter, I am!”
“So we just need to make the molds and print the parts according to these blueprints, right?”

Isaac and Romeo both nodded confidently at my instructions.

“Exactly. I’ll handle the assembly. Let’s finish it today and complete the ultimate Mecha Soldier!”

At this rate, we really would be pulling an all-nighter. But the thrill running through me brought with it an indescribable sensation—something that felt remarkably close to joy.

Once we finished assembling the thruster system, we could just barely make it in time to submit the applications for Altered and Lemures on the final evaluation day.

Phew… At long last, I’d finally reached the point where I could say I was looking forward to the Zersteller.