Chapter 008

The Lady Tasting Tea ① (Unabara Sorano)

Update Time: 2011-OCT-20 18:08:15

In the autumn of this year, the temperature drops noticeably. It's as if just a week ago it was still summer, but now winter is already at the edge.

Three days ago, Unabara Sorano changed into her autumn clothes. She is the type that looks good in anything, so she is not too picky about her clothes, which is quite rare among girls.

This does not mean that her taste in clothing is bad, but rather that she does not need to deliberately pursue the style of her clothes.

Today is a holiday, but it's not much different for Sorano. She doesn't go to school because any ordinary primary school cannot keep up with her level, so she has a special teacher to guide her studies.

Sitting in front of her own computer at home, she drags the mouse and clicks occasionally. Sometimes she puts down the mouse and types on the keyboard quickly. Someone unfamiliar with her might think she's browsing a fashion website. But if you look closely at the monitor, you will see that it's not the case at all.

What appears on the screen is a complex multi-dimensional geometric space diagram. Sorano drags the mouse just to change the curvature of space in the diagram. And typing on the keyboard is just to correct the equation.

Yes, she is simulating the curvature of multi-dimensional space with a computer in order to obtain some results.

Is she a genius? There is almost no doubt about it. Anyone who knows Sorano even a little would not doubt this conclusion.

"Um~"

Saving the temporarily finished calculation results, Sorano stretches and moves her body.

This body already has quite a seductive curve for a girl of her age, so her movement can be said to be very seductive.

Since the day she was adopted, Sorano has made a decision not to be obsessed with which consciousness, the one belonging to the past or the present, is the real one. She has undergone quite a big change.

Although she still looks indifferent, she has changed her surname and even completely changed her self-reference to a feminine one.[1] She has completely accepted her current self.

At the same time, she has also become quite curious about her current self.

Her current self undoubtedly has amazing talent. But things don't seem to be that simple.

During her time in the orphanage, Sorano, who had no mapping tools, once drew a sketch during a break in drawing spacetime diagrams. She unexpectedly found that she had completed it extremely perfectly.

In her memories of the past, she had absolutely no involvement in painting. That is to say, it should be something that her current self had learned and been remembered by her body.

Similar thing happened when she came into contact with the piano after being adopted by the Unabara family. At first, she couldn't even read the score, but after managing to understand the score, she naturally perform the music when she first touched the piano.

This is completely different from learning physics. Although this self has great talent, there is no doubt that she had little exposure to advanced physics theory before. Therefore, in physics, she is undoubtedly a real learner, further learning based on her past memories.

Things like painting and piano should actually be recalls. Recalls of skills that her current self had possessed but she did not know about.

All these facts make her wonder what this body had experienced before consciousness awakened in it.

But despite the doubts, the answer cannot be found, and perhaps it cannot be found at all.

Sorano, who has decided to take a break, walks out of her room and goes down the stairs. On the way, a few girls dressed as maids bow to her and Sorano returns the gesture.

Due to the partnership between Tokiwadai and Ryouran, some students from Ryouran Maid School are interning and working at the Unabara household.

However, Sorano is unaware that she is actually quite famous at Ryouran. There is a very important reason why she has become well-known among the Ryouran students.

Six months ago, she helped a Ryouran student who was working here to optimize the calculation formula needed to use her ability, which ultimately resulted in the student's level being raised.

As a school in Academy City, which covers one-third of Tokyo's area and is dedicated to developing psychic powers, although Ryouran students aim to become excellent maids, they still value abilities. Therefore, when this news came out, it caused quite a stir on campus.

Actually, there was a misunderstanding here. Sorano certainly doesn't have the ability to improve someone's level. At that time, the fact was that the Ryouran students had already met the conditions for a level increase, but her clumsy mathematical tools were holding her back. So when Sorano used her math skills to organize a simpler and more effective formula for her, she naturally reached the level she should have reached in the first place. The Ryouran students later discovered this, but it was still a temptation to have this genius girl guide them. Sorano herself did not mind answering their questions and providing guidance in mathematics and physics, as it was easy for her.

Moreover, Sorano's outstanding appearance, amazing talent, and lack of arrogance left a deep impression on almost every student who worked at the Unabara household. "Little Miss Unabara" has always been a hot topic among Ryouran students. After all, she is very cute.

However, there is another reason why the internship positions at the Unabara household are as popular as those at Tokiwadai in Ryouran.

"I'm back."

Sorano, who have just walked down the stairs, sees her brother Unabara Mitsuki walking into the hall from outside. He seems to have just finished exercising and has a dry towel draped over his shoulder to wipe off sweat.

Although her brother, who has now become a middle school student, is a bit thin, he has a fairly slender body and an athlete-like physique. He likes to participate in sports in a scientific way. Even so, he still has fair skin and beautiful hair that is not typical of Asians. In this respect, he is somewhat similar to Sorano.

Even based on Sorano's past male consciousness, her brother is an extremely attractive pretty boy.

What's even rarer is that he has a gentle and approachable personality. Although he is the grandson of the chairman of Tokiwadai, he never boasts about his family background and treats everyone equally. Sorano sees his gentle and sunny smile the most.

Unabara Mitsuki is another reason why the internship positions at the Unabara household are so popular among Ryouran students. After all, Ryouran is a girls' school, and female students still have some admiration for handsome boys. Sorano can even see this directly from the eyes of Ryouran students who are interning and working here.

"You're back? Onii-san."

"Mm. How's the progress on your side, Sorano?"

"Checking the curvature isn't difficult, but it's quite tedious. But I should be able to finish it today."

"Don't push yourself too hard. It's just an additional simulation result, and we can always delegate this part to someone else."

"I'm not too comfortable with that, and I don't like leaving it to someone else to finish."

"Then wait for me. Although I'm not as good as you, I can still do the verification. I'm going to take a shower first, so you can rest for a bit."

"Huh? Is that okay?"

"Listen to me, my little sister," Mitsuki affectionately taps Sorano's forehead, "Sometimes, you need to learn to trust others."

"I-I'm not saying I don't trust others..." Sorano murmurs.

This kind of sibling interaction is commonplace between the two. Mitsuki has gotten used to his role as the elder brother, and Sorano has become more and more like a little sister, no longer fixating on the past.

In fact, in Sorano's eyes, Mitsuki is perhaps the true genius.

Indeed, Sorano has astonishing talent in physics. However, it is often difficult to balance talent and foundation in the field of physics. The intuition brought by talent often allows people to gain more inspiration, but it also makes it difficult for them to concentrate on verifying whether the inspiration is correct. To establish a solid mathematical foundation requires too much energy. In fact, physicists who can both firmly establish themselves in mathematical foundations and firmly stand on the land of physical theory are rare.

Sorano's current success is actually due to the foundation laid by those past memories. Due to the lack of talent, the past self worked extremely hard at the most basic level, which made Sorano's mathematical foundation extremely solid. When Sorano simultaneously possessed the foundation of the past self and the talent of the present self, she could run freely on this road.

Mitsuki is completely different from Sorano, who has a foundation in the past. He has reached his current height entirely through his own efforts, while also balancing the establishment of a foundation and the exploration of talent. Although he cannot compare to Sorano's special situation, he has already surpassed Sorano's past self.

Moreover, Mitsuki himself does not seem to be burdened by his investment in physics. All of his achievements are quite outstanding, and he is even a somewhat famous athlete.

Although in the eyes of outsiders, Sorano's brilliance completely overshadows Mitsuki's excellence, family members understand their own situation the best. Sorano knows too well about her own special situation, and she cannot be compared to anyone else.

Therefore, Sorano actually has some admiration for her brother.

As a game to relax, Sorano takes out the tarot cards that have always been with her and lays them on the table. At this moment, the doorbell rings in an extremely rude manner.

"Unabara! Open the door quickly!"

With the iconic loud voice and rude way of ringing the doorbell, it's clear who has come.

Unfortunately, Sorano's parents went out in the morning, and her brother just went to take a shower. So she puts away the tarot cards, puts on shoes, and goes to open the door.

Although one of the Ryouran students here could open the door, this person is someone Sorano must receive herself.

Because he is Oleg Dmitrievich Kurkov, an authority in theoretical physics and Sorano's physics teacher.

Today is a day off, so why is he here? Although she is a bit puzzled, Sorano still bows politely to her teacher.

Her words and deeds have become more and more like a polite young lady, although she hasn't even realized it yet.

[1] Footnote by the translator: Now Sorano uses the first-person pronoun "atashi".